Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 3

Visions in the Ash

Ash rattled against the hull of the shuttle, and Adam fidgeted with impatience as the three of them sat on the floor in a tight circle, or perhaps five fo them considering the dogs had insisted they be part of the circle as well, waffles on his right side and Pancake on his left side. Naktan stroked Pancake's ears with one of his upper hands eyes closed. Kanan sat on the opposite side of the circle his head down his eyes closed.

Adam shifted again.

"Clear your mind!" Naktan snapped

Adam fought back the desire to punch the strange Drev but still he couldn't help but snapping back, "Kind of hard to do when my wife and baby are missing."

"A problem which I am attempting so solve." Naktan said seemingly unphased by Adam's anger and impatience.

"And how exactly o you plan to do that?"

"Before the Polaris revelation, my practices included the use of medicinal mosses and other herbs to allow me to see visions."

Adam opened his eye again, "So You got high?'

Naktan sighed deeply but kept speaking, ignoring Adam's question, "After the Polaris revelation, I became aware of soemthing very important. The Anin principle of everything in nature having a soul was..... incorrect. However, it became very clear to me that the Drev themselves, and sentient creatures like us did, to a certain degree. After careful consideration and some testing on my part, I became aware of a few important things. Number one being that the herbs did not in fact allow me to see visions."

Adam cracked an eye again.

Nakctan was glowering at him, and he quickly shut it, "What the herbs actually allowed was the phenomena known as slippage. With the right amount of concentration, A Drev, and perhaps even a human has the ability to call up parts of their Anima. This requires an extreme amount of concentration and the ability to let go. This can be done with simple meditation, but it is often easier to achieve in states brought about by certain plants. However the use of plants, while helpful in achieving a state of slippage also muddles the mind and allows for poor interpretation of the vision that can be seen afterwards, so hopefully in the next few minutes I can teach you the proper technique."

Adam opened his eyes for a third time receiving another accusatory look from Naktan, "However, if you do not listen to me, I am certain that this will not work. You are young impatient and controlling, but if you want me to help you find your child than you are going to have to trust me for a moment."

Adam took a deep breath and nodded.

"There is another way I have found possible to cause slippage, and that is with a form of self hypnosis. This is actually quite common during daily life. Have you ever been doing a menial task and then found yourself awakened minutes later with the task done and no recollection of how you did it. Or perhaps you were going somewhere and do not remember the journey. This in itself is a form of self hypnosis, and may be used to achieve a state of slip"

Adam shifted to a better position.

"Now take a position that is most comfortable to you, either lying down or sitting down."

Adam lay down on his back and the two dogs lay with him, Waffles resting her head on his arm and Pancake resting her head on his chest. They were soft and warm, and comforting.

"Now listen." Follow my instructions and do not open your eyes.

With a soft thrumming the Drev began to hum, it was a strange sound, deep and pulsing within his chest, so low at times that Adam's ears had trouble picking up the noise, but the thrumming feeling still vibrated through his body. He wasn't sure how Naktan did it, but he managed to maintain the deep humming noise even as he spoke, layering the two sounds on top of each other in a melodic rhythm.