Pantheon (The Tamar Black Saga)

by Nicola Rhodes

  The bright light resolved itself into the glowing figure of an elderly man.

  He stopped just before he reached them and began to talk in a curious monotone.

  ‘I am the guardian of the labyrinth. All those who seek to enter must pass the first test.’

  ‘What’s the first test?’ said Tamar, but the man continued talking as if he had not heard her and she noticed that he was not looking directly at her either.

  She narrowed her eyes and stepped forward suddenly – the man did not even flinch or appear to notice her action at all.

  She grinned and waved her arm right through him.

  A hologram. She began to laugh. That would be considered the height of witchcraft in these times she realised, but to her it was merely a very cheap trick.

  Then she realised that she was missing the instructions. Damn!

  ‘Er … reset program,’ she tried. The man vanished and once again the bright light appeared at the end of the tunnel. Behind her, she heard Denny laugh softly. ‘Cool,’ he said.

  The spiel began again. And this time Tamar paid attention, despite the twittering of the gods behind her who were distinctly impressed by this display of Tamar’s power over spirits and otherworldly beings and her knowledge of the mystical magic words used to control them.

  They did not know what “reset program” meant, but each and every one of them resolved to memorise the incantation just in case they should ever need it.

  The ghostly man vanished, and Tamar huffed impatiently. ‘What a lot of mumbo jumbo she said. ‘Nothing ever changes,’ she shook her head sadly.

  ‘Face the Chimera, solve the riddle of the Sphinx – I knew there’d be a bloody sphinx in this somewhere …’ She turned to Denny’s ghost despairingly. ‘Can’t we just skip all this bollocks?’ she said.

  Denny shrugged. ‘You’re asking me?’ he said.

  ‘Well you can see the future,’ she said. ‘Up to a point anyway so …’

  ‘Look out!’ said Denny suddenly. ‘Chimera in 5 – 4 – 3 …’

  Tamar spun round with a sigh.

  ‘In the meantime,’ said Denny, ‘I’ll go on ahead and see what the future holds – you only had to ask you know.’ And he vanished although only Tamar and Nemesis were aware of it.

  The Chimera was an unfortunate beast really, with the head of a lion and also the head of a goat rising from its back, goat’s udders and a serpent’s tail. It looked, Tamar thought, like a catastrophe in a genetics lab – which was probably not too far from the truth.

  As in all these places that exist outside the world, Tamar did not have her powers so she decided to rely on her wits instead.

  Fighting this creature without the magical assist was really pretty much out of the question anyway. Besides, when she looked at it, the most prevalent emotion she was aware of was a deep abiding pity. No wonder the poor thing was angry.

  She dodged gracefully out of the way as a spurt of flame shot from the creature’s mouth lighting up the gloom for a moment and making hideous shadows on the walls of the tunnel.

  ‘Hmmm,’ said Tamar thoughtfully, ‘why don’t you come along with us? We could use a guy like you.’

  The Chimera stopped suddenly and looked bewilderedly at her. ‘Come with you?’ it said. ‘You want me to come with you?’

  ‘Why not?’ said Tamar. ‘It can’t be much fun stuck down here in the dark.’

  ‘Huh, you’re right there,’ said the Chimera in what was, to Tamar, a decidedly familiar tone of whining.

  ‘Stuck here with chumps trying to kill me all the time. I used to try to be friendly you know. Oh I tried, but they always just got out their swords and started hacking away, never gave me a chance. I mean talk about making a snap judgment – it’s not my fault that I look like a monster, now is it?’

  ‘I think you look very…’ Tamar paused. ‘interesting,’ she finished lamely.

  ‘Well I will,’ said the Chimera decidedly. ‘First civil word I’ve had out of anybody in a hundred years.

  Tamar grinned in the darkness. It always worked – every time. Inside every hideous monster there is a lonely soul who only wants to be understood and to tell their story to anyone who will listen to it. Well she was more than prepared to listen – it beat being roasted alive.

  But only just, she was discovering. Boy she had met some moaners before, but the Chimera took the cake. Mind you, he had a lot to moan about, she conceded, but still …

  It was a relief when they burst out into bright sunlight, and the Chimera exploded immediately.

  ‘Did you know that would happen?’ asked Hephaestus after they had all recovered from the shock.

  ‘Of course not,’ said Tamar indignantly. But no one believed her. Maybe it was the slight smile that was playing around her lips as she said it.

  ‘Well either way,’ said Hecate. ‘I would call it a mercy on the poor creature.’ and Tamar threw her a grateful smile.

  ‘Well where are we now?’ asked Hephaestus tactfully changing the subject. Having brought it up in the first place.

  ‘Still in the labyrinth,’ said Tamar. ‘Where’s Denny got to?’

  ‘Call him back.’ suggested Aphrodite.

  Tamar shook her head. ‘I think he’s got a plan of some kind, ‘she said. ‘And besides, I’m not the boss of him – or at least …’ she amended, ‘I don’t think I should be.’

  ‘It looks like a desert,’ volunteered Proteus.

  ‘Well?’ said Tamar.

  ‘Look’ she explained after receiving a quartet of blank stares. ‘What it looks like and what it actually is are two very different things. This is a labyrinth. Haven’t you ever been on a quest before?’

  ‘Silly question,’ she answered herself. ‘Well, anyway,’ she continued. ‘It’s not a real desert. I mean we’re still underground.’

  ‘Looks like a real desert to me,’ said Proteus obstinately.

  ‘That’s ’cause you’re an idiot,’ muttered Tamar under her breath. ‘So where is this Sphinx then?’ she wondered in a louder voice.

  Everyone looked around simultaneously, and everyone saw nothing at all except miles and miles of sand stretching away in every direction.

  ‘Bugger!’ said Tamar. The last Sphinx she had met had refused to ask the riddle, because it was bored and wanted some company; it looked as if this one had simply run away, possibly for the same reason.

  On the other hand, she had learned a lot since then. The way the universe really worked for one thing.

  It had worked before …

  ‘Program reset,’ she said, and waited.

  ‘Damn,’ said a drawling voice from thin air. ‘How did you do that?’

  The sand blew up around them and coalesced into the elegant figure of the Sphinx and then settled down into a solid shape on the sand. It was wearing an amused grin.

  ‘That’s the first time in a thousand years that it hasn’t worked m’dear,’ he said. ‘I congratulate you.’

  ‘That was the riddle?’ asked Tamar flabbergasted.

  ‘Mmmm,’ said the Sphinx. ‘Clever isn’t it? You might also have tried “run program”. Oh do take that look off your face dear, after all you have solved it, you ought to be pleased.’

  ‘B-but it’s not fair,’ said Tamar angrily. ‘You have to know about … mainframe and programs and all that. Hardly anybody knows that stuff.’

  ‘Quite,’ said the Sphinx. ‘We can’t have just anybody solving the labyrinth now can we?’

  Tamar was taken aback. She had not thought of it this way. She realised that he was right.

  There was a silence, eventually broken by the plaintive voice of Proteus. ‘What’s mainframe?’

  ‘Can we go now?’ wailed Aphrodite like a spoiled child. Tamar half expected her to add, “I need the toilet”

  ‘I don’t think we have to,’ said Tamar. ‘I think this is it.’

  ‘But there’s nothing here,’

  ‘Wait,’ Tamar advised. ‘And shut up,’ she added warn
ingly.

  ‘Why? What will happen if I don’t?’

  ‘I might lose my temper,’ suggested Tamar calmly.

  ‘Oh,’ said Aphrodite and clamped her mouth shut.

  The Sphinx began to chuckle and then without warning he opened his mouth and roared an earth shattering roar that almost knocked Tamar off her feet. She clapped her hands over her ears and felt the world fall away from her. She was – they all were – shooting backwards away from the Sphinx at a tremendous rate, the wind rushing in their ears. Within seconds the Sphinx and was nothing more than a dot on the horizon, then everything went black.

  ‘And we’re back underground again,’ said Tamar in a resigned tone. ‘Figures!’

  But it was different this time, this was no magical tunnel in the labyrinth – the air smelled musty and old – it reminded Tamar of the underground lair of the Faeries once the magic had been removed. Nothing more than a very real, very ordinary, very dirty hole in the ground. Above them was the sound of digging.

  ‘Well at least we didn’t have to cross the desert this time,’ she said to no one in particular.

  ‘But where are we?’ asked Hecate, not unreasonably.

  ‘Let’s find out,’ said Tamar grinning in the dark. ‘Everybody ready?’

  Above ground, it was the most beautiful garden they had ever seen. Men were running about planting, digging and watering, laying rocks and building walls.

  ‘What is this place?’ breathed Aphrodite. ‘It rivals Olympia.’

  Tamar knew; she had seen pictures. Even unfinished, it was easily recognisable. ‘The hanging gardens of Babylon,’ she said in a tone that suggested that, for once, even she was impressed. ‘Under construction,’ she added with a lilt of laughter in her voice.

  ‘Remarkable,’ said Hecate. ‘Mortals did this?’

  ‘Oh yes,’ said Tamar. ‘Don’t underestimate mortals. In time, they can move the heavens.’

  ‘I am seeing that,’ agreed Hecate.

  ‘But what are we here for?’ asked Proteus.

  Tamar shrugged. ‘It’ll become clear in time,’ she said. ‘Just enjoy the view,’

  This was such an un-Tamar like remark that Hecate and Hephaestus looked at each other in speechless concern.

  ‘Ask Nemesis,’ suggested Hephaestus. ‘Threaten her with eternal damnation if she won’t tell you. Go on, do your thing.’

  ‘What’s that?’ said Tamar ignoring this advice completely and pointing at a particularly beautiful flower that was growing all alone in a circular bed in the centre of the gardens.

  ‘That is the scared flower of the Euphrates,’ said a passing gardener showing no surprise at her presence at all. ‘A treasure beyond worth,’ he informed her. ‘Without it, the river will die, and all life that springs from it will follow.’ And he trundled off in the direction of a grove of trees having given his little speech.

  ‘A treasure beyond worth,’ repeated Tamar. ‘Oh no,’

  She shook her fists angrily at the heavens. ‘I won’t do it,’ she asserted to a passing cloud. ‘Not this time.’

  ‘What about your precious lover?’ sneered Nemesis. ‘Or have you forgotten him? Isn’t his life worth a little flower?’

  ‘He’s the last person who would want me to do this,’ said Tamar, uncertainly.

  Hecate came forward and coughed gently. ‘There is never just one of any living thing,’ she said.

  Tamar’s eyes widened. ‘Of course,’ she said snapping her fingers.

  I can take the flower and leave it behind too.’

  ‘Hmm, you worked that out awfully fast,’ said Nemesis. ‘Are you sure that is the answer?’

  ‘Yes,’ snapped Tamar. ‘Don’t bother trying to confuse me. I know what’s bothering you. This was the fifth task. Only two more to go and I’ll be there, and you can’t stand it.’

  ‘It won’t be as easy as you think,’ said Nemesis.

  ‘It’s been pretty easy so far,’ said Tamar. ‘Stop trying to psyche me out, it won’t work.’

  ‘I hate it when she talks to nothing like that,’ said Aphrodite.

  ‘Yes,’ said Proteus, ‘especially when she talks nonsense like that.’

  This remark earned him a cold look from both Aphrodite and Hecate.

  ‘Brittania?’ Tamar was saying. ‘What the hell for?’

  ‘You know what, never mind,’ she sighed. ‘It’ll be interesting I suppose, I never saw Britain until the eleventh century the first time around.’

  She wandered away muttering something that sounded suspiciously like ‘– ing magical mystery tour …’

  There was an awkward silence; no one wanted to be the one to tell her she had forgotten the flower.

  After a few seconds, she stalked back angrily and plucked the flower from the bed, shook the seeds into her palm, and stalked off again radiating furious embarrassment.

  * * *

  ‘Stonehenge,’ Tamar said. ‘It’s bound to be Stonehenge – when it comes to magical nonsense it’s always Stonehenge. And I see it’s raining – I feel right at home now.’

  Hecate nodded. She was really the only one of the gods that Tamar talked to. ‘Did not Nemesis tell you the next task then?’ she asked, risking instant decapitation.

  Tamar only shrugged.

  ‘Where is Denny?’ thought Hecate angrily. ‘She is faltering without him.’

  It was true; ever since Denny’s unexpected departure Tamar had been swinging wildly between fury, despair and total indifference.

  It was as if she was, only now, grieving for him – now that he was not only dead but also departed.

  ‘You miss him?’ she risked, and she did not even step back a pace after she had said it.

  Tamar’s eyes flashed. ‘Miss who?’ she snapped.

  ‘Denny,’ said Hecate quietly and firmly.

  Tamar sagged. ‘He just buggered off without a word,’ she muttered. ‘It’s not like him … What if he doesn’t come back?’

  Hecate looked troubled. As a goddess of the underworld, she knew this to be a distinct possibility. The dead adapt to their new situation. After a while, the living world no longer means anything to them. Eventually they forget.

  ‘Then you must change his fate,’ she said. ‘Is that not what this is all about? – this quest that you so abhor?’

  Tamar set her teeth at Hecate. ‘Right!’ she said ‘you’re right. Just one thing first – you might want to stand back,’ she warned. And she threw her head back and howled long and loud and visceral.

  The gods looked around startled, birds flew out of the trees and in the distance there was a faint answering howl of wolves.

  ‘That’s better,’ said Tamar cheerfully as the sound died away. ‘I think there may be a bit of Banshee in my heritage,’ she joked. ‘A good yell always makes me feel better anyway.’

  Hecate nodded; she did look happier. As if she had, temporarily anyway, shed a burden. But it would not last.

  ‘Well,’ said Tamar apparently to no one, so Hecate knew she was talking to Nemesis. ‘What’s it to be? Druids? Dragons? Black knight on a bridge?’ she laughed. ‘A magic sword?’

  Nemesis apparently said something and Tamar’s face darkened.

  ‘You’ve got to be joking,’ she said eventually. ‘I can’t do that. It’s impossible.’

  Now the gods did not know Tamar very well really, but they were, one and all, absolutely certain that this was something she had never said in her life before.

  A chill that had nothing to do with the drizzling rain settled over the little group.

  ‘Nothing’s impossible,’ said a familiar voice. ‘I should know, I’m dead.’

  It was Denny.

  ‘Or rather I am now data in the wrong format,’ he amended. He shook his head. ‘I knew something was wrong.’

  ‘I can see you,’ put in Aphrodite suddenly.

  Denny nodded briefly at her as if this were a mere detail. He turned back to Tamar. ‘See it’s like this,’ he said ‘When a person enters the
mainframe, they become mere data. Well, we are all just data actually, but data in its proper format, reads as a living thing. Once I died, this world was not my proper format any more. Therefore, I read as a spirit. Not real – only redundant residual data. And I realised something out there. I saw the truth. The truth of the universe … The truth about mainframe …’

  Tamar gaped at him. ‘Hello to you too,’ she said eventually and not without a certain amount of bitter sarcasm. But Denny was not listening.

  ‘I understand it now,’ said Denny excitedly. ‘I don’t know why I didn’t see it before, when I was there. The mainframe isn’t real. It’s a construct put in place to bring order out of chaos. Superimposed on reality to give it a form that could be controlled.

  ‘How you feel, anger, love, sadness, joy, that’s real, that’s chaos – the chaos of the universe. And the chaos is always there, just under the surface, ready to break out. You were right. It’s all virtual reality. People think that what they can see and feel in the world around them is what’s real, and the stuff that goes on in their heads isn’t. But actually, it’s the other way around. What you feel and think is the only thing that is real.

  And the gods – a product of belief – that’s chaos at work. It can’t be controlled or held back, not forever. It breaks out all over the place. Gods weren’t a product of the mainframe; they sprang from … somewhere else. The mainframe just tried to control them by filing them and boxing them in, but in the end, you can’t. The underlying chaos will always break out in the end. You know what. They’ll be back, in one form or another, sooner or later.’

  ‘So what?’ said Tamar, disappointingly.

  ‘What?’ said Denny stopped in his tracks.

  ‘Well I’m sure it’s a very fascinating on a philosophical level,’ she said caustically. ‘But what – practically speaking – has it got to do with our current situation?’

  Denny stared at her. ‘You mean you don’t see?’ he said.

  ‘No,’ she said stubbornly although she did – she was punishing him.

  Denny stared at his feet. I’m sorry,’ he said in a muffled voice. ‘I didn’t … it’s so hard to think on this plane … I didn’t mean to … I’m sorry,’ he finished lamely.