Story Seed - Confidence

Image Source: http://reza-afshar-art.deviantart.com/art/Facing-the-Guardian-522465138

The man in red stared up at the massive door. He grappled with the fear within. It was cold and windy here in this broken mountainside. The way was rocky, uneven, tricky. None would fault him for skipping this place, for not going the final steps to that door and doing what he must do.

He gripped his staff in both hands, drawing heat from its enchanted wood to warm his numb fingers as he stared up at that great door. He wasn't sure what lay beyond, but he knew what his duty required of him. His stomach tumbled, his knees wavered, and he leaned heavily on that staff of his as he sought to control the shivering that had become trembling.

The man in red thought back to his training, thought back to his prior efforts. He told himself that he could do this, that what lay behind that door was only his fear, and that he had the power to make his fear rule him, or to rule his fear. He stood upright, grasping whisper-thin strands of confidence and bundling them together. He wove those strands into a great hawser and used it to bind his fear.

The man in red approached the door, his cloak whipping about him as he knocked on the great door. The stone portal opened revealing a massive looming shape in the darkness beyond. Large eyes peered down at the man from an unseen visage. The being's voice boomed out, deep and rasping, like stone sliding on stone, "Who comes to my door?"

"Hello and good day, have you heard the word of the Great Lord?..."