Crossing for Tahelis
It’s been awhile since I crossed the mists for something other than my own journey and aims, so it was a refreshing experience. Again, I appreciate you asking for a crossing, and I hope this will be helpful for you!
I waded through the mist until it dissipated for the most part. I found myself in a dark forest, in a clearing surrounded by trees. There was grass and moss under my feet, and several large, flat stones. I sat down and waited, not at ease but receptive.
After awhile, the air started vibrating around me. It seemed like harsh sound waves, but it also distorted my vision. The pulsing continued, getting louder and louder. All of a sudden, the sound became distinctly audible as stampeding hoofbeats. I turned around as a herd of deer stormed through the clearing, leaping around my like a stream parting for a boulder. These weren’t ordinary deer though. They looked to be conjured out of shadow, with blurred bodily outlines and subtly gleaming eyes. Only their antlers looked solid to the touch. As more and more galloped past, the pulsing sound waves became almost unbearable. I covered my head.
Then the sound stopped abruptly. I looked up, and the deer were still running past, hundreds of them. Yet now their shadowy hooves made no sound on the earth. Across the clearing, staring at me, was a large buck, with an incredible rack of antlers. Their tips glowed, and I could see them growing as I watched, spiraling outward like tendrils. A whisper came, a message for you it seems. It said first that you would overcome two people who have wronged you, and next that soon you will have to be separated from someone very dear to you.
I called out to the deer, asking if he could tell me anything else on your behalf. He paused, and then the mists swirled in again, obscuring the rushing flood of deer, the lead buck, and the forest. I thought then that perhaps this crossing to the Otherworld was over— that it had told me all it could to pass on to you.
But before I could pull myself out of the astral world, I felt the sensation that someone was watching me. I looked around and at first saw nothing. But then I glimpsed what seemed to be a darker patch of mist. And it moved.
I retreated, not quite sure what I was looking at. The dark patch moved closer, and I made out what looked like tattered edges of diaphanous cloth. I’m experienced at sensing Otherworldly danger—and although this entity gave me an uneasy feeling, it also didn’t seem outright malicious. So I stood my ground and asked it what it wanted. It swirled around in the mist, just out of clear eyesight, circling me/edging closer/retreating/etc. I realized then that it was shy. I don’t think it had much contact with people from our world. Then it floated uncertainly forward.
Once out of the mist, it looked pretty scary. It was a hooded figure in light grey robes. On its back was a quiver of what looked like iron arrows, and it held an iron bow. I asked it what it was, and after a long time it told me that it was a reaper. I almost fled back to my physical body out of fear— reapers tend to be big, big trouble if you’re not careful with hedge crossing— but it begged me to wait. Like I said, it was quite a timid thing. It told me it hadn’t killed someone and didn’t want to. It wanted to ferry souls, yes. But ferry them to and from different worlds, rather than from life to death. It seemed quite lonely, and told me it just wanted the company of people who wouldn’t be scared of it.
I realized then that I think it wants someone like you to keep company. I have a feeling if you’re careful, but if you reach out, you may find this little reaper to be good company, and a huge help in crossing the boundaries between worlds.
