Nice Byx

"Foresyte"

I walked towards the entrance of the cave taking extra precaution to avoid seeing Sage Syn. Once I reached the pond I desperately scooped cup and cup of ice cold water into my mouth. I had finally gotten most of the taste out of my mouth when a familiar voice echoed out from behind me.

"It never quite sits right the first time." 

I turned my head around to see Sage Syn adorned in his blue robes smiling at me. He looked younger and his face was free of wrinkles. His eyes were cloudy gray, completely different from the dull hue they had once been. But there was no doubt that it was him, his stare still held the same mystical quality it always had, more intense than before.

"Sage Syn! You're alive!? But how?"

"The how is unimportant Leks, If I were you, I'd be more interested in the 'why'."

Even in death Sage Syn still was talking in code. I understand that I have to find my own answers, but couldn't he ever just give me a straightforward answer?

"Oh, I'm sorry, if I ask the wrong question, I've never had anyone come back to life on me before! Why did you come back? Why would you even bring me down here at all! You knew you were going to die!" I hadn't realized how frustrated I was until I heard my yells echoing through the small cave. 

Sage Syn didn't acknowledge my outburst at all. He simply turned around and began walking into the room I had just come out of. He wasn't going to get away without an explanation that easily though. I quickly followed him into the empty dark room. I didn't think I'd ever be walking behind him again, it was a surreal feeling. It was as if his death hadn't even happened. Had it happened?

"Ah, I see you've been in here already." Sage Syn said and gestured to the glowing flower still lying on the floor. "Did you really eat an entire flower?"

"Umm...yeah, is that too much?"

"I started off eating only a petal; I'm amazed that you can even function right now. Leks, I'm sure that you will do great things. You just have to master your Syte. You asked me why I came back and why I would bring you down here just so that I could die. Well, you're about to get the answer to both of those questions, and the tool to answer many of your other questions. Sit here." Sage Syn said and pointed to the large flat rock in the middle of the room. 

Sitting down, I was directly facing the large powder blue conticurl that was on the wall in front of me. It was weird that I hadn't noticed it before but it was the exact color of the Marking at the base of my neck. Hadn't that been black at one point?

"Now I want you to focus on the conticurl and just let everything else melt away."

I stared at the center of the large symbol on the wall and began to take deep breaths, exhaling slowly. As I took each breath another thought was conjured from the back of my mind. Inhale. Exhale. My thoughts of the Illumination dissipated. Inhale. Exhale. The worry I felt about becoming the Sage was completely gone. Inhale. Exhale. And finally, the guilt and responsibility I felt for Sage Syn's death was washed away. My mind was completely bare. I was only living, not thinking about anything at all. I wasn't even thinking about how the conticurl had started to slowly swirl.

It began to swirl faster and faster until it was just a circular blur of powder blue. It was moving so fast that it was making my head dizzy and my stomach uneasy again. I turned my head away for a moment and Sage Syn's voice rang out from behind me.

"Keep watching Leks. Just watch the conticurl and push everything else from your mind."

Turning back to the conticurl I watched as the circle not only began to swirl faster but seemed to grow in size. The entire cave wall had been encompassed in a swirl that showed no signs of slowing down. Although the dizzy feeling was growing more intense and my stomach felt as if I would hurl again any moment now, I ignored them both and continued to take in the swirl. There was a celestial light emanating from the center of the spiral. My eyes were drawn to it automatically and it seemed to be shining directly onto me. I could feel it's warmth and the tingle of its rays on my skin. It grew brighter and stronger until I was being bathed in pure light.