“One more sunset and one more sunrise, that is all that is left to you, Karashihan.” Sylk remained silent. Judging from the way he looked, I guessed the old man was pretty accurate.
“Do you seek the end of your days? If so, then you need to do nothing. It will happen soon enough.”
Sylk shook his head.
“Then you seek to remain here?”
“Yes, yes I do,” whispered Sylk.
“Are you prepared for the cost?”
“Yes, I am.”
“We shall see, walk with me.” The old man turned to exit the room and walked down one of the dimly lit corridors. The corridor was one of four facing what I could only describe as a rock garden. Within the garden were large boulders with lines of gravel and sand surrounding them. Trees grew throughout the space. At first it seemed the trees were placed randomly, but after a moment a pattern emerged, or so I thought. We wound our way around the garden as I wondered where everyone else was. Aside from the monitors killed by Diana, I saw no one else but our group and the old man. In the center of the garden ran a stream that deposited into a small lake that was crossed by several wooden bridges. At the edge of the lake were three stone benches side by side. The old man made his way to the center bench and beckoned Sylk to sit beside him. The rest of us filled the other benches, except Zen who remained standing.
“What will you do if I return your life to you, Karashihan?” asked the old man. A smile played upon his lips.
“I will prepare him,” he said, gesturing to me, “for the threat that is coming,” said Sylk. The old man turned to look at me as if for the first time. I couldn’t tell if he saw me or not, but I got the distinct feeling nothing went unnoticed by him.
“I see he bears a named weapon, one of the three. Is this not preparation enough?”
“He has no skill in its use. He is not ready and we need a syllabist.”
Well, thanks for the glowing review, Sylk.
“Do you realize the threat that this weapon presents, Karashihan? Do you remember the last time it was unleashed?”
“I do.”
“And you still feel it is the answer to the upcoming threat?”
“Yes, we were fortunate to have one of the three.” The old man nodded as if agreeing to something.
“Very well, then, the cost. What are you willing to give as payment?”
“I pledge my life to the Watch,” said Sylk. Meja, who had been serious throughout this exchange, gave a sharp inhalation. The old man looked out over the lake, saying nothing.
“This is no small thing, Karashihan. Once pledged, you will be bound to the Watch. Are you certain?” The old man turned to face Sylk, his expression serious.
“Yes, I am.”
“What does that mean?” I asked Meja, who was looking at Sylk in disbelief.
“It means that once he is done with what he considers preparing you, he must come back and live here, permanently.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“For someone like Sylk, it would be like putting you in a box or a cell. Yes, it is a bad thing.”
“What if he doesn’t do this?”
“Then he dies,” she said.
Life imprisonment or death, didn’t seem like either was a good choice. I stood and was about to head to Sylk but Meja grabbed me by the wrist. “Watch your words. That old man is an embodiment of the Watch. He could kill you with a blink.”
That made me pause. I headed over slowly. Sylk and the old man turned to face me and I asked the most burning question first.
“Why?”
The old man answered. “The Karashihan feels you will be enough of a deterrent to the entity that seeks the destruction of all.”
Sylk looked at me, with a lopsided grin and said, “Not much of a choice. If I don’t do this, I have about a day left. At least this way, I can help prevent the imminent destruction of this and other planes of existence.”
“But you will be a prisoner here, won’t you?”
“That’s a very strong term. I wouldn’t say prisoner, more like caretaker or executor.”
“Would you be able to leave this place?”
“Not in the conventional sense, no. This does not mean that I will be trapped.”
I remained silent. It didn’t seem like there were many options. He appeared to be getting weaker by the hour.
“It doesn’t appear like I have much of a choice at this point,” he said echoing my thoughts. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Meja stand and walk over. This didn’t look good.
“Why don’t you just accept death?” she asked. Sylk looked at her and then turned to look at the lake the still surface reflecting the garden and trees.
“I still have a few things left to accomplish, things that I cannot do if I am dead. Rest assured, monitor, that when my time comes, I will face it as I am called upon to do so.”
Meja didn’t seem satisfied. She turned to the old man, a little less indignantly. “Why, why are you letting him do this? He deserves to die. He has slain many, whose only offense was to stand against him.”
The old man stared at her with those bottomless eyes.
“Before monitors and warriors, I was. Before Karashihan past and present, I was. I have seen countless ages come and go. Your life is but a passing thought in the scheme of all things. If I allow this, it is because it serves a purpose you may not see, and may never be able to see. I sense that this is not enough to quell the rage within you, so perhaps another answer will suffice. Give me your hand.” Meja slowly extended her hand to the old man. He clasped it in his gnarled hand and pulled Meja a little closer. As he pulled her hand, I noticed that his eyes shifted across the spectrum of color. “This is one of the most probable outcomes if the Karashihan is removed at this time.” He looked into her face closely and I knew she was seeing something horrific from the way her face contorted in pain and disgust.
“No more, no more,” she whispered, tears streaming down her face.
“Was that answer sufficient, monitor?” She nodded.
“Very well, let us do what must be done.” The old man stood and began walking to the lake. Sylk followed him. When they were both at the edge, the old man pointed with his staff.
“In the center of the lake lies a chest. In the chest lies the medallion of Sacrifice. If you manage to locate the chest and if you are allowed to wear the medallion, then your offer will be accepted, your pledge will be valid and you will be restored.” He swung the staff at all of us. “They cannot assist you in any way whatsoever.”
He grasped the staff with both hands and stood facing Sylk. “If your offer is rejected, this will be your final resting place. Not bad as resting places go.” And with that the old man disappeared.
Mara began walking towards Sylk but he stopped her with an upheld hand.
“No, I must do this alone.”
“But you cannot! Not in your condition.”
“I must. Sylk was intractable and his voice indicated that the conversation was over. He jumped head first into the lake.
REBIRTH
WE ALL STOOD beside the lake. All of us except Meja. She had moved over to stand beside one of the trees that encircled the lake. I walked over to her.
“Hey, you okay?”
“No, not really. The things I saw, the death and destruction,” she choked up, her eyes watering anew. I had no way of knowing what she saw, but if she was this shaken up, it had to be bad.
“Dante, imagine the most horrific expression of Hell on Earth. Take that and magnify it one- hundred fold. That image will seem like a vacation compared to the visions shown to me.”
I remained silent a moment, thinking.
“So what are our options?”
“If he doesn’t return, we will have very few options,” she said, looking at the lake.
At the edge of the lake stood Mara, silent and expectant. The day was starting to wind down and at least an hour had passed since Sylk entered the lake. From the other side of
the garden approached a young man. He was dressed simply in a blue robe with white accents. His shaven head glistened in the afternoon light. He was of average height and wiry and his hands gave the impression of hidden strength. His tan skin contrasted well with the colors of the robe and I wondered how old he was, since he didn’t look a day over twenty. As he made his way over to us, I noticed that he didn’t so much step as glide to where we were. Everything about him indicated that he was considerably trained. I was suddenly glad we were not meeting as adversaries. He stopped a few paces from us, placed his hands together before him in prayer fashion and bowed.
“Hello, my name is Rin. I have been instructed to show you where you may lodge while the Karashihan undergoes his trial.”
“Do you have anything to eat?” asked Zen. I’m starving.”
Rin smiled and outstretched his arm. “If you follow me, I will show you where you can leave your things and eat.” His voice gave no indication of his age.
Mara turned to Rin. “May I stay here?”
Rin bowed to her. Did he know her or was she someone special?
“You are welcome to keep a vigil if you desire,” Rin said.
“How long do these trials take, usually?”
Rin shook his head as he turned to Zen. “That is impossible to say, Guardian. Each trial is unique. What appears as a lake on the surface is very different beneath it. I will say this: the only other attempt at the medallion lasted two days, but he did not return.”
“How long ago was that?” I asked. He turned to me.
“That was fifty years ago.” So he was much older than he seemed. Although his eyes were not completely filled in like the old man, I wondered if it was a gradual process.
“Are you like the old man?” I ventured.
“Do you mean the keeper of the Watch?” His eyes opened in surprise. “You have seen him?”
I nodded. Controlling his surprise, he answered. “No, I am not like him; I am very much like all of you, flesh and blood. You have indeed had a special privilege to meet the keeper. Some of us live out our entire lives here and only catch brief glimpses of him. He usually only appears to the most senior of us.” He shook his head in genuine amazement and looked at us again, as if seeing us for the first time. “This way, please. I will take you to your rooms.”
We followed him to a path in the garden that I had not noticed before. Mara remained behind and sat on one of the benches. I looked at the lake again and wondered what was happening to Sylk. Our rooms were palatial along the same line of the antechamber —each room cool but not uncomfortable. All of the rooms were adjoining. In the central room, which was a common meeting room, there was a table with a variety of bread, cheeses and fruits. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I saw the food. I noticed that each of the rooms was connected to this central room. The common room itself was a pentagon, each side being formed by one wall of our rooms. I realized that the pattern was a pentagon inside of a pentagon. Zen made a beeline for the food as I noticed the absence of any meat. Meja saw the question on my face. “Most monitors abstain from eating any kind of meat,” she said.
“Really, why?”
“It was thought to enhance their abilities as monitors. It’s no longer required to give up meat, but a place like this, I’m sure would adhere to the old ways.”
I walked over to the table with the food, helping myself to ample amounts of bread, cheese and fruit. In pitchers around the table was what appeared to be water. I filled a large glass and was about to drink when Rin put his hand on my wrist. “You may want to drink that in small amounts. Think caffeine that’s super concentrated without any of the ill side effects.”
I noticed that the others were taking very small sips with their food. I took a small sip and instantly felt revitalized. I felt as if I had slept an entire night and was well rested. I was still hungry but only slightly so.
“What is this drink called?” I asked.
“The original name has been lost over time. Thankfully we still retain the means to make it. I fear we are the only Watch that still produces it. At one time this was present in every Watch. We call it manar and it is best taken in a small dose, that is if you want to sleep,” he said and laughed. “We brought it out because we knew your path ahead will be long.”
“Hmm, manar,” said Zen as he sipped his glass. I took another sip and my hunger vanished. “You should still eat. You will need the nutrients. Manar is excellent but it will not replace food indefinitely,” said Rin. I forced myself to eat and then made my way to where Meja was.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“Not really. Part of me wishes he never gets out of that lake, but what I saw, Dante, the things I saw.” It was rare for Meja to be so frank with me so I did the smartest thing I could think of – I remained silent. The silence stretched out between us. I tried to give her some small comfort.
“The keeper did say it was probable, not certain,” I said quietly.
“If there is a slight chance of that ever coming to pass, I would rather die first.” There was nothing I could say. I looked into her emerald eyes and saw fear, anger and determination in them. I noticed just how beautiful she was. I also recalled just how dangerous. I decided it would be wiser to keep my feelings to myself.
“We will be ready, don’t worry,” I tried to assure her. Too late I realized that I had allowed my testosterone to cloud my brain function. I could see the walls go up immediately as she pierced me with a look.
“I am concerned, as you should be. As for getting ready, I don’t need to be ready —you do. I am going to bed.”
She headed to her room and Kal followed her. I hadn’t heard a word from Kalysta since her sister died earlier. I wondered how she was doing. What a group we were. Not for the first time I thought about how we were going to accomplish saving not only our plane but every one that was connected to ours. Zen headed to where I was sitting, food being his primary focus.
“I’m worried, Zen,” I told him as he sat down with the largest piece of bread I had ever seen.
“About… what?” he said in between mouthfuls.
“If Sylk doesn’t come back, if my weapon takes over, if Kal decides life isn’t worth living without Val. What the threat I’m supposed to be ready for is? You know, little things like that.”
He looked at me a long time without answering. So long in fact that I was beginning to think I stunned him into silence.
“Dante,” he said after a while. “You are worrying about things and events you cannot control or influence, at least not yet. All this energy you are putting into worrying about this stuff, you can divert into learning about your weapon, and getting ready.”
He had a point.
“Listen, why don’t you sleep on all of that? I’m sure if Sylk decides to surface, while we are asleep, someone will come get us. Mara is at the lake and I’m sure she will be the first to say something when he comes back.”
“You said when not if that time,” I pointed out “You know something we don’t?”
“The only thing I do know is that if he doesn’t come back, this whole expedition just became much harder. He may be creepy but something tells me we need him on our side.”
“I’m not sure he is on any side, but his own, Zen.”
While we were speaking, he had finished his food.
“Why don’t you go to bed? I think I’ll be up a while longer, see if I can convince Rin about the importance of meat in a guardian’s diet.” I looked at him and we broke into laughter, his huge frame shaking.
“You should have seen your face! I’m kidding, D., really, so get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.” I headed off to my room, which was directly opposite Meja’s. As I undressed and got ready for bed, I had serious doubts about actually getting any sleep, partly due to the manar. I lay on the bed wide awake, looking at the ceiling.
At some point, exhaustion must have taken over because I found myself in a large green field. Eve
rywhere I could see there was grass. Somehow I knew this was a dream. Interspersed on this field were immense boulders the size of houses. I walked over to the nearest boulder and ran my hand over it. Parts were worn smooth while others had the rough texture of heavy grain sandpaper. On the boulder farthest from me sat a figure. I couldn’t make out the face. As I drew closer a sense of familiarity washed over me. The figure leapt from the boulder and landed gracefully on one foot a short distance from me. He was dressed in black. —black leather pants topped off with a black silk shirt. A black long coat finished the ensemble. The coat itself had red brocade that ran the entire edge of it. His hair was salt and pepper and cut short. He looked to be in phenomenal shape. The most striking feature was his face. His piercing eyes looked into mine as he took me in. “You look like shit.” And then he laughed. It wasn’t a pleasant sound. His face was my face, aged several years.
“Hello, Maelstrom,” I said as coldly as I could.
“We really need to keep meeting like this, Dante. What’s this place? Your field of dreams? It’s quaint,” he said as he looked around.
“What do you want?”
He turned to me. “Now that is a most interesting question, don’t you think?”
“You almost got me killed with the Rah Ven,” I stated matter of factly.
“It would have merely precipitated the most probable outcome of our relationship. Face it, vessel, you can’t handle this, can’t handle me. The sooner we resolve this, the better it is for both of us.”
“By resolve, you mean my death.”
“Well, yes. It’s the fastest way to extricate myself from this uneven yoke. Truly I don’t know how this occurred when I think of the warriors I have been joined with. You are but a pale shadow of them.”
“You are right. This was thrust upon me. I didn’t ask for it,” I said slowly.
Warriors of the Way-Pentalogy Page 19
