Eons of time had passed.
All was impenetrable blackness. With incredible velocity, he was
whizzing through infinite space. Nothing supported him; nothing touched
him. Some unseen, unfelt, unthinkable Force was hurling him outward
into a Stygian, unbounded void.
Then, so gradually that it was scarcely perceptible, the blackness
was dyed a pallid, ghastly hue. And with a shocking suddenness it
became alive with a horrible larvae. Bloodless and transparent things,
they seemed, filling the air with a swarming, wriggling magnitude of
loathsome life. And he was a part of this!
He put out his hand; and though he felt no touch, he saw the squirming
mass of worms pass through his flesh as though nothing were there. And
he knew his body swarmed with them as though it were decayed cheese,
and an unspeakable, revolting nausea surged through him.
Then the paleness vanished, and the larvae with it, and he was still
shooting through the horrible darkness.
* * * * *
Another eon had passed.
Nor had his terrible flight abated. Outward, through unlighted
infinitude, he swept untiringly. Unearthly sounds now filled the
air--voices screaming in agony, cries and moans as of tortured souls,
insane laughter and maniacal shrieks. Anon, with a howl and a hiss,
some shrieking air dragon would roar past him. And, all around, he
could hear the bellow and screech of monsters of the air in terrible
conflict.
Then all turned to an ocean of living blood; and great crimson bellows
belched over him, wave upon horrid wave. And the frightful aerial
mammals, invisible a moment before, were now seen leaping and plunging
through that scarlet sea.
Under him and over him they ducked and bounded--gigantic, green-hued
monsters extravagantly hideous. Now and again one would dart for him,
mouth distended. But the next second he would be far away, with the
ghastly creature in hopeless pursuit.
Slowly the liquid redness merged into a shimmering rainbow of vivid
colors. Yellow and green, and purple and blue and orange, streaked
the air with a prismatic glory, glittering and scintillating with a
marvelous beauty.
Then, with a terrific suddenness, like a noiseless thunderclap, the
blackness rushed in and blotted out the dazzling iridescence, and
cloaked all in Cimmerian darkness.