Ajh said:
One Ell has lost, one Ell has replaced. No more.
The True Master replied instantly:
What care of this is, Ajh? The count of eight or nine matters not.
Ajh spoke, like a melody of rippling notes:
Order and rule followed must be.
As agreed in the past, standing today, and true tomorrow.
Instead—the Pathseeker to me will attend.
In response, Ell’s thought-voice grew more intense, more vivid. The images and sounds came faster and sharper:
Did Ajh rescue that one from the death of the body? Ajh knows she did not.
Who then? Ell.
Ajh dares claim it now when all troubles are smoothed clear?
Ell objects—refuses—denies. Claimed this one has Ell.
Leave now, or conflict shall arise between us two
In this, my sanctuary, weaved round with power!
Ajh’s response was like two matchless chords that harmonized yet remained in dramatic tension.
You know that Ajh will not yield.
The law shall not be thwarted!
Argued and lost ages ago, Ell knows he is wrong!
What happened next seemed to take place in slow motion but, looking back on it, Sandun thought it likely that his sense of the passage of time was stretched, like a loosely woven scarf pulled upon by two children playing in the winter. He himself could not move; he seemed frozen as if in a dream.
Ell put his hands together, palm to palm, and a massive bolt of lightning struck down at Ajh. The glowing goddess lightly stepped aside before the lightning hit her. Where the lighting struck, the temple’s floor of crushed stones glowed orange-red briefly and then faded. The sound should have deafened Sandun, just as the terrific light should have blinded him for several heartbeats, yet neither occurred. At the time, none of this provoked surprise; instead, his mind was empty, as though he were a child again, brought to the ocean by his parents for the first time, hypnotized by the crashing waves, lost in reverie at the vista of endless water stretching as far as eye could see.
Ell snapped his fingers, and another bolt of lightning came down on top of Ajh; again, she sinuously slipped aside, as though she knew where it would hit. The goddess stepped forward and then took another step, darting and halting like a hunting cat sneaking up on an unwary bird.
Ajh advanced past Sandun and Kagne, a faint smile on her lips as if this were merely an interesting game. As the goddess passed Sandun, she glanced at him again. He felt her presence for an instant as her gaze swept over him; it was like the afternoon sun reflected off the ocean, and his whole body was struck by heat from both the stellar ball of fire and its reflection off the water, bathing him from head to toe. She glided on, moving closer to Ell, snaking her way back and forth between the thunderbolts, which came more and more frequently.
When Ajh reached the middle of the temple, Ell opened his mouth in a wide grin, and that was a truly terrible sight because the inside of his mouth was the same as his eyes—blinding, staggering light. Ell raised both arms on either side, and sheets of lighting came down upon the goddess in a massive column of hundreds of jagged bolts, at least fifty feet wide. Ajh vanished under this waterfall of cataclysmic destructive force. The onslaught lasted, and lasted, and then it stopped. Escape or avoidance of that avalanche of power seemed impossible.
The stones in the center of the temple yard were glowing an intense orange, and there was no sign of Ajh. Sandun felt a hint of emotions: sadness, regret. But his feelings were muted, muffled, as though he were removed from them by a vast gulf.
Ell drifted forward, hovering two or three feet above the crushed-stone yard, scanning the ground ahead of him. As he did, he closed his mouth, for which Sandun felt a measure of relief.
Ell bent down, and something small and blue flew up to his hand. He examined the blue shard with no expression on his face, but Sandun could feel the question in his mind. To Sandun, the blue shard looked like a piece of a rainbow, the thinnest sliver that glows blue just before the indigo. The shard started to grow in Ell’s gray fingers, unexpectedly, provoking concern. Ell dropped the blue shard back down to the stony ground.
The shard continued to grow with absurd, incomprehensible speed. It turned into an octagon with a sharp point, a crystal one foot long, then two feet. Suddenly there was a fork in the crystal and then another; parts of the crystal were growing upward into the air. Ell tried to withdraw, but crystals grew behind him, encircling him. Each moment it seemed the crystals doubled in size, branching, lengthening. The crystals were not all the same: some were hexagonal, others had more sides. Nor were they of the same color: some crystals were yellowish, others pale blue or milky white, and as they grew the crystals changed colors, becoming more complex, their interiors filling with the strange otherworldly hues Sandun had seen inside Ghost Wolf. Always and continuously the crystals grew, expanding, reaching out to form a forest of astonishing beauty, surrounding Ell.
Sandun could feel the rising tide of worry from the True Master and could sense something else: a weakening. As the crystals grew and built on each other, Ell was fading. The vast power that Sandun had felt in his mind was dying away.
Ell responded by lifting a finger, and lightning crashed down on the highest crystals. They shattered into a thousand tiny pieces of fiery sparks, but the whole crystal forest continued to grow. Ell brought down more lightning and broke apart ten or twenty of the tallest spires that were now reaching over his head. But it was a losing battle.
Ell again spread out his arms and called for the stupendous waterfall of lightning, but the response was weak, less than a quarter of the intensity of the first strike that had seemingly vanquished Ajh. Too rapidly to comprehend, the crystal prison rebuilt itself and, moments later, the glowing crystals fully surrounded Ell.
A realization slowly entered Sandun’s mind: the crystals were stealing Ell’s secret power, much like the way Ghost Wolf had tried to take the life from Kagne and himself. He saw the process, but he lacked the understanding of how it was being done.
Ell spoke again; his thoughts were clear but no longer violent. Resignation filled the images:
Enough—Ell yields + The one you may have. Take it and go!
Bested in my home + Ajh is foremost.
Thus is Ell repaid for many suns of aid.
Walking between the pillars near Kagne and Sandun, another goddess appeared. Almost the same as the first, but this one’s skin was more more gold than red, and her necklace was different as well—not stars on a black field but jewels of glowing fire, strung along a mirrored band of metal around her lovely neck. This goddess couldn’t be Ajh, could she? Nothing could have survived the first waterfall of lightning. But who was he to judge what a goddess could or could not do? She had the same faint smile on her lips as she gracefully came to rest near Sandun, her left hand on her perfect hip. She stretched out her other hand, and Skathris flew to her as though it were a kite on a hidden string.
The new goddess spoke, and her thought-voice was slightly different, sounding in his mind less like a lute and more like Miri’s timbal. But Sandun’s doubts were dispelled; this goddess was Ajh reformed. Ajh’s music this time was that of a cradle song but with many complex filigrees of notes built around a simple melody:
Ell knows, I love change as much as he.
But there must be life before growth.
There must be rules, before rules can be broken.
Boundaries must be set before they can be surpassed.
Ell replied:
Ajh has said the same many times since she killed Dil + Killed Dil.
Ajh’s voice took on a different tone. For the first time, she was talking only to Ell. Later, Sandun wondered why he’d been allowed to hear this part of the conversation. Perhaps it was similar to when his parents would get angry and sp
eak of adult matters at the dinner table as though he and his sister were not present.
I did not kill Dil. All of us played our part.
Dil is gone but not dead. Ell knows this—why say what is untrue?
Teach your mortal what you wish. Leave mine to me.
Ell replied with vigorous thoughts, still clear and focused:
Who forged the spear? Ajh.
Who laid down the path? Ajh.
Who commanded the host? Ajh knows this one well.
Dead, yes, but in short years, Dil returns—Dil will wake!
Ajh replied with a sad, slow musical phrase:
None know the hour of Dil’s return. Perhaps ten thousand years, perhaps all the time since we awoke.
None can guess Dil’s mind when he wakes. Maybe he will be one of us, as he was before.
If not, Ell knows what he must do. Ell knows what side he must take.
Ell responded to this with a confusing set of thoughts of which Sandun understood little:
He is coming, just as Ajh…one hundred passes of the moon…
His wrath will be unbounded…madness waking desire…
Ell looked upon the black pool…who can gain Dil’s power…
Old alliances are uncertain…think upon this hour!
As far as Sandun could tell, Ell’s warning was followed by a period of silence as the goddess stood motionless. The vividly colored crystalline rocks surrounding Ell had ceased all growth as soon as the new Ajh appeared. In the silence, he heard faint cracking sounds from the energized crystals. A small rod of vivid sapphire fell to the ground and then turned into a haze that quickly vanished into the air.
The new Ajh looked over at Sandun, and he found her power was muted, like banked coals. He ventured a look at her face, but Ajh was so beautiful he found it impossible to think clearly, so he looked at her waist: she had no belly button. Later, that made sense.
Follow me, Pathseeker. Take Nin’s toy also. Long has it slumbered.
Sandun guessed Ajh meant the golden dragon-circle. He found that he could move for the first time in what seemed like an hour or longer. He bent down and picked up the circle and hung it around his neck.
In his mind, Sandun noted that he was not being given a choice by Ajh. She had given him a command. But after witnessing that titanic battle between the gods, Sandun had lost all desire for questions. He wanted no further attention from Ell. He felt like a small mouse trapped between two terrifying wolves that unexpectedly attacked each other. Now, with the snarling and biting over, he was being summoned by the victor. For what purpose? Who could say? But not, apparently, to be eaten.
As the goddess reached the line of pillars, a wave of dismay came from Ell, still trapped inside the crystals.
Ajh turned and spoke for the last time to Ell:
Ell will be free in a moment of time.
If Dil returns as Ell says,
All eight must needs take counsel together.
Ell responded:
Ajh knows how to find me + No secrets can Ell keep.
Ell wonders at Ajh’s deeds in twilight + What mortal is worth so much?
Reconsider the alliance Ell will + The wind blows clouds to distant lands.
Ajh waved her hand with a gesture so graceful it caused tears to come to Sandun’s eyes. In response, several more pieces of the crystal forest broke and fell to the ground and vanished.
Sandun also lifted his hand and waved farewell to Kagne; he felt like a clumsy bear in comparison to the goddess. His old friend looked at him with a sad expression on his face and then gave him a Kelten salute.
“My service to you has come to its end, Sandun,” Kagne said gravely. “My debt is repaid, and all is square between us. Till we meet again.” Kagne paused, as if to say something else, but he shifted his gaze to look at the stars and said nothing more.
Sandun bowed and tried to find the right words speak in reply. Finally, he said:
“The debts we owed each other are washed away, leaving behind friendship and the cords of history. Farewell, Kagne. Farewell, brother.”
Breathing a shuddering sigh—relief mixed with regret—Sandun turned away from Ell’s temple and followed the glowing goddess Ajh. He walked warily, past the pillars of stone and down a narrow rocky path. Night had overtaken the world; stars were shining in the sky above. Sandun somehow expected the stars to wheel and dance in massed formations, just as they had done months ago at the top of the Great Sage Temple. But here, in this place of supernatural power, the stars hung motionless as they always did—a rare piece of normality on this, the most extraordinary day of his life.
Sandun had not expected to see the stars again. Whatever came next, however short his time might be, he had lived a life. A wild joy tinged with sadness began to sing in his heart.
Ajh spoke to him without turning her head. Her musical thought-voice came in the cadence of a military march:
Pay no heed to Ell’s thoughts, he is a lord of shadows and lies.
His alliances are always circumscribed and self-defined.
You my champion shall be, lending aid to the leaders of this land.
Turning a corner on the path, the figure of the glowing goddess softly faded away. Sandun slowed and halted in confusion. What was he supposed to do? Where was he to go?
Then, he saw it.
Ahead of him, resting on top of the strange dome of black glass, was a monstrous shape, glowing faintly. The figure was tall, much taller than a man, but it was not a man nor a woman. It was a shape he had seen depicted many times over the years. An overwhelming surge of fear seized his throat, and he found it impossible to breathe for a perhaps a dozen heartbeats. He gazed at the dragon’s wings, its lizard-like head, its scaly tail. Finally, it opened its eyes, and they were filled with the same terrifying blinding light as Ell’s and Ajh’s.
The dragon spoke, but not with a voice. Its thoughts filled Sandun’s mind, and he knew it at once for Ajh. As he tried to master his terror, Sandun thought, desperately: Is this Ajh’s true form? Her music, like the rapid beating of a drum, used deeper notes to express…
Come, there is much you now must learn.
You mortals leave this world far too easily, so hurry
To my home, where I will teach what is needful.
The End
Afterword
Thanks for reading the book. I hope you enjoyed it. It was great fun to write.
This is the second book in the series. The first book is titled The Burning Tower. The third book is tentatively titled The Lake of Thunder. It is in progress.
Beyond the third book, it seems that there are more stories to tell as some Keltens in Serica must return home and then go farther to Pella and Esolas in the heart of the Archipelago.
Personal Note
The cities that I visited during the writing of this book include: London, Canterbury, Dublin, New York City, Paris, Amsterdam, Koln, Heidelberg, and Madras, Oregon—to see the eclipse of 2017.
This book is not a history, but it takes place in a world much like our own with people, cultures, and stories that are similar to Earth’s.
About me, I will say this: I am an American, and I have lived most of my life in California though I have travelled widely. I have been married, and I have three children. Professionally, I have held several jobs, including developing commercial software, technical writing, teaching, and law.
The following historians have been inspirations to me:
R. Ernest Dupuy and Trevor Dupuy
William M. Bowsky
Fredrick W. Mote
Charles O. Hucker
John Keegan
Russell F. Weigley
David Hackworth
Diodorus Sicilus
Herodotus
and Xenophon
Appendix
/> People, Places, and Things from The Burning Tower and The Fire Sword
West of the Tirala Mountains
Agnefeld – A city near the southern border of Kelten. See also Earl of Agnefeld.
Agnefeld (battle of) – The great battle between the rebel army of King Pandion III against the then ruler of Kelten, King Oniktes. Pandion’s army was victorious, and Oniktes died.
Akia – One of the great islands forming the core of the Archipelago. The ancient capital of Pella is located on the north coast of Akia. The Pellian Empire was centered around Akia.
Archipelago – A set of huge islands west of Kelten. Kelten is culturally part of the Archipelago but separated from it by hundreds of miles of ocean. The three main islands of the Archipelago are Akia, Ikaria, and Melnehlan. Other lesser islands include Falsten, Lindao, and Maspan. Major cities include Pella and Esolas.
Archives Expedition – Led by Sandun and Sir Ako, the Archives Expedition was commissioned by King Pandion to explore a possible route from Erimasran to Serica.
Arkturos – Ancient and perhaps legendary king of Kelten. Married to Queen Findaire. Famous for his bear companion and his magic sword, Chalris.
Basil Vuno – Master hunter and mapmaker, has traveled throughout Kelten leading hunts for the wealthy merchants and nobles. Childhood friend of Sandun. Joined the Archives Expedition and crossed the Tirala Mountains. Entered into a romantic relationship with Expedition scout Olef and is the father of her infant son, Niksol.
Black Terror – Widely used alternate term for Naktam.
Chalris – Legendary sword of King Arkturos. A wedding present that is associated with Queen Findaire’s clan but also associated with Arkturos’s father, the Lost King.
Count Opomos – A major lord of Kelten. A supporter and friend of King Pandion III. The count controls much of central Kelten as well as lands in the Kelten Alps.
Count Tichnis – Called, satirically, the servant of kings. A rich and powerful Kelten noble. During the Kelten civil war he switched sides several times, causing chaos and destruction. He died in one of the later battles and is now vilified throughout Kelten.
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