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David watched the clock on the wall. The second hand slowly tick-tocked its way around the circular face. He closed his eyes, opened them, and looked again at the time.
3 a.m.
He was going on twenty-two hours with no sleep. Nineteen of those were spent right here in this hospital room. The other three....the other three were probably the worst he had ever had in his life.
He spun his chair around and looked back at the bed. A small figure lay on its back, unmoving. The blankets were pulled up to its shoulders and the bed was surrounded by buzzing machines and soft glowing lights from computer screens.
David looked down at his son, Sean. If not for what the doctors had already told him, he would have thought that Sean was only sleeping peacefully, his young face serene in the glow from the machines monitoring his vital signs.
Sean wasn't asleep. He was more than sleeping.
David had been bombarded with technical terms and doctor jargon all day long. "Coma" and "brain damage" were thrown out at him from different directions, along with "possible intensive care" and "unknown effects," littering the spoken landscape like loaded guns waiting to shoot their speeding bullets of doubt and anger.
Twenty-two hours.
That was how long it had been since the car had hit David's twelve-year-old son and put him in a coma.
Twenty-two hours.
It was the first day.
The day the light was found in the dark.
*****
Doorways.
Let's talk about doorways.
What is a doorway? What is it's purpose? What can it be made of?
It leads you from one place to another, right?. Open a door and you open a new possibility. Open a door and a new opportunity rises. Open a door and you place yourself within a new context...
A new world.
Doorways.
They represent a choice. Do you enter or pass it by?
Doorways.
Sometimes they are normal looking. A frame with a wood door. A brass knob. A turn to the right and a push.
Sometimes they look like something else entirely.
A hole under the roots of an aged old tree. A gate in a white picket fence. A stone hiding a cave on the side of a mountain.
Sometimes they are made of nothing.
Only existing as a slip of a thought. A tweak of the mind. Or a gentle flight across the imagination.
Doorways.
Aren’t they the damndest things?
*****
He could feel rock underneath his body. Hard, cold rock.
Sean slid his hands around, spreading his arms wide until they hit jagged, rough angles of whatever he was lying in.
He coughed, his lungs hacking up huge explosions of dusty air. He rolled to his side and slid his legs to his chest, trying to breath in deep and clear the dirt from his burning lungs.
“Dad.” Sean yelled the word but it came out as a soft rustle. He stared out into the darkness, then he realized his eyes were still closed. He forced them open, but was met with more blackness.
Sean blinked his eyes quickly. He could feel the dust motes on their surface and tears began to run down his cheeks. But his view remained unchanged.
All he could see was darkness. Thick, black, inky darkness.
He slid onto his hands and knees and crawled a few feet ahead until he felt the floor begin to angle upwards and his hands brushed across loose rock and dirt. It fell, making him cough and gag again.
“Dad!” His voice was a little louder now. But the sound fell flat against the rock. With his hands, he explored the entire area where he was trapped. It was completely made up of rock and dirt and as far as he could tell, with no doors or openings of any type.
He searched his memory, trying to recall how he had gotten here. He had been with his dad at the grocery store. They were getting ready to take a road trip to....where? He couldn’t remember. Only that they were buying snacks and supplies for the trip. He remembered going out to the parking lot, running ahead with the car keys while his dad pushed the cart full of groceries. They were laughing. His dad had said something funny and he had started to reply and then....
….that was it. He couldn’t remember anything else. And now he was trapped in some sort of cave in the dark.
Panic began to set in and Sean started beating and digging against the walls. Dirt fell across his face and clumped down onto his shirt. Dust rose and attacked his lungs until finally he fell back to the floor coughing and retching.
How did this happen? Where the heck am I?
He lay on his back, his mind racing, waiting for his breath to return to normal. When he was finally calm, Sean began to take stock of himself. As far as he could tell in the pitch black, he was not injured in any way. He knew he was filthy from the dirt and quite sweaty from trying to break free. He seemed to still be dressed in the clothes he was wearing earlier, when he was with his father. He had his sneakers, a comfortable pair of blue jeans, a Call of Duty T-shirt, and a pullover hoodie on top of that.
Sean sat up and took off the hooded sweatshirt and tied it around his waist. He lay back down on his back and rested.
Eventually, he began to hear small sounds in the earth around him. There was a faint cracking sound coming from inside the rock walls. Sean focused on it and realized he could hear small chewing noises in tandem with the cracking.
A memory made its way into his foremind. He was at his aunt’s house, lying on the floor. He remembered being half asleep as his dad sat on the couch talking to his aunt and grandmother. Suddenly, he began to hear something chewing on the wood underneath his head. Sean had sat up in such surprise that his dad immediately ran to see if something was wrong. Upon hearing what his son was experiencing, David had laughed.
“You’re hearing a small bug deep in the wood boards having it’s lunch.” He went on to explain how some bugs feasted on wood and how sometimes it could be a real problem for grown-ups to deal with.
This was exactly what he was hearing coming from the rock all around him. Only it was louder. He listened intently to the sounds, trying to figure out what kind of bug ate rock. He wasn’t able to think of one.
I don’t think there is such a thing. A rock eating bug? I’ve never heard of any kind of animal that ate rocks.
He figured it had to be something else making the noise. He lay still on the floor, trying to hold the fear that was starting to creep inside of him at bay.
Suddenly, Sean sat back up again. There was a new sound now!
He listened intently in the dark. There it was again! A large hollow thunk. Now he couldn’t stop hearing it. Every few seconds another solid *thunk* coming from deep in the rock. Sean slid over to the side of the cave where the sound seemed to be emanating from. He could hear it very clearly now. And....it was getting closer!
Sean lifted a hand up to the wall and pressed it flat against the rough rock. Every time the sound carried through the solid dirt, he could feel a slight vibration beneath his fingers.
“Hello?” Sean called. “Is someone out there?” He stopped and listened. The hollow sound continued to approach.
But now there was something else accompanying it.
Sean began to yell frantically.
“Help! Help me! I’m in here!” He began to paw at the rock again.
Now the second noise Sean had just identified began to grow louder too.
It was the sound of someone singing.
*****
David got up from the uncomfortable chair and walked over to the bed. He looked down at Sean. The boy’s face seemed serene under the dimmed lights of the room. He took one of Sean’s small hands in his own.
“Sean?” David said sadly. “It’s dad. I’m right here, son. I’m not going to leave you. I promise.”
Sean’s fingers remained still and David thought they felt very cold. He wrapped his other hand around them and turned to the large glass window.
Outside, dark clouds were rolling together in the sky. The room was on the sixth floor, giving David a good view of the gathering storm. It looked to be a monster. Already wind gusts were bending the small trees lining the parking lot. David blinked as small splats of rain began to hit the glass.
A deep rumble of thunder vibrated through the hospital.
“I’m here, Sean. It’s okay.” David pulled the chair next to the bed and sat back down.
*****
The singing was very close now and Sean could tell the voice was deep but he had no clue what the words meant. The sounds grew louder and closer and he realized what he was hearing was someone digging through the rock with a heavy tool, maybe a mattox or shovel.
“Please help!” Sean yelled again. Small bits of rock fell from the wall and showered the floor. The noise was directly in front of him now. He scooted backwards quickly as a large cracking sound filled the whole and a small ray of bright light poked through the wall.
Two huge whacks and more rock hit the floor. Now there was a hole the size of a basketball in the wall. The opening was filled with bright light that flooded the chamber and blinded Sean.
“Hello?” Sean said timidly into the light. “Hello?”
“Hey, what’s that? I got’s me a bubble.” The voice was gruff and raspy. A shadow filled the opening, blocking out the light. “A big’s bubble. And what’s that?”
Sean looked at the wild face poking itself into the opening. The face belonged to a man and was covered with dirt and a huge shaggy beard. The man’s head was bald and a pair of funny looking goggles rested on his forehead. The man poked his head further into the small cavern.
“Eh, who’s in here? Is this a trick? Glint, is that you, you rascal?” The head disappeared and Sean watched as the man began to dig with the large pick-ax Sean had heard earlier. The hole grew larger until it finally joined the floor. It was large enough now for Sean to fit through.
He scrambled forward but stopped as the man blocked the opening and stared down at him.
Sean’s jaw hung open at the full sight of the person standing before him.
“You’re a dwarf,” he whispered to himself.
“Eh, what’s that? You’re not Glint. It’s a man pup. What are you doing here in my bubble?” The dwarf stood no taller than Sean’s chest, but he was still quite intimidating. He looked like many of the dwarves Sean had read about in his fantasy novels or saw on television. The little man wore clothes made of heavy black leather. He had thick breeches on and a heavy vest that matched the pair of gauntlets he wore on his arms. His hands grasped the pick tightly and Sean noticed a small sword hanging from the man’s waist.
“My name is Sean. Please, can you tell me where I am?”
The dwarf paid no attention but instead seemed quite puzzled by the boy’s appearance. “You are far from home. Greendale is on the other side of the channel. How’d the pup get all the way here?” The dwarf began to stroke his long bushy beard. “Unless he’s a spyin’ on our gem stock.Yes! Are you a spy and a thief, little human?” With these words, the dwarf brandished the pick threateningly.
Sean retreated to the other side of the cave.
“No! Please! I’m lost. I have no idea where I am. I just want to get back home!”
The dwarf stopped in mid-step, considering what the boy had just said. “A lost pup! Well Mig has no use for lost human cubs! Get out here! I’m taking you to the boss. He’ll know what to do with worthless human pups! Out of my bubble!”
Mig retreated back out of the opening with Sean in tow. They were in a small rock corridor that had been dug into the side of the mountain. Torches lined the wall, illuminating the hard rock. Sean had to stoop over to stand in the tight hallway. Mig studied Sean in the harsh light.
“What’s a bubble?” he asked.
“That’s a bubble,” Mig pointed back at the small hole Sean had been trapped in. “Air gets trapped in hot rock, eh? The pressure forms the bubble. Best place to find Fire Stones.” Mig’s ugly face contorted into something resembling enthusiasm. “Eh, you see any Fire Stones in there, pup?” He thrust a thick, dirty finger into Sean’s chest.
“I don’t even know what they look like,” the boy said, studying the little man in front of him. Where am I?
“What? Greendale is full of them. That’s the light! The light, you ignorant fool! They be the brightest thing in the world!” Mig turned and stomped up the tunnel, grumbling the whole way. “Not know about the stones? This one must be a bit dim in the head, eh. Meddling humans. Stay across the channel is what they better do. Mig has no use for them, eh?”
Sean followed, being careful not to hit his head on the ceiling. The small tunnel exited out into a larger one, and here Sean saw more dwarves digging and mining away rock. They all looked curiously at the human boy as he passed them.
“What you got there, Mig? A new recruit?” one of them yelled as they passed.
“Eh! Flub off, Wit! I’m sure he could dig circles around you, you ugly pig!” Mig growled back. This was met with hearty laughter and Sean felt himself smiling. He couldn’t believe he was surrounded by dwarves.
Mig led Sean through what felt like miles and miles of tunnels. Finally the corridor opened into a large cathedral type room. Dwarves were everywhere, talking, eating, sharpening tools. They walked through the huge crowd and entered a small side room. This was where they found the boss.
The boss was named Gregor, and he was a head taller than any of the other dwarves in the mine, which made him stand about even with Sean. Sean listened as Mig filled Gregor in on how he had found the boy trapped in the closed off bubble.
“What dark art is this?” Gregor asked. “How does a human child end up in an unopened chamber in the side of the mountain?” He glared suspiciously at Sean.
Sean looked the giant dwarf over. Where many of the workers were dirty and shaggy, Gregor was a bit cleaner. He still wore the heavy leather clothes many of his employees wore, but he was fitted with a shiny silver chainmail chest plate and matching silver gauntlets. He was completely bald, but made up for that with a long white braided beard.
“I don’t know how I got in there, sir,” Sean answered. “I was with my dad and then....I wasn’t. I woke up in the hole.”
Gregor sniffed at this. “Impossible. Tell me why you left Greendale. Are you an outcast? It’s okay if you are one of the exiles. We hold no allegiance to human law here.”
“I’m not from Greendale. I’ve never heard of it. I’m from Chicago.” Gregor looked confused by this. He turned to Mig.
“Where’s Chicago?” Mig asked.
Gregor frowned. “Chicago. Is this place a town like Greendale? Does it hold many men?”
Sean nodded. “It’s not a town. It’s a city. One the biggest in the world. And, yes, men do live there.”
“A city? Full of men?!!” Gregor looked stunned. Mig’s eyes were huge and his bottom jaw had dropped into his dirty beard.
“Millions of humans,” Sean said.
“Millions of humans?” Gregor’s features changed from shock to worry. He glowered at Sean. “You will show me this city. You will point me the way to it.” He stood up from the large wooden chair he was seated on. His eyes glowed fiercely in the torch light. “A city of men greater than Greendale. We must ready ourselves for their attack.”
Sean was confused. “What? No. We won’t attack you. We would never...” But it was too late. Gregor grabbed Sean’s arm in his strong grasp and led the boy through a door in the rear of the room.
A blast of cold air hit Sean as he walked through the door and he immediately knew he was outside. Fresh air filled his lungs, and he began to feel re-energized. Gregor pulled him forward. Sean stood next to the boss dwarf, amazed by the sight before him.
He was standing on a large outcropping of rock on the side of a great mountain peak. He looked over the edge of the cliff. They were several thousand feet up. A large valley opened out before the mountain. It was night and the land was dark except for the occasional glimmer of light dotting the countryside.
“Show me where your city lies,” Gregor boomed into the night air. Behind them, Mig stood next to the open doorway, watching anxiously as the bright torches from inside cast shadows across the rocky platform.
Sean shook his head. “I don’t know which way. I told you, I’m lost.”
Gregor sighed. He pointed towards their right. “Over there is Greendale, the human town. Beyond that lies the Cullis, home of the dark elves.” He pointed straight off the outcropping into the valley below. “There is the Guild Stair, home of the mighty mountain dwarves. My wife right now waits for my arrival. Only work keeps me here.”
Gregor motioned further past the valley. “Does Chicago lie beyond the Stair? Is it beyond the Black Smoke where the vile dragons hide?”
Sean shook his head slowly. “I don’t....I can’t......” Fear filled him. Confusion rocked him to his core.
The large dwarf turned to the boy. “Is it further than the goblin realms? Or the realms of the River Elves?” He stepped closer. “Is it past the Tower of Silence?”
Sean gaped at the dwarf. He turned and looked at Mig, who stared at the boy solemnly.
“I don’t know where I am,” he said meekly. “I just want my dad and my mom. I just want to go home.”
Mig stepped forward, kicking loose the gravel that peppered the stone. The small rocks rolled forward and then disappeared over the edge. “Maybe the pup needs to use the sky, eh? To get his bearings.”
Gregor nodded at the smaller dwarf. He put a meaty hand on Sean’s shoulder and slowly spun him around towards the body of the mountain. He raised a hand and pointed up, past the peak of the mountain into the sky beyond. “There’s the Warrior’s Trio. Find your sense of way now.”
Sean gaped at the night sky. Everything he had experience the past few hours had been nothing short of amazing. But nothing could prepare him for this.
He now wondered if he had lost his mind.
There, in the sky beyond the peak, sat two brightly lit moons. The were of equal size and color, a brilliant whitish pink hue. And in between the two moons sat a larger circular shape. Sean didn’t think this was a third moon though. Instead it looked like it was a missing moon. It resembled a blank canvas, where someone had simply erased that part of the sky. Three large celestial objects surrounded by a billion bright stars.
The Warrior’s Trio.
Sean started to cry softly. Gregor was surprised by the tears falling from the boy’s eyes.
“What is it, boy?” he said softly. He was beginning to feel bad for the small human pup.
“Where am I? What is this place?” Sean turned away from the mountain and swept his arms around in the air. “What is this world?”
Gregor raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“Why, boy, this is Shade. The world without light.”
Sean pressed his face into the large dwarf’s chest and cried heavily. Gregor was stunned. He turned to Mig, who returned his boss’ steady stare. Mig slowly shook his head.
Gregor patted the crying boy on the back, but his mind was a whirlwind of questions.
Who is this human boy? And where in all of Shade did he come from?
*****
David had dozed off sitting next to Sean’s bed. His head had rested on the side of the mattress and he awoke with a start. For the first few minutes he was a swarm of confusion and then he focused on Sean’s still form lying under the blankets. Everything that had happened came back quickly.
He patted his son’s hand and looked out the window. The storm clouds outside were dark as night and large drops of rain pelleted the window. Great gusts of wind buffeted the building.
David glanced at his watch. It was a little after seven in the morning.
“Hell of a way to start the day,” he muttered, watching the rain hit the glass.
His cell phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out. It was Moira, his ex-wife and Sean’s mother. He pressed the phone against his ear.
“Hey.” He said the words but wasn’t sure if they actually came out. His body was still numb after the horrible day and night he had just went through.
“I’m on a layover in Seattle,” the familiar voice answered on the line. “I should be getting out of here in a couple of hours. I’m hoping I can make it by noon.”
David swallowed. Moira was almost here. She had come running after learning about her son’s accident. He guessed Hawaii wasn’t all that far away, was it?
“How is he?” Moira asked.
“He’s...he’s stable.” David walked over to the large windows. Just a few inches away, on the other side of the glass, the storm reached for him and failed.
“And how about you?” she asked again.
“I don’t know,” he answered, trying to keep the wail that was forming in his throat from escaping.
Moira began to say something else when suddenly a large object bounced against the window and stuck there. David could feel the vibration of the impact against the glass. He assumed it was a tree branch or a piece of debris stirred up by the heavy winds and started to ask Moira what she had just said when he froze. Whatever had hit the window was crawling along the glass.
“I have to go now,” he said quietly into the phone. He clicked it off and let it drop to the floor. It clattered along the linoleum and lay still. After a few seconds it began vibrating as Moira tried to call again.
David watched the thing crawling across the window. He was pretty sure it was a bug, but not any type of bug he had ever seen, First off, it was huge and looked like something out of prehistoric times. It had a long slender black body and huge white bulbous eyes. David eased close to the window. The giant bug had six legs, much like those of a grasshopper. But it was the eyes that were startling. David was pretty sure they were blind. There seemed to be giant cataracts over each one.
He stood staring at the eyes of the bug as the storm raged behind it. It took some time before he realized that the large insect was chewing on something. He studied the wicked mandibles as they turned the small object every which way and the small mouth took nibbles from whatever it was holding.
“Unbelievable,” David whispered.
The bug was eating a large stone. He watched as it continued to take small bites of the rock, leaving smeared sticky streaks decorated with small bits of dirt on the window.
David took a few steps back. Another one of the insects had landed higher up the window. He then watched as a third flitted around in the wind and stuck to the glass.
David eased back to the hospital bed and sat on the chair. He carefully grasped Sean’s hand in his own, but never took his eyes off the window and its visitors.
Outside, in the dark of the storm clouds, something roared.
But David didn’t hear it from where he sat in the hospital.
End of Episode 1
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