Summerwind's Journey, Part 1
#5 of The Blazewood Pack Saga
Summerwind's Journey, Part 1 by Nightcatcher Blackwolf The sky was dark blue... and yet, it seemed wrong. The blue was... too blue, too real. There were no stars, but the moon was there, shining steadily, almost fiercly, with a burning white light that could warm the traveler who stood below it, or utterly immolate the one who came too close. The ground... was not there, but it was; a transparent layering of impossibly thin slices of crystal, or something else entirely; and one could see eternity through this layering, and it was horrible, but joyous in its own way. The horizon, where the ground/not-ground, and the sky that burned with the light of the powerful moon met was a thin line, the color of which no eye could hope to capture and no mouth to describe. The air held within it the colors of all creation; the colors that no mortal can see, but sees yet every day without knowing; and they changed as they were watched, aurora-like in their brilliance and movement, but yet, unlike anything ever seen on Earth. And the power.... the sheer power, not restrained, not controlled, but all-encompassing, composed of all and of none, creating, changing, overflowing with the brilliance of life... And the power, the power to make all known, the one to create understanding where none once was, to arrange, to rearrange, never stopping... And the power, the power that ends the cycle, that brings darkness to light that it may become light once more... They were there, and everywhere.... And in the midst of this incredible landscape lay a lone wolf, one who understood and did not, one who could not hope to understand, and still did... Blinded, and yet could see... Summerwind floated, aimless and lost among the power, the light, the darkness, and all they contained.... Floating, walking, running, and staying still... Falling, rising, and not moving... He slowly lost his vision and hearing, oblivion claiming him as its own... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "-------" Summerwind's eyes tightened momentarily, then slowly eased open. The sky above him was now a strange orange color, and it seemed... bent inwards, pulled towards the small black dot in the center. He closed his eyes again, squinching them tightly shut, unable to think clearly.... "------" The noise was indescribable, but beautiful... The sound of a flower that does not move, but sings aloud in glory and joy. The singer-wolf opened his eyes slowly, and saw a nebulous white light, coming from a form whose face, if the word could describe truly what it was, was no more than a half-foot from his face... looking at him, and radiating concern, understanding, and somehow, a joy behind it all that had no reason. "What... has happened?" Summerwind knew where he had been for that moment, in that paradise of hell, moving and not moving among the powers of creation and the powers that would one day bring about destruction... The spirit world was one he thought really should exist only in dreams... Returning to the present, he looked around. Where he was now was a mystery to him. He tried to sit up, but something restrained him; his mind telling him not to without words. "----------" Somehow the sound conveyed the very essence of sleep, and Summerwind, confused and bewildered slowly lost his grip on consciousness again. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ When he once again opened his eyes, the orange sky was still there, still bent in the same way... but suddenly, he realized it was not the sky. It was a roof of some sort, for his senses told him that it was much too close to be the sky. He slowly propped himself up on his elbow, somehow knowing without knowing how he knew that it was now all right to do so. He saw the sides of a tent, the flap closed.... he lay on a cot that was more comfortable than the time he slept on the bed in the caern. There was nothing else in the small area with him; the nebulous creature that he had seen last night was nowhere to be seen. He slowly sat up further, swinging his legs off of the side of the bed, and placing them on the floor... then looked down in surprise. His feet hadn't touched the floor, even though the cot wasn't a half-foot off the bed. Somehow, without the cot appearing taller, or him shorter, or the floor farther away, his feet didn't touch the floor. Summerwind drew his legs back up and brought his knees to his chest, a shiver of fear and helplessness shaking him. "---------" The sound came from the flap, which parted to admit the same creature from the night before. She moved over to him, not walking, not floating, but as if the space between them suddenly ceased to exist. "What...?" The bard was completely and utterly confused. "-------" said the form, drawing closer. It gently brushed Summerwind's hand - - the pack huddled around Thornpaw, looking at huge wounds in his legs - - Fleetstrike and Thornpaw, together, alone - - Darkwind explaining to the pack... something, something... - - Summerwind, floating in the non-space of un-reality, amidst the spirits - A flash of black brilliance that somehow showed every color without being any of them - - Five pairs of eyes, once other colors, turned red, one darkened and dulled - - A giant clad all in iron, weilding a sword that could chop a mighty oak in two - - and the visions kept coming, flooding Summerwind's mind with information that made no sense and did not fit, like having every other piece of a jigsaw puzzle and being unable to connect any of them... And then it stopped. Summerwind found himself laying on the cot again, his head feeling like it had been trampled by a deer. He tried to sit up, and found that he couldn't. "Summerwind." The voice sounded so familiar... who? "Summerwind, listen. You have been expelled from your body. An evil force now inhabits it, and is using it to spy on your friends." But why? And who? And... why me? "Because your friends have the potential to cause the Wyrm no end of trouble. The identity of the creature is one you would not know. And you, because you were susceptible." Susceptible? "Yes." Where am I now? "In my tent." Who are you? "--------" Who are you?! There was no reply. Summerwind's mind raced, though his body remained unable to move. "You must heal. I will return as soon as I am able, and tell you more." Don't go! "I must. I will return." Don't leave me like this... who are you? Why am I here? "Sleep now, gentle one." And with that, he felt the presence slowly close his eyes, and his consciousness slipped away yet again... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Where am I? Who... what was that? Gentle one? Me? Why can't I move? Why am I alone? Why? ....... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nightcatcher here now. I know this is a strange one, but everything will be explained in time... Summerwind has a long way to go, and anything can happen in the otherworld he now inhabits... I hope you like this chapter; there will definitely be more like it. As usual... [email protected] answers all questions (except spoilers!), comments, flames, etc.