Guardians of the Gate - Snippet #01

Samitha’s torchlight flickered, casting dancing shadows across the ancient trees as she followed her father’s lead deeper into the forest. She shivered, though not from the chill night air. She may only be seven annums old, but she had never felt such terror. She’d never gone this deep into the ancient woods before. What horrors awaited them in the darkness? The girl swallowed hard and tightened her grip on her father’s callused hand.

After walking so far into the thicket that their home was no longer visible, they started to see torches light the way. The path led to a small illuminated clearing, where her people gathered in a circle surrounding one individual.

The young man was strung up upside down to a towering obsidian monolith with ritualistic markings covering his purple-gray skin.

Confused, Samitha looked up at her father as they stepped up to join her tribe.

“Daddy? What will they do to him?” she quietly asked, her eyes refusing to look at the tied-up man.

“Watch,” was the only answer given. Against Samith’s better judgment, the young girl turned her attention to the clearing center.

The High Shaman stood, arms raised as he called upon the ancient magics. Samitha watched in awe as the Shaman called upon the surrounding energy in a tongue she didn’t recognize. Then, the man on the monolith began to writhe violently, black blood foaming from his mouth.

“Behold, the form of Revoirâme!” her father gruffly murmured to Samitha.

“Rise of Revoirâme!” the other tribespeople began chanting.

Samitha gasped as the man’s limbs contorted into unnatural angles, his skin darkening to an inky black. His screams turned to guttural snarls as his face elongated into a snout lined with jagged teeth. Coarse fur sprouted across his changing form, claws bursting from his fingers and toes. The ropes binding him tore away as massive wings unfurled from his back.

With a final, bone-chilling roar, the transformation was complete. The man was gone, replaced by a hulking beast with eyes glowed like hot coals. Samitha trembled, clutching her father’s hand so tightly her knuckles turned white.

“We return the gift of Revoirâme’s primal form so he may restore balance to our fractal.” the High Shaman proclaimed.

The winged creature snarled, straining against the mystical bonds, still holding it fast to the monolith. The tribespeople bowed reverently before it, continuing their eerie chant.

“Is it going to hurt us?” Samitha whispered, her eyes unable to look away from the disgusting Revoirâme.


“No, child,” her father reassured. “It will join the other Revoirâme and venture into the wilderness to keep balance throughout our lands. Its savage power is a blessing, not a curse,”

The girl nodded but kept her eyes averted from the terrifying beast. She flinched as the High Shaman sliced his palm with a gleaming obsidian blade, letting his blood drip down to feed the swirling symbols below the creature’s feet. Almost as if the beast understood, it howled and took off into the night.

Samitha watched the creature disappear into the darkness, its unnatural howls sending chills down her spine. She felt her father’s hand on her shoulder, guiding her away as the ritual concluded and her people began to disperse.

There was silence between them for a moment. As the torchlight of the ceremonial clearing flickered against their backs, Samitha looked up at her father.

“Will I have to do the ritual when I am older, Daddy?"

He hesitated, sadness creeping into his eyes. “No, my dear. Your fate will be…different,”

They followed the winding path back to their secluded home on the outskirts of the village. Samitha’s mind raced with questions, but the grim expression on her father’s face kept her from voicing them.

When they arrived home, and the door was closed behind them, he finally spoke again in a hushed tone. “There is something I must tell you, Samitha.”

Her father knelt before her; his voice was heavy with emotion. “On your eighteenth annum, you will participate in a sacred ritual. But you will not return the form of Revoirâme as our tribespeople do. Instead…”

He took a deep, shuddering breath before continuing. “Instead, you will release Revoirâme in full, opening the gate for all darkness to pour forth unchecked. This is your destiny.”

Tears filled Samitha’s eyes. “No! I don’t want to! I can’t…”

This could not be her fate - to unleash darkness upon the world. She wanted to be a productive, helpful part of the tribe, but not like this.

“There must be some mistake,” she pleaded, her voice barely above a whisper. But deep down, she knew her father would not say such a thing unless it were true.

Her father placed his weathered hands on her shoulders, his expression filled with sadness and regret. “I wish with all my heart this burden did not fall to you, my child. But the prophecy was made long before your birth.”

He then hesitated a moment before speaking. “Your sacrifice will mean everything for our tribe. The Revoirâme will rise once more, securing our futures. To help the balance of the fractal is a wonderous purpose.”

But Samitha shook her head, hot tears spilling down her cheeks. She thought of the terrifying creature from the ritual and imagined countless more, just like it, flooding the lands, bringing chaos and ruin.

The girl’s heart pounded in her chest as her father’s words weighed heavily on her shoulders. The gravity of the situation pressed down on her, suffocating her hopes and dreams.

“I understand…” she said, defeat in her tone. Her father frowned but knew nothing else he could say would lift the weight he had placed on her. When she went to bed, Samitha stayed awake; the man’s changed form burned into her mind’s eye. She didn’t know how but would find a way out of this terrible destiny. She had to do it for her own life and for everyone else living outside her tribe.