Chapter-15: Beneath The Full Moon
“Don’t worry,” said Chuey, “a little while longer and I’ll be finished healing you.”
Five more breaths and the yellow sparkle of light stopped, and Diego stood in a wide defensive stance. He searched for the jaguar, and found the dead beast hunched over and motionless on the floor of the arena.
“Did I finish it?” asked Diego. “Is it dead?”
Chuey landed on the back of the jaguar and examined it. He pecked at it several times and kicked it twice.
“Yes, yes, yes,” said Chuey, “it’s all dead. Well done, you even ate plenty of its heart without being told to do so. No worries, it’s dead and it won’t reanimate any more. Oh, remembers, this heart ripping and eating thing, only works in this reality… only in this reality. Success, go and collect your weapons.”
Dumbfounded by the large beast, Diego tugged and yanked all his weapons from the jaguar’s body. A loud rumble shook the arena. Large stone blocks spread apart in the floor at two locations. Nearest to Diego, moonlight focused and shot down into an open area that illuminated a downward spiraling array of steps.
“Where does that lead to?” asked Diego. He glanced over to his little green guide.
“Those steps take you down to the entrance of the next battle. But I recommend doing so only after a short break. Until then, rest up over there, see that second opened area? There is a stone shaped bed in that corner of the arena.”
Diego looked over to his right and eyed a stone bed that emerged from the corner of the arena. In full agreement with his guide, he could think of nothing else but the welcome comfort of a soft bed. Exhausted, he moved like a sloth toward the bed without much thought.
Diego climbed into the arisen bed and covered himself with a shaggy white blanket. He stared at the night sky and breathed with a deep rhythm, hypnotized by the sparkle and spell of the stars and midnight blue. Dominant in this sky, the full moon glowed like an enchanted campfire of blue and white.
Diego’s lower back quaked with muscle spasms and a knot formed on his right rear end. He released a slow breath and relaxed all his tension and eased his tied knot. For a moment, Diego smiled as he lay motionless in the stone bed.
Fading from his awareness, Diego drifted and blended closer and closer to sleep. He held on for a few more breaths before dropping away into a memory, on his way to sleep.
The face of a man and a woman formed in Diego’s mind. Clear and detailed with loving smiles, he didn’t recognize them. Yet, their image spread a warm sense of joy and deep sorrow that massaged his heart the more he looked at them.
Tears escaped Diego’s eyes, spilling down his face and into his ears. Dimming away into sleep, he found himself in the image of the man and the woman. Complete within a dream of marvelous repose, he breathed easy now, beneath the full moon.
Thank you
I appreciate your time in reading this blog post. Next Monday I will upload the first part of Chapter One: The Old Business of Men, from my first novel: Guerrero of Passions.
Total Consciousness 