The Gathering

This is the continuation of a short story that started here if you are interested.

Unlike his previous experiences, as he approached the immense structure, it seemed to shrink and lose substance. The closer he got.. the less it looked like a daunting enormous monolith and the more it looked like an ordinary house. By the time he arrived, that is exactly what it was. He slowly walked up to the window and peered through the frosted glass.

Inside, he could see a small group of people. They were eating a meal. He was reminded that he hadn't eaten for what seemed like an eternity. He looked hungrily at the food and his mouth watered. An elderly man and woman were fussing about serving food and drink. Everyone seemed to be enjoying the whole experience of the meal. There was nothing to do but walk up to door and knock.

It was the elderly man who opened the door. He introduce himself. He was Joetre, the Wise One. Scrobe was taken aback.

Joetre invited him in and sat him at the table. Joetre didn't ask where Scrobe had come from, what he wanted or in fact enquire anything of him. He just invited him to the table to eat. Scrobe looked at the other people who were eating. The were ordinary too. Something didn't seem quite right. He had expected something grand of the Wise One. This man didn't seem to fit.

He watched everything. The cheerful faces of the people, the jovial banter. In particular, he watched the old couple. They were true hosts. They made a simple meal into an event. He realised there was something special about the old man., That he could in fact be the person he was seeking. There was something special too about the way Joetre looked caringly at his wife. There was a fit between them.

When the meal was over, Joetre called Scrobe into a small room. There were strange pictures on the walls. The images seemed to shift as Scrobe looked at them. On one side were two doors.. They seemed to float in the air and in front of the doors was a huge creature. It was stranger than anything Scrobe had ever seen in his life. The creature snarled and growled at Scrobe as it paced back and forth in front of the doors..

"You want to go back, don't you?" Joetre asked.

As he stood there, it occured to Scrobe that he missed things from back there. MIssed them badly. He had never known that he could.. never thought that he would, but now he did. "Yes," he replied softly.

"I am going to ask you about three things. The correct answers, will make the creature sleep and you will be able to open the doors and place your hand on the sacred talisman. When you touch the talisman, you will go back. If you answer wrongly, you will be here forever"

Joetre looked solemnly and Scrobe and gently asked "Are you ready?"

The finality of what Joetre had just said weighed heavily on Scrobe. He held his breath, steeled his heart and slowly nodded.