The Silver Current; A Novellen's Journey

[JoanOfArc 4604]

The Silver Current; A Novellen's Journey

Written by Acolyte Ioannes Novellen

Published from Kaer'Lassar

In honor of Brother Dante

 

An depiction of the Silver River of Petra made by Ioannes Alexios with some artistic liberties, 1849.

 

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When I crossed the dense forest, my fears subsided when I came across the River Petra perchance. It was like moonlight, the purity of which soothed my uneasy soul. The forests I trod through were dense and dark, no inner light to illumine me. How can Man see his way when not even the heavens are visible? If God did see me in the forest, I knew not the answer.

By the silver current.

So I sat by the river bed, unable to bear on. The path ahead, across the river, was darkened by green and black. The woods with no foreseeable end. How much toil must Man bear? To lose an uncle, a grandfather- shall more of my family perish in the nighttime? Can a family be more cursed by the Lord than mine with the stain of Pertinax forever coursing through my blood? If I were cursed to damnation forever, I knew not the answer.

By the silver current.

You pluck from the vines you sow, Lord. Who am I to judge the order of the stars? But I cannot keep a secret from you, for you see into my heart. I was born alone in this world, and none have I felt understanding of. My thoughts and being never connected to others. The winds brushed my face, like a gentle mother. If I was alone in this world forever, I knew not the answer.

By the silver current.

I am wretched and without redemption. A villain whose regrets amount to more and more as the years go by. I think about my sins on the daily. How can confession ever redeem a soul? Can you ever renew a log that has been burnt? I am useless, deserving of nothing more than the hells of Iblees. If the Lord thought the same, I knew not the answer.

By the silver current.

I wish for more. I wish for my family to be whole once more. I wish for my brothers to carry me through my burdens. I wish for my brother to visit me and to break bread with me as we did. I wish for my sister to remind me of God’s love and calm. I wish for Father to return from the his travels in the east. I wish for Mother to look at me how she did before. I wish for Theodosia to remember the childhood we shared. I wish for Emil-Dardot to be with me again. I wish for my uncle to be with me again. I wish for my grandfather to be with me again. I wish for my childhood before the days when only darkness remained in my soul to be about once more. If any had heard my wishes, they cared not to answer.

By the silver current.

So I sealed my fate. I threw myself into the river, for only death could answer my troubles. What life could not be, perhaps death would be. But as the river took me over, I felt calmness and joy. The embrace of death did not overwhelm me, but a renewal of life. "Life"-

The silver current answers.

I lashed my hands as I tried to come out of it. The weight of the world was leaving me all at once. What sins I have endured or bore, the Lord has forgiven. I am no longer bound to the whims of the world; I am bound to God’s grace. Forever in the moonlight, purity overwhelming this blackened heart. Cleansed from my iniquity at last. "Purity"-

The silver current answers.

I lashed out, seeing my family not in damnation but in the heavens above. They escaped the entrapment of the woods, forever unburdened. Though the bashing of the waves never ceased to flood my ears, I hear their silent smiles and love from up above. They know rest. "Peace"-

The silver current answers.

 I lashed out, seeing my brothers and family by my side. Though the distance between Terra is immeasurable in length, you are all apart from me. As the church is communing with those below, so are our hearts communing together. Your distance is physical, but our hearts are bound by the mercy of God, a spiritual togetherness. "Love"-

The silver current answers.

As I found my senses once more at the end of the river, crashing against the bank, I saw my path was made. The woods stretched out once more, fading into the distance- but I knew the truth. Because, no matter how far I have to travel in my woes, this old world I once inhabited has come to an end. A new life had begun for me. The trials of my reborn life will never end, and new ones will arise, but I am prepared for them. I shall not forget the values the Lord instilled in my baptism of the river, the silver answering once last time that;

My sins, my folly-

Were washed away in the silver current.

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St. Jude of Petrus, pray for us.

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