I felt a warm light begin to envelop me; it tugged gently on my body at first before it slowly morphed into a forceful shove from behind, like a mother ushering a small child out the door. As I grew closer to the glowing red light it suddenly splintered into a hundred smaller radiating beams and the darkness at my feet seemed to part. What had felt like an empty void beneath me slowly began to take shape, becoming rough and bumpy to the touch.
Now that I had grown closer to it, I saw that the glowing red light was actually an opening of some sort. Its edges lined with a bright fiery circle of light. When I finally managed to reach the opening and peer through it I saw a massive expanse of clouds, churning like a blazing fire in every shade of red and orange I could imagine. I felt a primal fear engulf me as I stared at the raging inferno that lay ahead. Attempting to take a massive step backward, I suddenly felt as though something was wrapping around my ankle, like a massive boa constrictor pulling me forward.
“Please, no… no.. no.. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!” I screamed as the unseen force yanked me out of the safe dark hole and into the fire. As I was being flung I realized the opening I had seen was actually a glowing knot hole, embedded in an undescribably massive and twisting tree.
‘Please, please just let this be over. I don’t want to have this dream anymore,’ I pleaded in my mind. The fire swirled around me as I plummeted and I closed my eyes. I always woke up just as I hit the ground in dreams like these, any second now I would snap back to reality. I reached out my hands focusing on my bedroom, the discount digital alarm clock on the nightstand. I imagined James's weight next to me, his warmth radiating as I cuddled closer, the sound of the cats purring as they slept by our heads. My hands searched as I tried to break through the dream and feel the cool touch of our cheap bedsheets. Instead, I felt as though I was sifting through fresh cotton candy, it was light and delicate but also soft as silk and felt warm as I caressed it. I kept my eyes shut tight and did my best to will myself to wake up. I needed to wake up.
“Would you like a few moments alone with the fiery cloud of MY realm?” a voice reverberated in my ears, it sounded deep and masculine. His tone was gentle and teasing, like a father who just caught their child doing something embarrassing. My eyes snapped open, startled I tried to jump to my feet, but the cloud beneath me felt as if it was swaying, like a boat on choppy water. I couldn't find my balance, my feet went out from under me and I toppled backward.
I expected to fall on my rear end, but instead felt soft warmth as I was raised to a seated position. The cloud beneath me became a type of sedan chair, the kind held up with polls and used to carry royalty around. The seat and back felt like plush cushions, walls rose up to my right and left with little cut-out windows at eye level, and above me formed an awning-like top. The overall shape was that of a red box, with the side I was facing removed.
“Good. Now, before we begin, I must confirm some things. There seems to have been a problem with your selection. Vaettir do not normally hesitate as you did.” The voice seemed to echo in my mind as the man spoke. I tried to find its source but failed, as far as I could tell I was the only one there and the voice seemed to come from everywhere at once.
“Do you wish for the cleansing fire of my breath or not?!” The voice boomed echoing in power and ferocity, the world around me felt as if it was trembling. The gentle tone from before was completely gone. I frantically looked around trying to find the source of the voice again, but all I could see were the firey clouds in all directions. I responded with an emphatic nod of my head, not sure if I should speak.
The voice spoke once again, and though it echoed just like before it sounded like a low whisper, the threatening tone sent a chill down my spine.
“Roar your answer, for in failure you shall be cleansed by fires born of the realms of Dissonance!”
Without thinking any further I screamed my reply.
“I accept the cleansing fire!” this time it was definitely my voice and body. I wasn't a passenger anymore, this choice was mine. Despite everything that had happened up till this point, It felt strangely reassuring to know I was the one in control.
“May the flames ever rise in your heart my child!” the voice boomed, I thought I heard a note of pride in it. Then a door suddenly materialized on the front of my sedan chair, locking me inside, in a panic I began throwing myself against the door. The sedan moved of its own accord, but I couldn't see anything outside the windows except the red clouds. I put every bit of strength I had into the action, as I slammed my shoulder against the spot where the door handle should have been.
I was overwhelmed by a feeling of claustrophobia. Did I answer his question wrong? Was I trapped in here forever? I heard a clank, like an old metal gate latch, and the door flung itself open. Suddenly everything tilted, as the chair was thrown forward, dumping me out onto the ground. No longer made of the warm clouds, but short well kept yellow grass. I looked back in time to see the sedan chair dissolve into wisps of flame and disappear completely. I tried to take this all in stride as I stood up and looked around. That was when I saw that there were hundreds, no thousands, of other people all around me.
Well, I assumed they were people. They all looked nearly identical, simple humanoid shapes with no features that indicated their gender. In fact, they had no features at all, I saw a small line that seemed to indicate the presence of a mouth but there was nothing else on their perfectly smooth heads. Not eyes, nose, hair or even ears. The only distinctive feature about them was that they appeared to be made of swirling firey sunlight, like they had solar flairs exploding within their bodies. I looked down at myself and saw I was the same, my skin looking like the churning surface of the sun.
Looking up I saw the massive canopy overhead. It was growing from, what looked like, an immense Boreal pine tree. Its bright red pine needles made an impenetrable umbrella of crimson that extended above and out as far as I could see. I saw some of the needles fall and begin to flutter toward the ground, I was afraid of being crushed by the giant bus-sized needle, when I saw that as soon as it fell it burst into technicolor flames and fizzled away to nothing before ever reaching the ground.
The spot where the needle once hung had already been filled by a new one. It was the same tree whose knot hole I was yanked from, the surface of its trunk glowed with tiny pinpricks of light from which seemed to flow little glowing dew drops. Its bark was a beautiful burgundy rose color. I realized that the lights on the tree's bark were knotholes, like the one I came from, and the 'dew drops' must have been more people pouring out of the tree. It was also covered in countless strips of cloth, tied to its many branches, I managed to count 18 colors in various hues; six reds, six oranges, and six yellows. I stood a good distance from the tree, but even craning my neck as far back as possible I was unable to see the top of it. As I took in my surroundings I realized the mass of people were all heading in the same direction. Then, out of seemingly nowhere, a person appeared before me.
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The individual was tall and wide, wrapped in thick well defined muscles. They were clearly male, unlike the rest of the undefined mass of people. His skin, if you could call it that, looked similar to my own. It burned and glowed as if made of molten lava and bulbous muscles and sinew flexed beneath it. He wore pale orange loose-fitted pants that gathered around his ankles, a glimmering vest that looked as if it were spun from precious metals that showed off his muscular form, and a radiantly burning sash floating around his waist. His hair burned brightly and floated in wisps around his face, like a roaring crimson fire. He postured, chest puffed out with a commanding air, wielding a massive bardiche. The weapon's long handle was an ashen color, its curved blade looked wickedly sharp, and emitted a subtle red glow and small dancing flames.
“I am Nardi, dear child, are you lost? Why do you not follow the other Vaettir along the fiery path of rebirth?” the man towered over me, looking as if he could pop my head between two fingers like a grape. But despite his intimidating stature and air of authority, his tone was that of genuine concern and care.
“W-where am I?” I managed to find my voice, having been struck silent by the beauty and chaos all around me.
“Hmmm, that is a difficult question to answer. Simply put you are in the realm of rebirth’s 9th heaven. Particularly the Road of Passion leading away from the holy tree of life, Modrus Maer.” Nardi stated, his thoughtful expression seeming content with his explanation. Clearly feeling he had answered my question in the simplest way possible.
“That really didn't help me any,” I replied, starting to feel a bit annoyed, “I mean, why am I here?” emphatically pointing at the ground. Although I really wanted to ask him if this was a dream or not, I decided against it as I figured that line of questioning wouldn't get me very far.
The large man, Nardi, paused and his eye suddenly became distant. I was confused and was about to speak when Nardi suddenly straightened, his back became rigid and he rolled his shoulders back. A blazing flame shot out from between his shoulder blades as he lifted slightly off the ground. He looked almost like a phoenix as he rose, the flame from his back settled into the shape of two sets of fiery wings and a sharp halo shaped crown formed above his head. His eyes became hard and his expression stony as he brandished his Bardiche. I felt my jaw go slack as armor began to materialize around Nardi's body, seaming to ooze from his molten skin, making him appear more like a flaming angel of fiery retribution.
'I guess I should have been more polite,' my thoughts were broken as screams echoed behind me. I turned to see hundreds of other Nardi-like beings rise from the sea of people.
I began to look around frantically, fearing what would make such a powerful-looking man become so solum. I suddenly felt seized by the ankle and was dragged through the throng of people. When I managed to lift my head so I could look down at my foot, all I managed to see was a disembodied hand. Not a fiery-skinned hand like the other beings I had seen, a tangible human-looking hand, dragging me by the ankle across the ground. The ground ahead seemed to slope downward, the wide thorofare we were all walking on branched into countless other small pathways. I raised myself up again hoping I could see the rest of my assailant, but while the hand was clear as day, I could only make out shadowy flickers of the form it was attached to.
“Hey! Wait! What are you doing?! Stop!” I screamed and attempted to dig my fingers into the ground as it flew by beneath me, hoping to slow our frantic pace. But my attempts were fruitless as the further we traveled the more speed we seemed to pick up, and I was thrown into the other people we passed. With each collision, the force guiding the hand seemed to gain strength and my body felt heavier. Eventually, it stopped and I was dropped to the ground. I looked up and saw the hand disappearing into shadow, and words seemed to echo in my mind.
“Praise be the Countess. Many sacrifices today, the more to gain tomorrow.” The voice was raspy, cold and tired; sounding as if the speaker was very old. I lay there on the ground, feeling tired and battered. I was done with being thrown around, done with creatures and disembodied voices that seemed to speak in riddles and I was done with this dream. I was exhausted mentally and emotionally and just wanted to wake up. I refused to be a pawn anymore. This was a dream, right? And I was obviously lucid so I was done being tossed from place to place. It was my dream and I was in charge. I sat up in a cross-legged position and folded my arms over my chest.
“Nope, I am done! I am not doing this anymore!” I shouted, trying to sound firm and commanding, but it came out sounding more like a whine than I would have liked. I tried to will myself to wake up. But nothing happened. Annoyed I looked up and saw that I was in front of a branching road, one of the paths I had seen earlier, it glowed with a fiery light. I then felt a hard push against me, as though someone large had kicked me square in the center of my back. The force sent me forward tumbling down the winding road ahead.
“The efforts of the Countess shall not be wasted!” the cold voice hissed in my head once again. Catching my breath I looked up and saw a withered figure cloaked all in black. Seeing it sent a chill, cold as death, down my spine. Nardi appeared behind the cloaked figure, brandishing his fiery Bardiche above his head. He swung the massive weapon downward, a strike that would have cleaved the chilling figure in two. I didn't see if the blow landed, as the road beneath me began to twist and warp, becoming some sort of demented playground slide.
I slid down it at a breakneck speed, faster and faster till I was jerked to a halt. The force of the sudden stop sent me rolling into a soft patch of grass. Once I gained my bearings I saw I had landed in the lush landscape of a savanna, with a beautiful oasis with crystal clear water and a single Acacia tree at its edge. Taking in the scene I saw several other people entering from other paths, looking at them I saw that while still genderless and nearly identical, their forms seemed to be more solidified now. Their bodies were no longer whisps of flame and light, but more of molten metal like the Nardi. Gazing back at the oasis I spotted a figure standing at its center, I was certain they had not been there before. It was the clearly defined form of a man, with dark tanned skin that looked to be tinted red.
“Ahhh, come my child. We have been waiting. You are the last one needed for this path! Truly, a courageous choice young one. I am here to answer your questions and to guide you into your next life,” the man's voice radiated warmth and kindness, he felt paternal and loving. My chest swelled with a sense of calm and relief at his words and a feeling of happiness washed over me. Even though I didn't know this man, had never seen him before, he felt familiar. Like someone I knew I could trust and whose approval I craved. Almost as if I was looking at my own father.
The tall man spoke again, his arms cast wide as if welcoming me into an embrace, exposing his Greco-roman robes gird about his lower half. His deep and calming voice came again, “I am Ignis!”.