by Noah Michael
They passed through the training areas and reached vast farmlands, walking silently through the fields. Sarah analyzed the different fruits, vegetables, and grains growing all around her. There were many she didn’t recognize.
They walked through the fields for another two hours. Finally, as they neared the edge of the farmlands, the Chief turned to his guards. “From here, I walk alone with the girl.”
“My Chief, it is not safe,” Bastion said
“The Chief would not put himself in danger,” Gore said. “We will keep watch.”
The Chief nodded. Sarah sat down, exhausted. “Don’t worry child, we’re not far.”
“Where are we going?”
“I’m taking you to the beginning.” The Chief offered Sarah his hand. She pushed herself to her feet. They walked forward, surrounded by nothing but wild grass and open fields. Mountains towered in the distance ahead of them, marking the border of the Shadow Kingdom. Sarah started to worry. Maybe he was taking her to a hidden prison, or worse.
“Our destination is visible from here.”
In the distance she saw what seemed to be a small, abandoned, wooden cabin. The grass around the cabin reached halfway up its walls. Vines and moss grew from all side of the cabin. The Chief looked on the dilapidated structure pensively.
“Is this where you were raised?” Sarah asked.
“This is where I was born. And this is where I died.” Yuran walked towards the wood cabin and ran his fingers over the aging wood. He closed his eyes as the memories came.
Father. Standing strong and tall, an axe in one hand, a plank of wood in the other. Sweat dripped down from his wrinkled brow.
Mother. Hanging clothes out to dry on the clothesline by the grass. Her long hair, her warm smile. Her hands washed the family’s troubles away.
Mara. Running around on the grass, hair swaying in the wind. She was faster than Yuran, but she would let him win. She would do anything to make him happy. That’s all she ever wanted. Happiness.
Yuran wiped a tear from his cheek. He looked at Sarah and showed her his face. His eyes were red. His skin was pale. Sarah had never seen this side of him.
“We don’t have to go inside,” she whispered.
“We must. You need to see it all.” Yuran opened the door.
The first room was the kitchen. The wooden table was dusty and cracked. Pieces of chairs were scattered around the room. Rusty pots and pans and cracked, clay utensils littered the floor. The wooden shelves had broken off their hinges. The air was heavy with the stench of rotting wood. But Yuran could smell nothing other than the delicious aromas of his mother’s cooking. In his mind he saw his mother prepare vegetable soup, his favorite.
Until the day that it all came to an end. The day Father limped into the kitchen to tell him that mother had been killed. There would be no more soup. No more light. No more love.
Yuran walked through the kitchen to the next room, which he’d shared with Mara. The bed had collapsed, the mattress was shredded. The floor was black with dust. Cobwebs hung from every wall.
Mara taught him to run, to play, to read, to write. They used to tell each other everything. She would wake him every morning with a hug and a smile. Mara was the most beautiful person Yuran had ever known. Her spirit was unbreakable. He would do anything to get her back.
Finally, Yuran turned to his parents’ bedroom. In the middle of the room stood the bed. Next to the bed stood the remains of Father’s nightstand. Mother’s had been removed long before. Yuran could still see the oriental designs on the dust-covered carpet.
Yuran and Mara would come in every morning and lie down next to their parents, falling back asleep with them, warm in their arms. When mother passed away, Father spent more time in the bed. After the war, Father’s spirit was crushed. He had trouble walking. He mourned Mother. He was left with nothing but the love for his children, which never died.
Yuran remembered his father before the war. He was hardworking, a warrior of the highest rank. He would train in the arenas and work the field all day, yet he would never come home tired. He taught them the values of honor, respect, truth, and love. When he discovered that the Chief wished to send mother as a nurse to the front, in one of the most dangerous regions, Father insisted that he be sent to fight there so he could look after her. When she died, he felt like he had failed her. Yet he returned home because his children needed him.
A shriek brought him back to the present. He shot off the bed to the kitchen. Sarah’s face was pale, she was shaking with fear.
“Sarah, what is it!?”
“She’s watching us!” Sarah pointed towards the doorway. Someone knocked.
“Who goes there?” The knocking continued. Yuran walked towards the door, he turned the handle slowly. Sarah watched from the other side of the room. He swung the door open and thrust his sword out, stopping it only inches from a woman’s face. She was very old and wore a long, black robe and a hood. Her dry, grey hair reached all the way to the floor. Her skin was loose, wrinkled, covered with moles and dead skin. Her mouth contained no teeth, her eyes no life.
“Who are you?” The woman moved her hand in a fist toward the Chief, who in turn tightened his grip on his sword. She opened her fist and revealed a sapphire amulet with a golden chain. She held it out to the Chief.
Cautiously, Yuran took the amulet from her fingers. She lowered her hand.
“I have fulfilled my responsibility. Now I may die in peace.” She slipped into a shadow on the ground and scurried off into the fields.
“Who was that? Do you know her?”
Yuran tried to make sense of what had just happened. He had never seen the woman before. And as far as he knew, nobody else knew about the cabin. He took a good look at the amulet. It was oddly shaped, as if it was missing a half. He walked over to Sarah.
“Are you okay?” The girl nodded in response. “I’m sorry she frightened you.”
Sarah walked over to the kitchen table. “So, this was your kitchen?”
“Yes, it was.”
“This place meant a lot to you?”
“It was more the people in it than the place itself. I lived here many years ago with my mother and father and my sister.”
“But you are the Chief. How did you grow up in a small cabin?”
“I was not always the Chief. My father was a farmer, and an elite ranked warrior. We lived in a humble home. We didn’t have much, but what we did have we shared. It was a blessed way to live.”
Sarah walked through the kitchen, running her hands over the wood. One plank protruded slightly from the rest and she tried to push it back, but it was so brittle it snapped out of the wall and fell to the ground. The sound of the wood falling was accompanied by the sound of a shattering glass. Startled and guilty, Sarah braced herself for anger. But when she opened her eyes, he was by her feet picking up a small portrait covered in shards of glass. It was the image of a young woman holding a rose in the middle of a field of flowers. His face was white.
“It cannot be. I have not seen her face in over a decade.”
“Is that your sister?” His eyes were glued to the image. “What happened?”
Yuran’s voice shook as he told her everything about his mother’s death, his father being shamed a coward, and the conflict that took Mara from him. “That’s how I became the Chief. I pledged I would never be like him. I would never divide families and destroy lives.”
“What happened to your father and sister?”
“The Nexus Mirror. No one knows exactly what it is, or where it leads, but it is a gateway. They were sentenced to pass through it.,” his voice cracked. “According to legend, those who share the blood of Legasus, the Surger, may pass through it and return alive.”
“That’s why everyone is looking for me.” Sarah looked up at the Chief. “You want me to bring back your family.”
“I know it is hard for you to trust me, hard for you to trust anyone. We find ourselves today at the beginning of a g
reat war. Every Enlai on Earth is searching for you. Please believe me when I say that I am different. I do not seek your power. I believe that by entering the mirror we may be able to stop Roko, but truly, I seek only one thing. I want to hear my father’s voice. I wish to feel my sister’s embrace and see her smile. Will you help me?”
Sarah understood now. He was not just a Chief. He was a brother. A son. “I will help you find your sister and your father. But you will do something for me as well.”
“Anything, child. Speak your mind.”
“You will kill Roko so that I can live a normal life.”
Yuran’s eyes widened in surprise. “To order the death of a man is no small matter, child. It leaves a dark imprint upon the soul. Nevertheless, I place my word upon the deed. We must turn back now. The hour is late.”
They walked quickly back the way they came, until they reached the guards.
“You had us worried, my Chief,” Bastion said. “You should not put yourself in danger like this again.”
“It will never again be necessary. I have no need to return here.” The guards formed around Sarah and the Chief and started walking back through the fields to the school. The land was filled with farmers now, packing up their tools to return home. Many paused to pay respects to the Chief. Sarah stayed close to the Chief this time, hoping to learn more about his story.
“Why didn’t the old Chief just kill you when you challenged him?”
“A Chief may never refuse a challenge.”
“How did you beat him? Did your father train you?”
“My father was a great warrior, but he did not train me. Back when I cleaned the dungeons, I came across a prisoner named Grith, an incredible swordsman. He trained me. Even so, I could not have won with skill alone. I won because I was fighting for something greater. The Chief fought for honor. I fought for life and family.”
“What happened to Grith?”
“He disappeared. He was mysterious in many ways. No matter how many times I asked why he was imprisoned, he would not tell me.”
“Can I see the cell you trained in?”
“Why?”
“Maybe I will see something you can’t.”
“There’s nothing there. But I can show you if you so wish.”
“Then let’s go.” As they walked, the Chief pulled the sapphire amulet from his pocket, running the golden chain through his fingers. At its center there were a series of multi-colored lines, created by the refraction of the sun’s light. Where the lines met, they formed something. A perfectly smooth letter. It was an A. Turning the gem, more letters formed. Together, they spelled a word, a name. “Agius.”
The Chief put the amulet back into his pocket. The dungeons were located near the coliseum. About a quarter of a mile from the coliseum, they came to a large, steel door which covered the entrance to the dungeons. The door had no keyhole or handles.
“How do we get in?” Sarah asked.
“Come.” He took Sarah’s hand in his and they stepped on the dungeon door. “Hold on.”
He dove into the door, bringing Sarah down with him. They slipped through a crack and emerged upside down on the other side of the hatch. The guards followed. The room was dark, lit by only a few torches. Sounds echoed in the distance. A bit scared, Sarah followed him down a spiral staircase, the sounds growing louder. They passed by a series of warriors who saluted the Chief as he passed.
“Do they stand guard all night?” Sarah asked.
“They are split into six shifts, three during the day and three during the night. No guard stands for more than four hours at a time.”
“Are there a lot of prisoners here?”
“Relative to the size of our population, there are very few. Not many Shadows dare to disrespect our laws.”
They reached the bottom of the staircase. There was a large, steel door at the end, guarded by four warriors. One of them took a key from his pocket and opened the door for the Chief. They passed through into a massive circular room, lined with thick steel doors, each one guarded by a warrior standing in front of it, spear in hand. Between each door was a large torch. In the middle of the room, off-duty warriors sat, some of them playing games with cards, stones, and dice. They stood quickly when they saw the Chief.
One said, “My Chief, how may I be of assistance?”
He was dressed differently than the others. He held a double-sided axe instead of a spear, and his robe was red.
“Tirus, I would like to visit a cell 486.”
“It is vacant, but will you be needing any additional security, my Chief?”
“Thank you, Tirus, but I require no more than my Guard.”
“As you wish. Follow me, my Chief.” Tirus led them towards a door, pulling out a thick metal chain filled with unlabeled keys. Tirus fished for a minute, settling on a long, double-sided key that opened the door.
“This way.” They followed him down a dusty, dimly lit hallway filled with more metal doors. Tirus led them to a door near the very end. “This is the room, my Chief. It has remained empty ever since you became Chief. I shall wait outside. Take as long as you please.”
“Thank you, Tirus.” The Chief walked up to the iron bars of the cell with Sarah at his side. The guards followed.
“So, this is where you learned to use a sword.” The room was larger than she’d expected. The floor was dusty, as if it were sand. Large cobwebs hung in the corners. The room was lit by a large, flickering light bulb that seemed out of place to Sarah. Everything else in the dungeons had been torch-lit.
“Can we go inside?” Sarah asked.
“Of course.” The Chief took Sarah’s hand and they dove into the ground, emerging on the other side of the bars. The guards followed suit.
“If it’s so easy for a Shadow to get in and out, how does this cell work?”
“If he made it out of his cell, he would be noticed by the guards who stand posted in both the second and third dimensions.”
Sarah placed her hands on the ground, closing her eyes. Standing again, she brushed her hands against the bricks circling the room. She stopped. “This brick is hollow.”
The Chief walked over to the brick she indicated and hit it with the butt of his blade. It crumbled easily, revealing a hole in the wall. The Chief reached his hand into the wall and pulled an object out from within. It was a bronze key. He could not believe it. All this time, Grith had been hiding something within the walls. What did it mean?
A clanging noise came from the hole in the wall as a metal ball rolled out to the center of the room, where it came to a complete stop. Sarah reached down to pick it up, but the ball shifted its shape, turning into a glowing cube. “Sarah, wait!” Yuran cautioned.
Blue energy shot out from the cube, knocking Sarah to the ground and forming a powerful energy field around the cell, trapping them within.
“My Chief, you must see this!” The Chief turned around. Bastion was kneeling beside the metal cube. It was glowing red. Numbers flickered above the cube. “30...29...28...”
“It’s a weapon! Break the barrier! Protect the Chief!”
Gore smashed his sword against the barrier with all his might. He was launched backward with equal force.
“My Chief,” Bastion said, “I shall form a human shield around you, while Gore jumps on the device to dampen the explosion.”
“You shall do no such thing. You will protect the girl!”
“My Chief-”
“That is an order!” The Chief walked back to the hole searching for an escape route. A word was etched into the bottom of the hole. “Vacuum.”
“What does it say?” Sarah said, standing beside him.
“It says vacuum! Do you know what that means?”
Sarah paused for a second. “I have an idea, but I need everyone to be quiet!” The guards were slashing continuously at the energy field. “Everyone stop! Now!” Sarah shrieked.
The guards froze. Sarah closed her eyes and put her hands up into the air. She felt t
he vibrations around her.
“15...14...13...” The stone, its particles shaking rapidly, but only reaching a short distance. The webs, their strings playing a longer, winding tune.
“12...11...10...” The light bulb, its glass patterns more gentle, delicate, than the rest. The bars, containing the most intense and rapid motion of all.
“9...8...7...” All of them, sending their waves oscillating through the air, hitting Sarah’s fingertips like a symphony, building a colorful picture in her mind. As she completed the image, she found it. The one place she could not draw. The only place producing no music, a blank spot in her painting.
“6...5...” “Sarah!” She opened her eyes.
“3...2...” “Break the light!” Sarah shouted frantically. Bastion dove onto the cube. Gore threw Sarah to the floor, protecting her with his body. The Chief dove upwards, sword in hand.
“1...” He swung. The glass shattered. The room went dark. A second passed. Then another. Gore slowly and cautiously stepped up from where he lay. “The child did it,” he marveled.
The cube had ceased to glow. The energy field had dissipated. Bastion stood up, helping Sarah to her feet. The Chief looked at her.
“How did you know?”
“The word was vacuum. In a vacuum, sound waves cannot travel from place to place, since there is no air. I felt no frequencies traveling within the lightbulb.”
“My child, that is some gift you have.” The Chief walked over to the cube. He picked it up. The top of the cube extended into a rectangle, at the side of which was a small keyhole. Using the bronze key, he opened the cube, revealing a hidden compartment, containing a small cardboard box.
Grith, who are you? And what do you wish to tell me?
Within the box was a piece of folded letter.
“Open it,” Sarah said. The Chief opened the paper and read aloud.
My fellow Guardians,
I have hidden the weapon deep within the Nexus Mirror and fortified it so that only a worthy Surger can retrieve it. Although you advised me to destroy the mirror and lock away its secrets for eternity, I am unwilling to abandon my dream that one day we can save those left behind. We must protect the mirror at all costs.
