"How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours." -Wayne Dyer
Within the darkness of the desert, a group of 30 knights carried their torches into a small cave in the middle of the desert. The group was led by the famed knight, Captain Corozon Sutra, from the Dunain Kingdom. The king has sent them to find a Watcher in the Dark to help explain the nightmares the king had been having for the last few weeks. Following the leads of the kingdom's seers, they had traced the watcher into an underground cave that had never been marked on any map before. The knights were all wary of their surroundings, with each holding their weapons tightly. The wind was cold that night, but it was the eerie feeling of the dark that brought a chill down their spine. But then, there was a voice, a faint one, from the end of the dark cave.
"Welcome, knights of Dunain. How may I be of use to you?" the voice asked. Corozon raised his torch to get a better look at the source of the voice, but he merely saw a humanoid figure covered in a robe. The voice was soft and feminine; thus, Corozon assumed it was a woman's voice.
"Are you a Watcher of the Dark?" Corozon asked, still with his right hand gripping his sword's handle. "Be at ease, Captain. You have assumed correctly; I am merely a watcher. I am no threat to you or your men.
"Hearing that, Corozon and his men let their guard down. "I am here at the order of His Majesty, King Grandiom, one of the Kings of the desert, the Lord of the Dunain Lands. His majesty demanded your assistance in deciphering his dreams."
"Hmm... His nightmares, you mean?" the watcher taunted.
Corozon ignored the watcher and continued, "His majesty repeatedly dreamt of a golden gate, which opened and closed at a certain interval, each time releasing a dark figure that blitzed through, too fast to observe clearly."
"And then...?" the watcher asked with almost a mocking tone.
"But then, the interval became shorter and shorter, to the point that the gate was no longer holding whatever it was before. The dark figures began to flood the lands, and the Kingdom of Dunain was left in ruins."A small laugh escaped the watcher's throat as her twisted smile became visible in the dark. "I see... the blood of the first King of Dunain lives on, after all. King Grandiom possessed his great ancestor's magic as well."
"Do you know the meaning of his dreams then?" Corozon asked.
"It is simple, really. It means the end of the Dunain Kingdom is near," the watcher laughed. One of the knights raised his sword in fury. "You insolent witch!"
"Stand down!" Corozon commanded his knights. The watcher's laugh continued to echo through the cave. She then moved closer to Corozon's torch, revealing her lower face. For a moment, Corozon thought of how beautiful her lips and chin were. They were smooth and shiny like porcelain. She then continued, "But it is not inevitable, my honourable guests."Corozon snapped back to reality. "You are saying that we can prevent it? How?" Corozon hurriedly asked.
"Unfortunately, not even you can prevent it, my noble knight. None of you mortals can."
Her words sounded more like disappointment than mocking. Corozon couldn't help but take offence at what she said. "But you said it could be prevented! If not by us, then who?" The watcher turned her back on Corozon and slowly walked back into the darkness. She then whispered, "Why, by an immortal, of course."
Her words left Corozon confused, and thus he demanded clarity: "What must we do then?" The watcher sat down deep within the darkness and answered, "If you are cowardly and wise, you shall wait it out until the traveller arrives. However, in the meantime, countless innocents will perish while you do nothing. If you are brave and ignorant, you shall go north, to the Gord Fort. There you will meet your end at the hand of a mighty beast, but you will give the innocents enough time to flee." Hearing that last bit, Corozon's heart sank.
"The choice is yours, captain. Now begone.
"The watcher said as the torches began to die, one by one. By pure instinct, the knights immediately retreated out of the cave. Corozon was the last to narrowly escape from the cave before it completely collapsed. The group recovered immediately, and one of the knights then asked Corozon, "So... where to, Sir?"
Corozon thought about it while looking at his men. All of them had the same thought, and all of them nodded at Corozon. Corozon then sighed, "To the Gord Fort, then." Thus, they rode off with their horses to fight the beast.
Underneath the collapsed cave, the watcher still sat in complete darkness. She pondered what to do next. "How curious... The Forgotten Ones are returning as the Chosen One has appeared. The Gods and Demons have taken notice of his presence as well. The Outergods are making their moves. The Third of All has turned the situation into a gamble for survival. Amidst all of this... the Immortal Traveller has become a rather significant piece," she thought to herself.
"Perhaps I should visit him... I am curious what his presence would feel like. The presence of fate itself..." she smirked.
"Then perhaps, I will know if he will appear."
To be continued.