Pinnikle: The Lost Truth

13: Of the man in the water

Recorded by Time, himself, who goes by other titles which you may read about in this book, and in others; of the events which took place within ten very slow seconds, on 18th day of Radia, year of Pinnikle: 1,229.

For time passes by fleeting, but a moment changes the heart forever. Perspective shifts in the time it takes to snap or blink -  often not by choice, but circumstance.

— Words of wisdom, from Leon Oakenhartt, king of Pinnikle

I am Time: the reflection of all things. Look to me for what has been lost, and study me, for I hold answers to things you do not yet know. I have other titles: names which were given to me because of other things I have done in all my of my being around. You will find those out soon enough, but for now I hold something much more valuable: the articulation of thoughts which only I have seen. Well, me and the one who set me up at the beginning, if that is even a thing you believe. (If you do not believe it, I assure you: There is one who put me into motion. A great and wondrous person, whose traits I have never found words to describe.)

Formalities aside, what I am about to tell you are the thoughts which belong to none other than the nix whom Sophie and Fin were trying to rescue: the man in the water who was being dragged away down the river, End's Spill, by a shadow. A creature who is a henchman of Fear, himself: the great and terrible shadow of all days. These thoughts are sacred: they are of the flashes of life which come before one is about to die.

I will tell my piece, not as if it were a thing of the past, but as if it were happening right now. I want you to feel as he felt, for it has shaped who he is; just as the many things you have felt have shaped who you are.

The instance I speak of now takes place only seconds before the nix from End's Spill is thrown off the falls. It is a moment - like a place itself - where hope glimmers like glory above. Ambition is free, and not to be held by lurking shadows of treachery. Sophie and Fin brim with determination to save the man, all the while: the man in the water spends what he believes are his very last striving breaths, somewhere between captivation and agony. He does not have much fear; that has already come and gone.

Not feeling the pull of the shadow below, he thinks, "I... hope they made it," about someone he knew; and "How far did that thing throw me?" about something that was treacherous; and, "At least it'll be over soon," about his life - drifting toward it's end.

He is unable to move; exhausted by the events that put him in the water. Only able to stare up at the sky, he offers himself peace in somber thinking: "At least I'll go out seeing the stars above Pinnikle... what a wonderful sky it is tonight..."

He is captive to the stars above him: those flickering far away like dots (which are very likely only balls of gas, as the kind of stars you are used to), and those that fly a little closer to the ground, like bright shining people who can soar anywhere they wish, for reasons very few know (those are the kind stars that rarely leave Pinnikle, which you have likely only heard of in this book).

The man in the water is not so captive to the shadow creature dragging him by the collar of his ornate clothing to the edge of one the greatest waterfalls to exist in many worlds. He is not keenly aware of the danger of the dark thing, nor has he any focus on the time it may take to fall from the top of End's Drop, to the bottom (It is a very long time).

This is a very powerful moment: it is one that I have made to be very special. This one is not particularly fond, but it is full of majesty that you will soon know.