Preamble Part 8

 

Here we now stand, before the throne.

And which mighty lord will sit upon it and impose their will on all? Which soul possesses the audacity to elevate itself above all others hence enslaving them? And which of the slaves will resist him when he comes? For the path to the throne, that great seat hewn from a mountain of black iron, flows from out of the mouth of a dark tunnel, sealed by two great doors, behind which the mighty lord waits.
But here, now, before the throne, only foul beasts roam about, spewing their poisonous filth about the bases of those iron pillars. Rabid black dogs with red eyes blazing, vicious leopards and jaguars tearing at raw flesh, slippery lizards with forked tongues lashing, giant rats gnawing while, up high, huge vultures circle, waiting for the dead.

But one beast emerges from the chaos, head and shoulders above the rest, at once a mighty lion roaring its authority about the place, at once a great serpent slithering between the mass of bodies, having knowledge of them all. It is this great shapeshifter who carries the fate of all, who will set things in motion which will set the course for all souls, deciding which path they will traverse.

And at the foot of the throne there lies a large, black book, sealed shut. It was written by no one in a timeless age and has never been read. The beasts all hiss and howl as each of them attempts to break the seals on the great book, but all retreat in the wake of the shapeshifter, who both roars as a lion and hisses as a serpent as he makes his way towards the book. For he alone can break the seals, for the book was written for him and him alone.

And as he takes the book for himself, all the other beasts bow down to him in reverence, for the time has now come for the fateful path to be decided. The maelstrom of beastly roars, barks, hisses and shrieks dies down and becomes a low hum of expectation as the shapeshifter coils himself around the black book and attacks the seals with his teeth and claws.

The first seal breaks. The book opens. Black light pours forth forcing all the beasts to cast down their eyes as their shapeshifting master begins to read the first page. He begins by telling of the coming conquest, how he will bring all the world under his dominion, for only once united under a single banner can the souls of the world transcend that world.

The second seal breaks. He turns the page and continues to read. He tells of the sowing of the seeds of doubt amongst the souls, of the opposing forces he will introduce amongst them, of the great battles that will be fought between those forces, for he will set the great pendulum swinging, from one extreme to another allowing all souls to experience the full breadth of possibilities.

The third seal breaks. He turns the page, flinging a cloud of black dust into the eyes of the listening beasts. He then tells how he will stride out into the midst of the chaos and grasp the pendulum firmly with both hands, forcing it to stop swinging and leaving it hanging, perfectly balanced, at the centre of all things.

The fourth seal breaks. A hush falls as he turns the page and continues on. He tells of a great wave of death which will cover the earth in a pale light. This death is the natural consequence of the perfect balance he will have created, a spiritual end of the world as it was which will usher in a new beginning for all.

The fifth seal breaks. He tells how from the ashes of this wave of death will arise two groups of souls, one enlightened and one endarkened. The endarkened souls will gather together beneath the surface of the earth, there to cry out in their anguish, writhing in their agony, a vile congregation of irrationality united only in their vain quest for vengeance on those who rose above them.

The sixth seal breaks. And it is these enlightened souls who are the subject of the next page. They shall bathe the world in a blinding light, the light of reason. It shall cause the sun and moon and stars to appear to have gone out so bright shall it be. It shall cause the earth to shake as never before, eternally altering the terrain, levelling mountains and drowning islands. The endarkened souls shall cower before the blinding light and seek refuge in any dark place.

And they shall gather about their dark master, the shapeshifter himself, the lion and serpent. And they shall bow before him and he prepares to gaze into the blinding light of the enlightened souls, the darkness of his eyes alone halting the light in its path.

The seventh seal breaks. He tells of his great war against the light. Now silence has fallen among the listening beasts, now utterly enraptured, as they hear how their master will combat the bright light, how he will cast a mighty shadow which will oppose it in all ways, which will shake the earth a second time, utterly devastating it and all its inhabitants.

A mighty trumpet sounds. The world is beset by acts of terror, indiscriminate assaults and killings, attacks from out of the shadows. Fire rains down from unknown sources and the world begins to burn with pure terror.

A second trumpet sounds. The army of darkness is revealed, marching from out of the shadows and into the light, continuing their attacks as they go. A mountain is raised beneath them as they grow in number, intensifying their attacks, spreading terror further and further to all the corners of the world.

A third trumpet sounds. At the mountain’s peak, a black star falls from the heavens and the dark army gathers about it. For it is he, the shapeshifter, their master. Now amongst them, he marshals them into action as their terrifying poison spreads about the world, tainting every river and stream, injecting fear into the heart of every soul.

A fourth trumpet sounds. More and more souls succumb to the infection, becoming endarkened and joining the dark army at the foot of the mountain, raising it further and further skywards.

A fifth trumpet sounds. The shapeshifter leaps from the peak of the mountain and crashes to earth, breaking open the gates of the bottomless pit. With these gates now broken, the darkest of souls begin to spill forth, those most heavily tainted and poisoned. A great multitude of these foulest of souls pours forth and rallies around their shapeshifting master, creating for him a second mighty army of pure terror.

A sixth trumpet sounds. With the people still reeling from the effects of the attacks of the first army, the second army is then unleashed, a huge firestorm that covers the earth in seconds, bathing the souls in burning black fire.

And now the shapeshifting beast pauses in his reading, for he has reached the central portion of the book that relates to the opening of the doors in the tunnel behind the mighty black throne, where the darkest of the dark awaits. He does not read from this section for there do not yet exist the ears to hear this fearful passage nor the minds strong enough to bare the terror contained within.

A seventh trumpet sounds, louder and more terrible than the previous six combined. For it relates the arrival of the darkest of the dark, the destroying force that devours the brightest of lights and tears down all in its path. And from forth the terrifying power of this blast comes the relation of the wars to come, the wars to end all wars, the wars of Truth. The blast causes a blazing light to pour forth from the black book, which falls from the claws of the shapeshifter, whose narrating voice becomes lost in the mighty trumpet blast and the blazing light it has caused to emerge. Shocked by the bright light, the fell beasts jump back in amazement before gazing back up at a new marvel appeared before them, a vision emerging from the black book, the words of the shapeshifter brought to life before them played out at the base of the throne itself.

They see a man, naked and weak, prostrate on the ground in a dark forest, clutching at the earth. Before him appears a woman, standing proud and tall, clothed in robes of shining gold, a serpent coiled around her shoulders. She drags the man to his feet and cloaks him in a similar robe. The man gazes at her in wonder as the surrounding forest recedes and becomes a mighty mountain. The serpent slithers from the shoulders of the woman and coils itself now about the man, whose larger shoulders cause the serpent to stretch itself out around the man. And as the woman steps back, the man raises his arms aloft and gazes upwards, the serpent making its way up the man’s neck, it’s body seeming to become one with that of the man. And as the serpent reaches the man’s face it opens its jaws wide and swallows whole the man’s head. A blaze of light surrounds them now as the man swells to gargantuan size, becoming truly one with the serpent. And where once stood the man, now, proudly at the mountaintop, stands a great, red dragon, wings spread wide and a blast of fire shooting out of its jaws.

But darkness falls around this great beast, the mountain is plunged into chaos as it is pelted with wind and rain, thunder and lightning, and the terrifying shadows, the darkest of darkness descends. The dragon, though, stands tall and faces the terror gazing into the abyss of its blackness, and the abyss gazes right back. The dragon roars and shoots a blast of fire right into the heart of the darkness, but the darkness swallows it right up, consuming its energy and turning its light into more darkness. Now several others appear on the mountainside, both warriors of light allied to the dragon as well as servants of darkness, slaves to the will of their master of terror. The war now begins in earnest, the tempests rage and the mountain is reduced to ash and rubble. One by one the warriors of light are cast down and consumed by the darkness until, finally, the dragon itself is flung from the mountainside down on to the jagged rocks below. In their triumph, the shadows raise a new black mountain, thrice taller than the one previous.

Yet as he falls, the dragon lets out one final burst of fire into the night. And as the flame hits the darkness it is cooled, becoming water which falls down to earth creating an ocean around the black mountain of shadow. For a moment, silence reigns. Then, from out of the vast ocean about the dark mountain, there emerges new light, far brighter than before, for the dragon’s final blast of fire has summoned the True Lord of light to combat the darkest of shadows atop the black mountain. Empowered by the might of the dragon, the Lord stands tall at the foot of the mountain and begins to climb, attacked on all sides as he goes by shadows and dark beasts, though he casts them down with his bright light as he ascends.

Higher and higher he climbs combating the forces of darkness as he goes. And as he climbs higher, his light grows brighter, exposing the forms of the shadowy beasts he fights, until he reaches the summit, high in the black clouds, where the Lord of Darkness awaits. Confronted by the blinding light, the Dark Lord’s fearsome form is revealed, a terrifying black beast, horned and winged, jaws dripping with black blood. The fight is terrible to behold. For an age the Light fights the Dark, edging closer and closer to him, more and more revealing his form to the inhabitants of the mountain, until, with an earth shaking clash, the Lord of Light strikes the Lord of Darkness, covering him in blinding light. The dark beast loses his footing, and is sent crashing down the mountainside, just as the dragon fell before.

And as the dark beast hits the ground at the base of the mountain, the glow of the mountain reveals a great multitude at the foot of the mountain, souls drawn to the bright light. And the multitude parts to allow their leader to pass through, a second mighty lord of light, who rallied the people together and drew them toward the mountain. And now, led by this second lord, the multitude begin to ascend the mountain, climbing towards the source of the light, the first Lord. And as they go, the second lord preaches the message of the light, and each of the myriad souls begins to produce light of their own, growing brighter and brighter, this new light marking each and every one of them with the mark of the Lord Of Light, presented to them by the second Lord. And as they reach the summit, each of the souls shines forth, baring the mark, the sign of Truth, and in that sign will they conquer.

At the top of the mountain, the two lords, along with all the enlightened souls rise up into the air and the mountain is once again plunged into darkness, for when he fell, the Lord of Darkness did not perish, but crawled back into the ocean before rising again into the night, to where the enlightened souls now rise. And the light brigade come to a great doorway in the night, the Doors of Darkness, and the lords know what must be done. Together, they open the black doors, revealing once again the terrifying beast of darkness, now carrying seven golden bowls, each baring a new calamity that will befall the enlightened souls as they continue to fight the darkness.

From the first bowl is sown the seeds of doubt among the enlightened souls. As each soul concentrates on their own light, some lose sight of the True light of the collective.

From the second bowl pours forth a great stream of black blood amongst the souls of the earth, and those unenlightened ones fall down into the great ocean, which turns black with the foul blood of the Beast of darkness.

From the third bowl pours more blood, this time onto the mountain itself, poisoning its streams that flow into the ocean below. And into these poisoned streams are dragged some of the enlightened souls, those lost in their own light.

From the fourth bowl a searing heat is poured into the blinding light of Truth, causing fire to spread down the mountain. And the scorching heat is too much for most of the souls to bare, forcing them also to dive into the rivers of blood.

From the fifth bowl is poured pure Darkness, the blackest light, which draws from the blood in the ocean below and surrounds the great light, now lessened by these calamities, and the darkness spreads, crushing the light, which continues to recede, until it fades and dies, plunging the world into darkness once again. And the two lords of light, now hidden from sight, are forced towards the final two bowls.

Into the sixth bowl enters the first lord, causing it to expand over the sky and become a mighty battlefield, in preparation for the final war.

Into the seventh bowl enters the second lord, causing it to crash down onto the mountainside. And the mountain shakes with the impact of the seventh bowl, and breaks asunder shaking the whole earth and sending rocks flying down into the ocean below.

With the destruction of the mountain, the great ocean recedes into the void at the edge of world. And as the ocean spreads, that which was hidden beneath it is revealed, a great city of light, centred about the form of the great red dragon, who now reemerges with the golden robed woman sitting atop him, the True Lady of Light. And around her rally the remaining souls who were enlightened, and their light once again shines forth.

But the great black beast has seen the mighty city that was ever hidden beneath the mountain, and he and all his forces strike down upon it vanquishing it from the earth.

And the souls mourn the loss of their great city, their tears causing the ocean to swell up once more.

And from atop the great dragon, the Lady of Light preaches to the souls not to lament, for the great city of light was not meant to last, for it was in opposition to the great darkness, therefore was defined by the darkness. For Light can never defeat the Dark and the Dark can never defeat light, for they both require one another for their existence. Only a great synthesis can end the war, for the brightest Light is that which contains the Dark.

But the souls have become lost in the ocean and do not hear her words. They turn away from her and the dragon and flee into the darkness, into the clutches of the Dark Lord and his beastly servants.

And the Lord of Darkness lures them in with offers of eternal pleasure. A great feast is held in honour of the Lord of Darkness, and the souls, now turned away from the Light, feast on dark flesh and become drunk on black wine as they fall further and further into the darkness.

But the Lady of Light atop the Dragon calls forth into the night. And from the sky the great battlefield descends to Earth, steered down by the Lords of Light themselves, who did not perish but bided their time while the Lord of Darkness ensnared the souls of the earth. And the battlefield now surrounds the black palace in which the souls are feasting.

Now the dragon roars and casts blazing fire about the battlefield bathing the world once again in a fiery light. But the souls of the world do not see the light, so drunk have they become. And the servants of the Dark lord emerge from the palace and fight the dragon and his Lady. The fight is tumultuous, but the Lady has no assistance. The Dark servants break open the very ground of the battlefield, revealing a bottomless pit of darkness. They chain the dragon and his Lady and drag them into pit, imprisoning them.

But still the Lords of Light bide their time while the multitude of souls continue to dwell in the black palace, drinking and feasting and worshiping the Dark Lord.

And after a thousand years, the Lords of Light finally descend beneath the earth, and unchain the dragon and his Lady, who burst forth back on to the battlefield. And once again the dragon roars and bathes the world in his fiery light, only this time the Lords of Light shine their own light forth breaking open the gates of the black palace. And now the souls pour forth onto the battlefield and confront the dragon and his Lady. And the Lord of Darkness and his servants fight the dragon once again while the Lords of Light prepare a new light above the battle, brighter than ever before. And now the souls remember their own light as they see this new light. And many of them turn away from the Dark Lord and rally around the Dragon and his Lady. And the Dragon takes flight and breathes fire down onto the remaining souls of Darkness. Higher and higher the dragon flies until he and his Lady meet the great light above where the Lords of Light dwell.

And each newly enlightened soul takes hold of one of the souls of darkness. And their light surrounds the dark souls and each pair becomes one, rising higher into the sky towards the blazing light.

And all these synthesised souls meet the light above and the ground below disappears leaving only the light, for that was the True world all along, the Earth was merely an illusion created by the Lord of Darkness, who cowers below.

And the light now surrounds the Dark Lord himself, closing in on him. And, powerless to stop it, he is engulfed by the light, which now contains all. And in an instant, the light contracts to nothing, a nothing which contains everything.

And once again here we now stand, before the throne.