Dream LXXXIII

I was part of a cartoon show set in a Medieval-type world during the middle of some kind of civil war. I lived in a large, mostly empty castle made of stone, with high ceilings and several stairways. In addition to myself, there was a wise, stoic lion-headed man who was our leader, an owl-man well versed in both science and sorcery, two elfin creatures, and a slightly older warrior-type who was always trying to prove his mastery at strategy. He was a good warrior, but wasn't quite as smart as he thought he was.

One day, I was on the second floor talking to the elfin creatures when a smooth-featured man suddenly appeared before us. He told us he was from the future, and his name was 7664. He said that we were in danger, though he couldn't specify what kind of danger. We asked if he could help us to prepare with knowledge from the future, and he regretfully told us that he couldn't do anything unless he had done so at precisely the same day of the week in the future. So it might be as much as a week before he could tell us anything we could use.

Just then the warrior appeared and told us that he had successfully planned out a strategy based on some manoeuvres he had done within the castle walls. I smiled and congratulated him, and told him as gently as I could that while I was impressed, I was pretty sure the enemy would not attack from within the castle, but from outside. He smiled and said that would be the next part of the plan.

I suddenly had the impression that our world was collapsing like a broken balloon. I could not recall the name of our lion-headed leader. I grabbed the warrior's shoulders and shouted at him, "What is his name? What is his name?"

The warrior smiled in confusion, as if he'd never heard of the lion-headed man. He looked at me as if I were losing my mind.

But I knew something was terribly wrong. I stared down over the railing into the first floor and saw an ever-encroaching white light, which I knew meant that our existence was being destroyed.

As the light crept up the stairs and all around us, I remembered the lion-man's name. "Ezra!" I shouted, over and over. "Ezra!"

And the white light swept over us all.