Evening of the 8th of Vhalar, 719
It was dark, and chilly beneath the benches in Soren’s wagon, as they made their way deeper into the Myrkvior Forest. Nevertheless, as the wagon’s wheels tumbled on, josting him from slumber every once in a while, he found a sense of calm fall on him. There was safety to be found in shadow, solitude, and relief. He formed these words into a mantra that blew over his mind like a blanket, until he finally did find sleep.
Yet when he slept, unlike most times he closed his eyes, he found himself dreaming. He hadn’t dared to try and dream, not since the Call had snatched him so painfully away from the world of the waking. Yet, there had been a great boon inherent in that episode. Both he and Rabu had been gifted magic, yet he feared what else he might find in that darkness of dreaming.
With the aid of Thysbae, he’d slain the sessfiend, and avenged the tree guardian. Then, as a final act of courage, he snatched the magic acorn from the clutches of that horrible demon.
Yes there was much danger to be found in the dreamworld, much terror. Yet there was also a promise of adventure, and one that he couldn’t deny, try as he might. The adventurer’s eye gifted by his Rupturing spark prompted him now to reach out to the land of dreams as he slept, to find what adventures awaited him.
This night, he found himself in a forest of crystals. Dark crystals. They reflected a bit of light, the green gleam of his eyes, but otherwise were mostly opaque, obscured, and drearily misting some sort of shadowy vapor.
”Step silently… master…” Said a voice into Kisaik’s hearing.
He whirled around, casting glances this way and that. ”Who goes?” He asked.
”Tis I, your Shadow Shard… Or as I’m known in my own realm, Qadarqih.”
”Qadarqih…” Kisaik mused aloud, ”What manner of language is that, and… you can talk?”
Kisaik felt himself rising to lucidity as he asked the question. And whatever the shard answered, he knew this was only a dream. Yet he would remain here, and see what this dreamscape had in store for him.
”Yes. Qadarqih. Tis my name in Ulehi, meaning Black Sword.”
Ulehi… Kisaik had never heard such a language, yet he took the Shard’s word for it. Personally, her preferred shivvy.
”So…” The tunawa whispered, lowering his voice to match the dark blade. ”What are we doing? And why are we so silent?”
”Shhhhh…” Qadarqih muttered, ”Keep silent, for you are being watched… By the light. You must avoid the light, the light that burns us.”
It was then that Kisaik looked up into the sky, and saw beams of pure light streaming through the void. Like stars that had connected the dots in a night sky, yet these were moving, cascading in a pattern all around. Occasionally, Kisaik became aware that there was depth to their movement, and at times this depth reached as far down as the Dark Crystal Forest he was now skulking through.
”Remember Knight… Discretion is the better part of valor.” Qadarqih murmured, ”If you wish to fight against the evil lumberjacks and desperate villains and churlish knaves of the world… At times you will need to meet them on their own treacherous terms.”
Kisaik stared sternly ahead, but in the end nodded. His green gleaming eyes blinked twice as he considered the advice.
Then, he began lurching forth, into the maze of darkness.
He started slowly at first, so as not to make undue noise, but supposed that was a fool’s errand in his armor. So he began stepping with the tips of his feet, making singular contact with the ground to minimize foot and armor noise. However with each sound he made, it appeared that the lights from above were lowering to the Forest.
”Silently, Master! We must not let them near us!”
Kisaik blinked acknowledgement, then nodded fractionally. He stepped silently as he could, learning the intricacies of his armor and how and when it appeared to make noise. The joints were mostly unprotected, so he could move about without clinking his armored plates of moss-covered cobalt with a bit of ease.
He came to a large crystal, which jutted about four feet into the sky. There he stopped, giving himself a moment of rest. It was difficult and draining to sneak around. He didn’t know how the churlish knaves managed it so well!
A few more steps into the right, but before he could move one inch more in that direction, a large beam of pure light struck at the crystal earth, smashing it to smitherines! He stood stock still, as the entire Crystal Forest seemed to scream in agony. Then, the light ray passed through the earth, and into the hole in the crystalline ground it’d made. Kisaik was terribly curious, and couldn’t resist, so he got on all fours, and began sneaking in a crawl across the crystal ground.
Within a few trills, his head poked over the cavernous wound that the light had inflicted upon the dark crystalline formations. All through the crystals, prismatic motes of light, and specks of rainbow dust littered the cavernous tunnel. He wanted to go through, to see what wonders that new avenue held, but was called back from his curiosity by the insistent voice of Qadarqih.
”No, you must go on. Find the Mother Crystal, and we will send you back to the world of the waking.”
”But…” Kisaik objected, ”I really want to see where that goes…”
”Turn back, Master!” The sword insisted, and Kisaik sighed.
He stared into that tunnel for a good bit more, before turning back with another disappointed sigh.
As he stared up at the long crystal that had previously blocked his path, he saw that it was actually connecting to another, from his new vantage point. It was a bridge, with a very narrow beam of crystal leading off into the dark mists. He nodded then, feeling he knew what he must do.
He climbed the crystalline ladder. One hand and one foot in front of the other, stretching his arms and legs when he needed to. Before long, he found his way to the top with a little flip, and ducking low as a blade of light nearly took his head off. He must be careful! Alaiwa wasn’t here to help retrieve his head if hew as decapitated!
He followed along on the beam, silent as he could be. One foot in front of the other, and maintaining his balance while also staying very silent in the feet. Several times he nearly lost his balance. Kisaik began to grow accustomed to the narrow beam he had to trod, and with that familiarity came his ability to remain quiet while atop it.
All the while, the noise level of his armor kept rhythm with the sounds of the crystalline forest. The trills and ringing of those scintillating gemstones seemed to melt into the sound of his own armor’s clinking and chaffing.
One foot in front of the other, as quietly as could be, he set his tippy toes on the crystals, gracefully. Within a bit, he finally made it to the other side. A wide smooth floor of crystalline material was waiting for him, like a raised platform over the void. There were a few crystals jutting out here or there, but nothing that screamed ‘Mother Crystal’.
”Now, you should be waking.” Qadarqih intoned silently, ”Tomorrow night, I will bring you hither once more, to explore these dark lands, and you will be our agent of retributions against the encroachment of the light.”
Kisaik frowned, as he stepped forth into the wide, flat floor of the platform. ”Where is this Mother Crystal? And how and why have you brought me here? What is the light, and why does it destroy your crystals?”
”Enough questions I’ve answered.” Qadarqih snapped back, and then slipped out from Kisaik’s shadow, and fell into his hand. ”Now, strike me into the surface of this crystal platform, and you will have opened the way back to the world of the waking.”
Kisaik regarded Qadarqih for a moment, and then shrugged. With a great leap into the air, he then moved his hands around the hilt to angle it downward, putting the full weight of himself and the armor into the blade. It struck true into the dark floor, and Kisaik awoke with a start into Soren’s wagon.
He gasped at first, sitting upright in his little, leafy bedroll. Looking around, he saw his animals in their respective spaces, and his Dear Flower, Rabu.
Somewhat discomforted by his dream, he reached out to rouse his flower, and whispered to him to see if he would wake, ”Rabu! I had the strangest dream!”
