The deep ocean gate sounded unforgiving this time as it slammed shut in one motion! CRASH! This was followed by the sound of a chain and a shackle being sealed SHUT. And then, silence….
Nothing but the sound of an emotionally wrought wave repeatedly striking a porous coral reef could ever be able to reflect the feeling of having survived this event…. This was simply devastating to the spirits in the sky who had become emotionally attached to a vastly different outcome.
AFTERLIFE
No one could have imagined what happened next, as the skies turned a deep maroon and the winds howled in terrible, excruciating pain. “NO! Give her BACK…!” There was a presence in the sky, and he, as well, was crying in agony.
This set off a string of events that was all-too-familiar in Voltandria, and many regions of the Earth. It started with more explosions, and trees falling. The planet then broke out into a series of sporadic wildfires, followed by local earthquakes and numerous lightning bolts of electricity that stretched across the sky in a horrifying rage.
To combat this, celestial beings pulled together and forged a rainstorm that immediately began extinguishing fires across the globe. And then, like a heavenly call from grace, a mere whisper swept in and halted everything.
This was a whisper so gentle yet so strong that it dissolved the largest of icebergs without as much as a fight from the Arctic Presence. If one could imagine a transparent veil, diaphanous and weightless, yet so intentional that it could completely dissolve the pain of frostbite before injecting warmth and calm, and peace… this was the breath of air that evaporated the tears of a long-running, pain-ridden journey.
It was a Feminine Presence, and her voice accompanied the cleansing rainstorm with the comforting words, “A little while longer. You will find peace. For within hope lies abundance so expansive that it will heal even your broken heart, my dear heavenly Presence. Just a little while longer...”
As the smoke began to rise from the fires’ extinguishing over Voltandria, it formed what could be perceived as a great masculine God-like presence. He remained there, looming over the mess for a moment longer. Then in an flash, he vanished into the dense air.
*****
Later, this tidal wave event would be recorded in the almanacs, given the name “TRITANIA,” and it would not go unanswered. Earth and its celestial company of creators had waited long enough.
Without hesitation, a shift had been requested… and when the Great Rulers of the Universe commit to something, they take their next steps with expediency….
ZAUNDAURÏN
Halfway around the globe, the continent ZAUNDAURÏN spanned nearly one-quarter of the Earth. It occupied the land in the northwestern hemisphere between the 100th West and 140th West longitudinal meridians. On today’s Test Subject: Earth, this would be the entirety of Canada. While it was well-populated with people of all trades, the largest resources called for miners, blacksmiths and loggers.
There wasn’t much about the people who inhabited Zaundaurïn that differed in appearance or composition from people of the 17th Century, on today’s Test Subject: Earth. And likewise, there was nothing about the northwestern hemisphere on Earth in today’s 1600s that differed from the look and feel of Zaundaurïn. Where the differences did lie, some would say, were in the extra beings—the good or evil spirits that were argued to be ever-present in the atmosphere and very dense in many areas of Zaundaurïn.
SEARCHING TREES &
THE VILLAGE OF CANTROÏNE
North of the equator, within the heavily wooded continent of Zaundaurïn was nestled the village of CANTROÏNE (Pronounced can-trune). It was energetic, lush, and with numerous reasons to celebrate on any given day. As such, there was a party in progress on this very day.
In Cantroïne, adequate, 1-story wrap-around homes were hidden from the sky’s elements, under the sizable canopies of the Searching Trees. These special trees had significant similarities to redwoods and were the same as were present on Voltandria. They got the name “Searching Tree” because of a specific trait: the brighter the sun shone, the further they would lean in toward it, which gave the appearance at mid-day that these giants were searching for something across land and sea. It was this feature that provided excellent navigation to all who travelled throughout the area.
One wrap-around house was situated per Searching Tree. They were built around the tree’s exterior, leaving a 2-foot gap between the house and the trunk, causing zero harm to its bark. While this was not a steadfast rule, it was a choice that came naturally to the people of that time.
According to the ninety-degree angle of the tree tops, it was right around 3:00 PM, and a few lengthy farm-style picnic tables had been set up between two of the wrap-around homes. There was plenty of beer guzzling, and a competition played out between two men who were attempting to lift sizable, crystal-bearing sedimentary slates—easily 70 pounds each.
One man, Runby Hobarts, burly and wearing his blacksmithing clothes from earlier that day climbed up onto the bench, and then the table. He took an exaggerated step up and some half-emptied beer mugs scraped the wooden surface as they were quickly shoved aside, the moment before Runby slammed his debris-covered work boot down onto the tabletop. He had graduated from the previous table’s slate pile to this one.
At this table, there was double the load to lift, and a band that wrapped twice around it with a makeshift handle for lifting. The crowd was rowdy, sloppy, and chanting his name with zeal. Runby Hobarts was a favorite throughout the northern villages–-handsome, comical, and one who considered it his duty and passion to look out for everyone in his community.
“Whoa…WHOA!” the crowd’s excitement ebbed and flowed, as their favorite jester pretended to lose his balance. At six foot, four inches tall, and strong as a gladiator, a fall off the table by this guy would rattle a few cages, to say the least… When he finally got serious, he honed in and reached for the strap that was holding together the four slate tiles. Runby smiled, and then flexing his biceps, he pulled, just a little at first. And, it was a good thing, too! The straps, it turned out, undeniably needed to be tightened.
THE BUSINESS OF SLATING
These sedimentary slates were designed by nature to withstand heavy wear and tear when lying flat. Standing on their sides, however, they could easily fracture. Toward the end of the table, a man in his 40s, Calderon Stippling, was in distress as he watched the large slate tiles slip within the loose straps when Runby started to lift them. The crowd empathized with a gasp, and then laughter and jokes followed.
“Wait! Wait…!” Helga, a strong woman of sixty years threw her hand out front, shaking it “no,” as she ducked her head for a speedier path through the crowd, and to the table where Runby waited. Helga plowed through the crowd like a charging bull, comically donning a traditional Viking cap–one with the two horns that stuck straight out from the sides.
“Stop! …FREEZE!” Helga continued. She was short but loud. And when she ordered Runby to freeze, he froze. The laughing crowd made room for the fiery-haired widow to take center stage for a moment and tighten the straps to her liking.
Cal dropped his head into his hands, attempting to massage the stress away. In the front yard of a nearby wrap-around home, one stack of slates was significantly shorter than the others. This was Calderon’s home, and the slates were his business. He glanced over to take inventory of what was remaining in the shortening stack, painfully including the one tile that lay broken in pieces.
“Eh, don’t worry none, Cal,” one of the patrons addressed Calderon, while indicating the shorter stack. “We damage any more slates from your pile, we’ll just have to find you a whole new business. Simple as that!”
The crowd erupted in laughter as the patron slapped Calderon on the back. At that, Runby focused all his strength, and with a loud grunt he hoisted the grouping of four slate tiles off the ground. He was channeling every last ounce of power he had. Reaching his desired stance, Runby stood tall and proud, growling an
d snarling, and holding his pose an extra moment longer out of personal regard. Cheers and hollering from the crowd filled the air, and a fan came in close, zealously setting the Viking cap from Helga onto Runby’s sweat-drenched curly hair and crown. This helmet was often a party favor, and today was no exception.
With horns to enhance the look, Runby’s reddening face stretched into a big smile, and then… SLAM! The slates dropped back down onto the ground. There was just enough force in the drop to start a tiny hairline fracture through one of the slates. It creaked as it etched its way diagonally, from bottom to top. This sent Calderon into a fueling rage! “The whole tile, Hobarts!?” Calderon steamed. He was even more red in the face than the man who just lifted 300 pounds of rock.
Patrons fell over one another, cheering and demanding that they add “one more slate” to the next round of challenges. The resistant business owner waved, “No!” Then, for the next couple of minutes, a debate about it unfolded until Calderon’s limiting beliefs got the best of him, and he began to cave in. At that moment, the friendly frothy foam from a beer-brimmed tumbler tapped Calderon on the nose, and he rolled his eyes back before caving in completely.
“Have another, Cal!” The patron from earlier was prodding him on again. “Go on… Come morning, you won’t recall a thing!”
Calderon winced in frustration, and grabbed the beer before him. The crowd always enjoyed it when the village tiler let his guard down to party a little. They uproariously praised him, so Calderon raised his glass in self-deprecating shame, and thus the party resumed.
A RUSH OF NIGHTFALL
There was a brief period in the history of this Test Subject: Earth when nightfall was rushed, often and at random. It was unprecedented, and one of those controversial events that led to a division among early inhabitants of Zaundaurïn. Some understood it as a tweaking of daylight, until the universe got it “just right.” Whatever the cause, it sent people into a frenzy as they hurried to get to a safe place and situated within the last remaining minutes of a day abruptly cut short.
During such times, there was no anticipating which sunset was going to pace itself, and which ones were going to fall away in an instant. On the latter days, it felt like a manipulated version of musical chairs. Sometimes the daylight would flicker endlessly as if power from the sun was being streamed into a much larger generator. All of this activity left the people throughout the continent of Zaundaurïn fighting for room on the narrow pathways to either the residential villages, or their accompanying towns. Some chose to record the details of this event, labeling it “A Rush of Nightfall.”
******
As festivities continued in our little village in central Zaundaurïn, Helga was center stage again. Four villagers held her by each of her limbs as she faced the ground. They were playfully swinging her from the table top opposite Runby. This was once her favorite “game,” and at 60, it didn’t look like much had changed. “Weeeee!” She was a ham, and played it for all it was worth. Grasping her from under her shoulders and knees, they left her arms free with hands clenched into fists. Her mouth wide open, she was challenging them, “Doc, I swear…if you drop me…!!” And the more she laughed, the higher she went.
CHANGES IN THE ATMOSPHERE
Up and down… and up and down… they were playfully threatening to toss Helga either into the crowd of patrons with raised arms, or directly across tables to our six-foot four-inch “Viking,” Runby Hobarts. Gleaming, he had his arms held out, braced and ready to keep the game going if asked to. And then, at the height of the laughter, the unexpected happened. In a shocking instant, nature trumped the festivities in Cantroïne.
Far off in the distance, and well above the tops of the leaning-in Searching Trees, the giant “lightbulb” in the sky was apparently beginning to short out. Party patrons immediately stopped what they were doing, and slowly turned their heads to the sky.
Complete silence from the crowd was followed by two deafening booms. Was this thunder? Was a storm or tornado on the way? Completely unanticipated and unexplained, a giant wrench was thrown into the villagers’ festivities when the lights suddenly began flickering and dimming throughout the land.
It was an enormous, atmospheric occurrence that caught everyone off-guard. Patrons momentarily escaped into the depths of their own imaginations, silently and privately trying to understand what was happening before outwardly expressing it. The same stunned expression was a constant stamp on everyone’s face.
*****
Most of those who occupied the planet in the 1600s had no idea what they were born into…or from whence they came. There was a strong likelihood that if they knew, they might become riddled with fear. As such, the Great Rulers of the Universe had made the decision to remove all evidence of life prior to the 1500’s, including any discoveries about the previous Earth. This removal included notations about ancestry and events that were typically found in journals, tablets and hieroglyphs. In addition to the “edits” of these items came the gentle removal of memories from most of mankind.
Man’s memories, however, were not entirely removed, and would remain dormant within their brains should the need to retrieve former details or processes arise. In the meantime, separate from most were some persons who, of their own accord, were considered to be “foresightable.” These people, in gaining wisdom, had also gained for themselves access from the Great Rulers to receive flashback visions; and they quickly learned that the more they grew into this level of knowledge, the more they would begin to understand their societal roles. This form of expansion would ultimately help to smooth over transitions that were out of the control of mankind. As time would reveal, these select few foresightable persons had their work cut out for them.
AN ANSWER AWAITED
Runby looked up into the northern sky. When he saw the effect that the flickering sunlight was having on the mammoth branches of the Searching Trees, his emotions soon turned from confusion to fear. The creaking from the branches was loud: Treetops were pulling inward to the sun, and then outward again, like a slingshot each time the lights flickered brightly across the land. Runby quickly removed his Viking helmet and threw it to the ground before helping friends down from the tables.
Panic throughout soon followed, and villagers quickly scattered in confusion and terror. A few patrons jumped off of Runby’s table, tipping one of the sedimentary tiles flat onto the ground and creating a loud “Thud!” with matching dust cloud. At another table, toddlers were aggressively being plucked off by elders, their dragging feet knocking over glasses as they were lifted. This sent a collection of beer mugs and tumblers crashing to the ground and leaving a mess for others to navigate through.
*****
It had been nearly a decade since this last occurred, filling people of the northwestern territory with an unforgettable state of anxiety. Now it appeared to be happening again, and the crowd was reacting.
To the youngest members of the human race, the lights out effect was scary, and this was evidenced in the crying and screaming of several neighborhood children. Experienced villagers, however, absorbed it with a subtle sense of discomfort and alarm-they were familiar with previous nature-related events by now, and this was just another variety to add to the list. But to the select few who were enlightened to the truth, this particular occurrence meant that it was time….
Trying to manage emotions while rushing through the quickly closing daylight was just the beginning for the inhabitants of Zaundaurïn, and all of the world for that matter. There was much more activity to unfold in the coming days.
ORGANIZATIONAL SHIFT
The Great Rulers were hard at work by now. A trail of wind rapids had been generated from deep within our galaxy. As the winds reached Earth, they sent her into a tumultuous spin. It was an action intended to shake off any residual effects from the menacing tidal wave occurrence. As the earth’s rotation picked up velocity, spirits and darkened energy masses splintered off and disintegrated into the nothingness beyo
nd.
A WINDY STORM
Inhabitants of Zaundaurïn grasped onto whatever they could, attempting to prevent themselves from being sucked up into the charging wind. In return, the earth grabbed hold of anything and anyone within reach. Dry land became quicksand that trapped whomever or whatever was standing on it. Tree roots and vines coiled around the ankles and wrists of people and animals nearby. This shocked some, while others anticipated it.
Even the oceans tightened their grip on any sailing ships, retaining what they felt belonged to them. Ships were known to always carry precious and valuable cargo, and the waters were not willing to part with anything they considered irreplaceable. The people of the planet would eventually find out, however, that it was not the cargo on the ships that the blackening oceans were interested in protecting.
Sirens began to sound off from all corners of the universe. A meltdown in the skies was beginning. Smaller stars soon fused together—expanding into larger ones, until a pounding explosion was unleashed!
SUPERNOVA
It was a customized Supernova. One star became the largest in the galaxy and, within seconds, blew up in a fantastical show of lights and fireworks, colors, smoke and steam! It beamed with blues and violets, pinks and corals. Squiggly lighting effects accompanied pops of thunder that echoed for thousands of miles. Only the Great Rulers could’ve possibly understood the necessity of this occurrence.
From the ad hoc explosion, apparitional faces promptly formed and began revolving through the giant screen in the sky. They would each appear, replacing the former and then dissolving in a heartbeat as the next appeared. The faces were of both men and women, and of all ages. These faces were of the Great Rulers of the Universe. To a contemporary world, they were the universe’s “active board members,” and they were numerous.
Tritania's Reign Page 2
