gristlemill

Music: Creatures From Hyperion by Karl Casey @whitebataudio

My chest pounded and my mind burned with the fire of newfound wisdom -- of my own limitations and the ephemeral state of all things. I was forever haunted with a bone-deep fear of the forces beyond.

There was a rush of light and I opened my eyes, reborn to a new day.

At the precipice of my extinction, I fully realized the massive size of this devourer-of-worlds. Entire universes were being reduced to a speck of insignificance, and I along with them. I became nothing.

Streaks of color surrounded me. Each snuffed-out life manifested as a sparkle of light -- there, then gone forever.

I raced toward the heart of this all-consuming beast.

I was aware of the intelligences around me futilely screaming as this thing proceeded to remove us from existence. How was it possible to feel dread of this magnitude without the biochemical systems to make it so?

The dangerous nature of this force I could scarcely grasp. Its power was profound and I couldn't help but be sucked into its cold light. But I knew it was alive.

Leaving behind my shallow physicality, I joined a host of otherworldly entities in a nebula spiraling in unison around a singular force.

I dissolved into raw elements, and passed through a gate for the second time on my journey. This one the metaphysical gate that stood between mortality and hidden planes of reality previously unknown. I was overcome with awe as the celestial void gave up its secrets, revealing linkages between all matter.

Every atom in my body vibrated with a scratchy fury, breaking me down into cosmic dust. This is the nature of all things.

Lifetimes flashed through me, binding me in the chains of eternity. Each link the birth and death of a star. I have always been this way.

Weeks… years… mere moments of darkness later, I awoke in a small cavern covered in a heavy blanket of frost. I couldn't move. I have always been here.

A cacophony of voices hammered inside my head as if I were tuned to a thousand radio stations at once, full volume. My brain swelled and pressed against my skull, having become plump on knowledge it was never designed to hold. I reached my breaking point, my body ready to tear itself apart, and then… emptiness.

Again, no words, just pain this time. I cried out as my tormentor proceeded to saddle my mind with weighty assaults that pried at my sanity.

No words were spoken, but I was fully aware of its thoughts. I had trespassed. And my accuser wasn't an angel, but a demon. A demon of ancient origins -- born outside of time itself.

Closer… a buzzing drone drowned out my own labored gasps… I reached the threshold and… blinding light! I couldn't move, but saw the turbulent vapors of some strange ether coalesce into the face of… an angel?