I waken to find myself lying in a verdant field. The powerful scent of flowers and trees wafts to me on the gentle and warm breeze. I sit up, feeling for the gaping wound that I received in the battle. There is only a great scar to show that I had taken harm. I stand and look about me. I am in a clearing, trees surround me and there is the soft chirping of birds in the air. I am alone. Or am I? I think I see movement at the edge of the trees. I sharpen my gaze, seeking to penetrate the shadows, but to no avail. I sniff the air, seeking the scent of the hidden one. I smell nothing but the clean smell of the fertile earth. Shrugging my shoulders, I decide to wait. If there is someone hiding in the trees, I will wait until they show themselves. Time passes. How long, I never learn. Then, from behind me, comes a gentle voice. The vibrancy of the tones thrills me. I turn slowly and see, within arm's reach, a woman. How she is able to get so close to me without my detecting her presence is a mystery soon to be solved. The woman, tall and shapely, has skin the color of freshly turned soil. Her eyes, a piercing dark brown, seem to look deep into my soul. Her hair is also dark, almost the black of the dark night. She wears a simple tunic made of moss and pounded bark. As the beauty of the strange woman pierces my heart, I hear another voice, deep and powerful. I face this voice and see a man, his skin pale as the clouds above. His eyes reflect the blue from the sky and his hair is yellow as the sun. His clothing, too, is simple. A tunic that appears to be made of mist, his flesh palely glinting from within when he moves. “I,” the man speaks again, “am the one you call Father Sky.” “And I,” says the woman, “am Mother Earth.” Together, they begin to speak, their voices are perfectly synchronized and their words beautifully resonate in the quiet of the clearing. “We created the world three times, and three times have we destroyed the world we made. Three times we created Life and three times we destroyed this Life. In this, the Fourth Age of the World, we created Men. It is the destiny of Men that they will rule the World we have created. “You were born to us of mortal men. You are the first born. Others, too, are born to us of mortal man. They are your brothers and sisters. Like you, they are immortal, fated to live their lives until the end of all time. Together with your siblings, you will guide Man as he makes the World his domain. Keep him ever in the light of our Grace, else we will, perforce, destroy the world, and with it, you. “So it shall be now, and through all the ages to come, until the end of time.”