I remember Anton was eating nachos. I can see it quite clearly. And Cole…he was pushing a button on the console of our spaceship and then there was a loud bang. How did I get here? What is this place? It looks like the most beautiful magic forest you could possibly imagine. Ancient old trees tangled together and covered in thick blankets of moss swim through a sea of fog which paints the landscape with glistening drops of water. Somewhere in the shadowy recesses of the massive old trees, a crow calls out as if to provide some direction through the maze-like wall of trees that must be thousands of years old. It would be easy to get lost in a place like this which is exactly what seems to have happened to me already. The crow calls out twice more and small golden balls of light begin to swim up out of the earth and fly through the air like a thousand nightlights set adrift. Their glow illuminates a path at the edge of the trees as the lights begin to spread around me to form a giant circle. Everything is glowing now and there is a sound drifting on the wind that sounds like singing.
The smell of roses begins to fill the air as the ground starts to vibrate. At the edge of the path, glowing lines of light that must be coming from somewhere else slowly begin to assemble themselves into a door that hangs in the air as if by magic. In my head I can hear a voice warning me to stay back, stay away from the door. What is happening? The lighted outline of the door begins to shine more brightly and then swings open to reveal a rectangle of light floating above the path so bright that it’s almost impossible to look at. There is a popping sound and a noticeable change in pressure in my ears as everything seems to dance on the pulsing surge of energy now pouring out of the door. The wind begins to race around the small grove dislodging dry leaves before pulling them into the doorway. A hand reaches out of the light and soon the shape of a slender female figure is outlined in front of the glowing door. The amount of energy churning through the clearing is enormous and my hair began to stand on end.
A loud crack echoes through the trees as the door of light slams shut and disappears. Dead leaves continued to swirl about for a moment lost in the confusion of their change of direction. Everything is silent now, dead silent, and time feels as if it is grinding to a halt. The woman from the door is quite unlike anything I’ve seen before. Her long white cloak is edged with metallic green and gold almost like she is some kind of royalty. Pale blond hair spills out of the edges of a helmet or crown which is gilded to match her ornate cloak. Long ornate fins rose along the sides of the helmet which look like insect antenna. Flowers are braided into her long hair and the smell of roses is still strong around me. She walks over and sits down on a mossy old log which must have crashed to the ground hundreds of years ago.
Her glowing eyes fixed on me as she beckons for me to take a seat next to her on the log which she gave a gentle tap while smiling. I can hear her voice in my head calling to me, but her lips never move or stop smiling. The log is soft and damp as I sit down next to her. There is an overwhelming feeling that this has all happened before as she looks at me inquisitively. I can’t shake the feeling that she is familiar somehow but I don’t remember meeting any fairytale princesses or god queens as her spiritual pressure is enormous.
“You do not remember now, but you will, we have played this game of hide and seek for thousands of years. You have awoken but are not yet fully awake and there is still much to learn. Listen now while we have time to speak. There are great tribulations coming and I must be able to count on you to be our sentinel. You must remain steadfast and centered as the great wind arises to rearrange the worlds. A time of change is upon the land of all places, you may not be able to perceive them all yet, but it’s why you’ve been pulled from your time. I brought you here but I did not bring you there. In time you will understand what I mean. There are greater forces at work than you can begin to imagine. Sometimes, when your eyes are closed this is what you see, in those moments of time when you hear the true music of all things. The truth sleeps in you now but will soon awaken,” she spoke into my mind with a voice that was as much singing as it was speech.
“Who are you and what is this place? Where are my friends?”
“These things are not important now but you will be returned to your friends soon enough. You must try hard to remember this meeting as the veil of your world may occlude your memory. He who walks between worlds is already among you and seeks to keep you asleep. The false waking dream is slowly being revealed and he seeks to stop it. There are those on the other side who have built a weapon to tear a hole between your worlds. Time is short now and this has hastened our return. The space between spaces is coming undone. You must fly true like an arrow now. In the silence, you will find what you seek. Search for it with all your being and the pendulum will swing true again. I’m sorry that our time here will be brief as there is much to tell you but sadly there is not time for that now. We have sent you powerful allies and you will know them by their curious ways. I have a gift for you and then you must go,” she sang into my mind with a voice I could have sworn I’d heard a thousand times before.
She closed her eyes and placed her hands together as they began to glow brightly. After a moment she opened her hands to reveal a glowing greenish-blue fireball which floated over my head. A flickering tail streamed out behind it as I felt myself getting lighter and floating away from the log. I heard the words “fly true” in my head again and I could have sworn there was a tear on her cheek before everything went black. The blackness isn’t so scary once you get used to it and for a moment I am nowhere now. Adrift in the space between spaces. To touch the place where angels dwell. Nebulas begin to explode around me as I feel the heaviness of the body begins to drag me back in. More blackness.
“ARE YOU ALRIGHT! WAKE UP! YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP!” the voice of Cole was shouting at me from someplace far away. “Hat Man hit our ship with an energy weapon of some sort and we crashed into the hanger. We have to get out of here right now in case the collision compromised the hanger bay.”
“Why…are…..you….upside down?”
“The saucer flipper over. I’m going to unbuckle your straps and carry you out of here. Everyone is fine we just need to get on the other side of that airlock to be safe. Here we go,” he said as a put a shoulder underneath me before everything went black again. It’s so peaceful here in the space between spaces. Just me and the blue-green fireball.