The Crooked Letter: Books of the Cataclysm: One

by Sean Williams

  Her Work continues even now, some say, in ways we can never know.

  THE BOOK OF TOWERS, FRAGMENT 143

  The hum was deep and resonant. It swept the twins up on its back and carried them on the harmonics of infinity. The temptation was strong to dissolve into it, to let all thoughts and concerns wash away forever like blood from a wound into an ocean.

  “Don't leave me,” Hadrian begged. “Stay here with me. Keep me sane.”

  Seth remembered swearing that he would rather be damned than admit that Hadrian was the missing piece of him. The irony of it all—that they should end up locked together for an eternity, like babes in a womb—was not lost on him. The noose of twinship had slipped around both their necks, and might not ever let them go. The faint promise of the future Meg had shown him now seemed very thin indeed.

  “Seth? Are you there?”

  “I'm here, little brother.” The words emerged from the void like a sigh, like a thought that belonged to both of them. “I can't leave you now.”

  Sandwiched in the knot that had once been Bardo but was now something else, the twins waited. They weren't in the First Realm; they weren't in the Second Realm; they were between, holding the worlds together like glue. There was no sensation in the void to mark the passage of time; there was no landscape to explore; there was nothing on which they could enact their will but each other.

  Seth remembered waiting for oblivion as his soul rose from the First Realm to the Second, a hundred lifetimes ago. There had been so much to live for, so many reasons to be angry about dying. Now, there was only one thing to cling to, one passion to keep him going, and it was all too easy to forget what that was in the dark.

  I set you both free…

  The hum swept over them like the breathing of an ocean, smoothing them out and removing their sharp edges. They rolled and tumbled in its embrace, in each other's embrace. Time passed, and they knew it not.

  The legends of the Goddess are as numerous as her names. Our Lady of the Eye, some call her, was said to have tamed the stone people of the earth, binding them in service to the heirs of the new world. The Three in One, according to others, caged the ghosts of the old times in towers of stone and subsumed the Powers of Places into the landscape they inhabited, making them amenable to human will. Still others tell how the Mistress of the Veil reestablished order in a fragmented world, teaching her subjects the ways of and guiding them towards mastery over the Change, so no deity would ever rule them again.

  The legends have one thing in common, no matter how widely separated in origin they might be. They all say that as long as Sheol still exists, somewhere, so does she, even unto today.

  THE BOOK OF TOWERS, EXEGESIS 14:24

  More Lost Minds joined them, sucked into the void by their efforts to complete the artificial ravine. It soon became apparent that the Change—the word they used for magic, as the twins did—was not limitless, that overexertion came at a cost. Those who pushed too hard and could not repay the cost were sucked whole into the pocket of nothingness trapped between the two realms. The twins did their best to soothe the fears of their new companions, although in reality they had no genuine succour to offer. There was only the void, and them.

  Reminded of who they had been, the twins tried to explain why they had done what they did; why halting the Cataclysm in midprocess had been such a good idea. If the First and Second Realms completely merged, Yod would win. If they went back to being completely separate, Yod would just try again—and win. If, however, the realms stayed exactly where they were, half-merged, half-separate, Yod would be caught in midleap, unable to do anything at all. It would be imprisoned in a kind of solitary confinement not dissimilar to the one the twins found themselves occupying.

  Xol had said: Yod hungers, so perhaps it can starve. That thought gave the twins comfort in the long dark.

  But that wasn't the only thing the twins had done. By removing themselves into the void, the twins had put the two realms into stasis, of a sort. The realms existed side by side instead of as one or completely apart. Although there was a lot of crosstalk between the old ways, the natural laws of the new world weren't completely fixed. Change—the Change—ruled where matter and will, separately, had once held sway. A kind of magic had returned to the world after an absence of many hundreds of years.

  Their guests listened to their story with amazement. Tales were told of the Cataclysm and the old world that had preceded it, but nothing like this was ever mentioned. Only in the legendary Book of Towers, a piecemeal account of the old times, did anything remotely like it exist, and that had long been regarded as little more than legend.

  Some of the Lost Minds expressed anger and dismay at the decision the twins had made, for it had caused great hardship. Others, however, praised their decision, for without it the Change would not exist as they knew it, and neither would the world they had previously occupied.

  Their guests listened and all sought a means to tell the world beyond the void. No way to leave was ever found, however, and no way to speak to the outside. The Lost Minds were trapped, and would remain that way for the rest of their lives.

  Time will not wear down Her memory or tarnish Her monuments. Her deeds echo along the halls of the ages. The world will not forget the deeds of She Who Walked the Earth, nor of those who walked with Her: Shathra the Angel, who saved Her from the ceaseless champing teeth of the underworld; Xolotl the Penitent and Quetzalcoatl the Slave, who died at each other's side during the Dissolution of the Swarm; the ghosts Anath and Megaira, who whispered advice in Her sleep; and the unnamed murderer She forgave, and whose words She blessed.

  THE BOOK OF TOWERS, FRAGMENT 278

  The twins withdrew into themselves as the Lost Minds argued about them. Their memories, their story, had long been dammed up by time and forgetfulness. It was all flooding back now. They had done and seen so much: bent worlds to their will and travelled the darkest of ways; conversed with gods and with those who would be gods; walked in the company of monsters and angels; had been tangled up in secret histories about which they had previously known nothing. They had killed.

  It rapidly became apparent that the Lost Minds’ life sentence was not just that. It was a death sentence, too. First Yugen lost her name, then her memories began to fade. Once gone, those memories could not be reclaimed—and soon others began to experience the same symptoms. The drone of the void stamped heavily upon them. As time passed their thoughts and speech grew faint, and they dwindled to nothing. One by one, the Lost Minds flickered and went out.

  The remaining Lost Minds learned the hard way that the secret of survival was to tell and retell the stories of one's life. If one's story was forgotten, one died. Passing from memory was the same thing as passing out of life in the strange world they clung to.

  The only thing saving the twins from such a fate was the ankh that had once burned on Seth's chest. This gift from the Ogdoad, the architects of the devachan, was all that staved off oblivion.

  FORGIVEN, the Eight had said.

  The twins retreated again, not cheered by the realisation of how casually they had been spared. Forgetting would have been easier somehow—until the time finally came to remember everything. If only, they sometimes thought, they could have had it both ways.

  There are tales of My Redeemer I will not relate. The sleepers will one day awake, and the world will know of them. The Lady saw what would happen in those times, although of this She never spoke. Who can know what might be undone when the quick returns for the dead?

  I write on, though my hands grow tired and death calls me once more. I write new words for a new age: Her words, from the dawn of our world. They are as relevant now as they ever were. May they continue to give comfort to those who are lost, as I was.

  THE BOOK OF TOWERS, FRAGMENT 42

  The flood of doomed minds eventually slowed to a trickle. Someone must have worked out the danger, the twins assumed, and taken steps to avoid it. Still, the void was rarely empty, especia
lly during times of great trouble, and there seemed to be plenty of that. They were never completely alone.

  Time dragged on, and on, and on.

  “You wanted this.” The twins watched from the depths of the void where they hid from the tragedies and frustrations of the Lost. It was difficult enough knowing that the people who joined them were doomed to fade away and die. Watching it happen and being responsible was utterly intolerable. “This is what you asked for, and you got it in spades.”

  “We both asked for it.”

  “It's not as though we had much choice.”

  “I tell you: we were doomed from the start.”

  “We were,” agreed his brother, “but not at the finish. There's still hope.”

  “Hope? I've forgotten the meaning of the word.”

  “Well, it hasn't forgotten you.”

  There was a long silence during which Seth reiterated the choice he had made: to fix the fucker who did this.

  “I'm glad you're here, Hadrian.”

  “Me, too,” came the reply instantly out of the dark. “Me, too.”

  To be continued in The Book Debt, Book Two of the Cataclysm

  OF THE SWARM*:

  Kalar-iti (she who is black-hearted)

  Kiskil-lilla (she of the night)

  Camunda (the blood-red)

  Giltine (she who stings)

  Kukuth (the sick-maker)

  Lamia (she who swallows up)

  Lemu (the nocturnal wanderer)

  Phix (the strangler)

  Striga (she who screeches)

  [*aka harpyai (the snatchers), hexe, kephn, pey, rusalka (the seducers), tii, vampire]

  OF THE SISTERS OF THE FLAME*:

  Adrasteia, Aglaia, Allekto, Anath, Atropos, Decuma, Urd

  Brigit, Euphrosine, Gabija, Lachesis, Nona, Sul, Teisiphone, Verdandi

  Klotho, Megaira, Mist, Morta, Skold, Thaleia, Wolkenthrut

  [*aka Aoroi, Charites, Disir, Erinyes, Eumenides, Fatit, Furiae, Idisi, Miren, Moirai, Moires, Norns, Parcae, Semnai Theai, Valkyrien]

  OF THE OGDOAD (THE EIGHT):

  Amun & Amaunet (invisibility, air, vitality)

  Huh & Hauhet (the eternity of space, immortality)

  Kuk & Kauket (the darkness that reigned before creation)

  Nun & Naunet (the primeval waters)

  OF THE HOLY IMMORTALS*:

  Armaiti (compliance, earth)

  Avesta (truth, fire)

  Horva (perfection, water)

  Maitreya (the kind one)

  Mannah (sound views)

  Shathra (war, metal)

  Srosha (obedience)

  (*aka Amesia Spentas, Pitaras)

  OF THE DUERGAR CLANS:

  Bes

  Dievnii

  Dwarf

  Gabal

  Kobold

  Hiisi

  Pateke

  Yaksha

  OF THE NINE MINOR DEII OF THE UNDERWORLD:

  Aeshma

  Aiakos

  Citipati

  Culsu

  Ereshkigal

  Erlik

  Iblis

  Nyx

  Vodnik

  OF KNOWN ENERGUMEN:

  Dagda Ollathir/K'op'ala

  Ea A'as/Haukim

  Esus Karitei-mo/He-li Di

  Harun/Moukir

  Haruna/Nakir

  Lama Ṡedu/Guta

  Neith Bechard/Aldinach

  Vilkata Lascowicz/Upuaut

  OF OTHER MIRROR (OR SIGNIFICANT) TWINS:

  the Alcis

  the Asvins

  the Iron Twins

  the Kabiroi

  the Leukippoi

  Castor & Pollux (the Dioskuroi)

  Romulus & Remus

  Xolotl & Quetzalcoatl

  OF THE FIRST REALM

  Dei: Baal (aka Ba'l, Baal-Hadad, Bel, Belos, Bol, Helal)

  Rival: Mot (aka Muth)

  Previous dei: Geb

  Minor dei: Kybele (aka Agdistis), Laskowicz (aka Vilkata)

  Inhabitants: the genomoi, among whom are numbered the Duergar Clans; the Ghul (aka Jinn) and the Feie (aka Charites, Gratiae, Kuretes); the energumen; the Swarm; humans.

  Characters: Bechard, Coatlicue, Elah-gabal, the Galloi, Gurzil, Kutkinnaku, Locyta, Mimir, Pukje, Tezcatlipoca (aka Moyocoya), Tlaloc, Utu.

  OF THE DEVACHAN

  The Devachan between the First and Second Realms is commonly known as Bardo. It has no occupants, and no dei. On the edge of Bardo is the underworld. The underworld is ruled by nine minor deii and inhabited by “devels,” which are divided into two classes: borphuro devels (aka Daevas) and tartikni devels (Dimanes). Regular commuters between First and Second Realms include: the Draci, the Dr'h, Gracchi, the Holy Immortals, the Ifrit, and the riders of the energumen. The entrance to the Devachan between the Second and Third Realms is controlled by the Sisters of the Flame and is commonly known as Sheol.

  OF THE SECOND REALM

  Dei: Yod (the Nail)

  Second: Gabra'il (aka Gabriel, Jibrill)

  Rival dei: Barbelo

  Inhabitants: daktyloi (left-handed), which are divided into elohim (aka high daktyloi, angels, Malak) and devels. Other creatures include egrigor, the ekhi, the fomore, the Ogdoad (the Eight), saraph, the Vaimnamne (the silver steeds).

  Other characters: the handsome king (aka Sun Wu-Kong, Sun Hou-zi, Sun Hou Tzu), Hantu Penyardin, Juesaes, Mulciber, Nehelennia, Simapesiel, Tatenen.

  Places: Abaddon, Bethel, Elvidner, the Path of Life, Sheol, Tatenen.

  OF THE THIRD REALM

  Dei: Goibniu (aka Goban, Govannon)

  Rival: Chusor (aka Kotar)

  From the perspective of the First and Second Realms, the Third Realm is difficult to comprehend. It does have inhabitants (known as right-handed daktyloi) such as the trickster philosophers K'daai and Kaltesh, but information rarely survives literal translation.

  Bardo: The name of the Devachan between the First and Second Realms.

  Cataclysm: Heralds change in the Devachan, allowing the major realms to overlap or disintegrate, permanently or temporarily.

  Daktyloi: Inhabitants of the Second or Third Realms; left-handed belong to the Second, right-handed, the Third.

  Dei: Dominant being of a realm; a power.

  Devachan: The void between realms.

  First Realm: The corporeal world, of matter (flesh) and physical objects.

  Genomoi: Generic term for inhabitants of the First Realm.

  Ghosts: The entourage of the Three Sisters; the remnants of those who have chosen immortality over death in Sheol.

  Hekau: The ability to be understood (or not) in the Second Realm.

  Human: A multirealm being whose complete life follows a continuous cycle from the so-called animal soul in the First Realm (Anima, Nephesch), through spirit in the Second Realm (Akasha, Ruach), to a higher soul still in the Third Realm (Amerata, Nechemah), and back again. The evolution from one realm to the next is accomplished by either death or apotheosis.

  Path of Life: The route followed by the Holy Immortals, leading through the realms (via Tatenen and Sheol in the Second Realm, Wunderberg in the First, and other places); each realm is entered twice per cycle, travelling in different “directions” each time.

  Realm: A “plane of existence” capable of supporting life. The voids between realms, the Devachan, are occasionally considered to be minor realms in their own right, although they are rarely habitable.

  Second Realm: The world of spirit (will) and identity.

  Soul: Shorthand for the ascendant human; may refer to an incarnation in either the Second or the Third Realm (as does the generic term daktyloi for other beings).

  Stigmata: The effect of unconscious will on the Second Realm human; manifests itself in the form of tattoos, deformities, and so on.

  Third Realm: The world of fate (choice) and destiny.

  Underworld: The first stop of an ascendant human lies “beneath” the main part of the Second Realm and is populated by judges (sent i
nvoluntarily) and guides (willing), plus the lost and their tormentors.

  My fascination with religious and mythic structures extends back almost three decades to arguments with Sunday school teachers and a childhood desire to be an archaeologist. Little did I know then that it was all preparation for a project that would gestate for most of my writing career. The Crooked Letter began life in early 1991 as two unpublished and unrelated novellas, “Soul Pollution” and “Signs of Death.” The former almost became a novel called YHVH, while a major film studio optioned parts of the latter. It's been a long and winding road to this, the finished story.

  Cabbalistic notions pepper the novel, as do references to many other religious and folk systems. I've taken the liberty of appropriating names and notions from a wide variety of traditions, including Albanian, Altaic, Arabian, Australian Aboriginal, Aztec, Basque, Burmese, Cappadocian, Chinese, Christian, Egyptian, Etruscan, Finnish, Gallic, Georgian, Germanic, Greek, gypsy, Hebrew, Hindu, Hittite, Hungarian, Indian, Iranian, Irish, Islamic, Latvian, Lithuanian, Melanesian, Native American, Norse, Norwegian, Ossetian, Parsee, Phoenician, Phrygian, Polynesian, Roman, Scandinavian, Siberian, Slavic, Slavonic, Sumerian, Swedish, Syrian, Tamil, Tibetan, Tripolitanian, and others I've no doubt forgotten down the years. I have employed graphic symbols from an equally wide reference pool. The source materials from which I drew inspiration comprise both secular and religious texts, and I in no way claim superior scholarship or insight to the people who created them. I have quoted (with a few small liberties) mainly the Revised Standard Version of the Bible. The text is taken from the books of Baruch, 2 Esdras, Genesis, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Matthew, Proverbs, Psalms, 2 Samuel, and the Wisdom of Jesus Son of Sirach. The quote at the beginning of “The Snake” is a liberal rewriting of a fifteenth-century lyric unwittingly provided by Simon Brown.

  It shouldn't be necessary (compelled though I am) to add that I've made some things up. This is, after all, a work of fiction. As this is the first of several in a series, a “to be continued” is unavoidable. The exact sequence of novels depends on which way you look at them. Readers of the Books of the Change (The Stone Mage & the Sea; The Sky Warden & the Sun; and The Storm Weaver & the Sand), first published by HarperCollins Australia in 2001–2002, will recognise much from those books in this one. The Crooked Letter is, in fact, a prequel to that trilogy. It also stands as the first volume of the Books of the Cataclysm, which can be read separate from or together with the Books of the Change. The next Book of the Cataclysm is The Blood Debt, and it can be read as a sequel to both The Crooked Letter and the Books of the Change.