THE SIXTH REALM: INDIGO — Finding the light

“Close your eyes,” Helio told her.

The dragon was about to protest: she was having enough trouble seeing with her eyes open. Still, she closed them.

“Find your light.”

At first she found only her heart pounding in her chest. She breathed slowly until its beats no longer hurried.

“Now watch your mind,” Helio continued. “Let your mind and your heart find a shared rhythm.”

Skyblue sensed her thoughts as small waves crossing and colliding. Her heart was growing calm, but her head was still searching for explanations and ways out. They seemed like two traveling companions who couldn’t agree on anything.

She stayed with the feeling of air entering and leaving her lungs. The waves grew gentler and found her heart’s rhythm. She felt that familiar joy that needed no reason. A light came on within her, and she began to see.

Startled, she opened her eyes. The mist was still there.

“But a moment ago…”

She closed them again, eager to recover her calm at once. Her thoughts rushed in to argue about what had happened, and the harder she tried to silence them, the noisier they became.

She remembered what she had learned in the previous realm and watched them like leaves passing down a river. She let go of impatience, fear, and a particularly persistent thought about how comfortable she would be at Ernesto’s. Space began to open between one leaf and the next. The light returned.