Creak

  Creak

  Creak

  The sound of the door slowly opening.

  Light gently entered the room where the White Sage resided.

  Zal pushed the door fully open.

  And he was bewildered by what he saw. Bewildered by the sheer immensity of what he was witnessing.

  Zal's eyes fell upon the Sage.

  He couldn't deny what he was seeing, because it was right before his eyes.

  Zal looked behind him and saw the door rapidly closing. He saw the servant in the final moments, laughing and waving.

  And the door closed.

  And the light vanished.

  The sound of the door closing echoed throughout the room. The sound spread like a whisper echoing in a cave.

  Zal turned back toward the White Sage.

  "There are moments when a man realizes he has crossed a border from which there is no return. Zal was standing in such a moment. Behind him, a door that no longer existed. Before him, a being that should not exist. And within him, a silence that had no name."

  This time, he could vaguely see the place where he was. He looked more carefully, and what he saw bore no resemblance to the Press.

  It was as if he was in a cave.

  He looked at the ground beneath his feet. Slowly, he bent down and touched the ground. The ground was made of stone.

  Stone.

  He stared at the ceiling above, but could barely make it out.

  Zal said to himself: "That... that chandelier... but why would it be here? This was a Press, a castle, something built by hand. But a cave? This big? How does it exist? Where am I? This place is so vast you could say it alone is the size of the Press. Where is this?"

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  He stared toward where he had first glimpsed the Sage.

  But because of the darkness, nothing was visible.

  Zal looked behind him again.

  But this time, there was no door.

  As if it had never existed.

  Zal understood that the only way out of this purgatory-cave was to face the Sage.

  But the only thing he knew about the path to the Sage was that first glimpse when he entered the cave.

  So Zal began moving toward where he had seen the Sage.

  Suddenly, Zal stared at his hand. Again, that amber light—but this time more golden and brighter, as if it wanted to help Zal.

  So Zal accepted the Thread's help.

  "The Thread had been with him since the beginning. Through fire, through void, through madness. It had never spoken, never explained. It only served. Perhaps this was its nature. Perhaps this was its curse."

  But still, it was strange to Zal where the Thread came from and where it got its power.

  Zal began to move. With the help of the Thread's light, he could reach the Sage in the best and fastest way.

  The Thread's light slowly dimmed and went out.

  Zal was surprised and said: "Hello? Is anyone there? Why are you turning off the light? If you're going to help, help completely. Hey!"

  Zal shook his hand, but the light didn't turn on. He struck the Thread hard, but it still didn't light. It seemed that with his own thinking, he had turned off the light himself.

  Zal said: "Well, it seems I'm alone on this path again. I don't think I have much farther to go."

  Zal began to move.

  And suddenly, a moonlight-like light filled the space. It was sudden.

  Zal quickly put his hand over his eyes.

  When his eyes adjusted to the light, Zal removed his hand.

  What he saw was the Sage. The same Sage. The White Sage.

  Now he could see the Sage's face better. It was as if the entire expanse of the Press was one side, and the Sage's size was the other. Where the Sage was seemed like a world separate from the Press.

  What Zal saw was an immensely huge being covered in plaster.

  Just as the stories said, and Adam had described.

  "Seeing is not believing. Seeing is surrendering. Zal no longer had the choice to doubt. The thing before him existed, and that existence alone was enough to rewrite every law he had ever known."

  Suddenly, a whisper reached Zal from the Sage. The whisper came from within him, through the plaster wall, and it seemed muffled. The Sage's mouth didn't move. It seemed this whisper came from within the plaster and even within the wood, as if from within the fleshy part.

  Of course, this was what Zal imagined based on what he had heard.

  The whisper finally gained strength and turned into a voice.

  "O lost one, what do you seek?"

  "O you who ask, Zal."

  "Zal, what do you want from the prophet of the One God?"

  Zal was bewildered, not knowing what to say. Zal slowly began with a greeting—at least the first thing he could do as a human.

  "H... hello, O prophet of the One God. And White Sage of the White Press. You have chosen me... um... you have chosen me to fulfill my request. Thank you very much. I am grateful, very grateful."

  (He himself knew he was rambling nonsense, but he kept going.)

  "O Great Sage, I have a request from you. Can you... can you..."

  The Sage said: "O young one, don't be flustered."

  "The powerful always begin with gentleness. It is their first and most effective weapon. Zal did not know this yet. But he was learning."

  Suddenly, stones from all over the cave rose and moved toward Zal. Then their speed decreased, and they slowly collided with each other, then intertwined, and slowly transformed into a stone chair.

  Zal was bewildered and lost by what had happened. How... how did he do that?! It happened so fast.

  The Sage said: "My child, sit down so we can speak better."

  Zal, with trembling legs, went toward the chair and slowly sat down.

  When Zal sat down, he realized something.

  This entire display—this display of power—was a display of power meant to make him feel inferior during the question and answer, during the negotiation. He wants to make me falter, or ask the wrong question.

  Zal's leg was slowly shaking.

  And suddenly, it stopped.

  "Fear, when recognized, loses half its power. Zal had seen the game now. A throne of stone, a voice like thunder, a being of impossible size—all of it was a stage. And he was no longer just an audience member."

  Zal, who had kept his head down until moments ago, quickly changed his demeanor. As if he had entered a negotiation table from which there was no return.

  Slowly, he raised his head and, with a smile, placed his hands under his chin.

  "Great Sage, it's time to discuss my request. Sage, I have a request from you."

  The Sage said: "My child, speak. I am all ears to answer your question or request."

  And Zal said: "I am seeking a book or knowledge that contains all information from the beginning of civilization. Every civilization that has existed, every important figure that has lived, up until today."

  "Great Sage, do you have such a thing?"