the first volume came to an end when Jamil, the noble son of a conservative family, believed in freedom of expression, and was determined to defend what was sacred to him at all costs. This young man, touched by the desire to cross the limits of what was possible, also found himself duped by wolves more experienced than himself. I've already mentioned that these wolves sowed hatred in the hearts of brothers and sisters, entertaining the egotistical people who killed each other while accumulating wealth as far as the eye could see. Hence Voltaire's expression: it's not love that should be built blind, but rather one's own self-esteem! ....
Jamil was a victim of the Lebanese civil war, which raged for some fifteen long years, calming down one day, only to return the next and claim more and more lives. This valiant man, who had spent three days in the middle of the forest in the most severe agony, stood up later, but not without consequences. A rifle bullet still in his brain, unable to be removed, half-altered limbs and senses, and so on ... what was to become of him? Would he succeed in resigning himself, or would he abandon himself to oblivion?
Chapter 2 : The heavy prophecy .
Time passed swiftly like grains of sand through a sieve, and the wooden clock in the family home, not knowing whether to feel joy or sadness, or perhaps an amalgam of the two, rang out with each passing second memories of dread but courage, weakness but resilience, sorrow but faith, and the young man looked with his eye; the only one he had left, the steel doors that walled up his poor soul in his parents' underground shelter, and turning his gaze from side to side in this room gnawed by humidity, saw a much more intense misfortune take over his faith, somewhat eclipsed by the incomprehension of the rapid chain of events. Affliction took hold of the young man who, like the bottom of the glass on the ceiling of the room, lay down on his bed with his arms open, and under the incessant noise of the artillery fell into a deep sleep, exhausted from all he had endured. In his sleep, the young man was visited by Morpheus, god of dreams, in the form of a huge cumulus cloud, and suddenly, a thunderous noise rumbled and a bolt of lightning struck the moon as it orbited the earth, splitting it into two parts. And it was as if the heavens, transfixed by such a spectacle, had camouflaged their luminous stars for fear of seeing them crumble under the implacable power of the lightning bolts .Suddenly, the moon, split in two, parted and a beast similar to the Leviathan emerged from it. The smoke from the beast's nostrils created a blinding haze, and the young man, teleported to a new location, finally saw a reflection in the water of a huge ice cave. He knew it was his!
The cave into which the beast had dragged him was gaping, and the sound of water droplets falling from the stalactite ceiling echoed a soothing melody. An immense lake of pure, liquid water was also present in the cave, and it was on contact with it that the water droplets generated this melody. The silvery grass delighted the deer that populated the cave, while the sky was home to august eagles in white plumage. Everything was of blinding brilliance. Diamond rocks stretched as far as the eye could see, their summits invisible in their clarity, along the shores of the lake. Awe-struck by the beauty of this spectacle, Jamil tried to understand why he was in this world so different from his own. He began to walk along, admiring the divine splendours of the surroundings, and then realized that the grotto, although its ceiling was not visible, had a suspension bridge carrying a dozen huge white pilasters adorned with paintings, nine of which were empty. Yet angelic beings and griffins waved their reverence at these unoccupied frescoes.The latter was unaware of the contents of the first painting: the pilasters were slightly distant from one another. The pilasters were precisely arranged, forming a sort of gallery leading down to the lake, where three islets stood, on which splendid little fairies danced to the sound of the lyre of a mysterious being with two horns and a head similar to that of a billy goat. As the young man approached, the music stopped and the frightened fairies plunged immediately into the lake. The musician with the head and legs of a billy goat seemed to have been waiting for the young man's visit for some time. Once the visitor was at a sufficient distance from the islet, the mute druid played a few more notes and steps appeared in the water for the somewhat frightened, wary young man to cross. Once on the islet, an earthquake erupted from the depths of the lake, and the frightened young stranger regretted crossing, thinking he'd been trapped. A long-necked head covered in white crystals suddenly emerged from the water, and the ever-imperturbable Druid, holding his instrument in his right hand, began to play his tunes again, and the commotion ceased.It wasn't a tremor by any means, but the three islets I was talking about were carapasses, and the ornate crystal head sticking out of the water was that of a turtle, apparently enjoying the music of this character. Three snow-white turtles, but why did only one move? The latter carried the dreamer to the sound of an august tune that calmed him slightly, as he was still surprised, to the other side of the lake, where they arrived at their destination. The druid stopped his music and beckoned the young man with his left hand to dismount. Jamil was alone again, and as he watched the goat-headed creature and his mount disappear in a circle of light, he turned and saw a majestic portal of gold and diamonds, with two lions standing on their hind legs around a seven-pointed star surmounted by the Greek words "απόλυτη πρόκληση", meaning "the ultimate challenge"! The city had several portals, but this was the only one sealed with chains. Two glass boulders adorned at their bases with crystalised brambles stood on either side of this portal, they were high and so smooth, you could refletter yourself on them. The young man approached them to try and touch them, and once he was in front of them, he saw two beings behind stained-glass windows; one dressed in a tunic of light, his head adorned with a crown of the same white crystals that adorned the turtle's head, he grinned sincerely and his teeth sparkled blindingly, trumpets and angelic hymns sounded behind him, then turned his face in the opposite direction, another creature with the same morphology as a man, but with sharp teeth from which blood flowed in torrents, had both eyes gouged out and claw wounds on his cheeks still bleeding, a strong wind seemed to pull him by his smooth hair and the robe he was clad in was crimson in color, somehow blackened by the wind which dried the blood on it. In his hand was a blade which was also dripping bright red blood at the tip, and the roar of beasts could be heard behind the mirror, atrocious roars! The young man was terrified by the sight and began to scream, trying to summon help. He then took a step back and collided with the first mirror, dripping a tear from his eyes, which, as it hit the ground, sent an infinite echo into every nook and cranny of the cave, vibrating again and again, shattering the central portal of the two rocks. A chasm opened up and the winds drove away the white eagles, who were replaced by swarms of black crows whose song only accentuated the chaos. The birds then formed a spiral around the increasingly frightened young man, who struggled relentlessly. The chains of the central portal had been broken. At that moment, a whistle of trumpets sounded and an old spirit emerged in a light on a white cloud, accompanied by two knights in gold and silver armour.
When this being emerged, absolute silence reigned everywhere, the crows flew and the echo whose resonance destroyed the pilasters, which crumbled one on top of the other. This spirit had a man's head adorned with stag horns and lined with a long white criniaire. In his hand was a scepter bearing a sphere never seen before. A long tunic ran the length of his body, though the skin of his hands was wrinkled and his cheeks childlike. He approached the young man from his cloud and spoke in a low voice: "It's been a long time since any mortal has set foot on my domain, so what are you doing in the kingdom of abyssal crystals? "And with a bewildered look, the latter replied: "I'm lost", and then the horned man disdainfully raised his sceptre in the air, and a thunderous noise roared up to the firmament of the heavens, frightening the visitor, who again asked in a firmer tone, but with a trembling voice, why he was there and why he had seen such a spectacle. The spirit spoke again and gave the missing pieces of the story. The mirrors were called "Mirrors of Opposition", and got their nickname from the presence of perfect opposition in their content: One personifies good and the other evil, which only come together in the human world. The two beings were the angelic and demonic instincts of human beings, and the presence of these stained-glass windows prevented them from moving freely in the outside world, giving them limited power, for fear that if they were to meet, they would start a war in the world of immortals. The stained-glass windows represent the human conscience: the free will available to men and women. The rock-bearing shore embodies the intellectual! " . The portal was specific to the human world, sealed for the fulfillment of prophecy.
* Jamil: "And the ravens and all this Eden darkened in a moment".
* the spirit: "The storm that fell when you shed your tear, mortal, your tear of hatred was the cause, for having come too close to the demonic mirror, you were taken by the negative waves that escaped, which is why the winged spirits of wisdom deemed it necessary to separate honesty from malice, good from bad and beautiful from ugly".
The lake in turn represented the vast, boundless emotions that the heart generates, and the three turtles represent the three main human emotions: love, hate and neutrality, symbolizing the balance between the two. These emotions transport the human spirit to its intellectual world, where it is free to make its own choices. When man feels hatred: the whole lake becomes agitated and turbulent, and sinister crows emerge from the pit adjacent to it, sowing discord; a fleeting freedom is then granted to the demon in the mirror on the left, him: being at the origin of this chaos. Equilibrium reached: the two beings are face to face, separated by the stained-glass windows, unable to react, and peace reigns in the kingdom of crystals...
The old spirit finished his explanation and asked the visitor to leave, but Jamil, having seen his reflection deteriorate in the pure water of the lake on his arrival, still had a question; the most important one. What was to become of him?
He asked his question, and the guardian turned and replied with a small smile: "Do you really want to know, dear mortal, what fate awaits you? And the mortal affirmed his desire to know. The spirit raised his hands to the sky and uttered a most terrifying prophecy:
"You will continue to wear out your days in disgrace and sin, and your debased name will be the cause of the murder of an entire legion. Your offspring, hungry for self-esteem, will be the cause of great disgrace, altering both worlds, and your name will be cursed to the firmament for centuries to come". Jamil understood little of the virile spirit's words, so the knight to the spirit's left shouted: The roof of the cave, similar to the azure bearing the luminous stars, crumbled and the increased rays from outside took their place in the underground cave, where the powerful northerly winds rose from the abyss and carried the young man away from the world of crystals, where no human has set foot for centuries...
Watching him leave, the worried spirit sensed the ancient prophecy drawing nearer: - the one-eyed father of him who caused the destruction will be, will set foot on the threshold of the crystalized realm, destruction in turn will begin with a tear from this afflicted mortal and the empty prophecies will be visible" - and went into the infernal cavern to consult the dwarf with the golden thread who was the author of the empty frescoes that rested on the destroyed columns. Beneath the bridge where the pilasters rested lay infinite oblivion: an immense, mist-covered land where nothing could be seen and where no one had ever ventured: only rebellious immortal spirits were chained there on pain of disobedience. The paintings had to be there! Every prophecy and every possible destiny was embroidered in gold thread by the dwarf's hand, the spirit in charge of maintaining balance in the world of crystals wondered if the destruction of the pilasters also meant the destruction of prophecy, but the one-eyed dwarf told him that even lost, the frescoes bore a sealed destiny that no one could change, not even him: having used up all the golden thread at his disposal. The god with the golden thread suggested that the gatekeeper consult the divine brothers, who had a better memory than him and spent their time immersed in the prophetic grimoires. These two were the wisest of the gods and had powers superior to those of any other divinity. But the spirit had inadvertently thwarted the two divine brothers by sending his two eagles to steal from them, in the past, the golden book which contained the power to know everything and anything, the knowledge of the gods as well as the most powerful incantations, but having failed, only one eagle returned to him and the race was fierce between them after they had stripped him of the rank of guardian of equilibrium, taking part of his power when he was judged and justified his desire to bring order to the universe of mortals and immortals alike.He was once judged by his own mouth. But thinking of the grudge he didn't go to the two brothers to ask for their help, acting as if nothing had happened...
Jamil woke up from his surprising dream in a sweat, screaming and waking his sister, who ran to him like a madwoman. He told her about the dream, but she, affirming her belief in his words, went to the doctor the next day, trying to diagnose her brother as insane, for fear that the family inheritance might end up in the hands of a stranger. The doctor asked to see the subject of the story to be sure, and having heard the story from jamil was astonished by the terror in the dreamer's eyes as he spoke. The medical scans were done, Jamil was not crazy! But his sister, who had brought him out of his coffin with her own hands, began to regret her work. After all, it had only been a ten-minute story and it would have been over. The story was concluded, Jamil was now declared unjustly insane and unofficially disinherited!
...To be continued ....
Chapter 3 : the fruit of the hazard .