The Redemption, Volume 1

by Clyde B Northrup

  His footfalls made no sound as he walked on the spongy mold of decaying leaves, needles, and bark. The path he followed climbed closer to the granite cliff face jutting out of the forest, winding and turning back on itself as it climbed toward the cliff. He heard the sound of water falling, growing to a roar as he left the trees and approached the cliff. He paused at the final switchback, admiring the line of cascading water issuing from a cleft overhead and falling to a small pool some fifty feet below. The sound of the water, swollen by the spring melt, drowned out the chatter of the birds bathing in the mist. He reluctantly turned from the view, climbed the last fifty yards, and entered what appeared from the distance to be a crack in the granite cliff. A short, damp tunnel ended in a smooth wall, which he tapped seven times with the end of his now green-glowing staff. With the seventh rap, faint silver lines appeared, tracing intricate designs that surrounded the symbol of Shigmar about chest-high in the stone face. He pulled a silver amulet from inside his green robes, hanging from a chain around his neck, and placed it on the glowing symbol. The silver lines flared before fading, and the stone became transparent as a doorway opened into the glade. Still holding the silver amulet before him, he stepped from the darkness of the tunnel into the sunlight filling the glade.

  The clear blue sky bent down to touch the jagged, snow-capped mountains above him. Tall, ancient cedars filled the secret glade, blocking all other views. After Shigmar came to the valley to form his order of kailum, he received a vision of this secret glade and what he must do to enter. The first kailu found the waterfall and the narrow opening, and he created the orthek that would open the doorway and prevent the uninitiated from finding this secret place. In Shigmar’s order, the glade served as a place of vision and testing similar to the maghem’s Tower of Testing and the kortexem’s Mountain of Vision. At the end of his or her apprenticeship, the new kailu would go to the glade to be tested and perhaps receive a vision of his or her life’s work. Klaybear leaned on his staff and closed his eyes, drawing inner strength from the peace and solitude of the glade. As his vision turned inward, he felt the very air of the glade alive with elemental energy, and where the air touched his skin, the hair on his hands, face, and head tingled as the energy flowed from the surrounding air into his being. He shivered. Opening his eyes, he saw his hands and staff pulsing with power in time with the beating of his heart. Flash-flash, Flash-flash, Flash-flash . . . Flash-flash . . . the beat slowed, and he knew he had drawn too much energy. Flash . . . flash. He raised his staff and shouted the words, releasing a pillar of green fire heavenward, splitting the silence with reverberations that shook the ground and caused the ancient cedars to sway away from the fiery pillar, as if avoiding the unnatural concentration of elemental energy released by the apprentice kailu. Klaybear leaned heavily on his staff, swaying with the trees and again drawing energy from the air around him. He stopped the flow sooner this time, careful not to draw in too much. The last, distant rumbles of his fire faded, and he could almost hear the trees sigh patiently at another novice mistake, caused by the concentration of elemental forces in this sacred place.

  “Forgive, ancient ones,” Klaybear said with a bow.

  “They are used to it,” a new voice replied.

  At the glade’s heart lay a small clearing with an altar of stones. Behind the altar, a boulder, shaped like a chair, held the wethi who had spoken, dressed in similar green robes, hood, tunic, and breeches. One black-booted foot rested across the other knee; the boots were shiny, without a spot; the robes crisp and ironed; the wethi’s dark brown hair and beard groomed perfectly, and his eyes blue and bright, like his smile. Klaybear moved slowly toward him, renewing his connection to the elemental forces of the glade without drawing any to himself.

  “I am impressed by your childish display,” the stranger said; “do you often trouble the sky with such an ostentatious display of raw force?”

  “I was warned of the energy filling this glade, although unprepared for how quickly it would over-replenish my reserves,” Klaybear replied. “So you are right in calling it ‘childish’; it was a novice mistake.” Klaybear halted in front of the altar, leaning on his staff. “Who are you?” he asked, “I don’t remember seeing you at any of the annual gatherings of the mekala.”

  “A messenger, simply garbed in a manner that would be familiar to you,” the stranger replied.

  “Who sent you?” Klaybear asked.

  “No one,” the wethi said, and the blue of his eyes deepened, approaching violet.

  “Then. . . .”

  “I am both sent and sender, message and messenger. I am come to both open and close your vision, to inform and confuse, clear and cloud all the issues of your life.”

  “What?” Klaybear asked, confused.

  “You came seeking a vision, I sent and came myself to grant you a vision.”

  Before Klaybear knew it had happened, his link to the elemental forces surrounding him was severed and the energy he held within himself drained away. His knees gave way, hands slipped from the staff, and his body sank into darkness.

  Gar rose from his seat, eyes now a deep violet, and passed around the altar to where Klaybear lay in a heap. Stooping next to the fallen kailu, he grabbed the kailu’s right hand with his right hand; the unconscious Klaybear flinched at the touch of Gar’s hand. Smoke squirted from between their hands as the Lord of Evil continued to squeeze the fallen kailu’s hand, until a moan escaped from Klaybear. Then Gar released the hand, which continued to smolder, grunted some words, and Gar’s hand pulsed with red light. He pressed his glowing right hand against Klaybear’s forehead, the kailu arched in silent agony, and smoke again squirted from under Gar’s hand and between his red-glowing fingers. When the glow faded the Lord of Evil lifted his hand and examined the sign inscribed by fire into the fallen wethi’s forehead.

  “Now your waking will be little better than the nightmare of your sleeping,” Gar said. “Awake, the sign will mark your separation from those whom you would save. Asleep, the sign will open visions of your future, and the horror of your visions will leave you sleepless. Then, perhaps, you will truly taste the bitterness of being chosen.”

  Gar raised himself and faced the altar. His right hand held a ball of flame that he tossed onto the altar. The ball grew, brightened, and surrounded the altar. Sparks exploded from the altar’s flat surface, sizzling on the wet turf. The altar tumbled; the flames winked out, leaving the glade in mournful silence. The flat stone that had been the altar’s top now bore a mark, inscribed by flame from the same hand, similar to the mark, still smoldering on Klaybear’s forehead. Only after the fall of the altar did the Lord of Evil smile, his eyes becoming bright blue again. He gestured with his hand and a black archway opened in the air before him; he glanced once at the fallen kailu before stepping into the archway, which vanished as soon as he had passed through.

  Klaybear inhabited a shadow-world. Almost the moment consciousness returned, from long habit, a magluku flashed overhead, but its light was wan and pale. He felt himself rolled onto his back and saw a shadow reaching toward his right hand. He flinched when it touched his palm and arched in pain as his palm burned. He tried to cry out in anguish but felt his air blocked, his voice mute. His limbs did not respond to any command his mind issued, his body limp, numb but for the burning. He felt the shadow release his hand and the burning became less sharp although it lingered. Another shadow, pulsing with blackness, moved toward his forehead; his voiceless shout to flee went unheeded by his body. The pulsing shadow stabbed into his head, a dagger of pure flame slicing into the center of his mind. He wanted to scream, howl at the darkness, but his air was stopped. He heard only a slight moan escape his mouth in spite of the violent contraction of his diaphragm. His forehead screamed with agony where the shadow touched, and he again tried to will his body move away, to flee this torture, but his limbs remained limp. The shadow pulled away from his forehead, but the pain increased within his head. As if across great distances of time and
space, he heard words that slammed into him like boulders falling from great heights: Now your waking will be little better than the nightmare of your sleeping. Awake, the sign will mark your separation from those whom you would save. Asleep, the sign will open visions of your future, and the horror of your visions will leave you sleepless. Then, perhaps, you will truly taste the bitterness of being chosen. The shadows withdrew, and a point of light blinked on, racing suddenly forward and entering his mind through the wound he had just received. Images crashed into every corner of his thoughts, leaving him momentarily stunned by the speed and disorder with which they accosted his brain.

  Young haggard older dead brother father crawling trailing blood fluid leaking staining sand wind beach tattered cloth jagged splinter blood red gushing arching agony sliding eyes open vacant red masses hair flying wet rain running gheli yellow grinning teeth curved steel flying slicing flesh rolling red hair trailing blood stopping body headless eyes vacant staring skyward black hair hanging muscles straining bonds sapling arched slicing cloth naked ponkola gyrating hips mounting bound figure clawing vainly shouts voiceless arched dagger plunging chest heaving heart dripping blood eyes vacant crackling blue-black hair fighting alone slain wethem fallen under puri steel biting flesh withering stream blood bubbling drinking potion bottled agony body shrunken aging seconds crackling blue-black hair falling bald beauty withering sweating blood eyes sunken vacant flesh rotting falling round face curly brown hair feet entangling webs shuddering struggling vainly voiceless shouts misshapen monstrous spider-shape puri face slicing skin limbs consuming eyes vacant staring empty sockets purgle robed black bony hand shooting fire red hair flaming brother flying flaming falling sword exploding bony cage robe withering purgle brother eyes open ashes falling vacant crumpling body naked swollen lying lashing red hair honey slicing belly blood klare face hollow eyes blood vacant empty staring unchild empty vacant staring eyes green blood red vacant spilling staining green trampling grass laughterechoes laughterblood painlaughterstaring vacanteyeslaughter bloodbloodblood laughterpain painpainpainpain. . . .

  A soft voice, barely heard, called to Klaybear three times before he opened his eyes. He saw the tumbled altar with its new mark, a sign whose presence on the now fallen altar to the One stabbed his heart with fear. Every muscle ached. He pulled himself along the ground to the altar’s defaced top, grabbed a jagged piece of stone, and tried vainly to scratch out the sign still smoldering in the granite. He remembered the pain of his hand and forehead, recalled the fire still smoldering in palm and forehead, and again passed painfully into darkness.

  Older brother lost staining red tattered rags carrying shadow light rain soaking grass lightning flashing massed red hair passing crystal wind gheli tripping rolling head yellow teeth headless grimace red hair maghi holding brother lost blinking out black hair kortexi straining sapling ponkola gyrating hips arrow piercing blood throat gushing death stumbling blue-black hair falling life waters kortexi black mist rising beauty webs entangling awemi struggling older brother curved swords ice raining misshapen monstrous spider-shape puri face falling kortexi blade glowing slicing webs falling black-robed purgle rising bony hand shooting fire red hair flaming brother lunging flying sword exploding bony cage robe withering purgle brother eyes open ashes falling vacant crumpled body naked swollen lying lashing red honey hair slicing belly blood klare face empty staring eyes hollow green staining staff rod sword flaring belly whole lashes green white gold fire smoothing searing flesh blood chest moving eyes filling voice calling smile wicked robed evil dagger arching chest plunging open dead god laughter echoes blood stops dagger vanishing closing wound healing breath returning whirling black door Void thrusting evil robe anguish crying beyond timespacefallingclosing drawnoutscreamsclosing silence. . . .

  Kindly face white hair beard smiling eyes deep blue stars opening eternity mouth moving “thou art chosen art thou chosen chosen thou art art thou bitterness chosen thou art chosen bitterness” weeping mother rebel brother faithful world forming chaos oceans flowing mountains rising fountains trees plants fruits growing filling land grasses animals chewing swimming fish crawling mud insects flying people walking council voices dividing rebel brother falling inside rock confining light red sickly glowing tunneling rocks breaking surface taking children torturing purem bodies fires horns blackness red burning anger fighting brother kindly mouth “thou art chosen art thou chosen chosen thou art art thou bitterness chosen thou art chosen bitterness” interrupting bitter rupturing chaos staff rod sword shigmar melbarth karble kings seklesem evil rupturing order chaos opposition sustaining chaos order rupturing “bitterness chosen art thou bitterness thou art thou chosen thou art chosen art thou” kindly brother anger burning blackness horns trace bodies purem torturing children surface rocks glowing sickly falling rebel dividing council walking people flying insects swimming fish chewing animals grasses growing fruits plants trees fountains mountains oceans chaos world faithful rebel mother weeping “bitterness chosen bitterness thou chosen thou art chosen” eternity stars deep eyes smiling beard white face silence screams closing space time crying anguish evil void door whirling breath wound vanishing dagger blood echoes god dead open plunging dagger wicked smile voice eyes chest blood flesh fire belly sword rod staff hollow eyes staring empty face klare blood belly slicing lashing swollen naked crumpled vacant falling ashes eyes brother purgle exploding sword flying brother flaming hair fire bony purgle falling webs face puri spider-shape monstrous raining ice sword curved brother older awemi webs beauty mist black kortexi waters hair stumbling death throat blood piercing arrow gyrating ponkola sapling kortexi black brother maghi headless rolling gheli wind crystal hair massed lightning grass rain light shadow rags red brother lost red rags carried. . . .

  Klaybear wrenched himself awake, escaping for the moment the ebb and flow of his second vision. His right hand and forehead throbbed in time with the heavy beating of his heart. He again drew energy from the air around him, turning it upon the pain in his palm and head, trying to repair the damage suffered under the hand of the strange messenger. A deer fly buzzed past; the birds twittered above; the burning in palm and forehead cooled, charred flesh replaced by whole skin, but the mark remained, a black stain in the new pink skin of his palm. He altered the energy focused on his palm, using green kailu fire to erase the mark inscribed there. But the touch of his healing fire upon the mark only increased his pain, the wound widened, and blood flowed red across his palm and down his wrist. He moved like a three-legged dog to the stream, thrusting his hand into the water. The heat felt so intense that he expected steam to bubble out of his palm, but the clear, cold mountain stream merely washed the blood from his hand and arm. The mark shone darkly within his palm; he again turned the energy to healing, closing the wound, repairing the flesh. The crystal surface of the water calmed, giving him a sudden reflection of his face; the new pink skin highlighted the stain of the mark inscribed in his forehead. He turned his hand in the water, accidentally bringing the mark in his palm into the reflection of the mark on his forehead. When the reflection merged with the mark in his palm, red fire exploded from the water, striking the mark on his forehead, knocking him off his knees and onto his back, his head hitting one of the stones from the fallen altar.

  . . . shadow rain grass lightning massed red hair crystal wind gheli rolling headless grimace maghi holding brother black kortexi sapling ponkola gyrating arrow blood throat death hair life waters kortexi black mist webs awemi curved blades ice glowing kortexi stabbing monstrous spider-shape puri face falling webs purgle bony hand fire red flaming brother sword exploding purgle brother eyes ashes vacant crumpled body naked swollen lashing red honey hair slicing belly blood klare face staring hollow green staff rod sword belly whole fire searing flesh blood chest eyes voice smile wicked dagger chest open dead god laughter echoes blood dagger wound breath whirling black door void evil anguish beyond timespacescreamsclosingsilence. . . .

  Young older brother father blood fluid sand wind beach clot
h jagged splinter blood agony eyes vacant red hair wet rain gheli grinning teeth steel flesh rolling hair blood body headless eyes vacant skyward black hair muscles bonds sapling slicing cloth naked ponkola gyrating mounting bound clawing voiceless dagger chest heart blood eyes vacant crackling hair alone slain comrades purem steel flesh stream blood potion agony body aging crackling blue-black bald blood eyes vacant flesh round face curly hair feet webs voiceless misshapen monstrous spider-shape puri face skin limbs eyes vacant staring empty robe black bony fire green red brother flaming sword exploding robe purgle brother eyes ashes vacant crumpled body naked swollen hair honey slicing belly blood Klare face hollow eyes blood vacant staring unchild empty staring eyes blood vacant green grass laughter echoeslaughterbloodpainlaughterstaring vacanteyes laughterbloodbloodblood laughterpain painpainpainpain. . . .

  Kindly face white beard smiling eyes blue stars eternity mouth moving “thou art chosen art thou chosen thou art thou bitterness chosen thou art bitterness” weeping mother rebel faithful world chaos oceans mountains fountains trees plants fruits land grasses animals chewing fish swimming insects flying people walking council rebel falling rock light sickly glowing rocks surface children torturing purem bodies fires horns burning anger brother mouth “thou art chosen art thou chosen thou art thou bitterness chosen thou art bitterness” evil order chaos staff rod sword shigmar melbarth karble kings seklesem rupturing chaos order chaos order “bitterness chosen thou chosen bitterness thou art thou chosen thou art chosen art thou” mouth brother anger burning blackness horns fires trace bodies purem children surface rocks glowing sickly light rock inside rebel voices council walking people flying insects swimming fish chewing animals grasses growing fruits plants trees fountains mountains oceans chaos forming world faithful rebel mother weeping “bitterness art thou chosen bitterness thou art chosen thou art chosen art thou” mouth eternity stars deep eyes smiling beard hair face kindly silence screams closing space time crying anguish robe void door black whirling breath healing wound dagger blood echoes laughter god dead chest dagger wicked smile voice eyes chest blood flesh fire gold white green lashes whole belly sword rod staff green hollow eyes staring empty face klare blood belly slicing hair honey red lashing lying swollen naked body vacant ashes open eyes brother purgle robe bony sword brother flaming red green fire hand bony purgle robed-black webs face puri spider-shape monstrous misshapen older brother curved ice raining awemi webs beauty mist black kortexi waters life hair black-blue death throat blood arrow gyrating ponkola sapling kortexi black lost brother maghi red grimace headless teeth head gheli wind crystal red massed lightning grass rain light shadow rags red lost brother older lost. . . .