The Pearl Warrior

There once was a boy who lived in a darkened cave without sunlight for many months and he was chained up to the cave but somehow; through some magic he seemed never to thirst or hunger and while he was in the cave he heard sounds from outside; sounds of loud voices and music
Then one day a crack in the cave started to open letting in sunlight and he felt the cave seize hold of him and push him headfirst, out through the crack.
And as he emmerged, screaming, into the light, he saw giants above him and all around him and one giant took hold of him in giant hands and another giant broke the chain that bound him to the cave.
Then he was bathed by the giants and wrapped in a blanket.
"Whats going on?", he asked one of the giants, "Who are you?".
"We are the midwives of the Earth and you have been born from the cave of heroes. A child of the earth", replied one of the giants, "Your name is Gladriel".
Then one of the giants took him home to live with her and her husband and the female giant, whose name was Madra fed him and bathed him and changed his clothes, feeding him on giant milk from her breast which, he was told, would give him the strength of a giant and the male giant, who was called Padra, taught him how to be a warrior.
"But why was I born?", Gladriel asked Madra.
Madra told him that he had to go down under the earth, into the underground fortress of the pearl, with the other White riders; the Satyr knights of the king and find the giant pearl that would heal the earth of the shadowflood that was consuming it.
"Darkness is covering the land. When it touches people they grow old quickly and die and only the pearl has the power to stop it", she explained.
And so Gladriel worked hard with Padra to become a warrior like the white riders. He gave him white armour like theirs and showed him how to use his white rider sword; a magic sword called the Phallax that fired light from its blade.
But while he was living with Madra and Padra; part of the Shadowflood that Madra had spoke of broke off and became a knight of shadow and went to the house of Madra and Padra to kill Gladriel.
Gladriel had been outside, training with Padra when the shadowknight came out of the forest towards them and the moment they saw it, Padra told the boy to go inside the house. Gladriel didn't want to leave him but Madra came out and pulled him inside, then Padra fought against the shadowknight using the Phallax.
Unfortunately, because the Shadowknight was made of the Shadowflood, the evil creature only had to touch him with his hand to kill him and the moment that he did, Gladriel saw Padra age quickly and die.
Horrified by the death of Padra, Gladriel wanted to go out and fight the Shadowknight and started to put on his White Rider armour but Madra said that the armour wouldn't protect him from the touch of the Shadowknight and instead she broke their mirror and behind it was a secret portal that led to the palace of the king.
"Go through it  now", she said.
"But what about you?", asked Gladriel.
"I can't fit through it", she said, "I am too large".
Gladriel said he would not leave without her.
But Madra seized hold of him in her giant hands and threw him through the portal which then disappeared.
Sadly, the moment that the portal vanished, the Shadowknight entered the house and, touching Madra, he made her age quickly and die just as he had done to her husband.
But then Gladriel came through the other side of the portal, appearing before the kings throne.
"Who are you?", asked the King, "Why are you in my palace?".
"My name is Gladriel", he said to king, "I was born from a womb of Earth; I was raised by two giants to join your quest and find the giant pearl but the shadowflood killed the giant who was my fosterfather and, I think, it may have killed my fostermother also".
"Alot of people have lost those they love to the Shadowflood", said the King, "But thankfully the souls of your fosterparents are part of the one soul now; the soul of Nature".
But then the King summoned the captain of the White riders; the Satyr knights who served the King and Gladriel went with him to complete his training.
Fortunately, Gladriel had the strength of a giant which helped him even though he lacked the skills of the Satyr Knights and when the Captain of the white riders thought that he was ready they entered a giant rolling battering ram, called the Penetra, that had a head just like the head of a ram and was designed to break through the gates of the underground Fortress of the Pearl.
And the giant battering ram, rolling by itself to the fortress of the pearl rammed the doors of the fortress again and again and, each time, the voice of the fortress screamed, "No you may not enter!" and  a giant stone woman, called the Vishra standing ontop of the fortress hurled down large boulders upon it.
But, getting out of the Penetra, Gladriel caught one of the boulders and, using his gigantic strength threw it at the stone giant knocking off the Vishras head and the battering ram upon its sixth attempt broke through the doors.
Then, when it was inside the entrance to the fortress, the mouth of the Ramshead opened and the white riders rode out through it, two hundred of them with the bodies of white stallions and white armour and Gladriel rode behind them on his white horse.
And they rode through a long tunnel with thousands of strange tentacles growing from the walls that, because they were enchanted, lashed out at the riders knocking them down or grabbed hold of them, pulling them to the ground.
"What are those things?", Gladriel asked the Captain of the white riders.
"This is the tunnel of the Cilla", he replied, "One of the obstacles to reaching the pearl. Just keep riding, use your Phallax and try to stay on your horse".
And so Gladriel did his best to keep riding through the tunnel of tentacles but it was not easy for they kept grabbing hold of him and pulling at him.
Fortunately, he had the strength given him by Madra's milk and, each time, managed to wrestle himself free or hack through the tentacle with his Phallax before riding on.
But then they came out of the other side of the tunnel of the Cilla and were faced with an underground river of fire that was full of strange serpents that lived in and swam through its flames.
"We have to travel up this river of fire to the cave of the pearl", said the Captain of the white riders.
"Up a river of fire?", asked Gladriel, terrified of being burned.
"Don't worry. Your horse and your white armour have been given a blessing that protects them from the fire as long as your faith in the Earth mother remains strong. If your faith is strong the blessing will work but if you lose your faith, the blessing will stop working and you will be consumed by the flames", said the Captain.
Gladriel was worried that his faith would fail him but the Captain told him,
"Remember you are a child of the Earth. That fact alone should give you faith".
Then however, they had to ride along the burning river and some of the white riders lost their faith and, screaming, they died as the fire burned through their armour, others too were pulled into the fire by the serpents but, finally, thankfully, those who survived came out of the river of fire.
But then, ahead of them Gladriel saw the most frightening tunnel yet; a tunnel, called the Constrictus, whose walls, covered in steel spikes like  hedgehog quills, closed in crushing any who rode through it.
"The tunnel closes and opens up randomly. There is no way of predicting when it will close again", said the Captain after observing the movement of the tunnel, "Some of us will, doubtless, not make it through. Some will. You must just ride as fast as you can, pray and hope".
So then, Gladriel and the others rode through the strange constricting tunnel and Gladriel managed to make it out of the other side but, as he looked back, he saw the tunnel close up and heard the screams of all the white riders who, trapped inside the tunnel, were crushed as its spike covered walls closed in.
"How terrible", he said, "That so many men had to die on this quest".
"Don't think about it", said the Captain, "They died for a great cause. When we find the giant pearl, it will save our world  from the Shadowflood and what are the lives of 20 men compared to the entire world and all the generations to come".
But then, infront of them they saw three tunnels.
"Which tunnel leads to the pearl?", asked Gladriel.
"Only one; the other two lead to death", said the Captain, "But I cannot tell you which tunnel is the right one. Each rider must choose a tunnel and follow it and Mother Earth help those who choose wrongly".
So Gladriel chose to enter the same tunnel as the Captain and fortunately, it was the right tunnel for, up ahead, he saw the room of the giant pearl but as he rode towards it they heard the screams of all the white riders who had chosen the wrong tunnels.
"Poor men", he remarked to the Captain.
"They are only poor men if we fail, for then they will have died for nothing", said the Captain.
"But how can we fail when we have the pearl?", asked Gladriel, "Isn't that the point of the quest?"
"No. Now one of us must break through the wall of the pearl; enter it and become part of it", said the Captain.
"Become part of it?", asked Gladriel, "But I have lived for such a short time? I have seen nothing of life. If I am part of the pearl, will I die?".
"No", said the Captain, "On the contrary. Those who become one with the pearl become life itself; part of eternity".
But then Gladriel and the white riders surrounded the pearl and started to hammer upon it with their swords.
And each of the White Riders, running towards it, swung fiercely at the pearl but none could make even a small scratch
Fortunately, because Gladriel had the strength of a giant in his right arm, with his fifth blow he broke through the wall of the pearl and, inside the pearl was a woman dressed in white called the Pearl maiden who, when she saw Gladriel enter the pearl, pushed him away screaming, "No get out".
"You don't understand", Gladriel pleaded with her, "This is for the life of the earth. There is a flood of shadow that will consume every one".
But the Pearl maiden wouldn't listen, she picked up a sharp shard of shattered pearl and ran towards him, intending to stab him with it.
So, Gladriel, seizing her by the arm that held the shard, spun her around and, because of his giant strength, the Pearl maiden couldn't break his hold.
"Alot of good people have sacrificed their lives so that this could happen", said Gladriel, "My foster parents and all the white riders who died in the tunnels and the river of fire. You have to understand that you are not the only one who matters".
But then Gladriel merged with the Pearl maiden and it was like entering a silver room full of stars that were singing but then he began to transform  into a shining being, called the Pearl Warrior who had the power of a god in his right hand and shining pearl armour that not even shadow could penetrate and, going back along all the tunnels to the entrance of the underground fortress he reemerged into the light and then went to face the flood of darkness.
Seeing the Pearl Warrior approach, the Shadowflood broke up into an army of shadowknights.
"What are you?", asked the Shadowknights, speaking as one, in a voice of hisses like a snakepit.
"You killed the only parents I ever had", said the Pearl warrior.
"Yes. We remember", hissed the Shadowknights, "And you wish to join them".
"More than anything", said the Pearl Warrior, "But it is you who will die".
"Death cannot die", hissed the Shadowknights raising up their black blades and converging upon him.
But the Pearl Warrior stretched out his arms and suddenly two Phalaxes grew from them and four more arms grew from his sides, each holding a Phalax, then whirling like a storm of light he cut through the army of shadow and every shadowknight that rushed towards him was shattered into shards of darkness and those shards shattered into dust and those dust specks broken into nothing and when the Pearl warrior finally stopped whirling and came to rest, not one of the shadow knights remained.
But then, from behind him, the Pearl Warrior heard a voice he recognized and, turning round he saw Madra and Padra, his giant foster parents.
"Do not grieve for us", said Madra, "Our individual souls were just fragments of one that is eternal and now they have rejoined with that soul as rivers reunite with the sea and that eternal soul is the soul of happiness and love and all that is good in this universe".
"But what will I do without you?", asked the Pearl warrior.
"Your heart will tell you", said Madra.
And after that day, the Pearl Warrior became the new captain of the white riders, protecting the land from evil whatever its form; the land prospered, happiness flourished and goodness reigned.