“I will accept your quest to retrieve fruit from the Tree of Life.” I stated

The Oraculum sisters bowed their heads. Feita's smile grew even wider than before. It made me feel uneasy. The sisters weren’t telling me everything. The look on Feita’s face said more than a million words.

I had misgivings about my decision, but what choice did I have.

“We will provide you with an artifact to aid you on your journey.”

Dia began encircling her hands together; as if she was rubbing a ball between them. Smoke emanated from the center of her machinations and it soon grew into a glowing red ball of energy. Dia’s eyes grew wider as she reached into the crimson sphere and pulled out an object.

“These are the Gloves of Seir. They will aid you in concealing items for safekeeping. Take these gloves and use them well.”

Dia guided the gloves towards me like she was sliding a glass across a table. The gloves flew across the distance between us - it almost felt magical.

----------------------------------------

[Item]

Name: Lesser Gloves of Seir

Type: One of a kind

Value: Rare

Details: The wearer of the gloves can secretly obtain any item in visual range and hide it within a small pocket dimension. A maximum of five small items can be held inside the pocket dimension before it collapses.

----------------------------------------

“Hannah, do you think you should trust these creatures?” asked Captain Douglas.

“What other option is there?”

“You can leave and go it on your own! Perhaps there are other ways of retrieving your token.”

I had given it some thought and realized that I could be searching a long time for my token. Limbo seemed like an extremely big place. I wanted to make some progress and didn’t want to wander around aimlessly. There were many misguided souls lost inside the Ethereal Vortex and I didn’t want to end up like one of them.

“How do I find the Tree of Life?”

“It is a long journey from here,” said the three sisters. “The Red Rider’s dominion resides at the very edge of Limbo, near the Ethereal Vortex. You will need to journey to the center where the Tree of Life is located.”

“Is it a dangerous journey?”

The Oraculum sisters began to fade away as they moved back towards the tree.

“Use your vehicle Hannah… find the path and all will be revealed to you.”

“Wait, I have so many other questions.”

“We have grown weary. We must return to our place of refuge.”

“What guarantee do I have that you won’t renege on our deal?” I asked.

Feita merged back into the tree. Hista quickly followed.

Before Dia also faded into the tree she said, “We are bound by our pact!”

And with a blink of an eye the sisters were gone.

“Woof, woof!” Captain Douglas barked.

“I wonder what she meant by that?” I said aloud.

⁂

We had made our way back to the car through the horseman’s inner sanctum. Our travel back was easier, but longer, as I managed to avoid entering the Ethereal Vortex a second time. The car was exactly where I had left it. Hitting the road we passed through the red rider’s maelstrom of war and then out of the bordering cemetery filled with tombstones.

My car didn’t have a scratch on it. It showed no signs of crashing down from earlier or ever being hit.

We entered the car, sat down, and started the engine. I placed my new gloves inside the pages of the Tome of Uriel for safekeeping; they were so thin that they all but disappeared inside the book.

As we exited the cemetery I began imagining the Tree of Life. I knew that this was how I needed to communicate with my car on where I wanted to go. So I imagined a huge tree that looked much bigger than the small one located in Letum’s dominion. I thought of a tree so immense that it would dwarf even a great California redwood tree.

As I fixated on the Tree of Life I could see the scenery around me starting to change. It wasn’t normal, it was like I was fast-forwarding through the landscape. An ever-changing array of colors passed before my eyes. The sky changed from an ominous pale yellow to a sober blue. A large lake appeared in the distance. No, not a lake, but an ocean. I could see gulls flying above the surf. The road headed straight for the coast and meandered along the seaside.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

I could smell the fresh scent of coastal waters coming in through the car vent. I rolled down the window to breathe in the fresh air. It was an intoxicating smell and reminded me of road trips I’d taken along the Atlantic coast.

I reached over and also rolled down the window for Patrick. He was sitting alongside me in the front seat of the Plymouth. His tongue was wagging, so I could only assume that he was also enjoying the fresh sea air.

“So, Patrick, you think I shouldn’t have agreed to the Oraculum’s quest?” I asked.

“I’m glad that did… in a way,” said the British officer. “At least you have a way of resolving your troubles. I wouldn’t trust the Oraculum though. As for myself I think I might be doomed to wander Limbo forever.”

“Don’t be like that,” I said. “We’ll find a way to recover your human body together.”

“Oh, I couldn’t impose on you Hannah. You already have so much to worry about.”

“Tish Tosh, you’re not imposing at all. You’re with me now and we can stay together until we find someone or something to help you.”

I rubbed my Alsatian friend in between his ears. I knew that there was a man inside that canine body, but to me Captain Douglas felt more like a dog. A talking canine, but still a dog nonetheless. Like any dog he seemed to enjoy a good scratching.

“Thank you Hannah! What would I do without you?”

The drive along the coastal highway was the most pleasurable activity I’d experienced in Limbo. The sea air washed over me like a warm blanket and I felt relaxed for the first time.

While driving I decided to delve into my companions’ background in more detail.

“Patrick, I know we met under precarious circumstances, but I’d like to know more about you. All I know is that you were a British military officer storming the beaches of Normandy in World War II. What about the rest of your life? Where do you come from? And what did you do before the War?”

“There’s not much to tell, unfortunately!”

“Well, you were born someplace, weren’t you?”

“Of course. I was born in Kennington, England, and what a beautiful place it is too!”

Captain Douglas rested his head against the car door edge as he settled in.

“We played in the streets a lot when I was a child. Many days were wasted away playing games of rounders with my friends. You see, I was born after World War I, so times were very tough for my family. We didn’t have very much and we lived in a small two bedroom flat. It was wonky having to share a room with my three younger brothers. I think that’s why I was always such a serious young lad - I couldn’t wait to get out of the house!”

The Alsatian licked his front paw as he continued.

“I remember visiting the Imperial War Museum when I was eleven years old. It made a profound connection with me and I knew right then and there that I wanted to be an officer in his majesty’s army. At least as soon as I was old enough to do so.”

I slowed the car down as the roadway turned to gravel and the coastline became more wild and remote. The gravel road had a washboard effect as I made a long sweeping turn.

“How old were you when the Second World War started?”

“I joined the army the day I turned eighteen. That was the same day that Great Britain declared war against Germany. Yes, September 3rd 1939 was when I became an army man.”

“Did you have a wife or girlfriend before going to fight the Germans?” I asked.

“No, not really. Not married in any case. I did have my eye on a young nurse, but there was never time to get to know each other.”

“That’s a shame!”

“What about yourself Hannah?” Captain Douglas asked.

“I was an orphan and lived in a variety of homes growing up,” I said. “Since I was a young teenager I wanted to become a doctor and had been pursuing that for most of my life.”

I proceeded to tell my new friend a quick version of my life story. In return he shared more about his childhood and how he managed through boot camp in the military.

As we talked I realized that both our lives seemed like faded memories. I think we both had the same emotions as we chatted. Captain Douglas stared out the side window for a long time as he talked about his friends in the military. It sounded like many of them were killed during the initial beach assault on the coast of France.

The road continued to follow the coast for a long time. I think because I was enjoying the drive so much that we didn’t progress along too much. Eventually the sky changed to a muted twilight and the road became wet with recent rain. Several times I spotted lights in the distance, but when I fixated my eyes on them they seemed to disappear.

We passed several abandoned shacks along the roadside, but we never saw any other vehicles. It was like Patrick and I were the only survivors of a global holocaust. The reality of our situation was much more somber.

I started feeling tired.

It was only then that I realized I had been going non-stop for days.

Or had I?

Captain Douglas had mentioned previously - that time passed strangely in Limbo. I really didn’t know how long I’d been awake, but I knew that day had passed into night several times since my arrival. This was the first time that I felt tired. Up until that point I hadn’t even thought about fatigue or sleep.

I rubbed my eyes and yawned.

Our road course changed as we climbed high up on a ridge. The color of the water changed from a normal ocean blue to a crimson red. I could see that we were now driving along a continental shelf. The cliff edge dropped some several hundred feet to the rocks below. Fog rolled in from the ocean like a wave sweeping over a beach. In a matter of minutes the entire coastline was immersed in a thick blanket of fog.

In the mist we zipped past several cars parked alongside the road. I was about to slow down to have a better look, but there were several creatures standing near the vehicles. They looked like demons as they had small horns and grotesque facial deformities. Up until that point I had not seen any demons in Limbo. I wasn’t even sure that these were demons, but they did look the part.

I hit the gas to speed past, but it was too late!

Behind me I heard the roar of several engines flaring up. As I glanced in my rearview mirror I could see lights from those cars were now following us.

“Hannah, I counted at least five cars,” said the Alsatian.

I concentrated on the sound and knew that there were six vehicles.

“Six. Six cars on our tail now!” I said.

“Do you think you can outrun them?”

“I’m not sure, but the bigger question is what do they want with us?”

In the distance I saw a lighthouse cutting through the haze. Its fog light seemed like a holy beacon as it swung around in a grand circle. This was a place of refuge - I was certain of it.

One of the cars approached us from behind.

It was suddenly right on our bumper!

Its radiator shot out green smoke and the wheels flamed up as it grinded down the road. Behind the steering wheel of the jeep was a red-skinned demon with dozens of horns all over its face. It seemed to have two mouths; one on each side of its face. Standing on the sides of the jeep were two identical blue demons with each a huge spike coming out the top of their heads.

As the jeep gained on us it was obvious that they had evil intentions.

My canine friend jumped into the backseat of the Plymouth Satellite to get a better look at our pursuers.

“Hannah, I don’t think we're going to outrun them!” Patrick stated.

“Hunker down Patrick, it’s about to get rough!” I exclaimed.