Another Friday is suddenly upon us! It’s difficult for me to believe that we’re already nearly through with November. I also have to admit that I thought that things would be different by November.
If there’s something I’ve learned, though, it’s that things don’t always go the way we’ve planned. That’s a truth I’ve gotten to know through some of our struggles.
I’m thankful for my strength and endurance. I’ve weathered a lot of storms. I’m also intensely grateful for my daughters.
I wrote this week’s flash fiction piece back in August. The entire story is based on an image that flashed in my mind of a woman in knight’s armor standing at water’s edge in a very dark place, looking up at a star.
I wrote the piece in the same fashion as The Babadook. That is to say that I wrote it to be an analogy. The Babadook is meant to be an analogy for mental illness. Light Paladin is meant to be an analogy for something else. For me, it’s meant to be an analogy for someone fighting a long-time illness, but it could be for anyone who has a long-time struggle.
The story has a prequel. I will provide the link immediately after the end.
Light Paladin
Jill N Davies
“Hello little light. It’s been so long since I’ve seen you here in this dark place.”
Gwendolyn lowered her sword and removed her helmet to gaze upon the twinkling beacon.
Since entering this dark realm the lights were her only companions. When they shone, it filled her heart and made her whole. They gave her the strength she needed to go on. To fight.
Gwendolyn was a paladin for the order of light. She stood against the darkness, fighting for all that was good and right— for the light. It was her sworn duty, so she could do no less.
She used to live in a world full of light. Her life and duty gave her joy, and she was fulfilled. But that was before. She couldn’t remember what that world was like. She couldn’t picture the people, couldn’t remember the places or her routines… it had been too long.
Gwendolyn couldn’t even remember what she looked like. All she had were distorted reflections in the shadowed, murky waters that swelled and festered in this dark land. She didn’t dare linger at the water’s edge long enough to look. Too many beasts gathered there, hungry for a fight. Besides, Gwendolyn preferred to imagine she looked the way she used to— short blond hair, easy to tuck under the smooth metal of her helmet. Piercing green eyes that weren’t muted by the darkness. Smooth skin free from the scars of so many battles…
The second light blinked on, twinkling against the inky black sky. She watched as the lights danced around each other— bright points, not strong enough to fill the dark realm, but enough to fill her.
As she watched, willing the lights to pull her back with them, something moved in the dark.
Gwendolyn reacted without pause. She had done this dance so many times that it, like the lights, was a part of her.
The helmet slid silently back onto her head, sword drawn from its sheath, muscles tensed; Gwendolyn was ready to fight.
The creature lashed out from the darkness, attempting to envelop her in gripping tendrils. The cool metal of her sword bit into flesh. It shrieked in protest, giving her an idea of where it hid in the shadows.
“A nightmare,” Gwendolyn whispered. It was the largest of the creatures that haunted this realm.
She had fought nightmares before, but not often. They hid in the deepest parts of the realm, rarely venturing out when she could see the lights. But something felt different about this time—about this nightmare.
The beast lashed out again, baring razor-sharp claws that glinted even in the shadows. She jumped out of the way, landing without sound on the damp rock. Again, she sliced into the darkness to impact a reaching tentacle while simultaneously lifting her shield to block another attacking appendage.
The impact of claw and metal rang out across the stagnate water, echoing through the cavern so that it felt as though the walls were closing in. With all her might, Gwendolyn heaved her shield and forced the nightmare’s arms away from her.
The beast continued its attack as though there were no limit to its reach. Each time Gwendolyn blocked the onslaught.
The battle wore on. It was difficult to say for how long because time didn’t exist in this world. It slipped and slithered so that huge swaths were lost, then fell into stillness so that a second stretched out into eternity. Gwendolyn grew tired. The ache of old wounds crept in, dragging her down and slowing her strike. The nightmare crept out from the depths, towering high and blocking out the lights with its terrible body.
She wasn’t certain she could defeat it this time. She was too weak. She’d fought for too long. Her body demanded rest. It would be easy to let it take her. She could finally lay down her sword. The lights would blink off and she could sleep …
The nightmare dipped its head down and bore a mouth of dagger-like fangs in a terrible roar. Drenched in the stench of its breath, Gwendolyn was knocked prone. She scrambled, slipping on the wet stone.
“I’m so tired,” She whimpered into the dark.
The creature prepared to lunge. She caught a glimpse of the black sky above its head. The lights twinkled in that slice of space, filling her heart.
“Give me strength,” she begged through gritted teeth.
The attack came swift. Gwendolyn thrust herself into the murky water to dodge it. The beast lumbered in after her, sloshing enormous waves as it thrashed, searching for her in the pool of death.
Desperate to escape, she heaved an enormous breath and sunk into the murky water. She forced herself deep to elude the encroaching horror, moving through the darkness guided by instinct alone—and the lights.
When she surfaced she was at the nightmare’s back. Stifling the coughs and stutters, her lungs begging for air, she threw herself forward, blade angled down.
The sword plunged into the nightmare under the weight of her body. She let out an earth-shattering scream, drowning out the sounds of the dying beast. She pulled her sword from its lifeless body before falling, exhausted.
Panting, she gazed up at the sky, her eyes fixed on the lights. They blinked at her, growing larger with every breath until she was consumed by them. They filled her. The lights filled the realm so that she had to close her eyes against the brilliance.
When she opened her eyes again, she didn’t recognize where she was. Her whole body ached and trembled with weakness. She whimpered and groaned.
A hand closed around hers, small and gentle. Then another, smaller, but fierce grip. Gwendolyn forced her eyes to focus on the little girls that gazed up at her.
“Are you awake Mommy?”
She recognized the voice.
Then another.
“Mommy? Are you back?”
Two of them, holding her hand, pulling her from the darkness.
Her little lights.
The End
Read the Prequel, Knight of Another Realm, HERE to learn how Gwendolyn ended up in the Realm of Darkness
Don’t have time to read? I read Light Paladin to you on IGTV!
Want something with a bit more meat on the bones? I write short stories for reedsy. You can check out my entries:
Hungry for more?
I’ve been published in a winter anthology. Check out my short story Shipwrecked Santa in Angry Eagle’s winter anthology, Apocalyptic Winter- Book 2. You can get your copy on Amazon today
If you’ve got an idea for a flash fiction story send it to me at author@jillndavies.com
Tune in next week for more Flash Fiction.
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