The Golden Path: Day Three

The Golden Path: Day Three

It’s the Third Thursday of the month, and wouldn’t you know it, I’m back on the hog. I’ve got the next Fragment of Fiction ready for you. As the tittle of this missive indicates it’s the next piece of the story begun in January and continued in February.

If you haven’t read those other two pieces I highly suggest you do as this will make little sense in a vacuum.

Enough pre-amble then, onto the Golden Path

—-

Day Three:

The stars were gone, hidden behind a roof of low hanging clouds. Some people, Ord knew, thought the stars were disciples of the sun who carried prayers and dreams to their mother. It seemed a foolish thing to believe, but he had been prepared to wish upon every last star in the sky if they would carry his prayers to Sasarael.

His thoughts were stripped away as another surge of cold hair stripped the warmth from his flesh.

“You would not be so cold,” said the guardian as she approached. “If you wore more clothes.”

“Can’t afford the time to strip,” responded Ord. He was almost naked, as was Harmen and Kuthanit, they had agreed to wear next to nothing to save weight. Less weight, meant less drag, and whith what they were doing clothes would be of no help. Of course Ynae being a fury cat creature and Durkon being a fury bull creature were mostly naked all the time so it meant nothing to them.

The guardian nodded, “you should have kept your boots.”

They stood in silence a while longer as the Champions began to rouse from their early morning nap.

Ord looked to the sky, and the slate that hung over head. “Guardian, what happens if the sun doesn’t rise?”

She laughed. “The sun always rises Ord. Just because you cannot see Sasarael does not mean she is not there.”

True. “What happens if we cannot see the sunrise then?”

She turned her gaze onto him and smiled like a woman who knew much but shared little. “You will see it Ord. Get to your boat, it is almost time.”

He took one step forward, stopped and turned back to the guardian with one outstretched hand. “Thank you.”

The guardian wrapped his hand in her slim warm fingers and shook. “Good luck.”

The Champions strode down the beach and carefully climbed into the boat. Once again Durkon set himself at the boat’s stern but he did not push them into the waters, not yet.

“Harmen, what if we don’t--” began Ord.

Harmen slapped the dwarf on the shoulder. “Don’t even think about it. We made you a promise Ord, and what do I always say?”

Ord smiled. “The only thing the Champions can’t break, is a promise.”

“It’s almost time,” warned Kuthanit as he pulled coal black goggles over his eyes. “I just hope we don’t miss--”

The sky opened, a gleaming line of gold parting the clouds like an ax hewing through wood. As above, so it was bellow with the golden path punching through the waves like an arrow through grain.

“Go!” shouted Ord.

Durkon roared and put the full of his considerable strength behind pushing them into the sea. Ord swore they must have been airborne for several moments before crashing into the surf.

“Row! Row! Row!” shouted Harmen again, and again, setting a murderous pace.

“Ease on Starboard, Ease more. Push true!” ordered Kuthanit, staring directly into the brilliant light of the sun.

Ord could feel the waves crashing against the boat as though trying to cast them about. Not about, off the path. Then came the steam.

It started as a thick warm mist but rapidly rose in temperature. The heat made it hard to draw in breath, then it began to sting the flesh and soon Ord could feel it roasting his skin.

“Brace!” shouted Kuthanit.

They ground against the golden path. Ord could feel the boat trudging through the molten gold beneath.

“Row! Row! Row!” demanded Harmen between labored grunts.

The boat warmed, and then cooked. Ord could feel the heat of the liquid metal through the flooring of the boat. It made him want to shift his feet to spare his toes, but time spent squirming was time he wasn’t rowing.

The rowing grew harder, their progress slower, and the light from the sun grew brighter such that even Kuthanit was holding a hand to shade his goggles. It was like rowing through snow, then mud, then sand and finally the boat ground to a halt.

“Are, are we there?” asked Ynae, half sprawled over the oar.

“No, there’s more to go, but no more rowing,” answered Kuthanit.

Ord rose and turned to look at the path before them and saw they were no longer pushing through the ocean. The path had truly turned into a bridge of gold with a terrible light at its end, and in that light something that could almost be made out. A pillar? A figure? A door?

“Which way?” asked Harmen. “I can’t see a blasted thing.”

“I don’t know,” answered Kuthanit. “All I see is light!”

Ord looked around. The blue sky rose around them, the path lay before them and the light shone ahead. “I can see the path.”

“Good, then lead on.”

“No,” said Ord as he lifted the body of his son into his arms.

“No? What do you mean no?” asked Ynae. “We’re almost there.”

“No,” repeated Ord. “You’ve come as far as you can go. Only I can see the path, because only I can walk it.”

Ord stepped to the bow of the boat and looked down at the molten gold. It was so hot it was charring the wood.

‘Ord no!” called Harmen, blindly reaching out to him. “We promised we’d do this together!”

“You promised to get me there Harmen. And you did.” Ord stepped from the boat onto the path. He hissed as the great heat charred his feet but it was solid. No, it was solid where he stepped for only he could walk it. Putting one foot before the other he marched into the light.

***

Harmen looked to the guardian, then the sun climbing toward its zenith and back to the guardian. He and the Champions on the boat had woken up on the shore with Durkon watching over them. Even then it had taken what felt like hours to recover from the exhaustion and heat. “Guardian.”

“Yes?”

“Now what?”

The Guardian looked unflinchingly at the sun. “Your friend will beseech Sasarael. She will judge if his cause is worthy, if his son is worthy and if she does he will return in a year’s time.”

“A year? I had no idea it took so long.”

The guardian shrugged. “Most people do not live through the tests. Those that do find the loss of a year a small price for resurrection.”

Harmen cast his gaze back to the waves. With a grunt he pulled himself to his feet and began gathering his clothes and equipment. “I’ll see you in a year Ord.”

“Are you so sure?” asked the Guardian.

Harmen smiled. “I just saw that dwarf walk on burning gold. A god ain’t going to stop him now.”

The guardian laughed. “I hope you are right. I shall be here when you return.”

—-

The end. I hope you found that story as entertaining to read as I found it to write.

Take care my dear readers. Thank you and God bless;

~ S. Wallace