Shadow Star
Written by Patrick Rees
Patrick K. Rees
Shadow Star
Today started off to be just an average day. The alarm went off, I tried to put it out of my mind for awhile but the longer I stalled, the louder that alarm seemed to be. I finally got up, took my customary shower and went to class. Well at least it started normally.
I’m a regular college student. I eat sleep study and skip a few classes every now and then just like most college students I know. I’m 5’10” and 145 pounds, brown eyes and hair and of German-Italian background. Of course I am 100% American. I like most sports from swimming to snow skiing. Dating is a way of life for me, but no one is special to me yet. I was born back East but was raised in the South. I have thought about going into the service once or twice but never went; however I have some friends here in the National Guard. Well, now that I think about it; that is how everything got started. We were in the Union talking about rock climbing and had decided to go that afternoon just north of here on some out of the way river cliffs. Yes, that’s how it started. I am just a normal guy, right?
Later that day we were eating lunch. “Say Mike pass the salt. I have to put some kind of taste into this food.”
“Here”, old Mike Parks, the clown, willfully threw him the salt. Oh, well.
“Joe, have you got the ropes for this afternoon?”
“Yea, I got them from the ROTC building just before lunch.” Joe Harlam, he knew the most about rock climbing, out there he would be the leader.
That leaves Sam Simon, the genius, never said much because he was always plotting some plan. Now was no exception.
“What dirty deeds are you planning now, Sam?”
“Nothing much, just dreaming up a homemade satellite dish.”
Like I said always thinking, nothing seemed out of his reach. Then there’s me, who you already know, the average guy, Patrick Wright. The four of us had bummed around for a few years now. The afternoon was supposed to be like a hundred others. We go get sunburnt and then drown our sorrows in a case if beer. Well, that’s how I thought today would be. I’ve been wrong before though.
That afternoon seemed unusually bright I remember that most of all because everything seemed to glow a light yellow. I have seen it before a few times, after a rain, but it had not rained for days. I don’t know if it had something to do with it. But I will always think it must have done something.
We were riding out there in Sam’s car. Some people believe he created it. They may be right. I don’t have a car, it’s days like today I’m glad I don’t. We got there about 20 minutes later. As we were unloading our gear, I even said something about the ‘glow’ I mentioned. No one else said anything however I swear I felt some nervous tension in the air. I guess they all agreed, it had that type of effect on us.
We have climbed out there before. Never have we found anything worth mentioning, but Joe insisted that there was something about those cliffs. Now, I know he was right.
Joe climbed all the way up and anchored the ropes, then came back down. We had chosen a hard place but not too hard. Right now I can’t remember climbing in that spot before. Here the cliffs are
narrower and it’s darker down here than in other places along the cliffs. It gave the appearance of being in the bottom of a pit, or grave.
Talk was light and somewhat shaky. I guess they all noticed the darkness too. I was ready to go to the top 5 minutes ago. Joe led, then Mike who kept kicking rocks down on me and then Sam…
Sam was in the rear, and taking his time about it too. We were about half way up when it started. My first thought was it was an earth trimmer. The ground sort of vibrated. We all felt it that was clear.
“What was that?!”
“Ooooo, God.”
Only Sam seemed quite he was too busy to say anything. He must have been in a loose spot, for he was fighting for a solid grip. He found a solid hold for a second. He looked up and forced a smile and started to say something. Then all hell broke loose right below me. All I could do was watch as half the cliff fell away carrying Sam with it all the way to the bottom. I could not help but think that he had to be dead. We started down but Joe and Mike beat me down, my tough luck. Sam, lucky SOB, had hit in some bushes which were standing in water. He was alive at least, but not much better, however.
Chapter 2
The sun at that moment placed itself in such an angle it shined right down between the cliffs. Joe and Mike were pleased it made getting Sam out easier. It was then with the added light I saw the cave opened up by the slide. I was amazed to say the least. To think that cave had been sealed until now I should have said something about it but didn’t because I felt compelled to investigate, one of my better known qualities, most of the time. Now all it did was get me into trouble.
I climbed to the entrance, which was easy. Then looked it over and went in. My first impression besides the size of it was how light it was inside. I walked a little ways and then I saw but could not believe it. There was a bright glow coming from further back in the cave. What next happened should have made me run the other way. A deep slow voice pronounced
“Enter (!), so that I may see you.”
It shook the walls a little. I mean I was scared. But I walked to the edge of what seemed to be a chamber.
“Greetings, I have been waiting for you.”
Stunned I looked around and located the source of the voice. He seemed to be an old man, and he was sitting next to a fire. An altogether pleasing sight, I thought; if it wasn’t for the situation.
“Who are you?” I said. A reasonable question I thought.
“The Keeper, of course”, He stated mildly.
“The Keeper of what?” This seemed to disappoint him.
“The Ancient Keeper of Secrets!”, He said.
He seemed quite proud of the title, so I humored him. “Oh, That Keeper, I see.” That was a mistake. This pleased him.
“Come closer.” He all but ordered.
So I did, another mistake.
“I have been here for ages, waiting for the proper stated time to fulfill my mission here.”
“Mission?” I asked. It must have been the right thing to say, because he continued.
“I was left here long, long ago by the elders to carry out a plan, after they left to go back. I remained here, were I now sit. They gave me the knowledge and the power I was supposed to grant at a certain time in the future. Then I was to remain awhile before I could return to my beloved home.”
“Where is your home?”
“Far, very far.”
I could see that there was something or someone he loved very much there because he seemed to be looking there now. I started to leave him with his memories when,
“Stay, please sit with me.”
I did not expect such a tone from him so I sat next to him. My third mistake.
“It was left up to me to choose the one to receive the blessings of the elders. Now I will decide. The one must be willing and able to receive the blessings. Most of all, the one must be capable of caring, understanding and love. The most important is the capacity of love, without it all else is lost, forever. I have seen and heard much. I now choose you… You must learn the blessing of the elders. Also, you will be given a name, a name worthy of you. It shall be… Shadow Star!”
He revealed a scroll like book (something like a field manual, only the pages were larger) it was rolled and tied with some type of bow. This scroll he handed to me.
“The blessings of the elders I now bestow upon you.” With this the chamber grew bright, then faded back to its normal glow. At that moment something
happened. What exactly that was I don’t know. It felt like a surge of energy. I was suddenly aware of people dragging something up the cliff and in my mind I saw Joe and Mike pulling Sam up the cliff.
“Your friends need you now. Go to them. Study the scroll; learn the ways of the blessings. When you are ready, come to me, I will be here.”
I slowly walked out of the cave. It seemed to me that I was not quite on the ground it felt too smooth. I looked down and realized I was walking on thin air about six inches from the ground. With a look at the scroll I was holding I shook my head and walked on. I decided the guys were not ready for this so I placed it inside my coat. I got to the mouth of the cave and sort of floated up to the top of the cliff merely by wanting to go up there. Joe and Mike almost had Sam back to the car when I walked up.
“I thought you climbed up here. Did you call the police? Sam needs to go to the hospital.”
All I did was think police. I looked around and there was a police car. Far out! I thought to myself I could get used to this. And then I heard the old man’s voice say you will in my head. I sort of mumbled ‘real neat’. Mike must have heard me.
“What? What could be neat now?”
“The police getting here so soon. I just a … I just called them.”
“Oh.”
So, there I was feeling really weird. I had no idea what could happen to me now that I had this blessing. Thank God! Sam was in an I.C.U. at the hospital. He would make it. Joe was the first to notice I was acting strange. He faced me with it later that day. That’s where I am now. What should I say? Do I tell him? I decided to tell him about the cave and the cave only. Maybe it would be better to mix in a few bats, I thought. I don’t know how it sounded but he bought it.
We got together that evening to go see Sam; they had told us he was awake and into a room. Presently in his room.
“Sam, we are here.”
“Oh”, he said weakly.
“You know you fell over 75 feet with that slide.”
“I did not think it was that far.”
“It could have been worse. You could have fallen on your head.”, Mike, of course.
A faint smile appeared on his face. More jokes were needed. However I felt a need to touch him. As I touched Sam I saw the old
man with his eyes closed and I saw him say something. Sam got jumpy right away. He wanted to get out of bed!
“Sam, you are all broken up, how are you going to get out of bed?”
With that he sat up, turned, and put his feet on the floor. He all but knocked us out with that. And in my mind I heard one word, “Rise”. By God, Sam stood up! Mike passed out; Joe sat down; while I just stood there stunned. They checked Sam over and declared it all but a miracle. They said he could leave in the morning. That’s when I decided to read the scroll. I could not wait to get back to my room to read it, all of it. Sam only wanted something electronic, so we gave him a pocket radio which he promptly dissected. Old Sam was himself again. Nonetheless, I was not. It took forever to get back to the dorm.
When we got back I broke out in a cold sweat. Joe asked me if it was the cave. Coldly, I said yes. It was all I could do to get to my room. I uncovered the scroll for I had hid it in my dirty clothes bag. As I untied the bow on it I felt that strange surge again and I felt better at last. It was comforting to know that scroll could make me feel so good. It was a real natural high. It read like any instruction manual, or owner’s manual. The book had an index, table of contents, and complete sub-headings. It was like I was in the driver’s seat of this wondrous machine and all I had to do was think different things and do different things to make it work. The last two chapters dealt with different weapons I did not have and a suit I did not own. I closed my eyes and saw the old man opening what looked like an old sea trunk and inside were the weapons and suit I mentioned; then I knew.
I went outside to test a few simple things in the scroll. Levitation, an interesting concept, but magic acts could only create the illusion of levitation. The scroll had this power and it was easy for it, rather for me. The scroll also talked about a presence or power between objects. This power, called aurora, joined everything (rather, linked
them) and could be responsible for and do amazing things. Rarely do I use that word, but it sounded truly amazing. The rocks around me would float and dance around in the air with a mere thought. Sailing over trees was child’s play for me. No more long walks to class or lunch for me, no sir. The need for secrecy, I felt was of ultimate importance. The easy ‘blessings’ came quickly, it took me a few days to master the rest of them. On Saturday, I finally made up my mind to go back to the cave. I was now ready.
Chapter 3
It took a while for me to find the cave. I thought it would be hard to find a better hiding place. I walked, on the ground, into the chamber. The Keeper was on his spot by the fire, which had not changed at all. With his eyes closed he said, “Are you ready?”.
“Yes”, I took my place next to him. He smiled and patted my shoulder. This told me I had done correctly.
“You know of the weapons and suit?”.
“Yes”
“Then we shall start your outward training. The use of the weapons will come quickly. The suit has its own protective force around it. Let’s try it on, shall we?”.
I wore gym shorts for this reason. The suit fit snuggly, like spandex clothes, almost. I felt naked. The sense of having on clothes was not there; I felt total free.
The weapons were on different belts and in an array of containers. None of them were very large. I first chose a thing that fit like a glove. The scroll dealt with this one in detail. My hand surged with power, so much so it was almost painful. The Keeper nearly laughed at me. I pointed my hand at the far wall and thought ‘flame’. Just as I did fire leaped from the glove and burned a black ring into the far wall. The Keeper only nodded. Again I thought, only ‘light’ this time it began to glow brightly.
“Off!”, I said and all was normal.
“You learn quickly, good.”
It was my turn to smile. He threw out a small disk which sailed toward me.
“Light!”, I shouted and pointed a finger at it. Nothing remained but a wisp of smoke.
“You can also do that with thought instead of words. Furthermore, with the mask on you will do that with your eyes.”, He had said this all to calmly for me. I stuck my head into the mask and tucked it under my collar. The scroll described what it should look like. This time I thought ‘light’ and looked a little harder at the far wall. Suddenly the chamber was filled with dust. As it cleared, I thought to myself the wall appeared a few feet farther away.
“Good.”, was all he said. Better than nothing. He said nothing the first time. I felt the urge to fly. I had to go outside and work with my new gifts.
“Go, and may the elders guide you.”
“I knew the answer though I had never heard it before, “Farewell and good silence to you Keeper. May you endure the test of time.”
His pleasure at that was immense. I hugged him and left calling him teacher as I went. I know I made his day then.
Flying is great. If you ever get the chance to hang glide, do it. I was doing flips and rolls just like someone who had just learned to swim and not to fear the water. It was then I began to think about my given name, Shadow Star. Why Shadow Star? Then it came to me, maybe I could fly beyond the clouds. Could I reach the void of space? I knew the Keeper was watching. I thought ‘rise’ and shot for the heavens. Not realizing how fast I must have gone, I was in the black vastness of space. At that moment, I heard Mr. Spock of Star Trek say ‘…space, the final frontier’. Perfect, I thought and flew on.
The moon, somewhere I always wanted to go seemed the right place to be. So I located it. And next to nothing I was on it. Fantastic! I did not realize it at first, but I had landed near the Apollo 11 landing s
ite. There still, the American flag flew somewhat stiffly. I gave it a snappy salute and left.
Chapter 4
Back home, I had to find a safe place to change. I decided on the hall closet, bad idea; but it worked. Saturday, God’s gift to college students, can turn out to be a party in many ways. This afternoon looked very promising. Mike called me. He said Sam was on one of his kicks. Sam every now and then starts cooking up some of his creations and throws a bash to show them off. That portable radio had become a transmitter of some sort. He also had a biggie, his special number. The ‘number’ would most likely turn out to be the campus talk for the next month, so anyone could show up there. Joe and Mike were there before me. I brought my goodies in my gym bag along with some CDs. Sam had his number under a white veil. It was larger than I thought it would be. Joe seemed to know what it was, but he was not talking. Mike said it was a mini-car. I did not think so.
People started to come out of the woodwork around 8 o’clock or so. An older man walked in. He was dressed in a nice three-piece suit. I did not know him; well I did not recognize him at first. At ten, Sam could not wait any longer. Joe pulled the veil off to reveal a small hover craft. I had seen them before, so I waited for the biggie. Sam started to turn on what he called a long-range two-way communicator. His transmitter turned out to be a long-range radio wave beacon, a signal sender. The reaction was great. Sam loved every minute of it.