title and logo
banner bookshelf

Saint Aeliana

From The Life of Saint Aeliana:
A Hagiography


[?]

Saint Aeliana approached the monastery that towered above the Eridani landscape. The brittle towers, constructed from bricks of the strange calcified fungus found throughout the planet, could be seen for miles. She passed through the large door at the entranceway of the monastery, adorned with gems and symbols of her faith and the strange new religion native to this lonely planet. When the anchorite cell was in view, a bright green light shone between the “stonework” cracks. The light reminded her of the glowing green kryptonite depicted in ancient literature. She knocked on the cell door, expecting (or maybe only hoping) to see the celebrated Selene, the renowned Anchorite of Eridan , whose work she had dedicated her life to studying and translating. Instead, she heard the mechanical hum of machinery.

“Oh, good. You're just in time,” the android woman said upon opening the door.

“In time?”

“Yes, the funeral preparations are nearly complete.”

***

                        An Eridan Funery Prayer[1]

                        Oh Boundless One
                            May you ease her pains
                        And guide her back
                            to the Great Spiral's embrace
                        Adrift in the void
                            but not alone
                        the one who sees in the unseen
                            return her to unity
                        [?] The Great Spiral
                            who is not one
                        but all that are made
                            Oh, Bounded and Boundless One.
                    

***


[1] Reconstructed and translated from the notes of Bendedicto Vox.