The Path

From The First Book of  Agaliha's Sight,   "The great Unole, the air of all, breath of life, wind of worlds, stars, moon, and sun:  spoke.   Unole filled the Awe, and it became earth, and it was as Unole breathed.  There was out and in; rest and peace.  There was Spring, and Fall. There was Summer and Winter.  Unole wept from the joy of the changing seasons.   His tears became the rivers, brooks, and streams; they were the seas, the ponds, and lakes.  When he had seen what his joy had brought, he laughed.   His laughter echoed in the Awe and became worlds, stars, suns and moons.  Bright and beaming, lovely and radiant; and as Unole's laugh is beautiful, so too were the worlds, stars, suns and moons.  The heavens in the Awe caused Unole to gasp.   As Unole gasped, he caught up the dust of stars in his mouth.  He coughed, but only just so.  Much of the star dust remained deep in his lungs.   The cough came out small, quick and sharp.  It caused Unole distress, but he held his breath so as not to destroy what he had created.  The cough became Tayi, because they wanted out so badly.  They were the devils and demons and things that linger.  Unole took them and put them in a world that was under the earth, and beside it.  It was called hell.  Unole decided nothing good would come from there, and nothing good would go into it.   Unole felt a wind from Winter upon his back, and it caused him to shiver.  As he did so, his breath came out of him again.  It was caught between the seasons, being past around; it twirled up into spouts and twisters, torrents, and funnels and could not decide it was was Winter, or Summer, or Spring or Fall.  It was fickle, and beautifully made of the dust of stars.  Enole loved to look at them and found they very fair.  He decided they were too much for one place, and so put them in between places in all places of the Awe.     Unole thought about the breath that remained in him.  He thought about it as the sun and moon chased one another across the sky, and as the earth played around the sun.  Then he thought about the breath for ten thousand of ten thousand times as the earth played around the sun, and many more times the sun and moon chased one another across the sky; he thought.   Then Unole gently and deliberately released his breath that had the dust of stars upon the earth.  It became all the creatures in the sky, on the land, and within the waters.  It became humanity, after Unole's own image.  Unole loved them very much, and found much interest in what they would do.  As Unole had pondered and thought about his breath within him, humanity would do the same.  Curious, strong, thoughtful and clever as Unole had thought of them to be, they were.     Though he pitied the Tayi, Unole loved all that his breath had made. But has he had thought for so long in the Awe, he desired a companion after his own way.  He decided his breath was an artful creator, and wished to meet it.  So Unole went down to the earth and deep into the forest where he found branches that no longer lived; he mended them together with strands of hair from his head and beard.  He took parts of his robe and wrapped them into a bundle, and then sat them down by the edge of the river.     Unole spoke again, but soft so as not to undo all that his breath and made.  He breathed long and deep as he rubbed two sticks above the bundle of thatched wood, hair and cloth.  As he did, the fire of his breath was breathed into flame and became to look like him.  He was bright and shinning; warm and fierce was the glow of his light.     Unole looked at his breath and called him Atsila, which means fire. Unole called Atsila his son, after his own likeness; they walked along a path by the river in the forest, admiring all that they had made.  Unole and Atsila walked the earth and sky and through the Awe, seeing all the work of the breath. The sun and moon chased one another, and the earth played around the sun many times.  The path had grown worn across the earth, sky and stars.  The Awe was filled with the path, and the path led to Unole.     So Unole whispered.  Atsila heard the whisper of Unole, and went and did as Unole said.  Atsila walked the path that weaved throughout the Awe and came to earth to meet the people.  He took on their flesh and was made like them, for them.  Atsila walked the path with them and showed them how.  He taught them the ways of Unole, and made them see."   -Agaliha, the Seeing