WORD OF POWER

SHOUL
The character of pride.
I am so proud of you.
You could never know
How much you mean to me.

HAUFF
The sound of the wind.
To speak this character is to give a body to the wind.
It is the only character that can be used
more than once in a word of power.

AUN
The character of love
If you do not know the sound of love, I cannot describe it to you.
If you do know the sound of love,
I humbly ask that you sing it to me someday.

HEM
The character of repentance.
The character of reparation.
It has the sound of a single chime from a distant bell-tower.
This character could never destroy the world. It will put it back together.

TON
The character of sadness.
Listen to the things that you have lost.
Listen to the ones whom you have harmed.
They are more able than I to pronounce the words of sadness.

FILN
The character of the inevitable.
It makes a quiet sound.
You perceive a faint buzzing.
Quiet, but persistent.

ATCH
The character of anger.
The sound of anger will
sing itself
through your body.

TON-AUN-HEM
The word of power rings clear and true.
The sound reminds you of another character that you once heard.
It is the character of the inevitable.
For now, the world is still intact.

HEM-FILN-TON
The word of power leaves your lungs with a quiet energy.
You remember the meaning of your breath
And so does the world.
For now, the world is still intact.

HAUFF-HAUFF-HAUFF
The wind speaks quietly back to you:
There are two words of ultimate power.
One will end the world with pride.
The other will end the world with anger.

AUN-HAUFF-HEM
The word of power echoes with a softness that overwhelms you.
In the echo, you hear a new sound emerge.
It is a sound much stronger than the others you have learned.
The world begins to tremble. Its time is running low.

FILN-HEM-HAUFF
The word of power emerges from you as a shout.
You are unable to control its force. The sound itself has power over your lungs.
You revel in your submission to the word. The power here is greater than in the others.
The world begins to tremble. Its time is running low.

You feel the air around you become tense.
You are so very close to finding
The word of power to end the world in pride.

SHOUL-TON-HAUFF
You try to speak the word of power, but you only manage a whisper.
This is it.
This is the word of power that will destroy the world with pride.
Speak the word again, louder this time.

SHOUL-TON-HAUFF
This time you are prepared. In a low voice, you recite the word of power.
The ground trembles. The air becomes warm. But the wind cannot hear your voice.
Speak again, this time more clearly.
You need to feel the word as you speak.

SHOUL-TON-HAUFF
The word of pride shines from your eyes.
The word of sadness flows through your ears.
The sound of the wind breathes through your throat.
Now you understand. Now you can speak the word for the last time.

You feel the blood within you become tense.
You are so very close to finding
The word of power to end the world in anger.

ATCH-AUN-FILN
You speak the word of power, but your throat goes dry.
All you can manage is a squeak. Your pulse quickens. Your mind clears. You realize.
This is it. This is the word of power that will destroy the world with anger.
Speak the word again, this time with conviction.

ATCH-AUN-FILN
The word escapes your lips in a high voice, almost a wail.
The wind picks up. The ground begins to grip at your feet.
But you know that the world has not yet heard you. You must speak again.
You must feel the word as you speak.

ATCH-AUN-FILN
Anger consumes your mind.
Love licks at your fingertips.
The inevitable sticks in your throat.
Now you understand. Now you can speak the word for the last time.

You attempt to speak a word of power,
But the syllables that you have chosen
Refuse to be combined in this way.

AUN-HEM-TON
You speak the word of power that calls out to the crickets.
They chirp back in response.
The world is still intact.

TON-HEM-AUN
You speak the word of power that calls out to the clouds.
Drops of rain begin to fall on your face.
The wind blows the clouds away.
The world is still intact.

I hear your cries of love
And my heart calls out to you
But surely you must know
That this character can only be used once
In a word of power.

You cry out so eagerly for repentance,
But this is not the path.
Surely you must know
That this character can only be used once
In a word of power.

I see that you are consumed by sadness.
But surely you must know
That this character can only be used once
In a word of power.

AUN-TON-FILN
This is a slow word, a sad word.
It is the word of the storm.
Rain falls all around you. But rain is not against nature.
And the world keeps spinning.

The wind whispers to you the secrets of pride.
Pride is the enemy of anger.
Pride is the enemy of repentance.
They cannot exist in the same word of power.

The wind whispers to you the secrets of anger.
Anger is the enemy of pride.
Anger is the enemy of repentance.
They cannot exist in the same word of power.

You ask the wind about repentance.
And the wind forgives you
For what you are about to do.

You ask the wind about love,
And to your dismay,
The wind responds
That today, love belongs to anger.

You ask the wind about sadness,
And the wind lets out a long sigh.
Today, it says, sadness lies within the realm of pride.
As the wind dissipates, you can feel that it caries a sadness in its breath.

You ask the wind about the inevitable.
The wind tells you that it stays far away from inevitability
Since the inevitable has lately been so close to anger.

You feel a slight tremor in the earth beneath your feet.
You are close to uncovering the character of pride.

Your breath becomes warmer.
You are close to uncovering the character of anger.