When I awoke, my head was hurting with an almost unbearable pain. I looked around, and I saw that everything looked a little bit different, in a way that no words can explain. I sat up and looked at the sky, it was obviously not night anymore, because the sky, although covered with clouds in different shades of gray, was being illuminated by the distant light of the sun. as I continued to get my bearings back, I heard a voice from behind me say, “Hello boy.”
In an instant, I was on my feet and I had turned toward that direction. Then, I was attacked by a spill of dizziness from a sudden blood rush to my head, and I fell to my knees just looking at the dark green Earth.
I raised my head to see who had spoken to me. It was an old woman who almost looked deceased, wearing a ragged, white dress and an even more ragged-looking white bonnet.
“Who are you?” I said in a fluster.
“I am Cora, The Mother of the Serpents. And you boy, what is your name?” she replied.
“I’m Jason, Jason Callahan. What do you want?”
“Jason, you have been chosen by the powers, higher and unknown to any human creature, to destroy the darkness which had invaded and enslaved this, our world of Granloch.”
I just stared at her, honestly, thinking that she was a tinge loony, and then I said, “Why was I chosen, of all the people on Earth, why me?”
“Because you touched the Sacred Seal of our world. Most human creatures wouldn’t have even been able to see the seal. Thus, by feeling the energies of this tree, the beloved Rowan, you were chosen by the Supremacy of the Heavens.”
“So what does that mean?” I asked.
“That means that you must venture forth and destroy the darkness that has engulfed our world and existence.”
“I understand that, but how am I supposed to succeed, and where am I supposed to go?”
“That is why I am here, to help you.”
Cora then picked up one of the smaller branches that had fallen from the tree earlier. Holding it in both hands, palm up, she began to utter unfamiliar words. She spoke these words as if she had a snakes voice. As she spoke, she began to raise her hands above her head.
I could see the stick begin to glow and change. Then, Cora stopped speaking, and she lowered her hands. She held the newly transformed stick with only her right hand as she reached out with her left hand to help me rise to my feet.
After I was firmly standing on both of my feet, her warm hand slipped away from mine, and she said, “Jason, from this day forth, your name shall now be Vereseus. Your left hand, please.”
I held out my left hand, and with her right hand, she handed me the stick. I, assuming out of impulsiveness, wrapped my hand around it. As I touched the stick, I could feel some sort of energy begin to pulse through my body, and then, I began to feel a strong pain, of some sort, in the middle of my torso. Not sure of what this pain was coming from, I tried to let go of the stick to hold onto my stomach, which, was feeling as if it were on fire. I could not, as much as I tried, let the stick go.
Then, suddenly, all of the pain that I had been experiencing in and around my stomach, all the way up to the pain I had in my head, was gone. I was actually feeling quite euphoric now.
Cora then let the stick go so that only I was holding it. She then said, “Vereseus, you have now been initiated into the Order of the Serpent. You must defend the Order, and everything in it, with all of your might. The seal of our world in inscribed upon your flesh, and the stick that you are holding is now your weapon. A weapon of magnificent power, it is your magic wand. The wand which you hold in your hand is yours and yours alone. Without you, it is nothing, without it, you are nothing.”
“But how do I use it?” I asked her.
“Look deep into your heart and what you want to happen, shall.” she replied.
“Where am supposed to go to stop the darkness?”
“Follow your heart my child, and everything you wish to achieve, you shall. But, alas, I must go for now. Remember, you were chosen by the Supremacy in the Heavens. I believe in you, Vereseus. Just believe in yourself. If ever you need my guidance, look into your heart and say my name. I will be with you, always.”
She took a step back and put her hands together. She spoke some of her odd-sounding language, and she transformed into a snake. She slithered up to the snake which was carved into the bark of the tree, and she became one with the tree in glowing brilliance.
- to be continued
Tags: Stories // Add Comment »