The Dream,
Part Three
I awoke to find myself grieving
uncontrollably. I was sitting on the gravestone that had destroyed my life; I
clung tightly praying for forgiveness. The cool air felt as though it had
frozen the tears to my face. I carried my sleeve to my eyes and wiped them
vigorously in an attempt to stem the flow of water.
I had to think my next move carefully
through, but I couldn’t concentrate long enough to devise a plan. I couldn’t
believe what I had seen and I was desperate to eradicate the blight of my soul
from the humble mass of others waiting in line. That is why I am here. I
frequently caught sight of shadows and figures weaving through the darkness,
helpless spirits begging for life, flittering for the attention that had pushed
them away.
I stood now at a gateway of magnificent
stature. Engravings that bannered across the tallest post read words of Latin.
I would, on casual occasions, be able to translate the language with ease.
However, with the shrill screams of the dead behind me and the fragmented blur
from the tears in my eyes it most certainly challenged my knowledge. I focused
intensely on the peak of the golden wonder and finally decoded the dead tongue.
“Halt Thy Footfall Wanderer! If One Minds
That One Shall Surpass The Arch Of Solitude, Be Warned. Not One With The Air In
His Lungs And The Breeze Upon Ones Warm Flesh Can Forge A Way Through Mine
Entrance! Before You Lays Avernus, The Birdless Place, The Gateway To The
Underworld”
Strangely and quite unintentionally I had
read these words aloud. The tortured shapes
behind me felt the heat from my breath and began to converge upon me. Their
voices were deafening and forced me to bring my hands to my ears and close my
eyes. I was so frightened.
There was a chill brushing my neck as the
hands of the monsters slipped over my body. Huddled up against my knees I held
close to the hope that I would be alone once more. I propositioned the idea of
holding my head high and facing my demons but when I did I was met with an
image too disfigured to comprehend. The ghoulish spheres placed in the centre
of its encrusted face stared straight into my eyes.
I wanted to get up and run but the fear had
paralyzed me. The hair on my arms and neck had already tried to escape this
nightmare but were tied down to my crawling skin. The beast opened its powerful
jaw and swung its head back to bellow a language I couldn’t stand to hear. It
then, abruptly ended and he sprinted towards me.
I hurriedly dug my head between my legs and
began to cry for help, pleading for salvation. However, instead of the beast
devouring me or tearing me to shreds, he burst into a thick purple fog. A
minute or two went by before I thought it safe to check the vicinity of my
presence.
I peered through a gap in my fingers and
cleared the coast. I could feel my heart bursting from my chest. It was now so
silent that even my thoughts had a ring to them, an echo. I managed to find
resolve and comfort in one aspect of my mortality; I did not believe that
whatever dwelled in this palace of decay could not be struck down by my hand.
My
hand instinctively felt for the blade that accompanied me and sat along my
belt. I pulled the dagger from its resting place and swung it in front of me
shouting profanities. It was clear to me that I was merely trying to mask my
fear through aggressive action but in absence of the dammed creatures I
concluded that it was not clear to them. I wearied through the shadows with the
blade close to my reach and stepped under the archway and into a thicker layer
of blackness.