The Smuggler's Ascension: The Ties That Died

by Christopher Ingersoll

“Time changes even Gods, I suppose,” Kristof said thoughtfully. “And the Goddess?” he asked finally.

  “The Goddess Cassandra, Mistress of Knowledge according to the old texts,” Stephan informed them, and then he looked to Anasha curiously. “She also holds the formal title of Anza’Tai, Keeper of Truths.”

  “She is the Goddess of the Su’Tani,” Anasha whispered in wonder as she took in the image of the Goddess before her. “I have never seen her like this, however, or heard her name before. The Su’Tani only know her as the Oracle, as represented by the Ever Seeing Eye, or as Anza’Tai.” Kristof could feel Anasha’s newfound sense of wonder at seeing her Goddess for the first time.

  “What else do the ancient texts have to say about them?” Sabine asked Stephan as she took Kristof’s arms and wrapped herself in his embrace.

  “The earliest mentions of the Triad that we found came to refer to these three before us,” Stephan said as he watched his guests, “And not you three.”

  The room fell silent as Stephan’s words sank in. Not the first Triad, Kristof thought to himself as he looked at the three Gods before him. He knew ancient Su’Tani legends had spoken of the Triad between himself, Sabine, and Anasha. It had not mentioned another one. A suspicion began to form in his mind as he thought of the many possibilities, even as he recalled the pieces of the tale that Sabine had managed to pull together. The replica before them seemed to give Sabine’s tale a lot of credence.

  “What else?” Kristof asked, needing answers more than ever.

  “Well,” Stephan began hesitantly, “That is where our translations have run into a problem.”

  “What kind of problem?” Kristof demanded as Anasha came to his and Sabine’s side.

  “The historians could only translate one word from the text found here after the brief histories of the Gods represented,” Stephan informed them. “The word was circles, but so far they have had no luck finding a meaning for it, since there is no context or anything.”

  Kristof’s frustration threatened to boil over when Sabine broke his train of thought.

  “There are circles on the floor outside the replica,” Sabine said suddenly. “I saw them in the dust as I circled the replica.”

  Freeing herself from Kristof’s arms, Sabine went to one wall of the replica and knelt on the floor, her hands brushing away the dust and dirt until they could all clearly see the circle there. There was writing engraved around the inner edge of the circle that they could not read. A quick examination found a similar circle outside each wall of the replica, directly behind where a hooded figure stood within the walls.

  Stephan called for the priest who had guided them down into the crypts, and the priest turned out to also be one of the scholars who had been working on the project for Stephan. The priest quickly translated the writings in each circle and identified them as the Father, the Mother, and the Maiden.

  “I believe you are meant to stand within the circles,” the priest suggested.

  They did not have to think hard about who should stand in which circle. Kristof entered the circle of the Father, while Sabine entered the circle of the Mother. Anasha looked down at the circle of the Maiden, suddenly nervous as she gave Kristof a quick look. Kristof nodded to her reassuringly, and Anasha stepped into the circle.

  Kristof’s vision instantly went black, but soon a vision began to form before him…

  ~16~

  The gardens were in full bloom as Pyreus made his way towards the fountains of his love, Cassandra. He hoped that this day at last she would consent to wed him, as the day seemed so perfect. The stars seemed especially bright after he had tended them so that the light would shine down on this most perfect of days. Surely his love would say yes at last. She must, he had already waited so long.

  The Gods had made their home on this unique celestial world they called Suthanara, which had but one moon and took its own small sun with it wherever it roamed throughout the cosmos. Pyreus knew their Father had made Suthanara especially for the Gods, so that they would have a place to call home when they were not attending their duties. Pyreus came here only for Cassandra, who had owned his heart for eons beyond count now.

  Cassandra’s garden of fountains was a wonder even among the Gods, as each fountain flowed in its own unique way and manner. Some flowed in gold, some in silver, while some seemed to flow with streams of the universe itself. There was light here as well, a light that was not of Pyreus’s making, which made it a wonder to him. The garden was tended by Cassandra’s people whom she had named the Su’Tani, which in the language of the Gods meant Keepers of the Light.

  As he had expected, Pyreus found Cassandra at one of her favorite fountains in the distance. He watched as her golden hair shined in the sunlight and sparkled in her golden eyes. She had worn a pale golden dress this day, its fabric sheer and clingy, and Pyreus felt his desire for her swell and he was about to call to her in greeting when he saw him, and Pyreus’s anger flared deep within.

  Azrael had come to the garden as well, Pyreus saw. The sullen little God always seemed to want to be around Cassandra, and Pyreus disliked his constant presence. It made winning Cassandra’s hand more difficult, for she seemed to bear this little worm some affection, it seemed. Pyreus was therefore forced to keep his silence about his dislike for Azrael, in the Garden at least.

  “Hail, sweet Cassandra,” Pyreus called at last as he drew near. Her smile was all he could have wished for as it shined as if with its own light, and he felt for sure that this day would at last be the day she said yes.

  “You come late, my dear Pyreus,” Cassandra chided him, her voice a musical lullaby. “I looked for you long before now.”

  “I had a need to make the stars shine extra bright for you this day, my love,” Pyreus said extravagantly, and Cassandra laughed at his antics as he shot small balls of light into the sky.

  “I know for why you made the stars shine so bright,” Cassandra said with amusement. “I can see the proposal upon your lips even now, my love. Though I think the stars do not shine so bright as your ego,” she added with a playful wink.

  “Then surely today must be the day you say yes, lest my ego be shattered into everlasting darkness” Pyreus said with a flourish as he fell to a knee before her and took her hand. “My heart aches to call you my wife, as you know. Surely you would not wish for my stars to falter at the last.”

  Cassandra seemed to sadden as she pulled her hand away, and Pyreus’s heart darkened a little because he knew why she continued to refuse him. Azrael.

  “You know that I am torn, my love,” Cassandra said as she stepped away and looked to Azrael sitting near, watching them both, “For even as I love you dearly and deeply, so do I also love dear Azrael. It seems a cruel thing to need to choose. For in choosing one, the other must surely suffer.”

  “Why should you be forced to choose at all, then, my love?” Azrael asked quietly into the silence that had fallen over the garden. “For one such as you, my love, whose love and beauty is glorious and wondrous beyond words, neither one such as Pyreus nor I can hope to ever love you as fully as you deserve by ourselves. Perhaps in the union of us all may the love that you truly deserve flourish and grow.”

  Pyreus looked at Azrael and cursed him in his heart for a fool even as he himself smiled upon his love, Cassandra. For the love that he had desired all his life, Pyreus was willing to accede to any condition to hold her close as he had long desired, though. And perhaps in time he could find something in Azrael to love as well, or to at the least tolerate. It did not seem likely, but he would endure this to have Cassandra.

  Cassandra seemed equally shocked and intrigued by the suggestion as she looked from one suitor to the other. Pyreus knew that her love for them both was genuine and had become a part of who she was, so rather than try to change who she was he accepted this proposal in his heart. He could also see his love decide in her heart as she smiled at them brightly.

  Sending her people away, Cassandra turned to Pyreus
and Azrael and reached a hand to each. As Pyreus took Azrael’s hand as well, he for a moment felt troubled in his heart towards his fellow God, but his love and desire for Cassandra drove it away. There together they forged their union before the eyes of the Father and the Mother, and they were joined as one in their Triad.

  The three Gods made love in the garden as only Gods can, and their joy and passion spread out through the universe and all seemed well and happy. Yet even as Pyreus moved within Cassandra, he looked upon Azrael as the other God kissed Cassandra and Pyreus felt a dark hate blossom in his heart for his rival God. Azrael too felt a blossoming of hate for Pyreus, and yet both kept their hate hidden and Cassandra did not feel it.

  The eons passed as their Triad continued, and the Gods loved the Goddess and her them, yet their hate for each other grew and grew in the dark corners of their hearts. Still Cassandra did not see, for her love for them both burned so brightly that it blinded her. Pyreus and Azrael continued to nurse their hate for one against the other.

  One day it came to Pyreus’s mind, as he tended the stars, that he should find a way to remove Azrael from the picture at last. Unknown to Pyreus, Azrael had been plotting the same thing. Indeed, from the very first day of their union Azrael had been seeking a way to remove Pyreus from Cassandra’s heart forever. For Azrael loved Cassandra no less than Pyreus, but he was more jealous of Pyreus than even Pyreus suspected.

  So it was that Azrael stole from the Father a Seed of Creation, thinking that to use it on something already alive, such life would be destroyed. His plan was to lure his rival to Cassandra’s garden and plunge the seed into Pyreus’s heart. He would then accuse Pyreus of having come to attack him and Cassandra out of jealousy, forcing him to defend himself and Cassandra. The Dark God thought his plan clever, and moved quickly to act while Cassandra was away.

  So it was that Azrael lured Pyreus to Suthanara on the pretext of planning a surprise for Cassandra while she was gone to attend the Father and Mother. Pyreus was suspicious, but did not realize the depths to which Azrael had fallen. As Pyreus entered Cassandra’s garden while their wife was away, Azrael attacked. The two Gods struggled mightily and much of the garden was shattered beneath them during their struggles. At last, Azrael struck Pyreus with a vicious blow, knocking Pyreus to the ground.

  Pyreus lay stunned upon the ground as Azrael raised his hand, the shining Seed of Creation held within, and began to throw it down at Pyreus when Cassandra’s scream rang out through the shattered remains of her garden. The Goddess had returned unexpectedly and came upon the scene of destruction as they had fought. Startled, Azrael missed his mark and the Seed plunged deep into the ground, missing Pyreus by mere inches.

  High overhead, Suthanara’s loyal sun suddenly waned and grew dim as the ground shook violently. As the light failed and the sun died, Suthanara broke apart, its heart now broken and burst from the body of the world. Cassandra wailed in grief at the death of Suthanara even as Pyreus and Azrael remained still, both in shock and disbelief and not knowing how to console the love of their life.

  Thunder boomed as the Father grasped Azrael with unseen hands. Azrael struggled and cried out for mercy to no avail, the Father’s grip could not be broken by any means. Overhead, a fiery red wormhole opened up, coldness emanating from it in waves.

  “Thou hast broken the trust and the covenant of your Triad, my son,” the Father’s voice boomed in thunder. “Worse, thou hast stolen from me and brought about the death of fair Suthanara, whose like shall never be again. Thou art banished, my son, until such time as another Triad shall rise to show you three the true meaning of love.”

  Azrael wailed himself as he was torn from the world of men and Gods and cast through the wormhole and into the Underworld, there to remain until a true Triad arose. Pyreus smiled to himself as he went to Cassandra, thinking to have her for himself now, but Cassandra rejected him for his part in Suthanara’s death and cast him aside. From that day forth, Cassandra hid from Gods and men, to be heard from only by her loyal servants.

  ~17~

  Anasha gasped as the vision ended abruptly and she found herself back within herself once more. She felt her knees go weak and she would have fallen if Kristof had not been there suddenly to catch her. Sabine rushed to her side moments later and the three of them sank to the floor wrapped in each other’s arms.

  “What have we become embroiled in?” Anasha asked quietly, dismayed by what she had witnessed.

  “Something that wasn’t our fault and doesn’t change who we are or how we feel in the least,” Sabine said firmly as she held Anasha tightly.

  “But I don’t understand,” Anasha said, still quiet as she allowed Sabine to hold her head to her chest. “They were…are, Gods. How could they allow such a thing to happen?”

  “The little I have touched them tells me that, while yes they are Gods, they are not as perfect as they would have us believe,” Kristof said as he stroked Anasha’s hair. “They are rigid, inflexible, and unable to change. They do not grow beyond what they are or have learned at the moment of their own birth. Cassandra may call herself the Goddess of knowledge, but there is a wide chasm between knowledge and wisdom.”

  “Pyreus and Azrael could not grow,” Sabine added insightfully, “Not the way you and I did when we learned to love each other and share Kristof when we were first together.”

  “And now we are one, inseparable,” Anasha said as she pulled Sabine and Kristof closer. “If only the Gods could have learned to find such peace and joy as we have.”

  “It may not have been possible, even had they been more flexible and reasonable,” Kristof said thoughtfully. “Even had Pyreus and Azrael not hated each other from the beginning, I felt no passion in either of them for anything or anyone but Cassandra. What they truly wanted wasn’t really love, it was possession. I think Cassandra saw that in the end when she rejected Pyreus.”

  “And now the universe is in peril because of their blindness and jealousy,” Stephan said sadly, startling the trio. Anasha had forgotten all about the Grand Duke being there with them until now.

  “Did you see the vision, too, then?” Anasha asked curiously as Stephan stepped closer.

  “Not as you three apparently did, but yes,” Stephan said. “I saw the vision play out as if on a three dimensional monitor, but it seems you three actually felt the experience from a more personal vantage point.”

  “There were times it seemed I was seeing from Cassandra’s eyes,” Anasha admitted as she looked from Sabine to Kristof. “I could feel her love for Pyreus and Azrael, and how shocked and horrified she was at the end. She truly never saw it coming.”

  “I got a good sense of what everyone was feeling, but not quite that personal,” Kristof said, and Sabine agreed moments later.

  “Why did I get such a back stage pass type of view?” Anasha asked, but no one had an answer for her other than a possible Su’Tani connection, now that they knew the Su’Tani had been with Cassandra from the beginning.

  “At least we know why the Gods are at war now,” Sabine said as they slowly disentangled themselves and headed back up through the crypts to warmer rooms. Anasha felt cold now, and Kristof wrapped his arm around her as they went so he could help warm her. The Su’Tani uniform, which had been warm earlier, now seemed to not be enough even though it always had before.

  “The circle I was on,” Anasha said suddenly, “Was called the Maiden’s Circle. I think I begin to see now.”

  “What is it you see, love?” Kristof asked.

  “The power you have,” Anasha said slowly as she thought through the idea in her head, “The Phoenix, Pyreus, couldn’t control it. I think it comes from the Father, like the Seed of Creation did. Then last night something happened with Sabine, that powerful sense of love and maternal watchfulness, and I think it came from the Mother and she was on the Mother’s Circle.”

  “Which leaves the Maiden,” Sabine finished thoughtfully. “You think that is why you felt Cassandra so much more deep
ly than we did, because of the Maiden’s circle and your connection to her through the Su’Tani?”

  “I think it suggests that there are more forces at work here than just Pyreus and Azrael,” Anasha said excitedly. “I think if we can really figure this out then we have a chance at surviving this.”

  Silence fell as they all digested what Anasha had said.

  “We need to find her,” Anasha said at last. “We need to find Cassandra, I can feel it. We need answers still, and who better to answer questions than the Anza’Tai, the Keeper of Truth?

  “Why haven’t we seen her already, though?” Sabine asked quietly as their group returned to the apartment Stephan had given Sabine and Kristof on their first visit. Max took up guard near the door, as was his custom, though his face had a thoughtful expression on it, Anasha noticed.

  “If you two ever went to war over me,” Kristof said, half serious and half-jokingly, “I don’t know that I would want to be around to watch it.”

  “Great,” Sabine said with a touch of sarcasm, “We have one God trying to kill us, another thinking about it even as he tried to use us to kill the first God, and a third God content to ride out the whole affair from the sidelines.”

  Max stepped into the room after a moment, clearly thinking hard about something. Anasha watched him come and enjoyed the play of emotions on the android’s face. It was a nice thing to see when those emotions weren’t dark ones.

  “The vision that all saw showed a pretty good view of Suthanara,” Max said at last. “I was able to see and record the vision from my vantage point in the other room. The aftermath of the fight left the world dead in space and drifting.”

  “Yes,” Anasha said sadly. “What are you getting at, Max?”

  Max went to the computer terminal in the room and began typing in a few commands as he answered.

  “Suthanara in the aftermath bears a striking resemblance to Dorcanus II,” Max said as the image of Dorcanus appeared on the monitor.