I sat beside the wizard whose robe was dark and blue like the sky at night and said nothing. We sat together as the world wound to a close and all time came to an end. The stars burnt out, and darkness reigned supreme.
“One day, perhaps, we’ll dream again,” I said as the air grew cold around us.
The wizard nodded.
“You played your part well,” I added. “Lasted a lot longer than the others, longer than anyone. You made it to the very end.”
Another solemn nod.
“Do you really want to stay?” I asked. “There’s nothing left but dust, and all the dust has settled, and no one may ever disturb it. Maybe you’d like this, a perfect silence, an unending, unchanging forever; all alone.”
I looked over and studied his face. His eyes stared out into the void.
“That’s all I get,” I mused. “I’m just the gateway. Once you’re gone, I’ll just be, unmoving, unchanging, like the dust. I won’t know it. Won’t remember. I only exist now because you’re here to personify me, because you anthropomorphized me so long ago with that whispered spell. Have any more spells, wizard? Any more dreams?” I sighed. “Or are you finally ready to see what lies beyond me, what mysteries your brothers have gone on to see, if they see, if there’s anything more than dust?”
He gave no answer.
“I can wait,” I said. “There’s no more time, no more change. This is the end.”
Tale Told 