The Shadow Within

TEMPLE OF THE EAGLE LORDS

At the blink of an eye, the two travelers reappeared, their hands still clutched into each other. They were now in a large building with a vast space inside almost like a cathedral. The roof was set very high up and the ceiling had glassed openings that allowed light into the temple. 

The openings on the ceiling were patterned in spirals exactly like the ones Rachel had seen on foreheads of the dead bodies in the village. Rachel took a deep breath and remained blank for a minute as her travel companion walked away from her and into a room inside the temple and closed the door behind him. 

Her mind wandered as she was still trying to figure out what was happening and it seemed she could not quite put her finger on it. The last thing she remembered was being in a crashing plane and now here she was in a fantastic world of mystery and magic where people could instantaneously teleport just by saying some words. 

She walked slowly over towards the brick wall and sat down on a tall wooden stool that had a massive spiral carved onto its surface . She carefully inspected the environment inside the vast temple and saw more monks all over. In fact everyone there was a monk and they were all shaved clean and wore orange robes. A group were sitted down in a circle on the floor, in meditating posture, and hummed slowly in harmony with their eyes closed. Others walked gracefully in and out of the temple while others stood chatting together in small groups. 

Rachel also noticed more spirals carved onto the stone floor and spread out all around the temple and she was beginning to wonder if it was some sort of logo.She had no idea there was one engraved onto the skin on her forehead. She just had not noticed. As she sat blankly and stared, the tall metal door next to where she sat clanked as it opened and the man who'd traveled with her reappeared from inside.He wore a slight grin on his clean-shaven face as he approached where she sat. 

"Hey, we didn't get a chance to know each other," he paused. 

"I am Lord Akashar and feel most welcome to the Temple of The Eagle Lords." He continued. 

This was the cue for Rachel to probably say something in turn but she did not. She was still unable to find her words owing to the sudden unexpected shift of her worlds. Rachel was, however, beginning to trust Akashar because he had been kind to her. It probably also had something to do with how he appeared to understand this world that she knew nothing about and was caring enough to help. 

"I have someone who is waiting to meet you... Here, come with me," continued Akashar when he realized she wasn't going to speak. Rachel then jumped off the tall stool and followed his lead into the room he had reappeared from. 

 On entering, a massive throne crafted from artistically carved out stone was raised by a podium at the center of the room. At the far end, a large window stood almost as tall as the height of the building. The glass on the window was bluish and it peered out into the jungle beyond the temple. A large oval table was set aside with twelve wooden chairs arranged at equal intervals around its circumference. A greenish woolen pillow was placed into the trough of the stone throne and on top of it sat a long-bearded yet completely bald man. He was the authority of the temple, The High Sceptre Lord. 

His robe was not orange like the other monks'. It was red and decorated with shiny jewels patterned in spirals all over to the helm. His feet were bare and rested on an extension of the throne built for them. 

Another man, Jerome the Sage, stood close to the throne and held a long wooden staff in his right arm. He was clearly not one of the monks as his hair was long and shaggy and laden with many beads of different colors alongside some shinning jewels. He wore a long black cloak, so long it dragged on the floor and his beard was thick and flowed to his chest. 

The two men had been speaking but stopped as soon as Rachel and her companion walked in. She was not sure what to expect. She was not sure who any of these people were or what they would want with her, but somehow she seemed to be going along without feeling the need to hesitate. 

"High Sceptre Lord," Akashar addressed and took a slight bow before proceeding.

"Jerome," he added, giving the Sage an acknowledging knod and then facing back to the High Sceptre Lord. 

"This is the lone survivor I was telling you about," he continued, speaking of Rachel who now stood stiff and motionless. 

Jerome the Sage, taking one glance at Rachel noticed something that immediately called up curiosity in him and threw him into deep contemplation. He moved across the room gracefully towards where she stood, his black cloak smoothly sweeping the floor behind him and his staff knocking it softly at every step. 

"The entire Shadow Village of Bodenia has been laid to waste. I saw the lifeless body of Zukichar, the Chief Mage alongside his wife and children. I also confirmed the bodies of several members of the Mage Council, all dead, no one spared. Except, of course, for her." Lord Akashar continued relaying his report to the High Lord. Jerome was now circling around Rachel and carefully inspecting her as if she were a haystack and his needle was lost somewhere in there. 

Could it be possible, he silently thought. Could she be a Medium. Could The Shadow be awakening. But The Shadow only awakens to counter The Force. If it is awakening, didn't that mean that The Force itself is awakened already? 

The thought of that was enough to strike fear into the Sage's experienced mind. One thing he was certain of, if his suspicions were true, then history was about to repeat itself and a great magical war would ensue. 

"She is not a survivor," Jerome blurted, after being momentarily lost in his thoughts. 

"What are you talking about, I found her at the scene and she bears the Mark of The Shadow on her forehead..." Akashar replied to him, mesmerized. 

Rachel's heart was beginning to gain pace. Too much was happening and it was happening way too fast. It was all bombarding her instantaneously and she had absolutely no time to digest any of it. Neither could she find the courage to speak her mind to these strange-looking men in this strange-looking place. 

"Look at the pattern of this blood on her neck," Jerome continued and Akashar came closer to take a look, his warm breath reaching Rachel's shaky and confused face. She had no idea about having any blood on her neck. 

"Her neck was clearly sliced all the way through to the back," Jerome continued, his deep voice laced with unwavering certainty. 

"She did not survive, I think she died and was reborn." 

On hearing the words, the High Sceptre Lord immediately rose from his throne, pulled a pair of reed-stitched sandals into his feet and walked down the podium to where the three stood. 

"Young woman, who are you?" He asked her. 

Rachel's mind went completely blank. She actually had no answer to that question. In this new world she didn't know a thing and neither did she know who she was in it. 

"I am..." She stammered and hesitated. 

"Not of this world," Jerome interjected, his face stern and thoughtful. His words sinking right into Rachel's mind resonating with her deeply as they were the perfect answer to the question. 

"What of do you speak... Sage," the High Lord enquired, turning to Jerome. 

"High Lord," Jerome said to him, his tone determined and the look on his face utterly stern. 

"This woman, I believe, stands here not of herself but as a sign. A sign that The Shadow is awakening and she is to be its vessel of being, its Medium." He spoke steadily and stopped abruptly, his words bringing with them a tinge of tension. 

Jerome then moved gracefully across the room over to the oval table on top of which a smoking pipe crafted from the adler of an antelope was placed. He slowly picked up the pipe and sparked a light at the pipe's end where some dried herbs rested. He then inhaled deeply and exhaled, the clouds of smoke reappearing out his nostrils and rising up as mountains permeating into his thick hair. The Sage then slowly paced back across the room, his pipe still in hand. 

"Over the last seven decades we have witnessed The Trakoran Empire grow day by day and with every moon that passes, we have seen more and more of Lord Adark's brutality as he seeks more power for himself and his empire. Today, by slaughtering the Shadow Village of Bodenia, he has wiped out the last standing stronghold of Shadow Magic. However, I fear that by doing that The Dark Lord may have triggered something much larger than he would have anticipated."

"How so?" The High Sceptre asked him. 

"It is recorded in The Chronicles of The Shadow Mages that massive spilling of innocent blood gradually feeds The Force Unseen causing it to revive and rejuvenate itself in the land of the living to seek more blood for its unquenchable thirst. This rising of The Force Unseen triggers in turn a corresponding awakening of The Shadow Within, the ultimate source of Shadow Magic, and the only power strong enough to keep The Force at bay." At this he paused, moved over to the window and stood looking outside at the forest as it was beginning to darken. 

"Lord Adark spilling the blood of Shadow magicians must be how this old dance begins again." He continued, without looking at them, almost as if he was saying it to himself. 

"So what are you technically saying," Akashar intervened, "I tend to get lost in your many words." He added. 

Jerome then turned from the window to face him and smiled. "I am beginning to believe that our world is about to change and change massively. There is mention in the Chronicles that the first sign of the awakening of The Shadow is that it takes on the body of a recently dead female as its Medium and places inside this person a task to be accomplished."

Akashar and the High Lord were now keenly paying attention to their wise sage. Rachel, on the other hand, may have been staring at Jerome but she was sure not listening to him. To her, he was yapping jibberish about dark lords and unseen empires and so her mind had completely switched off so much so that she didn't hear the part that was about her. 

"And do you really believe this young lady is this Medium of The Shadow. Is it possible that you are reading things into a perfectly normal situation," the High Sceptre Lord added, walking up to his seat and sitting down. 

As the conversation in the room gained momentum, Rachel's mind was suddenly thrust into a powerful and very vivid vision. She saw the armored soldiers, some on horseback others on the ground, as they slashed people she recognized down with their long swords. She saw one of them drive an iron spear into a man's back and saw him cough up blood as he fell to the ground. She wasn't just seeing it, she felt it too. The fear and hopeless frustration as one of the soldiers dragged her mother out of the house by her hair as she mourned and cried out. 

Then it dawned on Rachel what was happening. It wasn't her mother, she was experiencing memories of someone else's life in this crazed world. The person whose body she now wore. 

"One more thing," Jerome added, speaking to the High Lord, "It is also recorded that if this Medium were to appear, she may appear as a clean slate. By clean slate I mean they have absolutely no memory of their previous life." 

This part of Jerome's long speech Rachel heard quite clearly, and he was wrong. She knew exactly who she was or rather who she had been back on Earth. She knew her name was Rachel and she knew she'd been on a plane to a new school abroad just before her plane was crashing and her whole world got turned upside down. 

Come to think of it, she didn't just know she was Rachel. She was now beginning to tap into the consciousness of someone else here in this strange mysterious world. Would she correct the almighty sage. Would she tell him that she knew everything. Where would she even start. Why would she even start. She thought not. 

"This young woman needs to be initiated and named. She needs to be introduced to Shadow magic as a beginner student and utterly prepared for the task that she must perform, whatever that may be." Added Jerome. 

Akashar then turned to Rachel with his usual warm smile carved onto his face." You must have had a long day," he said to her. He had no idea how right he was, Rachel thought. This day hadn't just been long, it was outright crazy. 

"Have a seat over there," he continued, pointing her to the oval table. "I'll fetch you some water," he added and immediately walked out of the room leaving her with the High Lord and the Sage who were now both staring at her. 

"Do you have... Do you remember your name?" The High Sceptre Lord asked, turning his initially stern look to a warm grin. 

"I don't think she remembers..." Jerome interrupted. 

"I actually do," she in turn interrupted him. 

Rachel had no idea where the confidence suddenly came from and she realized those were the first words she'd said since arriving at the temple. She now remembered a name, strangely it was not Rachel. 

"Merius." It slid out of her lips. 

"Merius," the High Sceptre Lord repeated and smiled. "Well, I am the High Sceptre Lord. I run this Monastery of the Eagle Lords which is an institution for the learning and practice of Shadow magic." 

"So the monks I saw outside are all students here?" She asked, her confidence and interest growing exponentially. 

"Yes," he answered and grinned, "but we prefer to be called Eagle Lords." 

"This here is my advisor and wise sage and mage, Jerome." He added. "He's kind of a jack of all trades and a master of them all," continued the High Lord now facing Jerome. 

"It is an honor to make your acquaintance Merius," Jerome said, calmly, "This symbol you carry on your forehead is the embodiment of the magic I have committed my life to studying..." 

"Wait, what symbol?" She interrupted him.

"This," he said, moving closer to her and touching it. It was when Jerome placed his finger on the spiral that she felt it and immediately placed her own hand on her forehead to trace it. They were small spaced dots that drew an expanding spiral from the very center of her face. 

"Your very being here and possibly as a result of powers beyond us only fires up more thirst in me to want to know more," he said to her, his face very close to hers. 

Rachel wanted to reply to him but then she realized she had nothing to say. His words had just completely blown her away and left her blank. 

Old is this dance 

Of The Shadow and The Force 

All to get a new dose 

Of a path not traveled once