A dream:

Water. Lots of water. I was swimming below the surface of a turbulent ocean; trying to find land. I can mysteriously breathe under water as well as I can breathe when out of it. But I was afraid to come out, afraid to go even near the surface because of the massive foamy waves that battled each other on the surface.

Then I spied out a platform. It was a top of a tower of steel, once one of the highest manmade structures in the world, now only its roof remained un-submerged. I braved the surface and finally climbed onto the platform only to discover that there were other people already there. They were waiting for me, seems that they could not leave the platform to go to the only remaining land without my presence. I went with them, having no choice.

We went through a whole in the middle of the platform and somehow, we were already somewhere else. It was a dry land full of rocky hills. Here there was no body of water to be seen except the puddles the rain was making, puddles that disappeared after a few minutes.

We encountered two creatures that my companions thought to be monsters that they’d have to slay. To me they were just baby birds, golden and resembling the young ones of the mighty eagle. My companions managed to slay one while I took the other one in my hands trying to protect it from them, even running away from my companions just to protect it when they would not listen to me as I told them that it was harmless.

A native of this dry land came and found me. I explained to him what happened and he then thanked me for protecting the chick. They were this place’s sacred birds, almost extinct and rare in producing an offspring. He explained to me that the two chicks were always born one male and one female, born to become mates later on in their lives. They never mate with any other birds. That the male partner of the chick I was holding was dead was indeed a great tragedy.

I remember weeping for the poor creature I held. There was one way of saving the chick’s spirit from a lifetime of sorrow, the man explained. The first step was to incorporate the chick’s spirit with my own. This is done by letting it eat a part of my flesh; flesh as close to the heart as possible. The spirit would then merge with my own and in this way, I could save the poor creature. The man said that it was fortunate that the one I was able to save was female for then it would be an easier ordeal for me to incorporate its spirit with mine.

I did as he explained. What he didn’t say was that the poor chick would die when its spirit merges with mine; that human flesh was poison for these birds. Indeed, what I just did was more painful for the young thing than what was done to its future mate. The next thing he didn’t explain was that in merging my spirit with the bird, I would feel a terrible urge to avenge the chick’s future partner against those who took him away from her.

I was in a sense, a newborn, yet not. I felt ageless, yet not. What resulted after the merging was me… yet not.

I, as a human, was enraged at him. I, as the bird, plotted. The bird won. Its fear was diminishing; replacing fear was an enormous rage against my former companions.

The man helped me. He took me to their village, a hidden village somewhere in the middle of those hills. He instructed me on how to survive in this harsh land. As I learned, I plotted.

Time passed, maybe a week, maybe a month, or even a year… I don’t really know. The human side of me has managed to control the rage felt by the bird. There was one thing else… my skills have evolved somewhat. I can now fly. On will, my arms could grow feathers and turn into enormous wings. I used this ability to spy on those who were my former companions.

They were fewer in number by this time. Originally, we must have numbered at least a hundred. Now the number I spied out must be half that. They were looking for a place, still continually searching around the hills, looking for something. They were going around in circles and they didn’t know it.

I decided to leave the village and travel with them, tell them that while I was away, I found the place they were looking for. I became their guide. And they followed me. Some of them were even happy and relieved to see me… I laughed inside knowing I only came there to do them mischief, to kill them all off if possible.

I lead them towards a cave, saying that this was the only way to reach the place they were looking for. We encountered a herd of elephants, hundreds of them, at the mouth of the cave. The elephants knew me for what I was, knew that inside me was the sacred bird’s spirit. Their leader decided to help me, not telling the other humans that the cave leads to nowhere. The elephant leader even asked some of his herd to carry us on their backs through the cave, as I understand, it was supposed to be a long travel from one end of the cave to the other. I climbed atop a white elephant, a magnificent creature that was also as awed with me as my human side was with him.

It was then that I woke up.