The Golden Field Pt. 3
Cylus 16 of 720 in Emea
Yrmellyn lays sleeping in Volta, knocked out by a fever, dreaming lucid dreams. Pt.1: She had gained information from her Emean companion Bizette, a dragonfly. Then, Yrmellyn searched for The Veil. She kept searching until feeling like she would scream in rage and frustration. At last, she found it on a place she labelled The Seventh Impediment. It was a golden field embedded in a barrier which looked like glass of nature’s brown and green-ish colours. Pt.2: She consulted her Emean guide again. Bizette said that Yrmellyn had to investigate the golden gateway by experimentation. After weighing risks against benefits she decided to make an attempt to pass through.
Yrmellyn stepped forth and pressed a fingertip into the odd field. It felt like metal, cold, but soft as a liquid. When she pressed harder, her hand went through the surface. Nothing stopped it. It seemed even easier than expected. Her assumption that walking trough would be a bagatelle seemed confirmed. Encouraged by the outcome of the first test, Yrmellyn took the decision to step in. This turned out to be very easy too. It was only to walk right in.
But, once she was in she found that it wasn’t easy anymore. A gluey golden substance surrounded her. She felt trapped in it like an insect in resin and could only move forward at a very slow pace. As she struggled to continue she realized that she had limited time for passing through the gate. It felt like the golden substance was going harder and harder to move in. She worried that there was a risk to be forever trapped like a dragonfly in amber. Emea was no joke. When she was lucid, what happened to her happened for real. Yrmellyn had learnt this from the beginning, in her very first lucid dream.
The substance began to cling to her like it had a life of its own and aimed at devouring her. She almost got it in her eyes and had to shut them. Now she was blind too. She had to use one hand to keep it from seeping into her nostrils. Fear welled up in her and she began to feel that she must scream in terror. But, it wasn’t possible to scream. She felt the golden substance against her lips. If she would open her mouth, chances were that the substance would invade her. Struggling like crazy, holding her breath like a diver under the water she moved on. Willpower made her persist. In the end, the substance became soft again. She came out from the gate, feeling like she had been walking through fudge. Her heart was beating hard and it took a while before her breathing slowed down to a normal pace.
But, there was not a single drop of the golden stuff on her clothes or on her body.
So, Yrmellyn had entered the golden gate and fought her way through it. But, she wasn’t sure if she had entered the dreamscape of somebody else. She had arrived in a passage. A tunnel. It didn’t seem like another dreamscape. The Veil (as she perceived it) might have way more depth than expected. Her own thoughts about not wanting it to be flat came back to her now. Well. She had got what she had imagined that she wanted. If this was a “membrane” it was not a thin one. It was definitely a membrane with depth.
This raised a question. Was there a connection between her inner visions and wishes and how Emea presented itself to her? An intriguing idea. She would recall it and ask Bizette about it, later.
She looked at the tunnel. The colours were the same in there as on the outside. It was more gold and brown than green and blue here, but still the same palette. Touching the wall of the tunnel it felt as elastic and leathery as the surface of the veil had felt. This made Yrmellyn conclude that the passage seemed like a part of the veil. More. The resistance she had experienced when she had fought her way in suggested that the field was a lock. She turned around and looked at it. Its appearance was the same as on the outside.
Turning to the tunnel again she appraised her options. She could continue forward, or she could go back.
Yrmellyn didn’t find it easy to do decide. For a start, it had been a physical and mental challenge to pass through the gate. It had been scary and exhausting. She didn’t want an immediate repetition of that experience. From that point of view, it felt tempting to continue forward. It would postpone the unpleasant return. This would only be to fool herself though. Sooner or later she would have to go back through the nasty gate. Denying that fact would be a meaningless tactic.
Another and better reason for continuing into the tunnel was of course curiosity. There was a chance at adventure. She might be able to enter a dreamscape which belonged to somebody else. That thought was tantalizing. It was why she had decided to enter the gate despite the risk of meeting trouble on the other side.
She was itching to go there. But, Yrmellyn also felt tired after all the effort she had put in. At the moment she couldn’t even know if she would have the stamina it would take to go back to her own dreamscape. In the worst case, the veil had trapped her and the tunnel was a prison. It was a scary possibility.
In that light, it didn’t seem wise to undertake the walk to the other end of the tunnel. It was possible that it would be longer than it looked. Yrmellyn didn’t take anything for granted in Emea. She might find some kind of obstacle at the other end of the tunnel. It could be a similar golden field which would be depressing. After the recent experience with the gate, she had learnt the lesson. It was impossible to even guess at how much effort it would take to step out of the other side of the veil.
But, it could also be something new, unknown and demanding in brand new ways. That might add more complications than she would be able to deal with.
Also. She had speculated that the way the veil manifested to her could have something to do with her own expectations and unspoken wishes. She couldn’t know but the mere thought of expecting even more quirky trouble deterred her. Would she get what she expected? In that case, what did she expect? The answer came to her without effort. Art! She wanted art of course. Weird, intriguing, quirky, surreal and mysterious art was what Yrmellyn lived for. She would prefer to run into art in Emea. As in the waking world, so also in the dreams.
She decided that it was best to take on step at the time. She must first gain a thorough understanding of the golden field. It was vital to make sure that she would be able to return to her dreamscape before she would continue forward. Yrmellyn felt reluctant to deal with the nasty golden substance again but she knew that she must do it.
First, she rested for a while. It was nice and calm there in the tunnel and she felt safe. It was like dwelling in a stronghold where nothing could reach her. At least she hoped so.
It became quite a long rest. She seemed alone in the tunnel and to her relief, nothing happened except that she felt bored.
But, finally, she felt that she couldn’t allow herself to procrastinate any more. She undertook the cumbersome walk back into her own dreamscape. The experience repeated itself. The beautiful golden gate was a nightmare in disguise. At the time she managed to come out on her own side of the gate, she felt very tired of dreaming! All she wanted was to stop this lucid madness. She longed to return to the waking world where only insects became trapped in resin.
She didn’t say that to her Emean companion, the tiny dragonfly. Instead, she only whispered out to it and made it come to support her. The small being was happy to pull out a small drum and play a lullaby for lucid dreamers. Soon, Yrmellyn returned to where she had come from soon she would wake up in her physical body.
Time. She must recall where and when her physical body lay. It was the sixteenth trial of Cylus. She was ill and would have to spend part of this cursed cold season here in a rented place in Volta.
Not that it mattered that she was in Volta. Her old home on the third floor in a house in Earth Quarter had been closed for a long time. Rharne felt strange to her these days. After the time in the wilds, it had been like moving back to a place she had left behind. There she had lived, once upon a time ... still, it already felt like it had been somebody else's life she had lived. The previous arc had changed her in depth. Magic and fighting to control it would change her even more in the times to come like it changed all mages...
But not in the same way. They were all unique.
It was still night but she didn’t want to dream more. The fever made her shiver. She left the bed and made tea. For hours, she sat by the fireplace and mulled over the dream and her life. Rharne. The situation at Storm’s Edge looked bleak. She had volunteered to do what she could to help out. The recruitment campaign, calling for reinforcements for the keep, had taken its toll. Repeated journeys in the cold weather had worn her out and made her fall ill. Now she had ended up here in Volta trapped in the fever, dreaming weird and lucid dreams. But, Ha’zel, her sev’ryn friend had travelled with her and was taking care of everything. She wished that he would be there and keep her company, but he was out somewhere. This was the waking world. Wishful thinking didn't affect it.
In total her situation was bad, but it was still better than getting trapped in amber in her dreams. Yrmellyn felt the fever rising again. Shivers shook her and she was freezing. She stumbled back into the bed and pulled the blankets up over her head.
Yrmellyn stepped forth and pressed a fingertip into the odd field. It felt like metal, cold, but soft as a liquid. When she pressed harder, her hand went through the surface. Nothing stopped it. It seemed even easier than expected. Her assumption that walking trough would be a bagatelle seemed confirmed. Encouraged by the outcome of the first test, Yrmellyn took the decision to step in. This turned out to be very easy too. It was only to walk right in.
But, once she was in she found that it wasn’t easy anymore. A gluey golden substance surrounded her. She felt trapped in it like an insect in resin and could only move forward at a very slow pace. As she struggled to continue she realized that she had limited time for passing through the gate. It felt like the golden substance was going harder and harder to move in. She worried that there was a risk to be forever trapped like a dragonfly in amber. Emea was no joke. When she was lucid, what happened to her happened for real. Yrmellyn had learnt this from the beginning, in her very first lucid dream.
The substance began to cling to her like it had a life of its own and aimed at devouring her. She almost got it in her eyes and had to shut them. Now she was blind too. She had to use one hand to keep it from seeping into her nostrils. Fear welled up in her and she began to feel that she must scream in terror. But, it wasn’t possible to scream. She felt the golden substance against her lips. If she would open her mouth, chances were that the substance would invade her. Struggling like crazy, holding her breath like a diver under the water she moved on. Willpower made her persist. In the end, the substance became soft again. She came out from the gate, feeling like she had been walking through fudge. Her heart was beating hard and it took a while before her breathing slowed down to a normal pace.
But, there was not a single drop of the golden stuff on her clothes or on her body.
So, Yrmellyn had entered the golden gate and fought her way through it. But, she wasn’t sure if she had entered the dreamscape of somebody else. She had arrived in a passage. A tunnel. It didn’t seem like another dreamscape. The Veil (as she perceived it) might have way more depth than expected. Her own thoughts about not wanting it to be flat came back to her now. Well. She had got what she had imagined that she wanted. If this was a “membrane” it was not a thin one. It was definitely a membrane with depth.
This raised a question. Was there a connection between her inner visions and wishes and how Emea presented itself to her? An intriguing idea. She would recall it and ask Bizette about it, later.
She looked at the tunnel. The colours were the same in there as on the outside. It was more gold and brown than green and blue here, but still the same palette. Touching the wall of the tunnel it felt as elastic and leathery as the surface of the veil had felt. This made Yrmellyn conclude that the passage seemed like a part of the veil. More. The resistance she had experienced when she had fought her way in suggested that the field was a lock. She turned around and looked at it. Its appearance was the same as on the outside.
Turning to the tunnel again she appraised her options. She could continue forward, or she could go back.
Yrmellyn didn’t find it easy to do decide. For a start, it had been a physical and mental challenge to pass through the gate. It had been scary and exhausting. She didn’t want an immediate repetition of that experience. From that point of view, it felt tempting to continue forward. It would postpone the unpleasant return. This would only be to fool herself though. Sooner or later she would have to go back through the nasty gate. Denying that fact would be a meaningless tactic.
Another and better reason for continuing into the tunnel was of course curiosity. There was a chance at adventure. She might be able to enter a dreamscape which belonged to somebody else. That thought was tantalizing. It was why she had decided to enter the gate despite the risk of meeting trouble on the other side.
She was itching to go there. But, Yrmellyn also felt tired after all the effort she had put in. At the moment she couldn’t even know if she would have the stamina it would take to go back to her own dreamscape. In the worst case, the veil had trapped her and the tunnel was a prison. It was a scary possibility.
In that light, it didn’t seem wise to undertake the walk to the other end of the tunnel. It was possible that it would be longer than it looked. Yrmellyn didn’t take anything for granted in Emea. She might find some kind of obstacle at the other end of the tunnel. It could be a similar golden field which would be depressing. After the recent experience with the gate, she had learnt the lesson. It was impossible to even guess at how much effort it would take to step out of the other side of the veil.
But, it could also be something new, unknown and demanding in brand new ways. That might add more complications than she would be able to deal with.
Also. She had speculated that the way the veil manifested to her could have something to do with her own expectations and unspoken wishes. She couldn’t know but the mere thought of expecting even more quirky trouble deterred her. Would she get what she expected? In that case, what did she expect? The answer came to her without effort. Art! She wanted art of course. Weird, intriguing, quirky, surreal and mysterious art was what Yrmellyn lived for. She would prefer to run into art in Emea. As in the waking world, so also in the dreams.
She decided that it was best to take on step at the time. She must first gain a thorough understanding of the golden field. It was vital to make sure that she would be able to return to her dreamscape before she would continue forward. Yrmellyn felt reluctant to deal with the nasty golden substance again but she knew that she must do it.
First, she rested for a while. It was nice and calm there in the tunnel and she felt safe. It was like dwelling in a stronghold where nothing could reach her. At least she hoped so.
It became quite a long rest. She seemed alone in the tunnel and to her relief, nothing happened except that she felt bored.
But, finally, she felt that she couldn’t allow herself to procrastinate any more. She undertook the cumbersome walk back into her own dreamscape. The experience repeated itself. The beautiful golden gate was a nightmare in disguise. At the time she managed to come out on her own side of the gate, she felt very tired of dreaming! All she wanted was to stop this lucid madness. She longed to return to the waking world where only insects became trapped in resin.
She didn’t say that to her Emean companion, the tiny dragonfly. Instead, she only whispered out to it and made it come to support her. The small being was happy to pull out a small drum and play a lullaby for lucid dreamers. Soon, Yrmellyn returned to where she had come from soon she would wake up in her physical body.
Time. She must recall where and when her physical body lay. It was the sixteenth trial of Cylus. She was ill and would have to spend part of this cursed cold season here in a rented place in Volta.
Not that it mattered that she was in Volta. Her old home on the third floor in a house in Earth Quarter had been closed for a long time. Rharne felt strange to her these days. After the time in the wilds, it had been like moving back to a place she had left behind. There she had lived, once upon a time ... still, it already felt like it had been somebody else's life she had lived. The previous arc had changed her in depth. Magic and fighting to control it would change her even more in the times to come like it changed all mages...
But not in the same way. They were all unique.
It was still night but she didn’t want to dream more. The fever made her shiver. She left the bed and made tea. For hours, she sat by the fireplace and mulled over the dream and her life. Rharne. The situation at Storm’s Edge looked bleak. She had volunteered to do what she could to help out. The recruitment campaign, calling for reinforcements for the keep, had taken its toll. Repeated journeys in the cold weather had worn her out and made her fall ill. Now she had ended up here in Volta trapped in the fever, dreaming weird and lucid dreams. But, Ha’zel, her sev’ryn friend had travelled with her and was taking care of everything. She wished that he would be there and keep her company, but he was out somewhere. This was the waking world. Wishful thinking didn't affect it.
In total her situation was bad, but it was still better than getting trapped in amber in her dreams. Yrmellyn felt the fever rising again. Shivers shook her and she was freezing. She stumbled back into the bed and pulled the blankets up over her head.
