Alone, cold in the dark. Stars above, sand below. Far away, light upon a mountain. A call, touching on my soul. I wake from the dream – or is it a memory? I do not know – and turn, sand shifting beneath my feet and scarf fluttering in the wind. On the horizon I see the mountain of my dream, upon its peak light shining faintly forth, a beacon for my journey. I leap into the air, riding the light, gliding swiftly across the sand. From rocky outcrop to rocky outcrop I soar, my feet brushing the stones lightly as I alight.
I pause upon one, larger than the others; these are not of nature, I realise. Gazing about me it becomes clear – these are the ruins of a great city drowned by sand, the skeleton of a world long gone. For a while I tarry, wondering who raised the buildings now forgotten. Then with the shifting shadows I leave; the mountain calls, my journey has only begun. Over a great dune I fly, scarf glowing with living light, and behold ahead, through a great wall and a great gate, a ruined bridge that rears, majestic and mighty, above the rippling sands.
The bridge leads to a great city at the foothills of the mountain, as silent as the desert I have left behind. Glyphs on the walls carved into the stones so deeply that time has not been able to efface them tell the story of those who once dwelled here. It is a dark tale, a tale of tragedy; of a people who grew from nothingness to glory and then tore themselves apart, back down into nothingness. I do not linger in the empty streets; dark things born of war move within the lengthening shadows, and my journey must continue.
The air grows colder as I climb higher up the mountain's slopes. No longer can I leap and soar as I used to; the light is hidden behind the clouds and I must force my way through the snow that rises ever higher in a deadly blanket of white. It is not all I must contend with; great stone serpents on the hunt prowl through the rocks and crags. When finally I rise above the clouds and back into the light, I am exhausted. But I cannot falter now; the peak is ahead, my journey almost at an end.
It is glorious, the last part of my journey. Life and energy flow through me as I fly – fly! – up the mountainside. The call is strong in every part of me, all that I am vibrating with noteless music. Higher and higher I rise, until I reach the top and behold upon it a living star on earth. I am alone, warm in the light. Clear sky above, bare rock below. Before me, light upon a mountain. A call, infusing every fibre of my being. Into the light I rise, realising that with my journey my life also is over.