Volume III : Detachment

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  Avery glided elegantly through the air, feeling a bit dizzy as he beheld nature's beauty. The dragon’s den he had been trapped in for so long had turned out to be a been a small world, hidden in a magnificent mountain range. Incredibly, he was starting to miss his desolate prison, intimidated by this heavenly wilderness.

  He had found no signs of humanity so far, and the truth was that he was in no hurry to find them. It was already hard enough to acclimatize to this unfamiliar world. He was content with his current life, a free spirit letting nature heal his wounded heart.

  He spent most of his time cultivating and admiring the scenery, appreciating just how much better this was to the dim ravine that he had called home for centuries. Now, there was no limit to his actions, he could go anywhere he wished, do anything he wanted, free to play with the wind and rain as with long-lost friends or stalk the wildlife. He was living an Idyllic existence, and sometimes he felt his heart was so full of joy it would burst.

  The scenery was astonishingly beautiful, and Avery never grew tired of the feeling of flying freely through the air, twirling in the breeze and immersing himself in the magnificence of nature.

  There was so much to appreciate, so much variety and charm, so much that had been hidden by the monotonous gray sky of the abyss. Snow covered peaks that reached so far they seemed to touch the stars, gorges that led to the underworld, trees with emerald green leaves and clouds streaked with gold, majestic waterfalls of crystal-clear water.

  This magnificent scene was an ode to nature's majesty, and to the Tao’s greatness. This was what he had been missing for thousands of years, and this was something he never wanted to lose again.

  He felt both excitement and anticipation to be out in it all, loving both the coolness of the daylight hours and the frosty nights. He remembered, a long time ago, before he had even come to this world, he used to dismiss the world's beauty, preferring to sit at home with a book in hand or a computer on his lap, but he could no longer comprehend his previous self’s actions.

  He was not only passively admiring a beautiful landscape, he was seeing an earthly manifestation of the Tao. With no sapient beings to disturb it, the natural order had full reign to order everything according to its delicate laws. Each mountain, each flower, each snowflake was an expression of the Great Way, each of them unique yet part of a greater whole. The entire world was talking to him, and every whisper in the wind brought him countless insights into the Supreme Truth.

  Yet all this was not what brought him the greatest joy, or what truly brought him to hate his previous prison. That was the sudden closeness and accessibility he felt from the Tao. It seemed that the small world of the dragon’s den was partly disconnected from the Tao, making it obscure and distant. Perhaps that had been one of the factors that let Avery survive his multiple encounters with the supreme truth, but he couldn't help but feel it had not been worth it.

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  Now, in this great world of the prehistoric, the Great Way was clearer, more profound, more present. It was difficult to describe, but it brought him great joy, and he could hardly imagine anything more wonderful.

  Laughing at how perfect his life was, Avery looked around him again, wanting to admire it again. He blinked, surprised to discover that night had fallen, the black velvet sky adorned by the twinkling of stars, like thousands of diamonds sparkling with starlight, the earth bathed in gentle moonlight.

  He was pretty sure that it had been early morning when he had started daydreaming about the Tao, and now a day had been lost to his idle musings. This was not the first time something of the sort had happened either. On the contrary, it seemed to happen every other day. Now that he no longer used time warps and his body did not age, he had no way of keeping track of time.

  He supposed he could design some kind of clock using runes, but he was not that invested in having a minuted record of his activity, or in managing his time efficiently.

  He was an immortal anyways, so why should he bother worrying about these insignificant details? Be it night or day, the Tao was always there, and it was all that mattered.

  Avery continued his journey to the horizon, wind beneath his feet, the Tao as companion, and karma as a guide.

  The mountain range seems to have no end, as he had flown by thousands of peaks and each time he would fly over one, another bigger one would appear. In all fairness, he was not paying much attention to where he was going and might have been going in circles, but even then this mountain range would still be massive.

  The amount of unique and awe-inspiring landmarks he had come across was beyond impressive. From a forest with trees made out of flames to a sword-shaped mountain and a lake of liquid crystal, this mountain range had it all. As for animal life, while it was not extremely numerous, it had its own wild charm, with many extraordinary creatures enhancing the beauty of the landscape they lived in.

  Avery even grew particularly attached to a white fox he had one day found running around through the trees. It looked so pure, so innocent, going on to do its daily tasks without a thought about the greater Truth. It reminded him of the distant past when he had not yet discovered the Tao. He watched the adorable creature from afar for days, cheering it on as it hunted, and worrying about its safety whenever it got into trouble.

  He never directly interacted with it, not wanting to disturb the natural order directly, but he gave it a gift before he left, a rune containing all of his understanding of the Tao. If it cultivated diligently, and if fate was on its side, then it too could aspire to rejoin the Tao.

  Such was his admiration for this extraordinary landscape that he was almost disappointed when he started to notice that the mountain peaks were getting slightly shorter, that snow became slightly rarer, and that ravines no longer extended so deep. He was happy in this mountain range, so did he really have to go outside? Why should he go and face the unknown uselessly?

  He forced himself to continue, as one who aspired to understand the Supreme Avenue should always seek to explore the unknown, and could not allow himself to rest on his laurels. Yet he grew increasingly worried as the mountains grew sparser, and it was with apprehension that he finally beheld the first sign of civilization he had seen in eight thousand years.

  He knew that he was about to complicate his simple life immensely, and he wasn't sure it was worth it.