First Practice Dream of Śri’verā-Ch.1.4

I realized it was as if I had suddenly fallen into a dark basement.

I could see from my mind’s eye the presence of lights and familiar things—normal things.

But the world around me stretched into a void of endless emptiness—no sound, no shape, just an overwhelming silence.

It was like the incessant hum of high-pressure steam, coming from nowhere and everywhere at once. It persisted, unrelenting, yet never truly formed into noise amidst the void.

A knot of unease tightened in my chest, pulling tighter with each second. My breath quickened, shallow and panicked, as if the void itself was suffocating me. My fear was raw, like being stranded in a storm without shelter.

Then, from the depths of those everywheres-and-nowhere, a face emerged—fierce and ancient, etched with symbols I couldn't understand.

It was a face from the Bön Religion community that I grew up in. Its eyes glowing with an unearthly light, staring into me as though it knew my very soul.

Revealing ilm like alphabets floating before me:

བོནpʰø̃̀བོན pø̃̀~

A cold chill swept over me—no, actually, it spoke too, calling my name while travelling every pore of my skin.

“Śri’-verā…”

Yes, it wasn’t the cold of the void, it wasn’t sound nor the touch of an element, but something dreamy, like a distant whisper that danced on the edges.

I wanted to scream, to force the void back and away, but fear gripped me too tightly. A crushing dread whispered to me: You do not belong here. Leave.

“Well, you are in a dream,” I heard.

No—that didn’t feel right. It wasn’t a dream. It was still tangible, still real.

My hand brushed against something warm, solid. Drakos. I could feel the weight of his presence beside me, his fur like a comforting warmth against my trembling fingers.

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"Drakos?" I whispered, but my voice was swallowed by the void. The face of the Bön Religion stared, unmoving, as though it too were waiting for something—someone.

Suddenly, the warmth of Drakos’s presence pulled me back, dragging me from the dreamlike abyss.

The emptiness faded, replaced by the familiar cold of the mountain. I gasped, awakening from the strange, heavy trance that had held me captive.

Relief washed over me like a gentle wave, but it was short-lived.

Then slowly I opened my eyes, the haze of the dream lingering like a thick fog in my mind and a weight of mist on my bulging eyeballs. The mountain's cold air was sharp against my skin, but something felt different—something unmistakable. I turned my head, and there he was.

Drakos.

But he was no longer the same. No longer the Himalayan Sheepdog.

His form had shifted, merging dragon-like features with the sturdy build of his canine past. His fur was gone, replaced by shimmering jadely thick fur armor that glistened like distant stars. Swirling patterns, reminiscent of ancient Egyptian drawings, moved across his body. They were vivid, like glyphs brought to life, speaking in silent riddles. His eyes, once warm and kind, now glowed violet—deep pools that seemed to hold the mysteries of the world. A new Drakos was born.

I felt a mixture of emotions that warred within me—fear, reverence, and something unnameable that hovered between dread and awe.

"Drakos..." My voice barely broke that humming silence, trembling with awe.

He tilted his head, his presence carrying a weight that was blowing my mind, accompanied by a strange humming in my thoughts—like again everything, everywhere and nowhere moved like mind-wind, but no, it wasn’t the air.

It was their very tones of atmosphere… both our very beings intertwined, changed, in motion that was extracting yet secreting at the same time; floating in the spaces that were clearly adjacent and next to each other on the longitude and magnitude, shush —

And then we were like possessed, swept away by the rhythm, yes, the rhythm of souls moving in layers that were blending, in sync, I think…

"I am... a creature reborn. A guardian, a being of the old world and new. I am the Chakra Dragonhound," he said, his voice still familiar but now carrying a primal edge.

I stared at him, my mind struggling to process the transformation.

"A Chakra Dragonhound?" I repeated, almost in disbelief. "But... you were a dog. A mountain dog..."

Drakos’s violet eyes softened for a moment.

"Now, I am something beyond that. And so are you, little one. Others will see me as I once was, but only when they are ready. I stand with the JC Draggon to bring forth the gospel of the grimoire. As for the Master of the Lotus Born... I do not wish to overwhelm you. Suffice it to say, he is the Protector Among the Elements of Consciousness, the one our master here at the Himalayas Practice House has been teaching to you novices."

A sense of wonder mingled with my lingering fear. I stared at him, awe swelling in my chest.

"But, Drakos, I know …you are my dream, you are the dream, my first practice dream… And, Drakos, you are so beautiful….And I know "