Where Dragons Haunt (The Diaspora Book 1)

by Scott Meaders

  “The child saw stones and shells and yet saw not the truth of the situations, there was a whole ocean of truth that lay undisclosed before the child. The child only need to look about and then they would know the truth.”

  The man then looked intently with loving eyes at Zoe, “There is one that you must face. He is your enemy for life; he will be a thorn in your flesh for as long as your eyes see the light of the two suns.” He paused, not so much for himself to gain thought, but to allow for Zoe to process this new fact. “Yes, Zoe, you have an enemy. You will meet him soon. When you meet him, your life will hang in the balance upon the pendulum of good and evil, right and wrong, light and darkness. Only you Zoe can choose life for yourself or death. The choice will be left to you. Your foe will force you to conquer yourself, or he will destroy you and any hope for the land.”

  Zoe sat for a moment wondering what all of this was to mean and how could he trust this man, yet in his heart, he knew that the stranger was speaking the truth—somehow Zoe knew. He reassured himself that this was just a man, “How do you know all of this; how do you know my name, and how can I…”

  “Trust me?” He finished Zoe’s statement and then continued, “It comes down to your trust of me. You shall know who I am and why I know what I do if you trust me.” He paused for a moment again, “Walk into the fire and you shall know me as I know you. You shall know the truth and you shall see me as I see you. Then it comes to this Zoe—Do you trust me?”

  No!! Screamed in Zoe’s mind, but then he realized that the old man before him knew his thoughts. He suppressed his thoughts trying to reason within himself. The person before him knew things. He also knew his name. If he wanted to kill him, he could have by now anyway. Trust was not what Zoe felt, realization that he had no other option before him was more like what he felt. He got up and hesitated, revealing his lack of trust.

  He walked into the fire. The fire raged consuming the boy and yet not burning him. It engulfed him, and he saw nothing of the surroundings—the cave or the old man. He closed his eyes knowing his lack of trust. After a moments time realizing that there was no pain or death, he opened them up to find that he was standing before the fire that Mikael had made. Zoe had not trusted, thus he did not know who the old man was nor did he understand the old man’s ways.

  Zoe took in a deep breath, looking around and seeing Mikael still asleep. He found his place upon the ground and fell fast asleep.

  Mikael opened his eyes being wide-awake…smiled and closed them.

  Chapter 9

  One should be free and able to leave his padded library

  to roam about the fields of knowledge and search for truth.

  ~Scott Meaders~

  The two had traveled to a little cottage that was simplistic and plain looking, ordinary by anyone’s first impressions. Zoe thought nothing of this cottage wondering what humble person would dwell here in the midst of the Yellow Forest. The place was again a refuge from the horrors of the Yellow Forest. Only here there were colorful trees other than those of the forest. Red leaves, purple ones hung from the trees surrounding this quaint little place. A small stream flowed through the path they were on with stepping-stones as a means of travel. An old rickety fence led to the entrance of the cottage. Zoe saw a small boat, comfortable for one. He also noticed a horse in a corral. Zoe was amazed at the beauty that he at first did not notice; yet the cottage still carried a simplistic feel of peace and tranquility.

  When they crossed the stream, Mikael turned to Zoe, “It is important for me to spend some time with an old friend inside. You must stay here outside and wait for me.”

  “But why must I wait? Why can I not come with you?”

  The wizard thought for a moment before replying in a lying tongue, “He um hates children. He would probably kill you and stuff you down his old well.” A look of horror spread across Zoe’s face in utter disbelief that someone could be so cruel. “Oh, and that reminds me,” the wizard continued, “don’t go near the well. In fact don’t do anything and don’t touch anything, just sit there.” He had pointed to a stump that seemed to be used as a sitting stool. Zoe sat down placing his sack on his lap and watched Mikael proceed into the cottage looking over his shoulder one last time to see if the boy were still sitting.

  There was a small inner room which Mikael first entered without knocking. He then had three doors before him. Mikael rolled his eyes up and let out a sigh at his companion’s continuing efforts to trick those he did not trust. Mikael simply spoke out, “Sandalphon; Sandalphon; it is I your friend Mikael.” There was no reply. This perplexed the wizard, as he knew his friend well to answer upon his call. “Sandalphon, open I say!”

  A rough voice sounded out grumpily, “And to whom am I speaking as I know the voice but not thy name!” The room became dark as the wizard in hiding was planning for an attack.

  Mikael thought to himself and realized his error, “Sandalphon, it is I Mikhahale. Do you really want to fight with me again?” Recalling the last time the wizards battled. Both spent vast amount of strength trying to subdue the other. Many months were wasted recovering from their wounds.

  The room went light and the doors vanished along with the wall which was all part of the wizards spell. “Good friend!” he came and hugged him heartily. “Welcome!”

  “Yes! Indeed, your greetings of warmth are a little to be desired.”

  “Well yes, but you called your self Mikael at first, and that surely you are not.” He let out a little laugh of which Mikael did not return. “Ah, yes I see. The gods are afoot are they.”

  “Yes, and it is not as you imagine.”

  Sandalphon looked at him oddly as he motioned for his friend to sit. The two found their perspective places. “So what does the god Tifereth want?”

  Mikael took the cup of tea that was handed to him, “Tifereth was not the god that had put things in motion.” Mikael enjoyed leading his friend on.

  “The god Malkuth?”

  Taking a sip from his tea, “No.”

  “No?”

  “No indeed!”

  Sandalphon put his cup down and scratched at his beard, “Yesod?”

  “No.”

  “Hod or Binah?

  “No.”

  Sandalphon was becoming confused, “Surely not Kether!”

  “No, not Kether.”

  He could handle it no longer, “For the love of the gods and my sanity, out with it which god?”

  A slight chuckle proceeded out as Mikael’s pleasure was released. He looked at his friend, “Hagious has come.”

  Sandalphon stood up looking around his room thinking, “With Hagious comes Sophia!”

  “Yes, indeed!”

  He turned to his friend not understanding still, “But why have they come?”

  The wizard stood to talk on equal level with his friend, “Look out the window and you shall have your answer.”

  “What? How will that help?”

  Mikael just motioned to him to look. He walked over, looked at his friend and then peered out of the window. He saw a frail looking boy sitting there kicking up stones. He turned to his friend and pointed questioningly. Mikael nodded in conformation. Sandalphon again looked to the boy. The boy was scratching his arm looking around him. The child bent down, picked up a stone and threw it in the direction of the well.

  “The sign has come!” Mikael spoke while looking over his friend’s shoulder at Zoe.

  “Which sign?”

  “The boy.”

  “That? That shadow of a boy?”

  “Yes, indeed. The shadow of the boy is the sign. The beginnings are upon us!”

  The wizard sat down never believing that the time would come, “Oh, then I must go north to prepare the way.” He paused for a moment, “But how could that boy be the one?”

  Mikael looked at his friend knowing his weakness, “My friend. Once in our lifetime will we come to such a time! And in the midst of the greatest of times, do you doubt?”

  “
Confound you Mikhahale, I doubt…years have passed by, generations, kingdoms and now this boy…this shadow sits on a log kicking stones about, and you tell me it is the Re'shiyth! Ha, I believe the gods have faulted. Yes, I doubt. I doubt their sanity!”

  Mikael felt compassion for his friend, for he had doubted until Hagious showed him. He spoke with his heart’s care for him, “Dear friend, one should be free and able to leave his padded library,” he pointed to his friend’s many books around the room, “to roam about the fields of knowledge and search for truth. You see a child, the gods see a mighty man. What you see as failure, the gods have destined for success! Yes, you must go north with strength of heart and belief. I believe the gods are more at work than we originally thought. Do not let your learning of many things blind you of the truth.”

  Sandalphon put his hand on his companions shoulder, “True enough…true enough. But how have the gods been at work as you say?”

  “He appeared to the boy through fire—the blue flame.”

  “Oh, well then I should go then.”

  “I believe so, but it is only as a consolation for our own souls. It seems the gods have special interest taking great care with this one, and rightly so, he has blundered on many occasions. In fact your precious lady of the lake almost had the lad. If the gods had not sent me, he would be gone, just a pile of bones by now.”

  Sandalphon the wizard drew a big breath and spoke, “Then I will travel to meet his foe in the north. It is a shame that they must meet. Let us write the scroll.”

  “Yes indeed! It is a shame; I in like fashion will guide the boy to death!”

  Chapter 10

  The common curse of mankind,

  folly and ignorance,

  be thine in great revenue!

  ~William Shakespeare~

  He picked up another stone and tossed it toward the well trying to throw it into the abyss. Many stones had been thrown as he waited for the wizard. Zoe had grown tired of waiting, but he feared the wrath of the wizard. Six times he had hit the well with hopes that he could make it in; the game came to an end when the boy hit it the seventh time. The rock hit the back of the well catching the lip. The stone popped straight up into the air and fell directly into the center of the shaft. Time seemed to change while the rock fell through the air. When the rock fell, Zoe stood to his feet to watch. He was pleased with himself not knowing what he had awakened.

  Some form of wave in a ripple effect proceeded from the well as if a stone had plopped down in the middle of water. Yet the ripple was in the air. It fanned out until it hit the closest living person, Zoe. The entire ripple surrounded the boy; the grip was instantaneous and forceful. He felt himself being pulled by a force that he could not see being made up of the air. Though his eyes could see no creature, the grip was nevertheless real and had its eye on the young boy.

  Zoe quickly fell toward the stump clinging on as tightly as possible. He felt his legs fly up into the air as the pull became more forceful. He started to lose his grip and called out for help, “Mikael! Mikael …Help!” His words fell on deaf ears as even his voice was pulled into the well allowing for no part of the boy to escape. As he lost his grip, he grabbed onto his carrying sack leaving no trace of the boy behind.

  As the rock went up into the air, so Zoe also found himself flying straight at the well only to be whisked high into the air and pulled down with great force into the center of darkness. He fell…and fell…and fell. He found his free falling experience horrifying, as terror mounted at the thought of the bottom, hitting the bottom would be excruciatingly painful as his speed was now faster than a galloping stallion. Dying at the hands of any number of monsters Zoe had met along the way would have been a better fate than the terror he now faced. It was not just the ensuing pain of hitting the bottom; the time he had to think of the pain was what made this fall so difficult. First ten seconds, then thirty, this turned into a minute, ten minutes, thirty minutes. He anticipated his death to come at any time, but this little boy never found the bottom as he could only see the light from above slowly become smaller and smaller and smaller until it disappeared.

  When all was darkness, Zoe came to a stop. He did not hit bottom; he felt no physical discomfort; he simply stopped, as it were he floated in nothingness. While he was in the dark he could see nothing though his eyes were open. He felt scared and alone, as if he were the only thing that existed—no gods, no people, nothingness. When this thought came to him, a bright shining light burst into existence overwhelming him. So bright he shielded his eyes from the source, if there was a source. The darkness still existed, but now light and dark intertwined to make subsistence.

  Just when Zoe was about to open his eyes feeling he could endure the light, a flood of water rushed in from all sides pounding his flesh and pushing him around. He was surrounded by water on all sides having no air to breath. He again panicked opening his eyes seeing no place to gain the needed air for survival. He swam up, or was it down or to the side…he had no sense of direction and his lungs began to burn, when as if knowing Zoe could endure no longer, the waters were lifted off of him. He gasped for air as he looked about him.

  He was swimming in a great body of water that was dissipating. Slowly but surely the water receded and left him standing on dry barren land. As he oriented himself from water to land, he saw nothing for miles upon miles—just flat barren land. Then at first, slowly, grass and trees started to grow up all around him and in the distance as far as his eyes could see. The vegetation gained speed and quickly found each type at its mature state with ripe fruits and berries for the picking. Some birds flew over squawking gaining Zoe’s attention. Then some strange looking creatures, many strange creatures of the like he had never seen, made their way past him.

  One such creature caught his eye, a long thin beast with legs running about hissing; he followed it until he saw something even stranger, as if things were not strange enough. He saw some form of barrier. Keeping him out or in, he was not sure which was the case. He walked slowly over to it. This was the first movement Zoe had made in this newfound place.

  As he made his way over to the barrier, he found that there was an image of someone or something standing as he does. He stopped for a moment wondering if he should go further. Impulse made him continue. As he came closer to the figure, the image became more defined to Zoe’s bewilderment. The image was himself. He stood there staring at his own figure behind the barrier. His face looked lifeless, void of expression.

  Zoe reached out his hand and touched the film like substance. He found it soft to the touch and pliable. He pushed on it to reach though to the other side. He started fighting hard and pushing with his whole being to be with the image of himself. He came sprawling through in an instance, finding himself on the ground with a mouth full of dirt. He spit the dirt out and looked around. The figure he had seen was nowhere to be seen. Then he looked back at the barrier. He saw the image of a different man. Zoe then realized that he was that man viewing himself for a time; he recalled his feelings while he was on the other side of the barrier: purity, love, hope and peace. Now, he felt like himself, nothing like he had. Once he realized all of this the image and all that was behind the barrier faded and was gone. Zoe was now by himself in a land that seemed darker than the one he had been in.

  “Now read back to me the scroll.”

  The wizard took a sip of his strong drink and set it down; picking up the scroll Sandalphon read,

  In the year of our three disasters, Sandalphon servant of Malkuth and Mikael servant of Tifereth write to you by the hand of Hagious concerning the boy in your charge.

  The hour of our demise is at hand lord Ratziel servant of Chokmah. We must act swiftly, wisely and in the honor of our gods. We, I am afraid, have no choice as the beginnings are upon us. All of our land covets for this time; the trees and fields of grain cry out for it. You shall not disappoint.

  Mikael has the one. He will take him to the place of the dragons and owls. I, Sandalphon, br
ing to you this letter to prepare for the coming of Mikael when the boy is sent on his way. He will bring word as to your appointed time with the child.

  We know your heart and resolve, but the gods will not let you keep the boy. It is your duty, as the gods will it! Ratziel, do not kindle the wrath of the gods. We expect all will be well and you do all you can, and even more so. I shall be to you in three settings of the two suns, prepare for my arrival.

  In the will of Hagious, the gods of our land, we write. Peace be with you.

  Mikael looked at his friend as he lowered the scroll, “Do you think Ratziel will follow through with the plan?”

  Sandalphon looked up at his friend, “Yes,” he paused for a moment, “he will do as we have done, everything the gods have asked of us.” He secured the scroll to the foot of his trusted hawk and spoke, “To Ratziel, with haste my friend!” The hawk took flight and he turned his attention back to Mikael.

  “Good, then I am off with the boy. As we are upon foot, I believe it will take us some time.” They walked up the staircase and made their way outside while conversing.

  They looked around, as they did not see Zoe.

  Mikael, looked around and then saw what had happened to him, “The Well!”

  “Ahhh! This boy! Of folly and ignorance, the boy is certainly not lacking!”

  “Yes, indeed. I will rescue the boy ascending into the hells of this land; you must hurry north to prepare the way.”

  Chapter 11

  When Thales was asked what was difficult,

  he said, “To know one's self.”

  ~Diogenes Laertius~

  A path opened up for Zoe that was not there before. As he looked around and saw no other way, he decided to follow it. When he followed the path up over a hill he saw a field full of flowers. The entire field was filled with different kinds of flower, with many colors that Zoe had never seen before. In a normal place, with normal circumstances, the place would have been beautiful, but as things were, the place still carried the darkness of the well, the eeriness of his events and the fear of his predicament.