Realms of Shadow and the Knight of Fire

hehe, sorry; a story I'm in the process of rewtiting...

-------------------------------------------

The world is black. Total black and death, but there's a feeling that something is alive; that a girl is sitting there, alone in the darkness. Insubstantial smoke trails by in wisps as she sits in a mangled heap there on the non-existent floor. There are no walls to this room; no up, no down and the ears go deaf for the silence. It is nothing more than a dream within a dream that managed to outgrow the dreamer.

For no reason, her consciousness is roused; turned back on as if by a switch to computer that is slow to reboot. Her eyes blink open and she is gone. Was she ever really there to begin with?

She was now sitting on the altar of an enormous church to an un-named god, the tendrils of darkness seeming to have followed her as they swam obscurely in the corners of the room. No light filtered through the stained glass windows, and, seeing this room, one wonders if light ever entered through them. Light came, not as beams from a sun or hidden bulb, but as from the air itself; as if light were a particle that flitted here and there as a kind of dust that faintly illuminated all it touched. Maybe not much in the church was worth touching... Only the girl could be clearly seen, and then only as if through an obscure mist.

She blinked again and found herself in her room. She was standing now, in the dim, pinkish light. Rain droplets clung to the window, but there was no sound of the stormy night outside. There was only the faint electrical sound that seemed to follow her as the whitewash walls of her bedroom met her on every side. The walls were a jumble of broken mirrors and colorful junk collected in piles that had accumulated there over the years. She faced her dimly colorful bedspread, back to the door, seeing nothing but a dimly familiar thing in the lamplight. Then everything changed.

The door blew inward. She turned to see a black figure standing in a world of blinding white light on the other side of the open doorway. For a moment her room vanished in her absorption into that realm of white. Her eyes, though so used to the darkness, didn't even flinch as she stared into the light, as she tried to discern more of the character walking toward her.

Her eyes fell first on his sword. It hung unsheathed by his side, dangling carelessly from but a few fingertips. It was a massive sword, shining silver and orange, hinting of red.

His body was lean, but with a massive chest. He strode forward and into her bedroom as if it were nothing; he came to where he was unwelcome as if he had been there all his life and there was no ill will against him at all.

They stood in her bedroom in a heated discussion, though none but those talking ever heard what was said. The tone, though, was pervasive. The dreamer felt what was said as the alien words spewed from their mouths in torrents.

The girl. Anger. Not only did this stranger presume to know her, but he also expected her to hand over the enchanted artifacts her mistress had entrusted her with.

The man. He was on a mission. A passion drove him that this girl would never understand. He needs something, something that this girl might be able to help him with. But did he want the artifacts or her help? It isn't clear. She wouldn't understand, not at first. Soon, though; with persistence. This first time she probably wouldn't even listen.

A name comes to mind... two names... This mystery girl is given a name by the stranger from the light realm. Rei, worshipper. He, who dared to speak her name when it had not been given presumed to know her mistress, Sable; the mother of the congregation of lost souls. How dare he speak her name! He didn't know her at all! When Rei stubbornly told him to leave, he did so. The sword was never raised and he turned, his determination un-altered, to leave the same way he came.

For some time she tried to calm herself, but checked a clock on the wall. Time to go. The congregation was about to meet and her parents wouldn't miss her at dinner.

A bat of the eyes and her room was replaced by that same pitch-black world in which nothing ever was and yet everything was hidden. The world of infinite hope and possibility where nothing ever truly happened. That was the way of the dark realm. The darkness, however, had taken some shape this time. Sable could bend it to her every whim. For the congregation's meetings she had a section of the dark realm blocked against anyone who was not of the congregation. Whoever was within this section could see her clearly, though. She gave off a kind of light that wasn't light, but a form of darkness that stood out from the surrounding black vacuum.

Faces of grey congregants floated here and there, imperceptible to the strongest of night visions. They had gathered here to hear her voice massage their minds and give them a sense of life they could only feel here. They had a purpose. They were a people united across the myriad shadow realms more than any other people could hope to be because they had Sable.

Sable, their beloved leader. She was speaking to them now. No sound existed in the dark realm, but they heard her anyway; as if she were a dream from the distant past floating to the surface of their individual consciousnesses. Despite how Rei tried, though, she couldn't submit herself entirely to the darkness as she usually did. She strained against it, searching subconsciously for any hint of her strange visitor; in person or in the ghost of Sable's expressions.

He was there. He entered through what the mind could only imagine was a curtain for he appeared slowly out of the vacuum beside Sable's altar. The dream voice in her mind changed, as Rei was sure it did in everyone's mind. Not everyone would be able to see the stranger. Some might not even notice the tone change in their priestess's dream voice, but the congregation was over before too long and they would discover the difference when they arrived home earlier than usual.

One by one the faint auras of the congregants flickered away as they returned to their home realms until only Sable, Rei and the stranger remained. Then Sable flickered away. The stranger looked at Rei for a moment before he, too, flickered and went out. Concerned, Rei blinked.

Again, she was in the church. She opened her eyes to find Sable collapsed in one of the pews. Try as she might, Rei could not discover why. Resigning at last, Rei allowed Sable to touch her forehead with a kiss that would send her home, to her home dimension, tucked in safe under that colorful comforter but crying in confusion as sleep took her under its wings. There was someone else waiting in that church that Rei had not seen. Sable did not want her to see him waiting there patiently for them to be alone.

The sword glowed orange against the gloom, enhancing the archaic word upon its length whose meaning is lost to all but the begrimed and secretive dead. It was now covered by his black cloak as it set across the knees of common black garb; black denim jeans whose silver buckles and hoops reflected the muted tones of orange the sword cast.

They spoke. Words floated through the air, quickly and slowly. Sable cut the room with hers as she refused to listen. She would not be swayed. He could not sweet-talk her again. Again. His words had worked before. Not for long, but briefly. They had meant so much. They still sound so sweet, but no. She had been hurt too badly last time. Never again would she fall into their honey-snare. Deep and low his melodic voice pleaded and vowed faith, deep and low his melodic voice fell on deaf ears of someone who wanted nothing more than for him to leave.

So leave he did, only to return again. She needed his help. She needed him. He loved her and couldn't refuse. It didn't matter that she wanted him to. For now, though, he was gone. Sable was finally left alone.

A black figure with a flaming sword faded into a world of white with one more dejected stride.

It was time for the congregation to meet again. The stars still lit the raindrops on the window pane and Rei was barely roused from sleep when the colorful comforter drifted downward to fill the vacancy she had left in her bed and she was once again in that land of darkness, blinking the sleep from her wetting eyes. Sable was there. A purple glow surrounded her as she spoke to her people.

Few could see in the murky dark of this realm and then never anything definite. Only the strongest of auras could be seen and then only by those sensitive to them. Rei's own aura was light blue. It was dimmed in this world, but she could make out her own fingers. Another male in the congregation had a green aura. He was from a lighter realm than Rei. She had visited him once, in his home. Sable had a mission for them to work on, together, with only their bond with Sable in common. A few other figures could be seen in misted outlines.

Orange.

Only flashes of it, hints of it, were there; in a corner that didn't exist in this wall-less realm. She knew their perpetrator. Did Sable see? Did she know about this stranger who had walked so coolly into Rei's chamber? Surely, Sable saw. She had to see. Didn't she? Rei began to doubt.

She couldn't tell Sable; only Sable had the power to project. Everyone contributed to the emotion of the space, but the only coherent thoughts projected were from Sable. Emotions of everyone around her encompassed her and permeated her but she could feel her own horror spread. Sable could sense the change in the congregation and sought out its source.

Rei was instantly calmed by the cool touch of Sable's loving hand upon her troubled mind. She almost forgot the orange figure lurking in the shadowy edges of the congregation. All she could think about was peace, about Sable as she went to the others around Rei to touch them with her icy fingers, coating their troubled minds with snow.

The orange fire soon melted the snow once more for Rei, but she suppressed it this time. The man with the green aura was looking straight at her. Did he see the man with the blazing aura? Did he get visited in the night? Has he handed over the ancient artifact entrusted to him? That obsidian dagger could not be entrusted to this orange man. Never. It was needed for the war.

She searched the face of the green man. He was too far away, though, too dim in the darkness. He could shroud his aura like the orange man, but easier for his was a darker green to begin with. Orange mixed with the green on one side of his face as the figure approached him.

Seeing the multitude of fetal, black figures interrupted by his blatant strides was unnatural to her eyes. Even Sable, as she passed among her people, did so in a slow, fluid, dreamlike manner. This man had no use for dreams. He walked directly at the man. Rei knew he saw him. His face was turned toward the orange sword. Rei blinked. A quick dash to the other side of her room and she blinked again. She was now between the green man and fiery blade. A twinkle of sunlight, of starlight, of the blinding white light of his home realm filled the eyes of this sword-wielding intruder. Rei could feel someone touching her. In this realm that was more of a feeling of static electricity moving across your skin. There is no heat, no cold, no feeling, no motion, no sights, no smells. This was the world of mind and spirit, but even the touching of two spirits is touching. Sable was beside her, emitting the coldest feeling Rei had ever encountered. Her hate for the orange blade calmed, the congregation calmed, the man in orange was taken aback. He was pushed away by the blast of ice. Away he floated; past the multitude of black congregants that were slowly disappearing, one by one. Away he floated; back through the curtain and into his world of white.

The space emptied until only Sable, Rei and their green-aura-ed companion remained. Bowing his head to Sable, the man blinked back to his home realm. Sable’s eyes shone inches from Rei’s. Sable blinked and Rei was alone in the darkness. The monsters and unicorns and dragons and faeries of her childhood kept her company, nudged at her elbow, comforted her as only they knew how. A tear managed to find its way past her shields and was rolling down her cheek before she could blink.

Both girls were now on the altar; Rei sobbing into Sable’s arms, Sable into Rei’s dark hair. As they cried, the knight of fire slunk up to the first pew. His sword was with him, but sheathed, for now. Black beasts of flight beat their wings beyond the colored panes above them. Every now and then Sable would look up into his dark eyes. She would immediately look away. Too much of a future she had buried was held in those eyes. Too much of her pain was based on what she found there. Too many memories of happy times, of evil times, of her broken heart to bear; but the temptation was too strong. The light of the white realm encompassed her in her memories…

She was smiling. She smiled back then. She looked up into those dark eyes of infinite possibility, of hope, of love that was endless. She loved those eyes. She loved the boy smiling down at her. Life passed in a whirlwind of light and color. They were children back then. Life was pure. People were pure, but not for long.

The light penetrated her life. It cast evil shadows over all the good and illuminated all the wrongs of the world. Sweet childhood turned bitter in her mouth. Life was there and people were ruining it. The world was ruining it. Love turned out to be nothing but a silly idea in the silly minds of the dim-witted. A chemical reaction to be recreated, to blind people to your wrongs, to idolize you, to obey you... And those who hold on to the old beliefs are mere fools, made fools of by those who would use them. Those sweet, dark eyes of infinite capacity made her a fool.

Oh, to hate someone and love them… to know that your brain was working against itself and yet unable to stop it… to see those eyes and to hate them because they drew you to them… Oh, to be Sable. Her name wasn’t Sable back then. It was Lila. She was named for her two favorite flowers. Lilacs and Lilies. Her mother didn’t want her to have such a silly name, but Lila insisted. Her mother was logical. The one word to accurately describe everyone Lila knew. Everyone, that is, except Alex.

He was different. He almost understood her wild imaginings. He was the one that defended her against the other children who would tease her. When the teachers shoved reality down her throat, he stood up to them. He was her knight in shining armor. He’d play the roles set before him perfectly as they danced through the old forests and misted hills of ancient kings. Not one word of the current democracy or the distant dictatorships or the wars or the technology of today. There was only yesterday, tomorrow; gleaming in the distance and drawn nearer every day. There was only fun, gaiety, and joy. Nothing else was real.

The adults began to worry about this. Call in the psychiatrist; these children have imaginations! Alex was stolen away from her. He left without a trace; his parents picked him up and moved. Lila, a girl long dead, stood on his front porch crying over a note his parents had left.

That was when she died.

If she was hurting Alex, how could she live? If she couldn’t be with him, how could she live? She couldn’t. It was as simple as that. And all it took was a short stroll to the street; the light disappeared.

She opened her eyes in the darkness. She saw her hand, glowing a faint purple. There was no light, but she could almost see it with her eyes. Purple was such a lovely color to be. Alex came and talked to her in the darkness. He came to save her. He came back to her, but her mind told her that he shouldn’t be around her. It took time; she was selfish when it came to her Alex, but she eventually learned to let him go.

That was the hardest thing she ever did. Afterwards she drifteed alone through the darkness, passing from one shadow realm to the next, never quite sure where she was or what she was doing there. That was when she found the church. That temple that was without an idol and yet felt more holy than any other. The place that would become her home. She sat on the altar. She slept on the altar. She lived to return to the darkness; the only god she knew.

He was there now. He wasn't a little boy to be ruined by her flights of fancy. He didn't have an evil mother looming over him. There was only him. But he wasn't the same. She wasn't the same. He could never be her knight in shining armor again. She realized this, why couldn't he? Did he know how much this hurt her; being so close to a memory and unable to re-live it? {i}return with me to the realm of light{/i} he seemed to say, {i}come back and be a child again, with me...{/i}

Perhaps they had no present and perhaps the past could not be repeated, but the future was infinite hope. Like his eyes. Perhaps she'd give him a chance...

Rei lifted her head, finally; her tears were spent. Sable reached up and wiped their remains off of her cheek. Rei collected with her tongue those that she could reach and looked up into Sable's face. She smiled in return and looked to her Alex. Rei followed her gaze in wonder. Why would Rei be smiling?

Alex stood and came forward, sword sheathed at his hip. Before coming up the three stairs to the altar he went down on one knee. A question was asked, but no marriage proposed. Did Sable forgive him? Is that what her smile had meant? She smiled again and up the remaining steps went he to take her hand.

Introductions went round. Sable, saliently silent Sable, did all the talking. Rei stared in wonder as the story unfolded before her. Alex did his part as well, telling all that he had done in her absence.

He told of moving, of sinking further within himself, of learning of her death, of learning how to walk between the realms without dying, of his searching everywhere for her before he finally found her here. As Sable stared into his eyes she was only dimly aware that Rei had blinked out of existence. Her thoughts were concerned elsewhere...

{i}His mother was still on control on the other side. She would always be standing there, right on the other side when he returned to the light, forcing medication down his throat.{/i} Sable could almost feel her across the span of the million realms that divided them. This was a boy who needed her help most of all. He couldn't be like her other congregants. Once he joined them he could never go home. He would have to stay with her. Here in the realm of the dead; where the living should never be forced.

He was still so beautiful, standing there, smiling. Could he live there in the dark and un-named temple? Could he go without returning to the light? Could she ask him to? No. All beings wished to return, eventually, to the light. Sometimes even Sable wished to return as a shadow to that beautiful land where the breeze blew through the boughs of trees. Where water reached up to kiss the shore and the earth felt good between the toes. Where rocks grew from the earth and warmed themselves in the brilliant sun's light. Every time she looked at him she could see summer blowing through and her desire to return home burned its brightest.

Ice crystals trickled by her mind's eye and Alex's expression changed. He could always read what she was thinking. He was darkness, but he was light. His brilliance would kill the darkness Sable had come to embody. Sable; black. The light would kill her now. His face sterner now, Alex reached out his hand. {i}Take it.{/i} The thought came from both of them at the same time.

Dragons spewed fire in his eyes. Unicorns shook their manes. The greatest civilizations of all of the realms passed by; one by one. Children grew up like plants before her eyes. Trees turned to clocks turned to pie turned to socks turned to shovels turned to ducks... Time and Place and Thing. None of them held any real meaning except that they were once there, that she saw them. His hand was still outstretched, but she couldn't see it. The darkness of his eyes engulfed her. Nothing else mattered. Without ever realizing that she had moved, she took his hand. The only thing she could remember was being broken from her trance and finding herself lost in his embrace as the light encompassed them.

{e:heart}{e:heart}{e:heart}{e:heart}{e:heart}{e:heart}{e:heart}

"Sweety?"

The girl blinked her eyes, it was too bright here.{i} Where's the darkness? Where's Alex? Why isn't he still here hugging me? Who's Alex? Where am I? What is this thing sticking in my arm?{/i}

"Lila Hitchcock, are you alright, sweet?" A sweet-looking middle-aged woman was looking down on her. Lila could feel the paper-thin sheets holding her down to the matress. She looked up around her and could see the countless machines she was hooked up to. "You've had a nice nap, now, haven't you?"

Lila cleared her throat and worked a few moments to get her lips wet enough to speak, "Where am I?"

"Licking Memorial Hospital, fourth floor, 5a."

She was still confused, even with the distinct pain in her legs and arms. "What happened?"

"You ran out in front of a car, sweet. "

The pain seemed to intensify with that knowledge.

“Your parents just left to go home and get some shut-eye. They should be back in a few hours.”

When Lila didn’t answer, the nurse went on “Here, love, I’ll turn the lights off for you.”

Sweet night once more! Pulling the thin sheet to her chin, she tried to sleep.