The Gamer

The Journey

"Speak and tell them who you are," came Aurora's voice. Darrell mustered his courage and introduced himself. They listened carefully to his story. And when they had listened to him they invited him to follow them. Down a wide passage, they walked on. The walls were covered with stripes of light like luminous marble. They walked ahead towards a light down the passage.

As they walked along Darrell looked at the stone figures that looked like gargoyles that stood on pillars on either side of the passage. Each had their eyes shut as if they were all asleep. They walked on and on until they came to a wide corridor lit up with torches that blazed bright.

They came to two giant doors. On either side of the doors stood two guards dressed in robes. They were each carrying a tall staff, like the three men Darrell was following.

But they were slightly less imposing than the three men Darrell had met at the entrance. The hall was a wide-open one. It had a tall roof that seemed to reach up into the sky itself. There were stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Darrell shivered. "What if they fell? Anyone who happens to be underneath would be impaled.

"No, they wouldn't. There is magic in the very air of this place. Everything is held together by spells and enchantments. The men of the mountains are keepers of the ancient laws and mysteries of the different dimensions and worlds," Aurora explained as Darrell looked about him.

"Wait, worlds?" asked Darrell, and then remembering he was in a different one than he'd been before said, "But I thought that different worlds only existed in books, movies, games and in the imagination."

"Well, don't dismiss things easily. Always leave room for the impossible," came Aurora's voice, and she added, "things are not always as they seem or as we think."

"Yes. All this certainly seems like something out of a dream," said Darrell looking at the throne that was lying in front of a sparkling spring. The water glowed without an apparent source of light from above. Just then, a silvery, luminous fish leapt out the stream and dived back into the water.

"They are merrows," said Aurora's voice, and they can turn from fish to mermaids and back again."

"Mermaids? Do you mean that..."

"Yes. Mermaids are as real as you and I!"

"And I thought I knew things," said Darrell to himself in disbelief.

"It's best to keep an open mind," said Aurora and added, "we can never know what is real and what is not. It isn't that simple."

"So, Darrell, how can we help you? What do you suggest we do for you?"

"I just want to know how to break the curse that has been set off in..."

"Yes, we are aware of it. To eliminate any curse, you need to find its source."

"And how will I do that?" asked Darrell, thinking out loud.

"An excellent question. You've got to find the source and then destroy or purify it."

"But where is this source? How will I find it, and when I do, how will I destroy it?"

"That, my child, you will have to figure out for yourself. However, we might be able to guide you. We will give something to help you on your quest."

"Let us ask the merrows,"said one of the three men and then struck the staff on the floor.

Then the three men started singing a strange song together. First, it was barely audible, then it grew to a sound like the waves washing up on a pebbly shore.

"Meet the oracles of the mountains." said the tallest of the three men. "Step forward and speak. You may ask what you wish to know from them."

"Well, I wish I knew how to find the source of the curse? How can I begin to search for it?"