The Cosmic Logos

by Traci Harding

  Nobody present seemed very keen to let the two most senior advisors of the alliance depart in the middle of a crisis.

  ‘Did we not learn this lesson in ancient Gwynedd, during the Ossa debacle?’ Tory drove home her point. ‘By leaving the Saxons out of our alliance for the first twenty years, Mahaud was awarded the perfect opportunity to cast her dark influence over Mercia. The Tablet of Destinies has already named Gaia as the target most likely to be exploited should the Dark Lodge rear its ugly head at this time.’

  ‘You’re speaking as though a holy war is imminent,’ Thais, the leader of the Centaur race, noted.

  ‘It is not my intent to alarm anyone,’ Tory emphasised. ‘But better that we are prepared for the event, than to find ourselves faced with a catastrophe akin to the sinking of Atlantis once again.’

  Having been on Gaia during the great deluge that claimed the greatest civilisation ever known on that planet, Thais nodded to second Tory’s intention. ‘Best cover all our bases.’

  ‘Exactly,’ Tory agreed, turning her sights on her brother, Brian. ‘So unless Lahmu objects, Maelgwn and I intend to leave for Gaia immediately following this meeting.’

  Brian had been ruling the alliance for twenty years without any aid from his sister and the Dragon, and yet still he was reluctant to lose their guidance. ‘How long do you foresee your stay on Gaia will be?’

  The big question. Tory looked at her husband who merely winked to encourage her to be honest. ‘To make any real difference on Gaia, we suspect our move could be a permanent one.’

  The announcement was met with great gasps and shocked mutterings, primarily from Tory and Maelgwn’s six children, who were all present, including their eldest daughter, Rhiannon, who was head of KEPA, the Kila Environmental Protection Agency.

  ‘Now that we have seen our children grow and assume their positions on this great council, Maelgwn and I have outlived our usefulness here on Kila.’ Tory endeavoured to allay everyone’s shock. ‘To stay here would be nothing short of self indulgence for us.’

  ‘But we shall see you again?’ Sparrowhawk beat his siblings to the question.

  The look of abandonment on Sparrowhawk’s face was breaking Tory’s heart, but she could make him no promises. ‘We hope so.’ Her son did not seem at all appeased by her answer, but bowed his head to accept their decision. She could empathise with her children, having felt the same rejection and loss when her parents had chosen to ascend to the causal realm of existence, along with her lifelong mentor, Taliesin Pen Beirdd. Tory’s sights returned to Brian.

  Obviously this move was deeply important to his sister, brother-in-law and the greater good. Tory and Maelgwn would never upset their family like this without just cause — the decision can’t have been an easy one to make. ‘I feel I speak for everyone when I say that your departure will be mourned by all within the planetary alliance for some time to come.’ Brian became rather more emotional than usual, but realising personal sentiment was quite out of place in the parliament, he swallowed back his tears. ‘However, it is not for me to question what the creator has decreed. You have my leave to pursue your quest as you see fit. May the Light of the Logos illuminate your path always.’

  Under the large round conference table, Maelgwn gripped hold of Tory’s hand and gave it an excited squeeze. Saying goodbye to their friends and family would not be easy, but to ignore the prompting of their soul would be impossible.

  6

  FREEING THE SPIRIT

  Days passed, maybe weeks. It was hard to tell in trance, as he was. For a while Noah had thought that if he recited ‘The Great Invocation’ one more time he’d go insane. But persisting with his mental vigil to keep the crone’s conniving chatter at bay, the Sage was now finding the words of the creed deeply comforting. While he remained tuned out, he did not have to contemplate the reptiles that kept crawling over his motionless body as they went about their daily routine.

  ‘I know you wonder about the dark side, Sage.’

  Mahaud sounded as if she was in close proximity to him. But as Noah’s eyes were closed he couldn’t be sure that she wasn’t just toying with his perception.

  ‘I know you have a thing for my Chosen female incarnation, Tory Alexander.’

  Noah’s eyes shot open to find the crone still hovering over the cauldron. He badly wanted to argue against her foul claim, but to do so would simply be bending to her will; thus he decided not to bother gracing her with a response. He closed his eyes and continued with his recitation.

  ‘All the Chosen Ones have served the dark side in at least one lifetime and lost a small part of their higher self to the Dark Lodge. Light and darkness, good and evil, they must always coexist in balance. Without ignorance, greed, envy, anger, lust and fear to overcome, there would be no lessons, no point to existence. There would be no evolution, for want of a variety of stimuli to interact with.’

  ‘Mankind’s development is being hindered by the interference of the likes of you,’ Noah argued, annoyed that she’d drawn him into her debate.

  ‘Wrong, Sage boy. It is precisely my interference that quickens human development.’

  He couldn’t argue the point and the scholar hated that he was beginning to understand the crone’s hypothesis. The panic in his heart caused a heat to rise in his body and he began to sweat under the duress of resisting her influence.

  ‘So you see, scholar, that my dark purpose is just as important as your noble cause. We both serve the same almighty creator.’

  ‘No!’ Noah refused to concede this and a great rumble resounded through the cavern, then another and another — it sounded like the mountain that sheltered them was being rammed.

  ‘That will be my next brush with destiny calling,’ Mahaud commented, very calm about her impending defeat. But then, she could rest soundly knowing she would return to the realm of matter many times in the future.

  Noah stood up as bits of rock crumbled from the walls and sharp stalagmites began to drop from the ceiling like huge daggers. The back wall of the cavern came crashing in, destroying one of the wall torches. This breached the crone’s outer circle of influence and Noah was freed from her hold. A huge Dragon came crawling through the hole it had dug in the cavern wall and a small party of soldiers followed the huge creature into the cavern.

  ‘Well done, Rufus.’ A dark-haired teenage lad strode up to the beast to congratulate it. ‘I told thee we could put thy destructive tendencies to good use.’

  ‘Maelgwn,’ Noah uttered under his breath, recognising the legend in the boy.

  I feel all warm inside, the Dragon bethought his young male companion, in a sardonic tone. As Noah’s psychic talent had been returned to him, he caught the Dragon’s comment.

  ‘At least thou art not being hunted by the men of Dumnonia.’ Maelgwn advised the beast to look on the bright side.

  Thee promised to get me back into the Otherworld. Thee did not say anything about a crusade.

  ‘I’m sorry we got distracted, Rufus, but a few good deeds will make the Goddess look more fondly upon thy case.’ The lad looked to the inner circle of torches, but there was no sign of the witch. He spotted Noah, but was not given the chance to address him.

  ‘I was sorry to hear about thy mother, little prince.’ Mahaud’s spine chilling voice swept through the chamber. ‘But then, she always was a bit of a slut.’

  ‘I have destroyed thy source of substance, crone. I removed Cadfer’s head from his shoulders and this fell off.’ Maelgwn pulled a charm on a necklace from his pocket, and as he threw the item to the ground the Dragon torched it to a cinder with one small exhale. ‘I shall take thy evil implements and bury them where no one will ever find them. Thou hast no more power here.’

  ‘Easy come, easy go … there be more than one way to skin a Dragon,’ Mahaud replied, her voice coming from nowhere in particular. ‘Do and think what thou wilt, but I shall be seeing thee again, Maelgwn Gwynedd, and again … and again …’ Her sinister voice and laughter traile
d off into nothingness and all the torches in the cave went out.

  As much as he would have liked to stay and get to know the young Maelgwn Gwynedd, Noah willed himself to the entrance to the cavern, as it was the only place in this region and age that Noah knew and could recognise.

  Noah found himself confronted by an even larger force of soldiers, and an old, silvery-haired man who smiled broadly at the Sage’s sudden appearance.

  ‘A fellow druid,’ the old Merlin assured the wary warriors who had witnessed Noah’s miraculous manifestation in broad daylight. ‘I shall take care of this.’ He came forward and led Noah to where they might talk alone.

  ‘Taliesin?’ Noah whispered, guessing this man’s identity.

  ‘Are you looking for the High Merlin?’ the Druid queried with some interest.

  ‘As I am from the future and find myself stranded in this age,’ Noah outlined his woes briefly, ‘I believe Taliesin may be the only man alive who can help me. So, yes, I guess I am seeking him.’

  ‘Your tongue and attire would indicate that you are telling the truth,’ the Merlin acknowledged, raising his brow. ‘And your aura tells me that you are not one of Mahaud’s ilk.’ The old man winked at Noah and then leaned closer. ‘It is my guess that you are one of the Chosen.’

  Noah gasped and smiled, relieved by all the explaining he wouldn’t have to do. ‘Then you are —’

  The Merlin smiled and nodded, all traces of age fading from his appearance and within seconds, Noah recognised the Merlin, who had long since become an ascended master in the Sage’s present age.

  ‘Then you can help me?’ Noah felt sure of deliverance.

  ‘Perhaps.’ Taliesin raised an eyebrow, seemingly intrigued. ‘Our meeting is most fortuitous, as you can help me test a little theory for an enterprise that I’ve been musing upon.’

  The Sage could not suppress his smile as he realised that he was to be the test subject for Tory Alexander’s means to be brought back to the Dark Ages and begin the Dragon’s line of the Chosen Ones. ‘Would your theory have something to do with harnessing the universal energies that abide at marked ley line crossings on this planet, at certain times of the astrological year, for the purposes of time travel?’

  Taliesin was rendered speechless for a second. ‘You are indeed from the future,’ he reasoned.

  ‘Where your exploits are well documented, High Merlin.’ Noah bowed to indicate his great respect for the Merlin’s work, and Taliesin chuckled, rather tickled by the whole idea.

  ‘The universe always provides.’ The Merlin smothered his amusement when he spied the young Prince of Gwynedd traipsing up the hill towards them.

  ‘I have loaded all of the crone’s implements onto Rufus, High Merlin.’ He eyed over the Merlin’s strange companion and recognised him from the brief glimpse he’d had of Noah in the cave. ‘Mahaud hast been vexing thee too, I presume?’

  Noah was in ancient Gwynedd having a conversation with Maelgwn Gwynedd and Taliesin Pen Beirdd — he could barely contain his delight. ‘Aye, Prince Maelgwn,’ he replied, ‘she is a thorn in the side of many.’

  Noah knew Maelgwn was wary of the smile he wore, but he just couldn’t wipe it from his face. He didn’t know why he found the reality of Maelgwn as a teenager so amusing, but it was like witnessing a great lion reduced to a playful wide-eyed cub.

  ‘So where to next, High Merlin? I think my Dragon be getting restless.’ Maelgwn looked back to view his Dragon stomping about outside the cavern, showing little regard for the soldiers who were forced to flee out of the creature’s path.

  ‘I think we might be able to kill two birds with the one stone here.’ Taliesin placed a hand on Noah’s shoulder to assure him that he had their aid. ‘Send your troops back to Gwynedd,’ he instructed Maelgwn. ‘We three and the Dragon will take it from here.’

  The occult was thriving in early twenty-first century Gaia and thus it would be the perfect era to raise Mahaud from the sub-planes.

  Assuming a human form, Viper went shopping in London. With so many antique dealers and stores that dealt in esoteric tools scattered about the city, Viper had no trouble in acquiring the four implements needed to summon Mahaud back to the physical world: a cauldron, a sword, a dark crystal and a wand. According to Mahaud’s legend, the tools used for her summons did not have to be those that the crone had collected herself.

  Mahaud’s own collection of occult implements had been buried by Maelgwn Gwynedd soon after he defeated Cadfer. The evil tools were then found and used by the Saxon Warlord, Ossa, and were disposed of completely by Maelgwn’s son, Rhun, a quarter of a century later.

  But Mahaud’s spirit was not banished back to her realm of origin after the Cadfer debacle and the crone had made an appearance in Gwynedd fifteen years after Maelgwn had buried her equipment, making herself at home in Powys in the service of Chiglas. This was an oversight that Myrddin corrected, with the help of Gwyn ap Nudd, when the crone followed Maelgwn and Tory to the late twentieth century.

  However, the implements to be used for the crone’s summons were all required to have served a dark purpose in the past. The sword must have drawn human blood; the stone must have been used for dark ritual or purpose in the past; the cauldron must have boiled the blood of the living; the wand must be crafted from a twig off a branch used to burn a living thing to death.

  Viper avoided paying for any of his acquisitions by simply willing an item he desired back to the Aten. And when he returned to view his bounty, he felt very pleased with his efforts.

  He’d managed to find a large double-terminated smokey quartz crystal, hanging from a chain, which had cursed all who had ever had the misfortune of wearing it — all its victims had died whilst wearing the stone. The legend went that with each death the stone had turned darker. Now, it was almost pitch black.

  The cauldron he found had known a dark history with a child abductor, whose sick obsessions made the large iron pot very specific to Viper’s requirements.

  The fellow who was showing Viper the sword was unable to assure him that it had drawn human blood, so the pirate ran the salesman through just to be on the safe side.

  Viper then hunted down a feral cat, made a bonfire and burned the animal alive. And, snapping a twig from the branch to which the cat was secured, he acquired the last of his tools.

  Gazelle gaped at her brother’s tales, sickened by them.

  ‘What’s the matter?’ Viper slapped her shoulder in encouragement. ‘You’d better find your stomach if you want to rule the galaxy.’

  After her brush with the crone, Gazelle had already decided that she didn’t want any part in unleashing Mahaud. She felt she had to say something to her twin brother, for he wouldn’t listen to anyone else. ‘I’ll fight alongside you against the Chosen, Viper, but leading our people into the dark service of a witch was never the plan.’

  ‘It was always the plan,’ he retorted loudly. ‘Only now, with Orme Charichalum, our immortality will be permanent.’

  ‘The witch said that it would make your immortality permanent,’ Gazelle clarified. ‘She didn’t say if it would work for the rest of us.’

  ‘Of course it will work.’ Viper scoffed at her reservation. ‘We are bastards of Dumuzi born from the debauch.’

  Gazelle bowed her head, not as proud of their family history as her brother was. She was tired of being abused by her kindred and pretending to be amused by their perverted and corrupt obsessions. How she envied Cordella, happily married to one of the leaders of Lahmu’s council. The Delphinus Governess had appeared so radiant and content just prior to her abduction and Gazelle longed to know what such happiness felt like.

  ‘Well, I see no need to delay.’ Viper slapped his hands together and rubbed them vigorously. ‘Ready the recon unit and let us go find ourselves a sacred site to defile.’

  Gazelle nodded. What else could she do? She had no choice but to keep up her agreeable front. After a shot of gold Orme her brother’s immortality was at full strength, and
she knew he had the ability to read thoughts. Thankfully, he was not well practised in the psychic arts and so did not have full control of the talent. The problem for Viper in taking the light-giving substance was that it also sweetened his naturally dark nature, and thus he was not as suspicious and wary as he normally would be. This was the only reason he’d not discovered her aversion to his plans. Heaven help her if Viper got his hands on the immortality potion that Mahaud had suggested he use to quicken his dark potential; then there would be no stopping her brother, no end to the lengths Viper would go to in order to achieve his goals.

  After saying their goodbyes to Tory and Maelgwn, neither Brian nor Avery were in the mood for an interrogation. The Governor surprised Avery by only requesting that Avery speak to Fallon.

  ‘Viper has used Fallon’s attraction to you to seduce her to his cause. He’s hoping to turn her against me, and you.’ Brian took a seat, and poured himself a much-needed drink. He was not a heavy drinker, but today he needed something to sooth his shattered sensibilities.

  ‘I see the problem, Governor, and I will be happy to do as you request …’ Avery paused to frown.

  ‘But?’ Brian prompted his nephew to speak up.

  ‘Well, the last time I spoke to Fallon she slapped my face,’ Avery proffered, noting Brian’s expression turn curious, ‘so I doubt if she’d be any more receptive to my advice than your own, Governor.’

  Brian chose not to pursue the issue of Avery’s falling out with his daughter and swallowed his drink before speaking. ‘Look, I’m not expecting miracles. Just stay with her until I finish instructing and saying my goodbyes to the rest of the delegates of the council. It’s better than having a guard watching over her and she might open up to you.’

  ‘All right.’ Avery succumbed. ‘I’ll give it a bash.’

  ‘That’s a good lad.’ Brian rose, pleased by the outcome of their little chat. ‘I’ll speak to Fallon myself in a couple of hours.’