Dreamland
The prairie tribes of the Forever Grass believe that with your mind, you can access other realms. Your dreams are just as real as what you experience in everyday life. They connect you to higher planes of existence.
Time for them is not a line going from the past into the future. Rather, it is cyclical, but also unshapen. All points of time are linked to all other points in time, but also space.
With dreams, you are accessing these hidden realms. You are talking to the past, and the future. The actual and the possible are both equal in this sphere.
For the people living on the plains, each landmark they passed tied them not only to the place, but also to different points of time. If centuries ago, one of their ancestors hid behind a particular rock while escaping from enemies, that rock became an embodiment of that act.
If a person passed this rock on their way somewhere, they immediately got connected to the people of long ago. And in a way, they left their own mark, which then connected them to their descendants in the future.
It is within dreams that this communication between the people and places happens. In their inner visions, individuals can access knowledge from long ago, but also from times that haven't happened yet. It also ties them to different possibilities, since these are as real as actual events on their own timeline.
Guardian of the Eagles felt these connections stronger than most other members of his tribe. Each trip on the Forever Grass filled him with emotions and visions. Of things that happened, and that could happen.
Seeing that decrepit foreigner walking deliriously, but defiantly in the grass, even as warriors surrounded him, gave him a special foreboding sense. He still couldn't put his finger on it, but there was a connection.
This man somehow tied himself to his future. Guardian of the Eagles knew that the arrival of this man was not something arbitrary. It was significant, even defining for the tribe. He wasn't the same as all those who had passed before. He was different.
He had seen him in his dreams. Guardian of the Eagles grew up in a family filled with shamans and other individuals who had a special bond to the higher realms. They could see, not in the traditional sense of the word, as in with their eyes.
Rather, they could see with their mind. Dreams spoke to them, and gave them direction. Guardian was sure. He had seen this man in his dreams. It was not by chance that he was here.
--
The demon inside
Pafe didn't remember much of the ride to the camp. The band of warriors went quick, their horses galloping at full speed. It took about half a day for them to get back home.
The camp itself consisted of a number of teepee tents strewn haphazardly across the grass. In the middle, a large open space was pierced only by a large pole. Rising up, it was taller than three grown men stacked on top of each other, and decorated with various patterns.
Groups of men and women were all doing different tasks, skinning game, washing clothes, or preparing the evening meal. All of them were dressed in colorful clothes, with some of the men sporting headdresses made of feathers.
It all seemed so alien to the young man who had only known life between castle walls. The smells, the sounds, the sights, were all something he could have hardly even imagined a few months ago.
He could experience all this only though the open slit of the large tent he was lying in. He still wasn't feeling very well. Despite being covered by blankets, his body was shivering.
As the night descended, the chills got stronger. An overwhelming sense of cold enveloped his entire body. It began to shake. Sounds came out of his mouth, which awoke the tribe.
They gathered outside of his tent, sometimes peeking inside. What they saw horrified them. A pale creature shaking violently, its only eye giving a blank, bloody stare.
"Demon, demon, demon," they all began shouting in their language.
Some of the members of the tribe picked up sticks, and started beating the sick man with them. Lacerations appeared all across his body, adding to the torture he was feeling.
"Demon! Destroy the demon," was the shout heard all throughout the camp.
Pafe's days were done for. In order to exorcise the demon out of their midst, they need to kill him.
"Stop!" A lone voice rose above the others.
Guardian of the Eagles appeared amidst the crowd, pulling the sticks out of their hands. Walking purposefully, his strong stride forced everyone to stop what they were doing and look at him.
In their language, he made a powerful speech on the visions he has had the past few nights. In them, he saw images of a tattered figure wandering the plains of the Forever Grass.
He reminded them of the old prophecy that foretold the arrival of a stranger. A one-eyed man from afar would come and change the destiny of the tribe.
"Prophecy foretold the coming of a one-eyed man who would transform into a dragon. In my dreams, I have engaged with this prophecy. Wise shamans of the past and present talked to me through the ages, the past and future. If you kill this visitor now, you will transgress against the messages of the dream world," stated Guardian of the Eagles.
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The people looked around, stupefied. They saw the wisdom in his words. They have all heard this prophecy around the campfires at night. If the dream-world has spoken, then the message is clear.
They put down their sticks, and quietly went back to their tents. Pafe passed a delirious night, but lived to see another day.
--
The prophecy
No one knows when individual prophecies entered the collective consciousness of the tribe. However, over time they become a permanent beacon guiding its members on important decisions. Omens, emanating from nature or the dream-world further strengthen this process.
In the view of the tribesmen, the physical world and the present reality is just one point in an interconnected network of time and space. Communications can pass in different directions, not just from the past to the present, but also from the future. These channels also link to the world of possibilities.
Thus prophecies and omens serve as signals. They give direction on what course of action to take.
Guardian of the Eagles' father was named Guardian of the Prophecies. True to his name, his role in the community was to preserve the prophecies and to look out for clues on the future. He would often preside over elaborate divination ceremonies meant to foresee the things to come.
As the master of knowledge within the tribe, he passed this tradition down to his son. While Guardian of the Eagles did not follow his father's footsteps to become a shaman, he did incorporate this legacy into the way he went about life. According to his experience, it is wise to listen to what the collective universe is telling you.
The tradition of the dragon is not very strong within the tribe. It does, however, feature prominently in one particular story. That of the one-eyed foreigner who would come to the tribe, depart, and then return to lead it to glory.
Growing up, this was one of Guardian of the Eagles' favorite tales. When he gazed upon the wretched one-eyed being straggling along on the plain, he immediately noticed the dragon markings on his sword and around his neck.
Was the prophecy coming true?
--
Seeing the world differently
After having laid in bed for several days, Pafe fully recovered. He was taken care of by Guardian of the Eagles' wife, Singing with Birds. She nursed him back to health.
"Thank you for taking care of me," said Pafe while eating his soup.
"It was a pleasure," smiled Singing with Birds. Just like her husband, she too could speak the Western Tongue. "My husband says fate has brought you to our people," she continued.
"I am not so sure. I don't really believe in fate. You create your own circumstances and luck then takes care of the rest," answered Pafe, noting down his philosophy on life.
"Well, maybe luck had a helping hand," said Singing with Birds, with a wide grin across her face.
Pafe too flashed a smile. Having finished his meal, he decided to amuse himself a bit. At the edge of the tent stood a basket where all the dirty laundry went.
He rolled up his cloth napkin into a makeshift ball and then threw it, trying to make it into the basket. It fell short, missing the basket by a long-shot. Back in the day, he used to make these types of shots with ease. Now, whenever he tried, the ball landed in front of the target.
He had still not learned to see the world with one eye. It was hard to judge distances. Would he ever learn to live with just this single source of vision? Despite its ugly appearance, the bad eye did facilitate his everyday life in many ways.
As Pafe was contemplating his lack of good depth perception, Guardian of the Eagles stepped into the tent. He greeted his wife, and then turned towards Pafe.
"Dragon man," were the two words he uttered.
Pafe glanced up, and said hello.
"Has the dragon spoken to you?"
This startled Pafe. He was not expecting to get into this conversation. These nomads have a way of bringing up really strange subjects to talk about, he thought to himself.
"I am not really a dragon, and I don't think the dragon speaks to me," replied Pafe.
"You told me whenever you are sick, you have visions of dragons," stated Guardian of the Eagles.
"Yes, but that's of no consequence. Just some weird hallucinations I have," answered Pafe.
"All visions have a reason. It's not random that the dragon appears whenever you are in trouble," said Guardian of the Eagles.
"I used to think it had a significance, but not anymore. I have no dragon blood." Pafe's answer betrayed his low spirits. He had ceased to believe in his heritage. He was no longer the heir of the Dragon clan. Just a man trying to survive.
His delirious walk across the Forever Grass had changed him. While at the beginning of his escape from the castle, he believed something special was waiting for him, now he wasn't so sure. His constant brushes with death convinced him there was nothing out of the ordinary about him.
He was only trying to outrun a curse that would eventually get him.
"You need to learn to see," stated Guardian of the Eagles. "The dragon is there."
"I see plenty," retorted Pafe. "I am one-eyed, not blind!"
"Then how come you almost died on the Grass?" The man with the feathered headdress pointed towards the dirty clothes lying to the side of his bed. These were the things Pafe wore when they found him.
"Since I was crossing a barren land. Barely could find water, much less something to eat," visibly agitated the young Tanamuse didn't see the point of the conversation.
"No, you didn't see. You didn't see the land, just like you don't see the dream," stated Guardian of the Eagles.
"What?" Pafe was puzzled by this statement.
The tribesman took him on a walk outside. Then he continued his speech.
"You see nothing. I see everything. You see a land of empty. I see a land of plenty," said Guardian of the Eagles.
He pointed at the landscape before him.
"What do you see?"
Pafe took a long look with his good eye, and replied, "Well, lots of grass stretching out towards the horizon."
"And what else?"
"Hmmm," thought Pafe, "not much more."
"There is plenty more. There is life, where you see death," stated Guardian. He pointed at a small shrub, a bit of a way in front of them. They walked towards it.
Guardian of the Eagles then pulled the shrub out of the ground, to reveal its roots covered with small round fruits. He ripped one off, wiped it on his clothes, and ate it.
He then pointed to the hole that was formed under where the shrub was. It was full of water. Guardian scooped up the water in his hand and drank it.
Pafe kept looking at him. He must have passed countless shrubs like this on his way through the Forever Grass. Thirsty, starving, he thought there was nothing of value around him. Yet, there was life. There was food and water that could have sustained him on his journey.
"You see?" Guardian of the Eagles pointed at the land.
Pafe nodded. Guardian wasn't done yet. All this was leading up to a greater point.
"There is this world. However, this reality is only one part of the grand reality. Just like you have to learn to really see in this world, you also need to see on the higher planes. The dragon is part of this other realm. It is talking to you, and you need to listen," Guardian was trying to impart a lesson.
The young Tanamuse had no idea what he was talking about. The shrub and water were clear. He could see them just fine. Here, he acknowledged his ignorance.
However, higher planes of existence? What was this guy smoking?
He had always been taught the world was simple. You had the ground, where the normal people lived. And then you had the sky, where the gods resided.
That's how things were and always will be.
