above The Creative, Heaven
below The Clinging, Flame
The Vault of Heaven in Flame
The man rose over the city on a dome. Domes are a popular structure in Black Rock City as they are structurally sound, easy to raise and use minimal materials. The Man's dome was open to the sky. Red lights picked up radio signals from two years ago. Some messages returned in their entirety, some were changed and some were new responses. The mad scientist showed me how to use the listening device to point it at one of the red lights and listen to the sounds.
Fireworks went off around the city letting its citizens know the time for the burn was very soon. I meandered through the crowd looking at the costumes of this city - my city. I saw amazing EL wire art. On the back of one figure was an animated EL Wire Jedi/Samurai winding up and making a gently curving sword strike. I lost Mariah and Joe when we stopped to look at the electric Anubis Headdress. There was an umbrella twirling with ribbons. All eyes turned to the man, as his electric neon arms started to rise and stopped in the pre-burn pose.
Fire tempters juggle poi, hula hoops of fire and spit fire. It's a hot magical night and the man watches over all from high. The dancers clear out. We will burn our god tonight.
A hush echoes through the crowd circling the man as we stretch our bodies, looking and listening for the first flicker of flame. The sky explodes with fireworks. Splashes of silver and gold. Fountains of fire. Sprays of colored sparks. And below, the first glow of oranges as fire appears in the dome, contemplatitive at first then raging into the dome struts full of magnesium. The dome burns pink, red, magenta, blue. A leg catches fire, a wrist sprays green fingers. Fire creeps up the legs into the left arm. The dome is ablazing. The sound of structure breaking, a crack and the left arm falls in a gradual deafening blaze of fire and grating metal. His head is still untouched. The body blazes blue green and then dies into the yellow orange of hot burning wood. The man has shed his metallic clothes. The right wrist sprays green. Explosives shoot skyward from the dome as the first part falls in with a deafening crash. It is the beginning of the end for the dome. Screeching of breaking metal heralds the descent of the right arm. The dome ablaze and collapsing in large pieces. The entire left side breaking away from the center and falling in with cinderflash. The smoke rising in tornadoes of flame and smoke and cinders. Fire elementals dancing around the many smoke funnels spiraling into the night sky.
The man stands alone on the center dome supports. The sides have completely collapsed. His face is still untouched by flame. Then in an instant the support breaks and with a graceful plunge, like a line of Chinese calligraphy, the man slides to the left and plunges into the flames.
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