Back up a bit... You said Giant GOld Dragon?
A Garden with a View.
As Sarin stepped through the doorway into the beer garden she was momentarily stunned as once again overcome by the strange sensation of crossing the boundaries between realms.
Finding herself outside on a small balcony with a few empty tables and a perfectly clear starry night sky, that covered not only the sky above but beyond the balcony as well. Panic swelled within Sarin as she rushed to the edge to look down into the vast majesty of the cosmos.
“BE CALM LITTLE ONE”
The same voice entered her mind like an impossibly heavy weight striking her senseless for a few moments, collapsing against the railing and catching her breath. Sarin looked back the way she had entered not seeing the doorway in which she ended but a small cave entrance with a faint pleasant light glowing from within and the faint sounds of merriment emanating from within. But Sarin’s eyes remained glued to the colossal golden scaled Dragon resting just above the cave entrance with it’s head resting upon it’s claws, each as long as Sarin. Huge eyes with the appearance of molten gold regarded Sarin for a long moment.
“BE AT EASE, NO LIVING CREATURE IS AT DANGER HERE WITHIN MY REALM”
Even ready for the force of the words within her mind Sarin was left gasping for breath though she sensed no anger, malice or intent to harm pass with the Dragon’s thoughts. Also, the dragon while huge was not as monumental as she thought back within the tavern.
“I DO APOLOGISE IF I’VE CAUSED YOU DISCOMFORT LITTLE ONE, IT IS RARE FOR ONE OF YOUR KIND TO HAVE A MIND AWAKENED ENOUGH TO CONVERSE WITH ME. IT MAY TAKE YOU SOME TIME, YOU’RE INQUISITVE A WONDERFUL TRAIT FAR TOO RARE THESE DAYS AND SO I INVITE YOU TO SHARE MY VIEW WITH YOU.”
“EVEN I, WHOM IS ANCIENT BY THE STANDARDS OF MY RACE FEEL YOUNG BY COMPARISON TO VASTNESS OF THE VOID AND THE WORLDS WITHIN. LOOK YONDER LITTLE ONE AND BEHOLD YOUR HOME” and with only the faintest of a twitch of it’s claw Sarin found herself lifted up by invisible hands and turned to view her world floating amongst the stars.
Floating amid the dark lay a land that was surely her home, as the sun raises from behind Sarin could make out the mountain ranges and oceans she had seen sketched within Ezri’s shop. She could see her homeland of Drazi though found it difficult to make out details at such distance, and distance it was for she was convinced this wasn’t a simple illusion. The storms to the west of her homeland and a vast barren land across the sea to the south that could only be the fabled Red Wastes, but only mostly red as she could make out rivers and jungles toward the centre of that unexplored land. She could only guess at what lay beneath the dark cloud covering the shadowlands, only the peaks of the highest mountains breaking through the perpetual ash clouds.
As the sun slowly orbited Tarsonis shedding its light Sarin could see where the oceans spilled over the side falling of the edge of the world. Only then did Sarin notice the chains small but only in comparison to her world Sarin struggled to grasp how monumental they were as she now took in the other worlds chained to her own.
Six… Six whole worlds chained together, with three suns and many moons orbiting them all, the worlds formed the outer edge of a great sphere with the chains connecting them loosely together though the distance between them must have been thousands of miles. At the centre of these worlds there was something… something noticeable by the absence of light and how it blocks the view of the chains beyond. A moment of pure terror struck Sarin as realised that the chains between worlds formed a lattice of chains around the centre around something… alive.
Before Sarin could blink a massive golden claw obscured her view.
“NO, NO, I DO NOT ADVISE TRYING TO PROBE THAT MIND LITTLE ONE. I APPEAR TO BE DOING ALL THE TALKING… WORRY NOT YOU’LL BE FINE IN A MOMENT. GO RETURN TO YOUR FRIENDS AND REST. PERHAPS YOU’LL FEEL BETTER AFTER A FINE MEAL AND A FEW BARRELS OF WHISKY, IF YOU FEEL LIKE TALKING LATER I’LL BE HERE. GO ON NOW AND REMEMBER TO TAKE A BREATH NOW AND AGAIN.”
The large golden claw gently ushered Sarin into the cave and after a moment of dizziness she found herself back in the tavern with her companions.
As Sarin stepped through the doorway into the beer garden she was momentarily stunned as once again overcome by the strange sensation of crossing the boundaries between realms.
Finding herself outside on a small balcony with a few empty tables and a perfectly clear starry night sky, that covered not only the sky above but beyond the balcony as well. Panic swelled within Sarin as she rushed to the edge to look down into the vast majesty of the cosmos.
“BE CALM LITTLE ONE”
The same voice entered her mind like an impossibly heavy weight striking her senseless for a few moments, collapsing against the railing and catching her breath. Sarin looked back the way she had entered not seeing the doorway in which she ended but a small cave entrance with a faint pleasant light glowing from within and the faint sounds of merriment emanating from within. But Sarin’s eyes remained glued to the colossal golden scaled Dragon resting just above the cave entrance with it’s head resting upon it’s claws, each as long as Sarin. Huge eyes with the appearance of molten gold regarded Sarin for a long moment.
“BE AT EASE, NO LIVING CREATURE IS AT DANGER HERE WITHIN MY REALM”
Even ready for the force of the words within her mind Sarin was left gasping for breath though she sensed no anger, malice or intent to harm pass with the Dragon’s thoughts. Also, the dragon while huge was not as monumental as she thought back within the tavern.
“I DO APOLOGISE IF I’VE CAUSED YOU DISCOMFORT LITTLE ONE, IT IS RARE FOR ONE OF YOUR KIND TO HAVE A MIND AWAKENED ENOUGH TO CONVERSE WITH ME. IT MAY TAKE YOU SOME TIME, YOU’RE INQUISITVE A WONDERFUL TRAIT FAR TOO RARE THESE DAYS AND SO I INVITE YOU TO SHARE MY VIEW WITH YOU.”
“EVEN I, WHOM IS ANCIENT BY THE STANDARDS OF MY RACE FEEL YOUNG BY COMPARISON TO VASTNESS OF THE VOID AND THE WORLDS WITHIN. LOOK YONDER LITTLE ONE AND BEHOLD YOUR HOME” and with only the faintest of a twitch of it’s claw Sarin found herself lifted up by invisible hands and turned to view her world floating amongst the stars.
Floating amid the dark lay a land that was surely her home, as the sun raises from behind Sarin could make out the mountain ranges and oceans she had seen sketched within Ezri’s shop. She could see her homeland of Drazi though found it difficult to make out details at such distance, and distance it was for she was convinced this wasn’t a simple illusion. The storms to the west of her homeland and a vast barren land across the sea to the south that could only be the fabled Red Wastes, but only mostly red as she could make out rivers and jungles toward the centre of that unexplored land. She could only guess at what lay beneath the dark cloud covering the shadowlands, only the peaks of the highest mountains breaking through the perpetual ash clouds.
As the sun slowly orbited Tarsonis shedding its light Sarin could see where the oceans spilled over the side falling of the edge of the world. Only then did Sarin notice the chains small but only in comparison to her world Sarin struggled to grasp how monumental they were as she now took in the other worlds chained to her own.
Six… Six whole worlds chained together, with three suns and many moons orbiting them all, the worlds formed the outer edge of a great sphere with the chains connecting them loosely together though the distance between them must have been thousands of miles. At the centre of these worlds there was something… something noticeable by the absence of light and how it blocks the view of the chains beyond. A moment of pure terror struck Sarin as realised that the chains between worlds formed a lattice of chains around the centre around something… alive.
Before Sarin could blink a massive golden claw obscured her view.
“NO, NO, I DO NOT ADVISE TRYING TO PROBE THAT MIND LITTLE ONE. I APPEAR TO BE DOING ALL THE TALKING… WORRY NOT YOU’LL BE FINE IN A MOMENT. GO RETURN TO YOUR FRIENDS AND REST. PERHAPS YOU’LL FEEL BETTER AFTER A FINE MEAL AND A FEW BARRELS OF WHISKY, IF YOU FEEL LIKE TALKING LATER I’LL BE HERE. GO ON NOW AND REMEMBER TO TAKE A BREATH NOW AND AGAIN.”
The large golden claw gently ushered Sarin into the cave and after a moment of dizziness she found herself back in the tavern with her companions.