He seemed to solidify out of the wavy haze,
I hadn’t chanced upon another traveller for days,
I was searching for the lost city of S’han’piet,
Had seen nothing yet……

“Where the winged beasts guard the gates,
And the silver mist flows in rivers from the mountains,
Where ghosts walk the streets of gold,
And gems are scattered like pebbles…..”

He told of the slight shimmering in the air, the haze,
Where time and world are out of phase,
At the place where the three footpaths meet,
And the dust turns to water under the feet.

“Where the three paths join,
You will meet two other travellers,
Both of yourself, one of the future, one of the past,
The only time you will ever be at one and all on the same path.”

That after a thousand years served,
I would be paid a reward well deserved,
Though the invisible mark of the beast stays,
That will be upon me always,
How I would know it if my path crossed another,
For “Brother” will always know “Brother“.

“Are you ready to guard the city gates?
Are you ready to take my place?
Then travel on,
See you again my “Brother” in a thousand years……..”

And as I passed,
I remembered my history at last,
I was going home,
Long forgotten talons, I started to hone.