Morior's Tale

[Rhourk]

Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun

The stream trickled by, and the soft sound of rushing water calmed her thoughts. Morior set her book aside and gazed at clouds drifting overhead. A grey canopy held the sun at bay, reducing it to a silver glow directly above her. This was her safe place. As she came into womanhood and struggled to embrace the natural changes that came upon her, she felt the gaze of the village boys on her. She felt the feelings behind those gazes, their contempt and lust fueling what she felt as hostile urges.

As a young girl she had bested the boys in every game contest or rite of passage that came her way. She was naturally strong and fast, the boys were oafish and slow. As they grew older the boys caught up in size and strength, but they were still little boys in so many ways, given to cruelty and jealousy. They would never accept her, she had stood aloof too long. But now that awe turned to spite, and the idleness of life in the village led to dangerous ideas in the minds of the weak. They watched her as a pack now, and she spent more time in the wild than in the village.

The clouds continued to drift, and she did too. Beyond the glowing specter of the suns light, five points came into focus. They twinkled rhythmically and began to pulse. Her eyes grew heavy and closed, and her mind’s eye opened wide to stare. The pulsing lights flared brightly beyond the grey and deep, haunting melody sounded in her soul. The notes pierced her mind, hammering her senses and methodically probing her psyche. The power grew within her, searching and cataloging every facet of her existence. Just when she thought it would end, yearned for it to end but never stop, a voice.

Come and see.

She drifted up, unfettered by weight or form. And then soared skyward, speeding through the clouds above. They scattered and the brilliance of the sun nearly blinded her. Then it dimmed. She hurtled through the void. The orange ball of cosmic fire speed towards her, growing at an alarming rate. She through her arms in front of her face to ward off the heat, expecting nothing but death.

Then she plunged through the flames, untouched, unburnt. The crimson and yellow glow surrounded her. She saw gasses burn and plunged deeper. Yellow gave way to orange, and orange turned to deep red as matter collapsed upon itself and violently exploded. Then she burst through the other side.

The light faded and there was void. Immeasurable blackness of absolute nothing arrayed before her in every direction, and still she sped on. The five points of light came again. They spread across an ocean of black, and between them she sensed a deepening of the dark. Her soul plunged headlong to oblivion. Her being recoiled against the vastness of the nothing within the blackness, framed by five points of light. Aimless and lost with no sense of time or existential anchor her sanity shook, ready to shatter. Then the voice returned.

Now you see.

The blackness took form. A colossal form sprawled before her, an opaque mass undulated between the five points. It was impossible to envision it all in one glance. And in the center of it all a great maw of darkness yawned open wide, consuming all the dared drift near.

Now you see.

I’m dreaming.

You are, but that invalidates nothing. In sleep we dream of what may come to pass, while waking our dreams seal that which is to the firmament. That is the great truth of all truths, we are all dreamers in the great dream of that which is above all.

Where are we?

This is no where, no when, all places that do not exist in times that cannot be, here I am safe. This is my domain, my dream, removed from the dream of the many far enough to be beyond but close enough to touch, if one dreams in the right mind. Very few do, but you are one. And you are the one I seek, the one I need.

What could you need of me?

All things end, no dream will change this, but the manner of that end and what goes beyond is of importance. I will mark you, you will be part of my dream, for I need you, for he is coming, and you need me.

Why do I need you?

Because they are coming.

And then she was back on the grass and the stream trickled by. The gang of boys stood twenty feet away, leering.

Look at her, crazy as a loon. Come on then Looney, it’s time we brought you down a peg or two.

They advanced together. Their lurid thoughts assaulted her. Sickening, painful images appeared in her awakened mind. She closed her eyes to shut them out.

What’s this looney girl, you dreaming again?

Her eyes opened and the five pointed stars on her palms raged with power.

As a matter of fact, I am.

She never returned to the village, and none boys were ever seen again.