Chapter 1
In his hut, he readied his powders and potions for the spell. The spell required many hard to come by items, such as one drop from each of the three seas, the salt, the bitter and the cold, not mixed together, but pure and only to be mixed in the ritual. It also required the tear of an elf, which was the hardest to come by, but the man had been present when the people of the forest broke into two factions, and he had the rare chance to capture a falling tear from a daughter who had to part with her father. He mixed all his ingredients together, looking at the remaining few drops of his supplies. I’ll only be able to do this once more, best make this count. The spell’s purpose was to allow the consumer a glimpse into him future, but the dreams were obscure,gnarled and twisted. In the destiny dreams, as the people of the forest called them, time had no presence, all the events were as one, and every event was as seen looking back in time in a deep sleep, never being able to discern the time lapsed from one event to the other. Everything happened in one day, and one day was a hundred years long. Once the potion had been consumed, the dreamer would dream for two days and two nights, after which he would continue to dream the destiny dreams, but would be awoken at the slightest sound, then he could not enter the destiny dream realm for at least five years. The man finished mixing the potion and went to find two of the people of the forest whom he had befriended long ago. He asked one to stand guard by his hut, and discourage anyone who would wake him. The other he sent to the counsel to carry word that he was going to enter the destiny dreams and would hear the counsel’s answer once he woke. He thanked them both and asked to be woken on the sixteenth day. He walked into the hut and ate some of the fruit the people of the forest had gathered for him, he then cast a spell to sustain his body for the fifteen days and nights he would be asleep. And then, he drank. The potion took immediate effect, making the man’s head whirl violently. It was all he could do to make his way to his bed of grass and leaves to lay comfortable. This is a strong one he thought as his eyes grew heavy, his hands grew clumsy and his legs grew numb.
He dreamed of birds, beautiful and cheerful, singing their songs to the whole world. He saw a strange beast flying overhead with leathery wings and huge fangs, of boys playing in a stream of water, kings being crowned and jesters entertaining huge crowds. Then the image twisted, the birds lay dead on the ground with maggots in their eyes, the flying leviathans were roaring flames down on the children, whose flesh melted away like hot wax. The kings were waging wars and he wore the jester’s crown, and the whole world was laughing at him, pointing and calling him crazy. The image twisted again and he saw a small town, peaceful enough, and humble as a dung-beetle. He saw a cell with an old man in it, crazy as a bat, and a mark beside him. The mark was one he had never seen before, but it was an awful mark, devastating to behold. He then saw brothers betraying each other on a stage for the world to see and feel. He saw two parts of one heart reaching out to touch, but they were just out of reach. The image twisted again, the forest was burned, the grass black and dead, a grave was dug under the Life Tree, in it he saw a golden sword impaling two parts of one heart. The sword had the terrible mark on it, flaming with dread, and next to the sword were it’s brothers, two golden daggers, each more proud than the other. He saw himself, in the cell, in the woods, in the hut, in the stream beside the children, in the grave holding one of the weapons, all the images overlapping and distorting. Then he saw the birds again, only the birds, singing their merry tunes for the world to hear. A shadow crept over them, and the wolves were upon them, shredding them to pieces, and leaving their beautiful multicoulored feathers drenched in blood.
He saw four suns fighting over who was to shine down and give warmth and life to the world below, he saw three moons fighting over the tides of the seas, and once again he saw a cell, void of sun or moonlight. The old man in the cell looked him in the eyes, as if seeing through the dream, and smiled, showing missing teeth and a long ragged white beard.
When his eyes snapped open, his guard was standing over him with the shell of a fist-sized nut, filled with water. “You must drink.” “How long?” “twenty seven days” he nodded and drank down the water and asked for more. If he had stayed asleep for longer he would have died, and would be trapped in the destiny dreams forever. “Why didn’t you wake me?” he asked his friend, “We tried, but it was as if you were in the first two days of sleep, you did not react.” That was strange, the man had heard tales of people of the forest going into the deep sleep for four days, but never twenty seven. He drank down the second shell of water and sat up. “Thank you, my friend.” he said smiling at his guard. “What did you see?” his guard asked him. “I saw everything, but only one thing, I saw less and I saw more, who can say what I dreamed, but I now know my path, I know where I must go. Has the counsel reached a decision yet?” he asked politely, even though he knew the answer. “ They have. Would you like to see them now?” “I would.” The guard nodded and helped the man to his feet, then led him to the Life Tree where he would receive his answer from the elder.
“You have been in the dreams for longer than any other ever was, no doubt you have learned much. Have you seen our answer?” the elder asked of him. “I have seen that you are wise enough to know my tidings to be true.” he replied with a stone face. “Ah yes, we know your words are true, but did you see our aid?” “ I did not” said the man. He was now certain that he would have to leave the forest without the help he came for. “Then you should know the answer, but you are young, and cannot read the dreams well, you missed your answer, for we have decided to aid you.” the man looked up at the elder, his mouth was gaping with surprise. “Thank you, wise one.” “Oh, you need not thank me, you need to thank Trish Dah Moh, the daughter of my daughter. Trish Dah Moh has pleaded with us to accompany you, and help where she can. We know your tidings are true, we have heard it on the wind, but we dare not go into the realm of men. You must come here if you seek our help.” The man nodded at the elder, he understood what the elder had implied. “Will you be with us until morning? You should have a proper meal before you send out, twenty seven days in the dreams would kill a lesser man, you need your strength.” The man knew there was wisdom in staying with the people of the forest for a little while longer, their food will restore his energy over night.
That night, after he ate the mash of berries, herbs and vegetables, he went back to his hut and fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
When he woke he heard the sounds of birds singing to announce that the sun would soon bring its warmth to the forest. He walked out of his hut to find a beautiful young girl standing at the hut’s entrance. He knew she was at least two hundred years old, but she had the body and complexion of a twenty year old human. “Good morning, my lady.” the man said, taking her left hand in his and kissing her knuckles lightly. The girl smiled at him and said “What a strange way to greet a stranger” “My lady, you are no stranger, you are the blood of the elder, the daughter of the forest, you are Trish Dah Moh.” “And you are the second man, friend of the forest and wise one, you are as renowned and honorable as the elder.” “I thank you my lady, but please, do not compare me with the elder. I thank you for volunteering to escort me on my journey, do you wish to leave sooner or later?” “A day, a month a year, it all passes so fast, let us be off, we do have a daunting task ahead, do we not?” “That we do.” The man walked around the village one last time, bidding farewell to his old friends and taking in the peacefulness of the forest. I’m going to miss this place he thought as he saw the first sunlight pierce the overgrowth. He returned to Trish Dah Moh, who was still standing by the hut, and nodded. They were both done with their farewells, now they only had the road in front of them. When the forest was at their backs, Trish Dah Moh asked the man if he knew where they must go, he replied “I know where we must go, I know what we seek, but I do not know what it looks like.” Trish Dah Moh was no stranger to these kinds of answers and simply nodded.
