Under a Starless Sky

Chapter 1

Carl Jung quote: “He (man) cannot conquer the tremendous polarity of his own nature on his own

resources: he can only do so through the terrifying experience of a psychic process that is independent

of him, that works him rather than he it.”

To hear the child speak, you would believe he was from the other world, and that the stories of his

adventures started before his birth. I can neither confirm nor deny his visions. I can only assure you

that he is my son.

Lanore

Light blazed to life like a thousand suns simultaneously going nova. The shadowy places and dark

corners melded into one; there were no shadows to contend with. Mundane objects looked surreal,

fake even. The people looked fake. He didn’t have to sort this, as he was instantly transported

elsewhere. Memories assaulted him from all directions at once. Every thought, every dream, every

nuanced reflection of word flavored with a thousand emotions came at him as he relived his entire life.

Backwards. It was unpacked backwards and it bothered him going the other way. He had a thought

outside of thoughts, ‘this is not how it’s supposed to be.’

There was no turning the light off. It was full on. It wasn’t painful. It felt cold, clinical. It was just there.

The sun isn’t just there. It can be pleasant and unpleasant, but this light was present. It was as if it were

alive, an entity in itself. The only option was to a retreat to a safe place. It was place of his own

creation, a memory that defied the present law of physics. He established a forward going continuity

that allowed him to make sense of the world line going backwards. He built walls and windows.

Sometimes he would look out a window and see a younger version of him. It didn’t make sense. There

were things he didn’t remember. It was hard to watch, the same way listening to a tape of your own

voice is hard to listen to.

This unwinding did not happen in real time. It was accelerated time. He eventually came to a place of

darkness. Darkness outside the room. There was nothing. His room became a sleeping bag. He curled

up in it, completely zipped up, as if fighting a long winter’s night. His own breath bothered him at first,

too warm, but the cold outside the bag turned this into a welcome friend. He slept.

Lanore felt suddenly very odd. Her daughter, Candace, noticed. She looked at her expectantly.

Candace was practicing her letters on a tablet at a small table next to the window facing the cliffs and

the Tower Of Light. It was an overcast sky, and the light from the top of the tower gave the cloud a

strange glow, as it often did at night.

“L’Ma?” Candace asked politely.

“Go fetch a-Ceolla, and have her guard the Light,” Lanore instructed. “I’m going to see N’Ma.”

Candace obeyed without hesitation. Lanore felt comfortable leaving her post to her apprentice

guardian. After all, there was little wind, and the flame was constant. They had refueled only last week,

and so there was not likely to be any emergencies. Lanore gathered her cloak, gripped her trusted

staff, and headed out of her home. Each house was a dome, connected to each other and laid out in a

circle, and under the Light, it strangely looked like an inch worm doubled back to investigate its tail end.

There was the Central fire, and as always, several people gathered around it for warmth.

One of the fire guards was going to approach, but changed her mind as Ceolla arrived, urgent.

“L-Ma, what’s wrong?”

“Why must there be something wrong?” Lanore asked.

“Because your cloak is on?” Ceolla asked. “If you’re leaving me in charge, shouldn’t I know what is

driving you out at this time of night?”

“I am going to see N’Ma,” Lanore said.

“It can’t wait till tomorrow?” Ceolla said. “For day light.”

“I trust my heart to guide me,” Lanore said. Before Ceolla could protest further, Lanore raised her hand.

“Go inside, A. Continue with Candace’s lessons. Expect me back in two days, maybe three. I might

linger.”

“You will take a guard,” Ceolla said.

“It isn’t necessary…”

Ceolla motioned towards the fire guard and one came running. She bowed. Lanore gave Ceolla a

severe look.

“I could compel you to remain until morning,” Ceolla said. “Rule of three.”

Lanore turned the fire guard and bowed. “Tesh. You and Keila may join my walk. I am leaving to see

N’Ma.”

Lanore turned and departed. Tesh looked to Ceolla but got nothing, and hurried after Lanore, whistling

for Keila to join her. They caught up to Lanore quickly enough. She walked at a reasonable pace. Too

reasonable for the dark. Just beyond the last tangible pooling of Village Light, they paused and

adjusted to their second sense. Looking back they would see the flame of their village on the tower.

Looking forwards, there was only blackness. On a clear night, one could sometimes see the flickering

of N’Ma’s light. One would not see it at all tonight, with the clouds this low, not until they were

practically on it or, not at all. They trusted their heart and the path.

An hour into the walk, their eyes began to play tricks on them. They saw things that weren’t there.

Talking made the apparitions go away, but talking slowed their progress.

“Children,” Lanore said. “Please tell me you’re not afraid of the ghosts that come?” Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“No, L’Ma,” they answered. Tesh sounded more believable than Keila. They didn’t see Lanore’s

amused look. Lanore suspected Tesh was actually more afraid due to the fierceness of her response.

They proceeded only after the echoes of their voices faded. A sharp noise like a tree limb breaking

sounded in the distance. Tesh invoked a spell. The tip of her staff illuminated. She held the staff

forwards in the direction of the noise.

Lanore frowned at her. “Seriously, child. If there is something there, your staff light won’t reveal it.”

“I would rather see the bear I am fighting,” Tesh said.

“You will never see the bear you’re fighting,” Lanore said. “Not with your eyes.”

The brightness of the staff limited their vision to the circle around them. It made the shadows more

ominous. Nothing came out of the shadows to attack. Tesh grudgingly relaxed, but only because she

felt compelled by Lanore’s calmness.

“Extinguish the light, please,” Lanore said.

“Can’t we walk with our lights, please?” Keila asked.

“It will slow us down,” Lanore said.

“I am okay with slower,” Tesh said.

“Do I need to make you recite your lessons?” Lanore asked.

Tesh tapped her staff. The light extinguished. It went from a solid, bright blue, to a cool glowing orange

that etched out patterns in the staff, luminescent veins that ran to where her hand gripped. Eventually

even this was gone. They did not move into all the echoes of light had left their eyes. They did not

speak. Lanore didn’t say come. Lanore moved when her heart painted the path, and they followed. As

they walked, they had to sort their own inner voice, and quiet the demons. Too much inner chatter

interrupted the heart path. A person lost in their inner voice could wander off the path and be lost

forever. After so many quiet foot falls and heartbeats, they lost track of time. They eventually saw the

glow of the cloud above N’Ma’s village. To maintain speed, they closed their eyes. They navigated

paths as quickly and easily as if they were walking in broad daylight. They climbed hills, moved around

obstacles, stones and tree trunks.