Doom’s Gatekeeper – Part 4 (100 Posts!)

I have no idea how it happened, but here we are, at 100 posts.  It feels like there should be more ceremony for this moment, but that’s alright.  I think moments like these are more for me than anyone else.

Had a rough night yesterday, involving a lot of tears and horrible mental states.  Mostly I avoid these days, but every couple of months I can’t avoid it.  It sucks, and medicine helps, but nothing will ever cure me of them.   That’s just the cross I’ve been asked to bear.  I only hope I am equal to the challenge.

The last post of Doom’s Gatekeeper, I misused the word “cuckold”.  I had been under the impression that it was a term for down and dirty sex.  However, according to my wife and Webster’s, it’s actually a term for a Husband whose wife cheats upon him.  It’s also extremely derogatory to the man.  To say I was surprised is an understatement.  That’s only the second time, in my entire 32 years of existence, that I’ve had a word so thoroughly misunderstood within my mind.  My lexicon is absolutely enormous, and I’ve no fear in wielding it with surgical precision. This one time however, the scalpel I had grabbed for was actually a tuna fish.  It’s jarring.

As far as the Doom’s Gatekeeper story goes, I’m liking it.  The world is rather interesting, and the interaction between Hayoan and the Gatekeeper has me intrigued.  I really want to see what my imagination can churn out to finish this interaction.  I believe it will take several more posts however, which is fine.  I want these posts to become a structured milestone that I can constantly center around.  Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

Without further washing metaphors…

Doom’s Gatekeeper – Part 4

Hayoan stood, transfixed.  The words spoken by the Gatekeeper before her echoed in her mind, even if they no longer echoed in her ears.  That could be arranged.  Did she truly wish to accept his offer? Did she secretly wish for her own death?  Had she come so far, fought so hard, and taken banishment only to let it all end here?

No.

“No… whatever you are.  I do not wish to end my story here.  I am betrayed, without a home, without a clan, and without kin.  But I am not so broken yet as to seek my own demise.”

Again, the creature looked at her with a contemplative expression.  It seemed to be weighing something, deeming if it was worth mentioning to her.

“I have a counter proposal then, child of man.  It may well prove your doom, but perhaps not.  You’ve had all that was once your stripped from you.  Are you willing to let your past die, if you won’t offer up your body?”

Hayoan was struck by the offer.  Let her past die?!  She may as well die herself, if she was willing to let all that she had been, all that she was, turn to dust.  The longer she thought however, the more she realized that’s exactly what she had wanted, stumbling through the danger of the woods without food or water.  That’s why she had refused to submit to her father’s killer.  I don’t want the world as it was.

“If I say yes, what would I have to do?”

“Step forth into the waters, and hold tight to yourself, lest the death you seek to avoid finds you within.”

Hayoan stared down at the mirror sheen of the water, returned to it’s unnatural stillness now that it had disgorged it’s caretaker.  She couldn’t help the fear which crept upon her then, staring down at her reflection.  Would her life be so bad if she went back?  She could take the beggars path, she knew.  No clan would ever refuse a beggar, but they were never allowed to hold status or even own land.  She would forever be dependent upon others for her meals.  She would be forced from clan to clan, as weather and fortune dictated.

Or, she could take the offer of a new life.  She could bathe in the waters of this pool, and come out something new.  No matter what she did now, her fate would be sealed.  It was now down to Hayoan to choose: an uncertain future which could prove her death, or a known life of destitution and poverty, forever held at arms length by those who care for her.

Forgive me father…

Hayoan’s feet breaking the surface didn’t even cause a ripple.

To be continued…

Ripplefully,
Justin