[2021 Holiday Challenge] The Perception of Time

[Ialari Pythone]

8th Day of Winter, 522 AV

Ialari stood before the Tree of Death and looked up. The ever-present bodies representing the shattered pieces of her soul hung from the branches. As she gazed upon the morbid visages of numerous deaths, she found herself losing her thoughts to the question of, “How?”

Each body that hung from the branches represented a piece of her soul that had ultimately perished due to the choices it had made in its own life. As she looked from one crippled, decaying form to another, she couldn’t help but wonder what had caused such a thing. It was a quandary that she’d entertained more times than she could count. Each one had made a choice that ended their life. That created even more questions for her.

As she stood before the tree, the image of Amir Berliotz appeared next to her. A representation of her inner self combined with that of the remnants of the mad wizard who initially set her upon the path of Dominion. The reflection of that, a man dressed in crimson robes sporting a long white beard and neatly trimmed white hair, shared her view of the tree.

“You wonder, time and time again of how it is all possible. How could you exist with but a single piece of a soul? How could any of them exist in such a way?” The old man spoke her thoughts as they appeared in her own mind.

As she had done so many times before, Ialari responded to the mental fabrication given substance in her Dominion with but passing acknowledgement of its existence, “Such things defy logic. Each piece lived its own life separate from my own yet they all seem to share some sort of connection. It is a connection I can feel still even though they have seemingly perished.” She paused a moment to gather her thoughts.

“They share similar experiences with me. So much of them, what they did, what they knew…it is no different from me. Yet, at some point in time, they made a different decision than I when faced with the same situation. I don’t understand how it is possible.” Ialari took a few steps closer to the tree while still looking up.

The shadow next to her, responded; her own altered subconscious reaching out and speaking to her; vocalizing her thoughts to herself. “Dira herself described this place as being home to possibility. To things that had never existed in the physical world. Things exist here that were never meant to see life…ideas, even alternate realities. Perhaps your soul was shattered across the Ukalas and thus given lives of their own.”

Ialari had already considered such things yet she found it difficult to wrap her mind around such things. “All things are connected with the Ukalas forming the fabric that they all are a part of. The fact that I can still feel them…even though they are dead…If they indeed experienced different lives separate from my own, there still must be something that anchors them to me. If not, how could I feel the connection? How could I take them into myself and reforge them? No, there must be something more to it. We share experiences to a point which means, at least up until the diverging paths, we stood in the same point in time…” Ialari lowered her head and rubbed her temples in frustration. “This is maddening. I can’t simply go along with all of this without wondering how. How is this possible? It defies everything I know. It defies time itself…possibly the only thing in my life that should have any constant to it.”

[Ialari Pythone]

The shade of Berliotz frowned. “Time. Maybe this all isn’t governed by time. Maybe the mystery that is the Ukalas defies even time itself. Considered this, you have lived years in this place, consumed with your meditations with no regard for what happens in the outside world. You’ve tried to return only to be drawn back at the last moment to ponder the mysteries of life, or reality itself. Time continues regardless. How old are you now? Do you know how much time has passed while you stand here pondering the mysteries of existence? When was the last time you tried to reforge on of those pieces? You risk losing yourself not only to your own fears or uncertainty, you risk losing yourself to time itself. You are an isur. You live much longer than the average human. Yet, your time is still limited. If you spend it all wondering how this is all possible, you will miss its meaning. You will all time to pass you by and you will fail in that great endeavor of fixing your own miserable state.”

Ialari turned her head to look at the shade. Her brow furrowed in anger; her deep-seated hatred for the long dead man the shade represented warping her face. Despite her hatred at the visage her thoughts took in her Dominion, she knew it was truth. She had consumed her thoughts with the how such things were possible and tossed aside the real goal instead.

“Maybe the only way to understand is to continue.” She muttered more to herself. “You are right although I hate admitting it. I’ve spent too much time wondering about the how.” A thought occurred to her just then as to what year it was. Then another, how long had she been in her Dominion this time. Catching herself from falling down another hole of repetitive, unproductive ponderings, she resigned herself to the next step.

Taking another step toward the tree, she closed her eyes for moment only to reopen them with a different perspective. The contents of her Dominion; the trees, grass, water and looming cavern that surrounded her faded away. They were replaced by a web of lines, points and patterns composed of pure djed. It was the sight granted to her by years spent in the Ukalas. As she looed upon the Tree of Death with the sight, she saw the dim outlines of djed surrounded the various pieces of her soul that hung from its sturdy branches.

She took another step. As she did, one of the bodies hanging from a lower branch stirred. It was but a slight movement; a finger twitch. The body then fell to the ground with a disturbing crunch. Her sight shifting back to normal, Ialari watched as the crumpled body began to rise. It was dressed in the outfit she commonly wore during her time at The Retreat; the first physical anchor to her Dominion. The rising corpse was dressed in a simple cloth chest wrap and a loin-cloth. Its flesh appeared to be ripped in places as if clawed with numerous bite marks. Time had not been kind as its skin had decayed; dried and appearing almost leathery in places.

Ialari swallowed hard and took another few steps toward the reanimated corpse. The shade of Berliotz faded and then vanished as she and the piece of her soul approached each other. Ialari stopped a few feet from her decaying mirror image and waited. The shambling form before her took a few steps before raising its hand toward her. Within a few breaths it touched her shoulder.

[Ialari Pythone]

There was a bright flash of light and within an instant, Ialari was no longer standing in her Dominion. She was standing in a tropical forest not far from the ocean coast. Memories flooded her mind; memories of a time several years prior.

Ialari traveled to an arrived at the pond located a short distance from the Retreat. After undressing, she laid her meager clothing on a nearby rock with her dagger sitting on top. She then took a several steps into the water before wading out into the center. She stopped at the large rock near the center of the pond where she often laid on, half submerged, and stretched out. Smiling to herself as she washed the day's filth from her skin, Ialari found herself absently talking out loud. "You're dirty, you're not in the physical shape you should be in, you're alone in the middle of nowhere, your only friend is a ghost and there is a not-so-far-off chance that you'll be dead within the next several days." Ialari paused, still smiling as she ran her fingers over the intricate carvings of Izentor on her metallic arm before looking at the palm of her off-hand to see the scythe-shaped simple of Death. Continuing to nobody in particular, "Yet despite all that, you've accomplished more in a couple of years than most do in an entire lifetime."

As she’d experienced before, her mind began to merge with that of the piece of her soul she was connecting with. Her memories were interweaving as time itself seemed to catch up. As the memories flooded her mind, she struggled with integration. There were so many similarities with few variations. For the most part, up until that point, Ialari and the soul shard she was reincorporating shared the same experiences.

Feeling more as an observer, Ialari sat aside within what felt like her own body yet at the same time completely foreign. Moving to a sitting position on the rock, Ialari put her arms around her knees and laid her head down as she thought back on all that had happened to her. She recalled her encounter with Amir Berliotz and remembered how she felt when Izurdin blessed her with his second mark. She thought of the receiving of Dominion and of her travels through the Ukalas at Dira's side. Further back than that was her arrival in Sahova and her confrontation with Drainira. Her long journey from Sultros and everything that happened after.

She remembered the moment from her own life and felt something of a tingle of sorts as she recalled the events that would follow. Although her soul piece slept, Ialari couldn’t shake the knowledge of what was about to happen. She wondered what choices this incarnation would make. Obviously, it didn’t end well but she desperately wished to know. Unable to do anything else, she waited for the broken piece of herself to wake.

As she lost herself to her memories, the soul shard slowly drifted off to sleep, still sitting in the center of the pond. Lack of proper food, irregular sleep and constant fatigue closed in around her leaving Ialari to her dreams.

Meanwhile, the sun gradually dropped and finally faded from the sky giving way to darkness. With the darkness came something else. Drawn in by the smell of smoke and all manner of smells on the wind, three pairs of eyes looked down from the surrounding trees upon the solitary figure in the center of the pond. They didn't know what to expect upon arriving there but what they saw gave them pause. Confused, curious with varying types of hunger in their eyes, the three newcomers found themselves a bit uncertain as to how next to act. It wasn't every night they stumbled across a naked girl sitting in the center of a secluded pond far from any humanoid settlement.

[Ialari Pythone]

Silently folding their wings over their bodies as they hunched down in the thicker branches of the trees, the three zith, all males, speaking to each other in tones inaudible to the human ear, struggled over to how best to handle the situation at hand.

The largest of the three, one with dark red hair on his head, around his elbows and knees, called out to the other two who each perched in different yet close-by trees, "This is not right. What is this girl doing here? It may be a trap. What's with her arm, it is not right." One of the others, a younger zith with deep black hair and a jagged scar across its nose, spoke up, "How is it a trap? No one else around. She looks asleep. Easy pickings." The last of the three, one with long gray hair, called back, "I say we just jump her. Play with her a bit and then maybe eat her. I'm starving!" The three of them continued their odd discussion-gradually-turned-argument for awhile longer before immediately silencing themselves as they all noticed Ialari beginning to stir from her impromptu sleep.

Ialari awoke from her nap realizing quickly that she had fell asleep in the first place. She muttered to herself as she stretched out her legs under the water and leaned back with her arms supporting her from behind. Still in a sitting position, she leaned her head back and looked up at the stars. As much as she delighted in the otherworldly sights of the Ukalas and her Dominion, Ialari admitted to herself that a clear, starry night in the mortal realm wasn't all that bad either.

Wiping the grime from her legs, Ialari ran her fingers up and down each one while pressing into the flesh to help rub the dirt from them. She did the same with her fleshy arm as dirt and filth seemed to have a difficult time sticking to the odd metallic finish of her other arm. She continued bathing in a similar manner around her waist as well as up her belly, breasts, neck and shoulders. Although Ialari was a child of the mountains and earth, she took great pleasure in the water and a nice bath was one of the highlights of her day.

Just around the time she finished her neck and shoulders and was about to wash her face that something finally dawned on her. The normal sounds she heard during a nightly bath were gone. She couldn't hear the frogs or insects or anything really other than a light breeze rustling some leaves. The pond was oddly silent when it should be teaming with noise. Quickly an odd tingling sensation starting at the base of her spine and spiderwebbing up the back of her head and around her ears brought her a chill. She recognized the feeling from Sahova when strolling through the courtyard. She could sense the ghosts looking at her but couldn't see them. She knew they were even if they chose not to reveal themselves. It was that feeling of being watched that brought her a slight pause.

[Ialari Pythone]

She started washing her shoulders and neck again while turning her head casually around her to see if she could see anything around the outskirts of the pond. Her vision, adapted to the total darkness of underground, still served her rather well above ground. As she tried to survey the nearby area without alerting whatever was out there to the fact that she suspected their presence, she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Moving to wash her face, Ialari dipped her face in the water before lifting it back out and tilting her head back. She looked into the trees that grew around the pond and noted three distinct shapes perched on some of the larger branches. They stood out as being much larger than an owl or any other bird for that matter. The tingling chill Ialari felt a moment earlier returned with greater intensity as she considered the possibility that she was being stalked by a trio of zith. The winged humanoids had been a plague in her homeland of Sultros. They would attack caravans, stealing supplies and attempting to take captives. The average adult isur was too heavy to be picked up by a zith and their skin was dense enough to help lessen the effectiveness of the zith claws. Though a single isur could easily handle a zith one on one, multiple zith posed a real threat.

Ialari remembered quite well how she handled the trio of Zith in her own life. However, as she watched through the eyes of her soul shard, she felt hesitation. It was something she hadn’t herself felt at the time. When she’d encountered the zith, she felt determination and the overwhelming drive to survive. In this particular instance however, she felt uncertainty coming from the shard.

The shard was also not in a position of great defense. She was nude in the middle of a pond with the nearest weapon too far away to be of any use. By the time she reached the shore, they could be on her, perhaps even try to drown her. Of course, her arm alone could be considered a weapon but against three zith she was still outmatched. Likely they followed the smaller animals that had started returning in recent days.

Ialari could hear the soul shard’s thoughts as if they were her own as she considered the situation in her mind. They haven't struck yet so either they are still trying to figure out the best way to take me down or they are surprised to see a lone woman in the middle of nowhere so far from civilization. Either way, I doubt I've got much time. The shard then realized that even though she was effectively defenseless in the center of the pond, the fact that she was surrounded by water offered some defense in itself. Yet there was still a bit of doubt. She was outnumbered. There could be even more zith out there that she hadn’t noticed. Could she hope to defend herself? Perhaps. Yet they still had the numbers and the advantage of flight. The zith would not have an easy time of striking her when they couldn't land but they could still strike her from the air. Even if she ducked below the water, she would still need to come up for a breath.

The shard considered waiting them out. If she sat in the pond long enough, the sun would rise and the zith would likely leave. From what she remembered told to her back home, the zith didn't much care for the light. She wasn't too sure about trusting those stories however. What in Izurdin's name are you going to do then. If you run for the dagger, they will be there before you. If you wait in the water, they may not leave when you think they will and they may actually decide to attack before then. You could try and get them to attack you in the water. That would probably be your best chance. But how do you get the jump on three creatures that are perched above you with a greater field of view? She questioned herself and reviewed her choices as she continued to the charade of bathing.

This was the point that Ialari began to worry about what action the shard would take next. She could feel the panic it felt. Whereas Ialari had used the stone she sat on to create a weapon, the shard didn’t seem to think about such a thing. It instead focused on trying to reach the dagger some distance away on the shore. This was an error that Ialari had originally avoided as it would have left her too vulnerable.

[Ialari Pythone]

What are you doing? She thought. Don’t bother with the dagger! Use the stone! For Ialari it seemed like an easy choice. Unfortunately, the shard was not thinking the same way. It thought it could get out of the pool and reach the dagger before the zith had a chance to strike. It felt that time was on its side and that the zith would be too confused by its brazen attempt at a weapon that they would be put off guard.

Ialari pounded her fists against the invisible barrier that separated her thoughts from those of the soul shard. Though still separated to a point, she could feel everything the shard felt. The coolness of the water, the solid form of the stone she knelt upon. Desperately she wanted to reach down and carve out the stone club that she herself used to engage the zith in her own encounter. Yet, she was helpless to stop the shard from jumping up and leaping into the water on her way to the outer edge of the pond and to the dagger that lay just out of reach.

The zith took flight and moved in to strike. As the soul shard struggled to get to dry land and to the dagger, the zith took turns swooping in and clawing at her. Although the water offered some small amount of protection, it slowed the shard down and caused her to take quite the beating. Claws tore into the flesh of her upper torso and face. While none of the zith could gain a good grip on her, their claws progressively ripped into her dense flesh. Although not deadly by themselves, the wounds quickly began to take their toll in pain and bleeding. The shard stumbled several times, falling into the water and thrashing around in an attempt to regain her footing. Throughout it all, Ialari could feel every slash, every rip of her skin. The burning pain of the wounds combined with gasping and choking at the lungsful of water were not held back from her.

Although an observer to what was happening to the shard in its own life, the connection they shared was growing stronger as Ialari and the shard began to merge with one another. What had begun with a simple sharing of memories had quickly expanded. Although still a one-sided sharing with the shard unaware of Ialari’s presence, the sharing of memories became a sensing and then hearing of thoughts. Hearing those thoughts became feeling them as her own. It was this conflict of consciousness; of not knowing if her own thoughts and actions were hers or the shard’s that made the panicked rush for the shore even worse.

Eventually she made it to the shore. Unfortunately, in her scramble to get to there, she ended up several feet away from where her gear and her dagger lay. There was no time to consider any other options as a particularly large zith landed between her and her dagger. Two others immediately followed suit by landing in flanking positions; there was nowhere to run.

[Ialari Pythone]

What followed was something that Ialari would carry with her for the rest of her life. The shard attempted to fight off the zith. A few solid punches connected yet they only served to anger the creatures; heightening their cruelty. She was clawed and even bitten until she could barely feel her body through the pain. Despite that, she continued to fight long past the point where she could no longer stand. The zith toyed with her; taunted her with laughter. The took turns biting her; pulling chunks of flesh away from her body. It wasn’t long after that the terrible wounds and blood loss overcame her and she blacked out never to wake again.

When Ialari finally opened her eyes, she was standing once more in her Dominion. When her senses returned, she screamed and thrashed about frantically; fighting back a nonexistent enemy. She ran her hands over her body and her face; feeling for the wounds that were not there. She took several deep breathes before her mind finally registered the reality she was in. In front of her stood the shredded body of the shard; its chewed hand still on her shoulder. A broken smile stretched across its face; the torn skin on one side of its mouth revealing several missing teeth. A moment later it was surrounded by a brilliant, pale blue light. The devastated visage of the corpse began to soften. The countless claw marks that had left her skin hanging in strips started to fade as the wounds quickly closed. The bite marks on her face sealed themselves and the freshness of life returned to her eyes. The shard and the light surrounding it then began to fade. As it did, Ialari looked at her hands which in turn began to glow the same way. The light extended from her hands, up her arms and over the rest of her body. As she took the soul shard into herself, she felt its relief, its joy and thankfulness for being released from what it thought to be an eternity of hanging from the tree; lost in a state no truly dead but possessing no real life.

Ialari stood in that spot for many moments as she embraced the feeling of having another piece of her soul returned. Eventually, she turned away from the Tree of Death and walked over the statue of the coiled serpent she’d constructed years before. Laying at the base of the statue was her current journal; one of several. Retrieving the nearby quill and bottle of ink, she began to write. It was something she did as soon as possible after reforging each soul shard. Just as with dreams, the experience would only remain fresh in her mind for so long and she wanted to record her resulting thoughts and feelings while they were at the surface of her mind.

She proceeded to record her experience with the shard’s reality along with her interpretations and occasional musing. As she wrote, she spoke her thoughts aloud. Although there wasn’t anyone around other than the collection of small wildlife she’d populated her Dominion with, it was a habit she’d acquired early on in her studies of her space within the Ukalas. Sharing her thoughts and feelings with the Dominion as if it were a sentient being actually helped shape it into what it was. It was a part of her and she a part of it; a powerful connection formed through manipulating the very fabric of reality.

“This one was unlike the last one.” She said as she wrote of the shard. “Her memories were very similar to my own but I can feel minor differences. Aside from the obvious divergence that occurred with the zith…” She paused for a moment as she pushed back the memory of what happened; the memory of her death.

“There were other differences. Things I remember from my childhood did not happen exactly the same way for her. Certain family members I was close to, she was not. She had a couple of friends whom for me were hardly worth my time.” Again, the idea of time came to mind.

[Ialari Pythone]

Her writing moved from the specifics of her experience with the shard and to the idea of time. She wrote several lines before stopping. Laying the journal down, she stood and began to wander; her thoughts never ceasing. Her analytical mind, always picking away at a presented problem could not let go. “So, accepting for the moment that it is possible for a soul to exist with only a single piece of the greater whole, how is it that the other pieces can also exist or did exist at one time? How do they share many of the same experiences with some deviations? Of course, there is the whole idea of choice. I mean, that is what a lot of this whole thing is supposed to be teaching me, right? The significance and power of choice? Yet…that doesn’t explain how the shards experience similar things. From what I have gained from their memories, the shared experiences happened at the same time in our respective lives…” Ialari paced about her Dominion as she spoke her thoughts and attempted to dissect the conundrum presently consuming her.

Softly echoing throughout the great cavern housing Ialari’s Dominion, a female voice said, “It’s exceedingly rare to even scratch the surface of such a perspective. Indeed, you are one of my favorite stories.”

Ialari immediately stopped in place and looked around for the source of the voice yet could find nothing. What concerned her even more however was that she could normally sense the presence of everything within her Dominion. This time though, there was nothing. That was until everything around her seemed to slow down. A small songbird paused in mid-flight, its wings moving a snail’s pace. The trees branches and blades of grass that rustled with the slight breeze that blew through also moved in slow motion. As she looked on in wonder at what was happening all around her, Ialari caught sight of different movement in the small pool of water she used for bathing and meditation. The water of the pool rose to the form a large sphere. Surprised that she was able to move without restriction, Ialari cautiously made her way toward the sphere.

When she was within a few feet of it, the sphere suddenly started to break down, the water slowly cascading back down into the pool. On the stone slab in the pool’s center, stood a woman. She appeared almost ageless with dark blue eyes and platinum, almost white hair. She wasn’t especially beautiful nor was she unattractive. As Ialari looked at the woman, she got the feeling that for her, age and beauty were little more than cosmetic flare. The dress she wore was simple in form though colored in pale blues and white while faintly reflecting her surroundings in way much like the reflections in the surface of water.

As Ialari tapped into her bond with her Dominion, she stopped herself at the last moment just before changing her perception to look upon the woman’s pattern of djed as it related to the Dominion. It was something she often did to help understand exactly what she was dealing with yet this time she had the feeling that doing so would not be such a good idea. Swallowing hard and realigning her senses, she asked, “Who are you and why have you come here?”

[Ialari Pythone]

The woman offered a hint of a smile and stepped off of the stone slab and onto the surface of the water where she remained ever so slightly above it. She then continued gracefully walking toward Ialari as if weight, gravity and the various aspects of physical reality had no meaning. For her part, Ialari remained standing in place as the woman stopped a few feet in front of her.

When she responded, her voice was calm and deliberate sounding. “You already know who I am. You can feel it in every breath you take, in every movement you see, in every feeling that your mind senses from your body. You can feel it through your unique connection to this entire place.” The woman gestured to the great cavern that surrounded them.

Ialari did feel it. It was a feeling that was always there yet not easily noticed. It was always present, always moving. With her mind focused on perceiving it, Ialari knew that she was standing before the physical representation of Time.

Her head lowered, Ialari recalled a name from her religious studies as a young girl. It was a name that was said to be the same no matter what language was spoken. It was a name that meant the same thing to all people of all races. Softly she spoke the name, “Tanroa.”

Without acknowledging Ialari’s mention of her name, Tanroa continued. “You have finally reached the point in your story where some context must be given.”

Ialari glanced up at Tanroa with a look of confusion on her face. The mention of her/ story was a strange use of words as was the idea of context. Context to what? She wondered.

With deep blue eyes seeing everything, Tanroa reached for and took hold of Ialari’s metallic hand and raised it slightly. She traced the raised silver veins on the arm’s surface as she spoke. “You are a truly unique individual, Ialari. Gifted in ways you still have yet to come to terms with. Filled with more questions than there exist answers. Broken but still functioning. Doing the impossible in reforging your own soul. Able to perceive reality in a way no other mortal can yet still unable to see. Yes, your story is an epic one that requires a few moments of context in order to put the right pieces together to keep it from wandering down a tangent.” Tanroa wrapped her soft, delicate fingers around Ialari’s thicker metallic ones.

“I know how much you detest divine riddles. So as for why I am here. I am here to give you some of those answers you so desperately seek. Walk with me.” Tanroa lightly tugged on Ialari’s hand as she turned back toward the pool of water she emerged from. Ialari gave the slightest of resistance at first. The fact that she was standing in the presence of actual Time was intense. She wasn’t sure what or how to think. She was being acknowledged by a being far beyond any others; beyond Dira and even beyond Izurdin. Hesitation quickly gave way to curiosity and the need for answers. Ialari’s brief resistance melted away and she walked with Tanroa.

[Ialari Pythone]

The two approached the pool and took a step onto and just above its surface. Ialari looked down in wonder as they walked over the water to the stone slab in the center. When they reached the slab, the water in the pool once more rose up to form a sphere around them.

“This is Time’s Anchor. It anchors one to the present and prevents them from being swept away by the currents of time. Through its surface, one can view the effects that time has on the surroundings as it flows backwards to the past.” Tanroa motioned with her free hand to the inner surface of the sphere. Ialari leaned forward and looked through the cloudy water. She could see her Dominion. She watched as the trees grew in reverse; becoming smaller, younger as did the grass. The landscape morphed backwards, becoming less refined with less detail. In moments it was gone; replaced by the absence of everything.

Ialari leaned back and Tanroa continued, “Mortal perception of time is quite limited. They are only able to perceive it within the confines of their own reality.” She waved her free hand once and the sphere receded. Ialari was then greeted with a sight that caused her to momentarily stop breathing. She and Tanroa hovered high above the largest river she’d ever seen. It stretched seemingly forever in two directions and was lined by a vast shore with endless forests further inland.

“This is Time’s River; the physical representation of the flow of time itself.” She motioned in one direction of the river and then to the other. “Up river lies the past going all the way back to the beginning of all things flowing down river into the future. Mortals stand in a single spot on the shore, stuck in the present. They feel the effects of the river as it flows from the past to the future although they are unable to grasp the full concept. It is this lack of full perception that maintains their reality. To truly perceive time’s flow would be to risk unraveling an individual’s reality."

Speaking up for the first time since their strange journey began, Ialari asked, “Then how am I seeing this?”

Tanroa answered without returning Ialari’s gaze, “That is part of why I have brought you here. You are quite unique in that thanks to a combination of things, one of them being your extensive time spent in the Ukalas, you are able to perceive things that most mortals cannot even if you don’t fully understand the things you see.”

Ialari considered some of the things Tanroa had shared with her thus far. “I understand the basic idea of what you are saying but what about the pieces of my soul. How is it that we share so many of the same past experiences yet exist in our own realities? From what you’ve described so far, it would seem impossible."

Tanroa smiled. “Mortals perceive reality in a way specific to them. Each one perceives reality differently even though they experience it in the same town, city and world. Reality is simply a perception of existence influenced by the flow of time. This is why two people standing on Time’s Shore, may experience similar events yet perceive those events differently. They stand near each other, close enough to share those experiences but far enough away to perceive them differently.”

Tanroa looked down at the shore and gestured for Ialari to do the same. “Look there at he shore and tell me what you see.”

Ialari looked at the shore but saw nothing different. “I see the shore but nothing else.”

Tanroa raised an eyebrow and said, “Look again but this time see that which cannot normally be seen.”

Ialari, confused at Tanroa’s words at first, soon realized what was being asked of her. She closed her eyes and allowed her mind to reach out for the connections she could feel while in her Dominion. She opened herself to the interconnectedness that her years in the Ukalas had revealed to her. As she did so, she began to feel a greater presence surrounding her. She suddenly felt very small as if she were but what tiny piece of something far greater. When she opened her eyes again, she saw the shore. This time however she saw dozens of dim, flickering nearly extinguished flames scattered in a small area on the shore. They were all positioned relatively close to one another but none overlapping in their location.

“Wait…are those?” She managed to ask with a bit of choke in her voice.

“The pieces of your soul. Notice how they all have a spot on the shore that is very close to one another yet never touching. Now expand your sight. See the connections.” Tanroa gave an encouraging nod.