The Opening of the Passage

I stood upon the steps of the Royal Courts that overlooked the white and gold palaces of Luciene, the King-priest of Aur, that was in turn towered over by the massive yellow angular slopes of the Passage.  I have no religion that mortal man can understand, but the part that he can understand he seems to deny: in my right hand was a magick-crafted crystal glass from the haunted gem mines of the Daemon Mounts filled with ruby wine brewed in the cannibal camps of the Tribes of Midnight--whose mere existence in my hand was the evidence of the hundreds of lives it took to sneak it past the Imperial border guards that wander the Great River--and in my right hand I held the hands of some nameless woman whose beauty kings would (and eventually will) gladly sacrifice their nations for.

I had waited for this night to happen again for over three thousand years and my limbs shook slightly from the anticipation; I cradled the ladies head in the crook of my neck and sipped the exquisite wine... slowly...barely tasting its bitter flavor.

Below us the colorful and pompous Ceremony of Aur walked with court magicians and priests of Aur both using the same parlor tricks to color the sky and awe the simple crowds; the one called it magick and the other religion.  Gold glinted everywhere, trumpets roared out and drums beat the air as illusions skimmed around showing scenes from the Fables of Aur and quoting dead people.

Slowly the ceremony left the throngs of the common people (that are common to every age) behind and began to ascend the sacred Passage to again bring light to Aur's inner sanctum and rekindle his fire; only the heads of the Families, the King and Queen, and the priests and templars ascended those steps of the ages that have seen as many Cycles as I have.

The light, noise, and action of the ceremony hid what my eyes sought out: the Passage was beginning to glow...slowly, softly, carefully the greatest event of this age was about to occur and all those that it was to going to effect were as oblivious of it as I am of time passing...and the ladies fragile hand tightened around mine in anticipation: I had told her as much as of the past as her mind could comprehend, as she was to be part of the future.

And then it Opened.

No warning, no rumbling, no sounds, no great echoing speeches...the Passage simply opened like the sun sinks and the night falls.

A light split off the top, out of the machines in there, and the entire surface turned into the clear crystal from which it was originally constructed so long ago; the procession was infinitely lucky to be half way up the steps, as the Chariot of Fire errupted with waves of light and sonic vibrations of a thousand armies into the cool night air above City of Aur.  Strange lights and humming and the breath of dragons vomited forth from its cold black metal carcass; explosion racked its frame as it hovered in midair for an unhealthy second--the crystal glass slipped from my fingers to shatter upon the stone floor; this was so much more than I had ever anticipated--before a massive blast ripped through the inside of the beast and set the very sky alight with such a flame that the puny magickal lights of the Ceremony actually cast ghastly whirling shadows.

Pieces of the beast flew everywhere in that terrible moment, as the body came crashing down into and grinding to a slow halt within the unexpected City: its death throes killing thousands as they stood in terrified awe.

And that was the start of the end and the beginning of the future.

--Anonymous Monk