From There to Here

Gonyaul was immersed in darkness, in nothingness, but it wasn’t the same feeling he had when he was in deep meditation. No, this experience was different, foreign and strangely tangible even though nothing seemed corporeal. Furthermore, it lingered in a way that allowed his thoughts to explore unbound by time. How long had he been there? It was unclear and a little unnerving.

His memory took the reigns of his thoughts, as he was trying to piece together any clues to make sense of him being in a state where no senses seemed to exist. He could recall being very near to the odd blue rod that delivered a wallop of force that didn’t match its appearance. He was about to reach for it he remembered.

And then what happened?

A flash! Lightning had pierced through the heavens and struck it. Gonyaul wondered for a second, was he dead … he very well could be? No, he concluded he could recall more happening after the strike.

He had been flung from the shockwave of energy onto his backside. The lightning, he should have felt it … he should have been hurt by it; however, now that he thought about it further he couldn’t recall either happening. What did happen? He saw the lighting dissipating in an orbital path around him like chain lightening statically clinging to something organic in the air about his person until it grounded itself into the earth. It was almost like it couldn’t get to him, like an invisible space resisted its natural movement. His thoughts got stuck reliving the sights and sounds in his memory of the lightning behaving oddly.

And then what?

The teasing voice of his best friend Qualestrel. He remembered hearing her encouraging him. ~Get up Gony, I can’t fight all your battles for you.~ The sound of her voice after so many years was a true comfort and it distracted him from everything else. When her twin sister, and his proposed match, had died, there had been a part of him that always hoped maybe Qualestrel and he would be matched. Alas, that would not be … and neither would he be getting up. That’s right, something else happened before he could.

But, what?

There was the mysteriously power stranger heading his way. He remembers that because she brought fear with her. And then, she threw something to him and said …. What did she say? … She had said catch as clear as day, no translation necessary. And he did. He could see his left hand raising ever so slightly to catch something that she had thrown at him. Was it a rock?

And then what?

Gonyaul remembers seeing the silver storm wielder and … there was something else in his memories eye. Behind the lady, up in the air, was a descending figure. It was … Gonyaul kept replaying the scene over and over. It was Voah!

She was coming to his rescue; however, his present informed him that he had not been rescued. They were gone and he was gone. A sadness washed over his thinking. Was that the last he would ever see of her and his new family. The last thing he remembered saying to her was ~I am singing to nature about you.~ from atop Amu just before seeing the stranger off in the distance. The last thing she said to him was? Was? … ~Stay close to me~. He had failed to follow her command.

Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by Qualestrel’s voice again. “Get up sleepy head, you’re going to be late for morning exercises.”

Gonyaul suddenly felt a current grab him in the darkness. He was powerless to go against its flow and was pulled along. As the pace quickened he felt sensation returning to his body. At first a mild tingling that quickly ramped up to an uncomfortable pressure. He felt like a square peg trying to be forced through a round hole. It started to hurt, like he was being dissembled and reassembled at the same time. It was as if his body was resisting whatever was about to take place.

Suddenly he realized all his senses were back in his control. He could make out foreign sounds and smells. He couldn’t feel the cold stinging rain and sand on his skin anymore. Everything was different and it was disorienting. His entire body felt fatigue and sore, as if every cell had been at war with the journey from there to here. So much so, that when he slowly opened his eyes he could see steam rising off him from the temperature change.

His peaceful eyes fluttered adjusting to the light and his beautiful face tilted as shapes started to emerge. The blurring soon faded, like a fog lifting to reveal the details of the world around him. He was definitely someplace else. The only constant was the silver storm wielder pointing a sword at him.

He had no idea what was going on or where he was. The confusion on his face was as clear as day.