Incarnation | Wandering Stars Volume One

Chapter 31

THE GREAT WATERS

Three months after the army of heavenly soldiers passed through Dalen a-Sorgud on their way to catch up with the Myndarym, Enoch found himself sitting on a rocky point looking northward over the vast expanse of the Great Waters. The sunlight danced along the gentle surface glittering with a million points of silver light. The journey had taken him just over two weeks and, as he had done every day since his arrival, he wondered why he was here. After he had met with the Amatru and told them of the Myndarym's whereabouts, he'd followed the vision that the Holy One had given him. It had led him to this place, but as he'd learned over the years, the next step of obedience wasn't always obvious. Sometimes, it didn't become obvious to him until after it had already happened. He hoped that was not the case this time.

Holy One, I miss Zacol and Methu. I have not seen them in over a year. Methu must be so big by now. My heart longs to be home, among them. And even among my people. Forgive my questions, but what do You require of me? Why have You brought me here? It is empty. Truly these waters are great, but as far as my eyes can see, I am alone. What is left for me to do, but to sit and stare at Your creation? I should be back in Sedekiyr. My people need me. They do not hear Your voice unless I tell them what You speak. They are lost without me. My voice is silent among them now and I fear that everything You have accomplished among them will have to be repeated. The weight of this responsibility falls heavy on me, and all I can do is wait for You. Please forgive my questions. Please answer me!

Back in Sedekiyr Enoch used to sit along the shores of a nearby river. The sight of the dancing water and the constant, gentle sound was soothing to him. It was his place of refuge and a time to listen for the voice of the Holy One. The Great Waters felt much the same now. His ears were fed a banquet of sounds, from the low and steady murmur of distant, crashing waves, to the sharper sound of the water colliding with the rocks beneath him. For his eyes, large patches of reflected light swayed with the movement of water, blending, then separating. On the horizon the light seemed to meld together into a blanket that covered everything, eventually merging with the orange sky above. Enoch smiled as he thought about the predominant belief among his own people. That somewhere out there, at the edge of the world, the sky reached down into the water and the water reached up to the sky. Until his journey into the Eternal Realm, it had also been his belief—that the sky was simply the waters above. But in that disorienting moment when he was lifted from the earth, he saw the world as he moved away from it. What seemed a limitless horizon quickly bent downward at both ends. What he perceived to be an endless expanse of flat terrain changed into a sphere hanging in the darkness. And all around it, a soft blue haze was gathered like a mist. It now seemed obvious to him. If the sky was simply the waters above, why didn't it shimmer like this?

With these thoughts spinning through his head, Enoch noticed a sudden change in the shimmer on the surface, several hundred paces out. The light swirled, then broke into two intersecting lines. The point where the lines converged was moving quickly to the southeast, coming closer to the land as it moved across the path of his vision.

Enoch rose from his position and put a hand to his forehead, trying to block the glare from the setting sun. Now that it was close enough, he understood that something large was moving through the water, just under the surface. When it passed beyond the point on which he stood, it began to curve to the south and out of sight.

It's circling, Enoch thought. Stepping down off his rock, he started to run through the tall grass, trying to keep up with it. He dodged to the side of a sprawling tree and pushed through a hedge of brush just in time to see the massive wake move beyond another point to the east. Enoch ran once more, down into a shallow valley and up the other side. When he crested the hill, he had to climb through a tangle of thick branches that seemed to be competing with one another for territory.