Chapter 69

For the first time, it rains.

It pounds the stone walls, swirling around the spires and turrets. It caresses the clear windows, dripping from each stone like blood. It must be the wrath of God, coming to us in liquid terror... a symbol of worse things to come.

He turns away, overwhelmed by the endless sight of rivers flowing from above, washing the earth with coin. Never before has he experienced such fear, shaking his soul with overwhelming intensity. The old one is overthrown, the regime is coming to an end. But it is difficult for him to grasp - the "end".

The end exists only in relation to the beginning, the omega to the alpha, and there is no beginning here. There is only the "is," the simple state of being that extends beyond what the eye can see. No one knows when it began; it was just-was, and is, and always will be.

The continuous roar of the darkening clouds as they hurry to take the earth