Aiyedjembe

It is a hot day, as many days have been hot. You and the pretty goblin beside you have been hunting by spear for hours, and have found nothing. The air is still, that stillness you have learned to read as the mark that there is a predator nearby, and the vast world-covering jungle is quiet, holding its breath, praying for some fanged beast to depart. But you are not afraid: Edne has taught you not to fear. You bask in the warmth of the sun upon your lightly darkened green skin.   Ahead, through the trees, your lover points at a flash of platinum and silver. You both rush ahead, and see a massive winged serpent, long and sinewy, more like a snake than a dragon's, as it plays in the water. The thing does look the colour of platinum, but you can't tell: the scales reflect the sun into every colour you can imagine, a shimmering like a hail of comets. You stand, transfixed.   The dragon begins to sing, and your mind is filled with fear: fear of Edne, the eternal water; of the jungle's massive leaves; and of the song itself. It sings of the six days and the power they spawned, and in your mind the tendrils of a new magic spring free, and you know one thing only: to flee the jungle, to abandon Edne to her fate, if she was ever real, and to remember this song always, and to teach it to others, for in it is great power.   You and the other goblin flee, looking for shelter. There must be desert somewhere...