J. Power Surge

Dax continued his 'meditating' and other studies of the ancient religions - and found with practice that he could easily get into a very deep state of inner calm.  He also found that he could do an 'active' meditation while playing improvised solos on the ancient 'guitar' instrument.  These 'active' meditations were somewhat more invigorating - but he at times could enter an almost trance like state when following the 'groove' of the space time continuum that is involved with the playing an improvised solo.

On a later visit to the 'rebel' base, some of his new friends there had heard him mention that he could play this instrument. Since they frequently performed rather loud live performances in the valley ironically called 'The Shroud of the Silent', they invited him to perform one of his guitar solo pieces on the evening of the next gathering.

[Scene - a moonlit outdoor rock stage in the valley filled with the 'rebel' audience].

With his 'magical axe' in hand, Dax arrived on the next night of the full moon, and made his way to the stage at his appointed time.  It was a decent sized stage and quite a crowd had amassed; the usual mix of unusual types.  While Dax was filled with a nervous energy at the thought of performing in front of all these strange people, he also knew deep down that his meditative state would take him to other dimensions and drown out any fears and nerves he might be experiencing.

Just before going on stage, he quickly went over a few details with the accompanying musicians. When they looked extremely confused he simply said to them, "Just go with the flow".

After plugging in his guitar, he internally issued a small prayer, and then he ambled over and mumbled into the microphone "Here's a little song called 'Power Surge'".

[See song lyrics here]

The nerves at first seemed difficult to abate, but as he approached the first guitar solo in the song - a new sense of focus set in.  The crowd, the issues he had been conflicted about, and all difficulties of his journey up to this point - basically everything - suddenly abated.  His whole world drew inward into this journey he was about to take - he and his guitar.  A journey upon which his mind that would navigate the patterns, tones and forms that would outwardly represent his inner meditative state in some abstract musical form.

His meditative state was deeper, far deeper, than ever before.  Perhaps the audience somehow fed into this reaction - and he was aware of them on one level.  But on another level he had embarked upon a journey of sounds and symbols which represented a host of grand phenomena and entities seemingly from other dimensions or worlds.  The audience too could somehow sense this intensity - and to some extent they too were being carried along on this journey.

By the time the second solo came up, he had totally let go - it was as if he was still playing the song but without really even trying to do so.  A relaxed yet energetic feeling deepened.  And now - for the audience - physical manifestations of Dax's inner journey began to appear.  Amidst the flashing stage lights - other electrifying energy sources began to swirl and dance about the stage.   Dax's features and form even seemed to visually shift - the audience had to wonder if this was special effects.   While journeying upon his guitar solo, his visible form seemed to transform into an array of various entities heretofore unseen and unfathomed.  Each one was more dramatic and awe inspiring in appearance than the previous.

Symbols - partly visible and partly ephemeral were emitted into the air and filled the immediate vicinity.  The audience, normally somewhat subdued - roared in excitement and awe.  They were both befuddled and amazed at what they were witnessing.

Dax himself could not believe what he was experiencing, and really he was not fully aware of his changing appearance or any other external phenomenon.  He just knew that he was visualizing places and things that were beyond his wildest imagination.  Some of the beings he would briefly encounter appeared to be demigods or archangels he had read about in some of the ancient religious texts.  Some of the texts he had discovered in the digital repository had crude black and white drawings of what these beings might appear like.  But here in his trance, the were in full color, three dimensional, and very much larger than life.  Somehow, these unimaginable things were transmitted into sonic form through his entranced solo.

As the song neared it's end, Dax realized that what was happening was not only internal and the crowd was getting almost out of control.  One of the main rebel leaders, Zarkus, stepped up to him and motioned him to come in a certain direction. Dax, exhausted and still playing, shook his head 'no'.  After all the song was not yet over. But Zarkus looked somewhat worried and appeared very adamant in his gesturing.

Since Dax was using a wireless guitar transmitter, he continued to play as he slipped away with the rebel leader - presumably to find some safety from the unpredictable mob. They slipped past surging crowds guided by others who clenched hand to hand to make a safe passage for them.  They made their way behind the stage and into an opening in the valley wall that Dax had never seen before.   Inside the cave-like mouth, Dax could see that there were long well maintained corridors, all bathed with bright fluorescent lighting.  He continued playing with the music fading out in the distance from the amps on the stage. The trance was fading in intensity as well. He proceeded as directed down the corridor with Zarkus and a group of his 'associates'. Some of whom seemed to wrap around them for protection and others who seemed to be... well, let's say; 'not supposed to be there'.

Eventually they made their way through a maze of corridors and eventually broke away from the bulk of the crowd.  The underground corridors had a surprisingly high tech appearance.  Dax had previously believed the rebels were very 'low tech' people and had no idea that such a sophisticated maze existed within the mountain. They entered a small room off to the side of one corridor, just as Dax was winding down the final notes of the song.

Once inside, Zarkus grinned widely at him - something Dax had never seen him do before.  "What??" said Dax.  Austrellus hugged Dax warmly.

After a long moment of silence, finally Zarkus, wearing a grin that could not end, said, "Come this way.  I've got something to show you..."

Words and Music written by David Denton

All Vocals performed by David Denton
All instruments performed by David Denton
Recorded and Produced by David Denton 

This song is really meant to be just a fun guitar song.  In the story, it takes on a much larger role. 

I think the stuff going in Dax's mind can give an insight into some of the drama a musician can conjure up in his mind while intensely performing.

Or maybe that's just the really crazy musicians.

The story tries to link up music and magic, and it is true that I do believe that music is magic indeed.

Technically, not my best guitar solo by far, and no guitar solo could match the level described in the story.  So, it is what it is - you have to expand your imagination a bit to fit the song into the story.