by Jeremy Finn
As James contemplated what he had just learned, a man in lose fitting robes appeared at the entrance to the door and bowed slightly to the three men, “The Intercessor has recovered enough to be able to speak, and requests Mr. Huener’s presence.”
“Thank you, EeSuh, “DaNyang returned. “I think the doc still has a few more needles to jab into my shoulder, but James is free to go. Do you mind going with him, James?”
“Oh, sure,” James replied. “I’ll try to find you once he’s finished speaking with me.”
“Don’t sweat it,” DaNyang said and waved him off. “Just take your time and I’ll come and find you once Yoon’s finished. I think I know my way around this maze better than you do.”
James followed the messenger out of the room and further into the natural fortress. As they walked through the narrow corridors, which were now illuminated by candles resting in niches in the walls, James noticed several ornate patterns and illustrations painted on the stone faces. There was a scene of men in scarlet tunics fighting a large, hairy humanoid with a goat-like face on the edge of a cliff hanging over the ocean. Also, he became aware of repeated uses of stars in different shapes and sizes.
“What are all these drawings about?” he asked his guide.
“They are sort of a history of the servants associated with this hold,” EeSuh replied with a heavy local accent. “Like this one here, with the image of a guardian descending on Hanasan, which records an incident a couple hundred years ago when Mahae’el himself paid an important visit to our humble hold.”
“What about all the stars,” James added. “It seems like they are a prominent symbol in most of these pictures.”
“Of course,” EeSuh replied. “The bright and shining star, which the ancients named Arcturas, is the symbol of Hanasan Hold. Stars in general have always been a symbol of the Servants in the world. It portrays our piercing opposition to the overwhelming darkness that surrounds us. Here we are. The Intercessor is just inside this opening to the right. I’m glad to have met you, uh, James, right? Please show yourself in. He’s waiting for you.”
“Thanks,” James said as the man walked off down another crevice.
James hesitated, unsure of the proper way to enter the Intercessor’s room, then stepped in. The Intercessor was sitting up in a bed formed by a flat slab of stone with a thick quilt covering it. James bowed, imitating the actions he observed EeSuh take when he entered the room where DaNyang was receiving his stitches, and asked permission to approach.
“Of course,” the Intercessor responded in a hoarse, but firm voice. James noticed he had stopped bleeding, but there were three dark marks on his neck the size of golf balls. “Please have a seat on the edge of the bed. I wanted to make sure you are holding together, and I also wanted to thank you for saving my life.”
“Oh, no,” James protested in genuine humility. “We would both be dead if DaNyang and those other servants hadn’t come to our rescue. I don’t pretend to have any kind of skill in fighting. I just got lucky when I saw your sword sitting right next to me.”
The Intercessor smiled, “True warriors are not made through martial training and weapons, James. A true warrior gains his strength from his moral fiber and a character that reflects the Light. I believe luck has no place in this world. Everything happens for a reason.”
James nodded, “That’s encouraging, I suppose. But about the attack, could you explain to me why those humans were involved? I’ve seen the black beasts before, as you know, and that guy on the subway, but besides all the black clothes, those people looked like anyone I would pass on the street in the city.”
“Yes, I can explain briefly for now,” the Intercessor replied. “Ever since the fall of the dark guardians, they have hated men and sought to drag them into death and darkness. One of the best ways they have devised for ruining men is to lure them into the Darkness. Men lust for the power they can achieve through dark means and are deceived in joining the Darkness. Once their lusts have consumed them, they rarely realize the grand deception that has taken them. Those people you saw tonight are just ordinary people, as you perceived, but they have given themselves to the Darkness. They do its bidding.”
“So they are like the Servants of Light, only on the other side,” James guessed. “But Yoon told me they don’t carry swords, so aren’t they at a disadvantage facing the servants who have the powerful rhema?”
“Good question,” the Intercessor said. “The Darkness uses men, but does not trust them as equals. Their servants are not equipped with such fantastic weapons, which would make you think we would then have the advantage, but their numbers are far greater than ours and this tends to level the playing field, so to speak. The Dark Guardians use their human stooges as weapons in other ways. Look at the history of the world and you will notice wars, genocide, and devastations all brought on by governments and rulers. It is no secret to us that the Darkness is behind most of this. The leaders behind these terrible events that led to countless human deaths were heavily influenced by whispers from the dark side, whether they knew it or not, many came to them in their thoughts as dark guardians penetrating their minds. Other influences came through actual human dark servants who had no sign of the Darkness on their outward appearance. The dark guardians thus use men as a weapon against themselves quite effectively. Only the Light stands in the way of complete self-extinction. Though it may seem like we have not accomplished much, human-kind would probably have destroyed itself long ago if it not for servants and guardians’ intervention time and time again.”
“How can I tell if someone I meet is a dark human or not?” James asked.
“You probably can’t tell now. A servant’s awareness grows as he becomes stronger in the Light, but there are ways in which someone’s nature can be masked. There is one thing you can be certain of, however. A dark guardian can never take a human form. While Guardians of Light are able to do this and are often mistaken for common men, the Dark Guardians cannot. I am not sure why, but I believe it is related to their intense hatred for men and the resulting resistance their very nature would have to mimicking what they despise. As you have probably noticed, they can take other forms, and usually choose an animalistic form, though always a perverted one.”
“Yes, I have seen some resemblances, but ghastly ones,” James confirmed.
After a brief silence, the Intercessor continued, “James, I’m sure the events of this evening have added shock to confusion. An attack like this is very uncommon, and even I did not see it coming. As soon as the sun rises I will see to it that DaNyang escorts you back to the city. You will need time to absorb your experiences and reflect on what you have learned, I’m sure.”
The Intercessor paused and furrowed his brow in concern. “James, I’m afraid we will need to secret you from this hold and return you to your home undetected. You see, there are many in this group, and most of the chief servants I’m afraid, whom I believe will wish to lay the blame for this attack on you.”
“What!” James interrupted. “I didn’t have anything to do with it! I don’t know anything about these dark people, except that they have tried to kill me!”
“Calm down, James,” the Intercessor reassured. “I am convinced of your innocence and I will not let them hinder your return home.”
“But why would they suspect me?” James asked.
“I’m afraid part of the blame for that would fall on me. Recently I have noticed dissension and quarreling growing among the chief servants. Several have turned their backs on me and I believe they are seeking to form their own base of power outside my authority. In an effort to heal the wounds and draw these leaders back into the council, I have been open with them about everything. Therefore, I shared with them the images I saw in DaNyang’s paintings. I should have guessed they would believe the dark symbols were linked to you. I’m sorry, this probably just leads to more confusion for you. There is a way we can see into the future of the servants of this hold, but it is ambiguous and u
nreliable. Nevertheless, the chief servants did not share my reluctance to interpret these signs. They asked me to have you escorted out of the hold first thing in the morning under blind fold and to have another servant of their choosing keep an eye on you for a while. Unfortunately, the attack came tonight, and your voice was the first to sound the alarm…conveniently late.”
James felt a pang of fear surge through him as he realized events had framed him in a precarious position. “I swear, I was just out for a walk because I couldn’t sleep! I would have been killed myself if it weren’t for Joe and DaNyang!”
“Yes,” the Intercessor sighed, “but you must admit the situation does seem to condemn you, or at least identify you as a suspect. You have to realize the shock the council is suffering right now. Of the twelve chief servants, five are dead or missing at this time. Four of them were men who at least sat on the fence between support for me and the growing unrest in the council. This leaves only seven chief servants, only two of whom are likely to side with me. Most of those who remain will be looking for a scapegoat, and you are the obvious choice.”
“Wow,” James exclaimed as he slumped back against the stone wall, “I guess I see your point. But I didn’t know Joe was a chief servant. He never told me.”
“Yes, he has been for only a brief time. He is the youngest chief servant, and at times his youth becomes apparent. In fact, he took a strong stand against the older members of the council who instigated the unrest, almost too strong a stand…” the Intercessor trailed off, and a young servant entered the room with an apology for the interruption followed by a hasty utterance to the Intercessor in hushed tones of the native tongue.
After dismissing the man, the Intercessor turned to James. “I am afraid I will have to expedite your departure. It seems the remaining members of the council are finalizing plans to have you retained and questioned, a path that I am afraid will lead to injustice and harm to you. Be assured I will do my utmost to suppress their dangerous conjectures, but I feel you must flee. Is there anything else I can do for you before I bid you a remorseful farewell?”
James cleared his throat and shifted his feet, “Actually, I know we probably don’t have time for this, but I wanted to ask you something.”
“Go right ahead,” the Intercessor said with a smile, “but quickly.”
“Well,” James began, “I hope I am not being presumptuous, but I suddenly feel like there is a place for me here, I mean with you…with the Servants, that is the ones who are allied to you. I know I have only been exposed to all this for a couple of days, and I’ll admit much of it still seems very surreal to me, but it seems like I’m being drawn into this world whether I like it or not. I know this sounds weird, but I sort of felt like I was being drawn to the Light – like there was something different about the people I met up here. And, well, since the attack tonight, it all came crashing down on me as a realization that I wanted to be involved in all this in some way.”
James looked at the Intercessor uncomfortably and finished, “I mean, I know I’m probably not the type to join your group and I don’t have anything to offer, but I just want to do whatever I can to help your cause and possibly clear my name of any misgivings from the others.”
The Intercessor chuckled merrily and smiled. “It is always so refreshing to meet a man of humility. Though you may not see yourself as much, and you are wise to carry such a view, the indwelling of the Light can mold you into a weapon for good in this world both seen and unseen. James, you can be like us, you can be one of us. All it takes is a decision on your part to choose the Light and a determination to pursue it for the rest of your days. I did not think you were ready for this, but if you truly feel you are, then the choice is yours. Would you make a decision for the Light?”
Suddenly the gravity of what he just offered hit James. Was he really ready to be like DaNyang or Joe? Would it interfere with his life? But then again his life was already turned upside down by all this anyways? “Intercessor, I want to help, to be a servant even, as crazy as that sounds to me even as I utter the words, but what about my job and my life?”
“If you choose to be a servant,” the Intercessor said gravely, “you may still continue your life as it is, many of us do and bring the Light into the world through our contacts in this world. However, should there ever be a conflict between your duties in this world and your duties to the Light, the Light must always take precedence.”
“Ok, I can handle that. I really feel there is truth behind all this, and I’m willing to step out in faith and make that commitment,” James said as he suppressed a small voice in the back of his head that was telling him he was losing his mind.
“Very well,” the Intercessor said gravely. “Now before you finalize your decision, you must understand there is an initiation of sorts that all who choose the Light must pass through. It is not a test, exactly, but it will cause you to realize things about yourself and will confirm or deny your belief in the Light and your decision to follow it. If you return to us after your ordeal, you will be joined to the Servants and your sword will be forged. Hopefully then the others will acknowledge your innocence as well.”
“And James,” the Intercessor added, “I am afraid I cannot guarantee your safety on this journey. It is not under my control, nor am I allowed to intervene in it. It is a mystery of the forces of Light and Dark that lead you on this journey and try your character.”
“Though this news should have given James pause to reconsider, something inside him filled him with courage. “I will go. I will see if I am fit to be a servant.”
“Excellent,” the Intercessor said. “Now we must see to your departure immediately. I am afraid there is little time remaining. Follow me.”
With this, the Intercessor slid off his bed and walked out the entrance of the room. James followed quickly and realized he was being led down yet another corridor of narrow crevices. After several minutes of travel through these stone hallways, James noticed there were fewer and fewer people brushing past them. Finally, they came to a dark room formed by erosion in the stone. It felt cool, and James saw his reflection in the floor.
“This is where we get the water we would need in case of an extended stay in the hold,” the Intercessor explained. “And it is the place of the deepest secret this hold keeps.”
The Intercessor took a candle from the hallway and brought it into the room. James could see a deep pit of water lined with rock formations about three meters by three meters wide and about five meters deep.
“On the right,” the Intercessor explained, “is the mouth of the spring. On the left is another hole. It is not visible from here, but if you swim down to that ledge about three meters down, you will find an opening underneath. It is the mouth of a tunnel about the size of a man which leads to the pool of King Kyung Dok on the back side of the hold. You must swim through the tunnel and surface in the pool outside. I’m afraid this will take some courage, even if you aren’t claustrophobic, because the tunnel runs straight for about two meters, then drops down another two before leveling out again for a four meters swim to the opening in the bottom of the pool.”
“Well, I’m not a bad swimmer, but the darkness and the fact that I will be stuck in a tunnel doesn’t help much. Is there any other way?” James hoped.
“No,” the Intercessor replied flatly. “And no one knows about this entrance. It is a secret passed down from intercessor to intercessor. You must keep it a secret as I have revealed it to you only in a time of utmost need. Oh, and the water is very cold, too.”
As James was contemplating this frightening task (what if he became stuck in the tunnel and could not turn around?), voices echoed down the stone corridors and grew steadily in volume.
“I must go now,” the Intercessor said excitedly. They cannot find me here or they may suspect your route of escape. We don’t have any more time. Follow the trail behind the monument and be careful, there may still be dark humans about the grounds. Go to Taepyung Park at du
sk and wait under the persimmon tree by the large lake. I will send instructions. I bid you well and ask the Light’s blessing on your journey. I will see you soon, when you return, James. Now go or fall into their hands.”
With this, the Intercessor rushed out of the room and down an adjacent corridor. For a moment, James sat frozen staring into the dark water. Finally, the steady approach of footsteps urged him to slip silently into the icy water. After taking a moment to catch his breath in the cold pool, he took a deep gulp of air and dived toward the ledge the Intercessor identified.
With the help of the little bit of light that pierced the darkness below, he found the opening and pulled his body through. Suddenly he felt very confined, and fear gripped his heart. For a moment, it seemed like the walls were closing in on him and his heart raced. He shook off his fear and pushed it to the back of his mind. James determined to grope his way through the tunnel even as his lungs began to ache for air. He found the downturn in the tunnel and dived in. The fear mounted further as he felt like he was burying himself in what would soon be his watery grave. His hands struck rock and he knew he needed to level out again. Once his body was straight in the tunnel, he pushed with his legs against the rock behind him and propelled through the tunnel toward a very dim light just ahead of him. James had to struggle with his body as his lungs suffered spasms in an attempt to draw in air, but he was finally in the bottom of the pool outside. One more kick with his legs sent him shooting up to the surface of the pool, where he violently gulped in a mixture of sweet air and cold water.
After treading water for a short time and catching his breath, he swam over to the edge of the pool and hung on to a rock for a brief respite. James pulled himself out of the water and tried to stop shivering. The brisk morning air was little warmer than the water he just left, and the sun was just now beginning to peak above the horizon. He realized he needed to keep moving or he might fall into hypothermia, so he scanned the area for the monument the Intercessor mentioned. At first, all James could see were low, twisted pines and thick undergrowth, so he decided to sneak around the hold and take a look into the village. If no one was there, he could get some dry clothes and go down the mountain the same way he came up the other night.