The Hand In Shadow

1 Castle of the Mind-2

HE IS WALKING DOWN a winding path, and in the brush on either side, he sees the movement of Ravens, and he hears the actions of unknown beasts. He walks around one more bend, and he sees a large man sitting beneath a vast and old Oak tree. The man has one blue left eye, but where his right eye should be was a crater, where something or someone had scooped out the eye. Within the crater was a swirling, perhaps of energy or shadow, it could have been a thing of order or an element of chaos. The man projects a sense of power, and also a haunting loss. Whatever the man is, John feels that he is formidable.

The man looks at John and speaks. "I see that you are the Hand in Shadow in this world. Know that what you must do is necessary, lest the Night-Wolf and the World Serpent descend upon your world, and bring about the Twilight, which is Ragnarok. Eyes beyond this world see your struggles, and they would help if they could. They cannot, for there are many other worlds than this one, and all too few are the hands that can turn the worlds. Fight hard, and win, or lose. If you fight valiantly, I will someday see you in Valhalla."

John speaks to the one-eyed stranger. "I think that I know you to be the one that drank from Mimir's well. Can you counsel with your wisdom, even if you cannot stand with us on the field?"

The One-Eyed Man speaks. "You will stop the machine that enslaves, and you will fight men that think with one mind, you will meet a man who has lived a thousand lifetimes and be guided by him. You will find the demon that drains life, and the Norns do not weave that future. The ones who believe themselves gods will battle you, and seek to enter your mind, and that path is unknowable as well. If you win through, you will find those that you call the Unseen Masters, and if you win, you will free your world. If you do not, misery and death will descend upon your world forever.