Victor and the Seven Circles of Darkness

Chapter 21 - The Fourth Gate

Victor realized that death was a painless experience. It's just like falling asleep. Pain came first before death, and death itself was a journey into the unknown. But the most rewarding of all was getting a second chance to live. Seeing the goddess Sol, the icon of beauty, power, and solitude interfering in his behalf was a surreal experience. Was it a dream? Maybe it's just a dream, and it's a good dream. One thing was certain, it's not his time to die yet, not in this place, and not that way. He thought his mother's prayer was strong. 

It's a good reminder for him, a lesson that everything done over the edge would lead to nothing but pain and suffering in the end. This belief, of course, was most applicable to humans since they have souls, and they're capable to the promise of eternal life. Since sun fairies have no souls, there's nothing to be bothered about. When they die, it's the end of their physical existence.

What had happened to him, however, was an eye-opener applicable for a lifetime. As the future king of Amoretto Kingdom, and as the next keeper of the sun orb, everything must be taken moderately. It should always be balanced between what is good and bad. The power he would soon have if misused could be disastrous to his people and to the kingdom. Too much of anything must be taken out of his system. He should take that in mind.

Their journey continued. They're heading farther into the deep, escaping at last the cold heart of the mountain. They came to a broad cave that branched off to smaller caves, but none of them paid attention to it anymore.

Victor's clothes were still damp when he put it on. He's aware that his wet clothes and leather boots would give him odorous smell in the long run, but who cares. They all have the same smell anyway. He lost his backpack in the circle, he had to rely for his food supplies and other personal needs from Trobit and Master Tyrus. He wished nothing more of the same kind would happen in the next circles.

Trobit counted the knots. "I hope we'll be home before time."

Victor double-checked his knots. "We have fourteen days left. We survived the three circles in ten days even with a few hassles around us. I think we have enough time. Let's hope there'll be no more problems along the way."

"I hope so. I really hope so."

They reached the end of the path. They scattered around to search for the feather mark and it didn't take that long when Rower shouted with glee. "I found it! Over here!"

Victor took a feather from his pocket and rushed to where Rower stood. He's really grateful he put them inside his coat pocket and not in his backpack. Otherwise, they might still be in the third circle retrieving the backpack under freezing water. It's hard for him to imagine how they could do that, such a waste of time and energy, a life threatening situation in particular. It's a good initiative on his part to ask Yaya to put a secret pocket in his coat.

He waited for the stone wall to absorb the feather, but the wall refused to absorb it and nothing of bright light came out from it.

"No, it can't be! What's happening here?" he said in panic. He brought out the remaining three feathers and placed one after the other, and still, the wall remained intact.

Master Tyrus took a feather and ran it in-between his fingers. "It's wet," he said. "The feathers are wet, maybe that's the reason why the stone wall refused to accept it."

"Then we'll make it dry," said Trobit. He took one feather and blew it, swung it in the air and blew it again.

After a few minutes of waiting, Victor tried it again, and this time, the stone wall absorbed the feather. He took a long breath of relief.

A radiance of light burst out from the feather mark, from there a thick line of light formed and slithered around the stone, cutting it into the shape of a door. Luminous inscriptions appeared above: Gate Ira.

"What's ira?"

"Ira means wrath," Rower answered. "Search your hearts if you have feelings of hatred or anger to anybody."

Victor gnashed his teeth. His eyes narrowed as he gazed at the gate's name. Clearly in his reaction he couldn't hide how he hated his Aunt Cassandra and Uncle Thorkel for being traitors to him, to his family, and to Solandia. They wouldn't be in Mount Saligia now if not of their betrayal and selfish motive of power. Even if death had taken them for their evil doings, still, he blamed them for all the chaos tailing him up to this time. He should be in school now studying and enjoying the company of new friends and classmates.

The door opened and another man of magnificence appeared before them. "Welcome to Gate Ira," he greeted, his voice was full and heavy. His clothes looked similar to the three gatekeepers they'd met earlier. He's tall and his shoulders were broad. His hair was dark and curly, and his beard covered half of his face.

They bowed to him. 

"My name is Rogziel, the guardian and keeper of Gate Ira. I know your purpose here. It was relayed to me. Any question before you proceed?"

Master Tyrus spoke, "Lord Rogziel, could you please tell us something about this circle? We want to be ready."

"Be guided by the name itself, this circle is full of wrath. I warn you all to stay patient, calm, gentle, and kind to each other. These virtues will help you overcome the adversities in this circle. Take note that their wraths are contagious, faster than the blow of the wind. Free yourselves from hatred and anger for these will push you down into the circle. If you can't cope up with this, the more you can't recover as nothing will consume your hearts and minds but wrath day after day. Love and joy have no place in this circle, yet love and joy defeat wrath and heal all wounds—they are the most powerful to possess in this place right now."

The companions remained silent. All tongue-tied.

Finally, Master Tyrus broke the silence. "Thank you, Lord Rogziel. We will remember your warning."

The man nodded and let them in. He disappeared afterwards and the gate became an ordinary stone wall.

The surrounding looked different. Torchlights aligned the stone walls, no long and spiral stairways, no tunnels or caves, no narrow bridges or archways to pass. The ground not tiled of bricks or stones, but of fine sand.

"So warm," blurted Trobit, wiping his sweat over his forehead. "So dry and warm up here."

"Look!" said Victor, pointing his finger forward. "I could see from here the end of the path, but ... where's the fourth circle?"

"Wait!" said Master Tyrus, spreading both arms to a halt to prevent them from moving forward. "I have bad feelings for this. The end of the gate is too near to track, and we don't see any circle from here. It means the circle is just around us."

"Around us, Master Tyrus?" said Trobit. He looked around if there were tunnels or caves connected to the circle, but he saw nothing but stone walls.

"The circle is either beside us, beneath us, or above us."

Victor and Trobit trotted quickly near Master Tyrus, both were afraid to be taken away by the unknown forces of the mountain.

"I think it's beneath us," said Rower. "Why sand?"

"Stick together. If an abrupt incident happens, at least we're all together. No one should be separated from the group. Prepare your lamps."

They walked on in silence.

Victor felt the tension among his companions, as if at any moment, something terrible would come up. The same fear he felt when he was walking alone in the forest of Fallen Island. Those ancient, weird looking trees were like the walls of the mountain, with hidden eyes watching over them, except that there's no howling beasts or monsters around.

When they reached the middle part, the ground shook and collapsed, and they fell into a deep abyss. Screams of panic dominated the sinkhole and there's nothing of which they could cling on to to hinder them from falling.