by David Smith
THERE WAS A TIME THEN, once, when Diane busied herself in a part of the castle, that Sally set off for the cave. The time she was gone would have seemed long to you, but did not seem so in this place. Having come to it, she went inside the cavern where she saw the horrible, twisted shapes of the hematite, just as it had been described.
She told herself that Evil was not something she sought. She did not want it, nor did she want to release it. But rather, she told herself, it was simply her curiosity about whether her own breath could affect it which had called her here. Her actions therefore, were not about Evil, but only about curiosity, or so she told herself. But of course this was all nonsense. Anyone can understand that if one jumps into a cesspool because of curiosity, she will get just as dirty as if she jumps in for any other reason. Why do you need to be told these obvious truths? And yet, you do need to be told, it seems. Your ability to deceive yourselves is truly remarkable, if regrettable.
“This little corner,” she thought. She looked at a tiny peak of hematite in one part of the cave “Just this little bit should make no difference.”
As she breathed on it, it seemed to melt. Then, it disappeared. She heard a faint sound, like the sound of air leaking from a tire with the sound of fingers scratching on a blackboard. She felt a cold chill.
“This is enough,” she thought. She had seen what she had come for. Her breath had melted the hematite after all. And importantly, when she left, the rest of it remained intact. She reasoned that she had satisfied her curiosity and at the same time, had done no harm. She left the cave and returned to the castle.
For a long time after, Sally thought only occasionally about what she had done. She had melted the one little bit of hematite with her breath – nothing more. And yet, whenever she thought about it a cold sense of foreboding came over her.
Many years passed, as you would count them. Then, something odd happened. When the two girls were sitting in the great hall of the castle, with the flying creatures flying in the space overhead, Sally was looking at the vast paintings on the walls when she thought she saw a shadow pass in front of one of the murals. As it did, she thought she heard a sound like air leaking from a tire together with the sound of fingers scratching on a blackboard. It gave her a strange chill.
As this happened, one of the creatures they called “butterflies” paused briefly as if it had noticed too. But nobody else heard or saw it. That was all that happened. But Sally began to feel more and more concerned. Some time later, it happened again, and this time several creatures noticed it.
As more time passed this strange occurrence happened more and more, and each time more would notice it, in addition to Sally. Sally didn’t know what it was, but she did remember where she had heard the strange, leaking, screeching sound the first time.
The last time this happened, Diane noticed it too.
“What was that?” she asked, turning to Sally.
But she didn’t have to wait long for an answer.
El came rushing into the great hall. Although the animals had no leader – having no conflict they had no need for one – as the strongest, most intelligent, and most selfless of the animals, the cherubs had always been the creatures the others looked up to.
As El rushed in, the animals and the girls involuntarily felt their hearts jump. For El’s normal, tranquil appearance was replaced with an expression of great urgency. His iridescent feathers flashed a wild blue and the communication beetles flashed blue too.
“The hematite is melting,” he said. “The cave is almost empty. The Evil once trapped there has been released! It has already been among us in incorporeal form. But now it is becoming corporeal as well.”
And as he spoke, the vague shadows that had been flying overhead inside the great hall appeared far darker and seemed to shriek, or laugh – which it was no one could tell – and then the shadows all disappeared.
The other animals were frightened. While the shadows were disturbing by themselves the animals all well knew their great, beloved El, and none had seen him this concerned before. As the animals cried out, the communications beetles flew and flashed, rising in the great hall like fireworks.
Many didn’t even comprehend what El could be talking about. But El was older than the others. He was the last male of his kind, and he remembered.
El continued. “The Evil is assembling at the far end of our world – in the place near what we once called (you can’t pronounce this), but that we have come to call the “Plains of Wyoming.”
Before anyone could assimilate the magnitude of what he was saying, El looked around the great hall at his friends. “We must all once again learn to practice the ancient art of war. Many of us will die. But we must fight, for we will all wish we had died if the Evil triumphs. Time is short.”
As the communication beetles glittered over and under and all around them, Diane remembered – somewhere in the distant parts of her mind – what it meant to have conflict, and to fight. While she was still a girl here in this place, and although it had been very long ago for her now, somehow she could still recall how in another place, and another part of her life, she had also known what it meant to die. But as Diane looked around she became concerned, for it was apparent that few of the animals understood any of this. Indeed it was clear many of these animals did not know what conflict was, much less, war.
She looked at Sally, who was kneeling, and crying, and in time, Sally would confess to everyone as to why. She would say she was sorry. She would say she didn’t mean for any of this to happen. She would describe what she had actually been doing, and what her intentions were when she went into the cave.
“It was just curiosity,” she would say, “It was just a little thing.” Indeed, in describing what she had done she would make a great use of the word: “just.”
But it was of no consequence. The situation had changed. New California would never be the same. They had all lost paradise.
And if you want to know, once lost, Paradise can only be regained by the shedding of blood, by the willingness of many to sacrifice themselves for the common good, and only by many actually making that great and final sacrifice.
Indeed, it is to document this great and final sacrifice that is the primary reason for my producing this account.
And so to make a long story short, the animals of New California learned the art of war once again, as they had done in eons past. They fitted themselves with those works that are made to cut, and break, and stab, and kill, and they protected their bodies with materials and objects that they could find and make that were strong and light.
The animals prepared as did the Evil, and a time finally came when the attack of the Evil seemed imminent.
El’s battle plan had been well rehearsed. They would draw the enemy into an attack on the main plain of Wyoming. After the first action, the animals’ forces would appear to retreat, so the Evil would be drawn forward into a breach between forest and foothill on either side. There were two groups of animals hidden there – one on each side – that would then sweep to the rear of the Evil and flank them, so the Evil would be surrounded. This would strike terror into the corps of the Evil, leaving them disorganized and easier to subdue.
It was a decent plan and indeed, is a fairly commonly known maneuver among those who practice warfare. But the “Achilles’ heel” of such a plan as you would say, is if the enemy keeps a sizable force in reserve to counterattack. This has the effect of basically, capturing the spider in his own web.
In other words, the Evil’s plan was: In anticipation of such a “pincer” maneuver or any other type of maneuver, the Evil would simply appear to play into the animals’ trap while keeping a large force in reserve to counterattack, whatever the outcome of the initial skirmishes.
In any case, this was the original planning and the thinking on both sides. As is often the case in war, what actually happened was somewhat different.
&
nbsp; The number of animals was greater than the number of the Evil, but the Evil was more determined. Oddly, this is often the case in many worlds with many sorts of beings – the forces of Evil often, for whatever reason, are more determined in battle than are the forces of the good. Only when the good becomes at least as determined, can they win.
The time for the fighting came.
(Note here that for the sake of brevity, I will use names for various animals that were given to them by Sally and Diane, without actually describing the animals themselves. Suffice it to say, each creature so named bore some resemblance in some cases to animals on your world, while many were completely different. In the case of the Evil, their form was humanoid or hominid as your words would describe them. It is interesting that while this form – the one that looks most like you – is one of the most beautiful and functional forms in all creation – and one capable of true greatness – it is also one that is capable of some of the greatest depravities. The human form is also one that often exists in a state more savage, primitive and brutal than that found in almost any other form of life. And in these cases, leaders are usually self-selected on the basis of their abilities in dominating others through power and fear. Thus, they were the Evil.)
The Evil began their attack with high-speed, sweeping movements from their flying forces that were largely repulsed by the eagles. As the flying forces of the Evil plunged and retreated, the eagles destroyed them in considerable numbers. But as the Evil hoped would happen, some of their forces survived contact with the animals and were able to return to the Evil’s central command, where they recounted valuable information about the locations and deployments of the animals.
In this way, the Evil sacrificed some of their troops in order to obtain valuable information. Indeed, this is a common strength of corrupt organizations – since the Evil did not value their own lives, they could spend them freely and remorselessly when needed.
Having thus ascertained the deployment of the animals, the Evil set out their attack in four groups. The first would comprise their aerial forces that would once again fly ahead and engage the animals. But this time, after the initial skirmish the Evil’s flying forces would pull away from the battlefield. The hope was that this would draw away the more numerous and superior aerial forces of the animals, in pursuit. In other words, realizing their flying forces could not defeat the aerial forces of the animals, the Evil’s plan was instead to lure them from the battlefield, rendering them essentially useless. The second group of the Evil would comprise their heavy battle groups, set out in front. This force of heavy troops would race forward and plunge into the animals’ lines, wreaking havoc. Third, the lighter ground forces of the Evil would attack where needed, while a fourth, hidden group of Evil was held in reserve.
Initially, the first part of the Evil’s plan of attack was successful. The Evil’s flying forces were met by the aerial forces of the animals, including El. As the animals warred with the Evil in the air and began to defeat them, the Evil broke to one side and flew away. Still engaged, the animals pursued them and as such, the animal’s aerial forces were drawn away from the battle. El, however, remained at the main battle.
This clever action on the part of the Evil had alerted El and a few of the other animals that their enemy was more cunning than they had imagined.
The animals quickly regrouped, anticipating the next wave of attack. As the heavy forces of the Evil began to mass and move forward, the animals’ battle lines quickly formed into tight, heavily protected rows that ran parallel to the path of the Evil’s advance. The heavy battle groups of the Evil had been commanded to plunge through the animals, wreaking terror and havoc. Finding the animals in rows, the Evil’s heavy forces quickly swept through them as they had been commanded to do. But instead of doing any damage, the rapid advance of the Evil down the animal’s rows was more like water running down the furrows of a field – doing little damage to the furrows themselves. The Evil’s heavy forces therefore found themselves suddenly at the rear of the battle, and having inflicted little damage to the animals’ forces. Nonetheless, these heavy forces began to attack. But at this point the aerial forces of the animals returned from chasing the flying forces of the Evil, and they began to attack the increasingly bewildered heavy forces of the Evil to great effect.
Thus, at this point, the animals’ efforts had been very successful.
Sadly however, this moment proved to be the high point of the animals’ efforts. For as the Evil saw themselves in the jaws of defeat they began to fight as you say, like dragons. They fought with ferocious abandon. And indeed, as the animals began to fall, the animals’ love for life, and their love for each other, proved to be their greatest weakness. For as the animals saw their cherished loved ones fall, their hearts shrank, even as the Evil gained new strength for their cause. While the images of death all around shocked and weakened the animals, it strengthened the Evil. The Evil knew that its strength lay not in numbers, but rather, in determination, in cunning, and in remorselessness even toward themselves. They knew they could sacrifice their forces if need be, as merely a tactic. Indeed, while the animals valued the lives of every one of themselves, the Evil could afford to dispense their lives as casually as one would spend any other military materiel.
And indeed, strange as it may seem, at the point early on when the battle had at first turned so much in favor of the animals, some of the animals actually began to feel pity for the Evil. The animals’ odd compassion also caused them to fight far less vigorously than they could have done, which too played into their enemy’s hands.
And lastly, the Evil knew that whatever the outcome of this battle, they had troops hidden in reserve with which to attack. The animals’ forces appeared to be concentrated in the primary battle as the Evil had hoped they would be.
The Evil hoped that when their reserve forces eventually attacked, it would shock and surprise the animals. With luck, the animals having been so surprised would see all their plans ruined and would become disorganized and struck with fear, whereupon they could be defeated, and enslaved.
The battle having at first proceeded largely according to the animals’ plan, now proceeded largely according to the Evil’s. The animals and the main ground forces of the Evil clashed in the Plains of Wyoming in a terrible battle. On the whole, while the animals were strong and quick and had larger numbers, the sheer heedless determination of the Evil began to push them back. Indeed, ironically, while it had been the plan of the animals to retreat at this point all along, they ended up doing so anyway – the Evil pressed the battle so fiercely.
As the Evil pushed the animals back, two forces of animals waited on either side to sweep and attack at the Evil’s flank.
El, the mighty flying Cherub, had been in the main force, and he retreated with the other animals while anticipating their friends’ counterattack at the rear of the Evil.
But while he had insisted on being part of the battle himself and fought valiantly, El had also insisted that the precious Asherah would not be part of this war, as the tiny, priceless baby cherubs she was now carrying within her were the only hope for the continuation of the cherub species – because if Asherah died – her babies – and therefore the entire cherub species – would die with her.
And so she had to be saved at any cost. Indeed, the two girls and all the animals had agreed. Asherah would not be part of this war but would be hidden in a safe place.
For their part, the girls were each in one of the two pincer groups where they waited for the word to attack at the rear of the Evil forces.
At the same time, the reserve forces of the Evil lay hidden in the valley the girls had once named “The Grand Canyon.” This canyon was the place the Evil had viewed as being the most secure place to conceal themselves. (And it was, in fact, not actually a canyon, but a wide valley between high mountain ranges where there was much vegetation and small features wherein to hide. It
lay at some distance from the Plains of Wyoming, around a mountain prominence.) It was on the marching path between the hematite caves and the location of the main group of animals. When they had passed through, the Evil had left some forces there, well hidden.
Indeed, almost one-third of the Evil’s initial aerial forces were operating in the Grand Canyon, their sole purpose to destroy any animals that might venture toward them. This remaining aerial corps of the Evil would sacrifice all of themselves, if necessary, to protect the secret of the existence of their reserve forces. This, they believed, was crucial to their plan for their terrible victory.
But it turned out, it may not have been so crucial after all. What actually happened was that the main force of the Evil that was attacking the animals was having more success than they had thought possible in their wildest hopes, for as the Evil swept forward, they left a swath of dead and dying animals. Indeed, when the animals’ pincer forces were finally called upon to attack at the rear of the battle, the scene of devastation that they saw not only among the Evil, but among their own forces as well, was entirely dispiriting and even shocking to them. Nonetheless, the animals’ pincer groups pressed their attack upon the Evil’s rear according to the animals’ plan.
Finally, by sheer force of numbers, the animals began to prevail. Yet all this while, and unknown to the animals, a powerful force of fresh Evil was secluded in the Grand Canyon, prepared to imminently enter the battle.
But as it happened, it was not only the Evil who had concluded the Grand Canyon would be the best place to hide something valuable.
For, this was also the place where El had chosen to hide Asherah. This he had done, leaving her there long after the Evil had passed by – or so he thought. As she hid there deep inside a cave, she had heard the forces of the Evil, as they emerged from their hiding places and began to mass. But rather than emerge and fly away, which she could have done in the beginning, she stayed hidden, according to the plan.
Thus we see two mistakes were made – of hiding her there in the first place, and of her not leaving when she could have. It is not enough to be good, or even wise. It is important that one’s actions are also the most correct ones possible, taken at the most correct times.
Quickly though, and imperceptibly, a communication beetle left her side. Flying extremely low and fast, it skirted the surveillance forces of the Evil and arrived at El’s side, where it informed him that his dear friend and love – and the future mother of their entire cherub race – was now in imminent danger, completely surrounded by the reserve forces of the Evil.
And then, a most demoralizing event happened to the animals in their fearsome battle against the Evil. Upon hearing the danger that Asherah was in, El instinctively, without thinking, spread his mighty wings and jumped into the air. As a cheer went up from among the Evil, El beat his wings and rose high into the sky, and left the scene of battle. Once again, the Evil’s spirits rose, and they began to prevail against the animals.
Diane and Sally too fought bravely, if ineffectively. For the two young girls, though they may have had heart and willingness, lacked strength. And whatever you may have imagined, lacking strength is an overwhelming disadvantage in battle. And whatever other qualities they may have, when it comes to physical strength, human women usually have very little of it, and especially human girls.
Seeing this early on, the animals had rushed to protect the girls. And just as they had been willing to sacrifice so much to protect Asherah, the animals assumed that since the girls also were unique, they must be protected too. And so the animals spent far too may resources in this effort – for while the girls attempted to make themselves useful, the truth is, it would have been of far more use if they had left the battle altogether.
As El crossed over the edge of the mountain range and swept over the valley, his heart sank as he saw the extent of the Evil’s forces there. El had never imagined that the Evil had held any forces in reserve. Indeed, the Evil’s reserve forces even had left a number of heavy, mobile weapons groups there. You will recall that early in the battle on the Plains of Wyoming, the Evil had begun to use some of their heavy weapons against the animals before the animals had destroyed them, and it had been through the animals’ stratagems that these heavy weapons groups had been eliminated. This time, the element of surprise, as well as the weapons themselves, would be in favor of the Evil.
El remained at a relatively high altitude, looking down. While he assumed that the Evil had seen him, he did not want his looking for Asherah to give her hiding place away. And since the cherubs could fly higher than any other creature while still being able to see the ground, at this altitude the aerial forces of the Evil could not reach him.
But it didn’t matter. El shuddered. As he looked down, he saw a bright blue creature in the midst of the Evil’s forces.
It was Asherah. They had already found her.
CHAPTER 15
EVER YOURS
