Nightfall

Had I not come from far to this world beyond the worlds, I would have never understood the meaning of death. The Abyss, as it were named, was indeed far beyond the living worlds, at the beginning of all creation. From there the worlds had taken root and left, leaving only the depths behind where they had emitted from. And in these depths a life beyond the imagination started as the remnants of the living worlds gathered, and from there the souls started their travels beyond to live a life given in the form of a being familiar to the world it landed on.

However, as I wished to see the Abyss as a whole, the Council had refused. Though, when I had first arrived there they would've sent me to the depths of the Abyss itself but the Padre, as they called her, saw that I was not born from the Abyss, and she saw that I belonged to the Gardens. When I asked what it is like, they couldn't tell. Once you go in, you will never return. And the same is with the Myriad that resides within the depths of the Abyss itself. I learned about the Myriad that they were remnants of souls that had drifted far too below, infused with the energies from the time before the worlds started to their own life. And because of this they are feared; for their hounds hunt poor souls that pass their territory, and they consume these souls until the souls themselves become one of the Myriad.

I considered this as I walked around the glorious city, and I saw the prisons where they held those souls that had committed crimes in their past lives, and I learned that only punishment they gave was to return them back to the living world. Yet, in very rare occasions, they would be able to live within the city and then they would be able to return to the living world whenever they wanted to. It seemed to have bad effects at times, though, because some of these souls found themselves amongst the Myriad or back in the prison, and rarely, very rarely, anyone had received the passage to the Gardens. I was, however, one rarity that was given the passage, yet as I wished to see the Abyss, I said it would be last place I would go to after my trip.

Thus I began seeing the city of the angels; I was given a small room to live in. I could smell the love and hate I received from the inhabitants. I realised that many wondered why I were not with the Myriad, or why were I not in the Gardens. If they directed their questions to me, I would reply honestly.

"When the suns have set fifteen times in my home, I shall meet the Myriad," I would say, "and when the suns have set for another fifteen times in my home, I shall see the Gardens. And when the suns has set for fifteen times again, I shall return and tell you my tales of these places."

And they would laugh, the sound of it would be music, and they would think of me as a joker. That is impossible, they would say, and they would not believe that I would return. And I would smile, nod and walk my way seeing the streets of purest white marble, and the trees covered in frost in their gardens. And I would see the Padre and speak with her, but she never asked me questions. Though, only once she asked how many suns does my home have and how many times there has been nightfall. I said there are three suns, of which one is always on sight while two passes it once during the day before it sets. And we would know which of the three suns were on the sky because of the changing seasons.

"When the brightest sun is on the sky, the air is warm, the world is blooming, and it is the time of great feasts. Crops grow at ease, and the fifteenth day is the time of harvest," I said. "Then the dim sun rises and it is the time of rains. And this lasts for fifteen days, and we would have our homes high above the ground, because the land floods and we see no land until after the third sun has set for the fifteenth time."

And she asks, what of the third sun then, and I would shiver and shudder, wave my hand and growl. "It is the dead sun," I replied. "Everything is cold, the water freezes but it is slowly melting as the two suns would shine together heating the world, preparing it for the first cycle."
She then realises that it would take a year of my time to stay with them there, a year to see all three places. And then she asks what sun is now in the sky, and I would reply: "It is the dim sun on the sky now. It is the eight day. That means after the sun has set seven times I shall see to the Myriad."

Though in there the cycle of the days was different; what it would have been a day to me in my home, in the Abyss it was four days to one. And after I had learned this when the third day was over, there was no need for me to meditate and return to the shores of my home to see which one of the three suns were high in the sky. They had questioned me, though, as they had seen a strange light coming from my room. But I would smile and tell, that it was just the candles that I lit while I meditate, though there is only one candle that I lit and I would shine while I drift through the space to see my home, linger there a moment to keep an eye on the land. I had picked a spot, and then I would know when I would have to be on my way to see the Myriad. This I did not tell to them though, as it was not for them to know.

As the days passed, I grew to know Padre well. She was a beautiful soul, gifted with wisdom and had served the Council from the days when the first souls were born. She was serene, calm, and felt no hatred towards any other, not even the Myriad. But every night she went into a hall that was forbidden from others to enter, yet all could see the bright lights rising from the ceiling of the hall, dancing around in the cool evening air before leaving towards the living worlds. The times I saw this, the more I came to realise that it was in that hall where the souls were born and left to live a life within the worlds beyond. Yet at times Padre would walk out with one or two souls with her, and give them a task that they were made to do.

Soon it came closer to the time I had to leave below to meet with the Myriad, and it was then when Padre requested to accompany her in the hall. It was rare, that I knew, as I knew it well it was forbidden from others but the Padre herself to enter the hall. I questioned her about this honour, yet she remained silent and I followed her inside, and the guardians let me in with her.

And what a beauty I saw that startled I so I could not move from the door but I did not even have to. The well within the hall was glowing in bright light, the trees that surrounded the well had frost on their branches, and the sparks danced in the air smoothly, and I could hear a song that filled me with ease and serenity. After a moment I saw it was she, who was singing, and she had walked next to the well, her arms spread, and her voice was sweet and pure as she sang. Her song stirred the surface of the well, and from the well spurred up several, if not hundred souls, and she would sing and speak with each, and send them on their way to where they belong.

One of the souls took shape, and she walked to me to wait that Padre would be finished with her song. I stared at the ceremony in awe, and then felt her hand on mine, and I looked at her and she smiled. I smiled to her as well, and I was at ease. She was a beauty, but her beauty did not compare with Padre herself. We stood there silent, our hands in each other, waiting that she would finish. And then she did and she walked to us, and she had a smile on her face and requested us to follow. And we did, and Padre lead us to the another hall.

There the soul was given a task that had not been given to a soul in aeons before. And she stood before the well, and Padre stood behind her, and she would sing a song that had not been sung for aeons. And it made the walls of the hall tremble and it made the world itself scream, but later I learned it was the Myriad that had cried for they knew what was happening. The song was finished and there was silence. Padre walked towards me and I was blinded by the sight that now stood before us.

She was a beauty, but she was dark. She had wings of the seraph and the arms of a shiva. In each hand she held a weapon so dark that even the light itself disappeared around her. I was terrified, yet I felt love towards the being. Padre warned me that if I loved her, it would be my doom, but she is the guardian of the Myriad, and she would not be eaten if she went to see they are in order, and with her I would have to leave if I still wanted to meet them.

And with her I went for it was the last of the fifteenth nightfall that I would stay within the city, and she took hold of me with one of her hands and carried me towards the gates that lead out the city. There was no other soul in sight when we left, and I knew why, for she was made from the matters before the worlds itself had born and from the remnants when the worlds had been born.

We did not speak when she was flying over the wasted lands and I could see that far beyond there were shores, and the still waters of the Abyss itself. I had not seen it before but I felt cold, and I was afraid. Perhaps I am foolish to make this trip, and I looked back and saw the white city too far away. It was too late to return, and I faced the shores again, holding on to her arm. She carried me gently, and her burning eyes concentrated on the shores that quickly grew larger and larger. I wailed in fear when I saw the waters for it was dark and still and it continued far beyond the horizon, and from it reflected the thousands and thousands of stars.

She halted before the waters, and we waited. There was no wind in the Abyss to stir the waters, and soon I heard a howl joined by another, and then another, and soon behind us were the hounds of the Myriad growling at us but they did not attack. And she faced them, and I could see them, and I wailed in fear and cuddled against her, but she assured me that I was safe with her and that I should not be afraid. The hounds were surrounded by dark clouds that emitted from their feet, and I could see that each had dozen of eyes that beamed in red, and their mouth had several lines of sharp fangs. But when they laid their eyes on me, they yelped and ran away, and this puzzled me as it puzzled her too, but we didn't wait any longer and she was flying high, and quickly she scooped down and dived into the waters, to the depths of the Abyss itself, and that she stirred the waters the world itself wailed and screamed, for it knew who had passed its surface.

The territory of the Myriad was dark and filled with red lights, but I soon learned those red lights were the eyes of the hounds. And the land was wailing and screaming as she walked on its surface, and I stayed on her hand for several days, and I grew attached to her as she did to me. No Myriad could separate us from other but none did come close to us either.

But then came a day when she had to leave me alone, and I refused but she insisted for she had to meet the great Myriad itself, and I would not be allowed to enter his halls. She found me a safe place to stay at for the day, and she spread her six wings and then I was alone and afraid. The place she left me at was a tiny cave, high at the perch of a mountain, it was big enough and for a moment there I thought I would meditate, but soon I passed it away. I could not do that for I knew what would happen, and the land of the Myriad would wail in my true presence.

And I felt another presence in the cave but I could see none, and I shivered and sat inside the cave staring out where the dim light of the evening sun casted it's light over the fields. Then the one whose presence I had felt stood before me, blinding all the light that came from outside and I sat in darkness, staring at the being. None other had dared to come so close to me, none other but him. And his eyes burned with fire, and his many faces changed shapes that I found it hard to concentrate on one of them, so I decided to look down.

And when he spoke, his voice echoed within the cave, and at times I would think he was standing far away from me, or very close to, or even above me, behind me, right in front of me, but never touching me. He wondered why was I, a child from the distant worlds, living in the Abyss, and being with the Myriad as it was not where I belong to. And I told him why, for that I could understand, and I was terrified to find myself speaking the truth in his presence when to Padre I would not tell. He did not laugh, but then he told me that if I wanted to meditate, feel free to do so, but I told I was afraid because it would hurt his kingdom. And then he said, without hesitation, if I do it for a moment, just for once, I would see that the days in the lands of the Myriad are not like the days above the waters. And with that he left, I sat alone and sighed. I lit the candle that I carried with me, and closed my eyes to meditate.

When I opened to look at the darkness again, the view had changed. And I sighed for I knew it was me that had caused it to change. The cave was missing for my true presence had exploded it, and the sky was clear from clouds far high and I could see the stars shining for the first time during the days I had stayed with the Myriad. And I saw the dead hounds that had come too close, and I saw her standing at the edge of it all glaring at me furiously, and I saw him next to her, and I could feel his anger.

I picked the candle, and I bowed deep. I yelled that it is now the fifteenth day when the dead sun was high in the sky, and I would take my leave. But I did not know how to get back above the waters and she took flight, picked me up and hurried quickly through the darkness and left me at the shore. I asked her where I shall find the gates to the Gardens, and she pointed north and said that I should only walk until they open for me. And with that she left, and I was puzzled but decided to heed her words and I walked towards the north, away from the shore.

In the deserts I lost the track of time and day, and I walked forward without hesitation. Soon I feared that it was all in vain, and that I would never see the Gardens, when in distance I saw a dim light like a beacon in the night, and that light I followed, a hope restored in my heart. It did not take me long when I finally reached the light, and it was but a small candle lit in the middle of the desert. With a sigh I sat down next to it, and realised that for long I had walked without rest and decided to sleep.

I shall thank the heavens for the sight I saw in the morning. I felt the gentle warmth on my skin for it was the brightest sun on the sky, and the breeze was calm, and the scent. I was in awe and startled, and the candle had turned into a great beacon of light that beamed in the morning sun, bright and leading the souls to the sacred place within the Abyss itself; the Gardens of Eternity.

She stood there, and she was smiling, and she offered her hand to me and I took hold of it. I stood up and smiled, still startled at the beauty of the area. And so many questions in my mind that I never had a chance to ask when she already replied to them all. She knew why I was there, she knew who I was and she told me why I got in the Gardens even though no one has ever left, for she knew that I would leave because my place was not within the Gardens, my place was not within the Abyss itself.

We walked, and she spoke of the reasons for whom are allowed to enter the Gardens, and she told me of the Myriad and the Padre, and she told me about the Council. She told me if any soul commits a crime within the Abyss, their punishment is to be sent to live in the worlds beyond, but this does not apply to those souls who live in the Gardens for it is the sacred place, and only the purest souls are allowed to enter, with exceptions being made at times.

We had arrived to the well, and I had lost the track of time when I was told I should leave soon as it was soon the fifteenth nightfall of the last month in my home. And puzzled I said that I had just arrived there, but in there the time comes to a halt and one can't tell when it is the day or when it is the night, because all the day and night there is the eternal sunset, or sunrise, and the beauty always remains the same.

I saw a man and he came to me, and he stared at me for a while before he nodded and spoke. He said I should not be there, and he wondered why I had come, though he then knew who I was and why I was there, but then I was left puzzled, and I saw gates in the distance where I was then lead to, and through them I had to walk alone. And I found myself in the Council's room, and I heard the sounds of the startled souls and the Padre stood from her seat and asked me to tell the Council everything.

But as I was ready to tell, I knew that I wasn't allowed to, and I kept my mouth shut and said, that it was my time to leave but this place had not enough room for my true form and thus I requested if any would accompany me outside the city, which was dangerous of course, due to the Myriad roaming outside of it at times. But they knew it was something that had to be done, and they came, and out the city we went to the desert. I told them to halt and wait, and I saw a few of the Myriad, there was their leader too and the guardian as well, and in distance I saw the few from the Gardens, those two I had spoken with. And they all waited to see who I truly was.

I lighted my candle and sat down in the sand; I closed my eyes and began to meditate.
And they saw true me, and they were consumed in my presence, and the Abyss were no more for it had died with me to be reborn again;

For I had not born from the Abyss but beyond it,
I am the one that was there when no one else were not,
For I am the one from whom everything else had born
I am the Eternity, the Time and Space,
I am the Abyss, the Myriad, the Gardens, and the Worlds beyond
For I am Everything