I have seen the rise, and fall of kings, and nations. I
have witnessed mountains crumble into seas, and great oceans evaporate
into desserts. Upon a journey an eternity ago, I came upon a man where
no man could survive. In tattered rags he sat at the summit of a vast
range of mountains, seemingly unaffected by the bitter cold. Suffering
from a despair beyond reason, and sanity, his eyes reflected a torment
so cruel I shuddered as I gazed upon him. He spoke in a voice filled
with ancient sorrow, and I was held in the most morbid of fascinations
as he related a tale which could not be true. He spoke of an endless
passage of time, of lands long forgotten, and events beyond memory.
When asked how he came to know this tale, he wearily sighed in a voice
that sounded like wind through dry leaves, "I was there... as I am
here".
I knew it not at the time, but this was the moment my mortality began
to slip away from me. For the first time, he looked directly into my
eyes. I was frozen in his gaze as he asked a question I curse the
utterance of... “woult thou wish to know the truth?” I replied not, for
in his gaze I could utter no sound. He continued, “In the land of the
Nubian people, lies a lake with twin pyramids set in the middle of it,
adorned at their tops with ancient kings. Beside the lake, find thee
ruins of a vast labyrinth, at the center of which be the well of souls.
Only to be found when mid day is beset with darkness. It is there the
truth of all things lies hidden. I bid thee, go not lightly.” At this
his gaze shifted back over the mountains, as if seeing a place
impossibly distant. In a tone barely audible came his last words, “ Tis
not a place wise men tread, nor mortal men leave. I bid thee, go there
not.”
Nearly twenty years later, I found myself upon the shore of a great
lake, in the middle of it sat twin pyramids so worn with time, and of
such a scale they could be mistaken as mountains. The mysterious
strangers words echoed in my mind, “woult thou wish to know the
truth?”. As I gazed about, I realized I was standing at the edge of
ancient ruins stretching nearly to the horizon. The walls were crumbled
nearly flat, only faintly discernible as a man made feature. Such was
its antiquity. To this place I had come, not by purpose, but rather by
chance/ Once more, my mind drifted back to his distant gaze, and his
parting words. “I bid thee, go there not.” and a shudder swept over me.
I resolved not to tarry in this place, but the sun hung low in the sky,
and I dared not wander about this unfamiliar place in darkness. I made
camp at the waters edge with the intention of departing at dawn. That
night my sleep was fitful with dreams of Pandora and her accursed box.
Waking in the morn I was set upon by a profound silence, not an insect
nor bird stirred here. My quest had been to reach a new kingdom rising
in the north. Ruled by Pharaohs in the valley of the great river. My
journey was shortest straight through the ruins, and truth be told an
insidious curiosity had began to grip me. Be this the labyrinth wherein
lies the well of souls? By late morning I had surmised these to be
ruins of a kingdom of great might. On a scale so grand, as to seem
beyond reason. Great halls, temples, and courtyards interconnected in
such a way as to form a maddening maze. Were it not for my load stone,
I would have wandered a convoluted path. So was the effect of this
place, even in shadow it steals your steps. I hastened my pace, and
continued north. After what seemed many hours, I noticed the sky had
began to darken. As I looked up to survey the approaching storm, the
light turned red, and I beheld the moon passing before the sun. In the
red light the ruins glowed like ghosts of grandeur lost.
The sky went dark. A vortex of light, wind, and earth rose up before
me, and i fell to my knees shielding my eyes. The wind ceased, and a
loud rumble resonated through the ground as ripples in a pond. Slowly,
I opened my eyes and beheld before me a great stone raptor, its wings
encircling a deep abyss. Set into the breast of the beast, a flame
feeding not, yet burning with a brilliance captivating. It held me
fast, and filled me with longing to be one with it. I was drawn to the
flame as a moth, finding myself standing at the edge of the abyssal
chasm before the raptor. A low rumble, more felt than heard, roused me
from my revery. A sound like that of a multitude of voices muttering
low. The pit before me seemed to have no walls, only a blackness
absolute. In this blackness, brilliant points of light like stars in
the night sky. From the depths rose a fiery orb of such brilliance that
I was blinded to all else.
I was lost in the light of the object, unable to comprehend its nature
or purpose, yet held captive in its power. The light consumed, and
became my soul, and with it came visions of all that has been and what
could be. I think I may have cried out at the realization of what I was
seeing. So many rise, and falls as time weaves a path through eternity.
All the lives, and cultures vanquished, only to rise anew in an eternal
quest to achieve enlightenment, too often resulting in destruction.
These things I saw in a horror profound, the ordered chaos of creation
and death. I awoke in darkness, the wind blowing softly across the
ruins. Gone was the blinding orb, and the well of souls, and with it my
mortality and innocence. That was fourteen thousand years ago, and I
grew weary as an eternity passed. I have wandered the world, and have
learned great truths, bearing witness to outrageous tragedies. Now, I
sit upon this mountain top and wait. How long have I been here?, I know
not. My wait is at an end for you are now here, let me tell you a tale
of lands long forgotten and events beyond memory. Tell me friend,
"woult thou wish to know the truth"?
William VanDorin � 2008
