Indeed, it didn't. Merrin directed his attention to the edge of the horizon, taking in the splash colors of gold, blue, and earth brown. Gorgeous. Almost like a painting by the Almighty himself... Maybe it was. Perhaps, just like the parodic painted hues in the Greyworld, this was more of the same.
He wondered. Would a tall enough peak grant a physical touch to the firmament? A bootless question, no doubt. But ah... the possibility was enticing. To touch the heavens.
He took a step, maintaining a line of the fidgeting Attendants. So many litanies echoing from the collective.
"Fear is the mind's slow decay.
It is the dread that severs a thought from a deed,
the phantom that haunts the breath,
The doubt that consumes the will.
I shall not bow to it.
I shall not let it paralyze my hand.
I shall look upon its face and acknowledge its form,
then I will move past it, for my purpose is greater than its power.
Where fear has been, there shall be nothing.
Where fear has been, a clear path will open,
and only I shall remain."
Many repeated such... and he grasped it as a common quote shared by the Orvalen. Akin to the "Mist it!!" term that plagued the Eastorian dialect. Though he heard, places like the Free Cities spoke little of the same tones.
Why?
A uniqueness gained from the Free City status? He considered, a chillness sudden in its pervasion of his body. Shivering. Not the one gained from the frostfield, but another. Real air. A gust of true briskness. What a wonderful thing!
His mouth opened, air flowing, circling within... What a thing that was... Was this what air was like in past Eastos? He sought to drown forever in its ecstasy.
"By the Highlords, look at him!"
His eyes shot open, noting then the wide, glee-filled sight of the Attendants. All had turned to observe the broad-mouthed one. Him. Embarrassing.
Mist me!
"What were you trying to do?" One, female, giggled within words.
"Maybe he wants to drink the air?"
Typical
A burst of laughter rocked the bridge... How truly humiliating. Right there and then, Merrin contemplated ending the dream. Let chaos take it all. But ah... the need to learn.
Hence, he fell into that cognitive state, drowning the sensation. A thing like a glass shell that shattered with each burst of Attendant laughter. Mockery, being the accurate word. But what did they expect? Merrin thought. Show a blind man vision and he seeks to see everything in fear of never seeing again.
They should be able to see that... He shrugged. I suppose even creatures of absolute intelligence would often fall into their baser emotions and instincts. Not that much different from the traits of humanity.
And yet they claim absolute superiority
Merrin smiled, observing the effect that had on the hysterical crowd.
They would wonder: Why is he laughing? Shouldn't he be ashamed? Is he mad...And eventually: This is no fun.
And indeed, that was the outcome.
The smile curled higher on his face. Often, things of certain intellect are easier to predict than the madness of the fool! Let them ponder that. Good. Ahead, hidden partially by the scores of Attendants, Este gave a prideful smile. That, and a double raise of the eyebrow.
What a woman she was!
When God sings with his creation, will the beast not be part of the choir? —Saint Adalbert on the nature of the Almighty.
Merrin felt the warmth of the rock. Out now, he stood at the other end of the Chasm, the bridge, a distant thing now on the horizon. Amazingly, Este had done the leadership role with true expertise. An art, he made sure to input into the Caster pool. Often, she identified the weakest in the moving group, urging the needed rest. Many times, that package was offered to him.
Not needed, of course. Ashmen made it a sport to run hundreds of meters. This was light work. But they did not have to know that. On that topic, he observed the distant mountains... Were Ashmen somewhere in this world, or was it a thing restricted by the bounds of the Dream? Evidently, he could only go and see what the whiteMother, or Este, through shared "Other memory," had seen.
But how amazing that would be?
To stand with the Ashmen of old. The ones who warred against the Theocracy at the end of the Third Age. So many possibilities. So many heroes.
Maybe not them, he thought. But is Lynor somewhere there?
The Mighty Ashman, he recalled, was known for slaying the great sky beasts—dragons, who must have lived in the Second Age. Or was it the Third Age?
Though... an easier method of data acquisition involved the simple asking of the Dream Inhabitants. However, Merrin noted the sour looks worn by the gathered Attendants. Very few of them shared the desire. Especially, not after the lanky one made sure to poison his good name.
How increasingly humanlike they are...
Just then, Este's voice boomed through the air. Casted!
"We are out of the Bridge, which I suppose many of you have made sure to check."
I haven't.
"In this chasm, you can cast without the known issues; however, do refrain from wild casting... I have a name to maintain." She smiled. "Now, to my Spear of Heaven."
Behind her stood the towering thing. A spire of white, bleached stone, with a bulging vine-like form snaking its surface. How massive it was. Like a mountain. A spear-tipped peak. At the base, he observed, was a door. A wide thing that Este hurriedly ran towards.
Childishly.
Often, she lacked the decorum of a simple being, and most times, there was an undeniable elegance to her nature. A dual thing.
The creator of the Aelmiren!
He strode in with the Attendants, each handling a box or a floating container. Likely the tools for the so-called "Great Experiment."
Nonetheless.
Inwards, they went, vanishing into the darkness within.
Let me see then!
He staggered back.
Utter vastness.
The ceiling stretched meters high, vanishing into a length of dense darkness. Lamps below buzzed at the base of the walls... White. Familiar. The path extended beyond; nothing outside a few meters could be identified. The walls, he noted, had that sheerness of polished mirror. Blurry reflections swaying across its surface. Movements. Below, the ground was more of the same. Polished stone to the point of mirroring.
A sense of unease was evident in them. Watched. As though the very corridors were but eyes, countless spying eyes. But it was not. He knew these things. What happened now was a mere environmentally induced mental delusion.
The mind played such tricks... Casters, however, existed with the means to quell the inner turmoil. A faint chuckle lorded over the group. Indeed, they sensed the futile attempt at fear produced by the walls. The reflected things, the resonant steps. All of it, to a normal man, was terror. They would fidget, pace, wonder, and inevitably bury themselves in that internal chaos.
The mind was the greatest enemy of man... To a caster, it was the ultimate strength!
Eventually, they spewed into a wider chamber. Round, countless doors on each side. All still in that total queer black. More tactics to induce mental fear.
All futile.
Suddenly, he realized a deeper meaning within these tests: You know now the might contained in your minds, the ability to navigate and analyze the presented moments. Use it well. Build, create, grow... Be what you are.
He chuckled. And they were afraid of a chasm!
One can just as easily see this as an attempt at forced bravery!
Who knows?
Este's voice blared again, sending tremors through the very air. "Find your place now. We have begun!"
And that was it. No words for morale boosting, just the trust within the Attendants.
She knows what they want... They will build, think, and grow on their own. Never was there a need to remind them.
He awed.
Truly different from humans. Often, the constant reminder for action ruled society! Human society. Not these.
Soon, the once-crowded chamber had been emptied, allowing a total comprehension of the surroundings. A segmented ring... that was the only word to describe the roof. Multiple floors above, each with a ring and pillars holding up the ceiling. Simply put, from each floor, one could look down or up and see the higher floors.
A truly mesmerizing craftsmanship... Aesthetically, of course. Functionally, Merrin found the taste for such openness rather odd. Was this a change for a world not plagued by the ever-rain and rising steam? A world of pure light and color?
Yet, the Spear of Heaven existed but in black, queer hues. A contrast to the outside's white, bleached exterior. Outside that... Merrin meandered across the chamber, examining each of the dark sliding doors. No handles or knobs. Strange. Proximity somehow did the work.
Miracles!
So many things to learn...
If only they were real... He sighed. Without the true realness attributed to these things, he would see nothing in an attempt at viewing the unseen world. This was the way of it. Unless the whiteMother admitted deeper symbolic knowledge to these things, he would see nothing.
The inner awareness revealed with clarity.
What a waste!
A voice suddenly called out to him... Familiar. Este. "Won't you be coming?"
The Litany was adapted from the Litany Against Fear by the Bene Gesserit of Dune