The Whisperer

He stood aside a cave within the mountains, gazed upon the skies above, and remembered a voice from his past. Nostalgia besieged him and so, upon moments hence, he breathed a solemn breath and stepped within the dark crevice in which some called, The Cave of Doubts. Vague paces he placed onwards, as his every movement made a sound which bounced from the cave's walls and expanded in echoes. As he submerged ever deeper, he soon observed a candle which burned idle amidst a stonemason's chair, which resembled simplistic details. The gravel beneath him inspired a humble increase in the echoes, as he paced onwards and eased up on the chair. He reached and grasped an old diary, accompanied with a quill and an ink well from beside the chair; and upon having opened the few empty leaves which remained blank, he began writing.

Dear paper parchment in whom I have conversed with over my years and expressed my meditations upon, dear old friend, dear sole friend, you have served me well. You have endured and observed many a narrative, evolved as my sanctum sanctorum and therefore, we have bonded in harmonious mannerisms. However, such an era has run her course and so, within your conclusive leaves, a conclusion shall now be reached. As I lay upon the gravel, a mere candle aids me to compose one final scripture. Such is a narrative in which I have alluded over our years, yet never divulged upon.

Long ago, in an unremembered era, when men possessed no invidious souls; when the world was surrounded with the righteous, and when sorrow, was an unrecognised word which needed to be envisioned amongst the scarce visionaries, whose capabilities exceeded all; one man envisioned such and so, he unveiled a hidden world. He became known as, "The Whisperer". Aeons prior, upon one morn, as the sun was on a leaden rise and the moon, on a leaden fall, within a woodland, a lonesome child was heard in sobs; with no man, nor woman near to claim guardianship upon. The druids who resided amidst the woods heard the child's weeps and word spread in speed. The elder druids pursued in search, scouring all over. Upon having reached and discovered his wooden cradle, a grandiose ancient tree in which none had seen prior, was seen summoned and poised aside the child. "In gods' names, could he be..." murmured one elder, as he was soon interrupted, when the ancient tree shivered her leaves, a curious letter summoned and blew upon the grounds amidst him. Silvanus, an elder who bared an untamed beard, reached below in languid measures, opened the arcane letter, and inside, he observed a poem, which read:

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"Bred is a child, whose whispers hold power;
Inverse in a world, which was never his.
Riddles he shall solve, born upon such hour,
Tenacious in his will, minds he shall seize.
Heed."
--

In sudden, the curious letter swirled from Silvanus' hands and lingered above in the skies, until it flew towards disappearance. His pious accomplice, Minerva, an elder lass whose orphic hymns were known all across the lands, said, "Our morn, indeed, is blessed, for we have seen such we have merely heard in our tales". Minerva then gazed upon Janus, the elder whose words were hindered prior in sudden, and said, "We will raise him and observe his divine purpose as he grows. For such, is our omen". Her zealous band all hailed and carried his cradle back to their shrine, where he would be raised. Throughout his childhood, he never conversed. All the elders' premised him as subdued. Perhaps, a symbolic boon from the gods, some even claimed. However, upon one eve in his ninth year, as he wandered within the shrine which had evolved as his abode, he observed peculiar whispers which called him from unknown courses. He pursued in search, uncertain, and examined all he could. In small measures, he discovered his vision enclaved and all he could hear, was a mere voice which whispered:

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"The old lion weeps as he falls asleep,
For he remembers his lost days of pride.
Feared he once was, and soon alike a sheep;
In another world, he soon shall abide.

Remember your cause, converse in whisper,
Concede within, silence the resistor."
--

The child, in sudden, remembered memories not his own. For in an instant, his view became enclaved with visions of another world, where darkness had prevailed and so, he began to see such which was void in his realm; sorrow, anguish, and misery. Sorrow, he observed in mankind's souls, where voids and longings had resided. Anguish, he sensed in mankind’s minds, where loss and pains were in abundance. Misery, he saw in mankind’s lives, where impotence and ill fates awaited all. Therefore, the many a dismal scenery in which he had seen, he conceived as a symbolic message.

"What do you see, child?" murmured a lass' voice from the shrine's entrance. As he curved his gaze upon the woman, he observed Aurora, an elder druid lass, dressed in drab robes, who had helped raise him amongst her companions. The child, in sudden, said in whispers, "I have seen a world which does not exist". Aurora, who had never heard the child speak prior, observed in awe. "He speaks—the child speaks!" cried Aurora in cheered passions, abashed via such she had witnessed. The druids surrounded the child in a circle and murmured amongst one another. Janus appeared from within the druids' crowd, placed laggard paces towards the child, kneeled, and asked, "What have you seen, child? Tell us. For we are eager to know." The crowd grew in silence, eager to hear the child's whispers and so, he whispered, "I have seen a world alike none prior—where man claims ownership upon his fellow man; where sorrow is in abundance, and children evolve obsolete. I have seen a realm which mirrors men's souls and dulls man's nature. Anguished cries and encumbered minds reside in abundance within this world. I have seen such in which none have ever seen."

As the druids observed his every whispering word, the child, also, observed the druids' bewildered and perplexed appearances. Regardless, he progressed onwards in expressing such he had foresaw as the druids paid heed. "Why has such a world been unveiled?" asked one druid from another, amidst the child's whispers. "Perhaps, such is our province; to observe and decipher the child's visions." replied another druid. The druids' crowd expanded upon their curiosities and murmured amongst one another, as their incomprehensible and opaque slanders slowly grew louder in volume. "Silence!" cried one elder who seldom conversed, and expanded with, "We have been shown an unfathomable world which none have seen afore us. For many moons ago, we discovered a child whom we knew would lead us to enlightenment. Today, he has spoken in whispers and reminisced upon such he has seen. He has shown us a diverse realm, unique and uncommon, and as such our knowledge has expanded. Yet, we murmur amongst one another and slander with dimmed words. I question all. Why? Were our expectancies so ambiguous and vague, for us to have evolved dubious in our purpose? We are to guide him, as he shall guide us, also. For he is the child of prophecies which has been spoken of for aeons". The crowd remained in silence, and upon moments hence; Nox, a druid lass who was dressed in darkened robes, empathetically responded, "I agree, Janus; for as Minerva once said, such, is an omen in which we must heed upon".

By morn's arrival, the elders formed a council which divulged upon the prior eve's occurrence. However, as the elders' concourse progressed onwards, harsh knocks eluded the conclusion in which the council had reached. As the doors opened, Discordia, the sole absentee from the council, charged inwards and cried, "The woodlands are aflame." All of the elders, dismayed in horror, rushed onwards to the woodlands in which the child was discovered within aeons prior; and observed the grandiose tree which had summoned since the child, in burning ruins, enkindling the adjacent trees. Hysteric and agonised cries of pains reached all's ears, and by the night's arrival, the woodlands were no more. Confusion had besieged all as never prior had the druids sensed sadness—for a new era had begun.

Days hence, the druids' sorrows gradually morphed into anger; once more, a sensation in which none had known prior. "The burning of our woodlands had sourced from the grandiose tree. The same tree which bred the child aeons prior." declared Silvanus, amidst his mourning druids. "Yet—Minerva had once expressed such as our omen", responded Discordia, as she laid amidst the mourning crowd. "An omen which burned our abode destroyed the divine woodlands, and evolved us as vagabonds", Silvanus expanded. As Discordia and Silvanus exchanged words, the druids grew evermore rancorous and enraged.

Afore long, the once grieved druids evolved shrouded in wrath and marched onwards in search for the child. The shrine's doors slammed open in sudden, and the once wise, now maddened druids, enraged and vindictive, demanded the child be handed over. Minerva, who had remained as a stoic throughout the recent turmoil, asked in her wisdom, "What purpose has the child served in the ruins which have occurred? For he is a mere lad". Yet, Discordia responded with, "You hide the child, for you bare a special bond. How may one know your hands are clean, in such a devious deed"?

Upon moments hence, the druids hailed in concord towards Discordia's quote and scoured the shrine in search for the child. To all's disregard, however, Minerva had hidden the child within a nearby cave, in which none aside from her had yet discovered. As the search concluded with no avail, the crowd grew evermore enraged and so, the druid mob condemned and apprehended Minerva—whereby she was never seen again.

The child, impotent in the consequences which had befell Minerva in her undeserved destiny, awaited her return in ambivalence; yet, such a day never arrived.

As weeks passed, he pursued in her search; surpassing the hills and the mountains, and crossing the planes. As he neared the druids' encampments, he grew saddened by such he could see—for he observed a continuous war, where an endless bloodshed had blossomed amidst the people and the world he once knew had grown sombre. He perceived how no man, nor woman paid heed to his presence and so, unseen he remained as he marched onwards—as though an invisible cloak had shrouded him from all. In gradual measures, as he had arrived by the gardens, the child grew aghast by his surrounding sceneries as he saw an elder druid amidst the temple who wore bright robes and preached to an audience. The closer he reached, he recognised the elder's voice as Janus. As he neared more, he observed Janus' robes festooned with blood.

"An era has reached an end", orated Janus as he continued his speech, "The once pure in heart and mind, have now evolved sombre in essence. They have sinned and ashamed our ancestral order, yet, are we to blame the many who have evolved as victims or the one who bred such madness? The prior nightfall, I had a vision. The gods conversed with me, and I was beseeched to lead our peoples. Those who shall pursue me in our divine purpose will receive boons from the gods, and those who evade shall burn. Such is the will of the gods, and I, a mere vessel who spreads their message. For our men, women and children are slain; and our people's souls, befouled. Follow me, my children; and I shall lead all who ensue our cause to salvation".

Janus' companions all hailed upon his words reaching an end, and raised their wooden spears up in the skies as Janus, imbrued his followers to havoc anew. The child, who had mysteriously continued to remain unseen, stepped within the temple in his hopeless search for Minerva. However, as he reached inside, he saw Aurora's and Nox's nude carcasses hanged, with a sign placed upon which read, "The Illusive Imposters". The overwhelmed child, forlorn and miserable in having witnessed his guardians' pendulous bodies evolved as uninhabited, wept in woes alike never prior and so, he ran in speed back to the cave, whence he came.

Decades passed and the child who was no longer a child, had evolved as a lonesome man who resided within a cave. An old diary, a quill and an ink well in which he had amassed aeons prior had grown as his mere companions. Betimes, he ventured near the encampments in search of an amendable solution; however, with each and every attempt, he observed the vicious darkness within the world to have expanded. In consequence, he forever remained within his hollowed abode, in an eternal doubt and wonder, curious as to whether he was the reason behind the malicious evolve within man.

As a thousand years passed, the elders' and the druids' lives passed also and evolved expired, as did their ascendants after them. Yet, the child continued a lifespan which proceeded all else and so, once a year, he filled a leaf within his diary.

Dear paper parchment in whom I have conversed with over my years and expressed my meditations upon, dear old friend, dear sole friend, allow me such final words within your final leaf.

--
"As I gaze ceaselessly upon the skies' dark void, searching; I pray in the darkness which has bestowed me this night's silence. Oh, beloveds, hear my plea, for I have seen beyond my explicable means; for I have seen you fade into absence—for I have seen the cries of your innocence, and for I have dissolved into ethereal abstinence. Thus, as a thousand years have passed afore I, no longer am I compelled by the desire to abide in an inexplicable essence—for all divine purposes in which I was once assumed to possess, have long evolved obsolete. I have seen man's insidious deeds and the evil which has prevailed within. I have emerged as an eternal prisoner of my doubts. Thus, as I stand within my chambers, wearing these bright robes which drape from me and harness the grime amidst my feet, like a madman, I shall raise my dagger of woes and end a superseded essence.

Godspeed, dear friend."
--

Upon his words' end within the final leaf of his diary; the ancient winds' rhythms swayed his aged and lightened hair to their flow, and the howling winds, in sudden, extinguished the candle which had aided him in his final tale. Moments hence, as all which could be observed was his shadowed figure amidst the grim surroundings, he collapsed in sudden. The gravel beneath him painted red with his pouring blood, and his passionate soul commenced in raising from his lifeless flesh, drifting, onto the afterlife. The winds began to whisper—as though he had evolved as one with the winds. Yet, within the empty Cave of Doubts, all which could be heard amongst the silence, was a poem—recited by the winds in howls and whispers:

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"Long, he lived within a world which was seized,
By the visions, as his whispers had breezed;

Perhaps, once more, anew, he shall be born,
In a realm, where he shall not grow forsworn."
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