It was a curious dichotomy, the serenity of the forest. On the face of things, it was peaceful, a gentle wind, playing with the leaves of the trees, insects buzzing and birds singing their songs. But that was only on the surface, if one looked deeper, there was an underlying struggle for survival, the creeper-vines trying to choke the trees, the predators looking to make a al of the happily chirping bird, maybe right as it managed to attract a mate and other predators, seizing us up before deciding that attacking a group of powerful beings was a quick way to find themselves prey, instead of predator.
We had been travelling for a few days, away from the dwarves, Adra and Rai mostly keeping an eye on things while Sigmir and I used the ti to ponder our respective challenges, Sigmir the way to channel her feelings while remaining in control while I had one main project, figure out how to cross the second divide and one secondary project, digest what I had learned from the dwarves, link it with my previous knowledge and understanding and apply it in a practical manner. The secondary one would be a long term project, especially due to the constantly expanding nature of my magical knowledge, making the crossing of the second divide a priority.
By now, I was reasonably sure that the crystal that had ford in my chest when crossing the first divide was the key, I had ditated on the matter for quite a bit and even managed to travel the channels of Astral Power within my own body, gazing upon it directly. Viewed that way, it seed to be a crystalline tear, glowing from within with a strange, cold light very reminiscent of Ice- and Dark-Astral-Power.
However, just thinking that I knew the key was a far cry from managing to grasp the key and overco the divide, so I was still trying to understand. But, the more I pondered, the more I questioned, yes, the tear had ford when crossing the first divide but hadn’t I also experienced a strange journey, gazing upon the moon and the stars themselves, in the void of space? My class was called Lunar Sorceress after all, so so connection with the moon had to be there, that seed to be obvious. Just not what kind of connection.
As the night was falling, I was sitting by myself, having climbed another tree to get above the canopy to see the stars. Lenore was nearby, I could feel her, but had asked her to keep a distance, allowing to imrse myself into the Astral River and seek for further understanding. It was an auspicious night, especially for , as the moon would be full in the sky, hopefully allowing to understand more about my connection to it.
I felt more than saw the moon in the sky, a strange calm settling around , as if my emotions were fading into the background allowing to view things in a dispassionate manner. For a mont, I realised that it was quite similar to my default state on Earth but the notion vanished as quickly as it ca, as I focused on the Astral River around , letting Mundus fade into the background.
It was a sensation that would never cease to amaze , the display of shifting colours, strears of power winding through reality in a twisted flow, creating a spectacular sight of srizing energies. I let myself bask in the Astral River, for just a bit, getting accustod to the sensations and feelings before heading further out. My plan was to try to traverse the Astral, letting the call of the Moon guide . Where I would end up I didn’t know but I had a feeling it would be a fascinating experience.
Keeping a tether to my Avatar, letting it anchor to the physical reality of Mundus, I let myself go with the flow, in a manner similar to my visit to the Grandmother, but also different. Instead of trying to follow the normal flows, I was trying to follow the connection within , the one that allowed to harness my Ice-Magic with more ease, drawing out more power, whenever the Moon was full in the sky. I would have been able to try the sa on a new moon, using the elent of Darkness but sohow, I was more comfortable with Ice. In addition, I would have to wait another two weeks for a new moon, which I certainly didn’t want.
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Moving with the Astral River was always a strange and srizing experience, the reality of Mundus casting a reflection onto the surroundings, only a reflection that seed to have gone through a fun-house mirror combined with a prism, the colours shifting and distances warping, creating a surreal effect. So of the shifting colours were more vibrant, glowing with more than just light, radiating Astral Power that my senses were picking up, making taste colours, allowing to sll the scent of purple. It made wonder if this was what so psychedelic drugs were like and if so, I could understand their appeal. Not that I would ever take them, the idea of having such an experience in reality was rather scary, but still appealing.
For once, I wasn’t moving with the main-flow of the Astral River, the power moving between the different Nexuses but instead, I was pushing myself forward, using the power coming to from the moon as a Guideline, wherever it might lead.
At first, I was pulling myself in a direction I could only describe as up, away from the main-stream, the task of leaving the familiar flow a difficult one. Without the recent experiences of flying with Lenore, I might have faltered, the idea of rising into the sky too alien, too daunting, to keep my will strong enough to move against the flow. Flying without technological assistance was not sothing humans had never been able to, so our minds were not terribly adjusted to it, thankfully flying within my Hallow, experiencing it second hand from Lenore’s avian mind had prepared sowhat. It was still a daunting idea, even if I wasn’t actually flying but travelling within the Astral, it didn’t matter, it was a strange experience.
Distance seed to warp around , shrinking and morphing, without any rhy or reason, otherwise what happened next would have been impossible. Within minutes, the massive amalgamation of Astral Power that was Mundus itself faded from my senses, vanishing behind , only the tethers I was holding, the one anchoring to my body and the one I was following, towards the moon, remained within my perception, everything else was empty. Void. It was a scary feeling, making clutch my tethers tighter, fearful what might happen if they got severed.
Pulling further, I thought I was moving but without outside indications ti, distance and velocity were impossible to asses. It felt as if I had been moving through the void for re minutes when I felt a change, a burning sensation coming from behind. For a mont, I was unsure what was happening but then I realised that the earlier Void wasn’t empty any longer. There was a burning heat, singing with its power. Pain made move backwards, instinct reacting before I could even fully understand what was happening.
Turning, to reorient myself, I realised what had happened, feeling like a fool. There was that massive source of Power, of pure, burning heat, and I had stumbled into its radiance. Before, I had been shielded by Mundus itself, sheltered in its atmosphere and later in its shadow but now, the Sun itself had burned. I was lucky that I only saw the barest edge of it, as I was moving out of Mundus’ Shadow, otherwise I was quite sure I would have quickly been reduced to spiritual ashes, without any cohesion. Maybe trying to reach the moon during full-moon wasn’t a good idea for . Not unless I wanted to pit my powers against the scorching rays of the Sun, sothing I decided I would leave for another day.
Back in the dark shadows, I let myself relax, the empty darkness around no longer scary or unpleasant but instead, I was relishing it. It was sheltering from the blistering, painful heat, which I was grateful for.
Finally, I took the tether to my body firmly in my ntal hand and gave it a strong tug, intend on pulling myself back into my body. There was an eerie sensation, as if I was stretching like a rubber-band and the Astral River seed to shift for a mont, giving an intense sense of vertigo, before I felt my senses return back to my body.
Holding on tightly to the tree I had been sitting on, I barely managed to stay on. Vertigo mixed with blistering pain, reminiscent of a sunburn, tried to make succumb to gravity, plumting to the ground. Maybe perching on trees was sothing best left to birds, for my next experint, I’d put up my throne, that way, I had sothing comfortable to sit on.
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