031 - Sky Beyond Sky

Quiet.

Magnus sunk deeper into the mud below the still swamp waters. The entire Empire Swamp silent and cold, not even a wind to stir the waters.

Here I am. This is me. Magnus Lund, there and here - my body, my face, my arms and legs and . . has my nose always looked like that? There I am, body sunk in mud. And here am I, floating by a red thread.

Time passed slow and fast, day came and went, stars and moon and sun again, all in the time it took Magnus to get his bearing, to stop staring at his nose from a few feet away. This was the spirit body, right? His spirit or ghost form, ah hells. The waters didn't seem to have much of an effect of his body, not as far as he could see. If I pull myself back in now . . will I explode in limbs and flesh or, or was I already dead?

What a stupid question.

If I'm not alive, then what is this? What am I now? Magnus wavered, his ethereal body feeling all the less real. If I doubt myself do I just vanish? What about that white fog? Those eyes . . Magnus shuddered.

Enough. Magnus turned his gaze to the bottom of the swamp. Faint, almost invisible at first, he saw a thin green strand sticking up out of the mud and floating suspended in the waters. He peered at the strange strand, thinking it was something like seaweed, something possibly alive in the deadly waters.

As he watched another thread appeared, faint at first, fading into his focus - and another. Soon, in every direction there were hundreds of green threads floating like stalks of seaweed in the clear blue swamp waters. Magnus reached out gently touching a green strand.

The strand trembled, from where he touched it begun to turn a pale shade of red. The whole world seemed to come into focus, as if night had been made day. The blue of the swamp, the black rocks, brown earth, even his own black-veined and blister covered body took on a potent vibrance.

Magnus reached out again, touching all the green threads he could and turning them red. Their vitality flowed into him, an incredible sensation of life, a hot electric pulse entering through his hands, filling his spirit. The threads connecting him to his body seemed thicker, took on a deeper shade of red.

Soon the dozen threads Magnus could reach became green, but beyond there were hundreds, thousands more spread over the mud at the bottom of the swamp. If only I could reach them . . Magnus tried to swim away from his body to no avail, the red threads, it seemed, could be reeled in, but not easily lengthened.

What had the Alchemist done? He'd been able to make a thread appear from his finger, right? Magnus pointed a ghostly digit, willing a red thread to appear. Nothing. What about the threads connecting me to my body - can they be used in some way? He touched one of the several threads, a familiar warm buzz. It lit up, flashing bright red and came out of his body entering into his ghostly chest. Magnus pointed again, this time a single red thread shot out and coiled around a green strand turning it instantly red.

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Ah ha! Easy! Magnus shot the red thread out again and again, turning every single green strand thread, absorbing an incredible amount of energy. His spirit form swelled in size, becoming almost twice as big as his actual body, the world around him swam with incredible colour, incredible life, even in the dead swamp the waters, the sky, the mud was alive with millions of sparks of life, creatures so small but shining with such brilliant vitality!

Magnus spent every moment absorbing as much energy as he could, and when every strand was red he became despondent. Not enough! I need more!

There is something here . . beneath the mud, under the swamp. Where do these green strands come from? Are they just a natural part of the swamp? Hells, nothing is natural about this swamp! So . . are they what made the swamp like this? He touched one of the now red strands, it felt as if it were part of him, like a feeler running down through the mud. Magnus focused, feeling that there was more he could do than just turn the strands red and absorb this energy.

His awareness run through his fingers, it felt natural, as simple as blinking and opening his eyes. Magnus felt he was not really seeing, not hearing, or seeing anything at all with his sense . . come to think of it, did his spirit body have any eyes? Any ears? How was it that I could see and hear and feel . . Magnus hesitated, the sudden doubt causing his spirit to pale and the red threads to darken.

Bah! Focus!

Magnus concentrated once more on the strand, his mind still shaken. Focus! Just this! Forget all distractions! Just this, just here and the now!

His awareness spread to the strand, going down through the mud and deeper. In the dark he saw thousands of other red strands, the deeper he went the less red they became. The strands seemed to flow together, now his was the only strand red, the others all a bright green.

The green strands stretched down and down, deeper beneath the surface. Magnus wasn't sure how far down he'd come, he could see ahead, could see all around the bright green strands, but couldn't see what lay ahead below in the pitch dark.

Below, a massive eye lid opened, a single green eye swivelled to look up at the single red strand slowly descending.