[Read chapter 3 here]
He was naked, his guns coiling around his own throat like a vasuki. He was lying on a barren flatland; a giant cactus in the distance. An eagle landed on his head, its talons biting into his bone.
“Kill the self“, it whispered.
The gunslinger shuddered, gasping for life. His words died in his throat, “Never”.
The eagle tilted its head. Amrash, sitting a lifetime away in Grindor, opened his eyes. Something was different. He peered through the Curtain.
The self-essence in this One was a manifold of emptiness. It was a sight. Consternation gave way to excitement. No wonder he could resist him.
His life is mine. His power will be mine. His ego will be mine.
Far away, the eagle screeched, “Kill the self! Kill it! Kill now!”
His doubt resurfaced: give in, give in! Air was being choked out of his lungs. He felt his will being crushed by an oak.
Why am I not dead yet?
A strange calm settled on the gunslinger’s face. He focused on the eagle’s red eyes. There, at the middle of his iris, deep inside, was another blue eye.
He stopped struggling with the coils. Only a thought should be enough.
I see you.
The gunslinger woke up, shivering. His hands had instinctively found his guns. The dream was dissipating, his mind clutching at straws. In the limits of the twilit sky, an eagle soared away. He felt lighter than ever before.
Amrash had to look away. Pain pierced through his Peraptor. He was denied. Not for long though. His will rose through his anger.
Your life would be mine!