Ava D. Dohn
Copyright 2011 Ava D. Dohn
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These Chronicles are dedicated to the silent sentinels who have sacrificed everything for us, the unknowing and uncaring, so that we may have a hope of a better future. Without their assistance and protection, I doubt any freedom would still exist for mankind to enjoy.
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Section Two: Of Councils Great and Small
Section Three: Legend's Heroes
Section Four: The Forges of Hell
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Prologue:
My children, you have asked me why your mother walks in the shadows of your world, seeking dark, quiet places. You say she prefers songs of lament to cries of mirth and joy. You wonder at her silence, her quiet moods and her distant stare. Be patient, for her days of mourning have yet to pass. Though the century comets have returned a thousand times, she has not come to forget the suffering. And should they return a thousand times more, she will still be haunted by ghosts from long ago. So, do learn from my story and come to understand.
To the days of long ago I will take you -
Before Shadow-walkers roamed the forests and hills, Before the daughters of Tolohe danced beside the firelight, Yes, before your people took a breath.
That is where I will transport you -
Into an age without light, filled with despair,
To a time when hope was little more than bitter faith.
You shall see things and you will become afraid.
Then you will comprehend,
And insight will grow in your minds.
Your mother you will gain empathy for.
Your mother you will begin to understand.
Your mother you will start to know.
So journey with me, my children of innocence. I will teach you the way it was then.
And if my children should fail to learn, the Darkening Age may well come again. So be silent and listen. Gain wisdom and live.
* * *
“To reach the beginning, you must start in the middle, And to attain the finish, you must comprehend all things.
Time goes ever forward,
But knowledge learns always from the past.”
~ZoeStethos
‘The child has arrived and is hurrying on to an uncertain destiny. Today will prove to be the beginning or ending of all things...’
The person sat back, eyes aching from haunting visions, head pounding because of a distorted, musical unpredictability playing its disenchanting melodies along with a heart being overwhelmed with dread concerning future days.
All life hung upon a thread - the choice of a moment, the beat of a troubled heart, and little could the Maker of Worlds do other than trust it to the wisdom of a very impetuous child who drew now ever closer to this uncertain destiny.
Chimes of the great clock sounded in this person’s ears. How many times had it called out, to the distress of nations? How many children could no longer hear the beautiful music it made? Was it ten million, a hundred million, maybe more? This one,
sitting back waiting for the arrival of a treasured, precious child did not recall. What the person did know was that the belly of Hell was not yet satisfied.
With head shaking from side to side, tears began. Should the Empire win this coming conflagration, even though the child may prove wise, many times those who had already gone to their deaths would fall to Wrath’s coming storms. Should they lose?
Well, that could not be allowed even if it cost the lives of all the children of the Empire…the universe.
The person stood, walking onto a balcony, looking down on a jungle of greenery seen nowhere else but here, the lone remaining peaceful bastion in this tempestuous universe.
Sighing quiet remorse that no others were allowed to sense, a musical cry of dismay went out to the breeze, a cry of bitter lament from a wanton heart that sought only selfish cravings to never feel alone.
“Lo, foolish dreamer, your wish come true,
To sense the world with heart imbued.
Doth now the vial of bitter brew,
Its caustic taste your heart renew?
And now Rhiannon an oath does take
To bind her children to an evil fate.
For should the world be made anew,
It first must pass through this witch’s brew.”
The person looked off toward the sound of the great clock as it chimed its last refrain. Then with head bent down in sadness this Maker of Worlds turned and slowly retreated into the darkness of hidden rooms to await the evils of the coming Fates.
*...*...*
The speeder eased to a stop outside the opened entrance of an ancient blue marble wall. This pearl-white auto-car sat motionless, hovering just above the pavement, a subdued humming noise coming from its motor, opaque windows keeping secret any mysteries hidden within.
From a cloudless sky, the heat of the morning sun pressed upon the day. Steam from a late-night shower rose from pavement bricks and surrounding stones, vanishing as a mist in the summer air. Shrubs and trees in surrounding gardens dripped with a welcome deluge of the night while little harvester ants scurried about busy at their duties as sunlight reflected off glistening water droplets, creating an illusion of a world filled with sparkling diamonds.
A loud click! followed by the low whir of servos disturbed the silence. As if rudely awakened from a pleasant slumber, a covey of mourning doves rose from secluded perches, noisily flying overhead. A door opened in the side of the auto-car, quietly sliding back along an inner rail, revealing a shadowy figure hiding in the cool darkness of the idling machine.
Slowly a hand reached out, grabbing the roof rail followed by a foot coming to rest on the pavement. Laboriously, like someone ancient weighed down with burdens beyond their years, a woman emerged into the brilliant sunlight. With a grunt, she stood. How strange it would have been for an observer, for this woman did not look ancient. She was young and stunningly beautiful.
Squinting, the woman shaded her eyes to view the surrounding landscape, the silent grandeur of these sights vividly impressive. Beckoning one to come forward and receive their ever opened embrace, giant leaved gates made from exotic, shimmering metal delicately engraved with intriguing designs and runes stretched outward like two great arms, supported on massive pivots buried deep within the walls’ two opposing circular guard towers.
Imposing as these gates were, they paled in comparison to the fortress towers and walled battlements whose marbled heights rose well over eighty cubits before reaching the open roadway traversing the wall. From there it was another sixty cubits to the roofed battlements of the towers. Polished black onyx inset with chrysolite and other precious jewels crowned both the towers and ramparts.
The woman sighed, unmoved, merely turning toward the machine and muttering a command, its door swiftly closing. The auto-car’s motor sprang to life, speeding away, soon disappearing down the road, leaving the solitary figure standing there, staring into the distance.
Again, she turned her attention to the battlements. Looking up, the woman could see the massive guard towers with flags fluttering on poles far atop peaked roofs, recalling to her mind the grandiose beauty viewed from their ramparts where, on countless occasions, the breathtaking panorama of the surrounding countryside had unfolded before her eyes.
To the east were gently rolling hills and valleys covered with orchards, vineyards and pastures. Patches of woodland dividing fields of grain grew along the streams and brooks that descended to a broad plain below, the waters gathering together in force to produce a wide, serpentine river sluggishly laboring northward, fading from sight.
Beyond rose a wall of blue-green hills, dipping and swelling as though an army of shadowy giants were on the move, marching off into the distant haze, hiding the roots of rock-hewn mountains jutting above the clouds in snow-covered peaks. In the morning blackness, the sun would fill the sky behind these mountains with a dark glow as if orange fire were ascending from the depths below, struggling its way up the mountains, colors brightening until a vivid red sun would suddenly erupt over the peaks, flooding the countryside with its yellow brilliance.
The fortress walls stretched north and south for better than two leagues. Long ago, tall forests had grown up around these fortifications, shading the blue river of marble with their wide evergreen boughs. Old growths of giant cedar, hemlock and redwood trees towered high above the greatest battlements, dwarfing the heights with their three hundred cubit spires.
Nor was beauty lost on the secrets hidden behind the marble walls. Ornate patchworks of courtyards, orchards and gardens nestled along the trails and broadways, a rainbow hue of bright, scented flowers scattered throughout the dark green mats of shrubs and bushes, exciting one’s emotions in a kaleidoscopic display. Flagstone roads of red, blue and green crisscrossed this expanse of luscious growth, sweeping in like a sea around the base of the walls.
“Enough of that!” The woman sputtered, shaking her head to clear it of seemingly useless memories.
She started toward the gates along the jasmine-lined roadway leading into Palace City. Glancing west, the woman took little note of the dazzling imagery and beauty of the city’s center, nearly a league away. Had she bothered to look up while passing through the gates, she would have seen the splendor of this jewel of the universe…had she bothered. This inspiration for poems and songs went unnoticed by the woman, her mind caught up with other pressing matters. Whether she chose to observe it or not was of little concern to the artists who created it.
The ‘Eternal City’, as the architects had named it, would always shine with breathtaking delight for they had willed it to be that way. The gilded palace towers of jade, inset with gold and precious stones, and the palace proper, crowned in onyx and domed in diamond crystal, gold, and chrysolite made it appear as though the sun had descended from its home in the heavens and settled here. The old palace had sat its weathered butte long before this woman’s kind was born, and would continue to shine from it even if her kind should fail.
The woman smiled. She had chosen wisely this morning. As she expected, the streets were empty. And the guard towers? They never saw a guard…only occasional lovers seeking seclusion after a night’s merrymaking. This did not mean that her presence had gone unnoticed. Even now someone watched her, following her every move. But such knowledge was more reassuring than discomforting.
At Candletoe, a distant outpost, the woman first noticed this voice calling to her, beseeching her to journey here. She regretted abandoning the fleet at such a perilous time, but what else could be done? There was a tone of urgency in the request, a pleading on the part of the one making it. And to be called here, to the royal palace, could only mean the summons was of greatest importance.
Sounding of hurried footsteps descending a hidden staircase in the north guard tower startled the woman. Instinctively preparing for battle, crouching while eyeing the tower’s opening, she listened and waited. Footfalls echoed from the passageway and off the metal gates, confusing her ears as to the number of feet on the stairs. An instant more and she would know if the approaching feet were that of friend or foe.
Laughter erupted from the doorway. In a sudden rush, a couple holding hands, eyes fixed on each other, sprang from the blackness. Paying no heed to their surroundings, they nearly bowled the woman over. At the last instant, the man saw her and, pulling hard on the girl’s arm, twirled her around and into his.
Not having noticed the stranger in their midst, the girl flirtingly cooed, “Why Zadar, has your hunger overcome you so quickly? Do you wish to revisit the tower lounge before we return to the others?”
A handsome man with thick, dark hair, deep-set hazel eyes, bushy eyebrows, and a neatly trimmed beard pretended to clear his throat and pointed past the girl. “We…we have company.”
The girl’s eyes followed Zadar’s hand, her shining black hair dancing on the air as she spun her head around. She stared, the flirting smile still on her face and then, when she recognized the woman standing there, cried out in surprise, “Mihai, my sister! What a thrill to see you safe and well! Oh, how I’ve missed you! Come share the wine and
good times with me again!” Releasing Zadar’s hand, the girl lunged for Mihai, locking her in an iron embrace.
Mihai wheezed, “I… I’ve missed you, too, my darling Darla. Please, allow me a breath.”
Darla released Mihai, holding her at arm’s length as the two stared into each other’s eyes. Mihai pondered the wonders of her sister. ‘How beautiful she is, and still with the seeming innocence of a carefree little girl. Seeing her here, who would ever guess an evil madness lurks, hiding in her mind. She covers it well with her finery of silk and gold, makeup and twinkling eyes. But I know…I know that this child has not seen even one day of peace in her troubled life.’
A spark of hope ignited in Mihai’s own troubled heart as she watched Darla’s placid face. She lowered her head, speaking wistfully, “This place has the ability to lift the darkness from the mind. May it also do the same for me...”
Zadar stepped forward, arms spread wide. “M’lady! It is so good to see you after such a long absence!” He gently pushed Darla aside and hugged Mihai.
“Harrumph!” Darla snorted, placing her fists on her hips. “He just wants you in the tower with him, that’s all!”
Mihai stepped back in mock surprise, grasping her dagger. “If I’d known that, I’d defended myself against your advances!”
Grinning, Zadar asked suspiciously, “Just like the way you did the night before you parted company for the fleet?” Not waiting for a reply, he snapped, “If I had known M’lady was gonna come sneakin’ around the back door of this place, I would have brought some brandy to welcome her and possibly offered her an invitation to visit a spell.”
Mihai retorted, “I wasn’t sneakin’! I wanted some time to myself to clear the air in my head. Leave it to someone like you to spoil it for me. And stop calling me ‘M’lady’!”
Zadar wrinkled up his face in fake apology. “Oh, excuse me, your Lordship, but I didn’t give you that title. You did it to yourself. I’ve already heard rumors of a big change coming. I’m just getting a jump on the others, that’s all.” Sarcastically, he asked,
“What name do you want me to call you by, ‘Mihai’ or ‘Michael’?”
Mihai soured, “You know few call me by that other name. ‘Mihai’ will suit me just fine.” Sadness grew on her face. “‘Mihai’ helps me forget things I wish not to remember.” She took hold of Zadar’s hands. “Please, my dear little brother, allow me to leave certain memories in the clouds for now. They cover the things I don’t want to see.”
Zadar squeezed Mihai’s hands, grinning, “Mihai it is, then.”
Mihai’s dark feelings quickly faded and her eyes began to twinkle. “I would have been grateful if you had brought that brandy with you.”
Darla pretended to clear her throat. Getting their attention, she pouted, “So, am I just an abandoned soul now, tossed by the wayside like a discarded toy?”
Mihai laughed. “Oh yes, we could cast you aside as easily as one does a winter tempest.” She peered into Darla’s emerald-green eyes, pondering, ‘A person could become lost in those fathomless pools and never want to return.’
Letting go Zadar’s hands, she reached out and held the girl in another embrace. “Oh, my dear Darla, I have missed your company for so long!”
They stood, locked together as one, sharing inner thoughts, memories from some long-forgotten time. There were few people Mihai loved and trusted more than Darla. In
fact, she owed her very life to her. Mihai kissed Darla on her lips and then asked, “How is it we chance to meet at this time? I thought you were doing sentry duty on Stargaton.”
Darla blinked in surprise. “The summons, of course! You are the last one to get here. Zadar and I, along with the others, have been here for several days. We were beginning to think you might choose to ignore it like you have done in times past.”
Mihai denied that was so. “You know I have never ignored a summons. But there have been times when I could not possibly abandon my duties. This time is different. I could feel the urgency.”
Zadar piped in, “Well, if you’d let us know the time of your arrival, we’d come to the depot and gotten you.”
“That I don’t believe!” Mihai poked an accusing finger toward Zadar. “You?! Miss out on a sweet interlude with our most beautiful of flowers just to keep company with me? Please, don’t make me laugh.”
“That’s not so! That’s not so!” Zadar cried.
Pretending offence, Darla grumped, “What’s not so…that I’m the most beautiful of flowers? You weren’t shy about lavishing your attention on me last night in your attempts to lure me out here! Was it out of obligation you delivered your innocent sister to the tower, saying ‘Let us watch the sunrise over the mountains’? And did you keep my glass filled with wine only fearing I might become thirsty?”
Zadar was shocked. “Lure you?! As I recall, you dragged me under the first mulberry tree we passed after leaving the others. And for the wine, you treated yourself to many more than I dispensed, including mine.”
Mihai stopped the teasing. “Enough of this! You’re both incorrigible! Should all the children be as passionate, there would be no time for strife or war.” She spread her arms wide, drawing both her companions close, speaking in little more than a whisper, confiding, “I told no one I was coming. This council meeting is secret - at least it is to be for the moment. I believe my lieutenants are trustworthy, but let’s just say not all secrets remain secrets. I didn’t dare trust the enemy finding out about my absence.”
Mihai changed the subject. Looking at Zadar’s and Darla’s attire, she commented,
“It must have been some fancy gathering you two were at last night.” She was justified in the statement, as the couple was dressed in sheer, silky, ankle-length garments.
Darla’s attire was more feminine in cut, gathered at the waist, accented by a diamond-studded belt. It also had an open bodice, with golden lace sweeping down from her shoulders and around her exposed breasts which refused to be hidden under her knee-length cape of woven silk, gold and silver. A pair of white, laced sandals finished the woman’s apparel. Her braided locks, although disheveled, were festooned with rings of diamond-studded gold. With her dangly ear-fobs, three bejeweled gold necklaces and jingling anklets, she was quite an alluring sight.
Zadar’s garment was more like a long robe and his ornaments simple, consisting of a finely braided gold chain necklace and a black onyx ring on his right hand. He also sported a finely crafted timepiece on his waist-belt, while a jade brooch fastened the two ends of his long, flowing cape together.
Zadar explained the party had been a reunion of sorts. Some close acquaintances recently returned from a long sojourn in the Outer Ranges were celebrating the successes of their expedition. Mihai then asked if the party was last evening, why were they still dressed in such garb so late the following morning?
Zadar leaned close, nuzzling against Mihai in a sensual embrace, and whispered romantically, “Because they make me feel sexy...”
Mihai pushed him away and laughed. “Feel sexy?! Zadar, you have never felt anything but sexy! From the day of your coming of age, you have chased the ewe. Your first lover surrendered you up to her sisters before your days with her were to end, worn out and in need of rest. She said of you, ‘But for necessity of food and drink, we would have grown to the bed!’”
Zadar looked abashed, then grinned. “That aside, these clothes can still make you feel...well...special . ” He put his arm around Mihai. “The council isn’t going to assemble until evening. Do you want to come with us to the Winter Gardens? That’s where we are to join up with the others. I’m sure we could find some brandy there...”
Merriment disappeared from Mihai’s face. “It would be my greatest pleasure, but I must decline.” She took Zadar’s hand. “I have some business to conclude this morning, having a need to change out of this stodgy uniform and freshen up first. May I walk with you to the palace? We can talk along the way.”
Darla wrapped her hands around Mihai’s arm while Zadar did the same with her other. Darla made her little girl face, grinning in satisfaction. “How sweet a walk it will be, too.”
Mihai thanked them both for their kindness and love then glanced over at Darla’s dress and asked, “I know it’s such short notice, but can you manage to find me some clothes like yours for my morning’s business? It would make me feel…feel like a woman again.”
Darla giggled with pleasure, “For you, my sister, anything, anything at all.”
Mihai lingered with her companions until they reached the Winter Gardens, located at the convergence of four wide concourses. The gardens were a grand expanse of exotic flowers, shrubs and trees crisscrossed by dozens of walking trails. A bubbling stream with its own waterfall completed the scene. Of course, there were many hidden, secluded corners where benches and tables had been conveniently placed for the wanderer’s benefit.
Indulging herself in the fresh, mist-filled air, Mihai sucked in a long, deep breath and exclaimed, “It’s always early summer here, like the after-breath of a late day shower.”
Looking up at the high, domed ceiling, watching the cool white of day shimmer through the translucent stone, she happily sighed, “In this place, Time forgets itself. We are standing below the very center of Palace City, the North Concourse running directly under the Old Palace that was constructed upon a butte of solid diorite.”
Darla and Zadar shot knowing glances at each other. Here it came, another ‘you’re so young, you won’t know this’.
Mihai’s eyes scanned their surroundings as she explained, “It is this part of Palace City that was said to have existed long before our kind were born. The remainder of the city, including the Winter Gardens and long concourses with their hundreds of eateries, cafes, pubs and shops, was designed and built by the children of the First Age, countless millennia before my birth. How wel…”
Shouts echoed across the nearly empty building. Zadar waved his arm, calling back to the new arrivals. He excused himself and hurried away. Darla promised to find Mihai a sensual outfit and offered to walk her to the tramwaiter.
Mihai thanked her. Glancing in different directions, she said with a shudder, “It’s such a long time since I’ve been here. Where are all the people?”
“Pay no mind to it, Sister.” Darla casually replied, taking Mihai’s hand. “This is still early morning, by business standards, anyway. Things will wake up around here by the lunch hour and the dinner crowd will be pretty good. It’s always quiet this time of day, remember?”
Mihai nodded. She remembered all right! Long before Darla was born, long before the Rebellion tore her people apart, long before all the wars, when she was a youngster still in her teens, this place was off-handedly called, ‘the world that never sleeps’. There was always a crowd here.
Mihai thought back to those long millennia passed. She could see the concourses packed with partiers and merrymakers, elbow to elbow, making their way from one festive event to another. There were the pools, spas, theaters, and gymnasiums that entertained the body and the mind. If food was to your liking, you could lose yourself in the hundreds of eateries, serving the palate anything from frozen chocolate crêpe to spicy, baked halibut smothered in clam sauce and onions.
And one must not forget the Palace Coliseum! Sometime during the First Age, architects hollowed out a cavern in the butte directly under the Old Palace. Every technical innovation of that age was built into its design and construction, enabling artists to recreate their wildest imaginings in three dimensional sights and sounds for audiences of over two hundred thousand. The Coliseum’s doors closed many centuries ago, its vaulted chambers now filled with silent darkness.
The intoxicating excitement of that day was gone. This day, Mihai only heard the quiet echo of a few footsteps on the polished marble floors mixing with the lonely splashing of the garden’s waterfall. She sadly smiled. “Yes, my dear one, I remember...”
Darla walked with Mihai down the South Concourse until they came to the tramwaiter. Soon there was heard the whirring of powerful gyro-motors, announcing the machine’s rapid approach. The whirring stopped, followed by a click! and a hum.
Double doors slid open, revealing the coach’s opulent interior.
A woman stepped out offering salutation, hurrying off, leaving the two alone. Mihai glanced into the empty car. “When the world was innocent, these things were always filled. It would be nothing to see several dozen riders queued along this wall waiting for the next tramwaiter, and that was at this same time of day.”
Darla said nothing. She believed her older sister, but could not comprehend such numbers. Her memories of large crowds had been watching great armies on the march or slaughtering one another on the battlefield.
Mihai had seen that look on Darla’s face before. She smiled and squeezed her sister’s hand. “The hour is coming, or so I’ve been told, that another great celebration is to take place here. It has even been said that the Palace Coliseum’s doors shall again be spread open. Then you will see for yourself what a wonderful world this place really is.”
Darla’s eyes filled with wonder and then question. “I have heard others speak of this
‘marriage of the lamb’. Are you revealing secrets to me about mysteries hidden or am I being the fool, wishing for shadows and dreams?”
Shaking her head, Mihai answered, “You are no fool. Trust me, you are no fool. If it has been promised to us then it will happen, but when and how, I don’t yet know. My dear one, wishing for shadows and dreams is not a bad thing. At times it may be all we
have to hold on to. As for the celebration that I speak of, it is something far grander than any of which you have been informed. It is part of the greatest mystery of all.”
“What is it, my lovely one? If you know what it is, please tell your sister.” Darla was nearly dancing with excitement.
Mihai tipped her head back in laughter. “You already know almost as much as I.
For now, we must both place it in our shadows and dreams, trusting in the One who has promised it.”
Stepping through the door and into the tramwaiter, Mihai turned and asked, “You will find me a lovely dress? I will have need of it soon.”
Darla assured her sister that she would deliver it shortly, said goodbye and started for her waiting company.
The doors closed and the droning whir started. Mihai sat down on one of the ornate, overstuffed chairs as the machine whisked her away, relaxing to pleasant music as the tramwaiter snaked its way along hidden passageways toward her destination. Built by artisans of the First Age to complement the growing expanse of Palace City, the coach line traversed its length and breadth, except for the Old Palace.
In short order, the woman found herself standing in an open courtyard, untended and overgrown with summer greenery. A tiny apartment just across the way was her home during the early years of her youth. She inhaled the pleasant wisp of memories passed.
This place was the ‘keeper of her innocence’, from its latticed balconies to its cool, shadowed walkways…the ‘protector of her heart and soul’. It was for that very reason she returned to this childhood residence to forget for a moment the dark days of despair and the evil that almost destroyed her.
The sun was still blocked entry by surrounding buildings as Mihai rambled across the deserted courtyard. There was something special about this shadow-world full of life but still shaded in morning’s mysteries. Reaching the apartment door, she paused to watch ghosts of happier times dancing on the multi-colored flagstone. She lingered to capture the fleeting vision lest her mind might forget it completely.
A robin’s song broke Mihai’s dreamy spell. She sighed, turning back to the door, opening it. Glancing over her shoulder, she wistfully hoped to catch another glimpse of those bygone days, but the sun peeked over the roofline, flooding the courtyard with its golden splendor, chasing away any hint of the past. Mihai frowned, slipped inside, silently closing the door.
True to her promise, Darla delivered a splendid-looking gown to her sister. Mihai grinned with delight, striking different poses for the mirror. Each movement caused the sky-blue, silky cloth to dance this way and that. She stopped in a pose, standing at an angle, hands gracefully outstretched as she curtsied. “Hello, my Lord PalaHar. It is such a pleasure to have your acquaintance this evening.” She laughed and turned, repeating her action. “Well, well, my Lord Ardon, does our wise counselor approve of my attire?”
Pretending she was arrived at the coming council meeting, Mihai offered her gracious salutations to several others she expected to meet there. The tingling sensation of the fabric on her skin and the way it floated up like a billowing cloud as she turned made the woman laugh. As her feeling of sensuality grew, she began to slowly dance to a tune in her head.
A young, flirting maiden suddenly appeared in the mirror. “Why certainly you may not kiss me, you cad! When my lover hears of this, he will thrash you with his scolding tongue!” She bowed again. “Yes! Yes, the dinner has been so fine. Never have I tasted truffles prepared so splendidly.”
Closing her eyes, the girl flung her arms out and head back as she gracefully twirled on one foot. She did not see the mesmerizing beauty in the mirror or the feminine charms she revealed. Firm, toned muscles accented by the woman’s full, round features and milky-white skin enhanced her appeal. Her breasts bounced in rhythm with her moves as her buttocks rippled in tight little waves as she shifted her weight from one long, sinewy leg to the other. What a sight! Oh, what a sight!
Spinning around one final time, Mihai stopped and, with a lissome move, bowed before the admiring audience. She peered into the mirror, examining the face staring back. Most pronounced were the piercing blue eyes accented by golden eyebrows crowning a strong forehead. The face was misleading for, at first glance, one could see the semblance of a child not yet out of her teens. A closer look revealed a sharpness like hewn stone weathered by the ages.
High cheekbones, a long, straight-bridged nose and a determined jaw gave Mihai the hardened, proud appearance of a noble leader, while her full-bodied, rose-colored lips and compassionate countenance suggested a guileless maiden. Whichever way a person chose to view her, there was no denying the breathtakingly handsome beauty this woman possessed.
Satisfied, Mihai stood upright and did a half turn, striking another pose. Laughing, she snapped her head around to observe her stance, making her golden tresses float high in the air, revealing hidden secrets. Laughter died from her lips when what she saw resurrected painful memories.
Slowly, she reached behind her back to pull the golden tresses aside for another look.
A jagged scar started at the base of her neck and trailed to the right, across the shoulder blade and down her rib cage. And what had she accomplished from the near fatal experience? Nothing! Her kidnapped sister was still not free, and now her traitorous brother was making a ‘big diplomatic to-do’ about it.
The Stasis Pirates’ ion trail had been easy to follow…too easy, now that Mihai thought about it. She followed it along the Outer Corridor, past the Trizentine and into the Frontier. Nearing hostile territory, she disembarked from the battle cruiser in her fighter, telling its captain to remain there on patrol. The fighter stealthily passed the Frontier, following the pirates’ trail far into forbidden territory.
The Stasis had made directly for ZemiaKone, meaning ‘Lost Rabbit’, the enemy’s westernmost territory bordering on the Frontier. It was believed to be little more than an outpost - at least that is what was agreed upon at the armistice. As Mihai drifted toward its surface, dodging radar and sonic detection, she felt there was way too much chatter on the communication channels to be coming from a few lonely outposts.
Her ship settled down in a desert canyon a few miles from where the fighter’s instruments indicated the pirates landed. Following the gullies and ravines, she gingerly made her way in the direction of a distant space terminal. About a mile away, she found a narrow draw, leading down to the plain far below. Soon the rocky walls stretched high above her head.
A sudden chill raced up the woman’s spine. Something was wrong. Instinctively, she twisted away from some unknown assailant. Mihai’s prescience saved her from death, but not from injury. A plunging, razor-sharp claw from a guard droid caught her as she spun around, driving her toward the ground. She could feel its icy-cold blade tearing through the flight suit and into her flesh. Then came a sickening sound of cracking bones and snapping tendons as the beast ripped a deep gash down across her back, slamming her face down into the dirt.
Mihai rolled away to her left in a choking cloud of dust just in time to escape a second blow, the blade making a swooshing noise as it passed her face. Still tumbling, she triggered her lanner holstered on her left hip. There was no time to pull the weapon free. The raised arms of the droid were already dropping for the final thrust that would skewer her through.
In one violent kick, Mihai managed to roll right, reefing the gun barrel toward the metallic monster. She pulled the trigger, energy exploding from the muzzle, shredding the holster and sending a searing wall of fire down along the length of her thigh into her attacker. After blasting a hole in the droid’s armor, she quickly pulled the gun from its holster and fired a second charge into its open rupture. The infernal machine belched acrid smoke and crashed into the dirt.
Mihai’s head spun in pain, but there was no time to take account of the injury. The guard droid undoubtedly sent a signal to the outpost. Soon the place would be swarming with others, and not droids this time.
She staggered to her feet, struggling to stand, fighting a numbing ache in her back, her right arm hanging limp and in pain. She could feel warm, sticky blood oozing down her back, and there were already large red stains in the dirt. Taking a step, the woman cried out in agony. She glanced down to see pieces of her flight-suit flaking away from her left leg, leaving gaping holes in the silver material. The air stunk with the smell of charred flesh. Fighting back a dizzying sickness trying to overtake her, she shook her head. ‘They’ll know who’s been here when the blood’s tested. No time to worry about that now.’ She needed to get away.
Whirring of servos alerted Mihai to the fact there was more than one guard droid.
She didn’t even have the strength to lift her head and look in the monster’s direction.
There was nothing to do now but wait to die. Mihai remembered little else. The sound of metal smashing into metal filled her ears, and then silence - no servos, nothing.
Mihai dreamed she was falling only to be caught up in strong arms and carried aloft on wings, or so it felt. After an eternity of silent flight, the woman came to her fighter, floated through the open cockpit and into the seat. Just before the canopy snapped shut, a voice fell on her ears, “Be well, my Lord.”
The rest was just a painful blur in Mihai’s mind. When she woke in the stillness of a darkened room, she was looking into the distraught face of a woman with smoky-grey eyes and platinum-colored hair.
“Ga… my G…” Gentle fingers rested on Mihai’s lips.
“You’re safe, my darling. Your soul has returned to us once more.” The gentle voice continued to sing little songs of love in Mihai’s ears.
“When the summer grass turns to brown and the leaves die from the tree, I shall call to you, my love, crying, ‘Come back, come back to me’.
The river ever flows and the glade will never tell The depth of care our hearts do share and the pain of a fallen dove.”
For some time, Mihai drifted in and out of strange and bewildering dreams. When she finally waked enough to fully comprehend her surroundings, the woman crooning the sweet tunes frowned and scolded, “It should be a blessing remembered and thankful you should be that the Grave-maker happened to cross your path. If not for her, you would be hanging from a pike, drying in the breeze!
The woman shook her finger in Mihai’s face. “If you ever attempt another stunt like that again, you may find me less forgiving than that droid!” She quickly turned away and left the room.
Mihai was saddened to think her actions hurt the woman so. For six thousand years, he had acted like a mother to her, indeed, a mother to thousands, many who never returned from such adventures. And only once had she allowed anyone see her weep.
Other than a nuisance pain when moving her arm, the scar was the only evidence of the droid’s attack, but the lanner blast was different. Skin was now covering the burns that had eaten into her leg muscles, but the rejuvenating nerves itched and ached. She was well aware the pain would exist long after the red blotches disappeared. Even with the use of healing machines, nerves took a long time to heal.
Mihai considered herself very fortunate. The weapon she carried that day - her design - was an energy gun. It activated a chemical compound ignited by an electrical discharge passing across the gun’s chamber, decomposing a portion of a stabilizing agent suspending the very unstable mendelevium. The greater the voltage across the pellet, the faster the breakdown of the stabilizing agent, thus the greater the energy delivered to the target. The power released could easily be controlled by adjusting the voltage capacitor.
This lanner had a thumb lever for quick adjustment, giving its user the choice of stunning someone with a heat blast to instantly dissolving flesh from the bone.
Mihai shuddered. Had her leg not been bent at the knee and received a more direct blast, surgeons would have been forced to amputate her lifeless leg. To regrow the bone, tendons, nerves and flesh could take years, even with healing machines.
She sadly walked from the mirror, the little girl having been chased away by the gloomy memories, and sat on the edge of her bed, staring down at her hands. The woman became introspective, searching inside herself for answers to questions unasked…
unasked out of fear… fear of what might be revealed. The time was now passed for such self-indulgence, for remaining in the world of pleasant indecision. Choices had to be made. To keep her sanity, changes were necessary.
She had been field marshal for too long. For over a thousand years, she ruled the Army as ‘lord dictator’. Her decisions were final. The greater the slaughter, the more willing the people were to follow her. They had obeyed her commands without hesitation…never once a complaint. The long war never really ended. The armistices only gave pause to it, allowing the enemy time to rebuild his forces. And what of the last war, the Great War? What had it accomplished?
Stargaton…twenty thousand lost in one hour…friends and lovers. And what had they achieved? A miserable little rock floating in a forgotten part of the galaxy!
Memphis…two corps destroyed because she had calculated the enemy incorrectly.
Through four years of bloody conflict, she had sentenced over three million of her people
to pour out their blood for this holy war. How much closer to the end were they now?
Had the price been worth it?
Those battles were over fifty years ago and the dying was still going on. Oh yes, there was an armistice, but the enemy still found excuse for the occasional bloodletting.
How much longer would death keep devouring those she loved so much? How many more would be butchered because she thought it necessary? Mihai closed her eyes and shook her head in despair.
What else could have been done? They followed her because she was their leader.
Her people would have fought without one. At least they didn’t die for her or some imagined reward. Everyone was aware of what was at stake. Billions of innocent lives depended upon their success. The destiny of generations gone, present and even those coming hinged upon the outcome of events.
But had the people not already paid the ultimate price? Was death really the supreme sacrifice? She thought not. The Age of Innocence was gone for them, destroyed forever on the fields of blood and betrayal. It mattered little the outcome. Her people would never be able to completely forget the death and suffering. ‘Like a maiden violated by her guardian and protector…’ Mihai nodded her head, ‘except he has raped both flesh and spirit.’
Mihai no longer feared her own death. In fact, there were times when death appealed, ending the guilt plaguing her mind. She could manage the daylight hours, but…but in the quiet of the night when the rest of the world slept, accusing voices of all the slain would sing out in her head, their scolding faces passing in visions before her eyes. No matter how she made excuse or sought absolution, she could still see their blood dripping off her hands.
Mihai’s thoughts conjured up visions creeping from dark corners of her mind into this waking moment. There suddenly appeared heaps of bodies, torn and mangled. In horror, she watched while her fingers went probing open wounds, seeking bloody flesh to satisfy an insatiable hunger. While Mihai’s stomach churned in sickness, her lips smacked with anticipation, squealing, “Is this all there is?! Are these tiny morsels all you have delivered?! How are we to survive on such paltry rations?! We are hungry! We are hungry! ”
Mihai shook her head violently to drive the ugly dream away. With many curses and outcries, the demon slowly crawled back to its hiding place, threatening a return. It would come again. It had promised. She dropped her head in dismay. How much longer could this continue on before the mist of insanity would completely envelop her? Did she have a year…a day…an hour?
A bitter chill swept the room raising an army of goose bumps marching across Mihai’s sweaty skin. She involuntarily shivered, more from the encounter with her monster within than from the cold. There was no more wondering which of Destiny’s roads she was to take. One and only one path lay open. It was no longer a matter of choice. The time had come for her to speak of this while a small piece of innocence still resided within her heart, while she still retained mastery of her own mind.
It was time to leave. No longer did this room, this little world of her youth, have the power to drive away the evil. She was the evil. It was a part of her living being. Until it was driven away or destroyed, it would be part of her. There was no longer any need to
hide from it. No place could protect her. Mihai gritted her teeth. She was determined to become whatever she must in order to defeat this enemy.
Standing, Mihai reached for her officer’s cape and cloaked the beauty of the dress.
She faced the door, willing to endure any storm that might come. Lifting her head high and throwing her shoulders back, the woman marched into the courtyard. No longer was she going to seek shelter from her fate. What tomorrow would bring, what battles there were to confront, no matter the results, they were going to be faced head on!
* * *
Fearing a reuniting of friends if she returned to the Winter Gardens, a direct route to the Old Palace, Mihai rode the tramwaiter to a more distant exit to the north and east of her destination. From there it was a mile’s walk to the Eastern Portal, the grand public entrance to the Old Palace better known as the ‘Upper Palace’.
The path traversed a labyrinth of narrow streets and broadways snaking through the artfully created mountains of tall, ornate buildings. Constructed during the Second Age, this new palace city, better known as the ‘Lower Palace’, eclipsed the Upper Palace from view except for its central, domed spire and the four guard towers at the corners of upper battlements. Few were the feet on the street this morning, the echo of Mihai’s footsteps often the only sound to be heard.
At the end of her walk through the city’s streets, Mihai entered a narrow, deep, tapering recess in the face of a high cliff. At a juncture where the two walls converged, she arrived at the Majestic - a wide, winding staircase inlaid into the diorite butte, crisscrossing its way up hundreds of feet to the palace proper. Each flight of hewn stairs ended in an immense grotto that spread out into a beautiful, enclosed balcony carved into the mountain itself. Giant windows had been cut from the outer wall, providing a breathtaking view for a pilgrim journeying to the palace.
Said to have been built by the Ones Who Came Before as a gift to the children of the First Age, these stairs, like the rest of the Upper Palace, never needed repair nor did they weather with the passage of time. The Ancients, many of the oldest children of the First Age, called this place ‘the Home of the Living Stones’.
A person needed to see this marvel of engineering to grasp the grandeur and beauty of the ‘Road to Heaven’, as it was often called. There were no visible construction marks, added building blocks or reinforcements, just one solid piece of finely polished obsidian, carved with intricate designs.
(Author’s note: I believe it worthy to mention here that the Upper Palace was named
‘Heaven’ by the oldest of the Ancients who first sojourned into the unknown beyond the outer walls. Out there, in the ‘Eres’, translated ‘Earth’ in our tongue, travelers had to fend for themselves or carry supplies enough for their journeys. The paved highway beginning at the east wall and leading west toward what would later be called the
‘Majestic’, became known as the ‘road to Samayim’, translated ‘Heaven’ or ‘Heights’ in our tongue.
Both words, Eres and Samayim, are said to be phonetic pronunciations from the language of the Ones Who Came Before, as the oldest of the Ancients recalled from hearing the words spoken. Eres literally means ‘to go away from’ as in ‘going away
from what is known’. Samayim has the understanding of ‘becoming satisfied’ as in ‘filled up with every good pleasure’.
So it was, when the first children of the First Age ventured into the wilderness, they spoke of going into the Eres. After a long and exhausting journey, often filled with sacrifice and privations, the Eastern Gate where the paved highway began meant they were close to the luxuries of home. Being on the road to Heaven symbolized being near one’s reward for having succeeded in accomplishing the return journey. Now the riches of home were no longer a dream or hope but a reality.
As the children reached further into the wilderness, eventually leaving EdenEsonbar, the home planet, they carried the name ‘Eres’ with them to symbolize their going into the unknown. When the Second Realm or Second Universe was revealed to them as a place they would one day go, the name ‘Eres’ was given to it. Later, the sons of men on Earth were given that name for their home planet and, by the time of the Great Flood, were calling the land of the children’s dwelling place ‘Heaven’.)
Mihai remembered little more about this morning’s journey up the Majestic than the day so long ago when her companions carried her up these same steps. Those six millennia passed had not changed the sights, but she believed they would never impress her like they once did. Now these stairs were merely a conveyance used on her road to Destiny, a means to an end. So little remained of the joy this world once basked in.
About one hundred fifty cubits above the Majestic’s threshold, the stairs made a sharp turn, tunneling into the butte as it rose toward the Upper Palace. It finally opened into a towering, vaulted chamber called ‘Raven’s End’. The chamber, like the Majestic, was built of polished obsidian, its finely chiseled pillars reaching thirty cubits to the shimmering-black ceiling. Openings in the east wall allowed observers a panoramic view of the Lower Palace from twenty stories above the courtyard far below.
The sound of surging blood filled Mihai’s ears as she staggered up the last set of stairs before reaching the chamber, her lungs aching, her heart pounding against her chest. Three times she had stopped on her ascent, a climb often jogged in her more carefree days. Wheezing, she stumbled forward, seeking a bench near one of the pillars.
Sitting, Mihai rested her head in her hands. A smell of hot, sticky sweat filled her nostrils, making her stomach churn even worse than her headache had managed to do.
She needed to take her mind off her personal concerns. ‘Think girl, think!’
Looking around the empty expanse, she began to ponder its name. “Raven’s End?
Raven’s End? Oh, yes! Now I remember. It was told me that when the world was new, when the Ancients were still little more than children, sojourners beyond the distant walls would take birds along with them to send messages back to the palace.”
She stared at the windows and the hundreds of tiny nooks around them.
“Pigeonholes! That’s what they are. They say that at one time this chamber harbored thousands of birds of all kinds.”
Mihai could see and hear the excitement of that time, multitudes of birds cooing and crying while others swooped to and fro through the air. What a sight it must have been!
Gentle footfall echoing across the empty expanse interrupted Mihai’s recollections of this place. She squinted, peering into the shadows, muttering to herself, “Now who should be wandering out here at this time of day?”
Raven’s End was cavernous and dark, its only light during the day coming from the windows and open exits. The Majestic’s final staircase spiraled its way up the last sixty cubits to the Upper Palace’s outer courtyard from the far end of the vaulted chamber, it offering little light for Mihai to observe who was coming.
“Mihai! What a wonderful surprise! I had no idea I would be seeing you before tonight.” A woman of slight stature, medium build and delightful appearance materialized from the shadows, hurrying over and taking Mihai’s hands, leaning down, giving her a gentle kiss.
Mihai grinned, asking, “Trisha?!” Then glancing at the woman’s light blue uniform, puzzled aloud, “General Trisha?! I thought you were commanding Hunter’s Brigade on Pilneser. What brings you here, I mean, so far away from your duties?”
Still gripping Mihai’s hands, Trisha smiled. “Oh, my Lord, I have been a busy, busy person. I was called away from my duties on Pilneser some months ago, being given a temporary assignment in the Second Realm. Then, just three weeks ago, I was summoned to Palace City. Been here ever since, waiting for tonight’s council…”
Mihai puzzled. “Who ordered you away from your post? I saw no request come across my desk.”
Trisha’s answer was upbeat and cheerful but revealed little as did her facial expressions. Her eyes, though, could not lie, twinkling in a way a child’s does when hiding a secret. “My Lord, the day is young and many a breeze must blow before its end.
Rest assured, the powers that brought me here have also delivered my lord to this same destination. The journey is long and may be dark, but the wind ever blows us home.”
Mihai attempted to pry more information from Trisha but the woman said nothing, which was very much part of her nature. If she chose to speak, all well and good, but no known force existed that could make her confess a word if that was her disposition.
Mihai surrendered to what little she had been told, marveling at the woman’s stolid constitution, finally shaking her head. “You’re hopeless. Just plain hopeless.”
“Thank you!” Trisha replied, grinning. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Better to look like a fool, I say, than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.”
Mihai returned a toothy smile, nodding. “There’s a lot to you, General. Your youth confuses and intrigues me. I see eyes filled with wonder and excitement, but you speak with the wisdom of our counselors. The powers that delivered you to my world are wise and discerning.” Her statement stirred memories of this woman in her mind.
Trisha was not a child of this realm. She had grown up during an age of violence, when old ways and beliefs were being challenged and new religions were forcing themselves into the lives of people around her. She had refused to compromise her values and beliefs, making the woman an outcast among her people. But that was all gone now. By the time she awoke from the Field of the Minds, her memories were all that remained of the world of that day.
Mihai marveled at this woman’s strength and lasting integrity when she suddenly recalled being told about her loyal perseverance during those long-ago years. Trisha had suffered much back then, from the death of children to abandonment by her husband and so much more. Those experiences had hardened her. Her years here had not removed that hardness. How could it? Mere months after her arrival found Trisha at CoblinPort, helping in its defense against Stasis Pirates.
Standing and gripping Trisha’s upper arms, Mihai commented, “The stormwinds have swept your world all too often. Many people would have become bitter over their fate had they suffered such grief. How is it that you still carry such love and tenderness within you as I have many times seen displayed? You are always doing for others.”
Little changed in Trisha’s expression as she softly replied, “My Lord, I am but a servant girl. You have lived from before the founding of my world. I have seen fewer than eighty summers, all filled with grief and despair. I think a starving man appreciates a dry crust of bread more than a king with a banquet of exotic dainties.” She shook her head. “I do not have pity for my life. Hours of grief have taught me to cherish moments of pleasure. My heart reaches out to your kind for the children of this world have not yet learned to find delight in one lonely star on a dark, stormy night. Your kind cannot yet see that these times of distress will become a treasure of great worth. In future days, you will pity children born in times of peace.”
Trisha lowered her head, speaking as if to the floor. “I am but a babe newly birthed, surrounded by souls older than the oceans, yet I feel as ancient as the distant mountains.”
Staring into Mihai’s eyes, she quietly pleaded, “Forgive me, my Lord, for I do what must be done. I have little more choice in the matter than a worm growing into a winter moth.
What must come shall come.”
“What are you talking about?!” Mihai was disturbed over Trisha’s riddling comment. This woman did not speak idly. Few who knew her dared question her insight, which was equal to most and better than many, even some of the Ancients.
Sadness grew in Trisha’s eyes as she took Mihai’s hand. “You have not climbed Heaven’s stairs for no reason, my Lord. There are those who see beyond your secrets who have also ascended them with you this morning. Listen, if you can, to their voices.
Remember, please, within the walls of this fortress no harm can come to you…” Her voice became grave, “unless you permit it.” She added nothing more.
Pulling on Mihai’s hand, Trisha offered to walk with her. “Come, my Lord, allow me the honor to accompany you for a little while. Ysuah’s Ladder is best appreciated when a person walks it with a companion. I have heard it said that those who climb this stairway together share a vision as they walk. Will you permit me the pleasure of seeing if it is so?”
If a vision occurred as they climbed the stairs, neither woman could tell for a certainty, but Mihai spoke of a deep sense of peace she felt and that her gloom dropped away as they rose toward the courtyard. She thanked Trisha for her company. “If there truly is a vision’s song in those stones, I shall save it for debate at a later time, but I do believe your presence has lifted my spirits. Thank you for accompanying me here.”
Trisha did a polite bow while lifting Mihai’s hand and softly kissing it. She smiled sadly. “My Lady of the Court and lord of this land, the pleasure has been mine. Should you ask for my companionship to the edge of eternity, my heart would cry out with gladness. May we always remember this passing morning as one recalls the joy of first love.”
There was no doubt in Mihai’s mind that Trisha was and had been speaking in cryptic riddles. Her lilting words were beautiful, but their hidden message was one of pleading, singing out in her heart:
“Forgive, please, the pain I bring.
Remember my love and praise that I sing.
The hour soon comes when the night I shall bring.
Remember, please, this love song I sing.”
This woman hinted about things to come. Mihai believed the riddles came, not because Trisha wanted to hide things from her, but that the Maker of Riddles was busy about, doing things. Smiling, she nodded, “Your feet did not find me by chance. I detect the dabbling of One whose powers I do not understand. May I remember the wisdom hidden in your words. Thank you for being here to assist me.”
Again Trisha bowed. “May gentle winds deliver you to safe harbor. I will take my leave now, my Lord.” She looked around, observing, “A leisurely stroll through such beauty is medicine for the heart.” The two kissed softly on the lips after which Trisha turned and hurried back down the stairs, disappearing into the shadows.
Mihai listened to the tap of Trisha’s feet echoing off the obsidian walls until the sounds drifted away. She drew in an intoxicating breath of the fresh morning air and stepped from the landing onto the rainbow-agate flagstone of the Palace’s terrace. Even though the shade of the tall eastern buildings still cast their shadow here, there was no mistaking the elegant design and exquisite beauty of this place. And this was only what the children called the ‘Outer Courtyard’.
As Mihai soaked in her surroundings of colossal jasper-marble walls and columns with finely engraved pictures and runes inlaid with precious metals and jewels, her thoughts returned to the days when she was a little girl, running naked over these very stones.
Mihai blinked in surprise, suddenly finding herself staring through the eyes of a wondering maiden as a joyous world of long ago rose in greeting. There she stood, the carefree child, alone in a jungle of thousands of happy, partying adults reveling in merriment and celebration.
This way and that she ran, poking her face into this group of merry-makers and another. Often she would be scooped up by some burly giant who might toss her high above his head or wrap his arms around her and rub his curly beard on her naked belly.
She’d squeal in laughter and cry to be let down as she scampered to assault another group lost in noisy conversation, hoping for more of the same.
Round and round the terrace the child would run, halting at the base of each corner battlement, planning her next assault. She would crouch behind the tower and, pressing her body against its blue marble surface, cautiously peek out in search of coming victims of her attacks. Spying her next unsuspecting foe, she’d charge. One after another, they fell before her aggressive intrusions until she reached the far tower, a furlong’s distance away. There she would repeat her offensive, first spying out the land in search of other hapless targets.
Off she’d go, popping under the cool of the slate-roofed breezeways and then into the open, under the bright blue sky. The ruckus and cries her intrusions created made the girl giggle with delight. After covering that section of terrace, she would begin anew.
Round and round the child would go until, tired and satisfied, she would curl up in some giant’s arms and drift off to sleep.
Mihai blinked. The vision was gone yet the silent grandeur of this place was still unchanged. Indeed, all was still the same as it had been those many days before, all
except…except for the people, always crowds of people. Before the darkness of the Third Age, the Upper Palace was the center of the universe for socialites. There was always something going on. Winter, summer, day or night, this was the place to be.
As a young woman, newly come of age, Mihai remembered one of the Ancients, PalaHar, commenting, “My dear one, should you stand near these stairs long enough, every soul in the universe will pass your way.”
Mihai waxed melancholy, smiling sadly. She wondered if PalaHar might be at the evening’s council. After all, he was one of the great counselors, ranked among the twelve older men. It would be so good to see him again, considering the many years since their last meeting. The woman turned to take a fleeting glance back toward Ysuah’s Ladder, half expecting to see PalaHar’s shadow dancing up its steps. But, no, only the echo of memories passed greeted her.
Glancing up at Gradian’s Laqah‘Et, Mihai sighed. She had hurried to get here, not wishing to be late for her appointment, only to see the hour was still early. Staring again at the giant clock, the woman pondered her own insignificance. It was said by the Ancients that a great Cherub, Gradian, built this colossus of a timepiece in honor of the first child born in this realm.
Floating high above the southern battlement, observers saw a miniature of the fourteen planets of this star system as they whirled about in their orbits. As the instrument zipped along, spinning at the rate of a day for a year in comparison to real time, the hour and minutes would magically chime in the peoples’ ears.
When Mihai was but a child, she had asked her mother why the clock was called
‘Laqah‘Et’. Bending low, her mother picked up a handful of sand from one of the many rock gardens gracing the Upper Palace, smiling, letting the sand sift through her fingers.
‘Time, my Dear, is fleeting at best, even for those with never-ending life. The word
‘Laqah‘Et’ tells us to ‘take hold of time so it is not wasted’.’ She poked Mihai’s button nose. ‘There is never enough time for a person with a purpose…even for an immortal.’
Mihai recalled her mother sweeping her arm through the air as she explained time in words a child might understand. ‘We are forever chasing the seasons… that is, unless we forget Time. Then the seasons are always chasing us. Forever we run to stay ahead or to catch up. The sun blinds our eyes at its morning’s rise, shouting at us to ‘Wake, foolish one! Do not squander the hour.’ But all too quickly the moon creeps above the hills, calling, ‘To bed! To bed! Sleep for the morn.’’
Her mother’s final words struck a chord deep within Mihai’s heart as she stared upward at the clock. ‘Time goes ever forward. Like a leopard on the chase, it will not falter or become distracted. You must remember that once you have given an act or a word to Time, it shall brutally betray you for all the ages to come. What a person speaks in secret, Time will broadcast to the universe. How will Time judge you? Only you can decide that fate.’
Sighing in disappointment, Mihai cast her gaze down, shaking her head, muttering,
“I’ve chosen the Road to Heaven to escape a duty I wish not to bear. Shall Time call me wise, or will it declare me a shirker and coward for not living up to what was expected of me?”
Mihai’s face reddened with anger and she snorted, “Time be damned! You are no friend of mine! To me, you chide, ‘Oh, foolish one, how long do you dream of your innocence? And yet, I have stolen it away and there is no returning to it. Long will you
wish for what you cannot have and your tears will mean nothing to me. Go! Be off from me, for you deserve nothing at all!’”
No wine can make merry a bitter heart, nor can lilting songs bring joy to a maiden betrayed. Also, with Mihai, no amount of splendor could lift her gloom. And in this place, constructed by legend’s Immortals, in an age before ages, splendor was bountiful.
Still shaking her head, Mihai began to wander the outer courtyard, contemplating the coming hour.
To the woman’s left rose a high battlement that separated the inner and outer courtyards. Where these walls adjoined, a slender tower inlaid with onyx and chrysolite reached hundreds of cubits into the sky. From the tops of these towers one could see over seventy leagues - as far as the giant, snow-covered peaks of the Kaissal Mountain Range.
Just below the towers’ crowns, doors opened onto causeways that connected to each of the four towers. Like spidery webs they grew from the spires’ sides, reaching ever outward until gracefully gathering their wings to a like-searching web. Mihai had only once traversed those causeways in the days of her servitude, after her coming of age. The man to whom she was given had allowed her entry there to show her his kingdom.
Mihai glanced up at the walkway high above the courtyard. She could not help but remember the grand, spectacular view as seen through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old girl.
It had been a day anxiously awaited, to be walking with the most ancient of her people, a man whose very birth began the First Age. Try as she might to ignore that day of innocence now so long ago, her master’s tales of the palace’s history echoed in the woman’s mind. How well she remembered the things he told her.
Standing proud and majestic, Chrusion began by waving his arm to and fro as he revealed history’s past. ‘This is the oldest of all known structures in our universe. The Cherubs, themselves, revealed to me the hour of its very creation. All alone upon this butte it sat, with only the sound of a dry, lifeless wind to keep it company.’
Chrusion stared down beyond Lower Palace City and out toward the distant wall that enclosed the district. ‘Eventually, for many leagues in every direction, the hills were flattened, preparing for the construction of the impressive marbled wall.’ He paused to reflect. ‘When I was a child, there existed six other enclosures beyond the wall similar in design but smaller in stature. These were later removed when I felt need to have more farmland for my growing brotherhood.’
Sweeping his hand high above his head, Mihai’s mentor went on. ‘When finished with the wall, the Cherubs covered the entire district with a colossal dome that could become as transparent as clear crystal or as opaque as the black obsidian inlays in the courtyard towers. Inside the confines of this secluded world, monumental experiments were carried on in which every concept of life form was toyed with. From the tiniest of ants to the largest of sea monsters, all first saw life here.’
Chrusion drew Mihai close and began tenderly caressing her body, exciting new and still strange emotions within the child. He kissed her on the forehead, patting her long golden locks like one does a handsome dog. When he tired, he again took up his account.
‘Ocean-like waves once crashed upon what we now call the ‘Outer Courtyard’ and, after the waters dried up, arid deserts took over the lands between the palace and the walls.
Yes, my mint of spicy delight, from jungles to swamps, to deserts and forests, even to the tundra of the frozen northlands, it has been told me by the Cherubs that all such things existed here first.’
Long did Chrusion stand there, telling Mihai tales of ages passed. As they walked along what he called his ‘crown’, the man went on about his many deeds, from first exploring the then wild lands beyond the wall to the days he and his brothers first took to flight beyond the home planet, EdenEsonbar.
Mihai well remembered the man’s sensuous kisses as they hid in the shadows of the southwest tower. Just when her passions were crying out for love, a voice fell upon the child’s ears, calling for Chrusion. Anna innocently stepped from the landing, seeking an audience concerning a very important matter. She was an Ancient, ‘Consort Divine’ and
‘Maiden of Song’ at the festivals.
Chrusion went to her, he and Anna spending several minutes in quiet conversation, it concluding with Chrusion excusing himself and leaving Mihai to find her own way down through the tower to the courtyard below. It would be many lonely nights before her owner would find time for escape so that her desires might become satisfied.
Mihai snorted in disgust as she drove away those memories by concentrating on the wonders of the Outer Courtyard itself. It was a place she usually found both peculiarly strange as well as fascinating. The walkway was some forty long cubits in width, filled with a scattering of rock gardens, ornamental pools, and raised terraces. Their very lack of symmetry betrayed them as an afterthought, suggesting a more utilitarian purpose in the Outer Courtyard’s design.
In a dark and cruel world, it becomes such a strong desire to return to more pleasant days. For Mihai, her childhood hours were enjoyable. It was so easy for her to escape these current times and wander yesterday’s paths. Mihai closed her eyes, trying to remember this place when she was still a maiden.
Soon her mind heard the soft pat of bare feet on the cool stones. They were those of Terey, one of her mentors. As the two walked together, Terey took Mihai’s hand and, pointing with her other, directed the girl’s attention toward some of the courtyard’s wonders. She went on to tell Mihai, ‘When I was a little girl, this was not a safe place for a child to play. Giant machines in various states of disrepair littered what is now the courtyard, and long cables lay curled up or hung limply from tall derricks into deep caverns below. It wasn’t pretty here like it is now.” She winked, “I wasn’t a good little girl. Since this was such a dangerous place to be, it was also the most fun place for a naughty child to play.”
Mihai nodded, smiling, as she recalled that interchange so long ago. While still a youngster she, too, had been a naughty child, extensively exploring the still hidden and abandoned lower chambers in the palace complex. She had discovered viaducts plunging deep into the bowels of the earth. Huge, hewn halls hidden in the lower cellars once housed large machines, maybe pumps or bellows, which were now little more than unrecognizable piles of rust and corrosion.
She discovered other cathedral-sized chambers that appeared to have once been used as corrals or aquariums. Openings in some of these rooms tunneled back and down for miles. Mihai recalled struggling her way for many hours along one tunnel that was some four cubits high and three wide. The child eventually came to a fathomless, black abyss when, after pitching a stone into the darkness, she had counted to twelve before hearing a distant splash.
The woman smiled to herself as she recalled the sound tongue-lashing given her by one of the older children, Medeba, warning her never to go a’wandering off alone again,
‘or else!’ Then, after sending the child off to bed early, she came in to ask the girl about her adventure. With twinkling eyes, she listened to Mihai’s tale unfold. Thinking about it now, Mihai concluded that there must have been many, many naughty children throughout the ages in this realm.
Chimes echoed from the peaks of the four battlements as Gradian’s Clock drummed out the eleventh hour. Mihai cursed under her breath, “Does the old sorcerer wish the raise the dead before their day, or is his dream only to make all living souls deaf?!” Off she went in a huff, seeing that she would now be late for her appointment.
Shaking her head in disgust, Mihai hurried toward a set of double doors hidden deep in the shadows of the outer wall. Holding up her left hand, pointing it toward the sealed opening, the ring on her finger sent a tingling wave of heat up her arm and into her head as words that she did not even understand rushed from the woman’s mouth. “Karak Contie Kontendee! ”
The doors groaned as if now fighting against ages of neglected use, springing outward, their sudden opening stirring up a cloud of ancient dust rushing out to greet Mihai. Waving her hand in a futile attempt to fan away the choking mist, she lowered her head and entered the musty blackness. The woman hurried away, paying no heed to the doors silently closing behind her, but the hot pulsing on her finger she could not ignore.
It troubled Mihai to think that she wore the one very special ring that could open this gate as well as other certain entrances sequestered within the Upper Palace. She mumbled, quoting her mother, “Only the Smaragdos, (lit. – emerald, translated: ‘Son of God’ or ‘Firstborn’) can reveal the secrets hidden within these walls. And only has one person ever been given it as a possession.” Mihai looked down at her hand, the pulsing glow fading in the darkness, sourly sputtering, “And now I am only the second to carry this dreadful thing!”
A wistful sadness swept over her as she recalled the first ring her finger claimed. It was made of shiny, black onyx and simply designed, with no markings. ‘Teknion, the little child ’, was its name and she had received it upon her coming of age. Her mother had told her that very day, ‘No longer does my little girl run without restraint upon this temple mount for she has become a woman this day. To you it is granted the secrets Teknion allows.’
She kissed her daughter on the forehead and then went on to describe the many other kinds of rings, including the one previously mentioned. ‘Many are the rings my children have been gifted with and more varied still are the powers they give to each wearer.
Yours is simple, to teach you the secret of the rings. One day, when you have grown in wisdom, you shall be gifted another. And still others will come to you, if you become truly wise.’
She took her daughter’s hand. ‘There are brown, red, gray, and even green onyx rings. And then there are rings of gold, silver, and ruby-jade, to name a few. Each has its own living power that can guide your paths to success, but only if you listen to its music.
These rings are my personal gift to my children so that they may never be found truly alone…’ She paused in thought before finishing, sadness filling her eyes, ‘and become lonely.’
Mihai was much older before she learned the true magic of the rings. The child’s curiosity and insatiable thirst for knowledge, even at risk to life and limb, did not wane
after her years blurred into ages. Along with many of her kindred, she eventually became absorbed with what was known at that time as the ‘study of EbenCeruboam’, literally meaning, ‘The Cherubs’ Greatest Stone’. It was an amalgam of the sciences of what we today call physics, mathematics, mechanics, and harmonics, in conjunction with psycho-anatomy.
Through experimentation, mentoring, and extensive research, Mihai gradually came to a limited understanding of the basic building blocks or stones of the physical universe and their connection with all living bodies. The keys to life and sense were simple in number but beyond comprehension in scope.
Her quest for wisdom eventually delivered her to the doorstep of one JabethHull, a true eccentric, still unchanged from the beginning days of the First Age. Named after one of the ‘mythical sorcerers’, the Cherubs, he was wild and controversial, a loner with the patience of a thunderstorm, but one of the most knowledgeable scientists of that day regarding EbenCeruboam. Why he ever put up with a chatty, spoiled and often very opinionated know-it-all, Mihai never was able to understand.
For six hundred years, she journeyed with JabethHull and his ‘one true companion’ –
his reference to NhosetHebel - beyond the edges of the universe, the uncharted territories of that day. Needless to say, Mihai learned patience while in company with Jabeth. His moods would range from casually ignoring her existence to outright resentment for this creature’s invasion into his private world. It took Mihai many years to understand that Jabeth and Nhoset talked mostly through their minds. Mihai’s constant gabbing was often an intrusion into the couple’s conversations.
But Jabeth’s rare moments of genuine cordiality were worth all the waiting as far as Mihai was concerned. He could also be very affectionate, caring for all of Mihai’s needs on their long sojourn through the lonely voids of space. But it was Nhoset who could succinctly relate the gist of the lengthy explanations of her companion, Jabeth. That woman’s simple interpretations of EbenCeruboam law stuck in Mihai’s mind to this day.
So typical of her teaching style was an evening on some unknown planet where they had surfaced to make needed repairs to their ship. Nhoset and Mihai were gathering wood to make a fire when she took the girl’s hand and sat down by a bubbling stream.
The woman began to play with Mihai’s opened palm, gently rubbing it with her fingers.
Staring off into the gathering darkness, Nhoset started to softly croon, ‘My little darling of sweet repose, do you feel love when the southern wind blows soft, and does your soul become lonely on a dark winter night? Have you ever wondered why you turn to spy the tree just before the limb falls from it? Or have you pondered the reason your lover is able to finish the sentence you have started?’
She turned to search Mihai’s face. ‘You see me only after the reflected light from my face has reached your eyes. You hear my voice only after the disturbed air has reached your ears. But all these things are mere effects created by unseen causes. I speak because I think. You hear because you think. We think because we are alive. We live because the hidden universe surrounding us does not rest.’
‘You see the moon above us and say it hangs upon nothing, and you are correct to say it is so. Yet it does not hang upon nothing but is cradled within the swaddling bands of a very powerful living force that dictates its destiny. It is this force that gives us life and breath, for without it there would be nothing mortal at all. For one must be immortal
to reach beyond the Web that swaddles us all, and it belongs to the Immortals to keep it safe.’
Mihai spoke openly her confusion of the discussion.
Smiling, Nhoset continued, ‘The Web of the Universe is made up of countless harmonic particles each with an intelligence of sorts, that think and react. Into them has been planted all the building blocks that keep our universe alive. We have come to call those building blocks ‘laws’ or ‘Cherubs’ Stones’.’
Nhoset looked down at the leaves fallen to the ground. ‘Left to themselves, these…
these particles…’ Glancing into the night breeze as she searched for a word to define the particles, the woman noticed a cluster of tiny insects tumbling about in their never-ending search for a moist home to lay fertile eggs. ‘These midges, you might say, would all come to rest and nothing would ever again move.’ She lifted a hand and snapped her fingers. ‘But the Immortals do not permit that happening.’
‘Energy, my dear one, energy! That is the secret of the universe that is so little understood. It is so common, we think, yet it is so elusive. Energy is the catalyst of heat and light, and movement requires energy, but,’ she made a fist, ‘if I could squeeze out the space from the energy found in this entire universe, I would be able to hold all the energy within my hand.’
‘Midges are cold by nature. They are lazy, sleepy little fellows who would rather snooze the time away. They become very upset when energy touches them and desperately try to push it away. One very small speck of energy can ignite a flurry of activity amongst the midges, which effects can be felt for long distances away. The heat you feel on your skin on a bright summer day does not come from the sun. It is the result of the midges angrily reacting to energy welling up within the star.’
‘Unlike a star that discharges energy through nuclear-chemical processes that yet remain hidden in secrecy, living matter - such as plants, animals, and even we, ourselves
- gathers energy. All the time, the midges are resisting living organisms. That is why plants and animals die. And we would, too, if Mother had not placed in us an undying mind. But that is information worthy of another discussion.’
Nhoset went on at length, explaining how all matter is stored up energy and that the midges were constantly at work, attempting to escape from it by passing it on to other midges. ‘The crumbling of a granite boulder is the reaction of the midges and energy.
The boulder can gather very little energy, so it loses it at a faster rate than it can gather it.
As the rock turns to dust, the midges begin to quiet, for the closer to its basic atomic structure that matter comes, the less energy it possesses. A piece of dust can store very little energy within itself.’
Laughing, Nhoset added, ‘It is the very desire of the midges to chase away energy from themselves that gives us gravity. The stronger ones push energy onto the weaker who are already burdened down with too much of it, weakening them still further. As the number of energy-laden midges increases, they become a repository for even more energy that the other midges are throwing off. This process continues until the weakened midges become powerless to resist the continual onslaught. At this stage, we say the midges are now in a ‘dormant state’.’
‘The process where the midges seek to throw off energy now reverses. In an effort to repel that ever-growing field of energy, they reach out to gather even more, attempting
to create an overload where this energy, itself, will become unstable and dissipate, usually in a very violent, reactionary way.’
She smiled, pointing in the direction of the ship. ‘Our ability to understand this principle helped us children develop the powerful engines that drive us across the universe.’
‘It is this dormancy within the midges - when they are no longer fighting with the energy - that creates what we call ‘gravity’. So, as you have already come to learn that magnetism is caused by a reaction between energy and the Web of the Universe, you can now see that gravity is just another reaction between these same two elements.’
Lifting the child’s hand, Nhoset toyed with NithStar, the ring Mihai possessed at that time of her life. “Sweet Lilly, golden flower of mist imbued, the heart of a woman-child is filled with passion, but it is the power of the midges that makes it explode in one’s lovemaking. Your mind is who you truly are. It is your soul and all that is in it. But you cannot feel a thing in this world without the midges, for the midges move the energy that creates your feelings.’
‘The thought processes of your mind trigger energy reactions in your brain, troubling the midges within their sphere of influence. Your thinking processes create various angles of energy. These various angles cause the midges to react in different ways.
Some of their reactions feel good to us while others feel bad. Through personality development, you have learned to adapt and alter the angles of energy released from your brain, changing the way the midges cause you to feel.’
Nhoset softly caressed Mihai’s lower thigh, her fingers ever so lightly touching the tiny hairs on the girl’s skin. Mihai groaned in delight.
‘There!’ Nhoset slapped Mihai’s leg. ‘Your brain is sending a signal to the midges that makes them react in a way that brings you pleasure. But if you had thought a spider was creating those very same sensations, what would you have felt? The same pleasure…?’
Mihai frowned. Just the idea of a spider crawling along her leg troubled her, she having long remembered a nasty bite from one when she was little more than a babe.
‘See!’ Nhoset wagged her finger. ‘The angle of energy you send to the midges is very important as to how they will make you feel.’
Then Nhoset gave warning to Mihai, a warning she regretted not giving greater heed to. ‘Do not be seduced by sweet words that you hear come from the mouth, and do not become beguiled over an entrancing eye or sensuous touch. These are but the reactions of the midges upon your heart as you wish to interpret them. Learn to use your powers of reasoning that can see beyond the reactive creations of this universe and into the very depth of the mind as it drives the brain to speak.’
Again drawing Mihai’s attention to NithStar, Nhoset cautioned, ‘This ring will never lie, but you must learn to read it properly and must come to trust it. It may well speak bad to you when your heart seeks to hear only good. You see, NithStar enhances your ability to feel and even see the harmonics - the angles of energy - around you. It will help you peer into the mind of those drawing close to you. This ring will give you insight and wisdom, but you must choose to use that insight.’
(Author’s note… For a lengthy, in-depth explanation of the rings given to the children, the book, The Ostrich Never Flies, by NhosetHebel is a must- read. )
Leaning over, Nhoset kissed Mihai every so softly on the lips as her fingers wandered across the woman’s skin. She finally sat back and then stood. ‘Let us deliver our wood and then I shall prepare the meal. Tonight I will teach you about other matters that press upon your heart.’
Recalling that night and many others while in the company of these two Ancients brought a smile to Mihai’s face. In an instant, that smile melted away. JabethHull and NhosetHebel died in the First Megiddo War, innocent victims of the confusion of battle.
Their smoky-gray ship, Aeriona, was mistaken for the enemy as it glided through what are now called the ‘Kalahnit Straits’. It was only later, when the crew of the howker, GyHook, explored the debris field, the sad truth was realized.
Mihai shook her head. “At least they didn’t suffer!” She pushed the memory from her mind and hurried on toward her own hidden destiny.
Making her way along a labyrinth of dimly lit corridors interrupted by dark tunnels opening into voids long silent from disuse, Mihai finally came to another set of hewn stone steps leading up to a musty antechamber, exiting onto a great hall. With a loud
‘clack!’ and some effort, she pushed back the rusted tumblers, releasing the locked door.
Stale air rushed in as the door finally yielded to Mihai’s determined push, the breeze whipping up a cloud of ancient dust from the great hall’s floor. Sunlight streamed in from hidden windows high above, illuminating tiny particles swirling in the air, limiting her view, but Mihai remembered well the majesty veiled. Few had been the steps upon these marble floors during this current age. Little had changed in this room since the hour of violence had been heralded here.
Mihai exited the anteroom, seeking the double doors at the far end of the hall. She quietly walked past banquet dishes filled with ashes of the last feast held here. Breads and pastries not eaten or carried off by hungry mice littered tables abandoned by the merrymakers when news of the Rebellion reached their ears. Everything remained as it was that day, some six millennia ago. No one had ever returned long enough to exorcise the anguished memories still haunting this place.
Looking to her left, Mihai spied the clear obsidian ballroom floor. Long ago, there were lights buried deep within the stone. When lit, those standing there would appear to be floating in a multicolored sky of brilliant hues, their feet suspended as though upon nothing. It was said that Mother stood on it when the children heard her scream in pain, clutch her head and collapse to the floor. For days, she did not stir from the bed she was carried to, not even giving forth a breath.
Mihai hurried on, trying to fill her mind with more pleasant thoughts, but it was a futile attempt. Her steps brought the woman past the head table, a place of honor set up by the host of hosts for special guests. It was Mihai’s place of honor that day, her decaying shawl still draped across a chair where she had cast it when her kingly host whisked her away to share with her his special gift prepared for her on her very special day.
Mihai spewed a torrent of foul oaths better left to the imagination, storming off toward the exit. Before the Rebellion, expletives were rarely if ever used, but now it was quite common. Like some kind of a pressure valve, the very fragrance of coloured language seemed to ease the stress a person was under. Although used by her only on occasion, Mihai was willing to unleash her share when conditions were ripe for it.
After bursting through doors that screeched as if in agony, Mihai stormed along a darkened corridor and then another, kicking up clouds of dust that swirled around behind her. At long last, she came to a spiral staircase, its steps descending deep into the bowels of the palace, and also ascending all the way to the most secluded of all enclaves, the Inner Chambers. Without hesitating, she bounded up the stairs.
The air seemed to freshen as Mihai climbed, leaving the world of darkness behind.
She now carried the ring representing the palatine powers granted her, but this was the first time she had journeyed uninvited into that realm belonging to the Firstborn. Indeed, it appeared to her that she was the only one who had braved the evil that had long remained hidden there.
“It is my right!” She cried. “My right…! I will decide the fate of this place from now on!”
The mouth may shout brave words while the heart quails in trepidation. So with Mihai. She felt sick to her stomach, secretly wishing to never visit herself upon that sanctum again. But it was now her right. In reality, it was her obligation, she believed, one that she had put off for close to two millennia. Destiny would no longer be denied.
Every step she climbed brought Mihai closer to its ending hour.
The realm of the Firstborn encompassed a large portion of the Upper Palace.
Originally, this area consisted of a few rooms that overlooked an immense garden courtyard hidden from all eyes outside the Inner Chamber. Over time, Chrusion expanded his domain to include a much larger portion of the Upper Palace. When he had managed to obtain all the space Mother permitted of the Inner Chamber, he reached out and down within the old palace, eventually mining huge excavations in the diorite butte.
Banquet halls, guest rooms, studies, laboratories, game rooms and more were multiplied seemingly beyond number. If the fancy struck him, Chrusion might build a second or even third or fourth chamber for the same purpose, each more extravagant than the one before. Few of the children, including Mihai, had ever seen his entire lair, it being a labyrinth of countless rooms and passages. No one entered his world without his permission. Even Mother kept her distance unless invited. And Chrusion protected his domain with a jealous passion.
Mihai cringed at the thought of exploring this inner sanctum of despair, but there was nothing else for it. The world that Chrusion created before the Rebellion was now as much a part of the universe as those creations of Mihai’s mother. As she had once told her, ‘One turning evil does not negate all the work done before the evil arrives. Indeed, many evil men have created great works that I will not bring to ruin just because the ones building them were wicked.’
As she neared the top landing of the staircase, Mihai pondered the reason she had chosen this trail of despair. Not to save time, as she had excused earlier. If anything, it might well have consumed more of it but, then, why?
At that moment she felt it, the nagging in her heart. It was as if something…or someone…put it in her to search out the past. Was it important in helping her define her future? Destiny was calling her ever forward, yet coming decisions…she knew not which…would force the woman to stare into the past, for wisdom is a gift earned, not given.
Passing up the final section of the staircase, Mihai entered another antechamber.
Stepping onto the landing, she looked around the brightly lit room.
To this side and that were several doors, all secured with Cherub locks. There were no rings made with the power to open these doors. It was said that to each is the ability given or denied. Most of those doors had remained ever locked, Mihai knowing of no child using them.
She remembered, as a little girl, being caught struggling to pry one open. With twinkling, emerald green eyes and a loving smile, Mother had picked up the curious child, shaking her head. ‘Not today, little one, not today… someday… yes… maybe someday.’
To her left, Mihai spied another door. Above it were inscribed the words,
‘CherbadrecDieukEdon’ – Eden’s Path. This was a once secret door known only to a few of Mother’s children. Mihai had known, for sure, of only two people who had ever taken it. It now led nowhere, Tolohe having destroyed the passage on her return. Mihai shook her head, wishing to drive the memories of that day from her mind.
Directly in front of the landing was a locked doorway that opened to the main corridor leading to the EhpriemEtSamayim – ‘Heaven’s Door’, ‘Journey’s End’, ‘The Lord’s Manor’ - at least those were the different interpretations for the word given to Mihai over the ages. There were probably more. Which if any were correct, the woman did not know. For her, this day, it was the end of her journey…or was it the beginning?
Calling out again, using the power of the ring, Mihai ordered the door opened. She stepped into the cool serenity of a long corridor.
To call this place a corridor was the same as calling the Majestic a staircase. The vaulted, sky-blue ceiling was some thirty long cubits high and its width some forty.
Furniture of emerald and jade, inlaid with gold, sapphires and chrysolite complemented a holographic menagerie covering the walls. As one walked along, it appeared as if an entire jungle full of strange and exotic creatures journeyed with them toward their final destination. Mihai never tired of this adventure.
Opened were the doors exiting the corridor. Mihai was expected. She passed beyond the reception hall and along a passageway that led to an opened portico, giving her a glimpse of the hidden courtyard and gardens within. She stood on tiptoes to get a better view.
Here was the one place in the universe unaffected by the Rebellion. The breathtaking plants and creatures cloistered within these walls cared not for the world outside. Not only were they beautiful beyond description, pleasing the eye and lifting the heart, the garden had the power to hold back the ever-present darkness that covered this universe. In some way, Mother had created a world of living harmonics that no form of evil discord could penetrate. Truly, this was the most tranquil place in the universe.
Suddenly, with a rush, a cool, refreshing storm raced through Mihai’s back. It surrounded her heart in a spinning vortex of energy that pulled away all trepidation and fear. Mihai’s nauseous sickness faded away while an overpowering sense of peace filled her chest. For but a breath, her head spun into a fuzzy darkness of glowing tingles.
When she had returned to the waking world, all her previous unease had vanished.
Realizing the lateness of the hour, Mihai hurried from the portico down a narrow hallway to a white marble alcove. To her left was a huge oaken door, a giant golden knocker affixed to its face. Reaching up, she took hold of the hinged weight, lifted and let it drop. As she was reaching for it a second time, a voice some distance beyond the door called out, “Please enter…”
* * *
Two women stared out the window to the quiet street far below. Some time earlier, they had watched Mihai pass under that very window as she made her way toward the Majestic. One of them finally let go the curtain and turned away, retracing her steps to a small bed in the corner of the room.
Stretching in a yawn, she turned back to the other and cooed, “Come, my love, I have not yet been given my fill of your love songs promised. This day is so fleeting and, when it has passed, I will have to wait so long to feel your breath upon my neck again.”
The second woman looked away from the window, her face displaying a flirting frown, veiling her secret disdain for this urchin of latter days. Masking her feelings, she sang a sweet, hushed refrain:
“Oh, how I love the scent of your skin,
The joy of your heart pressed close to mine.
But we to labors must not delay,
For the ‘morrow must whisk us far away.”
Releasing the other side of the curtain, casting the room back into dark shadow, she shook her head. “My pet, please, do not arouse my desires until business has been concluded. Then, if you are a good child, I will fill you up to bursting.”
Wrapping herself in a quilted, floor-length shawl, the woman sat at a small table.
Calling her companion over, after requesting she cover herself also, the two took up their former discussion. Reaching into a small drawer hidden in the table, she withdrew some papers with scribbles and drawings. After laying them out so her companion could see, she explained, “These first two papers contain what appears to be little more than nonsensical poetry. Do not be fooled! Each word in each stanza and the way in which it is positioned is most important! You must memorize these pages as you see them. It is vital that you do just so.”
She pulled the page with a drawing out from under the other papers, pointing, “Here you see Hall of Assembly, the auditorium where Mother’s council will gather this night.
Wait for me under the main stadium. The shadows are long and the light sparse there. If you’re careful, no one will notice you. I will come to you before the meeting, as soon as may be and give you whatever else you will need for your return journey.”
The woman shuddered nervously. “My Queen, your slave begs your pardon for her open brashness, but I fear Lord PalaHar will be there this eve. He is a great counselor to Mother and I doubt he will miss this meeting. He will feel my scent for a certainty, after our many years together on Mu…”
“Enough of your drivel!” scolded the woman. The hurt on the other woman’s face was quickly assuaged with gentle words. “Oh please, my darling, my darling!” She put her hand over her brow, moaning, “My head aches from the stresses of the hour and my mouth speaks the lies of that stress. Please forgive me for my outburst.” Smiling, she took the woman’s hand. “I promise! I will make it up to you. I will make it up to you.”
“Don’t concern yourself with PalaHar.” She swallowed hard, trying to push down a sour taste growing in her mouth. “Your scent will be a forgotten dream for him this night. I
will make sure his mind thinks only of my charms.” Oh, how she wanted to vomit at the thought of romancing that man.
Drawing attention back to the moment, the woman opened a locket hanging from her neck and removed a tiny key from it. “Here, take this. It will provide entrance to a storage closet under the stadium. There you can remain hidden until I come to you. We will meet there instead of the pillars…sooner, if time plays in our favor.”
Standing, she tenderly drew the woman up, softly kissing her on the lips then whispered, “You must see to our business tonight. Eliseah, if you swear your oath to me, then we can be about other, more delightful pleasantries.”
The woman promised with an oath, her eyes shining with desire, adding, “My Queen, no man has bequeathed me as great a gift as you can provide. My heart will long swoon over the affection you are showing it this very day!”
As they embraced, a sour look crossed the face of the one being called ‘queen’. Oh, what sacrifices she made for the only love she desired! Oh, how she wanted him and yearned for his love! A smile grew on her lips at the thought of their soon being together again. Three millennia she had been away, clandestinely doing his will. This evening’s council meeting would bring her one step closer to his embrace.
She disrobed her companion and began her sensuous caresses, fantasizing about being with the man she so loved. Each touch, each kiss was for him, with him. When the thought of his passion for his fellow kind entered her mind, she pushed it away, contending, ‘I will change him! He longs for me! For me! My breasts, alone, will make him forget the love songs of his androgyny!’
* * *
Mihai slowly opened the door onto a porch of rainbow onyx and glittering diamonds, entrance to the most sacred of all chambers in the universe, ZoeStethos, literally , ‘The Breasts of Life Absolute’. Legend attributed the origin of the name to the Ones Who Came Before, otherwise known as the ‘Cherubs’. Indeed, Mihai had been told long ago that the chief Cherub, RosMismar, oldest of all his race, gifted that name upon this place, and that the words ‘ZoeStethos’ were but a poor rendition of the original phonetic pronunciation.
No one, not even the Firstborn, was allowed entrance into these chambers without permission of the One who dwelt within. This was the first visit Mihai had made here since taking up the staff of steward and field marshal over Mother’s armies. She wondered at the reason her mother requested they meet in this sanctuary, something so rarely done. It could only be for a very special reason, but what?
Surprisingly, the ZoeStethos was not as impressive as a visitor might imagine when compared with the remainder of the palace. True beauty abounded here, but it was of a humble nature. It was subdued, as if restrained, fearing for a person’s approval. One had to search for the beauty, from intricately carved, spindly pillars supporting the marble ceilings to ornate paintings and tapestries hanging from the walls, but it was well worth the effort.
If one studied these surroundings long enough, a plethora of exciting emotions would begin bubbling up in the person’s soul, filling his or her being with a rhapsodic rush, flooding their senses with sounds and sights of overwhelming proportions. But Mihai
was in no mood to search and had no desire to experience any of this. She remained content to see these sights through simple eyes.
Glancing around, she spied one of the sparse furnishings, a red onyx bench affixed to a wall. With her simple eye, everything appeared cold and distant. Even the elegant, octagonal sapphire table in the nearby room with its accompanying golden divan held no warmth. Shaking her head, Mihai quietly strode from the porch and toward an opened wall facing the courtyard with its enchanting gardens.
As she approached, a light breeze lifted silky curtains that hid the outer balcony from view. Beyond the billowing sheets, embroidered with mystical horses prancing in fields of gilded flowers, Mihai glimpsed green treetops reaching high above the garden hidden far below. Sunlight betrayed such astounding delights upon the woman’s senses that Mihai’s spirits were forced to rise.
Stopping to straighten her gown, she brushed back her hair while eyeing herself in a mirror on a distant wall. Satisfied, she stood erect, pushing her shoulders back and calling out to her mother. There was no answer. After waiting a moment, Mihai cautiously pushed aside the curtains, walking onto the white marble balcony.
Off to Mihai’s right stood her mother, slumped forward, hands on the balcony rail, gazing on the garden far below. Before Mihai could speak again, a voice, sharp and accusing, disturbed her mind. “So…it has chosen your path today, and you permitted it?
Little one, do you not yet understand? It is always seeking its master… always will, until you kill it. You must destroy it!”
At first stunned by her mother’s harshness, Mihai countered in telepathic response,
“The hour was late and I needed to make haste. I chose to…”
Mother interrupted, “It chose your path today! I felt its orgasmic excitement growing ever since you parted company with your companion, Trisha. Do not enter the Dragon’s Lair again until Shiloh has cleansed that place of the evil lurking within! There are reasons it remains sealed down to this day. You put yourself at great risk, taking that forbidden path.”
Mihai’s mother turned, her emerald green eyes piercing the sky blue oceans of her daughter, speaking aloud, “No other mortal has ascended to the glory of Chrusion. Even my children raised from the Lower Abyss are not yet a match for him. Child, the madness he abandoned to those caves beneath has greater power than you possess! I, alone, saved you this day. Do not trust to my loving kindness should you attempt that path again.”
Mihai stood silent as a mouse, crestfallen, crying out, “Your daughter is supposed to rule as Firstborn, but her very throne lies beyond her reach! Shall my demon always rule my flesh? Will it also take away my waking hours and deliver me up to the ever-madness that haunts the lost souls of the Jahouk? My power slips away as we speak…”
She bowed her head, sobbing, “Oh, Ma-we, I don’t think I can!” and fell into uncontrolled weeping.
The one Mihai called ‘Ma-we’ reached out to her daughter, as Mihai did for her mother. They embraced, Ma-we letting her daughter’s tears fall onto her shoulder and run down her ankle-length golden hair to the floor. Soon she stood in a puddle of tears that splashed upon her bare feet.
A groan came up from Ma-we’s heart. Here she stood with a child of the latter years, yet the most precious of all her sons and daughters, helpless to dispossess her of
the monster growing within. Never was there a more beautiful person than this Immortal of immortals but, for the moment, she felt tired, weak, bitter… and old. ‘What good is the Mother of Life if she cannot save one innocent child?!’
Ma-we kept her feelings secret, though. Everyone looked to her for rescue. She dared not let them know that she could not see the future clearly at this moment. Life and all that went with it dangled by the thread of uncertainty. The future was not guaranteed.
How could she know the final outcome when this day was still cast in doubt? Should Mihai fail this day, there would be no future… and she could not even see the destiny of this coming hour.
Starting a little melody, Ma-we sang a soft and gentle lullaby to Mihai. Since the wars had begun, the tears of Ma-we’s daughters had run rivers on this balcony while, at the same time, the healing powers of Mother’s songs and the surrounding harmonics helped to draw out poisons building within her children’s hearts. Today she sang for Mihai. Who would the ‘morrow bring to her doorstep?
(Author’s note… The name ‘Ma-we’ was secret, known to only Mihai, she having named her that when a young child, and it is used throughout these Chronicles to assist the present-day reader in maintaining continuity. Names given the Maker of Worlds are many, the ages having bestowed them upon her. Ma-we’s other names: Yehowah, Lowenah, Erithia and others help add flavor of understanding to my account.
Authors may, at times, take poetic license with their works, as I have chosen to do here. The oldest of her names was given to her by the Ones Who Came Before, the first of her children. It was long kept a secret, being only divulged to the common children, the children of flesh, at the end of the last age. It was not until long after the King’s War that Mihai revealed her name for the Maker of Worlds, ‘Ma-we’, to her own children in her relating to them tales of her own life.
The author has chosen to include this name, ‘Ma-we’, at times to identify the Maker of Worlds throughout these Chronicles because it will continually draw the reader back to the person to whom all time and history owe their existence. Although told through the eyes of so many participants of these profound events, the account itself rises from the heart of but one person, Mihai. Had this child not presented herself upon the altar of love so many countless millennia ago – long before any rebellion – the worlds we take so for granted might not exist, the contrast between the evil of the oldest child and the self-sacrificing love of an innocent child never having been realized. Asotos likely would have become king over the universe, he taking up the scepter prepared for him. By the time his evil nature would have become fully manifest, it might well have been too late for anyone living, thus sending the entire universe into chaotic oblivion.
These Chronicles are about but one heart, one soul, and one mind encapsulated in one woman. The strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures, joys and sorrows of Mihai…who is a reflection of all of Lowenah’s loyal children…must be judged as a mosaic of her life, one rich in emotion and love. Indeed, it was her love that lifted her to life’s pinnacle of achievements, but also sent her to depths of deepest despair. She risked all and sacrificed all for love, her name becoming synonymous with the very word. So easy can it be to see the flesh, and Mihai was a child of flesh - foolish, careless, impetuous to the point of arrogance, and often a victim of her own loyal misconceptions.
Yet I say these very weaknesses are what made so many fall in love with this woman.
Few were the soldiers of these oft-forgotten wars who would hesitate to take up their sword and follow their beloved leader into certain death, even if that death might lead to no redemption.
It was said at one time by this very person to men of flesh, ‘If you have seen me, you have seen God.’)
* * *
Inhaling the fragrant bouquet rising from one of Mother’s magic teacups lifted Mihai’s spirits. Indeed, this was a most wonderful place, filled with mystery and magic.
Things appeared from nowhere, like the hot tea and sweet treats on the table near the divan. All a person had to do when he or she had emptied a cup was to wish for more and… poof! there appeared a steaming drink swirling inside the bowl.
A very long time ago, Mihai had asked Ma-we about the magical mysteries found in her dwelling. Mother laughed, answering, ‘Magic does not exist by itself. It is only magic when you cannot see or do not understand the tools used to make that magic. My servants and tools are many and varied. They do my bidding.’
She had then taken her daughter’s hand. ‘Your body is a tool used by your mind, something you cannot see. It lets you know that you are alive for, without it, you would feel nothing at all. Honey, most of my world is invisible to you. You can only see and touch what I want you to.’ Looking around the room, Ma-we smiled. ‘It gets so cluttered in here at times, like it is right now. Tomorrow I must rearrange things and tidy up a bit.’
Mihai had begged her mother for a peek at the wonderful things hiding in the nearly empty room. Ma-we stroked her daughter’s hand. ‘My secrets are not shared with those requesting them. They are much too precious for that.’ She reached out and touched Mihai’s face. ‘Someday, I believe, I will find reason to give up my treasures to another.
Yes, my heart believes that someone, someday, will deliver up the key that will unlock all my secrets to them.’ Lowering her head, Ma-we let out a sigh. Looking back into wondering eyes, she grinned. ‘Maybe you will find the key…maybe you.’
Leaning back, Mihai closed her eyes. As she allowed her mind to drift, she could see ghostly objects dance and flit around the room. Her ears could hear sounds as if people were speaking and her eyes could see shadowy figures move about. Then there came a sudden jolt and something brushed her arm. Bolting upright, Mihai’s eyes popped open in surprise.
“Oh! Sorry, dear one! I should have announced myself before sitting.” Ma-we grinned mischievously. Oh yes, Mihai had found the key that would open Ma-we’s world of secrets. Ma-we frowned. But at what cost? The universe now hung in the balance, and Mihai? Mihai’s eventuality was still in question. More than one war must be won if the girl was to survive to enjoy the revealing of Mother’s secrets.
Ma-we settled back on the divan, resting one hand on Mihai’s knee while holding a mug of steaming drink in the other. Cool, fresh air drifted across the room, carrying wonderful scents from the garden far below. The evil found in the outside world seemed so far away here, it was easy to forget that it existed at all. She could feel Mihai’s muscles relax. It was a good sign, for the hour of uncertainty was about to begin.
Closing her eyes, Ma-we imagined the many possibilities of this day’s outcome. A wrong word or inflection and all might be lost. But, maybe, just maybe, everything
would go perfectly. She frowned. ‘No, not with this child, nothing ever goes perfectly with this child.’ A sad smile grew on her face. Isn’t that what she liked most about this child? The girl was full of unpredictable energy to the point of being impetuous, always looking in new directions, seeking answers to questions not asked.
“Thinking sideways...” The words slipped out before Ma-we realized she was speaking aloud.
“What, Mother?” Mihai stared at Ma-we. “What…”
Ma-we grinned. “Oh, I was just thinking about that new friend of yours. He is so full of witty remarks and observations. Yep, I believe that Mr. Garlock fellow is good medicine for a weary heart.” She nodded. “Glad you wanted him here.”
Mihai heartily agreed. The two chatted about him and other new arrivals for a little while. Ma-we felt it helped ease the moment, besides providing an opening for her to move on to more important matters.
Gently caressing Mihai’s hand with her fingers, she began, “You have come a great distance because I summoned you for an important meeting, yet you have chosen to pay me a personal visit beforehand.”
Ma-we wiggled close until her leg was touching her child’s. “The sun goes ever forward, waiting not for man or beast. My daughter has many things pressing on her heart, and her mother has many other things pressing on hers. We must not dally any longer or the shadows of evening will find our business still lingering. Please, my dear one, speak to me of what weighs upon your heart.”
Mihai peered into her mother’s emerald green eyes. Mother was so small of stature and soft…dainty and soft. ‘How deceptive…’ She reached out, covering her mother’s hand with hers. “Mother, even the sun would obey your voice should you only wish it, but you have surrendered all to us, your children, to give us freedom…something I doubt we deserve…or use wisely. The power you hide behind your heart is only matched by the majesty you cloak with gentle words.”
Ma-we, who had never flaunted her personal qualities or abilities, blushed, glancing away from Mihai’s stare. She thought herself ordinary, no one special, at least by her own making. Who was this person? She had not created herself. She had always been, always would be, she believed. It was true, she was the ‘Maker of all Things’, but wouldn’t any one of her children do the same if they possessed identical powers?
Shaking her head, Ma-we gently dismissed Mihai’s remarks and returned to the subject. “This hour is yours. Do not waste it, for I will demand my time as well… and it will come. Before the sun flees the hidden garden, my time will come.” She sat back, patting Mihai’s knee. “So, now, tell me the reason for your heart’s journey here this day.”
Mihai’s greatest wish, to resign her position as field marshal, was the hardest of subjects to broach. She felt like a quitter, having been given the post by Mother at the personal request of Gabrielle, who willingly relinquished it after Mihai’s victorious return from the Lower Realms some two millennia ago. It was an honor to have this greatest of titles. Mihai felt ashamed to even be thinking of giving it up.
Being field marshal was far more than having charge of the armies. It had a direct link to the rule of the Firstborn. At least that is how the children viewed it. When the Rebellion first started and after Chrusion was driven from the palace, Gabrielle took over the headship of the children, standing the throne of the empire Chrusion had built.
For over four thousand years, Gabrielle ruled as archon robustus-pontifex maximus, meaning ‘the greatest bridge builder’. As such, she stood before the other children as chief counselor and leader of the festivals. Her words became as powerful as Chrusion’s once were. She spoke as the ‘mouth of God’. It was well into the fifth millennia before
‘field marshal’ replaced ‘archon robustus’ as the title for the highest office in the Empire.
‘Such as war does to all things more peaceful…’
Mihai let out a groaning sigh. She could not make that request, at least not quite yet, and there were other pressing issues. “The insurgents are making deeper intrusions into the neutral territories near the Frontier. Zephath was attacked. Although the crew was able to scuttle the ship, they were taken hostage.”
Ma-we sat silent, eyes closed.
Seeing no response, Mihai added, “Sirion was among them.”
Still nothing…
“I tracked them as far as the outpost on ZemiaKone. There I was confronted by a battle droid and got a good thrashing and couldn’t go on.” She looked down at the floor.
“Was told the Gravemaker saved me from certain death.” Again, Mihai sighed. “I lost their trail after that.” Mihai turned toward Ma-we, asking, “Mother, who’s the Gravemaker?”
Time pressed on. Still Ma-we said nothing.
This moment was becoming awkward for Mihai. She began to explain, “Zephath was an imperial class heavy cutter, with a crew of over thirty. It was reconnoitering the Frontier beyond the Trizentine when it was attacked. I do not believe Stasis Pirates would take on a ship of that size without additional support. The trail led us away from the Trizentine area, the Stasis home base, into enemy terr…”
“My dear,” Ma-we interrupted, “you have been too long away when you think tales of your misadventures are news for my ears!” She stood and stepped a few paces away before turning to make further comment. With feet together and hands clasped at her waist, she leaned forward, staring into Mihai’s eyes. “After the Great War ended, as part of the armistice, my children established a neutral zone along the Frontier or Outer Corridor on which the Trizentine borders. At that time, if you do recall, it was suggested at the council to remove all inhabitants from that area including the district capital, Exothepobole. Also, if you remember, no one other than say me deemed it necessary or even prudent.”
“PalaHar, Tizrela, Ardon, Gabrielle, and…” she squinted, “and, I believe, even you
‘pooh–poohed’ my concerns. The atrocities inflicted upon that desolate place, including senseless raids on distant settlements these recent months, need not have happened if my counsel had been held in reasonable account.” Although Ma-we’s tone was gentle, her words stung Mihai, but she remained silent.
Ma-we went on. “News of Zephath was troubling to my heart, but it was not unexpected. You have been forced to keep several military garrisons out there to protect those foolish people who are unwilling to leave. It was only going to be a matter of time before trouble would brew in those wild lands. The Stasis are bad enough, with their warped and twisted minds having turned them to little more than animals. But any of my children should have seen that Chrusion would not stay away from there long, especially if he could do something to get at you.”
Standing straight, Ma-we turned toward the balcony. “Sirion… Sirion…let’s see.
She is one of my youngest.” Ma-we glanced over her shoulder at Mihai. “What was she, just come of age a little before the bad happened, right?”
Mihai sadly bowed her head. “Fourteen she was at the time. Her birthday was the same as my coming of age anniversary.”
Ma-we nodded in agreement, then returning to look out over the balcony, added,
“You were my wet nurse for her, too, weren’t you? Your first child, as I recall, the first of your life’s milk you gave to that girl.” She smiled, remembering, “Oh, how my heart danced the day you gave your breasts to that child, the surprised look on your face as you felt, for the first time, the elixir of life being drawn from your body to nourish the soul of another.” She closed her eyes. “I watched you fall in love with my girl that very hour.”
“I handed my child over for you to raise, because I saw how close the two of you had become. But I wasn’t the only one who knew just how deep the bond was between you two. Remember the look of displeasure in Chrusion’s eyes when Sirion ran to your arms after her coming of age, and how he chastised the child for her actions? He was jealous of you even then, before I gave the world of men as a gift to you.”
Mihai silently pondered, thinking about happier days before the bad came.
Ma-we walked back to the divan and sat, leaning back, staring toward the ceiling while rubbing Mihai’s leg. “Had I been consulted on the matter, I would have cautioned you about sending Sirion away on Zephath. How you could have believed that sending a child of your blood out to the Dragon’s hearth would keep her safe from his fire is beyond me.” She eyed Mihai. “But to go there, yourself, by yourself?!” she shivered, “I have no words for that.”
Ma-we squeezed Mihai’s leg. “Your foolishness almost got you captured…
captured! Oh, I know your intentions were honorable, but the risk you took was far too great. Have you so little sense as to forget the oath Chrusion swore the day he was driven from this land? You! You, my dear…his entire passion is to bring to a finish what he attempted so long ago, to hurt me by torturing you to death. Look how many of your sisters have already been destroyed by his madness!”
Ma-we shook her head. “There would have been no prisoner exchange for you.
Chrusion would have denied your capture, forcing me to eventually move against him in war. How many of my children would the rescue of your flesh cost me? And what would it have proved? Chrusion would only claim the attack unjustified, that I used my powers for selfish reasons. He would have found cause to draw out this Rebellion until maybe the hope of all living things might fade away.”
Mihai shuddered at the thought of Chrusion’s touch, his last having left her broken in mind and body for endless days. Indeed, her mind still suffered his intrusions. As she thought of that long ago hour, the demon within snickered with quiet delight, sensing the woman’s growing fear. Mihai hurriedly pushed those memories from her mind.
A wry smile broke on Ma-we’s face. “But you were not alone, no thanks to you.
And this should answer your question or at least as well as I’m going to answer it. The Gravemaker walks in shadows of mist and darkness. From the depths below I have raised it, only to hand it over to the Ones Who Came Before. Among your kind it walks, but cannot be seen or heard, for it fogs the mind of simple folk with thoughts of foolish prattle. My bidding does the Gravemaker do. Until the day of its revealing, secret it shall remain.”
Although still troubled, Mihai thanked her mother for whatever information she was willing to share with her. The thoughts of Chrusion and his tortures hurried along a growing nauseous sickness that had troubled the woman for most of the morning. Seeing this, Ma-we offered her some soothing mint tea, taking a cup also. The two sat for a little while, relaxing in its healing powers. When finished, Ma-we set her cup on the table.
They both watched the dish begin to vibrate and shimmer, like heat on hot pavement, until it faded from sight. Mihai never tired of watching the magic of Mother’s house, this just one small example. Ma-we leaned back, staring into Mihai’s eyes, asking, “Do you think the attack on Zephath was a random coincidence?”
This surprised Mihai. “You think it wasn’t?!”
Shaking her head, Ma-we softly answered, “Chrusion was baiting you. He knew full well you would personally take up the search and attempt rescue of Sirion.” She sat forward, eyes excited. “He failed to capture you! His primary plan has been foiled!”
Mihai countered, “That may be all well and good, but Sirion still remains in his clutches. I ache to think what ordeals he must be putting her through.”
Ma-we patted Mihai’s arm reassuringly. “He will try to break her! He will attempt it with the entire crew of Zephath…already has. Some will die, some will falter, but…”
“But what, Mother? But what?”
Looking at the floor, Ma-we continued, “Sirion is made of a metal that is rarely found in this land. There is nothing they can do to that girl that can break her and there are powers greater than hers that will not allow death to pass her door, and…”
“And what, Mother? Mother, what?” Mihai’s eyes brimmed with curiosity.
“And” Ma-we looked away, “...and it was not your Sirion that Chrusion was after, only the icing on the cake. Your heart is not the only one he wishes to destroy.”
“What do you mean by what you say?!” Mihai asked, dread filling her heart.
Twisting her head around, fixing her gaze on Mihai, Ma-we answered, “What I have said is sufficient. Knowledge belongs to those deserving and at the time appropriate.
You deserve to know, but not at this time. Let this suffice: your child given over to your care will return to you soon, but not as you wish. What I do see in my mind you will see with your eyes, and you will begin to understand what rulership is all about.”
There were so many questions Mihai wanted answers to. Ma-we allowed no time for them, hurrying on. “Your brother has been in contact with me. He feigns innocence concerning the capture of Zephath’s crew, claiming to have rescued them from the hands of the Stasis Pirates.”
“The bastard! Insolent bastard!” Mihai went into a tirade, spewing curses and oaths regarding how evil and wicked Chrusion was. Ma-we finally silenced her after she cried out accusatively, “Asotos deserves only a butcher’s skewer and a baker’s furnace! Why do let him live?!”
“That is enough of you!” Ma-we scolded, glaring in anger. “Life is not as you know it! And death is not always the answer! When the forest becomes diseased, it must be swept with fire, first to bring to ruin the evil living there, second, to wake the seed that must suffer the holocaust to gain life.” Ma-we took hold of Mihai’s hand, squeezing it, chiding her. “Child, do you think I am some weak-minded, emotional twit who’s afraid of making decisions?! You don’t know me, then!”
Ma-we stood, waving her arms as she paced. “I have swallowed up worlds in my rage, consigned women and children to the fire, leveled mountains when they have
opposed me, and dried up the seas as if they were mere drops of water! Why have I allowed Chrusion to live down to this day?! Why have I allowed you to live to this day?!
Neither of you has paid me the price of your blood. You both deserve the same reward, if I so choose.” She thumped her chest. “I made these universes and I can take them away!
How can you stop me? No one can! Life is a gift that I, alone, have given! To me it belongs! With it, I will do as I please!”
Mihai was ashamed of her actions. With downcast eyes, she stared at her folded hands resting in her lap. “Mother, Maker of Worlds, the Beginning of the beginning and the End of all things, your name we children gave to you, ‘Yehowah’, ‘I shall choose to be whomever I so choose’, is a beautiful name that gives us hope. Your servant girl has become impetuous and overstepped her position. I am so sorry...”
Ma-we came forward, stooping in front of her daughter, resting her hands on the girl’s knees. She looked up into teary eyes, smiling, slowly shaking her head. “No, my dear one, no, you have not become impetuous. You have never stopped!! From the time your siblings pulled you from the palace cistern because you believed there were diamonds hidden under the sparkling, frigid waters, that has been the way with you.”
Mihai whimpered, “What good am I then? As Firstborn, I have repeatedly led your children to slaughter. Has my foolishness brought them to ruin?”
“Now child…” Ma-we gently berated her daughter for acting so self-deprecatingly.
“You have been an outstanding military leader. Why, even the most ancient of the Ancients willingly follow under your banner.” She stood and began to pace anew.
“’Terror of the Skies’…I was informed that you earned that name from the enemy at the Battle of Mordem Heights, after your squadron of fighters faced off against an enemy force ten times your number. And, as I have also been told, your own sword cut down MitlockeDorzandee, the Tyrant of Ancepities. I ask you, how many lives did you preserve on that day?”
Mihai moaned, slowly shaking her head. “You speak of minor successes. I have failed miserably when the hour was most pressing.” She stared up at her mother who was patiently listening. “What about Memphis? For three months, we laid siege to the Castle. It was ours for the taking, or at least I thought so. I ordered three full corps, a quarter of a million soldiers , into the valley of death…the Battle of Bauglow, as you might recall.”
Hanging her head in remorse, Mihai whimpered, “One hundred thousand never returned. We watched from the eastern hills, helpless, as they raped and tortured the wounded to death. It was all my fault! I misread the enemy, not reckoning on hidden reinforcements. All I could see was the capture of Memphis and the death of Legion.”
“Memphis…” Ma-we sighed, closing her eyes. “Ah yes, Memphis.”
“Yehowah,” Mihai groaned, “your servant girl was… is… too impetuous as you, yourself, have pointed out. How does such a reckless person ever wash away the blood of guilt from their own hands?”
Ma-we frowned, scolding, “Do not seek pity from me, and do not attempt your own demeaning. Full well I know that my agents stood your side that day, approving your decision to attack Castle Memphis. PalaHar, Gabrielle, Planetee, and Euroaquilo all agreed the hour for taking the city was ripe. Even Anna added her support. You acted with what knowledge you had.” She turned away, bitterness carried in her tone. “The
serpents hidden in your camp betrayed your people – my children. Had all been honest with you, the Battle of Bauglow would not have been a defeat!”
Surprised, Mihai asked, “Tell me, tell me, please, who are the spies among us?”
Shaking her head, Ma-we answered, “No! I will not say. For then you will ask me for proof. Remember your own law: ‘At the voice of two or more, let the matter be settled’. I am but one voice, though I know for a fact who slinks around in dark corners.”
She wagged her finger. “You and your people would know, too, if you did not blind your hearts with feelings of selfish love and mindless devotion. No! You must use your wisdom to discover the traitors in your midst.”
It did Mihai no good to beg her mother. Ma-we refused to speak of it further, changing the subject. “I have other business that I must return to. As I said, your brother has been in contact with me and, as you will learn in greater detail tonight, wishes to offer another exchange of prisoners, but…”
“But what, Mother…er…Yehowah?!” Mihai asked, eager to hear more.
Ma-we’s heart fluttered with joy. ‘My daughter remembers who I have become in the eyes of my children. There is hope, then, that she will not forget me when my coming storm washes over her.’
Stepping forward, she again sat beside Mihai and started playing with the woman’s fingers. “But your brother has demanded that I stand aside in the negotiations. Oh yes, I can be there, but must remain silent. He…he has demanded your soul as archon in standing before him or there will be no exchange at all.”
Mihai’s face paled as she coughed down rising bile from a churning stomach. She waved her hand, rejecting the thought of facing such evil.
Ma-we hugged her child. “Don’t say no! Not yet! Think about it. Your brother, who has attempted to humiliate you so many times has lifted you up to the throne of God.
By his own mouth, he has declared a woman to be his equal…a woman to stand as king over all the universe, a gift I was at one time preparing to give him. Can you believe it, a woman sitting the throne of the King of the universe? Even your brother has thought it possible.”
Swallowing hard first, Mihai exclaimed, “But I’m too impetuous!”
Grinning, Ma-we nodded, “You are impetuous, yes, but not too impetuous. Chrusion is baiting you, yes, and he will use this prisoner exchange to create more of his mischief.
And, I believe, he will attempt to destroy you to hurt me.”
She hugged her daughter again, resting her head on Mihai’s shoulder. “But I know my Michael better than he. If you say ‘yes’, I can prepare some mischief of my own that will humiliate him and rescue Sirion and the others in the bargain.” She looked into Mihai’s face, begging, “Please say you’ll come. Please say you’ll stand before your brother.”
Frowning, Mihai accepted, saying she would go. Later, she would wonder if Mother’s pleadings made the difference, or if the thought of having Sirion back in her arms was the true motivating force behind her agreeing to Ma-we’s request. Whatever…
Mihai was now going to have to confront her most feared antagonist again. This time it would be face to face, without Gabrielle standing by her side.
“Good! Good!” Ma-we sang, her eyes lighting up with excitement. “Tonight I will make final arrangements for the trip. There will be some surprises for your brother that he will not have considered.” She wagged her finger in front of Mihai’s face, cautioning,
“Now, you must remember, his intention is to goad you into doing something out of line with his accepted form of diplomacy, providing him with excuse for a little bloodletting…yours and probably the prisoners’, including Sirion’s. That must not be allowed to happen!”
Mihai moaned, “How is a good old impetuous person like me going to stop from doing something stupid and not get us all killed?!”
Smiling, Ma-we patted her daughter’s arm. “You will do the best you can. That’s all I expect. The rest? The rest…well, I’m sure it’ll work out.”
Mihai’s head whirled, thinking of the many ways she could deliver tragedy and death upon the innocent at the coming prisoner exchange. Ma-we’s gentle love strokes helped soothe the woman, releasing her fears to the day. Why should one trouble over coming moments when the Maker of Worlds cradles that person in her arms?
Resting her head against the back of the divan, Mihai whispered, “Yehowah, I love you...”
Ma-we broke out with a silly, cooing song, a little ditty she has sung to so many of her children.
“When the birds of summer come home to roost,
will you still play the fridderler dee?
Or will you say ‘I am all grown up!’
and no more will come ‘round for tea?
Will you dance in my garden to the leafy leaf’s tune, or cry out, ‘I’m too big for those kinds of toys!’?
Oh, stay with me child,
until I can grow up.
Oh, stay with me…
and make my heart smile.”
She repeated the tune over and over, changing the musical tones ever so slightly each time. To the ear of the listener, the altered tune would change the meaning of the song, rousing new and different emotions from the stanza before. It was not long before Mihai was humming along with Mother’s singing.
Mihai’s thoughts drifted to and fro as she thought of her mother. ‘Yehowah’ was a name given her by the children, reminding them of promises to be kept. It was a reassuring name. Then there was ‘Lowenah’, a name Mother had given herself so long ago, long before Mihai was born.
‘Ma-we’? That was Mihai’s secret name given to Mother many long years ago, when she was but a child. Now, what was its meaning? Why, this day, should she ponder its existence?
She was interrupted when Ma-we softly asked, “You have journeyed far this day to gain my ear. Tell me please, child, what business presses your soul to distraction?”
All Mihai’s earlier trepidation and fear reawakened to do battle with her mind.
Mother appeared confident that her daughter could continue to lead the armies of the Children’s Empire. Mihai felt differently, but she did not want to hurt her mother, at least any further than she believed she already had.
Lifting her hand to her forehead, Mihai closed her eyes, groaning, “Mother… my sweet, dear Mother, I do not wish harm upon you because of my childish actions, but listen, please, to what I have need of argument for. There exist others in this land who can carry the torch of battle in a more qualified manner. Gabrielle, herself, has set such a stalwart example, being far better at it than myself.” She began to plead, “Mother, today, this very hour, your daughter has shown her weakness of command. There comes a time when other hands must gather the banners of war and another soldier must share in the responsibility of slaughter.” With tears, Mihai concluded, “I have come to request your acceptance of my resignation as field marshal over the armies of the Children’s Empire.”
Ma-we softly stroked Mihai’s leg, asking, “My daughter, who among the children of this world is as qualified as you to lead this great host? Ah, but for Gabrielle? Little do you know about her, not enough to judge her worthiness of again leading my armies.
Qualified? Yes! But I shall not have her ruin be at my hand. Who among my children besides her has the qualities needed to bring us victory?”
As a feeling of hopelessness grew in Mihai’s heart, she could feel the demon within slowly crawling into her waking mind, blurting out, “Mother, there is a beast inside me that grows in power from day to day! I fear it shall soon overtake my mental abilities!”
Tears began anew. “I have carried the commander’s staff for too long. I hear the laughter of the beast when I issue the sentence of death on my followers…your children.
Now when I stand the admiral’s bridge, I feel the monster’s excitement, wishing me to send more people to the slaughter. It cries out to me in the voices of all who have fallen under my sword! It uses the songs of friends and lovers to mock me and discredit my motives. It throws my mind into a raging river of blood where the slain, both the evil and the good, cry out to me, cursing me for their death.”
The demon was fully awake now, ignoring the harmonic peace found in this protected place. It began to hiss in disgust, chiding Mihai over her desire to remove herself from command. ‘What is it that it hates? Power? No! It loves power, but is stupid in how it uses it. Listen to me and I will show you the true glory of power. I will make you great with it! Then I will let you rest…then…’
Mihai cried aloud. “Leave me go, or I shall burn us both in Hell’s fire!” The monster yelped in fear, but refused to leave. Mihai now cried out to her mother. “I fear that the day will arrive when this beast will overcome my reasoning! Should that happen in an hour of need, oh, the many souls I might bring down to nothing for, if I am taken over by this madness within, the whole world will dissolve into destruction as I turn on the innocent! And I shall bring evil upon the land, flooding over all good things, crushing and destroying all goodness, until nothing but the dust of memories remains!”
The demon clawed its way further into Mihai’s consciousness, attempting to wrest control from the woman. Mihai groaned, sighing, her voice trailing off. “I am tired… oh, so tired. What is this day that I should rejoice, for I call out to friends who cannot call back. Then comes smoke of ages passed and I crawl through it only to find pain and suffering!”
Suddenly, Mihai, eyes wild with fear, screamed, “The beasts! The beasts! They are tearing me apart! Oh, god! My belly is burning up with fire! His laughter! His stinking, black breath…his wild laughter is shredding my mind! I am falling, falling!
The stench of my own bowels fills my nostrils!” Desperate words fraught with hysteria rent the air. “I am choking on my own vomit, and his laughter, his ugly laughter! ” The woman raged on and on, her words more and more incoherent, mumbling strange, disjointed phrases as she babbled on about nothing and everything.
In her head, the demon laughed its little ditty as it clawed away at Mihai’s sanity, seeking escape from its prison.
“A moment more!
A moment more!
And I shall rip apart this door,
That binds me to this horrid place.
And through these bars,
I’ll make escape...
But not alone will be my fate,
For your mind and soul I’ll also take!”
Out of the frantic, wild throes of a growing seizure, Mihai bolted upright, screaming angry curses and defiant oaths. As her eyes locked in a glassy stare and fingernails tore through skin and flesh, she suddenly froze like a haunted statue.
Focusing all her power inward, Mihai went on a hunt for the demon. Upon seeing the madness in her heart, the monster screeched in fear and anger, “Let me go! Let me leave this horrid place! Curse your filth…your stink…your heart! Putrid thing! Putrid thing! Let me go! Let me leave!”
With a banshee’s fury, Mihai struck, catching the demon and throwing it down. As they struggled with one another, she hurled threats and curses. “Shall you find me so kind on the ‘morrow, I will tear you asunder and feed your soul to all good things! Seek me and I will imprison you for all eternity until all life ceases its existence!”
Thrashing about to gain release, the monster finally got a grip on Mihai’s arm, sinking its fangs deep into her flesh. Mihai cried out in pain, releasing the beast. Off it raced, screaming at her with threats and oaths.
As the curses faded away, Mihai found herself drifting further into a fathomless darkness, floating aimlessly in a black fog, seeing and feeling nothing. Eventually the woman began to sense a gentle rocking motion and then a quiet voice calling her name.
“Michael… my darling little Michael… Little child, come back to me…”
Mihai’s eyes slowly fluttered open, gradually regaining their focus. Ma-we sat close, arms wrapped around her, humming a silly tune that stirred Mihai’s memory into recalling happier times, when the world was a friendlier place to be. Soon the recent ordeal with the demon was little more than an unpleasant dream.
Recalling her earlier request to be relieved of command, Mihai fitfully whispered,
“You see what the blackness does when it overtakes me? What would be our fate should I be overcome at a critical moment? Mother, I dare not take such a chan…”
Ma-we stopped her daughter. “Now, Michael, that’s not the case at all and you know it! My dear child, this creature of darkness dares not enter your world until you
have relaxed your hold on its barred door. Indeed, I saw that you were nearly free of it this day. That was at least my hope.”
“Your hope?!” Mihai was disturbed and perplexed. “How could you hope such a thing?! The monster would have stolen my very being, clear to my hidden mind if I had permitted it leave!”
Ma-we’s smile was sweet but sad as she shook her head. “This place is not like your world, for the laws of the universe do not hold dominion here. I, alone, can dictate good and bad in this place.” She returned to stroking her child’s arm. “For reasons that you are not privy to at this time, had you surrendered to this beast within and given up your glory to it, it would now be only a bitter memory. No longer could your brother’s creation trouble you.”
Mihai stared at her mother in disbelief.
Ma-we sighed. “Even the most loving among my children has little faith. Faith is what you lack, the same as your brothers and sisters. Indeed! Had faith the size of a mustard seed been found among your kind on that first day of darkness, this world would not have been consumed with evil.”
A feeling of being insulted rolled with the words off Mihai’s tongue. “What is faith if I and my kind have not displayed it? Have we not given all that is ours to you, trusting that you will deliver us in the ending hour?”
Ignoring her child’s tone, Ma-we replied, “Faith is not what your think it to be.” She pointed first to her head and then her heart. “Faith is born not here, but here. It is not the blind acceptance that someone will make it right…save you, so to speak. It is the wisdom of harmonic feeling, the knowledge in your heart that the entire universe has been designed in my image. It has my soul living within it.”
She took Mihai’s hand. “Truth be told, if my children – the leaders of your kind – if they had demonstrated, en mass, the faith they should have possessed, the harmonic power they could have produced would have withered the very evil lurking in your brother’s heart. He and his co-conspirators would have turned to dust that very day.”
Turning away, Ma-we sighed, “Now the very future of all living things rests in doubt. Faith is but a fleeting hope in a strange and wild people, that they can gain understanding to harness the power of the harmonics and bring to nothing the discord before it destroys the universe.”
Patting Mihai’s hand, she looked into her daughter’s face. “You have proved your metal this day. You chide yourself, preaching your weaknesses, yet you stand a pillar of strength. Where among my children is there another like you to lead and direct my children?” Not allowing her daughter to reply, she added, “This day I will provide you a helper to slow the demon’s advance. It shall not trouble your waking hours for many days to come. Do be careful, though, for it will still attempt to swage your thoughts into doing its will.”
Ma-we went on to console Mihai, finishing with a word of hope. “Although my powers to destroy your monster shall no longer be available - for I see your will is so strong - should I succeed at the demon’s destruction, I would also destroy my daughter in the process. I see a man who is yet to prove to be a man, come in power and glory to bring to nothing what was created so long ago.”
“My dearest one, most cherished of all my birthlings, when my daughters delivered you to this room, this very divan, I was helpless to assist you. When my strength
returned, I saw the damage done to your body and hurried to rescue you from death. I also looked into your mind, searching for mental trauma, not perceiving your brother’s inventions. He having kept them secret from me, I failed to find the seed of darkness he implanted in you. Only when your little sister revealed her monster within did I explore your mind. By then, the beast had become so entwined with your soul, like with your sister, I could not destroy it without damaging or killing your very being.”
“So, my dear child, my hope was for this day, here in this very place, that I could bring to nothing what has become so strong. I have waited so long for this hour. Alas, your rescue now lies in the hands of your Shiloh to do what I can no longer accomplish.
You must learn to trust this boy and have faith that his wisdom is greater than yours.”
Pushing down a growing fear, Mihai promised, “I will listen to his voice! I will! I will!” She closed her eyes, softly crying.
Still patting Mihai’s hand, Ma-we spoke, more to herself than to Mihai. “There remains yet hope hanging upon a thread, but hope it is. The ‘morrow brings a new sun, and with it glory renewed.”
Cradling Mihai’s face in her hands, Ma-we kissed her daughter, comforting her.
“My Love, do not think your road too long or your adventure so harsh. Remember, it is the most perilous journey that is fondly remembered, the adventure most often retold.
The more chilling the wind, the warmer the blazing hearth. You must remember that you do not walk through your valley of death alone. I would never abandon your heart. Now, my lovely one, you have time to gain needed rest here before your journey begins. Take advantage of that rest and enjoy some time with your family and acquaintances. You stay alone with your thoughts way too much. First we will finish our business!” She rubbed her stomach. “But not until we have gained some nourishment.”
Taking Mihai’s hands, she pulled her daughter up from the divan. “Come, please, we shall conjure something up together.”
* * *
The luncheon was a delight, taking Mihai’s mind completely off any earlier unpleasantries. With Mother’s help, she conjured up hot biscuits, sweet jams, a stick of salted, herbed cheese, two goblets of Medeba mint-cherry wine, and all sorts of little goodies that make a meal just right.
Although a few of the oldest children could master some ‘control over the elements’, as such mind manipulation was often called, only Ma-we had ever demonstrated it this powerfully. Sharing her ability by channeling her energy through Mihai’s mind, but letting the girl choose what appeared for the feast, was appreciated and enjoyed, making the meal taste so much better.
After watching dishes and leftovers vanish from sight, Ma-we suggested they retire to the balcony. “The breeze drifts up from below, carrying with it the fragrance of so many summer flowers. Come, take my ivory chair and recline. The golden willow one I shall have.”
The two strolled out to the balcony, chatting about unimportant matters. Mihai sat, patting her flowing dress to smooth it. Ma-we stopped behind her chair, gazing over the handrail at the garden below. Her clothing, other than a necklace of diamonds and rubies, and an anklet of sapphires, was but her long, golden hair dancing and floating on the
breeze. When asked once by a newcomer to her world why the children so often went naked, she answered, surprised, ‘Why, I have clothed them already! See how all that is private to each is hidden by downy fluff?’ She laughed. ‘And it is so easy to wash...’
Ma-we remained silent for some time, pondering the hours – past, present and future.
The sun had long waxed high past the noon hour before she spoke. Time was such a fleeting thing. Today…today Ma-we had long ago chosen to be a pivotal point in Fate’s history…if Chance smiled on her. Faith was the only gift she had to curry Chance’s favor – faith that her daughter could comprehend the meaning of true wisdom. Well, she would do her best to ignite that wisdom, starting this moment.
Mihai patiently waited for her mother to speak. The morning had belonged to her.
Now was Lowenah’s turn. She did not know if Ma-we would approve her resignation, but Mother had not rejected it either. If the issue was to be addressed today, it was not to be done by her mouth. Ma-we knew her daughter’s desires. She also knew her daughter’s heart better than Mihai.
How to start? Ma-we puzzled. The future of all life in the realms above and below might well depend on decisions made this day. She thought of counsel she once offered to Tolohe, ‘The wise often do not act wisely because they attempt to see wisdom through the eyes of another wise one. Wisdom is to make decisions based not on the knowledge of others, but on your own. If you ignore the emotional wisdom of your heart, seeing it as mere foolishness, and choose to follow only the enlightened wisdom of your mind, then you will surely fail.’
Today, Mihai must decide the fate of worlds. There was nothing else for it. Mother had surrendered her sovereign powers up to her children when she endowed them with freedom…freedom to choose for themselves fate’s course. Mihai must have the same freedom today and her mother must be careful in word and action not to violate that right.
Should she fail, by robbing her daughter of this most precious gift, then all would be lost anyway.
Ma-we smiled. There was hope. Mihai was very emotional. Her eyes still fixed on the garden below, Ma-we softly asked, “My child of the Golden Age, Mistress of the Emerald Sea, and heir of all things good in my heart, do you love me?”
What a simple question! In the world of men, it is carelessly bantered about whenever the heart flutters in disquiet. But, for Mihai, it was like the edge of a blazing sword, piercing flesh and spirit. What great failure on her daughter’s part had driven Lowenah, the mother of Love – indeed, the very essence of Love – to question the motives of this most loyal of children? What evil did she see in her child?
Troubled to the point of being distraught, Mihai faltered, fearing the response from her reply. “Mother, the light of all my life, my heart knows no other like that of the love in my heart for you. If your little child has failed in her love, please, show her where she must correct her understanding.”
Ma-we remained silent, seemingly absorbed in the visual delights of the garden.
After what seemed an agonizing eternity for Mihai, Ma-we responded with another question. “Michael, daughter of the dawn, swaddled in moonbeams, serenaded by the swans, child of my flesh, do you trust me?”
Mother’s words were filled with endearments, but Mihai could tell they were only a candy coating for a very bitter pill. It was obvious that Lowenah was probing the woman’s very being, searching her to her kidneys, but for what? In what way was Mihai
lacking? How had she injured her mother’s heart so as to be receiving such punishment?
Was she going in the way of her evil brother, just not arrived there yet?
No! Mihai could not believe her soul was so corrupted as that. Yet in some way she had failed…or was failing. In agony of heart, Mihai cried out, “How has the child of your dreams come to despise the Giver of life?! I cannot see the darkness of betrayal you impute I carry. Please, my Lord, my God, how do I lack trust in you?!”
Unmoved, Ma-we asked yet a third question. “My precious love, child of the free days, ruler as if Firstborn, to whom all things have been given, to whom do my children belong? Who is their God?”
To Mihai’s already aching heart, this question added bewilderment and confusion.
Mihai was not god over the souls of this place. Never had she contemplated such a thing.
Asotos did! Was Mother implying that her daughter had, in some way, also sought godship for herself?
With tears, Mihai pleaded with Ma-we, “Mother! Oh, Mother! Creator of all things!
Where have I failed you and how have I stolen your crown from off you? Please! Your child begs you. Do not torment her soul any longer! What wickedness is she guilty of?”
Ma-we did not reply swiftly. She was waiting for her daughter to absorb the full impact of the lesson being taught. Oh, yes, Mother was there for the present, to assist in time of need. She frowned at the thought, because off in the distance she could see a darkness ever growing. There were days coming when her wise counsel might well be far out of reach of her children. Mihai would then have to depend on her own heart to guide her across jagged skies.
“Tell me, oh king over all living things…” Ma-we paused for effect. It worked very well. In only seconds, Mihai was sobbing in near uncontrolled tears. Mother’s tone of voice had carried with it an accuser’s tongue, implying a usurper in her company. Ma-we smiled to herself. Her child was not arrogant, proud or boastful, that she could tell. It is most interesting what a few well-placed questions can reveal.
Ma-we patiently waited for her daughter’s tears to subside and then began to quiz Mihai on lessons past. “Tell me, please, when you long ago walked among men of clay, did you not see the evil of men over-lording men?”
Mihai nodded.
Turning to face her, Ma-we continued, “And did you not see how men would honor me with their lips, yet despise me with their actions?”
“Yes.”
“And yet, those very men who so openly praised me rejected my power to bring a rebirth to those who had come before them. Am I not right?”
“Yes, Mother! You are so right.” Mihai nodded.
Leaning forward, Ma-we squinted, eyeing her daughter. “If I recall correctly, when confronted by those same wicked men, you confessed openly that I was the ‘God of the living’, expressing your full confidence in my abilities to renew life. Is that not what you, yourself, said?”
Mihai’s heart beat in trepidation, knowing that, in some way, her actions had stirred this conversation. But, as Mother was so skilled at doing, the girl’s curiosity had been roused. No matter how painful the lesson, she must hear it out. She answered, “Yes, Mother, those were my words to them.”
Standing back, Ma-we asked, “Indeed! What ability did I pass along to you while your feet tread the fields of that land?”
With eyes not yet understanding, Mihai responded, “You handed over to me the gift of life renewed in order to prove to the wicked that you were a God to be reckoned with.”
Ma-we wagged her finger. “And…after you, yourself, had been cut off from life among the people and your spirit had returned to the Field of the Minds, what did I do for you by my own hand?”
Mihai lowered her eyes, beginning to comprehend. Her reply was subdued, “You returned my spirit from the Field of the Minds, placing me in a body even more glorious than the one I earlier possessed. You returned me to the living.”
Turning her back on Mihai, Ma-we walked to the balcony’s rail, peering up toward the cloudless sky. “Tell me, Michael, daughter of eternity, the light of all lights…to whom do the children belong?”
“To you, Mother…to you!”
Ma-we’s head snapped around, her eyes aflame, “Tell me, then, daughter of foolish and ignorant thought, why do you steal them from me, gathering them to your own bosom, when you can do nothing for them at all?!”
Mihai was caught up speechless.
Ma-we pointed a finger at her chest. “My milk was the first fruits for all my children! To suckle first at my breasts was the gift I gave to living things. My name that is yet secret to all my children is a name given me by the Ones Who Came Before to give glory to the Maker of life. Into my bosom do all the children, the wicked and the just, come!”
“Michael, into your hands have I placed the authority to bring death upon my children, the wicked and the righteous. But you cannot give one moment of glory to what is mine, alone, to give. To me does life belong and to me…” she thumped her chest again, “my children yet live!”
Ma-we added an explanation. “You have led my children into battle, fighting great wars in my name. You have ordered their death, but forgotten who they are willing to die for. Your have taken personal responsibility for the death of each one, forgetting they are a free people, making free choices, choosing a course they feel is best for all.”
“You have cursed yourself for foolish actions, while my children, many far wiser than you, silently obey your commands. They do it not out of fear of you, for my children do not fear you, but it is out of love for me, because I placed you in such a relative position. They do what is right because they see it as the right thing to do.” She pointed down toward her garden. “Michael! My children would follow that turnip if I ask them to. They follow me!”
Ma-we gestured, waving her hands to and fro. “Michael, one who is field marshal is but a tool of mine, a living, breathing, thinking tool. I wield it as I see fit. Should I say to it, ‘go forth and slaughter the world,’ it will do as I command. The one who is my field marshal has thus surrendered up their freedom to follow my whim. They have become a slave to me, the true master of the sword.”
“Do you not understand, Michael? When you place guilt upon your soul for the needless slaughter of my children, you are implying that I am no better than the Wicked One, sending my children to the death in an unholy war. If the axe cannot cut down the
tree because it is not sharpened, do you hold guilty the axe or the woodsman? Michael, you are declaring me, the woodsman, guilty, because you accuse me of using a dull axe!”
“My child,” Ma-we was pleading for her daughter to understand, “you make my war with your brother invalid because you take away its righteousness! You carry in your soul the memories of lost loved ones as if you’ll never see them again! You become a false prophet, crying out with your mouth my praises, while with your actions you say that I am impudent - or worse, a liar! How is that showing love to me, if you declare me the one acting with falsehood?”
Ma-we did not leave Mihai time to rest in thought. “If your heart believes this war is unnecessary, thus the needless slaughter of righteous souls, you are saying to me that I have made a hasty decision and trod the way of the stupid one. Your words of self-deprecation imply that I…I am little better than a fool! Who can trust a fool?! And…!”
Ma-we repeatedly poked a finger into her opened palm. “And if your soul fears never seeing your loved ones again so that you must somehow protect my little lambs, you have committed thievery against me, stealing my children from my bosom!”
Abruptly turning away, Ma-we walked to the far end of the balcony and spun around, resting her hands on the ornate rail behind her. With majestic power, she demanded, “Michael, my trusted lieutenant, address me, please, regarding my words! As my chief steward, speak to me! Are my words not legitimate in their context and truth?!”
The blood had long since drained from Mihai’s face, her pallor reflecting remorse and sadness, her heart aching with a desire for death. Yet, as Ma-we well knew, Mihai was made of good stuff. The woman would not allow her emotions to rule the day.
There was a lesson in Mother’s words – words, mind you, that she had so carefully conjured. Mihai pushed away the pain, seeking the prize of understanding, for understanding might just bring her wisdom, and wisdom might save her from disaster.
At long last, Mihai answered with halting reply, “Yehowah…the Maker of promises and Fulfiller of dreams, your servant - the tool you have put faith in - your servant girl does not have a reply for you. Should she live a million more moons, would there be found wisdom at her feet? Or if she suckled a million sons, how would it compare to the lives of your children? A prattler of empty thoughts and purveyor of mindless sayings is your daughter. Why does your wisdom allow her continued breath?”
She sat silent in thought as Ma-we ambled back, reclining in her willow chair.
Gradually her color returned. After a long, remorseful sigh, Ma-we’s child mourned,
“Naked I came into this world, knowing nothing and caring even less. It appears that I have learned little since. I have acted so foolishly because I saw you through my heart, not accepting your wisdom could be far greater than mine, and your viewpoint far different. My little world of desire, wishing for things that lie in the ashes of the past, made me forget the reason I still live, why my brothers and sisters live. We are your agents, for good or for bad. Who are we to question you?” Looking into Ma-we’s eyes she asked, “Please forgive…”
“Listen, then, and become wise!” Ma-we went on with her lesson, not wanting to hear the confessions of a troubled heart. “People act foolishly. Why, if you include foreknowledge as part of the margin of wisdom, chiding someone for the lack of prescience, then I guess you could say that no one is exempted from foolishness…no one…which means we - including me - are deficient in wisdom.”
She leaned forward, staring at a very surprised Mihai. “That’s right! I have acted without wisdom, and on more than one occasion! Remember I said that I had failed to consider that a monster might be living in your mind? And what of the Rebellion? My heart refused to listen to the wisdom of my hidden council, warning me that such a thing would happen.”
“Wisdom is based on knowledge, reasoning and understanding. If any one is lacking, then wisdom can never be achieved. Should a ship’s captain reason, ‘if a strong wind drives the vessel faster than a breeze, then a tempest should hurry us even more quickly to our destination’, the only destination achieved will be one of disaster. Was the captain’s knowledge of the wind in the sails wrong?” She waved her hand, shaking her head. “No! But he lacked reasoning or understanding. I have no need to explain to you why such a viewpoint would be foolish, but you do need to see that, to the captain, his conclusions drawn were reasonable and possibly wise, not foolish.”
“What of the proverb ‘let the inexperienced one become wise’? To become wise, you must first accept your own limitations concerning a matter, whether it be from lack of knowledge, insight, experience or…or for any other reason. Don’t try to out-think yourself… your personal abilities, I mean. If you would not make unattainable promises just to soothe someone’s soul, don’t do the same because you believe it is the right thing to do. In either case, you will fail in the end.”
Mihai argued, “I grasp your words…at least I would like to think I do. But there have been times I did seek wisdom, not only my own, but that of my greatest counselors.” She shook her head. “We still met with disaster. Memphis…”
“Let go of Memphis!” Ma-we sputtered. “Do you know for a certainty that you might not have averted an even greater disaster? I will tell you, Legion was preparing a massive counterattack that could well have swept your lead forces from their works and possibly been able to drive you to surrender. The Spider’s Lair is an impossible place to hold without proper ground support. Had he succeeded in his plan, your losses would have been double and…and you could never have forced an armistice on your brother.”
Mihai was shocked and surprised. “How…”