Draigkhiun: Chapter Two, Section XI

XI

Somewhere, in the mists of sleep, it is easy to slip away from the cocoons of rest and enter a world of dreaming hell. My eyes were closed and I was, indeed, dreaming. It was there that all similarities between normal, rejuvenating rest ended and my state began. Had I been able I would have been tossing and turning. Throwing back the covers I might even have bolted from my bed and run as far and hard as I could.

In the deepest dreams I crossed shifting landscapes that were alien but retained enough familiar facets that I recognized them just the same. My journeys were perilous. I was naked to the elements and fevered. Great, toothy monsters lurked at every corner. Friends and family would enter to offer aid and guide me back home only to be devoured or perish in a multitude of horrifying ways. I would always end up alone and dying from some non-disclosed event.

Death, itself, never collected me. It would lurk in the mists on the edges of my perceptions; taunting me. It would call my name. It would mock me. It would show brief glimpses of itself and then unleash its monsters to come and claim me only to call them back moments before they could strike. Death dangled its horror over me until my life became agony. I would, then, gladly accept its offer to take me from my existence only to have it rescinded. No, my time had not come. I was not yet worthy to enjoy the great rest that Death offered.

Laughing, Death would then spit upon my equally unworthy life.

I would come, with the monsters hot upon my heels, screaming for the chance to awaken. Somewhere solace lay glimmering above me, beyond normal reach, like the lights reflecting on the surface of a very deep pool. I was in the completion of a dive to its bottom, surrounded in suffocating water and longing for air, desperately striving to reach the surface and breathe again.

Eventually the surface was broken and I could take one screaming breath. I would break the surface into a cold and unfamiliar room. The one breath would only allow me the briefest of glances to see people coming and going from my direction. I would then be pulled back into the waters of this restless dream to be chased again.

I don’t know how often this dream cycle happened but, eventually, I came upon the banks of a great river in late evening’s twilight. Somehow, I knew that it demarcated time as well as place. Death crept behind me and, whispering in my ear, bid me to cross the waters and enter new lands. As horrible as the land I had been crossing was I could not find the motivation to cross the waters. I resisted the urge.

You must cross, Death urged me. Your time is now.

“I won’t,” I responded.

Why?  You have longed for this release from your agony!

“You continually mocked and shunned me. I will not cross now.”

You must! With that command I was pushed from the bank and into the cold water. Oddly, the water was refreshing and I could feel the horrors slipping away from my mind and my being. I refused to cross and surrendered my self to the flowing water as I began to drift with the currents. The fever that I’d felt throughout my journey was gone. I no longer cared about anything save the cool water that supported my body.

The drift was easy and relaxing. I was no longer submerged in its choking depths but riding its surface like a duck at ease on a lake. I rode the water past too many of the horrifying landscapes I had crossed. If only I’d made the river sooner. After a time I could feel the current change and speed up. The surface was rougher and the air was filled with cold mist. The air was a giant soundboard vibrating with the deep bass of a roar.

I was not afraid of the waterfall. I rode over its crest and tumbled with its water into the pool below. I was plunged deep into it. Instead of panic I only felt calm as I kicked my way towards the surface. It hovered just beyond my reach for a time. I could make out the stars from the night sky even in the murky depths of the pool. The stars grew larger and brighter against the surface as I rose. The light increased and almost hurt my eyes with its brilliance. I could feel the surface just barely beyond my reaching fingertips and I gave one mighty kick.

I took a deep gasp as I broke the surface and emerged back into the world. 

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