Gatekeepers Journey

A golden ball hung just above the hazy blue mountain range, casting the deep ravines into the shadows of the approaching night. The mountains formed a semicircle around three sides of a wide valley of heavily timbered slopes and scattered meadows. A meandering ribbon of sparkling water gained strength from hundreds of high mountain streams to form a mighty river that flowed through the center of the valley among the scattered lowland grasslands and thick stands of pine and hardwood. The day before, the valley lay in pristine glory the way that it had been created, but now a foreboding darkness flooded across the land that originated when the decay of sin entered the world through the fall of man. As the sun melted away behind the pale blue-gray mountains, casting the scattered wispy clouds in pink and lavender hues, the shadows marched across the landscape in unrelenting waves. The light of the physical day gave way to the darkness of another night. In the spirit realm, the darkness spread across the land as well. There was no moon, the night sky filled only with stars. A breeze stirred, swirling playfully through the valley, caressing the new leaves, budding forth with spring. They had been soft and deep green, but now curled brown at the edges and covered with the spots of death. The perfection that had once been present was now marred by the sin of mankind. The portal to Eden was shut, the perfect world gone until it’s future time of redemption. Black shadows hovered over the dark forest, whispering to the breeze, swirling across the landscape, searching. A single star fell from the sky above and disappeared, followed by several more, bright comets streaking toward earth. One of the black shadows moved, twin red eyes searching toward the heavens, but too late to have seen the small lights. The smell of decay lingered along the riverbank that lay covered in a ghostly mist. The breeze had finally stilled with the total disappearance of the sun. Along the riverbank stretched a meadow covered in lush grass and wildflowers. The black shadow stood among the thick alders by the meadow searching for any sign of movement. It was a watcher that stood silently, waiting for an enemy that hid somewhere nearby beneath the pines or among the thickets across the meadow. The watcher was a product of the darkness itself, spawned by death and decay that had infected the creation. He was at one with the darkness in which he now hid and could see just as well in the dark as in the day. Something was out there hiding, waiting as he waited, but he could not see it. He could only feel the presence. The victory of Eden had been a day before, although time in this realm mattered little. He as well as his enemy lived outside of time just as easy as they operated within its constraints. When sin entered the world, causing death to fall upon the creation itself, his master had sent countless numbers of his kind across the whole world in waves of darkness searching for another entrance to Eden. They had felt the hand of destruction and could be used for the master’s purpose if control could be won. The shadow shifted as another watcher floated down through the treetops and descended quietly among the alders. The first one said nothing as the second stepped forward to the very edge of the meadow. Both were spiritual beings, their race having rebelled against their Creator. Because of their rebellion, their race was disfigured, although they could take various forms depending on their particular assignment or rank The ones sent forth after the portals were warriors in their truest sense, with only two passions, the destruction of mankind and capture of the portals. The watchers were black apparitions that could blend in with their earthly environment just as easily as they could at times masquerade as Spirits of the Light. But only mankind was fooled by this masquerade, therefore when dealing with the Creator’s army, they used stealth as their weapon, hiding in the darkness, until called forth to fight by their commanders. “The gate has to be near,” a raspy voice broke the silence of the night. “If it is here, do we have the forces to hold it from them?” the first watcher asked. He had guarded the valley since the beginning of the rebellion, waiting for the gate to show itself, but there had been nothing. Now with the fall of man and the closing of Eden to all, fighting had sprung up all across the land as the forces fought for control of the land, but there had been no action here. No enemy presence had materialized until just recently. That presence was very strong, even though they could not locate its source. It cast a foreboding doom over both of them. “I believe so when the others arrive,” the second turned nervously, “but now it is but you and I. We must stay hidden and watch closely. The gate will appear in time and we must be ready to take it when it does.” The watchers knew the importance of their mission. If the portals could be taken and destroyed, God’s future plans for mankind would be hindered. They did not fully understand the plan of God to redeem man and the world back to him, but they knew the importance of the portals. And now with the world’s decay, many of the portals were also decaying, changing their structure, opening avenues into different dimensions both in the physical and in the spiritual realm. A sudden explosion of silver shot forward from the river itself and the first watcher vanished in a red vapor that floated to the ground and disappeared. The second watcher drew his sword and turned toward the light. “There’s only one now.” A voice spoke from the darkness.The watcher backed up nervously into the meadow, his own sword drawn, his eyes casting an eerie red glow over the dark water. He had seen the other watcher disappear in the flash of light and red smoke and expected to be attacked by the Creator’s Guardians for they alone had such power. Still he saw nothing. The river flowed toward the east below him past the thin line of alders, the riverbank 20 to 30 feet high at this point. His orders were to locate the gate that was somewhere nearby and wait for reinforcements to take control of it, but what could he do alone. It was a cool night, but he began to sweat, the cold, clammy sweat of fear. He stepped back again, holding his sword before him with both hands. Where were they? He had heard the voice from the river itself. He wiped the perspiration from his brow. If he retreated, his master would most likely destroy him, but if he stayed, he could join his comrade in the netherworld of the abyss. The attack had come suddenly from the water itself. How could he defend himself from such an attack? He backed a few feet further into the meadow to give him more space in which to defend himself. There was a flutter of commotion among the thickets to his right and he turned quickly to face the threat. The red glow of his eyes washed the foliage with its pale light, revealing a deer, wet up to her neck from swimming the river standing in the meadow, her eyes looking past him. She could sense his presence and appeared confused. The deer took two tentative steps out into the meadow and then suddenly turned on her back legs and with one leap disappeared back into the thicket. What had she seen that frightened hThe watcher swirled quickly around, realizing suddenly the presence of his foe too late, swinging his sword as he did to parry the blow that was coming. Red steel struck against silver, spraying the ground with sparks of blue light. The blow was crushing, knocking his sword down into the thick grass where it disappeared. All was lost. The watcher turned to fly to safety but met another sword that flashed out of the darkness, cutting his body in half before he too vanished in a puff of red smoke, leaving only the smell of sulfur behind.