Cutting

Once upon the midnight sky, when time was new and had not yet grown to be as old as itself,

The world was young. And on its teeming surface, there came to be a young lizard. His name was of no importance.

His scales shined bright and one day when he shed, he took one of his scales and fashioned it into a long, sharp rod.

He made the sword and he set out to be its master. He cut all he could in his path, all who came upon him. He was a terror and came to be feared for his aptitude towards cutting.

One day he came upon an owl. Her name was of importance; it was Xalla, a great lord of wisdom. She had grown to be one of the oldest even by now, and as this young lizard came to her, she saw the path he had left.

So she spoke. "My, what a young master of cutting you are."

He laughed. "This is true. I have come to find there is no equal to me."

The owl raised a brow at his hubris and chuckled, producing a sword of her own. "A challenge, then? To see who is the best cutter," She offered him.

Had the young lizard known who she was he would have put his sword down immediately and mayhaps we would know his name. But no.

He smiled and raised his sword. "A challange!"

And so he sealed his fate. Their challenge would begin tomorrow, on the field that sat below.

As the sun rose, Xalla sat calmly within the small clearing. The field was surrounded by a grove of apples, beautiful and calm. In the distance, a mountain sat above all things. A nearby village had sent some of its people to watch the duel, for they were curious and had come at the behest of Xalla.

Xalla waited for hours for the lizard to arrive. When he did arrive, she smiled towards him and greeted.

The lizard laughed and stated his intentions clearly. "I have come here to win your little game, not talk."

So Xalla nodded, and reached into their coat and produced an apple. "The rules are simple. There will be three challenges. Each challenge will have us cutting something different. The judges shall be the people watching. If they should come to any harm, then you will forfeit the match. At the end of the match, they will judge us. And pronounce the winner. Are these rules clear?"

The lizard nodded. "Let's just get this thing over with. I want to win already."

Xalla threw the apple in the air. "The first challenge: cut an apple." with this, with a movement barely perceptible to any watching, she swiped, and the apple fell apart without a sound, landing upon the ground in two halves.

The lizard cackled. "An apple? I will do you one better," he said and drew his sword. With a faster swipe and a flash of his body, there was rush of wind through the field and all around them every apple in the orchard exploded. He brandished his scale sword, dripping the juice of the fruits that had all been annihilated. With a lick and a cocky grin, he said "I am not impressed, Owl. What is the next challenge?"
The villagers cried in fear as they were covered with the fallen fruits, in awe at his display.

Xalla bent her head down and then approached a large rock, one of the few that were scattered through the field. "The next challenge. Cut a rock." The lizard felt his smile deepening as he watched. With sword twirling through talons, Xalla made three deft motions and the rock was blasted away, cut into three pieces, each launched away with the force of the motion.

The lizard's grin was devilish at this point. "A rock? Any rock?" he asked, to which Xalla nodded an affirmative. The lizard put his hand on his blade, and focused, welling his power. With a single motion aimed above Xalla's head, he made a single, powerful strike.

Xalla did not flinch, not even as the strike cleaved the mountain behind her in two and sent the peaks flying into the distance, nor did she make any movements as the ground quaked at the impact of the great stone.

Her eyes merely burned as they stared into the lizard.
The villagers huddled in fear, at the simple challenge had quickly escalated to proportions that none could have hoped to ever expect.

But the lizard had kept his word and not harm had come to them.

Xalla closed her eyes. "For the final challenge…" she began but was interrupted. "Final? I think these have been enough. It is clear that you are far outmatched. I have won this challenge of ours."

Xalla shook her head. "Then it will be a simple task to finish, yes? The villagers have not yet made their decree and may take this refusal as an admittance of defeat."

The lizard sighed. "Fine. I will finish this challenge. Make it quick."

Xalla, expressionless, stared him in his eyes. "For the final challenge, then. Cut yourself."

The lizard laughed, and laughed, and laughed. "So you wish me to kill myself, then? I take it this is where you ask me to go first and in my youth, proceed. No, I do not need to win this challenge if it means death."

Xalla took her sword in two hands and breathed out slowly, as a solemn stillness took hold. "No. I will go first. Then I will die or I will win."

For the first time since meeting her, the lizard felt fear.

Xalla breathed in. Xalla breathed out. Xalla breathed in. Xalla breathed out.

Xalla breathed in.

She took her sword and she slashed. She cut herself into two, perfect pieces. But before the blood could flow, she cut herself again. And two became four. And then she cut herself again. And again. And again.

She cut herself apart until she was nothing but dust. And then cut herself apart until the dust was nothing but atoms. She cut herself until she was nothing, a scattering of infinite pieces.

And then she cut herself into everything. She cut a piece of herself into everything that existed. She became the villager. She became the mountain that had been cut apart, she became the sun watching down from its throne, she became every star in the night sky watching reality below.

She became the universe. And in everything, she became nothing.

To cut apart is to destroy. Every act of cutting, no matter how impressive or how destructive, is easy.

Except for one. The singular act of unity.

She cut herself into one.

And with that, came to sit upon the clearing, calmly. The villagers had seen this display and now looked upon in reverence fear.

The lizard looked at her with a slack jaw. And fear. But there was hubris in his heart and fear became anger and he drew his sword. "Fine then. I shall follow."

And he cut himself into two. And then cut himself into four. Again, and again, and again. He never stopped cutting and he cut himself into nothing.

And to nothing he went as he cut himself out of the universe.

Xalla smiled and walked away. It was a much nicer universe without him.

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