by Jeremy Finn
“Visualizing is not a requirement. You can also say the name of your destination and the portal will take you. When the last bit of the sun disappears below the horizon, say ‘Shangtang-Gun Hold’. It is a deserted place, as many of the holds in that country are now, and it is within an hour or so walk from the restaurant. When you arrive at the hold, go to the edge of the wood line so you can see down into the lowlands. You should be able to make out a large building with multi-colored dancing neon all over it. This is the Haemol Restaurant. After you meet with the contact, return to the portal and wait for sunrise. When the sun appears, say ‘Pungyan Nam’. This will take you to another deserted servants’ hall on the East side of Haniang. Seek out DaNyang and tell him what you have learned. He will give you guidance from there. Do you understand what I am asking you to do?”
“Yes,” James confirmed.
“Good. Then you better be going swiftly. They come to check on me often, and if you were caught in here there would be no escape. I don’t expect any trouble on this mission, or I wouldn’t ask you to take it. Nonetheless, be careful, James, and may the Light go with you and shine on your path.”
“Thank you, Intercessor,” James said as he reached through the bars and gripped the aged man’s shoulder. “I won’t let the Servants down. And I expect to see you again soon,” he whispered over his shoulder as he began to work his way back down the corridor toward the still pool of water.
James was able to leave the hold without incident. When his head emerged gasping for air in the little pond serving as the headwaters for the stream trickling through Hanasan’s grounds, DaNyang rushed from a cluster of bushes and helped him climb out of the water. By this time, James was visibly shivering from the loss of body heat he suffered while his wet clothes sapped the warmth from his skin. Fortunately, DaNyang expected this.
“Here, drape this over yourself,” he offered and flung a thick brown robe over James’ shoulders. “I took this from one of the deserted cheebs on the edge of the village. But where’s the Intercessor? Have they taken him to trial already?”
James led DaNyang behind a cluster of rocks and explained everything he discussed with the Intercessor. DaNyang did not seem surprised, but appeared to think it was only natural the Intercessor would want to stay and attempt to dissuade the wayward servants from their rebellion.
After James finished, DaNyang sat silently thinking for some time before speaking. “Well, I certainly have my work cut out for me,” he sighed, “but I can see we must reunite the servants in this region or the Darkness will sweep in and take hold. I’m worried the attack the other night and the following rebellion might be related, though I don’t think all the rebellious servants are privy to the connection – maybe just a few of the leaders. Anyways, I know you can handle your part. Call me when you get back and we’ll arrange a meeting. I should get started immediately, but you’ll have to wait here until sundown, so take my clothes and I’ll go with the robe.” James raised his eyebrows. “Don’t worry, I’ll be ok. You’re the one who has to sit up here all day.”
After bidding DaNyang a final farewell and promising to call him as soon as he returned, James watched him disappear into the surrounding forest and then worked his way along the edge of the huge pile of boulders forming the hold until he was on the backside of the mountain. He spent the rest of the day here whittling away the endless hours in thought interrupted with a few brief walks to stretch his legs and to try to get a feel for his new weapon. It was extremely lightweight, and cut through saplings with barely any resistance at all. He wanted to try it on something bigger, but knew he should keep relatively quiet just in case the rebels had a roving guard out.
Many thoughts went through his mind as he sat in the middle of a low cluster of bushes concealing him from anyone not within a few meters or so. First, he wondered in vain how the Intercessor’s trial was proceeding. Certainly he would not get a fair review. The justifications that led to his confinement were absurdly biased. Also, he wondered if there was any hope of salvaging his job. Surely his boss was furious that he had been absent so long without any contact. Also, he thought about Sunga and her father Hyuk, who had done so much to help him. What were they doing now? Did Sunga even still think of him like he was thinking of her now? How was he thinking of her now? More importantly, did they run into any trouble for their part in helping him escape? But the one thing that kept coming back to his mind again and again was whether he had gotten himself into something crazy and dangerous. Of course he experienced more than enough things that proved to him there was something otherworldly going on around him, but maybe it was something he was better off just staying out of. Every step he took closer to the Light brought him into greater danger, and it seemed like he was on the losing side. Though doubts like these raced through his mind all day, as the sun began to dip in the west, James suppressed his inhibitions for the time being and recommitted himself to carrying on with the path that lay before him. Maybe his course was leading him into danger and intrigue, but something in his heart told him it was the right way, no, the only way to go.
When the sun grew paler and took on an orange hew as it stretched toward the western horizon, James rose to his feet and began walking back around to the front of the mountain top. His plan was fairly simple. Though there may be a rebel or two strolling through the courtyard, no one would be able to stop him if he just dashed out to the middle of the courtyard and said the words that would immediately transport him to his far off destination. In fact, they probably would not even have the time to recover from the shock of seeing a man dart out into the courtyard before he was gone.
When James reached the edge of the hold, though, and peered into the village beyond, his heart stopped. The courtyard was completely filled with rebels wearing battle armor and standing in perfect formation! How was he possibly going to get into the middle of the courtyard now? He could wait until they all disbanded, but then it would probably be too late to activate the portal. After a few seconds of panicked thought, James sighted something that provided a risky hope. A large pine shot into the sky behind the training building, and one of its massive branches reached over the top of the building and extended out over the courtyard, nearly to the center. If he could work his way around to the backside of the building undetected, he could scale the small branches to reach the large one, and shimmy his way out over the rebels’ heads.
James put his plan into action immediately, all too aware of the sun disappearing rapidly behind the horizon. Because all the rebels were standing in perfect formation facing the Intercessor’s hall, he was able to skirt around the outside of the visitor’s village, over the little stream, and behind the training hall. Not one of the rebels even twitched their eyes to the side, but all remained fixed on the Intercessor’s hall, even the rebels standing before the formation in lead positions. Apparently, they were waiting for something to happen.
Climbing the pine was not difficult, thanks to the numerous branches, and he was able to do it quietly. After reaching the large branch extending over the building, he shimmied out to where it crossed over the roof and peeked down into the courtyard. Everyone was still standing exactly as they were when he first saw them, all eyes trained on the Intercessor’s hall. Then a quick glance at the sliver of sun on the horizon told him he did not have a second to waste. He stood on the branch and very carefully paced his way out over the courtyard. The branch seemed much higher than it had when viewed from the ground, and James began to wonder if he would survive a fall to the ground without breaking a limb or two. But just as he hesitated, his foot knocked a pinecone off the branch and he watched helplessly as it dropped silently into the courtyard and bounced off a man’s lacquered red helmet then brushed the shoulder of a woman standing next to him before hitting the ground with a sound that seemed enormously amplified in the stillness. James gritted his teeth and prepared for the worst, but not a soul moved an inch, not even the man and woman who suffered under the full brunt of th
e pinecone pummeling. Thank the Light for discipline in formation, James thought and then rapidly took the few more steps necessary to bring him just about over the spot where he and DaNyang appeared that morning.
Just as James was working out which rebel to use to break his fall, the door to the Intercessor’s hall cracked and whined as it swung open on its hinges. James caught his breath as he saw the older man from the courtyard this morning step out onto the deck of the raised building trailed by the Intercessor with his hands bound behind him. Not a second later, Rhesing raised his eyes to survey the formation and suddenly met James’ gaze. James froze in fear. At the same instant, the Intercessor’s eyes followed Rhesing’s gaze and found James as well. “Go James! Now!” he shouted and then drove his body into the rebel beside him, knocking him onto the deck. Confusion ensued in the ranks below, and more than one head began scanning above. James knew he had no choice, and jumped into the mass of armored rebels. The distance was indeed great, and James came crashing down into several faces, some surprised, some furious, but none of them had the time to draw their weapons. James landed on about five bodies with a painful thud, and staggered on top of them for a moment as he struggled to retain his senses after hitting his head against a rock-hard helmet. He became cognizant just as he was being dragged to his feet by several angry rebels. As he clawed and grasped to free himself, he whispered under his breath, “Shangtang-Gun Hold”, and was snatched away into nothingness in an instant. The rebels stood bewildered, and several backed away from the spot in fear. One man hobbled away with a red face as he struggled to keep his heavy loin clothes up without the aid of his belt.
A FISH OUT OF WATER
…and as they are invisible things, if they exist at all,
we can never describe with any certainty,
whether or when they interpose on our behalf,
or interfere for the sake of injuring us.
-Professor Moses Stuart, 1843
James was once again caught up in the rush of colors and lights as he raced toward Shangtang-Gun Hold through the darkening sky. The numerous lights below him shot by like cars on an expressway until they abruptly ended and the land below was enveloped in darkness for some time. After a brief flight over what appeared to be an ocean, James was once again watching lights stream by until he suddenly found himself standing on a mountain much smaller than Hanasan. Lights twinkled in the valley below, but he was surrounded by a cluster of bleak, run-down buildings that once must have been ornate and colorful, though in a different style than those of Hanasan Hold. Like the Intercessor predicted, it was easy to pick out the large neon lights hovering over the gigantic seafood restaurant in the valley. So, he rubbed his bruises, cast aside the belt that somehow wound up in his right hand, and began his trek toward Haemol Restaurant.
The descent was fairly uneventful, but took some time as the tangled, leafless foliage and tight bunches of bushes and small trees made it difficult for James to navigate through the dark forest. Eventually, though, he stumbled out of the forest and found himself on the edge of a large clearing divided into several rectangular fields dropping like a staircase as they reached the bottom of the valley and bordered one side of an unlit two lane road. Across from the road, the Haemol Restaurant lit up the valley for nearly half a kilometer in every direction. Its enormous neon display boasted large letters in a pictorial language James did not recognize. These were bordered by all kinds of fancy images like a huge shrimp with a moving tail, and a whale shooting colorful water out of its blowhole. The structure below the display was not humble in comparison. The restaurant appeared to be a large three story building that could easily cover a soccer field. It was hard to make out details at this distance, though.
James carefully made his way along the dikes that surrounded the four-sided fields. They were flooded much like those he saw south of the capital when he began his mission, but these fields were dry and populated only by short rows of rigid dead stalks of some plant that was harvested some time ago. It was difficult to make his way because there was very little lighting in the valley, and the huge restaurant display stole his night vision every time he glanced up at it. James wondered why there was little other light in the valley, since he passed several houses and buildings that appeared occupied, and it was still fairly early in the evening. Perhaps this was just a more economically depressed region. The pungent smell hanging on the cold night air certainly offered further evidence of this. Before crossing the road to enter the restaurant’s parking lot, he cast one last look back to the mountain and tried to capture an image of the spot where he had come from on the top of the hill. Two larger than usual trees silhouetted on the horizon marked the spot for him.
As James passed through the parking lot, he noticed most of the cars were rather nice models and obviously imports. None of the economic, cookie-cutter models he saw tooling along on the road turned off into this lot. The entrance to Haemol Restaurant seemed out of place to James, having lived in this part of the world for around a year now. A high roof decorated with white sculptures of grape clusters and vines extended over the driveway, and was supported by marble columns. Wide steps led up to large oak doors set on massive hinges with statues three times the size of James arrayed along the outside of the building on either side of the stairs. A pasty white statue of a man mounted on a horse gazed at him from his left, while a very physical specimen of a woman posed lazily on a large chair to his right. Diverse other statues of western style spread out on both sides, and increased James’ feeling of experiencing something out of place.
As he reached the doors, two women smiled at him hesitatingly. They wore identical red dresses that fit snuggly on their thin bodies, but covered nearly everything except for the arms. Even their necklines rose to touch the bottom of their chins. The dresses had intricate patterns sown into them, and jade jewelry complemented the ornate outfits. Both women also wore their long black hair in tight buns with decorative pins stuck through them. Their faces were quite similar to those he had grown accustomed to over the last year, with liquid brown eyes partially hidden by tapering eyelids framed in a soft yellow countenance. Although the women greeted him in their native tongue and placed their hands on the door handles carved like horse heads, they did not open them until a distinguished looking man standing to the side gave them a curt nod in response to their hasty quizzical looks.
As James stepped through the doors, he found himself in a huge dining room rising to the roof of the three story building. It encompassed a third of the building, and was ringed by three floors of walkways leading to doors at even intervals – apparently private dining rooms judging by the waiters darting in and out of them with dishes and delicacies. The wall before him was composed primarily of a large aquarium stretching from floor to ceiling and containing fish as large as him. On both sides of the aquarium, long hallways led to the remainder of the restaurant. Customers were arrayed at round tables spread across the dining room, and nearly as many serving people as customers littered the scene. There were both male and female staff, though the men seemed to be mostly employed in cleaning up after the diners. The females all looked like approximate copies of the two women in the front, though some wore blue, others green, and a few yellow. One of these women in blue approached him with a smile.
“Hello, I’m here to meet someone,” James said in his own language and then attempted in the little bit of the Shinlan language he picked up while with Sunga.
The woman in blue’s smile flickered for a second, but then she opened in some sort of greeting in her own language and gestured for James to follow. The woman moved quickly despite the tight ankle length dress that made small steps mandatory. She led James through one of the hallways beside the aquarium and brought him to the room on the other side. The spread before him reminded James of one of the seafood markets he once visited near his apartment. Long tables ran the length of the room covered with crushed ice and topped with fresh fish and crustaceans of every variety. J
ames saw several creatures he never laid eyes on before, let alone tasted. Several small tanks full of squirming, wiggling, crawling things were embedded in the back wall, and created a sort of living menu for connoisseurs. His guide motioned and pointed while walking him around the room and speaking non-stop. When they encircled the entire display, the woman asked him something and waited patiently for a reply. James guessed she must be wondering what he would like to order and suddenly realized he was wearing DaNyang’s clothes. He stuck his hands in his pockets and felt only a few raged bills folded in his right pocket. He decided he was going to have to remain hungry tonight, and scanned the tables for something that looked cheap and within his meager budget, while hoping his contact would find him soon. He settled on a mud-colored fish about the size and shape of his hand that looked very unattractive and inexpensive. His host smiled broadly and then escorted him to one of the round tables in the main hall, where he sat and watched helplessly as she slithered through the crowds on an errand to hopefully have his humble meal prepared.
James spent the next twenty minutes scanning the room in an attempt to pick out a woman with a butterfly pattern dress. It was hard to tell at a distance, though, because all the serving women and nearly two-thirds of the female customers were wearing the skin-tight local dresses, most of which had some sort of pattern on them. It was hard to make out the pattern unless you were standing close.
Finally, his meal arrived. Unfortunately, it did not appear much different than it had half an hour ago besides the steam rising from the dark brown skin, eyes that bulged and took on a milky white color and a few shoots of garnish on the side. James suddenly became uncomfortably aware of many eyes cast in his direction. While he had enjoyed his share of double takes and lengthy glances since arriving, the people around him did not appear to be noticing his skin color this time, but were directing their attention on his plate. Several couples put their heads together to whisper something ,and a few seemed to be watching with a mix of surprise and curiosity.