IV.

And once more the paralyzing sleep descended upon me, its icy grip ceasing the matrix of
time and space.

And the serpent materialized before me. In its left hand three diamonds, in its right hand
seven rubies. "These," the serpent intoned, staring through me, "represent the seven
nations and their leaders who must die before the Rise." And it let the rubies fall to the
ground where its left foot crushed them. "These," it continued, "represent the Three who
will attempt not to save to save the seven." And it let the diamonds fall upon the red dust.

Covering them with mud, the serpent burned his image upon my soul, screaming at me,
"Remember this!"

V.

And I sat, alone, and unaware of my true surroundings as cold surf pulled at my feet:
begging me to return to its silent depths. Above me birds of carnage and death endlessly
circled: black wings superimposed over crimson sky. Even as I recorded their ascent from
one world of green to this sphere of blue my memory registered the sameness.

The serpent had been correct. My heart was torn between anguish and triumph. Now I sit
above his temples observing the hordes shuffling about in cold dust. Will the vision repeat
itself even as a new master tends the gate?

VI.

And even as I move toward them the tendrils of moonlit fog elude my grasp even as
being is enveloped in the darkly transparent cloak of night.

And my mind notes the environment storing it among memories for latter recall; already
knowing "too late" has been obliterated from possible occurrence. And his world
collapses upon my keen senses. Each pebble upon which my feet tread is as a newly
forged dagger gleaning, malevolently, its first taste of blood. Flames leap before me;
blinding flashes sear my eyes as cries of carrion birds assail the delicate recesses of ear
and mind. A stench bellows from unseen caverns as a hideous form arises from a charred
crevice before me: gaping, staring, and salivating at a new course that appetizers have not
appeased.
THE PROPHECIES SPEAK TO NO ONE!