Garden of Idin

GARDEN of IDIN: The Dream

Aaros stepped away from the door and moved warily down the shrouded corridor. Almost immediately he saw that he wasn't alone-vague, wraithlike forms crept and spilled out of the darkness, their eyes slits of red fire. Some rose, glided, and flitted about the hallway, while others crouched and crept on elongated limbs, producing low growls from maws lined with razored teeth. They were all around him, and with deliberation they edged closer. They were vile creatures, their bodies an undulating mass, their limbs bent and vaguely human, their multiple fingers grown into claws and talons. Faces lifted toward the man from Earth, countenances that turned his blood cold. They were the faces of women, of l'majha, of liasasia, yet their features were grotesquely twisted with evil savagery...

Aaros came awake with a noticeable trembling, and he started so violently that the muscles of his legs cramped. He heard himself scream, and then there was the slightest touch of Ja'jhanna's hand on his chest that sent a stimulating sensation through the man's body, driving the cramps away instantaneously.

The dream was quick to fade and seemed inconsequential, at least not bearing enough significance by interpretation to be important enough to share with his lover. It was just a dream. Certainly all of the studying and conversation concerning Mi'jhanth was more than just a little likely to initiate a nightmare or two. As it was, Ja'jhanna was still sleeping when the psychological intensity of the dream diffused, and by midday the darkness of the dream was almost completely forgotten. So it was that Aaros and Ja'jhanna sat observing the multicolored streaks of light that were the walls that made up the warren of Para-light speed beyond the small bay window on the other side of the den of the man's cabin; the man and woman sat on the couch, they had shared breakfast and lunch, and now they were sipping drinks, and talking further at length about the history of Malrishi's Sorcerer Supreme.

It was just a dream.

Both held tall glassware that nestled in a base of gold-sapphire and molded into a sculpture depicting a firedrake, the figurine was similar in appearance to the table-rack that typified the effigy of a dragon, that wrapped itself around the Champion's sword in a serpentine manner, and melded into a tabletop wherein the man's pistols rested in the other room. Ja'jhanna was still nude, while Donald opted to wear his robe, and the man from Earth found himself getting wondrously lost, either in the liasasia's eyes, or the valley of her cleavage. The woman wore her diadem and it reflected the glistening flutes of the glassware quite beautifully.

"There was no longer any point in denying the fact that a pattern was developing among the appearances of those claiming to be the Sorcerer Supreme and or possessing his power." Taking a sip from her glass, Ja'jhanna looked intently at Aaros for a moment than continued. "And although the tomes that Mordil left behind almost 1500 years prior were forbidden reading, it was apparent that copies of scrolls had been made, and it was this knowledge that Mi'jhanth had given that allowed for his return either in the spirit or the flesh."

"You mentioned Tesla earlier..." Donald started than trailed off.

"The inventor of the Particle Beam Modulator." Ja'jhanna encouraged

"Yeah, according to Malrishi's records he disappeared during a routine exhibition off-world."

"That is correct." Ja'jhanna substantiated.

Aaros took a sip of his double Long Island. He was beginning to enjoy the heady feeling the alcohol was giving him, it made it considerably easier to talk about the dark chaos of Malrishi's history. "Is it possible that if Tesla were alive today that he would have the power to resurrect Mi'jhanth?"

Ja'jhanna was quiet for a moment, denoting indispensable rumination. "It is possible."

She said finally. "Do you have a supposition?"