01/10/2014
1st draft of prologue
Prologue to The Dance of Ravens
Twilight (n.)
The light perceived before the rising, and after the setting, of the sun, or when the sun is less than 18¡ below the horizon, occasioned by the illumination of the earth's atmosphere by the direct rays of the sun and their reflection on the earth.
Creposculo, zuclicht, skymning. Whichever language you use, twilight represents a magical translucent moment of transition. Neither day nor night, this moment hurtles across the face of the world, a razor thin fluid line screaming across mountains, oceans, plains, and valleys without regard to time itself. Twilight is not a place. It’s a void. If darkness is the absence of light, twilight is the absence and presence of both simultaneously. Time’s Schlesinger’s Box. Philosophers refer to it as Sanshya… the cosmic cycle, The Age of Brahma, the embodiment of infinite planes of existence. To a few, twilight represents much more. Not only is it a place of dreams, it is a gate between this life and the next. It is a universal waiting room for those who have left this existence and are waiting for the next. Some are destined to repeat, some are destined to move on, some refuse to let go. It is a gate that must be carefully guarded. On one plane of existence, the gate is guarded by the most unlikely of sentinels.
“All dreams spin out from the same web.”
– Hopi
The people of the Hopi, Yaqui, Ojibwa, Pe**te, Chippewa, and many other tribes embraced their spirit animal reflections residing in Yeomen. Yeomen is what the Ancients called the flower or spirit world. They sought guidance and comfort while in the form of their spirit animal. As the Native American population grew, Asibakaashi, the Spider Woman, could not protect all of the world’s children from what lurked just beyond the light of the campfire. To better spread her efforts, she wove dream catchers to protect them. After many ages, the Europeans arrived. The foreigners had lost connection to the spirit world long ago. They could not find their inner wolf, bear, eagle, or elk. As Indian blood lines thinned and melded, Asibakaashi again adapted. Yeoman was changing. The film of the spirit world began to thin under the explosion of new souls. Twilight’s gate began to strain and what once resided in the shadows of the forest now began to manifest itself in closets and under beds. As she could no longer weave enough dream catchers to protect her charges, she developed a new plan for a new age. Only the most pure and innocent could be trusted with the task of guarding the gate. Only those with at least one drop of the ancient’s bloodline still had the ability Dreamwalk. This new breed of warrior no longer identified with the animals of the forest, they identified with an equally ancient being.
Willowstep dropped her chest to the forest floor, stretching out her haunches. As the stretch moved forward through her body, she individually protracted each claw on her front paws. Her rear claws sprang out as one. The forest floor felt good beneath her paws as her claws sank deeper into detritus. In the distance, Nascha hooted a call to arms. Others heard only a hoot. Willowstep heard owl’s language. It had been over 150 years since the dream world had interpreter. Willowstep knew that she shouldn’t feel prideful of her ability. The dream world provided what it needed. Still, she came from a long line wind whisperers. Her Great, Great, Great Ama Sami could talk to the wind. Translators could not talk directly to owls or wolves or other creatures. Other creatures talked to the wind, the wind talked to Willowstep. The reverse applied. As she lifted from her stretch she could feel twilight’s approach. Twilight couldn’t be felt in a physical way. It couldn’t be seen. It was a pulse, a beat of a drum, and endless wave that only the soul could feel. Like a down draft before a thunderstorm, that pulse was rocketing through the forest towards her. Nascha sounded again, “Be ready, the gate comes.” Willowstep closed her eyes as the pulse swept through her. If only cats could smile. Tonight’s event only happened once every 52 years. The five planets had aligned on the day of the winter equinox. The Gates of Twilight were thinner on this night than any other. Willowstep bounded over root and tracked up through a deer path towards the Meadow of Wills. Tonight was the Dance of Ravens.
