The Light Warrior Files
Chapter 1, Part 6: The Joining
By Chris Ward
“Let me get this completely straight. Mr. Linderman is not simply the shady owner of a
group of enterprises, nor is he simply the mysterious crime lord some have portrayed him
as. He is, in fact, the dark manipulator who, for reasons of his own, seeks to create an
explosion in the heart of New York City? Why am I having a hard time with this?”
Ishmael looked at me in understanding, and the Dark Lady in sympathy. Rather surprisingly,
given the reaction he had received when I first came out of his VR setup, it was Builder
who provided the answer. “Why would it be that hard to understand? He’s tried it before,
and he very nearly succeeded!”
“He’s tried this before? When?”
“Remember September the 11th? That was a Linderman plan as well.”
I couldn’t help it; I had to laugh at that. “Please tell me you’re joking. You don’t strike me as
a conspiracy nut, and those are the only one’s I can see coming out with this stuff.”
Ishmael leaned forward, silently quieting my scorn. “It’s the truth. I know what you are going
through, because it is much the same as the reaction I had when she told me it was going
to happen.”
“Wait a minute. She told you it was going to happen? Don’t you mean that she told you this
after?”
Grinning somewhat ruefully, Ishmael held firm. “No. She told me, roughly 6 months prior,
that it would happen. She specifically told me that there would be a terrorist attack and that
the towers would fall. She also told me that Linderman was positioning a man to take full
advantage of the event, which he was also orchestrating from far behind the scenes. The
plan fell apart because his man was unable to win his party’s nomination. Without his man in
the White House, Linderman couldn’t unite the country in the way he wanted. He also failed
to take into account the fact that one of his planes would never reach its target.”
The more I thought about it, the less ridiculous it seemed. “So… Mr. Linderman was
running that show, even if the main players didn’t know? What about his man, the one that
was running for office? What happened to him?”
Builder rejoined the conversation, “Linderman does not tolerate people who take his
money and fail to fulfill their obligations. They found the guy dead, hanging from his ceiling
fan, a few weeks after the attacks. The note they found claimed that he had been involved
in an affair with one of the passengers of the flight that went down in Pennsylvania, and
that he couldn’t stand living without his lover.”
“Hmm… Okay… Now, assuming that you three are correct, about everything. Assuming that
there was more to 9/11 than almost anyone realized, and assuming Linderman was behind
it, hell, even assuming that you’re right about the big plan for Kirby Plaza, the question
becomes quite simply what do you want with me? What am I supposed to do here?”
As the Dark Lady shifted her position, in hat could only be described as a moment of
fidgeting, I realized that it was the first time I had seen her give the appearance of less
than total comfort. “I do not know, and I wish I did. The future is uncertain, and I have been
unable to do more than see brief images and hints. I know you to be important, perhaps the
most important of us all, save one. In my search for details, I have seen but a single image.
In the image, there is a battlefield of immense proportions. Around us, I see others waging
larger battles, but in our sphere I see five warriors.
“I see myself, the Dark Lady, standing furthest in the back, save one. Before me is a silver
shield, far too great for me to carry. Although I am garbed as a warrior, and bear a sword at
my waist, my helm clearly says that strength of arms is not to be my task. The helm encases
my head, with the lone exception of my mouth. In the image, there are no gaps in the helm
for me to see. This I know to mean that, though I have a role in the fight, my role is not that
of a warrior. I am to use my visions of what is to be as my weapons.
“I see Ishmael as well. His is the shield I see before me, and it is he alone who is further
back than am I. He stands with one hand on my shoulder, steadying and guiding me, and
carries in the other a broadsword. Yet etched into the metal are all the languages of men.
This is the token by which I know that, as he has ever been, my beloved is to be my
protector and my interpreter.
“Builder is slightly to the side and in front of me, kneeling on the ground. It is only when he
raises what he is working on so that he might better see it that I know what he is doing. He
is creating armor and a sword. However, unlike that which garbs each of the rest, his is
designed and built by himself, and will achieve a specific purpose. This, then, tells me his
role in the events to come. His task will be even as he ever does, to design and engineer
that which we need, not to take arms himself.
“In the forefront, however, stand two shining figures. On the right you stand, the Light
Warrior. Fully armored, you bear in your left hand a great sword. Yet, in your right you bear
no physical weapon. Instead, you hold your right hand extended, and from it extends a
blinding blade of pure light.
“From the image, I take all that is needful, and all that is given. For reasons which, thus far,
remain unknown and unknowable, you are to be the warrior we need.”
Shaken by this unexpected announcement, and no less by her absolute assurance, I sat in
stunned silence for several minutes. Still, as I sat there, certain things which she had said,
combined with certain glaring omissions, forced me to speak again. “You said, just before
describing this vision, that I may well be the most important one, save one. You mentioned
that there were five of us in the image, but only described four. You specifically stated that
there were two in the front, and stated that I was on the right. Who was on the left? Who is
this other person?”
Apparently I had touched on a sore spot, because they both looked extremely
uncomfortable. When Ishmael finally spoke, he was very hesitant. “That’s the entire
problem. We simply don’t know who it is.” Seeing my incredulous look he pressed on, “For
some reason, my ability has failed to interpret the phrase my Lady uses.”
“What phrase?” I said this slowly, since I was a little worried about the possible answer,
although there was no reason to be that I could think of.
The Dark Lady spoke quietly, almost as if she were ashamed of this failure. “Shield Maiden.”
The term made no sense to me, but I hadn’t really expected it to. Suddenly, a thought struck
me, “Is there any way you can enter the image and describe her to me?”
The Lady sat silent for a few minutes as she thought of the possibility. Finally she nodded
once. “I believe so. Obviously, I can’t guarantee it, since it’s not something I’ve ever done.
Normally I just let the vision happen. I’ll need absolute silence until I start speaking again.”
With that, she stood up and turned of the only two lights which had been on. In the sudden
darkness, I watched in something resembling suspense as she took three deep breaths
and sunk into what appeared to be a trance. At first, her breathing appeared to stop. As I
prepared to shake her awake, Ishmael grabbed me by one arm and sat me down. Shaking
his head, he simply put his finger to his lips.
Almost as if that were a cue, she took a deep, shuddering breath and came out of her
trance. Looking directly at me, she said, “What would you know?’
“Can you describe her?”
“In the vision, I was given more detail than I had yet received. The Shield Maiden stands no
more than four inches shorter than you. As she stood beside you, the image took motion
for but a moment. As she whirled in front of you, laughter reflected in her gold-speckled,
amber eyes, she kissed two lips and pressed them to your lips. Laughing aloud, whether at
something in your face or at the lust for battle I know not, she turned back into her place at
your left, but crouched for battle. As she resumed her position, her armor shifted and
revealed a curious mark.” As I suddenly looked directly at her, I was remembering another
woman who had what some would term a curious mark. With a slight smile, she nodded.
“Yes, that is the mark. A small birthmark just under her right breast, in the shape of a wolf’s
head.”
Turning his head back toward me, Ishmael was obviously stunned. “You know this woman?”
Grinning ruefully, I shook my head in disbelief. “You could say that, I guess. I’m living with
her.” Looking at the Lady, I tried to make certain she understood what was going on.
“Listen, I made up my mind a while ago that I was willing to join up with you and your merry
band of lunatics. All things considered, it seems the best way to go- certainly safer than
joining Linderman and his group, if you’re right about all that. The fact that you were able to
describe that birthmark- which is something very few people, aside from myself, know
about- cinched it for me. You guys are the real deal.
“The problem I’ve got is that the woman you call the Shield Maiden, my lover, knows
nothing about this. She doesn’t know what I can do, and it’s highly doubtful either that she
can do anything herself, or that people like us, who can do what we do, even exist.
“Like I said, I’ll join up willingly. Fight the good fight. Slay the dragons. All that. But don’t
hold your breath about her.”
Chapter 1, Part 6: The Joining
By Chris Ward
“Let me get this completely straight. Mr. Linderman is not simply the shady owner of a
group of enterprises, nor is he simply the mysterious crime lord some have portrayed him
as. He is, in fact, the dark manipulator who, for reasons of his own, seeks to create an
explosion in the heart of New York City? Why am I having a hard time with this?”
Ishmael looked at me in understanding, and the Dark Lady in sympathy. Rather surprisingly,
given the reaction he had received when I first came out of his VR setup, it was Builder
who provided the answer. “Why would it be that hard to understand? He’s tried it before,
and he very nearly succeeded!”
“He’s tried this before? When?”
“Remember September the 11th? That was a Linderman plan as well.”
I couldn’t help it; I had to laugh at that. “Please tell me you’re joking. You don’t strike me as
a conspiracy nut, and those are the only one’s I can see coming out with this stuff.”
Ishmael leaned forward, silently quieting my scorn. “It’s the truth. I know what you are going
through, because it is much the same as the reaction I had when she told me it was going
to happen.”
“Wait a minute. She told you it was going to happen? Don’t you mean that she told you this
after?”
Grinning somewhat ruefully, Ishmael held firm. “No. She told me, roughly 6 months prior,
that it would happen. She specifically told me that there would be a terrorist attack and that
the towers would fall. She also told me that Linderman was positioning a man to take full
advantage of the event, which he was also orchestrating from far behind the scenes. The
plan fell apart because his man was unable to win his party’s nomination. Without his man in
the White House, Linderman couldn’t unite the country in the way he wanted. He also failed
to take into account the fact that one of his planes would never reach its target.”
The more I thought about it, the less ridiculous it seemed. “So… Mr. Linderman was
running that show, even if the main players didn’t know? What about his man, the one that
was running for office? What happened to him?”
Builder rejoined the conversation, “Linderman does not tolerate people who take his
money and fail to fulfill their obligations. They found the guy dead, hanging from his ceiling
fan, a few weeks after the attacks. The note they found claimed that he had been involved
in an affair with one of the passengers of the flight that went down in Pennsylvania, and
that he couldn’t stand living without his lover.”
“Hmm… Okay… Now, assuming that you three are correct, about everything. Assuming that
there was more to 9/11 than almost anyone realized, and assuming Linderman was behind
it, hell, even assuming that you’re right about the big plan for Kirby Plaza, the question
becomes quite simply what do you want with me? What am I supposed to do here?”
As the Dark Lady shifted her position, in hat could only be described as a moment of
fidgeting, I realized that it was the first time I had seen her give the appearance of less
than total comfort. “I do not know, and I wish I did. The future is uncertain, and I have been
unable to do more than see brief images and hints. I know you to be important, perhaps the
most important of us all, save one. In my search for details, I have seen but a single image.
In the image, there is a battlefield of immense proportions. Around us, I see others waging
larger battles, but in our sphere I see five warriors.
“I see myself, the Dark Lady, standing furthest in the back, save one. Before me is a silver
shield, far too great for me to carry. Although I am garbed as a warrior, and bear a sword at
my waist, my helm clearly says that strength of arms is not to be my task. The helm encases
my head, with the lone exception of my mouth. In the image, there are no gaps in the helm
for me to see. This I know to mean that, though I have a role in the fight, my role is not that
of a warrior. I am to use my visions of what is to be as my weapons.
“I see Ishmael as well. His is the shield I see before me, and it is he alone who is further
back than am I. He stands with one hand on my shoulder, steadying and guiding me, and
carries in the other a broadsword. Yet etched into the metal are all the languages of men.
This is the token by which I know that, as he has ever been, my beloved is to be my
protector and my interpreter.
“Builder is slightly to the side and in front of me, kneeling on the ground. It is only when he
raises what he is working on so that he might better see it that I know what he is doing. He
is creating armor and a sword. However, unlike that which garbs each of the rest, his is
designed and built by himself, and will achieve a specific purpose. This, then, tells me his
role in the events to come. His task will be even as he ever does, to design and engineer
that which we need, not to take arms himself.
“In the forefront, however, stand two shining figures. On the right you stand, the Light
Warrior. Fully armored, you bear in your left hand a great sword. Yet, in your right you bear
no physical weapon. Instead, you hold your right hand extended, and from it extends a
blinding blade of pure light.
“From the image, I take all that is needful, and all that is given. For reasons which, thus far,
remain unknown and unknowable, you are to be the warrior we need.”
Shaken by this unexpected announcement, and no less by her absolute assurance, I sat in
stunned silence for several minutes. Still, as I sat there, certain things which she had said,
combined with certain glaring omissions, forced me to speak again. “You said, just before
describing this vision, that I may well be the most important one, save one. You mentioned
that there were five of us in the image, but only described four. You specifically stated that
there were two in the front, and stated that I was on the right. Who was on the left? Who is
this other person?”
Apparently I had touched on a sore spot, because they both looked extremely
uncomfortable. When Ishmael finally spoke, he was very hesitant. “That’s the entire
problem. We simply don’t know who it is.” Seeing my incredulous look he pressed on, “For
some reason, my ability has failed to interpret the phrase my Lady uses.”
“What phrase?” I said this slowly, since I was a little worried about the possible answer,
although there was no reason to be that I could think of.
The Dark Lady spoke quietly, almost as if she were ashamed of this failure. “Shield Maiden.”
The term made no sense to me, but I hadn’t really expected it to. Suddenly, a thought struck
me, “Is there any way you can enter the image and describe her to me?”
The Lady sat silent for a few minutes as she thought of the possibility. Finally she nodded
once. “I believe so. Obviously, I can’t guarantee it, since it’s not something I’ve ever done.
Normally I just let the vision happen. I’ll need absolute silence until I start speaking again.”
With that, she stood up and turned of the only two lights which had been on. In the sudden
darkness, I watched in something resembling suspense as she took three deep breaths
and sunk into what appeared to be a trance. At first, her breathing appeared to stop. As I
prepared to shake her awake, Ishmael grabbed me by one arm and sat me down. Shaking
his head, he simply put his finger to his lips.
Almost as if that were a cue, she took a deep, shuddering breath and came out of her
trance. Looking directly at me, she said, “What would you know?’
“Can you describe her?”
“In the vision, I was given more detail than I had yet received. The Shield Maiden stands no
more than four inches shorter than you. As she stood beside you, the image took motion
for but a moment. As she whirled in front of you, laughter reflected in her gold-speckled,
amber eyes, she kissed two lips and pressed them to your lips. Laughing aloud, whether at
something in your face or at the lust for battle I know not, she turned back into her place at
your left, but crouched for battle. As she resumed her position, her armor shifted and
revealed a curious mark.” As I suddenly looked directly at her, I was remembering another
woman who had what some would term a curious mark. With a slight smile, she nodded.
“Yes, that is the mark. A small birthmark just under her right breast, in the shape of a wolf’s
head.”
Turning his head back toward me, Ishmael was obviously stunned. “You know this woman?”
Grinning ruefully, I shook my head in disbelief. “You could say that, I guess. I’m living with
her.” Looking at the Lady, I tried to make certain she understood what was going on.
“Listen, I made up my mind a while ago that I was willing to join up with you and your merry
band of lunatics. All things considered, it seems the best way to go- certainly safer than
joining Linderman and his group, if you’re right about all that. The fact that you were able to
describe that birthmark- which is something very few people, aside from myself, know
about- cinched it for me. You guys are the real deal.
“The problem I’ve got is that the woman you call the Shield Maiden, my lover, knows
nothing about this. She doesn’t know what I can do, and it’s highly doubtful either that she
can do anything herself, or that people like us, who can do what we do, even exist.
“Like I said, I’ll join up willingly. Fight the good fight. Slay the dragons. All that. But don’t
hold your breath about her.”
