Chapter 5 - section 1

I opened my eyes and gasped inadvertently from the wonder of it. I realized then that the oxygen content must be slightly lower in the air than what I was used to, but it was survivable and this somewhere was among the most beautiful I’d ever seen. It looked as if some god had stopped the world’s clock in the gloaming of dawn just before the orange disc of the sun presents itself. The sky was a golden peach and pink confection that dazzled and shone.

Beneath that awesome sky, finger-like reflective grey waters trailed through the verdant green. Where the water’s mirrors ended, lush plantlife began without any apparent seam. As I stood, transfixed, I discovered the illusion: all of the rock surface and even the sand in the water seemed to be formed from a substance that shone like polished hematite. My discovery in no way diminished my sense of wonder for this magnificent stone enhanced the beauty of the sky, the water, the plants surrounding it.

And the plants were worthy of awe, as well. I walked on grass that was thick, bluish and ankle high, but soft as moss against my bare feet. I had read about forests and hills being “carpeted” before, but never had I encountered flora that could so perfectly emulate that kind of gentle covering. And fragrant, too; with each step, my flesh pressed upon this growth, a heady scent rose to assail my nose and intoxicate me with a sweetness like lavender, fruit blossoms and something tangier, too.

The lumbering creatures in the water that I had at first mistaken for ancient trees were as peaceful and beautiful as the rest of this atmosphere. More than one turned and I got the impression that I was examined with a mild and placid, cow-like curiosity although I couldn’t immediately determine eyes or expressions. It was the sensation exuded from the slow, graceful, controlled turns that the creatures made. Had there been wind, I might have not corrected my assumption. There was a pastoral domesticity to their inspection that made me feel my intrusion into their world didn’t concern them particularly.

There was a tickle of thought there as I extended my senses, pausing at the water’s edge to explore this novel world further. They were sentient and they had thought, although it felt slow and alien to my questing mind. And there was something else here, too. A buzzing in the back of my teeth. Something fast and cold. I stupidly closed my eyes, trying to ferret out this intruder among these peaceful giants.

It was behind me. The thought came at the same moment that I felt the excruciating pain jolt through my left shoulder. Agony threatened to overwhelm me and I looked down in horror at the arrowhead poking out of my chest below the collarbone and above the curve of my breast. I tried to move my arm as I stumbled forward from the force of the blow; tried to halt or slow my descent bringing that beautiful mossy grass towards my face so very fast. My arm wouldn’t respond.

The wash of pain as my face hit the ground was nothing compared to the white flare of unmitigated, searing misery when my shoulder struck that soft surface. It consumed me. It drew me into the white blankness and for a time, my entire world consisted of nothing but sheer pain until I ceased to think and exist.