The Dark Sentinel

                                                  The Dark Sentinel

                 Storm’s Story

As I ran through the fountain and into the place beyond the shed I could not shake the images that flashed through my head. At first, we stood shoulder to shoulder with the Sentinels. We sang our songs and they recited their oaths but soon it did not matter. One by one the dogs on each side of me began to cough and fall to the ground in pain. The Sentinels faded like a leaf being blown off a dry tree. In a matter of minutes, just the council remained. Their words still echo in my mind, “Find her. Stop the Sentinel.”

I heard a booming laugh behind me, “You cannot win Storm!” It was close on my tail and I didn’t have much time to act before it caught up to me. Quickly I made my way to the grove. My feet beat hard against the broken and weed covered path. By some miracle I was able to make it to the now disheveled and defeated grove. I looked around and saw the desecrated statues lying about. I turned around, and saw it standing on the edge of the grove, laughing still, “Time’s up, pup.” I dug my paws into the ground the dead grass easily breaking under the weight of my body and even the dirt was as hard as concrete cracked and gave way to my nails. I lowered my body and in a single motion pointed my nose to the sky and stood on two feet. I began singing the same battle song the wolves first sang when they cleansed the woods so many years ago.

I began to walk towards it. On only two feet and then it vanished. I dropped down to four paws and whipped around. Scanning the clearing to see if the shadow was playing a trick on me. Then I heard the crickets, birds, and the normal signs of the forest return. For the first time in months, the forest seemed alive again.

In between the decaying trees, I saw a small dog make her way into the clearing. I barked, “Who’s there!” my voice cut through the noise of a reenergized forest and the dog stopped in her tracks, “It’s just me.” Rad poked her head over a small bush. I motioned for her to come closer and she timidly made her way into the clearing and came to sit right in front of me.

“Why?” I asked looking down at her. She stared off towards the Oak, “I thought it was calling me.” I sat down and scanned around the clearing once more, “You thought what was calling you?” She looked at me, “I thought it was the Oak, or Codie, but it wasn’t either of them. It was him. He said he was the reason I was brought here. To help him.”  I shook my head, “What are you talking about Rad?” She brought her gaze to the direction of old Elm before she continued, “I didn’t remember at first but I do now. The day I was born. The day he made me.” I slowly nodded prompting her to continue, “He went to the Elm, before she was so old, and took some of the branches and roots from her to form my limbs. Afterwards, he took fur from a dog left behind by a dying sanctuary. Then he put me in a pond and my dry bones soaked up all the water. He took me out, dried off my bloated bones, and draped a new coat around me. Then he started singing. After many days the coat formed to my body. He reached into the bed of the now dried pond, found two small round pebbles, and placed them in my eyeless head so I could see. My tongue was fashioned from a small piece of vine that was in the water far too long.  At the end I stood there motionless and though anyone who passed by would believe I was a real dog I missed the very thing which separates us from a work of art.” She briefly paused, looking straight at me, before muttering, “Life.” I sat, looked her up and down as I continued my steady nod asking, “How did it give you life?” She smiled, “He took it for me.” I felt the hackles rise on the back of my neck, “From where?” I demanded and the forest grew quiet as a single breeze blew through the grove and took Rad with it.

I jumped to my feet and yelled, “Rad get back here!” Silence fell over the forest. I looked to the Oak and saw leaves at the top beginning to wilt and change color as if fall had just begun. I then turned towards the Elm. I couldn’t see her amidst the sea of dead and rotten trees reaching their arms out begging for life to be restored. I set off anyway, towards the Elm. First walking, then trotting, but finally running full speed. Following the only lonely road that would take me to it. I passed the Oak’s light and ventured into the dark place where hopes are lost and fears found.

By the time I got there, I could barely see a few inches out from my snout. I was being guided mostly by scent and the familiar feel of a broken trail beneath my paws. At the center of the clearing was an old, haggard, and desolate tree. I approached her and sang the song of the Oak. I felt a small breeze pass through and heard her tired branches creak. I heard one far off snap and tumble through the air before it softly thumped to the ground. The center of the Elm was hallowed out and smelled like a mixture of fire and rotting flesh. I scanned the area and traced every inch of the clearing. There was nothing else there. I found a spot near the base of the Elm to lie down and thought of my next move, I heard a voice coming from inside the once mighty tree, “From here.” I heard a growl emerge from my throat, “What are you?”

I heard her rustling around from inside the tree as if she was attempting to make herself comfortable before laying down and heard her say, “I’m Rad.” I responded, “I didn’t ask your name I asked what you are.” I walked around the trunk and towards the opening in the tree, but when I got to it I didn’t see the Collie puppy laying down. I didn’t see anything. Then I heard a voice from behind me, “That’s all I know. What else would I be?” I lowered my body and tensed my muscles, allowing the growl from deep inside my throat to rise up, “I don’t know.” I spat at her and quickly turned around to see there was no one and nothing there, save for a small wooden stick laying on the ground. I approached it and found it was a torch. The same torch Mr. Howell keeps in his cave. I picked it up and found the lonely path and made my way to Mr. Howell’s cave.

“You don’t want to go in there.” Rad sat at the mouth of the cave, stopping me from going in. I glared at her, “Move aside Rad.” I growled with the torch in my mouth and went to push her away but moved right through her as if she was only made of smoke. What I saw before me was more troubling than what I had just passed through. A disaster. Blood smeared on the wall. His fire, which was always lit, had died. I dropped the torch. “What did you do here?” I heard her from behind me, “This wasn’t me. This was because of Sanctuary. This was because of you” I grew hot for a moment but a wave of grief came over me as I saw a grave near the back of the cave and made my way to it, “What happened?” I saw her walking beside me, “Hojan came with two others. They took the fire and brought it to the Elm, they brought it to him. When I started following the voice it brought me to them. They said if we burned it we would stop him. He was there. He took the fire and scattered them.” I laid down next to Howell’s grave and began singing the song of a fallen hero. My voice echoed in the cave and it was the only thing I heard. When I finished I wiped a tear from my muzzle and turned to Rad, who was gone. A whisper echoed, “Quickly, to Sanctuary.” It wasn’t Rad’s. I looked to the mouth of the cave and saw another Border Collie. A full grown male who’s white coat shown and almost covered the few black spots on his ribs and legs. I knew him from legend and asked, “Are you?”, but before I could finish he nodded his head and said, “We must hurry Storm.”

We started racing from the mouth of the cave towards Sanctuaries shed, “What’s going on?” I asked nearly out of breath. The Collie kept his head forward, always a single pace ahead of me, “We can’t see into it, but he is there.” I nearly tripped on a dried vine that was draped across the path, “How am I to defeat him?” He laughed, “You aren’t.” I shook my head, “Then why are we going there?” He stopped at a place where the road forks. One leading to Sanctuary, the other leading to the pond where we first saw Rad. The pond where she was born. He took a deep breath, “You are to save Rad.” I laughed at him and took a moment to catch my breath, “She can’t be saved.” He slowly shook his head, “Then we will die.” His words brought an unnerving silence to the forest. I nodded, “What are you going to do?” He looked me up and down, “I’m going to stall until you arrive with her.” I tilted my head to the side, “Can’t you and Sentinel Eleven defeat it again?” He shook his head, “No. We had help last time.” I tilted my head, “What do you mean?” He dug his claws into the ground, “I mean you need to get Rad or all of this will have been in vain and the Oak will be destroyed.” With that, he took off towards Sanctuary and left me eyeing yet another lonely road and contemplating the same impossible task. Save her, defeat him.

I jogged down the road keeping my nose to the ground and ears up looking for anything that may be out of place. Yet every leaf I passed stayed the same no matter how close I got to step on it. I accidentally stepped on a twig but it did not break so I stopped and took a step back. I investigated the twig and apart from its unwillingness to bend beneath my weight it seemed like any other twig. I found another stick along the road and tested it as well. Just like the first, it did not budge. I looked around and despite a persistent wind the trees nor the leaves moved an inch.

My eye was caught by something further down the road. A light from the pond. I quickly approached it and moved through the bushes which were more like stones due to their unnatural disposition. When I got a view of the water I saw two creatures. Sitting near the edge of the pond was Troy the deathly basset. He was chanting in a voice I did not recognize and spoke words which were alien to me. Drifting in the middle of the pond I saw her. The water was swirling around her and was formed into two distinct and separate bodies. There was water that was whiter than snow and it swirled further away as a black sludge lapped at her coat. I heard a hiss from behind me, “It’s about time you showed up.” I slowly turned around to see a familiar black cat, “I’ve been wondering where you had crept off too.” I quickly retorted. The cat smiled, “well I’m here now why don’t we finish this once and for all?” I smiled back and dug my claws into the ground, “Let’s do it.”  I lunged at the cat. He tried to move but he wasn’t fast enough. I grabbed him by the scruff and threw him into a tree, laughing I said, “Stay boy.”

I emerged from the brush and cleared my throat. Troy did not move a muscle. I walked to the far side of the pond where the white water was pooling. I dug my nails into the ground and let the water wash over my feet. I lowered my body and in a single motion pointed my nose to the sky and stood on two feet as I began to sing the song of the moon. Troy’s utterances grew in intensity and became faster. I saw Rad’s ear twitch and the white water began to swirl faster making its way towards the center but was stalled and driven back by a wave of sludge. I changed the tune and sung the song of the stars and again the snow like water raced towards the Collie, and again in response I heard Troy’s utterance grow in intensity and speed. My waters receded. I looked to the light of the Oak and felt a sense of dread fall over me. The songs of old weren’t working.

I felt a small breeze blow through the clearing and in it a new song. It’s not a song to the Oak or the moon, or the stars. It doesn’t commemorate the past but tells of the future. I stepped into the water and began to sing. As I did Troy opened his eyes and for a moment his utterance came to a halt as the white water pooled and raised and the crude sludge was washed away as a wave overcame Rad and Troy. When the water subsided Troy was nowhere to be found and Rad stood on the far side of the pool. She was not the puppy I saw not so long ago, she was fully grown now. The black spots on her coat were barely visible because the light that was shining from her was so bright.

She looked at me, “Thank you Storm.” I nodded towards her and picked up my torch, she laughed, “We don’t need that anymore. He won’t be coming back from this.” I turned my head to the side and she took a single step clearing the whole pond with it. I dropped the torch and she kicked it into the water. She looked at me. She was taller than me now, and she said “Fire came from the outside to keep away the outside, but we don’t need to keep it away. It is time for him to be defeated. Once and for all.” I nodded towards her and she quickly said, “Grab my coat, Storm.”

Before I did we saw a small black cat emerge from the woods on the other side of the pond. The cat hissed, “Do you really think a tree could stop me?!” Rad and I exchanged a curious look with each other. I looked back over and saw the cat had attempted to run towards us but had gotten himself stuck on a vine. Again, Rad and I exchanged a humorous look before shrugging our shoulders. I did as she instructed and clung to her coat and in the single blink of my eye, we stood before the shed. The pond, Troy, and the cat were all thoughts of the past.

I began to walk forward but her tail brushed my shoulder like she was asking me to stop. I turned my head towards her, “We don’t have much time.” She nodded her head, “You need to know what you are going to see when you get in there.” I shook my head and began to turn around but she appeared in front of me. Preventing me from going any further. I dug my claws into the ground, “You aren’t going to stop me Rad.” She laughed, “Go ahead and try to get through me, or wait just a moment and let me speak and we can enter together.” I relaxed my body and my hackles settled into their normal positions, “Ok.” I said reluctantly.

“When we walk through the shed most of your friends will be gone, the council members and a few of the older members will be left. The Sentinels too. Only the longest-serving will be left standing. I staggered back, “This isn’t the other Sanctuaries. This is the Sanctuary.” She shook her head, “This place isn’t the first and won’t be the last. You need to know something else.” We stared into each other’s eyes neither one of us wavering, “What is it?” I stated coldly. She took a deep breath, “When this is over Sanctuary will be destroyed.”

I huffed, “Never.” Then turned to run through the shed. I heard quiet protesting behind me but Rad was by my side as I pushed through the darkness and into Sanctuary.

When we emerged on the other side I only saw a fragment of the Sanctuary I once knew. Charles, Bella, Bailey, Strider, Morra, Hank and a few I didn’t recognize were the only dogs left that I could see. The shadow was holding Sentinel Eleven by the throat. Sentinel Thirteen stood next to them, completely motionless and in shock. I saw the dogs I didn’t recognize begin to cough then fade away like dust tossed into a strong breeze at the same time I saw Sentinel Thirteen vanish like smoke in the same wind.  

Sentinel Eleven was held high above the ground and the shadow spoke in the same tongue as Troy did at the pond. The Sentinel would respond in a similar tongue. Behind those two stood the remaining dogs singing the song of the Oak. Hank, the Border Collie who guided me to Rad stood leading them. The shadow, seemingly knowing that something had changed, dropped Sentinel Eleven who laid on the ground gasping for air. The shadow turned towards myself and Rad and let out a booming laugh that nearly pushed me back through the shed.

 “My dog, you have returned to me!” I heard a voice come from the dark abyss which stood before us. Rad responded with a slow and calm voice, “I am not yours.” For a moment, I thought I saw the shadow take a step back as if it were surprised. Rad continued, “I have returned only to stop you.” The shadow laughed and let out another booming laugh that pushed me back into the closed shed doors. “You cannot. You are bound to me.” It said in a voice so confident I almost believed it myself. The shadow began to mutter in the same tongue it just used when speaking to the Sentinel moments ago. I saw Rad’s eyes begin to glaze over and before I could move another voice rang out. From behind the shadow Sentinel Eleven stood singing in the foreign tongue. An infuriated shadow turned and picked up its foe and threw the Sentinel against one of the stone walls while blood sputtered out from the Sentinels mouth. The song did not cease or even miss a beat. The shadow slowly approached the Sentinel as if to taunt its enemy. The other dogs stood still, singing the song of a fallen warrior as if they were preparing the Oak to receive another life. I ran across the yard, Rad and Hank both yelled for me to stop but as soon as I got close enough I dove for the shadow

The shadow vanished and I pounced on the Sentinel and watched, in terror, as the Sentinel’s head slammed against the stone wall and the song ceased. Tears filled my eyes as I heard yet another booming laugh from behind me, “Well that wasn’t too difficult.” I turned to see the shadow standing over Hank, “Remember how this all went the first time?” Hank dug his claws into the ground and began howling as the moon appeared through some clouds. The shadow laughed again, “Not this time, pup.” It lifted up a hand and I saw the light that once surrounded Hank drift away. I watched the hand swing in slow motion but right before the shadow struck Hank I heard a booming noise and glimpsed another burst of light, Rad. She knocked the Shadow down and began to sing the song from the pond. The song of the future. Quickly the rest of us joined in and Rad moved slowly to stand over the shadow.

The shadow lifted its hands to stop the light radiating off of Rad’s coat from engulfing it, screaming in agony it asked, “How could this be?” I heard a voice from behind me answer, “Because you didn’t give her life. We told you then. She chose Rad. You had nothing to do with it.” I looked behind me to the Sentinel standing again spitting blood on the ground. The Sentinel kneeled down and put an arm around me before joining in our song. The shadow was overtaken by the light from Rad. We saw the darkness wash away and for a brief moment saw its original form.

A small man whose unnatural red eyes were filled with anger and rage. We all stopped singing except for Rad, Hank, and the Sentinel. The three of them surrounded the man. The Sentinel placed one hand on both Rad and Hank as they all knelt down. “Come back to us.” The Sentinel asked quietly. For a moment, the man’s eyes softened and I thought I glimpsed a speck of blue emerge in them but the look was quickly washed away as darkness began to consume him again. It poured over him the same way fog covers the ground early in the morning. I saw him open his mouth as the darkness was swarming his face and I saw a tear wash down The Sentinels cheek as together the two Collies and the Sentinel finished the song, completely engulfing the man in a bright light and when the light was gone so too was he. Leaving nothing but a small black sludge pooling in the spot he once laid.

The other five dogs approached me and each gave me a warm greeting. They asked if my Sanctuary was ok and what had happened to Rad. But my eyes were drawn to the conversation being had by the three mysterious figures. Rad and Hank said goodbye to the Sentinel then walked towards the shed, “Where are you going?” I called out to them. Hank looked over his shoulder, “We must return to the Oak, but don’t worry we will send for you soon.” I shook my head and ran towards them, “What does that mean? What do we do now!” but before I could reach them they disappeared to the place beyond the shed and far beyond my reach.

I wanted to chase them but the Sentinel called us over. “What do we do now?” I repeated. Bailey sighed and looked around an empty and shattered Sanctuary, “We rebuild.” The Sentinel gave her a stern look, “I’m afraid not Baily. This was Sanctuaries last stand.” Bailey turned her head to the side, “What do you mean?” The Sentinel motioned to the spot the Shadow was engulfed and we saw a black sludge oozing from the ground, “What is that?” The Sentinel took a deep breath, “That is the darkness.”

Bailey began walking towards as if she was entranced by it but the Sentinel reached out a hand and pulled her back, “That is the reason you all must leave.” The Sentinel looked directly at Bailey, “We can’t leave! This is our Sanctuary!” Charles protested. I then asked, “What do you mean?” The Sentinel looked at the two of us and took a long pause before responding, “In order to make sure the darkness is never released no dog can ever come to this Sanctuary again.” Charles and Bailey both scoffed, Charles asked, “What about you?” the Sentinel gave Charles a stern look, “I am going to build a seal for it, and put it somewhere no one will ever find it.” Bailey turned her head to the side again, “And then what?” The Sentinel gave a warm smile, “Then I must enter through the shed and destroy the entrance to this place.” Charles shook his head, “Isn’t that how it was made?” The Sentinel gave a sorrowful look towards the sludge before saying, “It wasn’t that simple. We don’t just become the darkness, but it doesn’t matter. The Oak has granted me a special position.” Charles rolled his eyes, “Oh? And what is that?” The Sentinel smiled and said, “I will be tending to the final walkway.”  I gasped, “You’re going to be in there?” The Sentinel nodded, “Yes I will be taking dogs on their final walks.”

Morra chimed in and asked, “Then where do we go?” The Sentinel shrugged, “The Oak has a plan for each of you but where it leads I cannot say.” Morra gave a huff of protest before asking, “When do we have to leave?” The Sentinel walked over to her, hugged her, and whispered something to her before wiping a tear away. Morra hung her head low and slowly walked to the shed.

One by one each of us said our goodbyes to the Sentinel and to the Sanctuary we had loved for so long. One by one the Sentinel gave us words of wisdom, encouragement, and love. I was the last to say goodbye to the Sentinel. I was asked to recount my story so it could be added to all the others. So we could finish this Saga. So I did. We sat in the stacks one last time and I told the Sentinel everything. When we finished the Sentinel looked at me and said, “There is one more thing I must ask you to do for me.”

                         The end