[ IP ] The Dark Wanderer

The man stood at the light, deep in prayer. The prayer was for no god, for no god would accept him after the things he had done, the things he had witnessed. Words flowed through his mouth silently, but they were there, and that ’ s what mattered. A mumble, two mumbles, occasionally an apology could all be made out through his rough chapped lips. The light shined on him, formless, but as a source of warmth in a world that could not be any colder. Snow rained down around him, making his already heavy sword seem even heavier. If someone had told him that there would be a blizzard like this, he would not care, for this was what he did. He had made this journey every year for the past five, and as his prayer reached a close, the light opened up into a new world and spoke to him. 
 
 “ Hello? ” the voice said. The voice had no sound, yet the man understood it to be of his kin. “ Dad? ” The man looked up, tears coming down his weary, rugged face. 
 
 “ Yes, my son, ” replied the man. “ Five years before today I wronged you, and for five years since that day have I come forth, begging your forgiveness. ” He had come to this place every year, reciting the same prayer, the same confession, for whoever would hear it. The light would always look at him and judge him, but it held no grudges, as lights never do. The light just was. The spirits beyond the light were something else entirely. 
 “ Forgiveness? ” the light responded. “ Forgiveness for what? ” The light ’ s tone took on a judging quality. The man ’ s gaze quickly retreated to his feet. 
 
 “ Forgiveness for putting my own life before yours. ” The man fell to his knees. Memories of the day flooded his mind. Fleeing, fire, sounds of metal clashing, fear, a baby ’ s final cries. Any more than that he could not remember. He would not remember, for remembering more than that would drive his entire being into madness. “ I committed a grave sin towards you, and I am sorry. ” 
 
 “ I had forgotten, ” the light glowed. The man looked up with a fury in his eyes. 
 
 “ Forgotten!? ” he screamed, his voice growing hoarse. “ You do not forget the sounds of a baby choking on his own blood. You do not forget the fear of a man who realizes that either one or both of them must die. You do not forget your father, whose tears mixed with your blood so as to create this light. You do not forget that, as I have not forgotten that. ” 
 
 “ But it had been so long ago, ” began the light, changing into the form of a baby. “ Yes, I died a baby, but through death, I lived an eternity. ” The light shifted into a young boy. “ I remember infinity, the feeling of a slide under my legs. ” It shifted into an adolescent. “ I remember you training me how to fight, how I held your sword with such wonder. ” He pulled the man ’ s sword from the sheath on his back as he changed into a fully grown man. “ I remember going off to war and protecting a kingdom that I was every soldier of, as well as king. ” He swung the sword around, gracefully, artistically. “ I lived every soldier ’ s life, every man ’ s, every beast ’ s. I even lived your life at one point. I come from your son, but I am also your father, wife, and sister. I am infinity. I am I. ” The light knelt down next to the man and caressed his face. 
 
 “ What are you- ” And suddenly the man ’ s face regained its youth, its complexion, its beauty. The light faded into the man ’ s face as the man grew younger and younger until finally, the man was gone. Inside the robes the man had arrived in was a baby, naked, crying. The baby would be picked up by a local innkeeper on his way to the store, but that is a story for another day, for another life.
