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The Portal Games

Jaden's Promo

Jaden surfaced from the reefs with little more than a huff, shaking his head and clearing the water from his blowhole. The orca checked the satchels at his waist, made sure that they were still secure, and began the swim to shore. When he could, he rode the waves, using their force to carry him from sea to land.

He wasn't alone. Other divers joined him, swimming on the water, then between the boats that lined the small dock leading up to the village. They turned, moving for the pier to bring their finds to their families, or to their partners. Jaden swam beside the dock, keeping the waves at his back and his toes away from the undercurrent, the orca slowly pushing himself along with his powerful tail.

When he could no longer swim, he pushed down, dragging himself from the sea. His satchels hung lower, bouncing off the backs of his legs as he pulled his belt higher. His loincloth lay wet and sticky against his thighs, and he chuckled, reminding himself to make a new one soon. With how deep he could dive lately, he'd be able to find the right materials for one.

"Jaden!"

The orca turned to the dolphin calling him, one of the fishermen getting ready to head out in hopes for larger food. Talan pointed inland.

"The shaman wanted to talk to you! Said to send you along the second you got back to shore."

The shaman. That meant that things were looking up. He nodded, giving a wave of thanks before turning his back to the ocean once more and jogging towards the jungles ahead. The shaman spent his time on the rocks near the center of the island, soaking in the heat. He was all but sure that he'd find the aged orca there.

And he was right. The older male sat at the first tunnel beneath the mountain, his loincloth wrinkled and faded over his thighs. He looked up, old eyes barely opening as Jaden approached.

"Young man..."

"Shaman," Jaden said, sitting down before the older orca, crossing his legs so that his soles faded up and resting his hands on his knees. "I was told that you wanted to speak with me."

"That is correct. Something is coming, Jaden...something that is strange to me."

He nodded, what remained of his smile fading. Every summer, he had come to study beneath the older male, and every year, he felt that he learned something more about how the world worked. The reason the birds flew, how the fish found their way to the feeding and breeding grounds every year, the way that the seasons turned and how to encourage them to turn faster: he knew these secrets and more, but the shaman had always seemed to have more to teach him.

And yet, for all that, the mystical man before him seemed...unsure, now. As if something greater, something unknowable, had come to the island.

The shaman shook his head, reaching for the walking stick at his side. Carved of driftwood, it was knotted and snarled up and down its length, and yet, when the shaman held it, it seemed to flow, undoing the many knots and instead swirling with inner harmony. It was the same with everything that the old orca touched, and he wondered if, one day, he might have the same talent.

"Jaden, whatever comes, it is coming for you."

"For...me?"

"Yes, boy. For you." The shaman shook his head. "You must let it take you. Where you go, I cannot say, but it will be your chance for greatness."

"I...I am not ready for that. Not yet."

"Perhaps, perhaps not, but the chance will not come again. You are a strong swimmer, and a good student. You learn quickly, and you work hard. If you succeed, perhaps you will come back a stronger shaman than I."

The orca blushed, rubbing the back of his head. The very idea seemed too much to hope for, yet, at the same time, he knew that there was much to be gained. He could...

Jaden knew that he was strong. He had grown much in the past few years from his swims and his dives, from the climbs to the peak of the mountain and from the hunting that he was called on to do. The island was his home, and he knew it well, capable of running or swimming it with ease. He was as strong as any warrior in the village, and he knew the words of wind and sea.

"If it comes for me, I will listen," he said.

"It will come, young man. And if you will heed my advice -"

"Of course."

"You will meet it on the mountain."

Jaden waited at the top of the mountain. The air was cool, not yet cold, but sweet with the breeze that it brought from the lower slopes. Once, it was said, the mountain was open, with heat and smoke rising from within. If that had ever been true, it was no longer. He shifted from foot to foot in the snow, enduring the cold as he crossed his arms over each other.

The shaman had said it would come. What 'it' was had not been defined, but whatever it may be, he was ready...or so he thought.

A black-rimmed hole in the air opened up, and through it, he could see a sea. Different to his own - it was blue, rather than green - and without the same fish that he was used to seeing. Yet, still, there was a reef off to one side, and an island in the great distance. The hole moved, soaring over the sea like a gull.

It invited him, he realized, and yet, he hesitated.

He looked back at his people, at the village at the base of the mountain. The dolphins and orcas that lived there counted on him. Without him, would they have sufficient food? Would they be able to hunt and fish? And what if the shaman died before his return? Who would guide them through the seasons?

The questions and his hesitation seemed to anger whatever lay on the other side of the portal, for no sooner had he turned away than two great black tentacles lashed out. They seized him by the ankles and pulled him through, a single yelp of shock all that followed him as he disappeared through the hole.

He was to be tested, and it seemed that he did not have the option of saying no.