Chapter Two

"Nail in my hand

From my creator

You gave me a life

Now show me how to live"

Chris was falling, and falling slowly. After he was swallowed by the dark hole in the ground that the blonde man created, he woke up in what seemed to be an endless tunnel, and he had been falling since. There didn't seem to be a bottom to the tunnel, and without a way to tell the time, Chris had no idea how long he had been tumbling end over end into the blackness.

Meanwhile, Jon was experiencing the same thing as Chris, falling into the impenetrable blackness. He had found a lighter in his pocket, and had tried for almost an hour to use it to see around him. One of the strangest things about his fall, he realized, was not that he hadn't reached bottom, but that there was no wind whatsoever. He had noticed this first when he had lit the lighter, and it hadn't been blown out immediately. Wherever he was, it was just as unnatural as the darkness that had blotted out the sky.

Haley, too, was falling into the darkness. She had worried that she was dead for a time, but then realized it was something that she considered much worse. She was falling into a void, where no light, sound, or heat ever appeared. Haley wrapped her jacket around her, and curled up into a ball as she slowly floated down into endless night.

Far in the distance, Chris began to see something, which startled him after seeing only blackness for so long. He turned to face it, but as he did so, realized that he would only pass by the light, and not very closely. As it came closer and closer, he realized that it was actually several lights, in fact, it was a ring of seven towers surrounding what looked like to be a platform hanging in empty space.

As he passed the platform at a distance of almost a hundred yards, he saw a figure standing on the platform.

Jon.

Jon had finally floated downwards until he was standing on a platform that looked to be made of brightly stained glass. The glass created a picture, encircled by seven towers that provided more light than he had seen in recent hours.

The picture on the stained glass platform was that of what appeared to be a solar system encircling a large heart shaped design, open on the top as the two halves of the heart curled inward. Beneath the Heart was a large classical keyhole pattern.

Jon had not moved since he landed on the platform, but he now took a tentative step forward. The seven light producing towers instantly glowed a brilliant green, the shade of a perfect emerald, or the grass on an early spring day. Hesitant, Jon took another step, and then fell to his knees as tremors started to rock the platform.

Jon searched for anything to gain a grip on, but there were no raised edges on the floor, and he was too far away to run to one of the towers. Then, just as suddenly as it started, the shaking stopped. Jon turned around, and was greeted by the sight of three stone platforms now sitting on the glass floor. On top of one platform was a large shield, on the next, a sword, and on the third was a staff capped by a green jewel.

Jon was instinctively drawn to the staff. He took one long look at the sword, and then picked up the staff. Instantly, the other weapons and their platforms disappeared. Holding the staff with his left hand, Jon spun to look around the now empty platform.

It was then that the voice spoke to him.

The path of the mage is not easy, but if offers great reward.

There will be hard times ahead, and you must be the voice of reason.

Your strength is great, but your mind is greater. Do not let it fall to the darkness.

"What? Who are you?" Jon was only able to get a few words out before the platform below him shattered into a million pieces, and he found himself falling once again.

Haley looked up from where she had landed on the platform that, unbeknownst to her, had the same stained glass pattern as the one Jon had just been on. Off in the distance she could swear she had heard someone call her name, but now her attention was focused on the seven pillars around the platform. When she stood up, they had glowed a bright red, but the color had faded, and after the shaking had stopped, she had found herself face to face with two stone platforms, one supporting a sword, and the other a shield. She looked perplexedly at the sword. "That thing is huge. I don't think anyone could hold that up."

It is your turn to choose your destiny.

One of your friends has already chosen his, and the other soon shall.

Make your decision, will you cut down the darkness in your path, or shield others from it?

Looking around for the source of the voice, Haley saw nothing but the empty space behind the pillars. She slowly approached the shield, and lifted it off its stand. It felt incredible light in her hands, and she slid her right arm into the straps. As soon as she did so, the ground gave way beneath her, and the sudden shock of the fall left her unable to scream.

Chris landed heavily on the glass platform, and his first thought was a question. "What is going on?"

As if in response to his yell of frustration, the pillars around him, which had been giving off a soft white light, began to glow a deep blue. Chris took a step forward, and the ground began to shake violently. Chris dropped to a ready stance, allowing him to stay upright through the shaking. He stared in wonder as a stone platform seemed to materialize out of the glass floor. When the shaking had stopped and the pillar was entirely above the glass, the air around the top of the stone began to shimmer, and a large steel-bladed sword appeared, hovering above the platform.

Chris approached the platform slowly, and reached up to take hold of the sword. As he grasped it in his right hand, a voice began to speak to him in his mind.

This is the power you have sought

The power to save others

The power to strike down the darkness, and to rip asunder the evil you see.

This is your starting point

Are you ready?

Just as he was about to respond, the ground gave way beneath him in a shower of glass, and Chris found himself falling once again.