When dragons and Riders soar above the clouds, I'm not inventing the sights from scratch.
For years, I flew between Orange County and San Francisco.
Occasionally, the weather would force us to circle through layers of clouds at
sunset . . .
Sky blue above,
Darkness below, and in between,
Floating islands of orange, yellow, and red clouds.
Each circle dipped into an entirely new layer of clouds and
a new experience. It remains one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.
(A short passage from Zephyr’s Flight …)
He soared again to carry her through the layers of clouds
that shrouded the valley, first the reds and oranges that set the glaciers
ablaze, and above them to hazy yellow clouds. Above them all, the sun still
shone, while far below them, torches blinked in the shadows of the Spine
through breaks in the cloud cover.
As the clouds changed from rose to dusty gray a thousand
feet above the peaks, she found peace, at one with the sky and the night. When
the setting sun left them in shade, moonlight from Lon and Elein lit the
valley.
In the clear air above the smoky valley rim, she was closer
to the stars than to home. Within them, she found the constellation Nidhogg and
her wishing star. “Thank you,” she said and hugged her dragon tighter.
She belonged here, and she would have nothing less.
“Olim willing, you will ride,” her father had said. “And
when you do, the world will never be the same.”
She smiled. And he was
right.
(end)
If you'd like to
recreate some of the feelings I had while writing this passage, here are a few
pieces of music and imagery I return to:
· the
picture below (or sunset vids here
or here)
·
listen to Ivan Torent’s Crimson Flight (here)
·
listen to Thomas Bergerson’s Promise (here)
Enjoy,
Ray
