(( Yup, I'm finally actually continuing this story that I almost started over a year ago. And...I start it with another prologue that requires you reading through at least two ancient stories. I'm apparently evil like that.))
This prologue occurs somewhere between the climax and the end of
This Story. It is reccomended reading for this entire serial.
The Near Prologue
The Distant Prologue -- Between Worlds
It was a space between moments – a leaf hung mid-fall, a bird’s wings went still and yet it remained trapped in the air like an insect surrounded by amber. The only things still showing signs of life were the tree and the gods. Then the still world faded to black.
The tree that grew among the purple flowers looked out over the abyss before him; it was full of what looked like little suns, hanging in the blackness. Was the world of deer so different from the world it had always seen? The tree looked towards the Twin Gods.
“Before you are rewarded, you must pass one final test –“ the Red God said. The Gold One added, “the simplest and the hardest of all.”
The tree’s leaves quivered, the rustling for a moment filling the silent world. Neither the trees nor the Twin Gods breathed. “I’m ready,” it said.
“This realm is the testing ground,” said the Gold God, who was standing now where the Red one had been. They hadn’t moved an inch. “It is a place between things – between times, and places, and states of selves. What it looks like changes depending on where you’ve come from, and where you’re going.”
“…So the suns?” The tree said.
“They’re not suns, little one,” the Red God said. “They’re names. We’ll grant you your wish when you find yours.”
“But I don’t have a name. No one’s ever given me one.” The tree stared out among the rows and rows of glowing names that surrounded it on all sides.