Dreamscape

Sorry for the delay in continuing this story, I have some time now to really put more effort into it and I hope you all enjoy. Snork Maiden 03-06-2002

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The hot desert sand stretched out undulating irregularly into the distance to meet the blue of the cloudless sky. The heat conducting through the thick leather soles of his sandals scorched his feet and the sand spilled unrelentingly between his toes irritably as he strode forward. The sun shone brightly, a white hazy disc, its light too fierce to regard with unshielded eyes. Its rays seemingly piercing his skin like a thousand tiny red-hot needles. The sand stuck to his skin, blending with the salt that had been left behind as his perspiration evaporated, white trails that tracked across his sunburnt forehead to his reddened sore eyes. The hot dry air burnt his nose and dried his throat scentless and thin. His lungs expanded again filling with the arid atmosphere as it passed through his cracked and chaffed lips. If there was a hell on Vosyn this was surely it.

The sand was interrupted only by the occasional rock or the sun bleached skeletal remains of some poor unfortunate creature or man that had succumbed to the unforgiving terrain and the cruel radiance of the sun. As he pressed on the horizon became hazy, shimmering, distorting his vision. The end was near now he knew it. Above the group of buzzards circled, his only companions in this deserted land. Some swooped lower, their courage growing as his own strength ebbed slowly from his legs. Managing to cover a further fifty yards or so he fell to his knees. His face raised towards the heavens in some gesture of pleading. He could hear the flapping of the large carrion beasts as two of them settled near by. Filling the air with the sound of their cruel cries, they hopped and edged closer to him, a vile, hungry gleam in their eyes, almost mocking him as they stretched their wings. He waved his arm weakly in their direction, an attempt to scare them back into the sky. They halted momentarily, standing and watching as he strained to raise himself to his feet. Consumed with fatigue he collapsed finally his face hitting the hot soft sand.

With a final effort he raised his head once more, four more vultures had now joined their companions and moved inexorably towards him. The heat haze and his exhaustion played tricks with his eyes. In the final moments before slipping into unconsciousness he was sure he saw two figures walking towards him, an old man and a young woman. The man was dress in green robes with a white beard that flowed from his face to almost his waist, the woman dressed in deep blue, with gold edging that glittered in the sunlight, her long black hair flowing over her shoulders and back, her eyes violet sparkled with youth and wisdom. On her arm sat a falcon, its hooded head twitched occasionally sensing, hearing the cries of the vultures nearby. She smiled at him gently as he passed out for the last time; it seemed as if the sand was shifting and he was being sucked downwards into the ground, a mist formed in his mind and then it was black.

The mist started to rise and he felt strangely cool. The change in temperature was soothing to his sun ravaged skin. Still cooler the air became and a sense of suffocation filled his mind, gasping for oxygen that was not there, his lungs ached and he was filled with panic. The mist thickened and his vision became blurred. He was still conscious of that he was certain pinching himself to prove it no this wasn’t a dream. His panic deepened as he fought to breath in the stifling atmosphere. Was he falling?. The sensation of being suspended was very real and he waved his arms about him. Yes he must be, there was no ground below him, above him or around him yet in this grey mist he was unaware of any motion at all. If he was falling then surely he would feel the rush of air against him, but the air was still.

The mist was thinning again now and a bright silvery light illuminated the vastness around him revealing shapes in shades of grey. ‘Night Time?’, he thought to himself, yet only half convincingly. Certainly the ghostly light gave the distinct impression of night, and the coolness around him strengthened the idea, yet he could see as far now as on a clear summers day. Looking around him as the last few wisps of mist dissipated, he could see conduits of light twisting in and out of view like huge water spouts, here and there the greyness was interrupted by pools of colored light. He watched a blue one below him, rotating slowly like a disc, yet as it moved and rotated he could see it had one side only as it drew to a line and winked out of existence the slowly moments later reappeared and grew again. Hypnotised by the disk his mind wandered. In the distance he could make out a small outcrop of land. It too, rotated as he watched and as it drew near he could see small pieces of rock and debris floating past him in all directions.

He started to make swimming motions, resolving to reach this island, but with nothing to pull against, his position remained unchanged. He was startled when he felt the tap on his shoulder. Turning his head sharply, the rest of his body refusing to comply, he could make out the face of an elderly man gazing at him with a puzzled expression on his face.

‘I see you made it through the mist.’, the old man said moving slowly around him, and fiddling with his beard. ‘Question is, what are you going to do now?’

He regarded the old man with a curious eye, watching him move effortlessly before him. He thought for a moment before responding, then replied. ‘I thought I would try and make it to that island over there’, he pointed at the disembodied chunk of land that moved in the distance, ‘but… I don’t seem to be able to move’,

‘Well your not going to get anywhere like this’, the old man chuckled, imitating the flapping motions that he had observed the young man making earlier. He drew on his beard and again as if in deep thought. ‘hmmmmmm no where should we start’, The old man paused again and scratched his head, the without any warning he pushed against the young man. Immediately they began to move apart, but facing each other. The old man slowed and changing direction drifted back to the young man who was now moving backwards uncontrollably. Pulling up along side the young man and matching his speed, the bearded man rested his chin on his hands as if lying in front of him. ‘Ahh yes that’s it, very good, we have some motion.

The young man glanced about him nervously, ‘Yes but how do I stop?’, the idea of crashing into an obstacle or wore worried him.

‘Stop, hmm yes now let me see,’ the old man pondered, ‘that is a bit more difficult to explain than do’, he continued cryptically, performing a graceful forward roll and pirouette before rising in front of the young man again. ‘really there is nothing to it. All you have to do is …..think where you want to be and that’s all there is to it, simple really’ the old man chuckled as he span around circling the young man. ‘Why not try it for yourself?… go on have a go, That island for example, concentrate on it, then imagine you are moving towards it, pulling yourself towards it. Doing as the old man instructed he focused his eyes on the island now drifting away in the distance below him, concentrating hard on it and willing himself to move.

‘No, no, no, not like that’ the old man exclaimed, ‘you’re trying to hard, relax, just ease yourself into it. You don’t have to burst a blood vessel in your head. Look just try to imagine you are drifting towards it,’, he paused. ‘Go on try’, the old man urged

Slowly the young man retrained his thoughts, picturing the island of rock in front of him and watched as he drew it closer to him.

‘That’s it, oh yes very good, very good, you are a quick learner’, the old man exclaimed, ‘but not to fast or you’ll not be able to stop in time the old man called after him as the young man shot forward, hurtling towards the island rock. In that instant he lost all concentration and a feeling of panic began to well up inside him. Looking around he caught sight of a deep blue pool of radiance. Fixing his concentration on this new object, he drew his mind together collecting his thoughts and tried to pull himself toward it. His flight path curved gracefully as he flew towards it. By now the old man had caught up with him grabbing hold og his feet with both hands as they tumbled into the blue light, it surface rippled as it was broken.

Once again a cool mist began to rise and swirl about him, all he was aware of was the old man muttering something unintelligible as he pulled himself up his legs. As the mist cleared, they found themselves standing at the foot of a green grassy valley. Looking up the valley sides he could see patches of unmelted snow and small copses of conifer. A snowy eagle soared overhead gracefully tracing the small stream that flowing across the valley floor. Folding its wings it dived into the crystal water, rising again moments later, clutching a small salmon, whose silvery scales glinted in the bright sunlight which illuminated the land. In the distance he could make out the shape of a large tree, it looked very much like a mountain ash and as he drew closer, it seemed to him that he could see creatures moving in its branches. Moving slowly up the grassy hillside towards it, he glanced around him to speak to his elderly companion, but he had vanished. He sat awhile in the shade of the great tree he felt a peace and watched the landscape stretching before him. The sun rose higher in the clear sky and he rose, walking back to the stream. Kneeling at the waters edge he cupped his hands, dipping them into the cool water, icy from the melting snow higher up the valley. It tasted good, sweet, refreshing. He splashed some onto his face and over his hair, his neck muscle tensing as the cold water ran down his back. Lowering his head he looked back into the water, his reflection stared back at him ripples of the water distorting the reflection and his features. As he watched he could see the contours of his face change, the clear waters of the stream turned black and the light and sounds around him faded until all he could see was two red eyes peering back at him, drawing him closer and closer.

Before he realised he had lost his balance he was falling into the blackened water. He clutched at the bank pulling clumps of earth away as a hundred unseen hands grasped at him. Icy fingers ripped through his clothing to his flesh, numbing his body. His head disappeared beneath the surface he struggled to break free his lungs bursting for air. Breaking the surface, momentarily, he refilled his lungs with a gasp. Gazing up he could see the sky had now turned blood red, but his thought were distracted by the sight of a young woman, her hair was black, her eyes violet, and her face filled with a tranquillity that touched his soul. She smiled at him as he slipped once more below the surface.

Black hands once more clutched at him, his lungs ached and the icy cold waters continued to numb his body. He felt himself cry out in terror, a stream of silver bubbles rose from his mouth as his lung filled with the icy water. His head span, his body spasmed and then it everything was black.