Post by Victor Adelai on Mar 1, 2012 19:46:09 GMT -8
Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain.
Roar in pain. Silver slides down throat. Thrash in pain. Silver slides through tissue. Breath in pain. Silver fills the nostrils.
Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain. Pain.
At first the Ali' had fought the pain. Had resisted and fortified himself. He was a warrior; this could be conquered. But the silver did not rest. It did not sleep. It did not comprehend mercy. His valiant fight lasted scant minutes.
Time passed here to be sure, but there was nothing to show its passage. There was no sun or moon. Most of the time the only thing one could see was silver before their eyes melted and reformed to see more silver and melt again. Days had passed, surely. Months. Years. Eons. Time is the concept of Men. The Man brain understands time. The Man brain gives things labels. Here, there was only pain. The Man brain was weak in the shadow of pain.
So, the wolf fought and struggled and kicked and howled. And the wolf was defeated over and over and over and over...
And so it was that when the pain stopped in a rather abrupt and sudden manner that the Man brain peered out from behind its hiding place to avoid madness and the tickle of insanity. The Man brain became aware, slowly, that its limbs all worked. The toes wriggled and the fingers flexed. The shoulder could roll and the knees support. But there was no strength in these actions, just the curious awareness that flesh was not searing.
Fear kept the Man brain from opening its eyes and looking around. It focused, instead, on breathing. The glorious sensation so easy now that silver was not flooding its nose and throat. It smelled sweet here, like lavender and defeat. The ground beneath it was hard and smooth. The temperature was warm, but the breeze suggested nudity.
The Man brain focused on the things it usually forgot and allowed to progress on its own. It focused on its pulse and breath and feel of being. It focused on these things until it became aware that there was sound here too beyond the thundering heartbeat and rush of blood in its ears. There was distant sounds, lyrical and sweet, like music from the before times. There were other smells too. Sulfur was close and fire. The flowers were clear. But beneath all that was the sweet, clean smell of a woman. The Man brain told the body to rouse. To rise to ones feet was an act well beyond it, but with a surpassing feat of will, the body did open its eyes and the head did lift to gauge its surroundings.
They were on the shores of a peaceful lake. The ground beneath them was warm. There were pleasant things. Not too far away was a gate of silver and a woman of surpassing beauty standing before it. She smiled to them and gestured for them to approach.
The Man brain gave the order. The body attempted to follow it. And the wolf howled with relief. There was something far away that had troubled them, but no more. Slowly, the body pushes up and stands. The woman smiles at them. The Man brain tells the body to step, and step it down. Slowly, staggering, new to walking as a fawn.
As they approached the woman, she gently took them in her arms and stroked their hair. She smiled and kissed them on the cheek and they KNEW words they had not known before. She presses against their chest and looks up into their dark eyes.
"You are free," she whispers. "We had no power to cleanse or keep you, former-Unfortunate. The pain brings your soul to a place where it might find forgiveness and redemption. You have, former-Unfortunate. Go now with my blessing and the gifts of the realm upon you. But... should you find your way to my waters again, there will be no second chances given."
She smiles once more before taking their hand and guiding them, shaking, towards the gates and the sweet cool air that came from them.