On the Matter of Souls

A Dragon's Soul: Chapter 2

Written & Illustrated by: Rick Merriman

On such a night Siberlee knew that The One would speak to her mind, just as she had back during Creation. After 20 showers of stars shooting through the sky, one for each of the Gods and Goddesses, it is surmised, The One did, in fact, speak with Siberlee. The deity who was all love and goodness explained to Siberlee the reason why she and her sister were not successful in creating a creature who could speak.

“Though Sola has the gift of life and can create any manner of creature or beast, she cannot create a life that has a soul. Only the combined powers of The One and The Other can do that.” The One explained it in even further detail. “A soul, Siberlee, is shaped by words spoken, and spoken worlds are shaped by a soul. So only those with a soul should be able to learn to speak.” Then, like the mother, the matron, and the teacher The One always has been, and forever will be, she cautioned Siberlee sternly that it would be dangerous to the universe itself if there were ever those who could speak without a soul. “Child, it is not something you should try or attempt. Though it has been over 10,000 Seasons you have been a Goddess… you are still a babe. It would be best if you let this desire go unfulfilled… at least for now.” “But how could it be dangerous?” Siberlee whispered into her own mind. “I do not understand…”

Sola by Morning by Rick Merriman

“The gift of speech is much like the gift of magic, Siberlee, or even the gift of the light the sun gives when it rises in the morning. In all these, there must be balance. In magic, there is GA, our magic essence. Not enough GA and you can not perform certain magic. Here, GA is the balance to ensure we use our magic wisely. “With the light in the morning, is there not also the dark from the night before? If there was never any dark, the light would have no meaning. So here, dark is the balance of light. “Now with the gift of speech, the Soul is the balance. The soul gives us perspective on the words we hear and provides a consequence, or what we call Trauncha, for those words which we choose to speak. “Without a soul, words could easily be spoken without consequence. They could be true or untrue. Hurtful or helpful. With genuine emotion or contrived manipulation. With such creatures, their words could, and would, be a jumble of anything. Simply put, speech from those without a soul would have no real meaning.”

Sola, The Mother of Life and Light by Rick Merriman

The Mother of Nature listened to all that The One told her. It made good sense to her, as it always did. She wanted to heed her words and as an adolescent Goddess, she knew that she should blindly accept what had been suggested. But she was, if fact, still a young Goddess... and the wisdom of acceptance still eluded her. So instead of acceptance, Siberlee argued. “It could do no harm to the universe as we are on Mernac, and there are only my 19 brothers and sisters and I here. I am sure we would all be very careful.” “No,” The One whispered. “But I will take full responsibility for teaching the new creature words, and when they should, and should not, use certain words.” “No,” The One whispered. “Then may Sola create a speaking creature who does have a soul?” “No,” The One whispered. There was then a pause for an instant, or it may have been 1000 instances, we mortals may never know, but the deity finally did continue, “Of that…the creation of a creature with soul… of that... there would be even more danger. Definitely, no.” Regardless of how many times she was told no, Siberlee continued to gently argue her desire with The One. With each point she made, The One would simply whisper “No” into Siberlee’s mind.

Next Chapter

Legend

Legends TOC

Series Forward

(In Chronological order)

Acknowledgments and Thankyous
Forward: The Birth of Writing
Prolog: The First Scribe

History is Studied

Book 1: Siberlee's Good

#01 - On The Matter of Good
#02 - In the Beginning
#03 - The Two Moons of Mernac
#04 - The First Chandralee
#05 - A Gift for the Gods
#06 - Of Light and Life
#07 - The Mother of Nature
#08 - Controlling the Light
#09 - Only on Chandralee
#10 - He Came with the Wind
#11 - The Ethereal Elements
#12 - The First Quarrel
#13 - Measurements of the Gods
#14 - The Beginning of Change
#15 - The Seed of Jealousy
#16 - The Coming of Traejen
#17 - The First Forgiveness
#18 - Child Gods
#19 - A Test of Good
#20 - The Decision of Good

Time Passes

Book 2: Barak's Control