New Dawn

Chapter 20 | Lost in the ether

The flames roared like thunder through the skies. They spread with the wind, consuming the dark ether that expanded around him. He walked over a floor of effulgent stars, the world below only portrayed by lights that danced like fireflies through dusk. The fires fizzled and sparked, hints of red and orange shot up into the air only to dissolve into obscurity.

The cold glazed his fingertips, bit away at the tip of his nose and gnawed hungrily at his bones. Yet, a drop of sweat trickled down his back as the flames lashed his skin. Spirits danced with great ribbons in shades of burgundy, claret and carnelian, blending with the raging fires that reigned the skies. In their astounding spectacle they summoned serpents that brought forth chiming rivers of light and colour. They leaped and spun all around him, their ribbons filled with eternal freedom as they orchestrated the Auroras.

Through the inferno, a figure approached. It was the figure of a man, dressed in a golden silk sheet that creased like mountain rivers as he moved. His dark skin glowed from the heat that had lacquered him with sweat, granting him a natural lustre. Spirits danced around him in pairs, laying out a carpet of sparkling light before his bare feet.

Are you lost? His voice did not seem to come from his lips, but from the void that surrounded them. Still, it struck Owen with its immediate familiarity.

Jiemba? His own words felt like nothing more but a thought, yet they could be heard as clearly as if he had spoken them aloud. 

The kind face of a man whom he had once known appeared before him. Born from the ashes he rose like a phoenix sculpted from flames. Down to the very wrinkles by the corner of his yellow eyes that were painted before him as vividly as if they were a picture. The gleam of the Auroras reflected upon his retina, blending with the yellow glow that burned brighter than the flames surrounding them.

Bunji. His voice was as comforting as the warm hand that was placed against Owen's cheek. A low, pulsating rhythm could be heard throughout the void. A mythical chant that slowly grew stronger, the beat of a drum that followed the movements of twirling spirits.

It glads me that you're not here to stay, but it saddens me that there's not enough time. Look for the bushfires in the sky. They will lead you to answers.

Owen felt his head clouded by a strange haze as the man before him began to dissolve. His laugh chimed with the stars, his body reuniting with the spirits in an aureate dance above the touch of flames.

Then, the stars scattered and he fell into a whirl of iridescent colour.

***

When he woke it was as if someone had drenched him in gasoline and lit a match. He threw the blankets aside and pulled down the zipper to the overall that pestered him with its tenacious fabric. As a warm breeze blew in under the tent wall he could still feel the electricity from the Auroras leaping over his skin. The touch of a warm hand still pressed against his cheek, and the distant chant of dancing spirits echoed through his head.

He swung his legs over the side of the folding cot, his bare feet tickled by the grit and sand beneath. Without putting on his boots he got up and walked outside. Met by a billowing heat wave and a crackling sky painted in violet and indigo blue, a curtain unveiling the early hours of dusk, he realised that the sound of drums were not an echo from his dream.

The light of burning pyres had appeared on the horizon, silhouettes of people dancing in motion with the setting sun. They carried spears in their hands, their heads adorned by feathers in the same colour as the sky. Drawn to their enigma, he began to walk towards them, not giving one thought to the summer that had once again returned and the disappearance of the raging snowstorm.