//------------------------------// // 4. The old stallion calls me (Foehn) // Story: Dream A Little Dream Of Me // by horizon //------------------------------// Hotspur The old stallion calls me Out of fear of unrest, and the unknown. He needn’t have bothered; The dream is restless And I walk alone In a land of strangers. The Mooken Dream of their goddess Dayang Dayang Mangilai And her sacred dangkan tree Each blossom, they say, each leaf Tells a story Joined by so many Vines and branches all tangled together. And they speak of their great Kalamats The most skilful, it is said Could trace by moonlight The ways and paths between And in doing so, Illuminate for themselves The dreams of others I am no god Nor have I ever known a goddess Save the Sun and Moon. Yet dreams do not lie. I behold the tree: It is dead. Its branches are gone Its trunk is gone And its roots are covered In thorns of the thousand Black roses that ensnared it, Sapped it of its life, And died themselves:  Their petals form a stygian carpet Upon the grave. There is another tree, Sprouting from the Broken limbs of the first And it lives And branch by branch I can follow it And trace its stories I step closer and the         dream bends around me A lily, wilted And in its place A rose, black without But a bloodier shade within A rose by any other name Is just as cruel; Littlemoth Palei Hantu Changeling why don’t they suspect me yet i had no choice i was starving knew i couldn’t hide amongst the two-legs but all the others were dead and i couldn’t pass the Wall  for fear of being  trapped too risky they said the two-legs can see the things between and will see you too i took the risk A bluebell droops over The roses’ head Leaning ever Closer I am a dedicated bull, Palei Hantu. When I caught you bedding my brother and you ran from his hut of course they found out i was stupid, desperate but not dead like the others  why did he chase me  to the Wall of all places even we avoid that place perhaps he knew and thought he’d trap me outside i took another risk  and though spotted by the Myinn guard who sat up startled after you vaulted the rampart shouted and flung his spear at me a quick confounding and the guard was none the wiser  i had to find someone to replace too many eyes and ears on the wall  i slunk away found one with wings of skin and grey i was so careless i had no time her body thrown off the docks All around a chorus of whispers answers: The lines between dreams blur and though i feed upon them drew the gazes of the room like a lightning-bug upon a darkened stage and the foolish guard until Dawn Patrol fluttered to her flame and another as our tangled bodies sung carnal hymns to each other i know it won’t last i know they'll find her any day now i'm trapped again where are the boats where are  the boats The question Rings out; The whispers Are silent Confused And waiting A dawn lotus floats in the black rose’s shadow; It’s petals All the darker It answers; I listen Littlemoth dances behind my eyelids. I can’t let them get her Can’t let them know because as soon as they do they’ll chase them and they’ll come after her and the others. I can’t stop the ships forever, but if I can find a moment alone with her I’ll flee with her As soon as I can get her alone At the thought Of the ships, the dangkan responds: A creeper girdles the tree trunk choking the life of an emerald limb The boats have stopped and I do not know why or who is responsible only that it means more raised voices and more raised voices means dissent and complaints and Peridot always was the loudest She doesn’t trust me nor I her I knew the old witch never could be trusted to know her place and even if she does not suspect my deceptions (and I suspect that she does) she’s too much of an influence stirring up the wrong kind of trouble you have to be careful a whisper in one ear and poison in the other is the way to do it not screaming in front of a full hall though blaming the tuft- ears now that’s an idea I’ll have to off her and make do with what’s to come Majority refuses to answer when we ask him why the boats have stopped coming I suspect something is going on; that we are not being told the truth or rather Majority is not telling the truth Where is the money going no trade and yet he refuses to lower the taxes he demands a skeleton crew (let’s face it: our garrison is nearly empty if one discounts the drunks and tuft-ears) needs not the funds he’s been hiding he says a ship’s come in down at the docks I don’t believe him of course but I’m not sleeping so where’s the harm in confronting the old sod   Feck 'em both. Gonna wake me up by trippin' over me at half past midnight stumblin' toward the docks easier done than said in the end blame her death on the kelpies now that’s the thing maybe a speech to pull us all together shaming those tuft-ears into pulling their load should be popular with the merchants Silence surrounds and I merely wish I had known that that was what I wanted   Enough. I step away and the         dream breaks around me.   The tree stands still again Its limbs singing Of world brought to ruin For the want of vengeance And safe harbour; In the name of love And righteous suspicion Born of greed; And death born Of greed Giving birth to Unfounded suspicion In the name of unfounded Hatred Until all the blossoms one by one Wilt and fall In a flaky rain that Covers the carpet of thorns Upon which the tree rests The rain will not stop until all of the branches         are bare Perhaps Dayang Dayang Mangilai was no goddess But a pony Condemned to Watch The mistakes of others Powerless To stop the fall of all she held dear And I know, now What great lament she cried When she saw  the Very roots by which Her tree grew and spread Its limbs, were the agents Of its long undoing Peridot is dead and I will not mourn her passing. And yet I wonder: For this, will I fall with them? Dawn comes, and I must Leave this dream for the other Though my thoughts linger On that final flower. Know this, Majority: There will yet be a reckoning. She stands By the docks Refusing to answer The voice of the dangkan And a cloudless sky. Far above The pale moon Whispers: “We will meet again before you die.”