I launched myself from a platform and flew into the sky. I passed through stars and nebulas. Further and further I went. The boundaries of reality parted. Behind me I saw the world, the entirety of it. Before me was the emptiness.
I continued on. Two companions at my sides. I saw what appeared as planets then. Strange and variously colored marbles suspended in the void. My companions directed me to a green and brown colored orb and we descended. It grew in size quickly and upon landing I was in a forest.
Vast and thick but here there were not towering trees. There were no animals or sounds to listen to. The ground was spongy and springy. I smelled dampness and dirt. It was not unpleasant but it was not the fragrance of a vibrant forest. I took a few steps, companions still at my side.
A voice broke the silence. Loud and booming, "I have a visitor. That has not happened in a long long time." "Who are you!?" I questioned. A booming laugh came through followed by, "I'll let you figure that out."
The voice came from everywhere at once. There was no direction to chase. There was no lilt. I began to walk further into the forest.
"Are you a plant?" No.
I saw some mushrooms and my mind went into analysis mode. Knowing mushrooms are small pieces of huge organisms.
"Are you a fungus?" No
"Are you an animal?" No
I walked further going deeper into my own mind.
"Are you a deity then?" No!
"Then you must be a creature unknown to mankind.
"No!! Why must I be any of the things you have said? Has mankind grown so shallow as to think in that way? I have heard of you and am a little surprised by how randomly you are guessing instead of focusing. Maybe it was wrong to have invited you to me."
My teacher arrived then. "Why are you in your mind? You need to pay attention to what is around you."
I looked around. Much of it was the same as I had already perceived. This was becoming a most perplexing encounter. "I don't know what else I can do to understand."
"Yes you do," my teacher chided, "have you so quickly forgotten what you were taught to do when you are in a place of nature and sanctuary?"
I was struck. I sat upon the ground, damp coolness creeping into my body. I opened my mind so I could stop seeing and instead truly see. I became less and at the same time more. Less of myself and more of that which was around me.
Veins of light with beautiful colors wrapped around each of the trees. Pulsing their strange lights in a direction away from the trees. These veins covered the logs. The browned leaves on the ground. All of them reached down deep below me. I noticed then that none of the trees were alive. I followed the tendrils down and saw them going into what looked like scales. There was a space between the spongy ground. The vein like tendrils were coming from underneath the scales. I continued to expand.
I found myself back in the void looking at the entirety of the orb I had been on. Seeing the enormity of it. The forest on the surface. The scaly sphere just beneath the forest. The pulsing of the lights in sync like blood pulsing to a heartbeat.
And as I perceived this, I knew. Deep within my very bones I knew. The time for questions had passed. I took a breath and with finality I declared,
"You are Decay!"
A cracking sound thundered into the void followed by a deep rumbling laughter. The orb began to split and wings erupted to the sides. A long tail snaked out. A long snout and beaming green eyes. The orb transformed before me taking the shape of a great wyvern. It shook itself as though waking from a long deep slumber. Beings of light rushed from everywhere and nowhere. They circled the great being and I saw them collecting light that fell from its form and carried it away.
Decay's face turned and leveled to me. Their deep voice echoed within me. "Guess I wasn't so wrong about you after all. So tell me what you know of me."
I sat floating in the void, cross legged and pondering. Realizing I had never really wondered or tried to truly understand decay before. "I don't know much. All I think I know is that you are a process of death."
"DEATH?!" they exclaimed. "No,I am a force of Life." As they said this every other orb opened up revealing the same being. They were all one being but had been split to provide space for the different types of organisms that came to them. This knowledge flooded into me as this happened. They all shook and the same light beings encircled the many forms. Again collecting the lights that fell. The other aspects returned to the form of orbs. And the one who handled the decay of trees and forests continued.
"Death happens before I do my work. By the time a thing comes to me death has already long passed over them. I am of Life. I cleanse that which no longer lives. I break it down and prepare it. Then when I stretch and shake, fertile vital energy falls from my body. The beings you see collect it and bring it back to the world. Bringing it where it needs to go. And from it new life springs and grows. I am what prepares the energy before root grows, before breath is breathed, before even conception. The energy I produce is what is fed to a new form. It is what determines what life the new being will live. A human was at some point a tree and a tree was once a fish. The cycle is never ending. I collect that which has run its course and turn it into something new. Does that sound like a force of death to you?"
"No but it does sound beautiful," I replied. "So then you are a Force? You mentioned that a few times."
"Yes and you will meet more of us in time. You have already met my partner that dwells within your world. They too are a force of life. And another, but we are not connected in specialties. We can be found in surprising ways. You will understand when you reevaluate the ones you have connected with."
"So as a Force, what is it that Forces do? In general. Because I have never heard before this, of Forces being spiritual beings in their own right."
"That is not surprising. Like I said it has been a long long time since a human has visited me. What you are asking is for the purpose of a Force. You can say we are neutral. We don't seek to heal or help. Nor do we hinder or destroy. We maintain balance. If left to the elements, your world would never experience issues. If left to the vastness of Spirit, your world would never end. Extinctions and endings would be unheard of. And if left to your kind there would be no existence left. We, the Forces, equalize all of you. Because of us, it is impossible for your kind to destroy everything. We ensure the cycles of existence continue. But we also ensure that your kind does not grow beyond your current capabilities. Spirits that help and teach you would love for nothing more than to see you all in your full power and glory of existence. But that will take time and lessons and growing. You do not put a newborn in the shirt of an adult expecting it to be appropriately dressed. Your kind must grow to obtain what is the future for you. There will be an end and there will be a beginning. As many times as it takes. That is the job of the Forces. To maintain the balance."
"Whoa..." that was the most I was able to muster in reply. The humbling of the words and the power that flowed from them as they spoke. I was in awe. My mind began to think of what other beings I had met and not recognized as Forces.
"Don't worry about that for now. It will be made apparent after you take some time to meditate on it. But for now you have made my acquaintance. We will talk again at some point. When you are ready."
My companions returned as did my teacher. He patted my shoulder as a proud friend. I bowed to Decay and said, "I look forward to it." A rumbling chuckle echoed in my mind. They closed their eyes and moved back into the form of an orb.
We left and I made the return home.
Comments