๑ • ☩ †ℌ℮ ₪∆ℜ₭ℵℇsS ☩ • ๑

~ In the in between there lays a stretch of darkened land where no man and un-men dwell.  It is a place of endless echo of a darkness from long ago.  If your not careful or forget to keep your wits about you you may lose yourself forever.  There is a wood in this land which ever deepens and darkens worse then any wood imaginable.  The further in you go the thicker more dense it becomes.  And after you travelled in very deep there are openings like deep pockets of shadow where dark men dwell and those whose sadness drew them into the wood has left them wandering eternally forsaken.  They are not so much a threat as those who beg you to travel down certain paths with them promising a swifter way ~

~ Now if I had been a traveler wise in the ways of the wood I would not so easily have fallen into this seduction.  However the wood is dark and there are many screaming cries of misery and very disturbing things inside that bring into question all that a man like me believes well about himself.  There is endless doubt which lives hidden in the woods.  Fears that most are very unaware they even have but soon discover they do ~

~ A woman appeared before me once in the sweetest solitude of night.  She was very fair and inviting and knew many things about the woods I travelled.  I decided it would be wise to follow her for some time to learn and get the feel of this place.  But she led me down a shadowy path requiring many sacrifices I unwillingly made.  She robbed in the end of a piece of my sanity and left me barren with nothing ~

~ It was only then after much travel and hardship at my wits end did I first catch the hint of something very precious in the wind.  A scent of something familiar from my youth.  A beautiful ecstasy in this dark place where nothing but sadness and broken dreams lay.  This little hint of something in the wind filled me suddenly with such life and invigoration.  The life filled up in my body again and I rose up with a strong heart and stumbled my way following it as best I could.  It led me to a small stream where I refreshed myself and carried on hurriedly to find the source of this scent in the wind.  The stream spilled and flooded pooled and wiggled all around the countless deadened trees with little moon drops of flowers growing here and there like silent rebellion of welcome beauty.  I followed them until I began to hear the torrent of water ahead and realized I had finally made my way to the forbidden entrance of the kingdom ~

~ Ahead lays my greatest foe.  In the heartland of my enemy.  After duelling in countless battle upon countless battle with all manner of heinous and endlessly surprising foes.  But in the cave the demon that lies there is one of unimaginable intelligence.  One who can play upon the heros darkest thoughts and doubts in himself.  This demon is known as deceiver and has earned this trait by their own self-deception.  They are like a vacuum where you may lose yourself forever lost in a single unutterable doubt.  Honesty is now the weapon of this hero and humility the manner in which he can undo the deceivers spell ~

~ In the cave there is no one.  There is nothing but the sound of your deepest darkest thoughts squirrelling around you.  If you let your light go out for even a second they might consume you.  So you carry on.  You slip and fall and break your leg and alone you weep bitterly for your dangerous mistakes.  But eventually you have no choice you must carry on.  The hero is always reluctant to go on this journey.  Happy still to simply sit and be as everyone else.  But when no other can meet the call.  The hero understands it must still be met if not by the best by at least those who are willing and so the hero marches on.  Without hope or chance of success, only the impetus to fulfil his task under the most extraordinary pressure he can imagine and in the darkest depths of his own very simple soul.  The hero carries on.  He is compelled to there is no other choice in his mind.  The hero simply does go on because he has to.  That is what a hero must do ~