“If you leave, you can never co ho.” Death had said. “You are not ant for that world.”
But they’d still wanted to go.
So desperately that none of them had even hesitated to step through the veil, even as Death had scread at their backs that they couldn’t co back.
They could never go ho.
The veil itself fell like millions of glittering threads hanging down from so invisible hanger sowhere up in the heavens. Its touch was the lightest brush, like a butterfly’s wings as they made their way through it.
It was a much longer walk than Eirian had realized; it felt like they walked for hours with Death howling behind them, before the veil began to thin and they could see the world beyond without its interference.
The world of the dead was dark and filled with glittering jewels and magic and sharp, dramatic edges, but this world…
It was dirty, it was wild, and it was filled with so many colors that an awe rose in Eirian that she’d never thought was possible. She knew it, and she didn’t.
It was the rock, the world of the living, the one she’d spent every day of her life in, but it was…different.
Older, emptier, wilder.
There were no signs of human civilizations. The forests grew as they pleased, and creatures Eirian had only read about in the oldest histories frolicked in valleys without fear.
They paused at the very edge of the veil, a sudden, sharp mont of doubt as they reached the point of no return. Their world and Death was behind them, everything they had ever known for however long they’d been alive. Sothing told Eirian it was much longer than she could understand now.
And in front of them was a dream they knew nothing about.
A dark thrill ran through Eirian, and while everything still felt like she was feeling soone else’s emotions, there was so strange feeling of detachnt; it still made her heart race.
The oldest of them, with the blue eyes, swept aside the last layer of the veil, removing that last film over the world.
The light was blindingly bright, and Eirian winced along with the rest of them. It was painful to their eyes but warm to their skin. A contradiction they would find rang true for many things in the world of the living. The pleasure of the eye is not automatically equal to the pleasure of the body.
In the world of the dead, there was no suffering, no pain, no…death.
But only a few steps into the world of the living, and they could see the carcass of sothing, bloated and rotted and stripped to its bones in places.
The sll made Eirian gag, and one of the others even puked.
Death’s voice drifted after them. “Burn, burn, all life to ashes. Free the hells as all else passes,” his words were almost taunting no,w and it was definitely so kind of curse, but they kept moving forward anyway. “Deep in the burning, lone among the tombs.”
In the distance, the great mountains Eirian recognized as the Spine of the World rose; sohow, they seed even larger now, but they must have been the sa. Not much could change the size of a mountain.
“And all the darkest rooms.” Death’s voice broke on the last word, and Eirian could almost make out sothing in his voice that sounded more like sadness than anger.
Bird song rose, tittering to a warning as these new creatures stepped into the world of the living, still wincing against the sunlight as their eyes struggled to adjust and absorb.
The air was heavy and sweet and hot, unlike the cool, crisp air of the world they’d co from.
“Raise the standard that flies alone,” the last of them stepped through the veil. “As sword and shield are sown.”
So distracted they all were by the newness of everything that they didn’t imdiately notice the threads of the veil weaving shut.
“The will of stars,” Death finished. “Alone.”
Behind them, the veil snapped shut completely, and it, and the world of the dead and voice of Death, faded from view, from hearing, from he world of the living entirely.
Eirian and the others spun around only to see more of this new world and nothing of the one they had left behind.
They were alone.
All they knew was gone, and if the words Death had spoken ant anything, they would never be able to return.
It occurred to Eirian then, as the panic began to set in, that at this point none of them would have even known what they could eat, what they could drink. Had they needed to eat in the world of the dead?
They probably hadn’t. The dead didn’t eat after all.
A deer approached, cautiously sniffing at them. It was larger than any deer Eirian had seen in her lifeti, with velvet-wrapped antlers stretching feet in all directions and glassy yellow eyes. So breeds that had died out long before Eirian had been born in this world.
It didn’t know enough to fear them yet, approaching on steady feet. Hundreds of pounds of muscle wrapped in tan hide. It was big enough to ride like a horse, and its hooves struck the dirt with a heavy thud.
It was a beautiful creature. This world was full of beautiful creatures, she realized, as brightly colored birds took to the sky in surprise and smaller animals darted through the grass. Rabbits, weasels, and foxes darted around.
Eirian caught larger things lurking among the trees, their eyes glinting out from the shadows.
“It hurts to breathe.” One of them said, rubbing their throat.
The air was so fresh it was painful and sharp at first, like air during the coldest parts of winter.
Had the weather changed or had humans simply grown accustod to it?
Because Eirian was no fool, this was the rock, but it was thousands of years before her ti, perhaps even tens of thousands.
This was ancient tis. The Years of Creation, and sowhere in these years, humans had first co into existence on the rock.
Looking around at the others who crossed with her, Eirian thought she might actually be witnessing the birth of the human race.
~ tbc
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