PROLOGUE
The beating of my heart, that's all I can hear at the moment. Calm, constant, an endless sound. My mind, it's empty. My body, it doesn't exist. I'm floating in a sea of light. A pale white light. I feel powerful streams of energy flowing throughout the space around me. It's the most wonderful feeling I've ever experienced in my entire life. I'm in heaven.
Now, the beats are getting stronger and faster. But they are not from my heart. It takes only a second to recognize them. Drums.
Slowly, I feel my arms, my legs, the cold grass on my back, little bugs running about my chest, among many leaves that cover almost my whole body. Now, I hear the wind, blowing through the woods, hissing like a monotonous whistle. I take a deep breath, and the fresh air of the night, full of a thousand scents makes me smile with joy.
I finally open my eyes, only to see the high branches of the trees dancing above me, letting the dim blue light of the great moon engulf the surroundings. Sometimes, a quick glimpse of a distant star reaches my face. I'm in the heart of the great forest. I love this place.
How much time I stayed here, liying in this place, I don’t know. And I don’t care. A day? A week? Time is not important when I make my usual journeys to the other side, the spirit world. I get up and start to follow the music of the drums. As I get closer to the sounds, small torches appear among the woods, painting the nearby trees with bright yellow and red colors. A group of people is in an opening in the middle of the forest, sitting by a big fire in a large circle, I can hear their voices, talking, chanting, playing big drums made from the wood of dead trees and skins of dead animals. They seem very happy. One of the guys look at the woods and sees me. “Hey, look at that! It’s him!!!” Suddenly, everybody turns around in my direction. My presence is not a secret anymore...
“It’s the Lampy guy! It’s him! Hi, Lamp!” They seem to be happy to meet me. One of them comes closer to me and says:
”Hello, Lampion, how was the trip this time?”
”Very good.” I answered. “Can we start?”
“Sure, we can! This new group has been waiting here for three days. All of them want to listen to your tales.”
“Okay, let’s go then.”
I don’t know how many times I have done this same thing. There are always many young brothers that we have to teach our history. They come here from time to time, willing to know about the glorious days of our ancestors, the secrets of our culture, the mysteries of our land, and the courage of our heroes. I join the circle around the fire, they all look at me with respect and curiosity. The little kid to my right studies carefully all the scars and tattoos on my body with wide open eyes. I smile to him, he smiles back. They always do that.
“Hello, folks!”
“Hi, Lampion!”
“We are all here once more, to keep the history of our people alive through time, so that current and future generations may know who we are, and what our role is in this great world.”
"The tale I'm about to tell you, my dear friends, begins a long time ago, many years in the past, before we were born, before the Glukkons unleashed death and despair to the free land of our people, the mudokons. Be prepared to know the history of our brothers and sisters, mighty heroes struggling against the huge forces of evil, to bring back to us the balance of our world, and the freedom for all."
"Now, listen carefully..."
[ May 20, 2001: Message edited by: Lampion ]
Mudokon Nation (Fan Fic)
