Like the tharfi, it was a survivor of the cataclysm, changed beyond recognition from its former kindred. It stretched out three meters. Its tail was fang-tipped and razor-sharp, exuding a poison that was certain death to all but the hardiest of the desert creatures.
Even in its half-sleep state, it sensed the vibration on the sand and turned, but it was too slow. The creature that passed was larger than its normal prey and moved with exceptional speed. By the time it was ready to strike, it was already too late. The prey was nothing more than a receding blotch in the darkness of the desert night. The lizard lay down once more in resignation, dreaming of the dawn.
***
Ryder Talisman had sensed the other shortly after setting out from the cave. Always on his right until the wind had shifted. Then it had passed over to his left. Never in sight but always there.
Ryder neither stopped nor slowed, moving at a pace that would have exhausted even the fittest of men. Yet the unknown creature kept pace with him without difficulty. Once, he heard a wailing howl echoing over the sands, rising even above the moan of the wind. He read a mixture of loneliness, despair, and anger in the brief period of its happening. Then it was gone as though it had never been.
He continued to run. The ever-present beacon of the summons remained in front to guide his footsteps, growing stronger and more intense as he neared the place of power. There was no warning: only an awakened sense that he had reached his destination.
He stopped, breathing deeply and easily from the depths of his chest. His mind and body were now in harmony. Indeed, that had been the very reason for this journey. The creatures of the Flame were masters of every known facet of spatial and temporal form. They could just as easily have appeared to him in the underground cave.
Ryder also had other means of transport available. Matter was not stiff and unyielding, only another form of energy, easily malleable to those who knew the key. Yet he—like they—had known he would need a short period of recuperation after his long sleep.
He regarded his surroundings. He had come upon a natural amphitheater ringed by a haphazard formation of large, jutting rocks. As he moved inside the ring, he could see a dark lump of something on the desert floor before him.
Stooping down, he recognized dried faggots of wood loosely bundled together. Not far away was a burn-scarred circle of firestones. Someone or some party had slept here at least one night of their travel, yet the evidence of their passing had been left many moons before.
He took three steps forward. The intensity of the summons interfered with his other senses, yet for an instant he caught a projection of hate savage in its intensity. The other was close by.
Sensing movement behind him, he began to turn. The attack came without warning, accompanied by an awesome howling.
‘Hold!’
His mental command was backed by power, yet it was ineffectual. There was no time for further thought as the huge shadow-form leapt with razored claws out-thrust, the long, yellowed fangs bared and slavering.
His mind thrust was automatic, catching the beast squarely and sending it sprawling a few paces away. It lay stunned, sucking huge gulps of air into its great chest. Even so, it struggled to rise.
Ryder was amazed. The force of his mind-blow would have driven a much larger creature into unconsciousness. The burning sensation in his abdomen caused him to look down. A row of deep furrows across his belly bled profusely. He shook his head, even more astounded by the animal’s speed than by its strength.
Moving forward without fear, he stood tall above it. The eyes tracked him, feral yellow and glowing in the darkness. Yet behind the rage and hatred, Ryder sensed a mind of great intelligence. To this mind, he now spoke.
‘Why did you not heed my warning, Brother?’
The beast struggled madly, clawing its way to its feet only to slump forward once more with its massive muscles quivering. It was still too numb from the effects of the mind thrust. The great teeth were bared and a growl issued deep from its chest.
Ryder repeated his question and the eyes watched him steadily. Caution had crept in to sit beside the anger.
‘Whaat aare youuu…Maaaan?
The voice was a mumbled snarl in his head.
‘Yes, I am man…yet more.’
A bolt of heat lightning lit the sky and he saw the beast in front of him: a dog, or at least of the dog kind, though greatly altered. It was at least two hundred kilos in weight. The large head was covered with a tangled thatch of shaggy hair reaching down past its massive forequarters. The hindquarters sloped back and were much lower placed. There the hair was shorter and tinted a lighter shade of gray. Where visible, the skin was speckled with black spots and bulked with lean, stringy muscle. There was not an ounce of fat, yet the animal did not have an emaciated look. Ryder attributed this to a skill in hunting the equal of its fighting prowess. From its coloring and shape, he guessed at least one of its ancient kindred had been of the hyena family.
With controlled and easy movements, Ryder collected some of the wooden faggots and placed them inside the fire-circle. He seated himself and with a wave of his hand caused the wood to light. The flames licked the rock-ring and the shadows danced like ancient warriors.
He suddenly reached forward into the fire. Though his hand glowed, it did not burn. As he placed it over his abdomen, the wound furrows closed until only a thin scar and small traces of blood remained. He sat back, crossing his legs in front of him. He waited.
The animal struggled to its feet and managed to remain standing, even though it wobbled.
Ryder gestured to a place opposite the fire. ‘Sit for a while, Brother. Let there be peace between us.’
The giant beast hesitated and Ryder watched as the emotions warred within. Hatred versus curiosity. He smiled when the animal moved forward with slow, awkward steps then lay down with its huge paws thrust in front.
‘Peeeace…There waas once peeeace betweeen our kiiind…Beeefore the chaaange. Weee still bear the memories of thooose who caaame before usss. Weee were lesser beeeings then. Weee thought your kiiind gone like the others…the old ones of the sky and of the earth…’
Ryder read the longing and sadness.
‘…Of the sea creatures, weee do not know. Yet weee survived. If only it had not beeen so. Weee used to roam freee over theeese lands and others, as faaar as the great water. But then youuu returned, whence weee know not…yet some have whispered youuu came from beneath the ground. Weee took this from the minds of those weee killed...before their final death throes…’
The great jaws opened and the bared fangs glistened. Ryder could feel the intensity of the other’s pleasure.
‘Now weee are bound to this fiery laand, kept prisoner by the waalls that buurn…hunted…our mate killed…’
Fueled by the passion of the image, the great beast once again struggled to rise. Ryder lifted his hand, palm outward: an unmistakable gesture. The animal slowly settled once more.
‘Maaan did theeese things with his tricks of science. Yet youuu daaare to taaalk of peeeace.’
‘I am of the Old Ones,’ Ryder answered. ‘Those who lived before the change. I have but recently returned and it saddens me to hear the things of which you speak. Yet it was not man who made it so. Nor is the science evil…only the uses to which it is sometimes put. I do not know if I alone possess the power to change things for your betterment…yet I promise to try.’
‘The mouths of men lie as often as they speeeak the truuuth. Yet weee are bound by mindspeeeak…this cannot lie.’
Ryder nodded and once again reached through the fire. Without hesitation, he touched the quivering flesh of the animal, softly rubbing the stiff bristles. ‘It is time to renew the ancient kinship of our kind, Brother. I am Ryder Talisman, known as the Sunbear, and I touch you through the flame. Go now and remember always that we have shared peace once more.’
For a moment, the yellow eyes regarded him. Then the animal rose in one fluid motion. ‘Weeee are Wulf…of the kind maaan has named tharfi. Peeeace to you…Maaan…’
With a final baring of his great fangs, the tharfi leapt over the rock boundary and disappeared into the night.
Ryder sat still and patient while the fire burned to embers. Out on the desert, he could feel other humans, though their life-energies receded. He thought he touched a kindred spirit that was female, but the moment was fleeting. The night crept toward the dawn.
He was not certain when he closed his eyes. When he opened them once more, the fire was no more than a thin spiral of smoke rising above him. Yet a flame did burn: a small, luminous tongue floating well above the fire-ring. Multi-hued, rainbow flickering, the colors coalesced until they were a shade of blue so pale it was almost white.
‘Greetings, Ryder Talisman, he who is the Sunbear. The Aether has flowed long. Many cycles have passed in the reality of this plane since last we met.’
The voice that was more than a voice echoed in the amphitheater. The wind had died and the words hung in the stillness.
Ryder rose to his feet and bowed. “Greetings, Flame Lord. As you foresaw, I have survived the changes of this world.”
‘We were by no means certain. Even for beings such as we, there are always limits to power. Only the Source can be said to encompass both the infinite and the infallible. As you progress along the path to higher consciousness as taught by us, so we, in turn, are guided by one more advanced than ourselves. He is known as the Master of Forces. Such is the nature of the Pyramid of Power. The base of learning is as wide as infinity. But at the pinnacle, there is only the Source.’
“I have felt great changes…a difference and even a growing of my aura. Perhaps this is due to the long hiatus in the spirit world?”
‘To break the attraction of physical existence requires much effort. Effort requires power. And true power requires both knowledge and wisdom. Yet fear not, Herald! Your time approaches. With each passing moment, you converge with us. Though your will guides your footsteps, the path is your destiny.
‘We were once as you are now, attached to this plane—though as elemental rather than physical beings. We were the closest to pure energy: creatures of the True Fire. Long before the chroniclers of antiquity, when mankind was but a shadow of expectation, we came. We emerged from the womb of time when the microcosmic dust of the Eld wove itself into the system of Sol. We were the first to be. And the first to leave. What you see before you is but a minute portion—almost a nothingness of what we are. Though we are long gone, the echo of our existence remains in the gift we left behind. Through this, we now manifest our former self. But to truly enter this plane is a violation of the law—the unending, unchanging law of the Source. Only if the barrier is sundered can we truly return.
‘Herald…Hear us! We believe the ‘One-who-is-without-Light’ shall enter this plane soon. Even now, the conditions are ripe for his coming. We have spoken to you of this being before, yet there is much you still do not know.’
“Is he not bound by the same law as you? Is he not part of the Great Spirit, also known as the Source?” Ryder asked.
‘Yes and no. All things are part of the Source, yet even the most insignificant of the reasoning creatures has the freedom of choice: to serve the Darkness or the Light. This creature is an abomination of the Dark…Light’s Bane…the utter negation of all that we are. Words alone are insufficient to describe its abhorrence or its power.’
“Then what can I alone do, my lord, to battle such a being?”
‘You are the catalyst. You shall bring into focus and hasten the events that force the final confrontation.’
Ryder drew himself up to his full height. “I was born a warrior, Flame Lord. I do not fear any battle or any enemy…even though he be a creature of the Dark.”
‘Not as a warrior will you go…not at first.’
Ryder read the others intent and his smile was grim. “As a lamb then, offered to the wolf.”
‘Indeed. It is necessary for you to appear innocent. There must be no overt evidence of your relationship to us. These memories shall be locked away. You face no ordinary opponents. Those who serve the Lightless One would know you and be forewarned. They may suspect since you will seem more than an ordinary man—yet man still.’
“Will I remember nothing?” Ryder asked, uncertain and confused. “How will I know my purpose?”
‘Some skills you shall keep, enough to fulfill the prophecy. And your purpose will guide you below your conscious level. All that you are and more will be returned to you at the appointed hour.’
“And when will that be, my lord?”
‘The Aether flows, but what course it shall follow cannot be seen with certainty. Know this, Ryder Talisman, he who is the Sunbear. From the time we first manifested on the mount of the Sacred Hills, we have foreseen this would be your calling. Then you were but a boy. But we realized you would become a man who possessed the warrior’s heart, with courage and honor, strength and devotion. But above all—faith. We know we ask much. Yet if you are victorious in this, you will unlock the key to your true self. Therein, your spirit will find the blinding glow of enlightenment and escape the material plane. No longer will you suffer the entrapment of the endless cycle of life and death.’
Ryder was filled with sudden dread. He knew his spirit was now facing its greatest challenge, for he must battle an enemy whose power even these great lords respected. Yet it was impossible to go back. He could only go forward.
“My lord, I accept and will serve you willingly.”
‘Prepare, then.’
As he knelt before the Flame Lord, Ryder knew there was nothing for him to prepare. He had already made his decision. He was conscious only of a chill spreading quickly throughout his body, and a tingling sensation as if his limbs were asleep. A fog seemed to descend over the desert. The scene melted away, replaced by darkness…so much like his cave. A voice called to him as though from a great distance.
‘Remember…To find the power, you must seek out the Flame. Seek out the Flame…’