The Shadow of Death

by Timothy Smith

  Obi: "No. Just found these kids running around the place, and they asked to look around. So I decided, what could it hurt? Why not give them a tour of the place?" The guard was only mildly annoyed by Obi’s comment.

  Stepping back to assist the other guard in opening the massive doors, the guard didn’t respond back until the doors were fully opened, as he said, "I know this may be against your nature, but try not to do anything stupid." The man said half-jokingly.

  Obi laughed at the man’s comment, as him, and the children started making their way inside the temple. The guards made sure to enter inside just behind them.

  Obi: "We both know you care." He said in a taunting way between friends.

  The guard smiled back as he answered in return, "You're never going to get me to say it."

  Once everyone had fully entered inside, the guards closed the giant doors behind them. They then stood still near the doors as the children, and Obi walked a little further in. When the doors had closed, Obi spoke lightheartedly.

  Obi: "See kids, everyone here may be all serious business, but they're good people once you get to know them." All the while as Obi said this, the guard tried to maintain his forced yet very serious expression.

  Catching wind of how much effort the man was putting into it, Cherise couldn’t help herself from briefly giggling. Once Cherise caught the guards returned eye, she panicked, abruptly turning her gaze to begin nervously looking around.

  In contrast to its extravagant exterior, inside the temple there was surprisingly little. It was an almost completely empty room, a few hundred feet wide that was made of pure marble. There was a large stone slab with engravings mounted on the far side of the room. The stone tablet had engraved pictures, a pictured story of sorts, which were of no doubt of some significance to the Order. And at the center of the nearly empty room was a single pedestal holding up a clear glass orb. The orb itself was roughly a foot in diameter, but otherwise appeared rather ordinary. Obi then pointed over towards the stone slab.

  Obi: "You see that tablet on the wall? That's why the Order exists, and that's also why you'll have to train nonstop like the others to become fighters worthy of the Order’s ranks." Thinking about it a little longer, Obi shrugged.

  Obi: "Well at least, there's the engravings of the story anyway. I'm sure you've all heard of it before. The legend of the great Beast, that centuries ago nearly brought the Ehya to ruin, only to be defeated by the Light. Since that time, the Beast’s essence has been sealed away in six glass orbs. It is also till this very day, that the orbs have remained under heavy guard by those in the Order of the Light. And well, in case you haven't noticed..." Giving a moment’s pause for dramatic flair, Obi continued, "-That's us…" Obi said while gesturing towards himself, and the two guards.

  Cherise had no idea exactly why, but one of the guard’s deliberately fake coughed loud enough to interrupt Obi, seeming to take issue with something he said. But ignoring the man with a flippant hand gesture, he continued.

  Obi: "And one day that will be you kids too." Looking back at the stone slab, he looked remorseful.

  Obi: "Unfortunately as grand as it sounds, I don't believe it for a second. It's just some silly story created thousands of years ago by our superstitious ancestors. Whatever the case, enough people still believe in legend that we're still around." And outright grumbling now, as he continued.

  Obi: "Pfft! I remember the day my parents gave me over to the Order. They said I was lucky, that what I was doing here was for a higher purpose." He said while looking distant at the stone mosaic on the opposing wall, and uttering some curses under his breath.

  Regaining his composure a little, Obi looked back at the children to say in an unenthused tone.

  Obi: "Oh, I forgot to mention, it's apparently viewed as a great honor to be in the Order." He said before putting his hands on his side, and letting out a sigh.

  After hearing his grumblings, the original guard Obi had spoken to responded to his complaints, saying, "Oh, not this again."

  But Obi ignored the guards comment yet again, as he then started pointing towards the glass orb in the center of the room.

  Obi: "That glass orb there. It supposedly one of the six that hold a portion of the essence of the beast." Even though its significance seemed important through the stories told, the orb itself looked entirely unremarkable in every which way.

  Obi: "It’s just a glass ball with no special quality or features in the slightest. Just a story, and just a ball. Sometimes I even think about breaking it, just to show everyone there’s nothing special about it.-" He said honestly, which immediately got the two guards riled up, with Obi instantly feeling the need to apologize, saying, “-Sorry, sorry. It was just a joke. Lighten up a little.”

  Obi’s remarks about the orb being unremarkable in its appearance seemed to be the case for all who were present. For all of them it appeared to be that way with the one exception being Cherise, who was looking at the orb intently. She began noticing that inside the sphere was a faint black cloud like substance, which was moving around like a living entity as it swayed inside the glass.

  What on Ehya is that?...

  The black cloud inside the orb grew. Seeping from the orb itself, the strange substance appeared to be escaping from its confines. And once the black substance had finally emerged from the orb, it lingered over the surface of the glass like a fog. The essence then appeared to have the limbs like spider’s legs, which both reached and clawed outward.

  No… No! Not again! It’s all happening again!

  Nervous sweat started to roll down her face, and in a mixture of both fear and shock, Cherise looked back at the others briefly. None of them gave any indications of what she was baring witness to, none of them showed any reaction to the dark presence. Cherise started panicking, as she started slowly backing further away from the orb.

  Why is this happening again?! Why can no one else see this? Why am I the only one?!... Is what I've been seeing somehow related to the Beast in the stories? Why is this happening to me?!

  As these thoughts flooded into her mind, Cherise was visibly unnerved, as she began anxiously grabbing and tugging at Obi's robe. Deliberately making her desperation obvious, Cherise spoke to Obi while keeping her eyes fixated on the orb.

  Cherise: "I want to leave! Please, can we just leave?!" She said with a shaken voice.

  Obi: "Huh? What’s the matter?" And Cherise immediately replied while looking at Obi pleadingly, as she tugged again at his robe.

  Cherise: "I want to go now! Please? Can we go?" Her seemingly abrupt fright got everyone’s attention, and Obi was at a complete loss with what to do with her.

  Obi certainly didn't know how to react to Cherise’s sudden panic attack, as he frantically started trying to calm her down. All while Obi was fumbling for words or ways to comfort Cherise, Theo looked back towards the orb curiously, to see as to what had frightened his younger sister this time around.

  And as Theo continued peering at the orb more intently, something seemed curious about the glass sphere, something was off, mysterious even, as he looked on more inquisitively than he had earlier. The more he gazed on, the more the orb seemed to be captivating, welcoming, tempting. Time seemed to be a blur for Theo, as he continued to be struck in awe, and wonder of the unusual item, unable to pinpoint where exactly his fascination was coming from. Unable to explain why, he now found himself completely engrossed with the glass sphere.

  Abruptly and with a great force, Theo was yanked backwards by the collar of his shirt. To his surprise, he noticed that Obi had grabbed him. While holding Theo tightly with one hand, Obi was looking at while pleading to a nearby guard who had his sword raised high. The man was fully intending to strike down the young boy, only now hesitating on behalf of Obi’s intervention, as Obi frantically yelled out to the guard.

  Obi: "WAIT!!"

  He had exclaimed to the guard while holding firmly onto Theo's collar, having him safely to his other side. And with Obi�
��s other side towards the guard, he outstretched his staff defensively, preparing to block a strike if necessary.

  With his sudden trance broken, Theo was just barely getting his baring before realizing he had walked right up to the orb’s pedestal. Now scared himself, Theo realized he walked nearly fifty feet while he was staring at the orb. With the entirety of the distance he’d made, Theo had not even noticed or recollected having even taken a single step.

  The guard was infuriated as he pointed towards the door and yelled out a command in a hot rage, "Get out, now!"

  His order was promptly followed, as the children had hurriedly made their exit with Obi urging Theo safely on by his side, pushing at his back.

  But before they left, the guard yelled out a warning from inside the temples hall, "Keller will hear of this!"

  As they were leaving, Cherise looked back one last time at the orb, which now had a glowing white upward crescent inside of its darkened form. Instinctively she knew immediately what the white crescent was. An unnatural sinister grin.

  It’s real! It’s real!! There's no mistaking it now! The story of the Beast is true!

  The sight sent shivers down her spine as she clung onto Obi. Cherise remained clinging onto him for protection the entirely time, as their group quickly made some distance from the temples doors. As they were briskly moving, Obi looked down disapprovingly at Theo. And unable to contain his curiosity, Ira had to ask.

  Ira: "What happened in there?! What were you thinking?" Theo couldn't find the words to answer Ira’s question, as he seemed to be more at a loss on the matter than anyone else.

  ────────

  Shortly afterward, the three were pulled aside by Obi to the center of the courtyard. As earlier promised, Keller was informed of what happened, and shortly thereafter, he started to walk up to them, particularly heading straight towards Obi with a furious expression. The old man yelled at Obi at the top of his lungs unable to restrain his anger.

  Keller: "They haven't even been here for two hours, and this happens!" He said, giving only a second’s pause for Obi to say something in his defense that never came.

  Keller: "You must be really terrible at this!" The Order’s temple leader said in a demeaning tone, along with other chastising remarks as he shook his cane around.

  While he was being berated, Obi was speechless except for the occasional nervous chuckle, which only encouraged the old man’s enraged rant even further with a few choice words that would even make a dwarf blush. The old man continued venting out his frustration, and anger with Obi for quite some time, with him offering no real rebuttal to old man’s remarks. After roughly half an hour, Keller had finally relented after realizing his voice was becoming hoarse.

  Having his fill of venting out his frustration on the four, Keller left them to ponder on the seriousness of what they’d done. Although he left after saying all he wanted on the matter, the old man was still clearly upset even as he took his leave.

  With Keller gone, Obi turned towards Theo with a forced smile and chuckle, only later to be followed by an exasperated sigh. Even though he tried, Obi couldn’t find it in himself to simply laugh off the situation.

  Obi: "I think we're pretty lucky Keller's still letting you three stay here after that little stunt you just pulled. What in the world could’ve gotten into you to do something like that? If I didn’t make myself clear earlier, we have only one job here. One job! Protect the orb! And you go ahead, and try to touch it." His voice continued getting sterner as he spoke to Theo.

  Waiting impatiently for Theo to explain himself, Obi realized the young boy would offer nothing in his defense. Theo was more dumbfounded and confused in the situation himself, only shrugging apologetically in return to Obi’s comment. Suffice it to say, he was not amused with the lackluster response from the child. Pointing to the ground, Obi then ordered the children.

  Obi: "Well fine then. Looks like you need to be taught a lesson. We're not moving from this spot until you three learn every-single-rule we have here at the Order. And there's a lot of them! So get comfortable!" His order got an immediate reaction from the children, with Theo putting his head down in shame, and both Ira and Cherise whining.

  Ira: "Way to go Theo. Now we have to learn rules!" A dreadful prospect for any child.

  About an hour later of being taught from Obi, the young children’s attention spans were nearly at their limits. Even Obi himself was pretty bored, and he made no attempt to hide it. Looking up to the sky to help him concentrate, Obi was speaking in a monotone voice, as he started listing off the rules that came to his memory, one by one. Ira couldn’t take it anymore and decided to have some fun. Leaning over to Cherise and Theo, he cupped his hands around his mouth to whisper.

  Ira: "Did you know that if your hand is larger than your face, it means you’ll die young?" It was obviously off topic, and crazy, but it seemed plausible to the ears of children, especially after Ira pretended to test his hand size on his face.

  After seeing his demonstration, both Theo and Cherise followed suit. Cherise smiled after testing it herself, determining she was in the clear. While on the other hand, Theo's expression sunk, realizing his days may be numbered. After seeing the expression on Theo’s face, Ira couldn't contain himself anymore, as he burst into laughter.

  Now just realizing the three hadn't been paying attention, Obi placed his palm over his face in angry contemplation. After a few seconds, Obi only lowered his hand later so he could rub the back of his head in a vigorous frustration.

  Obi: "Hey! Pay attention! This is for your own good! I swear I'm going to go bald from all this stress you kids are giving me!" With only a slight pause to consider the matter, Obi placed his hand on his chin.

  Obi: "On second thought, if you kids aren’t going to be taking your lessons seriously, then I'm sending you all to your rooms. That'll have to serve as punishment for now." And again the children whined in unison, but Obi just dismissed their complaints, as their punishment would also be a minor reprieve from the hassle of taking care of them.

  ────────

  Only a few paces ahead as he lead the children, Obi was set on calling it a day. And as they were making their way towards their new living quarters, the young boy who Keller had earlier reprimanded, was walking up to the three children. The boy carried with him a disapproving glare as he spoke to them.

  Oland: "You all do realize that you’ll never be welcomed here. From what I heard, Keller never once has gone against the traditions of our Order before. The one exception he ever made was today, when he decided to let you stay.. Just how long do you think you’ll be allowed here?" He said obnoxiously, giving a smug smile.

  Oland: “I give it a week until you commoners are kicked out. You three being allowed here is nothing short of a disgrace!" Obi had taken notice of the insolent boy, and decided to walk up imposingly close to him.

  He then looked down on the boy disapprovingly, without so much as saying a word. No words were needed to be said for him to get his message across so abundantly clear.

  The longer Obi looked at the Oland, the more squeamish he became. Deciding to back off, Oland quickly gained pace to a run. Cherise couldn’t help but notice that there seemed to be more going on than Oland simply being worried about a grownups intervention. But turning back as he ran, the boy had one last thing to say.

  Oland: "Don’t get comfortable! This will never be your home!" He said spitefully.

  After Oland had said this, Cherise noticed that Obi was staring somewhat sadly at him as he left.

  Was Obi expecting we’d be treated this way?... But I also wonder if there was a reason why Oland was so afraid of him.

  Obi then continued urging the three toward their new living quarters. And as he continued leading them, Theo looked at Cherise with lifeless eyes. With an embittered voice, he spoke silently only to her.

  Theo: "He's right you know. This place will never replace our home." Those were the first words Theo h
ad spoken since they left their village.

  Once he said this, Theo just simply turned his gaze back forward to continue walking forward.

  After all this time, Theo, that’s all you can say? What must you be thinking?

  His words disheartened Cherise, and stopping in her tracks, she looked at Theo with worry as he continued to gain distance from her. While he walked away, Cherise wanted to offer words of encouragement to him, but she found herself looking out at him helplessly before reaching out to his back from a distance.

  Cherise: "Theo!" He stopped to look back to his sister, before she continued to speak sincerely.

  Cherise: “No matter how long. It may even take several years here, but I just know that we’ll find a place we can call home again someday." Theo's lifeless eyes widened slightly, as if daring to give way to hope again as his sister finished speaking with a heartwarming smile.

  Cherise: "I promise!"

  Looking back at her, Theo didn't say any word in return. And almost unaware of it himself, he let out a small hint of a smile, before turning forward again to follow after Obi.

  CHAPTER 13 – A NEW LIFE

  Finding herself atop the hills edge, Cherise stared down on a familiar sight, a village aflame. Again she sees the same faces of loved caught up in the chaos. And again she hears the same familiar voices screaming, all of them, lives she loved now lost to her, say not for her memories. Once more she sees the same cruel man, wearing his sinister grin at the base of the hill, looking up at her. The despicable man, accompanied with an even more monstrous fiend at his back, whispering into his ear.

  Even though this routine is well known to her, she yet again finds herself terrified, motionless, helpless, as she gazes onward at the unfolding scene, until her father dutifully finds her. She knows all too well what comes next, and like all the times before, her heart can hardly bare it.