By moonlight's shadow

Chapter 9

Raphael knew that he had to venture out somewhere difficult where he would be able to get the information that he actually wanted about his destiny. It was going to be a tough task, might be possible that he would have to face death but he had lived for quite a long time and death did not matter anymore now. But if that was true then he would not have been so worried about him being able to be close to Snow White for eternity.

Raphael did not remember the roads to where he had thought of going. It was not a place where normal people could venture so easily because it was dangerous as well as deadly. No one was supposed to back alive from there unless you knew the answer to her riddles. The creature which resided in that place was a myth which has been spoken about in almost all the older mythologies in various forms but no one actually knew it to be true. These were the knowledge which were kept hidden by the families unless they had an heir which were passed on to them when they came of age.

Light shone through the wintry branches, shadowy arms stretching across the ancient ruins. What was left stood in spite of itself, defying gravity in its precarious way? Yet, this place, kept secret by the trees, was safe. It had avoided modern man's destructive touch and so had become a sanctuary for the animals. The columns were the only complete thing, everything else had worn and crumbled - their decay the only marker if time in a place of uncounted days. Light shone in, illuminating the relics, precious secrets of the forest.

As the light drains away there is barely enough even for shadows. Whether Raphael liked it or not the darkness comes and under it everything in this forest is hidden. Even the stars and moon cower behind a dense layer of cloud, giving the air that tincture I associate with the world before a storm. My ears become sharper and my mind paranoid, every snap of a twig is a predator, even if it is a fawn. For each aroma my brain jumps to the most fearsome thing it could be and my body prepares for flight, fright or freeze. For the most part I just freeze, running will give my position away and I'm not much of a fighter. All I can do is wait while the blackness comes and pray that the dawn is not far behind. So I sit on the damp ground, feeling the frigid water seep into my jeans. My heart can beat all it wants, but this body won't move until daylight breaks through the canopy above. With hands resting in the soil and my back to an oak, I remain, waiting, breathing...

His memory was not working. Although it should not have been a big deal since his senses were or would be strong enough to make way and give him the hint of the path but that did not happen. He had forgotten that how strong could old magic be. How it could seep into the pores of your skin without you being able to feel it before it absolutely makes you heavy and dulls all of your senses. That was what had happened with him once he had reached close to the lair of the creature. But that did not happen the last time, which might be the reason that he had stopped himself from taking any kind of protection against the magic. But that had been absolutely foolish on his part to do. Now he had no idea how he was supposed to go forward or go back even. He was trapped in a maze of his own imagination, of his fever-addled brain.

But there was always a way out from the maze. He just needed to wake up so that he could do that. But he was so drowsy, that Raphael wanted to sleep. Sleep comes like the falling of an axe. I know it must come but I fight it with everything that I have. Those defenseless hours, oblivious to my surroundings are enough to light up my whole body with fiery sparks. I am utterly wired until that time when I cannot fight it anymore and the sleep is as instantaneous as it is unwelcome.

In our sleep we are children again. We dream of things past, things that will never be again. In our dreams we have comfort, freedom and love. Sometimes we can be visited by those we lost and for those perfect hours of sleep we are whole again. Then on waking we scramble to write it down, just in case there is wisdom in the randomness. It's not that we think they're really talking to us, mostly, but our subconscious minds can send these people we esteem with solutions. Of course sometimes it's all garbage or too obscure to figure out. Sometimes they are nightmares, but those are getting fewer and far between now that life has settled back into a rhythm.

Hypnagogia occurs at the threshold of consciousness. Whether you're escaping into sleep or it is brought on by your screaming alarm clock, it happens. It's where your lucid dreams form. Hypnagogia is the bridge from bodily control to your brain's freedom. It's the last few moments of an exciting dream, your borderland state, the predormitium process. It's where your body feels awake, but your mind is a continuous wanderer, scaling the hollow valleys and soaring summits of your imagination.

“Hello Raphael,” called someone from behind. It was a voice which was very dear to him, very known to him. But it was the voice which he had not heard in the last nine centuries. Raphael turned back towards the voice. She was as beautiful as he remembered.

“Gabriella!!!!” his voice did not come out as his own. It came out as a croak as if he had swallowed a frog on whole. Hearing his voice, Gabriella chortled in laughter just like she used to earlier. It was music to his ears. The sound of soft sunlit afternoons which hung over them like a cloud which they could touch and then run after them laughing at each other, the time when they did not have a care in the world about the dangers that remained lurking about.

The peace of centuries which dwelt in long avenues and of golden pastures where the wind blew on their commands and followed the beauty of her innocence was suddenly shattered and a slap landed on Raphael’s cheek making him reel with the force of it.

“Gabby?? What was that?” asked Raphael in shock.

“Oh Raph, you were never good at games at all. Always the honest and the truthful one…how can you be so foolish Raph?” asked Gabby as she came closer to Raphael who was still reeling with the shock of everything. Gabriella had been long gone, she was not here anymore. She could not be here anymore because she had walked out in the dawn all by herself just for his sake, to protect him from being murdered.

“Gabby? How on earth are you here? What the hell are you doing in this place? It is dangerous…you need to leave this place at once,” said Raphael as he caught hold of his twin sister’s arm but he could not touch her. His arm went right through her hand and he looked back again at her beautiful face. She just smiled at him as understanding dawned on him.

“Raphael, you have been idiotic enough to come to the lair of the sphinx without letting anyone know. For all I am aware you could have been in this vegetative state for centuries and nothing could have stopped that. It is a good thing that we cannot be stopped or neither our bond could be severed even by Death herself,” said Gabriella as she gestured at Raphael to follow her.

“What are trying to say Gabby? That the Death is a chick?” asked Raphael shocked even more now.

“I am not trying to say Raph…I am telling you that. Of all the mythologies that we studied and all the adventures that we went on together like on the ones with Hercules and Perseus, people do not recall our presence because that is how we want it. In the same manner, the face of Death is always covered with a hood and it is fabled that she is the one who rides a pale horse when in reality she loves the chestnut ones. Rather is partial to….listen Raph I would love to stay and chat but I gotta go now…you might be an i***t but you are a good one and above all of that you are my brother…your time has not come yet. Go, and get those answers that you have been waiting for from that old hag. And remember to not fall in any trap. I called in a favour to come and wake you from this state, now don’t make me come back or this time I shall make you choke on your own blood,” said Gabriella as Raphael laughed out at her words and the stopped as he understood that she meant what she said.

She smiled at him and kissed his forehead as she vanished in thin air.

Raphael looked forward and found that he was standing before the lair of the sphinx and the doors of the cave lay just before his fingers but he knew better than to touch them. He already had been the victim of that magic once probably because he had set foot on some trap and activated the sleeping fumes but not again. Just as he was about to step forward he recalled the previous time that he did so what had happened and he took his foot back off. There was a metal knight standing beside the door of the cave and Raphael stood before him and sighed.

“Come on now…Felix, are we going to do this again?”

The hood of the knight’s head gear shifted upwards and a voice came out from the empty space,” In a hurry are you now?”

“Oh yeah…I am. So what can we do about it Felix? Since I know that you are not allowed to let me go without vanquishing me in a battle and you know that is not going to happen in this lifetime. So you suggest the course of action which is going to be respectful to both of us!!” said Raphael as Felix heard him carefully. No one would believe that he was talking to a metal armour in the middle of nowhere outside a cave but that was not entirely true.

“We both have fought quite some times and a number of times just for the sake of pleasure and enjoyment and sometimes I kicked your bottom and most of the sides you did mine. And now I think it is time to return the favour and let you go away with my sword on the basis of the last battle that you had vanquished me in,” said Felix as Raphael slapped his armour in happiness and then said,” I would have kissed you if you had a visible face which was not metallic Felix but unfortunately so we would have to work out with make believe.”

“It would be extremely unflattering for both of us that a man would be kissing another Prince Raphael, so I suggest you better take my sword and go ahead with that trap door like I had taught you to,” said Felix in his metallic monotone.

“You have been away from the world for quite a long time Felix, now living with a man or loving him does not matter to the society anymore. I shall try and take you to that place someday,” said Raphael as Felix handed him the sword over.

“I shall hold you to your word Prince Raphael,” said Felix as he nodded at him.