Knots in the Ties

I walked through the door and started to feel a presence that I have never seen before. I knew who it was right away. It was my past self, Alexander. “I didn’t know that we were going to be getting help.”

“I didn’t think that you would sense me so early. I almost thought that Jack would sense his past self and you wouldn’t.”

“And why is that?”

“Well, he specializes in stuff more like that. My Jack was always better at sensing than I was. It took me a lot longer to get the hang of it.”

“I was locked up in with demons all around me. It’s easy for me to sense anything that’s dark now.”

“That does make sense.”

“Anyway, I guess we should start now.”

“Of course. As you can see, there is another door in front of you. As soon as you go through that door you will be surrounded by clay soldiers. The first couple of times that you attack them, they will do nothing to fight back. When you enter there, I want you to summon your sword and cut them. Hit them where the targets are located. This is to help you learn how to wield it. The next room with teach you a new skill altogether. The room after that will do the same thing. After that moment, the clay soldiers will start to attack you. Got it?”

“Yep.”

I went up to the door and drew my sword. All I had to do was touch the sword and it opened. There were about 10 clay soldiers standing in different spots. I knew that on the field, you have to be fast, so I ran up to each one and slash the lines and stabbed them where there was only a spot. I quickly found out that they can only be destroyed when they were cut in that certain spot.

It wasn’t long before they were all destroyed. I went up to the next door and touched it. I walked through and found that the soldiers were all the way on my right. In between me was a hole. It looked like it went on forever. How was I suppose to attack something that I couldn’t reach?

“I’m going to teach you how to summon a bow. Imagine the bow in your hand. Feel it. Focus on it.” I did as I was told. Soon enough, I was able to summon a bow, but what about the arrows? “The arrows are created using your magick. Focus your energy into the shape of an arrow or at least something close.” I tried, but I just couldn't do it.

“I can’t get it.”

“Just keep trying.”

Finally, I was able to summon an arrow. After that, everything became natural. I aimed at shot the arrow right at the target. I did this to all of the clay soldiers. I went up to the next door and opened it. Inside were some soldiers, but they were a little closer than the last ones. If I reached my hand out, they were about another arm’s length away.

“This time, you’re going to do something that Jack specializes in. Pure magick. Although you deal more with swords, shields, and bows, you still need to learn some magick. In order to do this, you need to focus the energy in your hand. You won’t be able to shoot it far, but it will be a powerful attack. The other downside is that it takes a lot of energy. You can’t waste it. You’ll only be able to miss a couple of times when you are in here.”

“Got it.”

I started to focus on my hand. I pictured what it would look like and how it would feel, but nothing happened. I tried and tried, but nothing was happening. I yelled in frustration. This was taking too long. Jack might have already finished and be worried about me for all I knew. I was stuck, and I knew that I was going to have to learn this in order to protect him. I had to protect him. Jack’s my everything. He’s the love of my life. I had to do whatever it takes. I closed my eyes at focuses.

When I opened my eyes, there was a dark ball of energy in it. I smiled at shot it at the first target. I did this to all the others. I can be strong for Jack. I can.

Notes