-Sss. So. As the challenged, I choose the battlefield. I assert reality. Very well, I have the first move... I am a dire worlf, prey-stalking, lethal prowler.
-My move. I am a hunter, horse mounted, wolf-stabbing.
-I am a horsefly, horse-stinging, hunter-throwing.
There are many ways to lose the oldest game. Faliure of nerve, hesitation... Being unable to shift into a defensive shape. Lack of imagination
-I am a spider, fly-consuming, eight legged.
-I am a snake, spider-devouring, poison toothed.
-I am an ox, snake-crushing, heavy footed. I feel the snake writhe beneath, my hoof, its spine crushed.
-I am an anthrax, butcher bacterium, warm-life destroying.
A change in direction but still an old gambit. I think... I think I understand how Chronozon plays. How I can turn it against him. I think I will abandon the offensive. "I am a world, space floating, life nurturing."
-I am a nova, all-exploding... planet cremating.
-I am the universe - all things encompassing, all life embracing.
I am anti-life, the beast of judgment, I am the dark at the end of everything. The end of universes, goods, worlds... of everything. Sss. And what will you be then Dreamlord?
-I am hope.
Neil Gaiman, The Absolute Sandman