Desert of Dream By Dylan Mauldin

Desert of Dream

I asked what exactly it was; if it was even a star in the first place. The Tavernkeep professed his confusion, so I drank and moved on to the next town, wading through the infinite sands for untold epochs. There, I bathed in the sun dance, in celebration of that particular town's pushing back of the brutal Rhaegnossi. Again, I asked what the amethyst star was, and the high priest replied that it was their god; Enkid-Naga, Father of Arms, smiling down on his children. To the next town I went, still unsatisfied with the answer. I gave my question to the Principality of Vaes-Moraqh, and they told me it was Poverdam; The Great Archnid of The Sky, imprisoned by the other gods for attempting to shine brighter than they, but who would one day break free and condn the other gods for their arrogance. I ventured onward still, to Ulathor, asking again. The Courtesan I asked explained it to be the Dreaded Klantenn, forever wrestling with the Great Peacock. Then, on the nameless village, right before Great Illath, right before where the Desert of Dream had ended, and the unknown began. I was invited into the black brothel of the puppet-folk; it was customary for all traveller's to their town to engage in perverse rites and be treated by the locals as a dark king. They fed me, gave me wine a plenty, and provided me with enough sex slaves to procure a sultan's envy. Their idol stood menacingly over us, and they told me the name of their God was Dominus, Master of Puppets. I asked them if they thought this thing was the amethyst, brooding star that shined its glow both night and day. They reeled back in horror, as though I had blaspheme in the name of their God. They explained they did not trifle with such things, for there are mysteries best left unsolved in this universe. Even the child-slaves had seemed offended by my inquiry, and I pressed the subject no further. They warned me not to investigate the star's origin, but onward I pressed afterward to great Illath, and then beyond the known world, but that is where I learnt the truth of the star, and the gods had never intended man to learn such things, so now I'm trapped inside the star for all eternity, and whatever hells the gods have prepared. It is a horrible truth indeed, for I am the star; we all are and should never discover the real truth as to the origin of the star.