by Jeremy Finn
“There is a chance,” Eshaiel confirmed, “but if you hope to seize it, you must move now. Although you cannot tell because of the storm, the sun has already cracked the surface of the horizon and will have fully risen in just moments. The portal is on the starburst in the circle just outside this building.”
As both men rushed across the room, out the door, and through the steady rain, they hastily made as best a plan as they could manage in the minute or two they had before the sun reached its position above the horizon somewhere unseen in the east. As they were standing on the portal and trying to decide what to do if they appeared suddenly in Hanasan’s courtyard amidst a group of servants loyal to the six, Eshaiel swooped through the wall of the building and glided rapidly across the yard toward them.
“I’m afraid we will have to skip the formalities,” he said as he stretched out his arm and offered an intricately carved piece of wood to James. The wooden shaft was about a forty centimeters long and carved deeply with ornate patterns. Two fish covered most of the length of the piece twisting about each other among lily pads and lotus blossoms. A large blue sapphire rested in the cap of the beautiful handle. “It is your rhema. Welcome to the Servants and to the Light.”
James took the wooden object and immediately felt it twist in his hand as an unseen weight pulled one end toward the ground.
DaNyang saw the look of confusion on his face and explained with a smile, “It’s your sword. Remember, your rhema? When sheathed, the blade is invisible. The handle is only visible when grasped or placed on a rhema stand.”
“But how do I…” James began, but a sudden, blinding burst of light cut him off, and the words coming out of his mouth seemed to distort and slur just like the image of DaNyang that was twisting and swirling before him. The drenched environment around him spun and grew more and more indistinct. The last image that caught James attention was the eyes of Eshaiel penetrating the confusion with a look of hope and encouragement. Then there was a sound like a thunderclap and everything went black.
THE SHADOW OF THE LIGHT
All sources of light continually fight the darkness.
The moon’s shadow wanes and grows.
The sun falls beneath the earth each evening
and fights its way back up every morning.
Even the stars are at the mercy of the shifting clouds.
Though all must inevitably appear to abandon us, they are always there and they never fail to return to show us the light.
-Servant Proverb
The darkness only lasted for an instant, during which James felt as if he were being thrust into the air by a roaring jet of wind. Soon the darkness faded and he was overwhelmed by a stream of colors and objects blurring before his eyes in a rapidly rushing river of landscapes flowing and changing beneath him. The sky was not as disorienting as the scene beneath him. It’s dull, grayish hue remained constant except for the occasional cloud that raced directly toward him in an inescapable collision, which he quickly learned was harmless. Time was difficult to perceive during this flight, and James was not able to move, his body feeling as if it were frozen in a block of ice. Without warning, the dizzying panorama suddenly ceased, and James found himself standing in the center of Hanasan Hold’s courtyard. The sun was just peaking over a distant ridge and scattering its golden rays like lasers through the pines and light fog surrounding the huddle of ornate wooden buildings. James swayed and then fell to one knee as he struggled to stop his head from spinning. He noticed DaNyang teeter a bit but hold his balance, and was just about to ask him what they should do next when voices pierced the silence from just beyond the veil of fog to their right.
“Why did you bring me out here?” an unknown voice spoke cautiously.
DaNyang tugged James’ arm and led him quickly toward the Intercessor’s hall, where they both ducked under a large wooden staircase leading up to the building just as two men came into view. While the staircase offered some protection from sight, if the light fog had been absent, they likely would have been discovered. As it was, James barely breathed while they laid flat on the ground and listened to the brief conversation between the two men whose forms were now visible as dark, humanoid objects through the mist.
“Servant Koo,” the other voice responded, “I wanted to bring you a little distance from the others because I have an important matter I must discuss with you.”
“Certainly whatever it is that concerns you, I will help,” Koo said, and then continued after a pause, “but why should we be afraid to talk among our brothers?”
“You are right in claiming our brotherhood,” the other confirmed, but when he spoke again, his tone changed to that of a master to a pupil, a master who expected unquestioning loyalty, “But Koo, I’m afraid only you and I truly understand the seriousness of our situation. What we have done, while for the betterment of the Light, of course, cannot be reversed or mitigated. It must be brought to full fruition. There is only one way to ensure that power. The advancement of the Light depends on us.”
“You are suggesting we take this into our own hands?” the other asked with a hint of apprehension in his voice. “But there is already so much division within our group. What if our actions cause further strife?”
“Koo,” the master sighed with slight exasperation, “I will only need your services if the counsel fails to sentence him to death. I know you can make it so the others will not know. You are an expert with this sort of thing, so I am confident you can help us conclude our troubles once and for all. Besides, even if the others find out, I suspect most of them would rather have it this way as well, but are just too afraid to breach the laws they believe hold some special authority over us. You will be doing them and their weak morality a favor.”
“Very well,” Koo conceded, “If necessary, I will handle this after he is secured following his trial.”
“You have chosen well, Koo,” the other said, his smile apparent by the tone of his voice, despite the impossibility of seeing facial features in the hazy conditions. “Once you succeed, I will reveal to you an even greater role you can play in our important endeavor.”
The men continued to converse, but the contents of their dialogue were lost as they moved out of the courtyard heading toward the chief servants’ quarters.
“You know what this means?” DaNyang hissed in a low voice.
“Of course not,” James said flatly, “I may be starting to pick up a word here and there, DaNyang, but I’m far from fluent yet.”
“Oh right, sorry, but it’s more serious than I expected,” DaNyang sighed and then furtively cast looks to his right and left. “I’ll explain, but we better get back into the forest first. The sun is starting to cut the haze, and we will soon lose the little cover we have here.”
James followed DaNyang along the base of the Intercessor’s Hall, which stood about shoulder height and offered some protection for the pair as they followed it to the far end of the courtyard and then slipped around its corner and into the forest behind the hall. To the right, the huge sandstone boulders that capped the mountain and composed the heart of Hanasan Hold stood solemnly as the first traces of golden light chased shadows off their clefts and crevices. The Intercessor was in there somewhere, entrapped in a dark cave, probably completely unaware of the dawn breaking outside his sanctuary turned prison. On the left, the little cheebs in the visitor’s village loomed like tombstones in a graveyard. All but one or two appeared vacant and lifeless. Several, in fact, were missing doors or had paper window screens hanging at awkward angles and threatening to fall off their frames. The air even carried a hint of burnt wood mixed in with the usual fresh smell of an early winter morning in the mountains.
Once they were around the back side of the pile of boulders and out of sight from the village, DaNyang plopped down behind a car-sized rock and put his head in his hands.
"What’s wrong?” James asked as he noticed the exasperation in DaNyang’s face.
“What those men were discus
sing, James, are plans to have the Intercessor assassinated discreetly following his trial. What that means is they don’t want to take any chances the Intercessor may remain an influence in this region in any way. The younger one, Koo, is a dangerous man. The Intercessor warned me about him once. He came to our hold at the invitation of one of the elder chief servants some time ago. No one has been able to prove it, but there are suspicions among some of us that he acts as an assassin for his mentor.
“But if he’s a servant,” James interrupted, “he wouldn’t attack another servant, would he?”
DaNyang looked up at him with a look that spoke both pity and possibly shame, “I’m afraid you are having to grow up very quickly as a servant, James. The Servants in general are united against the Dark, but not all servants are genuinely in the service of the Light – in their hearts, I mean. Usually we can tell this by watching them and observing their conduct, but at times, even the best of us are fooled by an imposter with other priorities hidden in his heart. A servant assassin! There should be no such thing. Going after nefarin would not be considered assassination, and we never attack those humans who serve the Dark unless they pose a direct danger to us or others. Attacking from the shadows is a trick of the Shadow.”
“So then who is this Koo, really?” James queried. “Is he from the Dark?”
“I don’t think so…” DaNyang puzzled, “…not directly in league with them, but I’m pretty sure he’s not of the Light either. My guess is he carries out assassinations for his master to get inconvenient people out of the way, whether they are servants of the Dark or even servants of the Light. It's hard to believe he could carry a rhema, or something that appears to be one, if he is not of the Light, but those outside the Light have many ruses and deceptions.”
“This adds a new angle to the problem,” James conceded, “but I’m sure if I can reach the Intercessor, he will have some advice.”
“Yes, you’re right,” DaNyang said with sudden hope as he stood bolt upright. “Can you get back in the hold and find him? It will be very risky. I don’t want to coerce you into something this dangerous.”
“No,” James said with a bold smile, “don’t worry about my safety. So many people have risked their lives for mine recently…and one has even given his life. It’s about time I returned the favor. Besides, I’m a servant now and it’s my duty to the Light.”
James patted the invisible sword at his side and then clasped DaNyang’s shoulder with his right hand. “If I’m not back out here before nine, then you know I have failed. If I don’t see you again, thank you for finding me and changing my life. Things may be a lot crazier for me these days, but I have a real purpose and drive now. May the Light shine on you.”
With this, James kicked off his shoes, took several deep breaths, and dove into the crystal clear, icy pond beside them. The frigid chill of the water had not left since James first emerged from this pool not long ago, so his lungs constricted and he had to surface once for another deep breath before plunging into the dark hole in the rock several feet beneath the surface. Feeling his way through the black water, James suppressed his fear of drowning, which was abated somewhat by the fact that this time he knew about how far he had to swim before reaching air again. Just when it seemed like he had been swimming too long and thoughts of wrong turns in the dark rushed into his mind, James’ right hand broke the surface of the water. This was fortunate, since there was no light in the room where the underwater cave ended. If he had not chanced upon the surface, he might have died groping for a way out while just feet from the black air above him.
After pulling himself out of the water quietly, James felt his way toward the wall and began creeping along the side of the room and down the corridor leading out of the room. The silence of the caves encompassed him, and he began to wonder whether the servants had not evacuated the hold. Suddenly, muffled voices echoed through the tunnels, and James caught glints of a reflected light a ways ahead of him. As he watched, the reflections grew stronger and shadows began to dance along the walls. James realized someone was approaching and frantically searched for an escape. Just as footsteps were becoming audible, he noticed a darker spot in the blackness ahead of him, and realized there must be a crevice in the rock ahead. He ran to the void and squeezed his body in as far as it would go. The footsteps halted for a moment, then the tunnel was lit with a blazing white light. A short man with rust colored skin slowly walked past James’ hiding place with his sword drawn. Fortunately, he did not notice the crevice, whose opening was concealed from those passing in the direction he was heading. After a few guarded steps, the man seemed to shake off his wariness and sheathed his sword. When James could not hear his footsteps any longer, he shoved himself out of his nook and hurried down the corridor.
Soon, he came upon a room with three tiny cells chiseled into the rock face and covered with thin bars. A tiny lamp hung on the wall and gave a faint glow to the room. Two of the cells were empty, but the third held an old man, sitting on the ground with his head hung, but looking dignified nonetheless.
“Intercessor?” James cautiously whispered.
The man drew his head up suddenly, and James could see the hope in his eyes regardless of the low light. “James!” he exclaimed breathlessly. “I am so glad to see you are well. After you left, there was a rebellion. I was afraid they might have hunted you down since you were connected to me.”
“No,” James replied, “I don’t think they sent anyone after me, though there were others who tried to disrupt my mission. I was led all the way to the ends of this country, and wouldn’t even be here now if DaNyang hadn’t found me and told me what happened.”
The Intercessor jumped to his feet, “Then DaNyang is still free too? Praise the Light! This is a blessing unexpected. I want to know more about your mission, but I’m afraid we cannot take the luxury of protracted conversation. Did you complete your mission?”
“Yes,” James replied humbly as his eyes shot to the ground, “but just barely, and I only received my rhema today. DaNyang is outside in the forest, and he sent me to break you free. I’ll give you my rhema, and as soon as we can signal DaNyang, he’ll come to our aid. Do you think there is a chance we can make it?”
The Intercessor sighed and placed a hand on the bars separating him from James. “No, James, that is not what should be done. I am proud of your efforts and your concern, but I am still the Intercessor of Hanasan Hold, and I must do what I can to turn these wayward servants back to the Light.”
“But we heard them planning to kill you after your trial,” James protested. “Even if you are not condemned to die at your trial, do you think they will let you live after what they have done against you? They are your enemies now, aren’t they?”
“They may consider themselves my enemies, James, but I have not lost hope in reaching them.” The Intercessor paced the short distance of his cell a few times then looked James in the eyes. “This is where I must stay. My calling is here. Do not worry about my life. I will do what I can to preserve it, but my duty here must come first. There is something vital, though, that must be done. I had given up hope, but now there is a possibility. James, I know you have just donned the rhema and feel very uncertain of yourself, but I must ask you to accomplish a task for me.”
“What is it?” James asked eagerly. “I will do whatever I am able if it will benefit you and the servants.”
“There are things I planned to talk to you about in the months after your return from your mission…things of large-scale importance,” the Intercessor said and then paused. “The Light and the Dark play key roles in the affairs of men. Even politics, governmental decisions, and national policies are heavily influenced in the war between Light and Dark. I cannot go into detail, but I received contact from a group of servants in the neighboring country of Tangsu. They claim they have knowledge of very important information pertaining to this country and the stability of this region. I don’t know anything further, and what’s worse is I ha
lf suspect a trap. We have not had contact with this group before, and their country is still struggling to free itself from decades under domination of the Darkness. However, in such dark places, those few who do stand for the Light stand stronger and more resolute than we often do. I can’t pass up the chance that they might have some genuine information to share with us and I welcome the opportunity to foster ties between servants of our two countries, so I was planning to go myself.”
“I wouldn’t hesitate to help you,” James pledged, “but I don’t think I am able. I don’t speak their language, and I can barely mumble a few phrases in your native tongue. Why don’t you send DaNyang?”
“DaNyang must help me in another way. Tell him to find all the servants who fled during the rebellion. Many slipped away when the rebels began forcing servants to choose between joining them and being imprisoned and tried. He needs to find them, convince them of their duty to the Light and bring them all back to Hanasan Hold. I am confident that somehow the hold will be restored to us, though I confess at this time I do not see how. That leaves only you, James. The contact will speak your language. Contacts are trained in several languages. You must go to the Haemol Restaurant on the outskirts of Shangtang and wait for a woman wearing a dress of local cut with a butterfly pattern. That is all I know. Also, the meeting is tonight and Shangtang is hundreds of miles away, so you will have to use the portals. This will be difficult to explain, but…”
“Wait,” James interrupted, “do you mean the one in the courtyard? That’s how DaNyang and I came here.”
The Intercessor’s surprise was visible, but he refrained from inquiry. “We will certainly have to discuss your travels when we meet again, but for now, just be sure you are standing on the spot at sundown.”
“It works at sundown too?” James remarked. “But what about envisioning my destination? I couldn’t even point to the place on a map let alone visualize it.”
