NOTE! This short story is part of a larger work. And has not been edited yet.
April 6 1749
Albert Cartman
Last night, as I prepared myself for bed my mind wandered, as it often has, to the subject of alchemy, more specifically how god had allowed such a power to run rampant in this world he had created. This mighty force allows men to perform miracles; mighty miracles the likes of which had been ordained before this world as the domain of the angels. Using alchemy I have seen men rain fire from the sky, grow plants from seed to fruit in minutes. I have seen men cut through solid rock as if it were nothing but clay. I have seen men walk across water. I have even seen men recover from wounds that should have brought them back to thier god. I have seen things that defy the nature and laws of this world that god has created, and once again I wonder why the great god in all of glory and power would alow such defiance to his carefully laid out laws.
With such thoughts in my mind I brought myself to my bed and lay myself down to sleep for the night. I found it exceedingly difficult to sleep that night as my these thoughts constantly berated my mind. With such difficulties I thought it would be appropriate for me to arrise and take a walk, hopefully the fresh air would soothe my troubled mind. As I slowly brought myself down the stairs I slowly got a strange feeling that everything in my surrounding was not as it should be. Something about my very familiar home was not as familiar as it should be. These strange feelings served to unease me further and I began to resign myself to the fact that I would not be able to attain the comfort required for sleep that night. Just as I began to give up hope a bright light filled the room so bright that it seemed that I had indeed stayed awake through out the entire night and daylight was now upon us.
The bright light slowly converged into nine stars that came to rest in a crown upon my head. At this point my confusion was such that feeling of fear began creeping upon me. These feeling of fear quickly left as the seventh star in my crown grew to become a large crowning jewel. I'm not sure why such a strange occurence brought me such peace, all I know was the feeling was such that I was content to stay that way for sometime. Sadly my contentment was not suited to last, the nine stars fled from my crown and lined up in order upon my wall. The stars began compex movements seemingly in order with each other, all pointing towards and paying tribute to the seventh star.
By this time many thoughts were rushing quickly threw my head. I could not figure why such things were happening, or for that matter why I was priveleged enough to be an audience to such strange events. This added one more difficulty to my mind already besieged with problems and stress, and I fell to my knees overcome. Just as I did, the fourth star exploded in a burst of flaming despair. This unwarranted explosion sent the stars into a state of dissaray and conflict. With this horrible change the once so regal seventh star faded and fled into the distance. With the former lord gone, the first star reached and grabbed the now absent authority, however it possed only a faded glory, not showing the greatness inherant in the once so prominent seventh star. The third and sixth star fell into the new order and resumed their dance now respecting the first star as thier governing liege. The second star fell into line, however at times seemed to lash out and move on its own out of accordance with the other stars, as if it were governed by a different force. The fifth star darkened and fled from the presence of its celestial counterparts and joined the seventh in exile almost out of my view. The most troubled of all the stars by the distrubance was the ninth and smallest in glory of all the stars. The ninth star seemed to wish to follow both the new and the old order. Seemingly unable to decide the ninth star took upon an orbit that seemed to have no rhyme or reason. Last of all the eighth star, the most beautiful of all the stars, ceased its movement completely, refusing to pay tribute to the glory of any star.
After this horrible disturbance I found my mind racked with more turmoil and pain than I had ever fealt during my entire life. This new broken order seemed so against the proper ways of things that I could not bear to even have it in my sight, possessed by such pain, I lay down on the floor and closed my eyes. Suddenly I fealt at peace, I opened my eyes and found myself sitting in a great field. I believed myself to be somewhere in the French countryside, however the cottages I saw in the distance were very different than any structure I had ever seen. Nevertheless the setting brought me great relief and peace of mind. I did not wonder or worry about the circumstances that had led me to this location, by this point I had sucumbed to the strange events I had been experiencing. The trees around me offered a very nice shade from the noonday sun, and the sounds of birds in the distant were pleasant to the ear. Overall I was finally at peace. I lay my back against the soft moss grown trunk of a tree and prepared myself for well deserved rest when suddenly evrything changed.
The peaceful valley suddenly was engulfed in smoke as thousands of men poured in shouting violently. The men that aproached from the east were dressed in the strangest robes of red, blue, green, and yellow. They held no weapons, but still seemed to be able to rain torment and death upon thier foes. Thier powers seemed to be stem from alchemy, and just as that though entered my mind I looke dup and beheld the source of this armies power. In the sky above this mighty army of alchemists sat the first star raining down its glory and power. As I pondered the significance of this start I turned my head to the west of the field and beheld the opposing army pouring in full of malice and anger. This army was very different from the first, the soldiers were dressed in standard uniform and all wielded rifles and more contemporary weapons. This army seemed beaten and worn, as if they were on the verge of defeat. Above this army the second star sat slightly dimmed and dark, raining down all the strength it muster to its followers.
As the battle raged, I sat there screaming, I fealt the death of every man on the field. Each death grabbed my heart and slowly tore it until, in the end as the dust settled I lay broken and battered wishing for death. As I looked towards the sky with th last of my strength I saw that both the first and second star had greatly faded. Niether one nor the other had any strength left, and slowly they both faded out of my sight, and as they did I fealt such great pain, the likes of which I had not fealt since the death of my brother several years prior. I strained my eyes hoping to see the other stars, however I was dismayed to find that they had all faded from the sky as a great shroud of darkness poured itself over the land.
At this point the experience became much less clear, I began to feel rather the way I have in the past during fevered dreams. I was in great pain, and not a singal thought that came to my head was coherent or sensible in any way. This went on for a very long time, what to me seemed like years of just pain and death and destruction. Eventually it all faded into the total lack of feeling and I just sat there in the darkness, with no senses or feelings or experiences to guide me, totally lost and totally alone. During this state I began to wander through my consiosness debating and rething everything I had seen. From the spectacles I had gone through so far I could only guess as to the true nature of the nine stars, however I did have a feeling that they represented something very important. As for the war in the field I was easily able to conclude that it represented a war between alchemy and the world, that alchemy would win at great cost to both parties. Having pondered these things for an uncountable length of time, I began to make out a faint light in the distance. Slowly this light grew until it filled my entire range of vision. I soon recongnized this bright light to be the seventh star in all of its glory.
Just as I made this realization, I sat up and awoke to find myself laying in my bed. Filled with complete confusion I resigned myself to the thought that all of the strange happening had just been dreams and the even in my initially troubled state I had managed to find peace and sleep. I looked out my window and decided that it was morning, but still very early, too early to wake other. With that in mind I sat up and decided that thinking any further on my dream would just bring stress so I decided to put the whole thing out of mind. Here is the important part, the reason I am writing these things, and the reason I fear for the future. As soon as I decided to think no more on my troubling experiences I fealt a powerful presence scream in my mind. "NEVER FORGET WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN HERE FOR THIS IS THE TRUTH. YOU HAVE SEEN YOUR SEED AND THEY WILL BE GLORIOUS AND POWERFUL AMONG ALL MEN. YOUR POWER AND YOUR CHILDRENS POWER WILL FOREVER BE GOVERNED BY ALCHEMY. HEED THIS OR ALL THE EARTH WILL WITHER AND FADE AND ALL LIFE WILL END."
I was imediately taken aback and filled with fear, never in my life had I thought of alchemy as a valid path through life, but now I was being commanded by a being to powerful to refuse to take up this study and pass it to my children, and ensure the future of the world. I must become that which I preciously thought defied god, I must become an alchemist.
