User:JohnB/Fanfiction/The Seventh Seal

Mural in the Taby Kyrka near Stockholm.

(The other day, I went to log into my most recent story, A Nocturnal Misadventure , to add a detail to explain how Andre-ucho could tell that the Orc and the Altmer he encountered after the robbery were themselves up to no good. When you log in to the UESP Fan Fiction page, a message from the editorial team occasionally pops up to admonish you for some transgression, “Sorry, no can do!” And there was a notice I’d originally gotten back in December telling me not to use a copyrighted photo to illustrate my mind’s-eye image of a homunculus.

The fact is that matter was resolved way back in December, so what I was receiving was either a mistake [highly unlikely] or a prod to come out of my cyber-retirement in Castle Vianden. After all, to quote Rufus T. Firefly in Duck Soup, "That's old business!" So I chose the "prod" interpretation and am writing this story to say, “Will you still need me...when I’m 64?” [the Beatles].

I had my annual school-sponsored physical check-up the day after St. Patrick’s, but the Welsh in me dictated I had to celebrate my Celtic roots with a few pints of ale anyway — a no-no if you want sterling results at the clinic. Taking after my mom, who is a strapping 90 years old, I passed, not with flying colors, but pretty well for somebody my age. I’m not about to “die of despair” like some of my generation State-side.

Even so, the cowled figure in the story below appeared on my horizon when he took my elder sister away in a car accident in 2015, and my “eternal youth” is now a thing of the past. There’s no telling if he’ll remain a speck on the horizon or suddenly appear right behind and grab me as well. And if I take after my mom, there may also be a bit of Parkinson’s DNA in me.

To take it easy now would be risky — I couldn’t even remember the title of my most recent story when I began writing this intro and had to look it up. I had thought everything there was for me to write was already written until the outline of this story flashed into my old noggin like lightning. I saw Ingmar Bergman's 1957 classic on TV when I was at a very impressionable age. The fact I still remember it is encouraging — all is not lost after all.

And so, retiring to my cyber-castle with my cyber-daughter and cyber-son may be premature. It ain't over until the fat lady sings, so I’d better put the old thinker back to work again.)

"When he broke open the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour" (Rev 8:1).

The Crusader, minus horse and most of his heavy armor and weapons that he'd discarded along the way, trudged through the Ashlands of hissing steam vents and lava pools. Behind him was a lone figure, at first like a speck on the horizon; however, with each passing day seemed to be closing in on the Crusader. The Crusader kept a steady pace expecting this was a fellow traveler with greater stamina than his own and so gave him very little thought. However, the closer this fellow came from behind, the more unsettling his aspect. He wore a long black robe with a cowl that shadowed his face entirely. Awfully hot, what with all the volcanic activity, for him to be dressed thus.

He was finally only a few yards behind, and the Crusader turned around and faced him. The cowled figure stopped and stood there silently.

"Sera, please continue on your way. I feel discomfited when a stranger approaches as you do."

"Sera," came the response, "I am as weary as you are, and the sun is near the horizon. Let us keep each other company in this wasteland until the dawn."

The Crusader and the cowled figure sat on the ground across from each other. The crusader produced bread, cheese, and a jug of wine from his knapsack. He drew a dagger and cut pieces of bread and cheese for himself but offered none to the cowled companion. He somehow knew this person was in no need of sustenance.

The companion, for his part, drew a chess board from his knapsack and carefully placed pieces on it, black on his side, white on the Crusader's.

"Join me, Sera, for a light entertainment!" the companion continued.

"Light, you say? You mock me!"

"I don't. All humanity must meet and follow me, but they mock me by pretending I do not exist. They see my mighty works all around them, but when I do come for them, it is often to their great astonishment. However, I am giving you the benefit of playing this game to see: do I follow you, or do you follow me?"

The Crusader considered for a moment.

"Agreed, on one condition. If I lose, I still return home and fetch my family."

"Agreed, for what ails you, which is highly contagious, will infect them as well. Therefore, I will not begrudge you this togetherness."

"Why are you doing me this favor?" the Crusader asked knitting his brow.

"Consider all the times I nearly had you in my grasp, and you knew it, for which your vorpal sword cut through the ranks of heretics and apostates and delivered ten souls for each finger of my grasping hand. Therefore, Sera, I count myself heavily indebted to you. Unfortunately, however, a cure for your ailment won't be found for another ten generations, after which it will merely inconvenience humanity with a bad case of the sniffles. For now, however, only your skill at chess can improve your chances of a natural recovery. Your move."

(Note: chess columns are labeled A to H from left to right, and the rows are numbered 1 to 8 from bottom [white] to top [black]. The following moves are apparently what actually happened in the movie as described in "empireonline{dot}com" under /movies/features/seventh-seal-chess-match-analysis/)

At length, the companion moved the black Bishop to B3 threatening the white Queen. The Crusader moved his Rook to G1 putting black in check. The black King moved to F7, and the later loss of a black Pawn and a white Pawn in the H column cleared the way for the black Rook to do mischief to the near right corner of the white side. It was too late for white to castle, so with the white King in G1, the black Queen moved to H1 putting white in check. A white pawn in F2 blocked any retreat, and the black Rook in H8 prevented taking the black Queen down. With a trembling hand, the Crusader laid his King down on the board, and there was a silence in heaven.

The companion rose, and leaving everything there on the ground, he took the Crusader's hand and led him through the twilight toward the Azura's Coast region where his manor house was located.