Part One.
“In the clouds- where the Land Whales flew- orbit the floating isles, around the Twin Moons who reflect the distant stars.
“We sailed through those silver flecked crimson clouds, between the twin peaked isle of Endless Falls and isle of The Heart of The Mountain. From a depthless pool the Endless Fall cascades down through eternity. The Heart of The Mountain — hewn by the First Folk from living rock — stands, moonlight dappled, ringed by ivory standing stones. An isle of megaliths and dreamers.
“Seven more great isles are known to us: Silver Lake (most beautiful), Mirror Mountain, Nameless Mountain, Barren Plain (cursed place), Land Whale’s Nest, Silent Haven and The Triple Peaks. Each floats as the spiral clouds — a timeless dance.
“Many stars are known to us, but few bare names. Fey Star to the East, she spins externally. Veor’s Chain, four stars which the eye can see, yet we know it extends forever North into the darkness. Idavoll — alone in the West. Trinity — the sister stars of the South,” Eventide wrote with squid ink onto leather parchment.
Then she paused to admire the Land Whale as it floated away amidst the rose gold clouds.
She paced, twice, the length of her airship’s deck, then returned to her quill. Below her the glossy decks creaked and above her the great furnace gently purred heat into the vast balloon.
“ ’Tis to Heart of the Mountain that we sail. Flying Lunar Glow South East by our reckoning of the Lunar Compass. Soon, and for the first time, shall I stand amid that gigantic ivory ring beside the majestic monolith that the First Folk carved. I shall see the moon light ripple on the sea green stone.
“ ’Tis a journey we all must take once in our lifetimes, to search for meaning in this galaxy of twilight mist.”
The light dimmed, as it sometimes did. Before she lit a candle, she paused to admire the moons.
“We theorise,” she scribbled in the flickering light, “ that the Twin Moons are made of silver and diamonds (hence the light) but none have even passed close to them. They are struck blind.
“I should very much like to touch a moon.
“We know our planets are flat. Our first right of passage as children is to look over the edge without fear. Our second rite of passage is to sail in an airship and the the Isles from afar.
“We know our gods are real. Our gods are the Land Whales. We see them with our eyes, eat their meat, read and dance by the light of their oil. Our third rite of passage is to join a Land whale hunt.
“Yes, we kill our gods. Does that shock you? Do you think us barbarous?”
Eventide paused and put down her quill as the captain came to sit beside her and poured two glasses of wine. Like her, he was tall and etherial, with flesh and hair the colour of moon light. Like her, his feet (hiden by his scarlet greatcoat) did not touch the ground.
‘Who are you writing to?’ he asked lazily.
‘To the distant stars…’ she sipped her wine, ‘to the folk of distant stars.’
‘There are no folk of distant stars… or atleast we must hope not,’ he replied quietly.
They sat in silence for a few minutes. the silvery stars shone brighter. he extinguished the candle between his long, powerfull thumb and forfinger, then strolled away.
She knew it was not true because once, long ago, she had found a bottle floating in the void. inside the bottle was a letter from the ‘Folk of the Dawn.’
That was what she called them, because they had written of a world where there were dawns, where stars rose over spherical planets.
Her thoughts were interupted as a mighty Land Whale soared towards the airship.
Although hundreds of yards away, the astonishing animal absolutely dwarfed their ship. its eyes, no the pupils of its eyes, were lager than her. The mmonlight glittered from its turquoise hide. With a swish of its vast tail, it changed direction, floating upwards towards a spiral of cloud.
It’s mouth- easily large enough to swallow her ship whole- opened to feed on the sparkling cloud.
Moments later and it was flying out of view, just a spec in the starlight.
Fadding, as the moment of awe faded… into stardust, such as we.
“I write this at my breakfast table,” eventide sipped at the last of her wine. “Soon we will touch the heart of the mountain. I see it now, towering above the whale bone standing stones.
“Not long, not long now till I embrace that turquoise stone- and with it embrace fate. Shall I be enlightened or dazzled into endless dreams?”
The captain had already left the table and was floating up and down the deck instructing the crew. the furnace flame heating the balloon fadded and the anchor was cast overboard. the crew heaved on the rope, dragging them to the gound, then a long boarding plank was set down.
The captain took her by the hand and let her to the plank.
“After you, lady,” he insisted.
She smiled, nodded and silently decended.
Each ivory standing stone stood six times her height. The central pillar- turquoise and glittering with moon light- towered over them.
She glided silently forward, her eyes liften in awe. Gently she reached out and touched the polished stone. Next she crossed her legs, floated above the grass and slowed her breathing.
She saw darkness. For the first time in her life she saw total darkness.
“Slowly, a great spere of light (which I knew to be a star) illuminated a massive globe (which I knew to be a planet). A spherical planet- unthinkable- which steadily span and reflected shades or emerald and purple.
“I began to drift away, further into darkness… almost forever.
“An eternity of darkness, as taste of infinity.
“Or just a moment, impossible to tell.
“Then I saw my Lunar System as I had never seen it before, from an unfathomable distance above. Every isle at once and the twin moons glowing at the core. I knew long years of study that I gazed down from the Lunar Glow South. Next I flew rapidly towards The City Without Walls on Mirror Mountain, and I knew I must travel there. Then I woke,” Eventide wrote on the deck of her ship.
Her head still swam and her hands still trembled with excitement. She finished her wine and went below deck to dream of spherical planets.
