What awaits in the land of Vol

He settled in for a long sleep, many years would pass before he would awake again in this world. There was no way for him to know how long it would be, how many cycles would need to pass. He was certain he arranged for everything, prepared everything; all he could do was wait in slumber. The small ones knew what to do, they would ensure the rumors spread wide and far. They eagerly accepted their task and looked forward to the day when his plan would come to fruition. The day would come, she would arrive, she would find him. Extraordinary events would occur. The promise of a prophecy.

She walked down the street, going nowhere, just walking. An autumn chill crept into her bones, it would be a cold one this year. So much had happened, too much loss had accumulated on her. She walked. Each step bringing her nowhere in particular, though, each step felt good, healing somehow. Thoughts, images and feelings swirled through her mind. A sense of something was just beyond her grasp, always present, always out of reach. What was it? She could not tell, only that it was ever present. She could not think of a time when it was not there.

What she knew was certain, she must heal herself. Life had become painful and lonely. For all that she learned, insight gained; it seemed meaningless. A deep drive for understanding had motivated her throughout life. But where had it left her? Penniless and alone was all she could see. She knew now how many times she had been through this; so many streets she had walked, so many losses and grief. There was purpose though, deep inside she knew there was a greater story. Healing was what she could do. She could embrace herself, each version of herself.

The chill grew with each day, the darkness of winter set in. She knew it was time for her focus to go inward. The isolation was a gift, like to a hibernation. Without distraction she could go deep within; heal and transform the pain. Perhaps meaning would be found once again.

Across the world, hidden in a secret chamber, some gathered. A privileged few, these were the only ones that knew the secrets of the world. They sought only power. They were not inspired by the heart, nor the mind; unless, of course, it brought greater power to wield. Regularly they would gather in this secret chamber to discuss their collective interest. These few controlled all aspects of the world and had enormous wealth, but it was not enough. They had been looking beyond the planet. A great empire that spanned many worlds would mean greater power and wealth. They could develop colonies to mine for resources, worked by the slaves they were in control of and would ship out. The population was already so docile and compliant. Those rebels that remained would easily be squashed they said.

One amongst them stood up to speak. He spoke so excitedly his mustache moved like a crazy caterpillar. He had discovered something extraordinary. A rumor, long dismissed as fantasy; he now had physical evidence of. An ancient stone tablet had been found, deep in the jungle. He declared that his people had finally translated it.

When the Giants in the Sky Align

A Door Opens in the North

Only The One May Enter

Great Power will be Unleashed

The others dismissed him. Fantasy and nonsense they declared. We have heard of this rumor, they said. Even if its true, there is no way to know who The One is or where the door could be. Perhaps this is true, but it had always just been rumor; they now had a tablet, not just the whispers though. He insisted it was real; no one had seen carvings like this on anything else. He was certain it was a special code designed eons before. He was determined to keep digging and searching.

She picked up her cup of tea and walked over to the window. She watched the gentle falling of the snow, blanketing all that was around bringing a peace to her heart. She sighed a deep sigh and released some pain.

Far away, deep in a cave, a couple of adventurers were exploring. They were as excited as school boys, feeling certain they were the first to see this cave. They had come well prepared with supplies, not being new to this activity. Slowly they wandered, noting the rocks, the great spires rising up from the ground. Everything seemed to sparkle in the light from their headlamps. What a find they declared. They came around a bend at the back of the cave. Before them they saw a flat surface; it looked like one of the spires had been cut to make this surface. They approached and to their surprise a flat stone was laid on top. They could see it had strange carvings, neither had seen such carving before. Each wondered how much such a thing could fetch in a sale. What if there was a booby trap? Did they dare touch it? The promise of wealth was great. Finally, one of the pair stepped up and grabbed up the stone. Nothing happened, they were still alive. They eagerly stuffed the stone in a bag and began the long climb out of the cave. One of the pair knew of a man that was quite interested in ancient artifacts. He didn't know much about the man; he had met him only one time. When he would talk excitedly, his mustache would bounce around like a crazy caterpillar. Certainly he would pay handsomely for such a find as this.

The man with the mustache paced his study. He knew the great giants of the sky would align next year. He knew this referred to the great planets. But where in the North? Who was the One? If he could find and control the One, the power would be his. He had teams of people searching around the world looking for more tablets. He kept his eye on the underground markets for the chance a tablet would be discovered by someone else. This could put him in the number one position. The others would bow to him now. He would control the new colonies, he would build the empire. He wondered what kind of great power this was.

She awoke from a deep meditation. She began to feel rejuvenated. Slowly she healed, slowly she returned to herself and gained new insight. A vision flashed in her mind. What was that? She was not certain.

An archaeologist sat in her tent far into the desolate desert. She worked tirelessly, long into the night cataloging each piece her team had found. This ancient civilization was little known. It was clear to her it existed in a different era; this region had not been desert at that time. She looked at a flat stone tablet with strange carvings, she did not know what it meant yet. She put the information in the catalog. She brought it to the table where she carefully wrapped it and placed it in a box. In a few months the team would need to retreat back to civilization for a break and supplies. They would bring the pieces with them so that they could be properly studied.

Lost in thought, the man with the mustache stared at his notes, he stared at the map. His assistant entered, startling him back to the present. Irritated the man with the mustache turned to his assistant, admonishing him for the interruption. The assistant spoke quickly, a tablet had been found. It was for sale on the underground network. Seems to have been found in a cave. The man with the mustache excitedly ordering it be purchased at once. He could not believe his good fortune.

In The Heart of the Land of Vol

The Waters Hide

Great Giants Stand Guard

A Door on the Other Side

The man with the mustache gathered a team. He knew what Vol meant. Ancient lands in the north had once been called Vol. The mysteries of Vol had long been lost in the sands of time. Only a couple of references are mentioned of its existence in ancient text. Nothing but wilderness now, the land was dense forest that no one had entered in an age or more. A mountain range ran along the Eastern edge, these must be the giants. Perhaps a civilization once stood at their base, and was the heart of the region. The waters, there must be underground water, he thought. He would pour all his resources into finding this door.

She took a deep breathe, reached up to the sky. She took a deep breathe and bent over to touch the ground. Peace and meaning grew in her heart.

His team failed. Only one made it back out and he was barely alive. Not only was the land treacherous, it was, in fact, inhabited. He could not say by whom, he never actually saw them. He only saw the team fall. They had been ambushed, he ran for his life and barely made it out. He can't even be certain what killed the others.

Frustrated, the man with the mustache ordered a new team. One that was heavily armed and armored. This team would be made up of mercenaries prepared for battle. He ordered them to find this doorway and learn who was living there. If there were people living in this region he needed to know that as well.

She walked down the street. She took a deep breathe and could already smell the coming spring. A feeling persisted, that same one that had always been with her. It seemed stronger somehow, but not clearer yet. She continued to walk, not going anywhere, but each step felt good, healing.

The team of mercenaries were flown in and dropped down as close to the mountains as possible. They started from a different point, hoping to avoid whomever had taken out the previous team. For many days they searched for some kind of opening. The tablet had indicated hidden water, there must be an opening that led to some underground water source. Supplies ran low, they did not want to return having found nothing. The man with the mustache would not be pleased. Somehow they had not been attacked, they had no obvious indications that any others were around. A couple of the men swore they were being watched and felt very uneasy, but they were not assaulted and they never saw anyone else.

More time passed, the head of the team grew anxious, they would have no choice but to call for extraction tomorrow. He did not look forward to the fury of the man with the mustache. They had failed to find anything that would lead them to an underground cavern with water. His team steadily grew more anxious as the days passed. More and more a sense of foreboding overcame them, the sense of being watched only intensified. Why had the first team been killed, while they were merely watched? Would they still be attacked before they could leave? Even he could no longer deny someone was out there. None of his team had seen anything or anyone, but they were out there, somewhere. His eyes panned across the landscape, he cursed this land and its secrets. He was in charge, it would be his head if they failed. Suddenly he was aroused from his thoughts by shouting. He ran to the noise, fearing those others had finally attacked. To his surprise and joy, a small opening had been finally found.

A larger opening needed to be made. They toiled to move rocks and boulders. Finally successful, they crawled in. They had to see for themselves before returning to the man with the mustache. They had to crawl for several hundred yards before the space opened up and they could stand. Carefully they made their way through the cave. It did not take long until they found an underground lake. Planning for this possibility they quickly inflated a raft they had brought along. They had to see if there were some sort of door on the other side. It was too dark to see to the other side, their lights could not reach that far.

The leader along with another climbed into the raft and set off across the lake. It was not large, as they reached the other side they could tell there was a shore to pull up on. It looked like there was not much space, but it would be enough for a landing. As they step onto the shore and shine the light around they realize what had looked like ordinary rocks were in fact statues. There were two standing next to each other. They looked like grotesque monsters dressed in armor and holding spears. There was an opening behind them but a person could not fit around these statues. The leader stepped up to get a closer look and see what might be behind them. The two statues suddenly moved their spears blocking him further. They did not come to life, they continued to be statues. The two men were scared. Statues don't move. They rowed back across the lake and then out of the cave as fast as they could. Their mission was a success. They found what the man with the mustache had been looking for, even if they could not get passed the statues. The leader immediately called for extraction, relieved they could report success.

She woke suddenly in a cold sweat, she was trembling. She could not remember what she had been dreaming about, only feelings and impressions. It had seemed so intense, so real and not like any dream she had ever experienced. Images flashed across her mind, but she could not capture any of them. She felt both excitement and foreboding. Somehow it reminded her of that strange feeling that has always been with her and always just out of reach. Strangely, her back tingled like electricity was coursing through her. She had an unusual birth mark where the electrical feeling seemed to emminate from. The few that had seen it remarked how much it looked like a great bird or even a dragon in flight. Years ago a boyfriend of hers would trace the outline of her birthmark. He was fascinated by it, he even took a picture so he could always look at it. She had thought him silly, but did not mind. That was years ago now. Its just a birth mark, she thought, why should it tingle like this, how strange. She reached around to touch the birthmark. In an instant she knew every version of her had had the same birthmark.

The boyfriend had shared the picture, thinking it the coolest birthmark he had ever seen. He had not told her.

The man with the mustache was overjoyed to learn that the underground water and a doorway guarded by statues had been found. His ascension was assured. The others would fall to his power, he would rule. He needed to learn who this mysterious One was yet, but he was certain he would find another tablet. There must be another out there. His many teams around the world would discover it. They had to, there were only a few months now until the giants of the sky would align.

The archaeologist packed up the last of her gear. She checked in with the rest of her team. She assured all the artifacts were secure and would not be damaged. The long trek out of the desert would be rough. The heat of the summer grew quickly now, they must make haste before it grew too inhospitable and dangerous. Once she returned to the university she would be able to upload the many pictures she had taken of the site and its artifacts. She was eager to be able to get a closer look at what they had found.

The man with the mustache stood in front of the map, he stared at the location his team had indicated. He looked at the satellite images of the region. It looked like this door was at the base of the mountains in a field of rocky outcroppings. Another team would have to use the same drop off point as before. It would mean a long and difficult trek, but there isn't a closer point. He was thinking hard when he was startled by the sudden entry of his assistant. An archaeological team had recently returned from a dig. A picture was found on the university's site that showed a tablet. The man with the mustache made haste to acquire the new tablet.

The One is Marked in Flight

The Door for Her Alone

The Guard Make Way

In the North They Wait

The man with the mustache was now frustrated. He now knew The One was a woman, but little else. What could Marked in Flight possibly mean? To come so close and have so little information. Even with his immense resources, how could he find this woman. He dared not involve any of the others, he would not want to share this great power. He felt certain he would have control over some woman, but one of the others would fight him for control of this great power.

The man with the mustache thought hard, was this a tattoo? There could be thousands of women with a tattoo that was related to flight. Could this be a woman that flew frequently and got injured, leaving a scar? The many people under him will have to comb through every picture they can find. But how to narrow it down to one is a problem he is not sure how to handle yet.

Every time she woke now, she woke with a start. Waking from intense dreams that would quickly fade. Every time, her birthmark would tingle with electricity. She breathed deep and meditated. She new something would soon happen. A feeling grew in her day by day, a fulfillment of sorts, she thought.

Weeks passed, the man with the mustache poured over endless pictures gathered by his people. The time grew shorter and shorter now. The alignment was coming in a couple of weeks now. He was no closer to figuring out how to figure out which woman was The One. He could not come so close only to lose this opportunity. This alignment would not come again in his lifetime, he had to find her. He threw the pictures into the air and screamed with a primal rage. He threw things around, knocked over the furniture, raging and yelling. He collapsed in a heap on the floor, spent. Then he saw it, a picture he hadn't seen before. A picture of a birthmark that looked like a bird in flight. Her identity was a mystery, her face did not appear in the picture. But he found her! He could trace the picture back to its origination and find her!

She walked down the street, going nowhere in particular. It had been a long road of healing, she felt good. Suddenly, a van pulled up next to her and swooped her up.

The man in the mustache made preparations, he would go on this trip. He would be there when this great power was released by her. He would control it. Nothing could stop him now.

She woke with a start once again, just like she had been for several weeks now. Only she was not at home. Fear and foreboding grew inside of her as she remembered being kidnapped on the side of the street. She was not tied up though, she got up and looked around at a simple room, a small table and chair in the corner, there were two doors. One she found led to a bathroom and the other was locked. Before she could do anything else she heard the doorknob, someone had been waiting for her to wake up. She rubbed the tingling birthmark and took a deep breathe. A man with a mustache walked in.

She marveled at how much his mustache looked like a crazy caterpillar as he excitedly told her about the tablets and the great power. He apologized for how she had been taken so suddenly, but there was no time to waste, the alignment was coming and they needed to leave immediately. Naturally, she refused, she insisted on going home and how dare he kidnap her like this. He assured her that since she needed to enter the doorway, the power and wealth would be hers. He would merely share it, after all, he was the one that found the tablets and spent great resources to bring this all about. She did not believe him. There was no escape for her, she had no choice but to go with him. The alignment was just a couple of days away now, there would be just enough time to reach the drop point and hike to the cave with the lake and door.

As they approached, her birthmark began to tingle, stronger than it had before. Pulses began to release from the center of it, they would fill her entire body. It made her feel dizzy and nauseous. Once she stepped onto the ground at the drop point, a great surge filled her body and she fainted. A rumble could be felt in the ground by all present.

Slowly she returned to consciousness, once she could stand again, she looked around and was amazed at what she saw. All around them there were twinkling lights flitting around, she looked closer and saw that they were little glowing people with wings. They swirled around each other and danced through the air in excitement. She laughed to see them and their wonder and beauty. She felt an outpouring of love from each of them.

No one else saw them, however. The man in the mustache feigned concern that she may have hit her head pretty hard when she fainted and fell. The mercenary team that had accompanied them expressed how much they disliked this land and how much more ominous it felt than the last time.

She could feel what the little people were saying. She did not hear their voices, it was more like their intention simply entered her mind and she understood. The fear she had felt before faded now. The tingling from her birthmark was a steady flow now and she just knew it was good.

They made their way to the entry point to the cavern. Accompanied by the little people. They were so excited that after all this time his plan was going to reach its culmination. As she walked, images flashed through her mind, memories. She began to remember more and more clearly all of her versions. She began to remember the dreams she had been waking from over the last several weeks. She began to remember that there was something very important that she had forgotten, though, she didn't know what that was. She knew she had lived many lives, each and all to bring her to this moment. A great peace filled her, she knew something extraordinary was happening.

The entrance was finally reached. She was eager to enter and discover what this was all about. The man with the mustache was lost in thought, excitedly thinking about crushing his enemies and ruling over a great empire that spanned many worlds. Once she secured this power, he would kill her, he thought. He would take it from her and this would be her grave, he laughed to himself.

They crawled through the long tunnel and entered the great cavern. Her head swooned. The mercenary team cried out in surprise. The cavern was glowing, it was not dark like before. The light source could not be identified. They could clearly see the entire cavern, the small lake, and the opposite shore.

The man with the mustache directed them to inflate the rafts. He wanted a couple of the mercenaries to cross with them and couple to stay on this side. In the back of his mind he remembered that first team and their demise.

As they crossed the lake and closed in on the shore, they could see that the wall around the statues appeared to be translucent and glowing and not entirely solid rock anymore. The statues were in the same position as they had been when the mercenary leader had left them. Their spears were thrust forward, the position they had moved into when he had tried to approach. They too, were translucent and glowing.

She approached then, the statues swung out and moved aside for her to enter. She walked passed, the statues swung back and blocked anyone else from entering. The man with the mustache was angry as he wanted to enter. He tried to bash the statues, thinking he could destroy them. They moved into a fighting stance and became more menacing. No one else was going to enter.

She walked through a short passage and entered a room of glowing stone. All around were glowing orbs placed on rocks that appeared like shelves. At the far end of the room there was a pedestal with a bowl on top. She understood. She must pick one of these orbs and place it into that bowl. The electrical tingling was intense now, but she wasn't afraid, it didn't overwhelm her. She looked around at the orbs, she immediately knew which one to grab. There wasn't anything special about it, she just knew. She reached for it, her hand touched it. A great surge moved from her birthmark. The walls and ceiling began to thin. A deep rumble could be felt by all. In fact, the rumble could be felt hundreds of miles away.

She walked over to the pedestal and placed the orb inside. A great light was released. All the orbs behind her released a light. The walls and ceiling began to melt. As the wall in front of her began to melt, she could see a form behind it, something was behind there. The entire chamber was melting to such an extent that this form could now be seen by the man with the mustache and his mercenary team. It was hard to make out what it could be. Then a great burst of energy released, the entire chamber fell away and was now open to the air, the very rocks were gone.

In front of them all a great beast arose. He stood up on his back legs, stretched to the sky, released his wings, he gave out a mighty roar and fire shot out from his mouth. He came back down and looked at her. He put his face close to hers and let out a noise that sounded amazingly like that of a cat's purr. After so many years of sleep, she had found him. So many lives she must have lived. He had known it would take many lives for her to be able to reach him again. She had to be able to overcome and begin to find herself again; only then could the tablets be found. Many times the alignment had come and gone, but she was not ready. Many cycles had to pass, but now it finally happened.

She remembered him now. They were one. A great disaster had happened ages ago. They had been separated, torn apart. She reached out her hand and touched his face. A great sob released from her chest. In that moment she knew how much she had missed him, without ever knowing she did. The loss and loneliness of the ages was because she was not with him. He is her and she is him; they are one. He pulled her close to him then. When they connected, a great wave of energy shot forth and spread across the world. The very earth rumbled, a great light spread to everyone. A great awakening occurred. People around the world breathed deep as if it were the first breathe they had ever taken. The privileged few, meeting in their secret chamber far away shuttered, a deep shutter. For the first time, they felt fear and foreboding. Their days were numbered.

She climbed onto the dragon's back, her counterpart, her soul power; their unity complete. They flew away across the land as the people began to feel their own souls and their own power. A new age was born.