12-09-2017, 10:17 AM
<center><table bgcolor=000000 width="490" height="0%" cellpadding="15" cellspacing=”15" style="border-color:#000000; border-width:1px; border-style: solid;"><tr><td align="left" valign="top" width="490"><DIV STYLE=p align="justify"><font style="font-family:times;color:#778899;font-size:10pt;letter-spacing:px; line-height:13pt"<p align=justify>And just like that, the nightmare seems to come to an end.
All around him he feels a certain sensation - a push and pull, like being stretched. It is not painful, not like the beatings he had ravished only moments before, but it is uncomfortable. He allows the feeling though and does not fight it, nor does he question the intensity of warmth that seems to radiate from his very core. After a few moments that seem like lifetimes, the stallion feels that it is quiet enough, that it is finally safe enough, to open his eyes.
He knows the brilliant whiteness that greets him should blind him, but it doesn’t. If anything, it soothes him in a way - much like darkness once did when he lived in his cave, which seems like eons ago. He is surprised by the comfort the whiteness brings him, and as his brilliant eyes adjust to it, he begins to make out shapes and shades of things around him.
Balto is in a forest, with a silence unlike anything he has ever witnessed - a silence that is nearly ethereal. He is standing beneath tall pines that stretch out before him to pierce the sky, pearly white and magnificent in their growth. He can only hear the sound of his pulse as his heart beats in his chest, and for the first time, he realizes the pain in his side (<i>the cavity that once had been gaping and wide</i>) is gone. He dare not look at himself, he dare not turn to see if he is truly healed - he feels like it might break the spell, and send him spiraling downwards back into the hell he has seemed to have escaped.
The blue roan decides that he is perfectly content with standing in his forest until the end of time, never moving and never exploring, merely just <i>existing</i> in this peaceful world that seems to only be him. But, as his eyes rove the expanse before him, digesting the beauty of the white world he has found, a movement straight ahead causes his heart to leap in his chest, and though he assumes he will be filled with fear, the only emotion that arises is that of <i>hope</i>.
At first the white light is wavering, as if the sun’s intense rays were beating down on the space before him. He watches as the light grows and grows, bigger and brighter, and even more white than the world that is around him. Balto has to turn his head and close his eyes, for the intensity and beauty from the light is too much for him to handle, but oh he wishes he could continue looking at it forever and ever. The light doesn’t dim, but suddenly Balto feels as if he <i>must</i> turn back to it, as if it is calling his name without words, without a voice.
He does, and when his eyes meet the equine that now stands before him, he is left breathless.
Whiter than anything around them the stallion stands regally, hints of golden rays shining from his brilliant white. A thin ring of gold is gently laced on his crown, sparkling and dazzling - he feels as if he is staring into a reflection of himself, but it is not <i>himself</i>. Balto finds himself on his knees, unable to stand just as he stands, feeling unworthy beneath the beautiful stare of the creature that is before him.
The stallion says nothing, but Balto brings himself to all fours, only because he knew the stranger wished him to do so. For a moment they merely stare at each other and Balto wonders if he is finally dead, finally at peace, because he does not wish for anything else but this moment.
It does not last, for suddenly the stallion is coming towards him, nearly floating in his gracefulness as he brings himself nearer. Balto is frozen in awe, even as the white creature speeds up, and melds into him seamlessly. Balto can feel the warmth as it floods him, permeating every vein and bone and tissue throughout his body.
He does not have time to process this, for when he takes his next breath, darkness surrounds him.
With a gasp, he opens his eyes. Familiar darkness wraps around him, and the sound of the beasts he had left behind growl and hiss in his ears. His blue eyes take in their shapes - no longer his friends, but demons with forked tongues and ugly black scales, hideous in every part of their being. Their jaws clack listlessly and their anger writhes within them at the sight of Balto, glowing red eyes boring into him with hunger - though something else lingers there too, now - <i>fear?</i>
They do not surge towards him as he expects, though some seem brave enough to snap their unhinged jaws near his shoulders and haunches as they circle him like vultures, wanting to rip into his flesh but something keeping them at bay, holding them back.
<i>Destroy them, they mean to harm you.</i>
It was not a voice at all, but he knows the thought that crosses his mind is not his own. It is the tiger, the one who ripped apart his family and struck him with golden lightning, and sent him to the white place. Without hesitation, without anger and without sadness - without any emotion at all - Balto obeys, and he does not even question if he can destroy them - he just <i>does</i>.
He can feel the light that had radiated within him in the white place join him again, vibrating and pulsing in his chest as he leaps straight towards the demon horde, a strength and resilience in his body and mind that has been absent from most of his life until this very moment. He would get out of this cave, he would destroy the evil that lurks within, he would make sure that the devilish beings would not ever crawl out of this hole ever again.
They leap towards him now as he begins to move, frightened but led by their own wickedness to try and kill him. With snarls and sharpness of teeth they try to drag him back into the pit, but as each one touches him, brilliant white light zaps through them, disintegrating wherever it touches. They turn to ash and dust before his eyes when they try to touch him, as if his skin now burns like acid on their flesh, yowls of pain and roars of anger flooding his mind - but fear does not plague him; instead, his eyes are set on the exit, away from the demonic creatures that continue to claw their way to him.
He follows the light of the cave mouth before him, kicking at snapping jaws with his heels and not caring when the bones of their faces fall away to nothing at his touch, melting skin and bone to leave carcasses of his once-family withering and boiling in the dampness of the dark cave.
Soon he hears nothing but the sound of his hooves clicking purposefully on wet stone - a sound that reminds him of his long lost childhood and youth, that reminds him of a dark face that cared for him in another world, of a doe-eyed mare with hope and trust in her eyes - and those memories give him the momentum to keep going, as well as the warmth of the light that thrums wildly in his chest and blood.
The cave mouth is becoming larger as he makes its way to the entrance. In another time and another place, he may have feared what lay on the other side of his cave’s walls, but now, he walks with confidence and bravery towards the sun.
The fear is gone.<BR><BR><center> -- <font color=777777><BR><i>once the king of beasts but now they feast<BR>on thoughts beneath his vacant crown.</center></font></i></a></center></font></table></center>
All around him he feels a certain sensation - a push and pull, like being stretched. It is not painful, not like the beatings he had ravished only moments before, but it is uncomfortable. He allows the feeling though and does not fight it, nor does he question the intensity of warmth that seems to radiate from his very core. After a few moments that seem like lifetimes, the stallion feels that it is quiet enough, that it is finally safe enough, to open his eyes.
He knows the brilliant whiteness that greets him should blind him, but it doesn’t. If anything, it soothes him in a way - much like darkness once did when he lived in his cave, which seems like eons ago. He is surprised by the comfort the whiteness brings him, and as his brilliant eyes adjust to it, he begins to make out shapes and shades of things around him.
Balto is in a forest, with a silence unlike anything he has ever witnessed - a silence that is nearly ethereal. He is standing beneath tall pines that stretch out before him to pierce the sky, pearly white and magnificent in their growth. He can only hear the sound of his pulse as his heart beats in his chest, and for the first time, he realizes the pain in his side (<i>the cavity that once had been gaping and wide</i>) is gone. He dare not look at himself, he dare not turn to see if he is truly healed - he feels like it might break the spell, and send him spiraling downwards back into the hell he has seemed to have escaped.
The blue roan decides that he is perfectly content with standing in his forest until the end of time, never moving and never exploring, merely just <i>existing</i> in this peaceful world that seems to only be him. But, as his eyes rove the expanse before him, digesting the beauty of the white world he has found, a movement straight ahead causes his heart to leap in his chest, and though he assumes he will be filled with fear, the only emotion that arises is that of <i>hope</i>.
At first the white light is wavering, as if the sun’s intense rays were beating down on the space before him. He watches as the light grows and grows, bigger and brighter, and even more white than the world that is around him. Balto has to turn his head and close his eyes, for the intensity and beauty from the light is too much for him to handle, but oh he wishes he could continue looking at it forever and ever. The light doesn’t dim, but suddenly Balto feels as if he <i>must</i> turn back to it, as if it is calling his name without words, without a voice.
He does, and when his eyes meet the equine that now stands before him, he is left breathless.
Whiter than anything around them the stallion stands regally, hints of golden rays shining from his brilliant white. A thin ring of gold is gently laced on his crown, sparkling and dazzling - he feels as if he is staring into a reflection of himself, but it is not <i>himself</i>. Balto finds himself on his knees, unable to stand just as he stands, feeling unworthy beneath the beautiful stare of the creature that is before him.
The stallion says nothing, but Balto brings himself to all fours, only because he knew the stranger wished him to do so. For a moment they merely stare at each other and Balto wonders if he is finally dead, finally at peace, because he does not wish for anything else but this moment.
It does not last, for suddenly the stallion is coming towards him, nearly floating in his gracefulness as he brings himself nearer. Balto is frozen in awe, even as the white creature speeds up, and melds into him seamlessly. Balto can feel the warmth as it floods him, permeating every vein and bone and tissue throughout his body.
He does not have time to process this, for when he takes his next breath, darkness surrounds him.
With a gasp, he opens his eyes. Familiar darkness wraps around him, and the sound of the beasts he had left behind growl and hiss in his ears. His blue eyes take in their shapes - no longer his friends, but demons with forked tongues and ugly black scales, hideous in every part of their being. Their jaws clack listlessly and their anger writhes within them at the sight of Balto, glowing red eyes boring into him with hunger - though something else lingers there too, now - <i>fear?</i>
They do not surge towards him as he expects, though some seem brave enough to snap their unhinged jaws near his shoulders and haunches as they circle him like vultures, wanting to rip into his flesh but something keeping them at bay, holding them back.
<i>Destroy them, they mean to harm you.</i>
It was not a voice at all, but he knows the thought that crosses his mind is not his own. It is the tiger, the one who ripped apart his family and struck him with golden lightning, and sent him to the white place. Without hesitation, without anger and without sadness - without any emotion at all - Balto obeys, and he does not even question if he can destroy them - he just <i>does</i>.
He can feel the light that had radiated within him in the white place join him again, vibrating and pulsing in his chest as he leaps straight towards the demon horde, a strength and resilience in his body and mind that has been absent from most of his life until this very moment. He would get out of this cave, he would destroy the evil that lurks within, he would make sure that the devilish beings would not ever crawl out of this hole ever again.
They leap towards him now as he begins to move, frightened but led by their own wickedness to try and kill him. With snarls and sharpness of teeth they try to drag him back into the pit, but as each one touches him, brilliant white light zaps through them, disintegrating wherever it touches. They turn to ash and dust before his eyes when they try to touch him, as if his skin now burns like acid on their flesh, yowls of pain and roars of anger flooding his mind - but fear does not plague him; instead, his eyes are set on the exit, away from the demonic creatures that continue to claw their way to him.
He follows the light of the cave mouth before him, kicking at snapping jaws with his heels and not caring when the bones of their faces fall away to nothing at his touch, melting skin and bone to leave carcasses of his once-family withering and boiling in the dampness of the dark cave.
Soon he hears nothing but the sound of his hooves clicking purposefully on wet stone - a sound that reminds him of his long lost childhood and youth, that reminds him of a dark face that cared for him in another world, of a doe-eyed mare with hope and trust in her eyes - and those memories give him the momentum to keep going, as well as the warmth of the light that thrums wildly in his chest and blood.
The cave mouth is becoming larger as he makes its way to the entrance. In another time and another place, he may have feared what lay on the other side of his cave’s walls, but now, he walks with confidence and bravery towards the sun.
The fear is gone.<BR><BR><center> -- <font color=777777><BR><i>once the king of beasts but now they feast<BR>on thoughts beneath his vacant crown.</center></font></i></a></center></font></table></center>