Free A Charge of Valor by Morgan Rice Page B

hand, the softest touch of his life, under his chin, felt it slowly lift his face, so that he looked up, higher and higher, towards his mother. He wanted desperately to see her face, but the soft blue light shining off of her was so intense that he was blinded by it. It was like looking into the sun.
    “ I am with you, Thorgrin,” she said. “Arise, and make me proud.”
    Thor suddenly opened his eyes and found himself looking at the desert floor. He blinked and turned and looked for the others. But there was no one in sight. He lay there, all alone, confused.
    Thor felt a new energy course within him, and slowly, he rose to his hands and knees. He felt the presence of someone over him, blocking out the suns, and he looked up and was surprised to see Argon. He stood there, holding his staff, looking down at him with an intensity that even outshone the sun.
    Thor rose to his feet, feeling renewed, and looked back, wondering where everyone else was.
    “ You have passed many tests,” Argon said slowly. “Yet there are always more tests. The greatest quest requires the greatest travail. And behind each quest, for the warrior, there always waits another.”
    “ Where are my friends?” Thor asked.
    Argon shook his head.
    “ They live somewhere between the land of life-and-death. It is the land you walk in now. You have not died. But you are not alive. You would have died on this day if it were not for the grace of your mother. You have powerful beings watching over you, and you have been given many chances at life.”
    Argon turned and stared out at the desert.
    “ Before you can return to the others,” Argon said, “you must further your training. You cannot go any further in this quest unless your training is deepened. The desert is vast and deep, and only a skillful spiritual warrior can cross it. Are you ready to reach the next level?”
    Thor nodded back earnestly.
    “ I wish for nothing more. Tell me what I must do.”
    “ Walk with me,” Argon said.
    Thor walked side-by-side with Argon, deeper into the desert, wondering where they were going. He felt an intense energy radiating through him with each step, felt as if he were slowly coming back to himself. He also felt more powerful than he ever had.
    As they were walking, Thor looked down and stopped short, shocked at what he saw. The ground fell away, and he found himself standing at the edge of the Canyon.
    He looked down, overwhelmed at the depth and scope of it. It seemed to stretch forever. Its strange mist swirled all around him, and Thor looked over to see Argon standing beside him, looking out, too.
    “ How did we get here?” Thor asked. “How did we make it back to the Ring?”
    “ We are everywhere and nowhere,” Argon replied. “We travel through the crack between the realms. You see, place and time are but an illusion. We now transcend these illusions. I want you to look into the Canyon, into its mist. What do you see?”
    Thor squinted into the expanse, but saw nothing but swirling mist, lit with every color.
    “ I see nothing,” Thor responded.
    “ That is because you look with your eyes, and not with your mind,” Argon responded. “Now close your eyes,” he said firmly, “and look.”
    Close my eyes and look ? Thor wondered. He did not understand.
    But he did as he was told, closing his eyes, facing out in the direction of the Canyon, feeling the swirling mist stroke his face. The moisture felt so good in the heat.
    “ In your mind’s eye, see it,” Argon said. “Allow it to come to you.”
    Thor breathed deep and centered himself, trying to understand. And as he stood there, for he did not know how long, slowly, he began to see it.
    Below him, Thor saw a red city, built on the edge of the Canyon. Its stone sparkled red, and it was divided into two cities, a lower and upper one.
    “ I see a red city,” Thor said.
    “ Good. What else?”
    Thor’s heart started to pound as he saw fires raging through it. Destruction. Bloodshed.