It felt so strange being out in the sun again. Knee-deep grass surrounded me, as I looked about my new horizons. In contemplating the 5 door dilema, I had fallen entirely asleep. Now woken up by the gentle breeze blowing across this field, I stood upon to see that indeed I was in a field on an island. Perhaps 1 or 2 squares miles only, the island seemed just a mound of field sticking out of the ocean. Although my currently placement seemed to be at the center of it all, I could hear the sound of the waves crashing against rocky shores somewhere off at the coasts around me.

Walking in some general direction, it was hard to adjust to the sunlight for a very long time. I felt almost as if I’d never seen it before, and the glare at times was positively blinding. But through my somewhat blind gaze there was one sight I couldn’t possibly miss. The castle off in the distance. Sitting atop another island similar to mine, sun shined down upon its high, sandstone walls. Mighty turrets boasting archer positions and stone pathway leaving to its massive entryway created an impressive presentation, not to mention a way across to it. I didn’t really have a choice. It was where I was going.

As I continued toward it, nearing the pathway, many thoughts tried to halt my very steps. You don’t know who or what is calling you there! What if you don’t make it out alive? All of this journeying will be for nothing, and what have you even really done yet? It’s not worth the risk. Turn back. Turn back! My legs were unable to be persuaded however, and onward I marched through the grass to the a rocky slope leading to the castle pathway. I had to remind myself that courage was not to have no fear, but instead it was to have fear but to not change because of that fear. To transcend it, and thus defeat it.

The steps to the massive wooden door were wet from the mist of the sea, and on this much smaller extension of the island, I felt like the castle walls were hiding an entire world of their own behind them. Imagining sights of new animals never see, deep secrets of history and meaning, or even something terrifying, gave me a rush unlike anything I’d ever felt before. Grasping the large, metal ring, I pulled.

A cold wind brushed against my cheeks. A stairwell. Stone and cold, it led up on the left and down on the right. Lit by the sunlight pouring down from the top, there was no decoration of any sort anywhere, just stone. Cold, grey stone. I headed up the stairs and through a door on the left of the chamber thrusting me into a series of long, barely lit hallways. Only lit by the cracks in the walls giving way to the persistent rays of midday, the candle-lit-like atmosphere returned to sun at the tunnel’s outlet, the castle courtyard. Within the mighty sandstone walls,

I did not find a whole new world; it was very much similar to the world outside of it for sure. Two major differences stood to make their case though; the tower and the chapel. A cylindrical stone tower stood in the middle of the field inside the castle walls, perhaps 15 feet wide and 40 feet tall. Like the castle itself, the tower was made of cold, grey stone and had no ornamentation. All it seemed to exhibit was a single window at the top below the roof and a single, intimidating doorway into the base of the tower.

Beyond this was the chapel, beautiful in design, on the other side of the courtyard. The thing that I didn’t feel strange about the this whole situation was that the castle indeed felt hundreds and hundreds of years old. None of the structures had a full roof at the moment, or boasted any sort of furnishings. I could easily infer from this that the time was present day, and that was certainly a relief to feel for once…

Frustration so strong, for no matter how hard I tried, the door simply would not open to the tower. I gave up and headed to the chapel, stepping heavily through the dew-covered grass. By the time I had reached the chapel, my boots were soaked, which just elicited a chuckle instead of anger or annoyance. Suddenly, my senses heightened; movement somewhere in front of me. I had not seen any movement not of my own or by nature for years now, and I found that I could barely breathe with so much fear running through me. I couldn’t decide whether I could run or investigate, or just stay and watch further… I currently looked down into the chapel from the entry which faced down to the altar. Lacking a roof or floor, the “chapel” was really just more field sectioned off by walls, but the altar still stone at the end opposite me, and now obscured whatever had just slinked behind it. It looked black, and though I couldn’t be sure from the split-second within which I saw it, it seemed to be hairy. A dog? A bear? I just couldn’t be sure! I felt weight against my lower back, and reached back to find a 9mm pistol tucked into my jeans. This wasn’t mine… but it was all I had now.

“Er…err…. AHH!”

I screamed in an attempt to motivate the unknown being to emerge, but to no avail. My exclamation had only been met with the increasingly loud noise of the increasingly powerful gusts, slicing through this elderly structure I stood poised to enter.

I stepped in a step. I saw it.

The dark figure perched upon the altar, it’s red eyes glowing even in the daylight. I knew what I had found, and with my weapon cocked and raised, I exclaimed its name in the proper Manx pronunciation…

“Moddey Dhoo!”

We looked at each other for what seemed like an eternity, my gaze lost in his crimson eyes. Neither of us moved an inch, until I planted my foot a bit closer, implying offense. The dog came off of the altar and walked toward me. At first, I thought I would be terrified if such a thing were to occur, and my hands shook a bit as he came back the altar. But watching him walk, and truly observing his behavior, I lowered my gun and felt no fear. As he arrived at my feet, he sat and looked up. His eyes were no looked red, but a gentle silver now. I did exactly what I felt the strongest resistance to… I brushed his hair.

Petting the ghost dog, I knew there had to be some reason why he liked me, and why he sought me out. I asked him…

“Why am I here, dog?”

“Because no one else is.”

“Do you mean to say that anyone could be in my shoes?”

“No.”

“…I get it.”

“Good.”

“What do you want of me?”

“You have a mission, don’t you? A place you’ve been heading to and trying to find?”

“Yes…how did you know? I-I’ve been trying to get home. I know that this is the way, that’s for sure, I just… was terrified of the thought of coming through here.”

“Terrified of what?”

“You.”

“Fair enough.”

“Why have you not killed me?”

“Because you’re not done here yet. You have more planned for you, meant for you, needed of you. I cannot take you away from you life until you have finished it.”

“I understand… how much more do I have left?”

I stopped petting and looked to the sky, observing the clouds drifting by.

“How would I know that?”

“I guess I just figured…”

I looked down and the dog was gone, but a stone floor now rested under my feet.

Looking up, the chapel was restored entirely, the sun shining through the gorgeous stained-glass windows above the altar. Observing further, a staircase led down into the crypt of the chapel, at the end of the aisle that now laid before me. I knew where I needed to go, and I was no longer afraid, for I now knew I had more planned for me, meant for me, and needed of me.

With my purpose in my heart, I forged down the stairs into the crypt.