Recollections of Hopes: Renejaeya

What lies beyond life?

All of the time in the world, and I do not know. These white bones of mine are the last reminder of what was once living. Of all the time I spent staring at it... of all the times they rattle, it’s still hard to believe there’s no meat, no flesh. But I have no qualms. For how dead I am, I am very much alive.

A greater mystery lies outside my body; a mystery I cannot unravel. These halls I’m caged in, I’ve walked them. The sparsely lit torches on these walls guide me. But no amount of guidance can help me escape this labyrinth.

Here, in this neverending space of walls, I am trapped. Where here is, I do not know. But I know I am not alone. During the darking times of the torches, I hear a calling. It speaks to me, but not of the same way us Aislings speak with our voices.

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It speaks into me. Conceptions and ideas in its rawest imaginable form appears in my mind. But it is not mine. However brief it lasts I am certain it is not mine. No Aisling — not one sentient life form could produce these amalgamations.

Incomprehensible, and yet, forever memorable. These mental conceptions — I cannot vocalize them. No words or language in Temuair can mediate these thoughts.

How long has it been, I wonder. How many times has this place consumed my steps. There is no back or forth. No left or right. The only thing I’m sure of in this perpetual darkness is the ground. The fire of these torches, I no longer trust.

And as I wander through this nightmare of no wake, I realize my sense of time can no longer be a friend. There is no trust, nor guidance. But the voice still speaks. And everytime it speaks, I now etch the ground.

Humans have sought immortality, but they only find the inevitable. I have come to an understanding of why it is so, of the reason for this cruel law. A withered body kills the mind, but out of mercy. No minds are meant to live this long; long enough for the flickering flames of these torches to be enjoyable.