Written by David Roomes
The stillness of the desert night was complete. The naked stars bejeweled the night sky
high above whilst warm and gentle breezes caressed the long golden stems of the kral
grass. The plain stretched out in every direction, rising gently to the east. The perfect
horizon was interrupted only by the occasional tree - lonely sentinels keeping a silent
vigil over the savanna.
Erupting from the plain like a spear toward heaven, dominating the trees about it as if
mocking them, a steep and narrow stone staircase rose. It's dark grey rock little more
than an inky shadow in the moonlight. Up and up yet further and steeper it rose, seeming
too narrow and frail to support its own weight, yet solid and unmoving. Timeless and
unchanging, this monument had stood for centuries weathering the passing years in dignity
and indifference.
A herd of jekals slowly lumbered along the plain, wary of predators, yet embracing the
warm night. Their eyes strayed to the stone behemoth but they paid little attention to it.
It was and had always been.
A pack of desert striders, emerald scales glinting in the moonlight, gathered amicably
to devour a fresh kill. They too saw the stairway rising into the sky. But it offered no
prey, no shelter. They, too, ignored it.
The giant mura birds, perched lazily, burdening weary branches. With their keen eyes,
the monolith was always in view. But winds surrounded it, guarding it. No fruit laden
branches did it offer. They turned their attention to the plain.
Distantly, the soft swish swish swish of the kral grass against a warrior's
leggings came into hearing and in a moment a lone figure stood at the foot of the stair.
The crunch of sand and gravel underneath his leather boot caused desert striders to
look up from their feast. The jekals paused in their grazing while the mura birds turned
to gaze and take in the details of the figure.
His tall, lean figure was wrapped in a forest green hunting cloak tied with golden
pendant. His long auburn locks cascading gracefully about his shoulders contrasted with
his bright green eyes. The mura birds noted other colors... the purple armband, the long
silver dagger, the ruby ring and the black headband with runes of white which spelled out
his name... REM.
Slowly, almost reverently, the warrior placed a hesitant foot upon the first step. The
second came with more confidence and the third. Step by step, Rem mounted the ancient
stone staircase, leaving the world of mortal man behind. The animals watched as he rose to
the height of the trees and passed on, higher and higher. From the ground, he seemed a god
walking amoung the heavens. At the top, the warrior paused. No platform waited for him
there. No door. The stairs simply ended. High above the land, the final step carried
forward into empty air.
Rem looked out upon the plain before him. His sweeping gaze taking in the whole of
creation. An infinity of space stretched out beyond the horizon, embracing the curve of
the world, holding aloft the heavens. The stars beckoned to him.
From a worn leather satchel at his side, he withdrew a small fist sized stone. A
shimmer of green reflecting the starlight hinted at its beauty. He gazed upon the emerald
for a while in quiet reverie. Slowly tracing the thin silver lines on its surface, his
finger drew the outline of the Avisarr. Gently cradling the emerald in both hands, he held
it above his head, closed his eyes and waited for the words to come. Like formless
thoughts, the images came unbidden to his mind. Symbols and runes tied to memories and
emotions. Like liquid, the syllables flowed from him, a whisper of desire, a chant of
ecstasy.
The Avisarr responded. A soft glow at first that only warmed the hands and lit the
face. But soon it grew. It spread, alighting the top of the staircase. Mura birds perched
high in distant landwing trees watched as a pinprick of light on the horizon grew in
strength.
With the light came the tremors. A deep rumbling which embraced the stone and stretched
out to the trees, shaking their branches. The illumination intensified engulfing the top
of the staircase and forcing Rem to shield his eyes.
Blinking back tears, Rem cried out the final syllables and the gem exploded in dazzling
light and peals of thunder. A ring of emerald fire erupted from the Avisarr, spreading out
in a slow wave of energy. As it spread across the sky, lines of light formed within the
ring matching the lines on the gem. The symbol of the Avisarr.
Mura birds took to flight, jekal herds dispersed and desert striders craned their necks
to watch the ring of fire spread out across the sky. Before Rem, suspended in air at the
edge of the stairs, a great rippling cloud of light had spread out from the center of the
ring. Rem peered into the cloud, across dimensions, through time...
Memories of old friends and past adventures played themselves out in the cloud. The
saving of the one true king, the journey into the Labyrinth, the battle with the demon
lord. These events and others played themselves out with perfect clarity before him as he
replayed them in his mind.
Closing his eyes, Rem took a deep breath and stepped forward into the light. With a
flash and a peal of thunder, Rem, the Avisarr and the cloud of light were gone. The ring
of fire, still expanding, slowly dispersed on the edge of the horizon even as the rolling
thunder faded.
The mura birds returned to the branches, the striders returned to their feast. The jekals cautiously moved back to the patches of kral grass to feed. All was quiet under the night sky. The desert breeze moaned a soft good-bye.
Copyright 1997 David M. Roomes
This page last updated Monday, October 08, 2007. Copyright 1990-2008 David M. Roomes.