Ara. A world orbiting a star in our night sky. A world not unlike our own, but older. Much older. Inhabited by beings like ourselves. And others more advanced. Some ancient, some godlike. With a history going back not thousands of years, but millions. A mostly hidden history. A world without magic, surviving on the remnants of suppressed technology. A world in stasis about to face its final collapse.
Arnath. An isle, a legend, a myth. A forgotten people. A collection of songs. Histories. Philosophies. Prophecies. Some passed, some yet to come.
Oh, and dragons. Not dumb beasts, or even smart beasts. Not evil archetypes nor plot devices. But transcendent beings incarnate in dragon bodies, ancient and unfathomable, answerable only to themselves. Whose approach to the world might challenge our preconceptions. With whom conversation would be life altering. In short, a dragon that I would like to meet.
First imagined in the late 1970's, it was a tall order. And I was not up to the task. Perhaps I'm still not. But at least my writing skill has improved, whereas forty years ago, it was utterly inadequate. Yet a few of the songs endure from back then. Names too, and glyphs. Cities and lands. And some of the themes and characters recur in new or updated story. There's a good reason authors write mostly about us, about people, or beings that are like people, and about animals that we know or are similar. How do you write about what you do not know?
Now I must confess that I employ a bit of a trick, a contrivance. The world in which Tara‑ili begins her story hardly seems different from the one in which we all live. Only gradually does the veil get pulled back on her world. Only gradually is she exposed to mind altering events and creatures and beings and ideas. So that she, and we, are on a journey. Not just on the back of her dragon, but on a journey of discovery.
A long journey.
