When his eyes closed, he fell asleep...
Light filled his eyes. He strode through clouds that puffed themselves further up. He bounded across each of them. The sun lay below them, and he let himself rise further. Fresh air inside the bluffs of cloud and pillars of mist. The natural world unfolded around him as clouds faded away and allowed rosy light to fall into them. Like a world of snow in the sky. Around him, a blue aura faded into darkness. The clouds let themselves fall slowly...
He stood near the peak on a cloud. It floated near people. Darrell, Bernard, and Osmond, all of whom waved to him and beckoned him forward. He stepped onto each cloud, one by one, while he reached out his fingertips and tried to get himself over to them... But... Then...
A warm memory. He climbed an oak tree, gripping the bark with ease. David scaled the trunk, the branches swayed under him, and a breeze passed through him. The lines of age on his hands had disappeared. The tree stood steady. The bark scratched his hands, but he didn't care. He looked around. A mountain stood in full view, and trees lay near it. But he hadn't finished climbing yet.
He neared the top, with leaves thinning out. After a while, he reached the top, poked his head out, and looked at the summer sun. It blazed, turning somewhat, and he rested in its rays. Around him, a mountain range emerged. The forest trees scraped the sky. He had never imagined such an amount. They stood in all places, covering him in shade. Then...
He danced. Others were with him. Playing. Fun. He felt carefree, with a bare chin. He could laugh or smile. They chanted and chanted, dancing in moonlight, underneath leafy tops, shrouded in the mountains. Men of deer, Laphanists, all dancing and chanting... He smiled, grinned. Happy times...
He woke up. The birdcages rattled. He watched the birds hop around. They pecked at the wooden bars. David watched them for a while.
While they sat eating bread, Bernard told more stories. After they'd finished, they walked further along the mountain. The familiar trees faded away and small hills prodded forth from the ground. Grass grew in small clumps at the bottom of the hills. Weeds scratched his legs and the chilling wind made him shiver.
Darrell stopped, looking down.
"The path was here...", Darrell said.
"We've only reached a clearing. The path will cut through here later. Maybe if we find people, they'll tell us", Osmond nodded.
David looked up. Rain dropped from the clouds.
"The path!", Darrell exclaimed, "Where's the path?"
"I don't know", Osmond said in a quiet voice. He backed away as they turned to face him. Nobody spoke.
"I'll find it myself", Darrell replied. He pointed into a forest of quivering treetops, "Right there! C'mon, follow me."
He strutted forwards as the rain came down from the heavens. The droplets of rain became absorbed by the cold ground. David covered himself with his bag. But, water leaked through anyway. Sheets of rain slid down from the clouds. Water covered every part of him. It filled in small pools around the hills. They ran into the forest, meeting a cliff on the way. David sprinted across a small divide. It turned into a ditch as he ran. They slowed down, and walked. He shivered as the rain pattered down his head. The cold. He tried to shake the rain off himself.
"What is that?", Darrell had stopped.
A tall abbey stood ahead. Tall cones sloped upwards. Scaffolding lined the walls and red roof tiles dripped with rain. Each tip of each cone held a metal diamond. David's head turned to look up. Tall arches supported a middle cone that spiraled upwards past the treetops. They walked forward. But, then they ran as the first sound of thunder rolled past. David looked at the lowering sun.
Bernard ran up to the abbey, and turned to face them.
"C'mon. Let's go in," He beckoned them forward. David stood, not taking a step. None of them did. But Bernard went to the door anyway.
Bernard neared the door decorated with intricate carvings of gold. A brass knocker stood in the middle of the door, and Bernard lifted the knocker and released it. The sound echoed across the forest. The door opened.
"Who's out there?"
"Can we come in?", Bernard asked. "The rain, and the cold. There's not much-"
"Alright", the doors opened with a loud bang. Rain flew from the door and onto the ground.
"Come in, come in. Freezing, eh?"
A monk led them into a vast hall. It was crowded with monks. Lush gardens rose from mud brick and David walked into a tall overarching hall decorated with paintings. Staircases lined the walls, and bookshelves filled each room they passed. Some monks walked in a circle around a pole. Around those monks, deep impressions showed years of dedication. In the middle of each pole, a large glowing sphere whirled around by itself. Many of them seemed deep in thought. David wondered if they'd ever stopped.
"What's the sphere?", Osmond asked.
"Galtrand. It's one of the three. Soln, Gotund, and Galtrand. All three make up everything."
"Everything?", Osmond repeated, "Everything?"
"Yes. Although, you can't extract any of them from any object. Impossible to do that."
"How do you get this-", Osmond pointed out, "-then?"
"Because reality turns weaker after you pass the Gate of Reality. And, then the elements pool up in the ground. When you reach deeper than the Abyss, then you'll find at least one of the three elements."
"Hungry?", the monk pulled something out of his robe, "Galtrand's the only food we have in the abbey."
"Alright", David took some and bit into it. It tasted like nothing, but it had a strange texture. It seemed hard to explain. Galtrand was rough and smooth at the same time.
"It only gives energy, but no taste", the monk replied, "Not much you can like in Galtrand, it tastes crummy. But, Galtrand is the only food available."
"Eh, tastes alright", Bernard replied after trying the Galtrand.
"Ten years and you begin to abhor it", the monk answered, "Fifty years, and the best thing to do is feign insanity, then hope you never touch it again."
"Feigning insanity for this?!", Bernard laughed.
"Sometimes, life-threatening diseases work better."
David grinned. They walked into another room. Straw seemed to be crammed in every crevice. Tall wooden stables stood atop each other, reaching halfway up the wall. A window to the sky filled light into the room. Candles lined the walls.
"Strange", Osmond said, " Do you keep horses in here?"
"No, horses can't fit. Too cramped.", the monk replied.
Darrell spoke.
"Men of Deer?", Darrell squinted forward. David followed his gaze and saw a deerman. The head of a deer, the body of a human. It sat on a rock, eating some leaves. David had never seen a deerman before.
"Yes, some middlings and pegagons, too", the monk answered.
"20 years...", David said, "After this, I'll never see them again."
"Maybe", the monk replied, "It won't be a good chance that you'll see one again. But maybe."
"That's small compared to the amounts before the Callous War", Osmond said.
"The great lumbering beasts of the sky remain in the middlings. But, those things are so frail and weak", Bernard paused midthought. "There isn't much hope for everything else."
"Now, they remain here. But, then one day even this monastery will fail. Everything dies with time", the monk answered. "Many don't like them. It was a bad day when civilization killed these beings."
"Then the Callous War, the plague, and the Prophet", David said.
They went to sleep in different rooms. Each room with a colorful tiled floor and a hard wooden bed. A clothesline hung on two poles. He slept with comfort. It seemed like a good night. It was a strange thing. The monks were kind people, but they were a fading cause. The plague outside of Pnoaphales affected everything. It made people desperate. They did anything to survive. Thievery was a light crime. David remembered when he'd seen a man kill his dogs for food during a harsh week. He'd heard of more serious crimes in other villages. Fewer people upheld the morals of the monks.
He bent his head down, praying again. His eyes twinkled from the light of the night. Tomorrow, the Prophet would listen. They'd been too far away, and the Abyss had interfered with his message. Today, he prayed and prayed. He wished for further luck, cures, warmth, fire, and light. He wished for a lantern, a boat, a coat, and leather. He wished for Averan food, and further things while his beard rustled and he muttered things like a mysterious Magi.
In the night, he woke up and heard marching outside. He opened an eye and went to his window. The familiar buildings of the monks surrounded him, and tall walls stopped the forest from entering. But, he widened his eyes at a different sight. In the darkness, people stood around the monastery. They held swords and stared at him. The Captain and his army.
David walked back into his bed and shook his head. He crossed his arms tight against his chest, exhaled softly, and tried to sleep against the dull drone of marching soldiers. They surrounded them all. They stood with swords and thousands of soldiers... David stood up from his bed. He looked again to see the soldiers gone....
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