Legacy

With what the group assumed the end of their quest behind them, the weary travelers headed for home. They were badly in need of a reprieve from any kind of excitement and desired only a quiet place where they could thoroughly collect themselves. But their arrival would have to wait for morning, as the sun had already set, which would make traversing a thick forest a most arduous task.

Even with a body drained of most of its energy, James was unable to rest easy. Only recently had the group turned in, but James had already woken numerous times. His troubled mind was making it impossible for him to sleep soundly. But James would soon discover that an uneasy slumber was the least of his worries.

What was more a vision than a dream invaded James’ mind once he had succumbed to his fatigue. He could see his parents’ home from his vantage point just outside the clearing where it resided. At such a late hour, there were no lights on nor any other signs of life. For some reason, the silence engulfing the scene seemed most unsettling.

The bushes around the clearing suddenly began to rustle. And with the rustling came very strange growling sounds. There was nothing human about them nor did they sound like any animal James had ever before heard.

Moving so quickly that they were nothing but blurs, the creatures that had been lurking charged toward the house. Some broke through the front door to gain entry, while others crashed through the windows.

After being shaken from his sleep, James scurried to his feet. He took a quick look at the others and wondered if he should wake them. Deciding quickly that he would be leaving them out, James hurried off on his own.

James ran as fast as his legs could take him through the shadowy forest. His already tired body grew even weaker from running, but he would let nothing slow his pace. The vision he had experienced continued to play itself out in his mind, making James all the more determined to keep going regardless of his lethargic state.

When he reached his destination some hours later, James found only the charred remains of what had once been his home. Seeing this, James wanted badly to feel something, no matter how horrible the feeling, but instead his body had gone completely numb.

“Why?” asked James. “Why would you do this?” Rage then took a firm hold of him, prompting James to draw his sword. “Show yourself! Coward! Where are you? Is my blood not good enough for you?”

When his tears stung his eyes shut, James fell to his knees. “You said you wanted me,” he said. “So what are you waiting for? Take me! If I had known you were going to do this, I never would have said no. I would have given you whatever you wanted.”

The sun shining gently on her face woke Jaycee. The first thing she noticed after opening her tired eyes was the empty spot beside her where James had been sleeping.

Jaycee woke the others and the three immediately began their search. Jaycee was familiar with the area and knew where James was heading, so she was an easy choice to take the lead. Much like James, Jaycee had a resolve that wouldn’t allow her to rest until she found what it was for which she was searching.

What had been found by James was eventually found by the others. Archer and Aiko were shocked to find the house they had traveled to burned to the ground. But how they felt paled in comparison to how Jaycee was feeling. Having lost her parents at a tender age, Jaycee had come to consider James’ parents almost as her own.

“What happened here?” asked Jaycee, who was shaking so badly that it was impossible for the others not to notice. When she made her way to the burned structure, Jaycee placed her hand upon it. The blackened wood crumbled in her hand. “Why?” she whispered, tears falling from her eyes. “What did they do to deserve this?”

“Jaycee,” said Aiko. When she made her first move toward Jaycee, Archer grabbed her by the shoulder, preventing Aiko from going any further. Archer did nothing more than shake his head when Aiko looked at him.

“They were good people,” said Jaycee. “They didn’t deserve this.” It then dawned on her that James was just as aware of what had happened. “We have to go,” she told the others. When she turned to face Archer and Aiko, Jaycee put up her bravest front, but her swollen eyes showed that the young lady was suffering.

“Are you sure?” asked Archer. “We’ll wait if you need us to.”

“No,” said Jaycee. “We have to leave now.” Looking to a path just beyond the clearing, Jaycee couldn’t help but think back to happier times when she and James would chase each other down it. “I know where James went.”

James had exhausted nearly all of his energy, but still he refused to halt his progress. He knew every second was crucial if he wanted to find Shadow Kahn before the man could unleash yet more senseless death and destruction.

Being so familiar with his surroundings, it came as a surprise to James to find the trees of the forest brimming with pink blossoms. Never before had he seen such a thing in that area. But even more odd was that as he ventured further, his fatigue started to wear, making it possible for James to continue to a nearby pond to take a drink of water.

Quenching his thirst would have to wait, however, as James discovered a woman standing atop a patch of land in the pond. She was dressed in garments of radiant white that seemed to be dancing on a soothing breeze. But more captivating than that was the silken white blindfold she wore. It made James wonder if the woman was aware of him.

With his body seemingly moving on its own, James walked into the pond and made his way to the woman. There was something about her that brought about a feeling of peace within James, and it was a feeling he badly needed. Just by looking at her, James was sure the woman was hiding nothing sinister behind her magnificent appearance.

“How long I’ve waited for this moment, James,” said the woman.

“How do you know my name?” asked James. The newfound energy he had experienced suddenly drained from his body.

Rather than answering his question, the woman crouched before James and gently placed her hands upon his face. She then pressed her forehead against his.

“Who are you?” asked James. Before he could begin to put up a fight, James had already succumbed to his exhaustion and fallen into a deep sleep.

* * *

A merchant led a young man by the arm through the center of town. It was evident by the look on the boy’s face that the merchant’s grip was uncomfortably tight. The ferocity with which the man then knocked on the front door of a local home was more than enough to prepare anyone on the other side for bad news.

A man answered. “What has he done this time?” he asked.

“This son of yours threw a rock through my window, Mr. Gerard,” replied the merchant. “He said he didn’t do it, but there’s no one else who could have. It’s not bad enough that he’s a menace, but the boy has to compound it by being a liar, too.”

“I will take care of it,” said Mr. Gerard.

The merchant threw the boy to his father. “That’s what you tell everyone,” he exclaimed. “Yet these things keep happening. Far more drastic measures need to be taken. Or are you lenient on Kenneth because you want to encourage him? You’re far too respected in this village to allow your good name to be tarnished by the likes of him.”

“I will send someone to replace your window,” said Mr. Gerard. He then shut the door before the merchant could continue his verbal assault.

“What now?” asked Kenneth. “Are you going to beat me again? Some respected citizen you are, beating an innocent child. If only everyone knew what kind of man you really were, they wouldn’t be so quick to admire you then. You’re just as fake as they are.”

“How many times have we had this conversation, Kenneth?” asked Mr. Gerard. “Too many times, by my count. I assume that if nothing drastic is done, then we will have this same conversation many more times.”

“The price you pay for being a father.”

“I wonder if you would act this way if your mother was still here.”

“Well, she’s not here, is she?” asked Kenneth. “That woman couldn’t stand living here, so she ran out on us. Though I would think you were more to blame for that dog leaving than I was. You couldn’t even control her. What kind of a man are you, unable to control your wife or your son? Not much of a man, if you ask me.”

“You will not refer to her that way. She is still your mother.”

“So, you’re the only one that can call her names?”

“How much more of this are you going to subject me to?” asked Mr. Gerard. He had asked his question loudly enough for Kenneth to hear, but it sounded as if the question had been directed at someone other than his son.

“If you no longer want to be subjected to this, may I go?” asked Kenneth. “This useless back and forth is starting to bore me.”

“Gather your possessions,” said Mr. Gerard.

“What, you’re going to break everything that I hold dear to teach me a lesson? Well, go ahead. I have ways of getting more. Besides, I don’t become attached to things.”

“Gather your things and get out.”

“What?” asked Kenneth. “What did you say?”

“It has become painfully clear that there is nothing I can do or say to make you change. And if you continue down this path, then you will only get worse. So I have no other choice but to make you fend for yourself. Perhaps then you will see things differently.”

“You can’t do this to me. I’m your son!”

Mr. Gerard turned his back. “Not anymore,” he said.

“So, that’s it?” asked Kenneth, tears welling up in his eyes. “You’re going to throw your son out on the street like some animal? You want me to beg for your forgiveness, don’t you? Well, I won’t! No matter what, I’ll never beg for anything!”

Mr. Gerard gave no reply.

“Don’t you have anything else to say?” asked Kenneth. “That’s it? Those are the last words you have for your only son?”

“You are mistaken,” said Mr. Gerard. “I have no son.”

20 years later . . .

Kenneth, now a man of the cloth, stood bedside of a young woman who had recently endured the pains of childbirth. Every feature of the man was the same as it was now. For Father Gerard was now the man known as Shadow Kahn.

Even before discovering that she was with child, the woman was in poor health. It was suggested that she terminate the pregnancy in order to better her chances of survival, but she vehemently refused, as did Father Gerard.

“Father,” said the woman, her voice little more than a whisper.

“What is it, my child?” asked Father Gerard, taking her hand. The bitter cold in her grasp told the father that she was not long for the world.

“I want you to . . . take my son,” she said. “I know you’ll raise him to be just as fine a man as you are.” To hide what she had to say from the midwife in the room, the woman softened her already weak voice. “Please, Kenneth, you have to promise me.”

“But I know nothing about raising a child.”

“Every boy needs a father. Regardless of how you raise him, you need to be there for him. He needs to know that he’s loved.”

Father Gerard could come up with no reply.

“Please take good care of him,” said the woman, her hand slipping from Father Gerard’s grasp. “Please don’t let him live his life without ever knowing what it feels like to be loved. Don’t abandon him and leave him at the mercy of this cruel world.”

“I will do the best that I can,” said the father.

With a smile now gracing her colorless lips, the young woman's life came to an end.

The midwife covered the young woman’s body with a sheet. “What will you do with the child, father?” she asked.

“What about the girl’s parents? Will they take him?”

“They say they’ll have nothing to do with a bastard.”

“Then I will take the child. I will see that he finds a suitable home.”

“What name will you give him?”

“His name?” asked Father Gerard.

With the night came smothering black clouds that drifted before the moon, hiding it away from the world below. And the stars that were always in abundance were nowhere to be found. It seemed as if all celestial beings had gone into hiding for the night, desiring not to play the part of audience for the unspeakable act about to take place.

Deep in the forest Father Gerard and twelve of his most devoted followers had gathered around an altar where the newborn child had been placed. The men wore the robes that were donned only for the most sacred of religious ceremonies.

“The world that seeks to corrupt us will no doubt attempt to lay claim to the soul of this child and make him yet another abomination in the eyes of our Lord,” said Father Gerard. “We will spare this boy that indignity and send him to paradise. For his soul is still pure and not yet tainted by the evils of man.”

Father Gerard then drew a dagger from his sleeve. There was much hesitation from the father, who began speaking in a voice far too silent to be heard by the others. After the lengthy hesitation, he completed the most gruesome of acts.

The father and his followers gathered at their place of worship to celebrate victory once the horrific deed was done.

“Drink,” said the father. “For tonight we have spared a soul from oblivion. We truly have done the Lord’s work. Greater than I is God.”

“Greater than I is God,” said the others.

The men then drank their wine. Father Gerard, however, refrained from joining them. All he did was watch.

It was shortly after their initial drinks when Father Gerard’s followers began to fall. The man they had so faithfully followed had repaid their devotion with poison.

“Why?” asked one of them.

“You really want to know why?” asked Father Gerard.

Days later, when the townspeople learned of the atrocity, they apprehended Father Gerard. The hasty sentence handed down by the king and permitted by the Novas was death, to be carried out immediately.

Through the streets of Dorsett the father was paraded. His hands were bound and his body was badly bruised from numerous beatings. The townspeople had all come out to watch the spectacle. Most of them yelled insults, while others hurled rocks. Some even got close enough to spit on the man they had gone from admiring to loathing in only a few short days.

Father Gerard had lowered his head and closed his eyes as he was marched to his death. Even with madness surrounding him, there was a sense of calm resonating from him as he spoke the words that only he could hear.

It was only after he had been taken to the scaffolding and had a noose placed around his neck when the father opened his eyes. “Amen,” he said.

There was no look of fear on Father Gerard’s face as he stared at the angry townspeople. Despite the punishment that was only moments away, he looked very much at peace. But his demeanor would quickly change when he found his father in the crowd. The passage of time had done little to change his stern appearance.

“Perhaps I did this for all the wrong reasons,” said the father, an out of place smile upon his face. He then looked to the sky. “Still . . . I regret nothing.” And with that, the floor gave way, bringing an end to the most despicable of existences.

* * *

“How I wish I could say that was the end of that man,” said the woman. Though James was in a deep sleep as he rested in the woman’s lap, he would remember vividly every word that was being said to him.

“His arrival into paradise created great unrest. He questioned the Master on the one subject that was never to be questioned. His disdain for mercy was unlike anything ever before seen. Such a fool. ‘Twas only through mercy that he was spared from fire and presented with the most beautiful gift. ‘Empty words,’ as he called them, that mortals speak to receive the glorious mercy of the Master.”

With the way the woman was running her fingers through his hair, it would have been evident to James had he been awake that she had a great fondness for him.

“That man wanted an example to be made of the mortals to show that their sins would not go unpunished. But what sins could the mortals commit that could match his? Eventually his defiance left the Master with no other choice but to expel him. He was sent back to the world of the living with a very important decision to make. He was to either abandon his twisted system of beliefs and one day return to the Master, or he could continue to hold steadfast in his ministry of hate and suffer the consequences. Needless to say, he made the wrong choice. For once a man has allowed his heart to become consumed by anger and hate, there is little anyone can do to bring them back. It is ultimately up to that person to change their ways. But too many times that person refuses, and they become swallowed by darkness, never able to return to the light. And that . . . is what happened to your father.”

The sun had already begun to set by the time Jaycee and the others arrived at the part of the forest where James had discovered trees covered in blossoms. But there was nothing as wondrous waiting for them. The blossoms that had greeted James were nowhere to be found. The forest was once again merely a forest.

Knowing about the pond nearby, Jaycee led the others to it, hoping desperately that James would be there. Her hopes were realized, as James was found lying on the small patch of land. Wasting nary a moment, Jaycee jumped into the pond and hurried to James.

Jaycee reached James quickly. With his eyes closed and his body showing no signs of life, Jaycee feared the worst. “James, are you alright? Please say something.”

Jaycee’s voice was enough to wake James. “Jaycee,” he said.

Finding that James was unharmed, Jaycee draped herself over him and began to sob uncontrollably.

“They’re gone, Jaycee,” said James. “They’re both gone.”

“I know,” said a tearful Jaycee. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”