Sunrise Gate

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The faint glow of a torch flickers against the wall of my cell. Its shadow leaps and dances, twisting and curling, slowly ebbing in and out of picture as gentle winds flood the mine from the surface above. The breeze is soothing as it cools the forehead, gracefully brushing the hair from my eyes as a mother does. I look about the room, unable to distinguish which dirt patch is floor and which is wall, only orienting myself after seeing the bars of my cell door. A pulse beats heavy in my head, the quick, rapid thump of a heart pounding against my skull. I let my head sink deeper into my pillow, the sheet falling off my shoulders and onto my neck. A metal tray sits at the foot of my cell, beans and potatoes filling it. A cup of water stands next to it. The thought of food sends my stomach churning and I close my eyes once more, the sounds of a crackling fire humming me to sleep as the shadow of the torch returns to the wall. A reminder of home.

I awake in my cell once more, but sitting on the floor. A feeling of reality comes over me, as if I am here, am I here? I ask myself. The light of the torch continues to glow and the winds slowly drift throughout the prison. The tray of food sits on the floor. Nothing has changed in the world, but I am on the floor and I can not recall how. I attempt to stand to go back to bed but my legs do not respond.  I’m dreaming. But I am not in control. The sharp sounds of a pick ring in the distance, my gaze slowly tracking them to the pit where a woman is mining. She glows a ghastly white, a radiant light I recognize. Syn. She turns to me, as if called by my thoughts, and indicates with a finger for me to come. Without fail my body rises and I walk to my cell door, pushing it aside as if it never were locked and I was always free to come and go. Down the ramp, I come closer. Syn… I try to say but think. She does not hesitate, turning and walking with the grace and elegance of the ballroom. As she carries herself across the pit, past my plot of silver and through the deposit cart, I follow in her ghost. I hear the snore of guards, looking up to find two leaning against crates passed out, snoozing their shift away.

Syn stops at a door, pointing to it. I look to her, “What is in there?”

She nods her head with a trace of a gentle smile

“Can you not tell me?

She shakes her head.

“Why not?”

She walks through the door, slowly fading. I walk closer, grabbing to the bars of the door while  leaning my weight on it. I watch as she turns to look at me, ensuring I am watching. She quickly turns back and walks further and further, pacing her way carefully down the hall. Through the bars I can see in the glitter of her appearance, more cells and further down another tunnel leading deeper into the mine. From across the way she turns and looks to me, sitting at the foot of the tunnel and slowly fading away. I see her lips move and her eyes widen, a form of alertness that I mimic. Soon enough she is gone, but I remain. I think to myself, was this really a dream? Why am I still here? I move freely about, releasing myself from the door and stepping backwards. I am in control now. But what is left of me here? What was it that Syn wanted me to see in that tunnel?

The world is free for me to make mine, I can venture where I wish, see what I want to see. I could leave. I could be free of this mine. I could return to Ebonhawke.But excitement fails to come to me as I stand, looking at the walls around me. But why? Syn had something she wanted to show me down there, leaving now would mean I would never find it. And Lynx wanted me to find a girl. I grab hold of the key around my neck.Why would Lynx go to the extents he did - to ensure my armor came and I had this key - if fate dictated otherwise? Why would a God extend herself to this world, burning through precious energies only to return me back home with nothing gained? I cannot leave. Not because the opportunity does not exist. But because another opportunity has yet to be reaped.