Fingertips – palm.
Pressure for a moment.
Ever so slight, the image remains;
Caught, lightly, in eternity’s web for the quiet to perceive.

Lonely hearts wondering,
Where is my life?
Lonely hearts wandering,
Strife to strife, leaving behind their shadowed image play,
A fading corridor of time’s distant echo for the quiet to perceive.

Day to day – changeless, except to age.
Well worn paths so much the same, unnoticed
In their differings, trod only for their questioning
Presence; the answers unseen for the clatter of the search,
A fading corridor of time’s distant echo for the quiet to perceive.

Fingertips – palm.
Pressure for a moment.
Ever so slight the image remains,
A fading corridor of time’s distant echo for the quiet to perceive.

Look thru your finest hour, at all the rest; at now, thru your finest moment.
Look around you at the distance between you, and what you turn away from …you will find them in the midst; in the midst of your reasons why not, in the midst of your excuses.
Remember how you felt at your finest hour, who you felt you were in your finest moment – go there, and look around you at the distance between you, and what you turn away from …you will find them in the midst; in the midst of your reasons why not, in the midst of your excuses.
Look thru your finest hour, at all the hours gone by, at all the chances missed…and let go!

The open sea is an odd and peculiar place on a full moon’s windless night. The silver moonlight, the gray decks and implements, the long night hours of the midnight watch, all conspire to fool the eye or perhaps entice the imagination. Shimmering scenes prophetic, suggesting varied sinister ways and means of demise, dance silently about the rigs, ropes, and ladders, and languish a moment at dawn’s first breaking only to become rust and bolt, winch and cable, at the first sea bird’s cry.

   
Chatelain led the way – three sailors followed; and Jadeland looked, now and again, over his shoulder. The passageway was damp and lit by what little light drifted down from above. The floor was slimy and the walls were so close together that the water on them soaked the climbers clothes. They climbed up because there was nowhere else to go; Chatelain choose which branch in the tunnel to take by which one offered the most light, and Jadeland said nothing.
They lost track of time as they scrabbled upward from tunnel to tunnel, and always the dim light shone a little brighter as they went. They sailors climbed and, what with the wet clothes dampening their spirits, muttered only occasionally to themselves as the light grew, unsure what lay ahead. Jadeland alone was silent; his step sure and steady as he trailed the group.
Chatelain stepped first into the wide chamber, its ceiling vaulting nearly out of the lights reach, hollowed out of the mountains top. “It would never have mattered” said one the sailors. “No, it would not,” said Chatelain, the surrounding walls of the chamber was honeycombed with doorways of varying sizes around its entire circumference, “all paths behind lead here!”
The glow from the floor at the center of the chamber flashed as Jadeland pushed past the group and, tossing back his hood, strode out across the floor of the chamber toward its center. A voice began to murmur a chant, unintelligible at first, but becoming clearing with each repetition. The voice was feminine, and firm; the words cryptic:

Rushed, hush … walls ? – speak no secrets!

The world seeks attention; all in it seeks the same – all in it seek me and perish often with success.

What conspiracy draws the dazzled seekers?, what need for thier demise?

Walls?… speak no secrets!; impart to me no hushed compromise. In darkness moves the dark intent, in silence the silent.

The light flared for a moment bright enough to blind the travelers; Jadeland stopped and shaded his eyes, as did the rest of the party. When they could see again a sphere of light floated above the floor in the center of the room and all had gone silent.
Jadeland approached the sphere slowly, still shading his eyes, “you are the Oracle,” he said. No answer came to the question in his voice, as he closer and waved his spread fingers thru the light. “Are you here?” he asked. “I am,” came the quiet answer, “for the moment.” “And why can I not grasp and hold you here?â€? Jadeland said to the sphere, as he walked thru its light in the center of the chamber, waving his spread fingers thru the light. “Because I am also elsewhere,” the Oracle proclaimed, “as a suit of shining armor, a princess’s veil, inhabited by naught but questions of absence; I am both one – and many, and you will hear me!â€?
Jadeland stepped back from the light with crossed arms; chin jutting out at the command in the Oracle’s voice. “This is not your place and I will not speak to you here” said the Oracle. “I wish an answer to my question” he said. “You have asked your question many times; and many times you have been answered” said the Oracle. ‘What I have been given are not answers, only riddles!” he said. “Would you have more riddles then?“said the Oracle. “No,” said Jadeland; the defeat in his voice conveyed many defeats before. “You must leave,” said the Oracle, “this is not your place and I will not speak to you here.”
“The way is shut behind us” said Chatelain who had moved up behind Jadeland. Jadeland started at the closeness of the voice and said, “I am not leaving without an answer!” “Then I have another riddle for you” said the Oracle, as all went black in the chamber. “Left all roads lead here: right all roads lead there,
many doors are one: one many.” The blackness was utter and none dared move because of it. “The way is shut behind us” said Chatelain again. Jadeland`s voice echoed wistfully in the chamber; giving it shape and size enough to relieve the close and oppressive blackness. “What is your name oracle and have we met before?” “I am Ja Chani,” came the whispered reply,“and I am also the one who sent you here.” “Then you are also the one who appeared in the Councils chamber,” said Jadeland. “I am Ja Chani,” she replied, “we are One.” “Did you bring me here to toy with me Ja Chani?” said Jadeland.
In the silence that followed the air began to stir and the first inklings of light began to show around the edges of the chamber. The chant began quietly at first, but with each round it became more strident.

Straw men, stick men, wise men – fools;
round – round – goes the seer`s dust,
round – round – go the fools!

The whirling sand stung their eyes as the chant grew louder and the light grew brighter. The sailors started muttering amongst themselves as the sand whirled and the chanting became louder. Chatelain shouted at Jadeland, but his words were lost in the torrent of sand and the ever brightening light. The roof of the chamber could not be seen, but the fringes of the surround with its many doors could, and Chatelain started for the door they had come through. Jadeland simply stood at the chambers center and watched the swirling sand.

Straw men, stick men, wise men – fools;
round – round – goes the seer`s dust,
round – round – go the fools!

The chanting began to slow and the sand began to settle. The light continued to grow, and revealed a white polished circle on the center of the chamber’s floor, as the last wisps of wind and sand drifted away into silence. What was left behind was a map in miniature in the center of the circle. The firth could be seen, and the coastline was familiar. The map extended inland describing a river canyon on the other side of the mountain from the firth. Down the canyons center ran a river , and in the river were shards of stone, all in detailed relief, inscribed in the sand. Chatelain and his fellows came up behind Jadeland as he stood looking down at the map.
“What is this oracle?” said Jadeland. A stir of wind moved about the map; a whirlwind of minute dimension brushed its surface, and left behind a miniature caricature of a waterfall; sand flowing over its edge and into a sand etched lake with small waves rippling over its surface. “Here,” said the oracle: a brief whirlwind parting the falls to show the cave behind it, “You will find your answer, now you must leave.” “The way is shut behind us,” said Chatelain. “You must leave!” said the oracle,” Observe!” The entire chamber dome began to rotate around the chamber floor. The rotation was barely noticeable, but the rumble the mountain moving could not be mistaken; it had moved no more than six or eight feet when all fell silent again.
“As all doors lead here when you entered, now all doors lead there when you leave,” said the Oracle; a stir in the air showed a whirl at the back of the mountain away from the firth. “Do not try to go back, the guardians will kill you if you do. Go now, it matters not which way you choose, all paths lead to the door out.”

Straw men, stick men, wise men – fools;
round – round – goes the seer`s dust,
round – round – go the fools!

The chanting began again, slowly and quietly, as a wind whisked all remnants of the map back into the air. The party made for the outskirts of the chamber as the wind and sand increased, and the chanting became louder. The wind stopped, the sand settled, and the chanting drifted into silence, as they stepped into an open door and started down the passage way beyond.

The decks were strewn with lines, and line handlers – waiting. The plan had been cast by captains whose sailors had heard accounts of this place. Hopefully, a beach would be there and the footing would be good; hopefully the silent falls that drank the overflow of tide at the firths end would be as innocuous as it seemed…hopefully!
The landing force was launched in the small boats as the swish of the galley’s sea oars began their monotonous tones. “We should approach very slowly sir,� said Chatelain “we’ve done no scouting inside.� The journey south had been long and uneventful, and the desire to get on with things had taken hold of more than just the captain. Chatelain could see the dangers this posed to the crew, but he knew that more waiting would not help.
The cries of the boatmen fell away into the distance as they rowed ahead. They would enter first before the tide began, and wait ready on the shores when the galley entered. “We will let the tide take us in Chatelain; be prepared with your line handlers!� said Jadeland.
“What of the wolves sir?� said Chatelain. “They have watched us for days Chatelain,� said Jadeland “and we have never seen more than two; we will deal with them as we need to.�
Jadeland paced the deck while he waited for the small boats to pass through the entrance in the distance. He gave orders to the helmsman to guide the galley along the firths center line, and orders to the oarsmen as the small boats broached the entrance without challenge. “There is a wolf above again sir,� said Chatelain “you should take a look sir.� “We have seen the wolves before Chatelain� said Jadeland. “Yes sir, said Chatelain, “but this time a man stands with it!� “With it!� exclaimed Jadeland, as he extended his glass to peer at the cliff at the entrances side.
The scene was unexpected, the man and the wolf stood together at the cliffs edge and watched as the small boats entered; then glanced a moment at the galley before turning together and moving off behind the rubble along the cliff’s edge. “Have they trained the wolves to watch, do you suppose?� said Jadeland. “I don’t know sir,� said Chatelain, “but they were together sir, no doubt about that.�
The flow of water into the firth was just beginning as the galley crept toward the firth’s entrance. The command to the oarsmen to slow the galley rang across the decks like the first small rock in a landslide, it had finally begun.
The firth’s interior was striking, the cliffs on both sides intensely green and very steep. The beaches on either side were of blinding white sand in the morning sun. The commotion from the shores intruded upon the effort to slow the galley against the tide. “The line handlers have not made the beach Chatelain,� cried Jadeland “orders to the oarsmen Chatelain; we must slow ourselves without their help.�
Orders went to the oarsmen, more to the men on deck as they clambered below to man oars where they could. The sea in the firth was clear and calm, but what kept them from landing ashore was not the surf, but what held the beach against them. Wolves stalked about the beach on both sides of the firth and attacked any who attempted to land from the boats. Some of those boats had given up and turned back to return to the galley, not realizing their, and the galleys, present peril.
As the small boats made for the galley, the tide; now growing stronger, drew them towards the jagged edge of the firth’s inland end. The water flowed over the lip of what appeared to be a cave with a curious silence, and an unexpected tenacity. The first cries of panic came as the boatmen jumped from the first of the small boats, as the boat clambered over its stony edge and plummeted silently into the blackness below. All the small boats were being abandoned now, and as those who abandoned them reached the shore were held against the shoreline by the encircling wolves; to watch as the galley struggled for it’s survival against the increasing tide.
Ropes were thrown to the shoreline in the hopes of snaring some stone outcrop or tree limb that might be used to anchor the galley; most fell short in the water, others landed ineffectually on the beach. To the astonishment of the line handlers, any line that caught onto anything was immediately attacked by whichever wolves were near, until those lines came loose or parted.
The men on the beach watch in horror, as the galley slid toward the end of the firth, and destruction. The oars thrashed feverishly, but in vain, as the word to abandon ship was passed. Only the very few on deck were able to get over the side before the galley went over the edge of the cavern and into the dark. It slid over the edge with a sickening scrape of its keel over the rocks, and a sudden noise from the anchor and its chain, dropped in a last desperate effort to save the ship, as it tore it’s mooring from the deck.
Chatelain was the last over the side, and clung now to rocks not far from shore. He heard no sound from the fallen galley, no sound from it’s lost crew members, no sound from it’s landing in ruin; only a “clack – clack� from the remnant of deck, now swinging from the anchor’s chain. The anchor sat wedged amongst the rocky edge of the cavern, all that now remained of the galley. He watched as the last of the abandoned small boats slid over the edge and into the abyss, into an eerie silence. As the last boat went over the edge, the wolves began to back away from the men on the beaches on both sides of the firth, and melt away into the surrounding forest; leaving those few crew members that remained in silent astonishment.
Chatelain watched as Jadeland struggled ashore carrying with him a satchel saved from the wreck, and he watched Jadeland start making his way into the forest. The crewmen said nothing; waiting for Chatelain as he struggled onto the beach.The sun was going down as they found a place to camp and took stock of their stores, and started to make plans for the next day.
They appeared at the edge of the fire light without sound or warning. “Are you concerned about the safety of your shipmate� said the human member of the trio. The three crew members that had remained with Chatelain started, but didn’t move; Chatelain said nothing. “We need an answer to our question if he is to stay alive,� he said, “he sits on perilous ground.�
“We?� said Chatelain. The two wolves that accompanied their visitor began to circle right and left as Chatelain got to his feet. “Call off your pets!� said Chatelain “we have no quarrel with you.� “Pets,� he said! “These are no ones pets; this is their territory you trespass on, and they only suffer you now because you carry no weapons. I am Liang their interpreter; what of your companion?�
“Jadeland is not our companion, he was our captain, but he is no ones friend� said Chatelain. Liang glanced left for a quiet moment, “you will all come with us� he said.
Chatelain and the three remaining crew members followed Liang; the wolves drew off as the group made their way along a well traveled trail through the forest.
All the preparations, the maps, the secrecy, Chatelain thought to himself as he walked in silence; there had to be a point. The crew was told there purpose was to explore an ancient cave once used as a temple; some remnant of it had been brought back by a seaman, who grew very quiet about it after the priests had taken it. Their preparations were made quickly after that, and quietly. The sea voyage had been uneventful, one galley, and a group of landing boats in tow, traveling a mere three days south on quiet seas; nothing that would have given any warning about the events that followed in the firth. That wolves had been seen on the surrounding cliffs was a fact long known by seamen; that an entrance to a firth barely wide enough for the galley that sailed was not. The crew had been briefed about the landing on the first day out; Chatelain, however, had talked to the seaman with the “artifact� before the priests had, and he knew that no such artifact truly existed. The chamber of the Oracle was within the mountain behind the cave at the firth’s end; this was the news the seaman brought; this was the news that Chatelain knew that made for him a place on this voyage. “He seeks the Oracle, Liang� said Chatelain. “He has found her,� Liang said quietly, “he sits on her doorstep, and we will be there soon.� The torchlight distorted the shadows of the crew and cast a strange and furtive scene in the forest as they moved. “He builds his fire bravely,� said Liang, “and without fear.� “He knows that he is watched perhaps� said Chatelain. “He knows that he is watched,� said Liang, “and he waits; he knows that he is at her doorstep, but not how to enter.�
Chatelain saw the glow of the fire through the trees. Liang dowsed his torch and slowed his pace, signaling with his hand for quiet. “He is alone, that is all we know� he whispered as he stopped, “we will wait here for the Guardians.�
They could see Jadeland standing silhouetted against the flames, close to its warmth and brightness; the brightness that hid from his eyes the guardians as they moved into the far side of the clearing. “I will have to remember that the next time I build a fire� whispered Chatelain. “We will move in behind him as soon as he sees them,� said Liang “move when I move, all of you.�
Things happened quickly in the clearing. Jadeland jumped toward his bag as soon as he saw the wolves, but the wolves moved more quickly; one cut him off from the satchel, the other backed him up against the fire; Liang moved silently toward the satchel, leaving the four sailors standing befuddled at the firelights edge, and on the far side of the clearing a door started to open in the mountains side.
“Move,� shouted Liang, “over by the fire!� As Chatelain and the other three sailors started to move, Jadeland shouted for them to stand where they were; when they looked back at Liang, the gun was already in his hand. “You will move, or I will shoot you!� he said, swinging the gun toward Jadeland and motioning him toward the door. “You must go inside, before the sun rises and the door closes again.� They all watched as the wolves began to back Jadeland toward the door. “Why must we go in?� he asked. Liang motioned for the others to follow, “If you try to return the way you came the guardians will kill you; if you are still here when the door closes I will kill you� He said.
The doorway was dark and small against the mountains side, the shuffle of stand on stone was the only sound that followed as the steps fell way behind them as they climbed, and stepped into the darkness inside. Neither Liang nor the guardians followed before the door closed and shut out the fires light behind them.