Broken Earth

by C M Blackwood

  Lila worked long in speaking to her, and trying for a reaction from her. After a time, she began to choke upon the blood that filled her throat, and Lila moved quickly to draw her head into her lap. There she wiped away the blood that crept near to her eyes, and that which fell down from her lips.

  The battle raged on; and the wind that whipped through the circle grew stronger, till Lila needed place her arms down around Heidi, so that her poor body might not be blown into the fire. It seemed, sometimes, that the warriors drew nearer, but as Lila could think of no way to remove Heidi from the circle, she would not move herself. And so she sat silently with Heidi, watching the battle almost with indifference, and looking often down into the face of the broken woman upon her thigh. Her eyes were hazy, and unfocused. She seemed, ever and anon, to speak something, in a soft whisper that Lila could not hear.

  She listened with a hardened heart to the screams and cries of Heidi’s companions. They called ceaselessly to her. But what could be said?

  All of a sudden, there came a great flash of red from the sword of Férglag; and it could be seen, that he who was called Otóvin fell to the ground. As his sword broke in two, the light of it went out, and the pieces clattered down to the cobbles of the street. Aurelus made a lunge upon Férglag, in an attempt to block his stroke; but the black sword aimed true, and pierced the heart of Otóvin. It seemed that the white light of his eyes, with that final stroke, dispersed as had the glow of his mighty sword. His face was darkened by the dealing of death; and he fell down upon his back, at the feet of Férglag.

  While Aurelus hurled himself upon Férglag, Arolah aimed what would have proved a fatal blow towards the Sorceress. Yet, just in the nick of time, the Sorceress fell down on her knees before the white woman. Arolah halted the movement of her sword, and looked without expression down at the prostrate form of Dain Aerca. She raised her hand; and the Sorceress was cast far away from her.

  There was left then only the Black One, to face the wrath of his siblings. Aurelus and Arolah made a joint effort for his sword, and succeeded in prying it from his hands. He looked upon them for a moment, with an expression of disbelief etched across his fair mask. But he thought very little before casting himself down at their feet.

  “Forgive me,” he begged, reaching out his hands for the feet of his brother. He made to wrap himself round his ankles, and to clutch upon them for mercy; but Aurelus kicked him away.

  “It is too late, brother,” said he.

  Brother and sister stood long, staring down with pained faces at the fallen Otóvin. The Black One entreated them repeatedly, to show him mercy, but they seemed not to hear him.

  What came next into the skies above the city, appeared as tenfold greater than the coming of the white warriors. There came a great split down the centre of the blackness, like a flash of terrible lightning. Accompanied by it was a strident crack of thunder. The whole sky seemed, then, to change to grey; and there came a great shape there amidst the clouds. Unlike the warriors, however, this shape descended quickly, and lost not an inch of its height in the coming. When it lighted upon the ground, it stood many feet above the walls of the city. Its form was that of a man, and the face was contorted in fury.

  “Lord,” said Aurelus and Arolah, falling down upon their knees.

  The giant reached down, and took the lifeless Otóvin up in the palm of his hand. He then turned his wrath down upon Férglag, and the white warriors hurried to stand behind him.

  “Kengló,” said the Black One, venturing a glance into the terrible face above him. “Kengló, I beg your –”

  “You beg me?” said the giant, his voice coming as no less than the thunder that had heralded his approach. “You beg me, Férglag? I forgave so many hurts that you caused. I gave to you endless opportunities for redemption! Now that you have stolen the purity of my son, you beg me? As Aurelus did speak to you, my fallen servant – it is too late for begging.”

  He held his massive hand aloft; and there came an unspeakably horrifying sound, as the very earth was rended apart. A crack in the stones of the street zigzagged betwixt the walls of the city, and then began to widen. It moved nearer and nearer to the place where Lila sat huddled with Heidi; but she would not leave her. The earth continued to break apart, until it had split into a great crater, whose rightmost edge came to lay only feet away from the two Aurens. Lila moved her head, so that she might peer down into the chasm. If there was indeed a bottom, that bottom could not be seen. The walls were of black rock, and fractured continually, so that great pieces fell down into what appeared to be a river of liquid fire.

  “You have been ever a terror unto this earth, Férglag,” said Kengló. “You have proved faithless, disloyal, and incorrigible. There is no home for you now, either upon earth or in the skies. Your torment lies now in the Pit.”

  As Kengló delivered the sentence of The Black One, his fair mask fell away, and was replaced by the image of the beast, what had haunted innumerable souls in its time upon the earth. Yet the beast uttered many pleas and supplications, and cried out to the great lord for appeal. But there was no ear for his voice. Kengló took him up in his hand, and cast him without hesitation down into the chasm of fire.

  The screams were nearly unbearable to bear witness to.

  With a final wave of his hand, Kengló healed the split in the earth. It looked, then, quite as if nothing had happened at all. But Lila stared in horror towards the place where, moments before, there had been a pit of fire; for she knew that a soul (albeit an irreparably evil soul) writhed now in indescribable suffering, somewhere below the ruined streets of Onssgaard.

  She looked to Kengló in fear. He had turned his attention to the place where she sat with Heidi; and was reaching his hand towards them.

  “No!” cried Lila, throwing herself upon Heidi.

  “Be still,” said Kengló. “Be still, little one.”

  Lila moved back a bit, very cautiously. The great hand came nearer, till it was all but upon them. She shook with mortal fear; but felt it ease, with a look into the lord’s gentle face. He took Heidi into his hand, drew her up to his face, and breathed softly upon her broken body. After only a few moments, she began to move in his palm. He lowered his hand to the ground, so that she might step away from him.

  “Go now, little one,” said he.

  On shaking legs, Heidi walked towards Lila. Her knees buckled beneath her, but Lila reached to her as she fell, and met her just above the ground. Heidi looked for a moment into her face; but then began to sob, and dropped her head down to her shoulder.

  In the absence of the fire, Dera, David and Helena rushed to meet them. They spoke each to Heidi, and reached for her hands; but she would not move from her place beside Lila, and only continued to weep.

  Kengló looked down to Aurelus and Arolah, and smiled sadly. He then rested his gaze upon the crowds to either side of him, and said, “Choose well, little ones.”

  His feet disconnected from the ground, and he returned to the sky, with the fallen Otóvin held still in the palm of his hand.

  ~

  There came, after the departure of Kengló, a great commotion in the crowded city. It went on for many long minutes, and none seemed to take any notice of Aurelus and Arolah, who remained among them.

  Finally, a great shout went up from Aurelus; and in the wake of its fierceness, all the city fell silent.

  “A great tragedy has befallen us here today,” he spoke out. “The Power of the great Lord Otóvin has been stolen by the Black One; and He shall live no longer in the skies with His father. He will rest long, but will descend in time to earth, to dwell among the wicked, and the iniquitous. Yet He shall be your messenger. Look to Him for truth, and for strength. With His coming, this land shall no longer be called the Broken Earth; but shall be made whole, with the purity of His presence. For those of long ago, you see, did know that this land lacked truth; and that, till the people were ready for that truth, all the land would indeed be broken.”

&nbs
p; He paused a moment; for tears had crept into his bright eyes, and were stealing down his fair face. His sister came to stand beside him, and took up his strain.

  “Férglag has been cast far away from you,” said she, “but not nearly for eternity. Neither will his darkness vanish from the earth! But as our Lord has said, you must choose well – betwixt what ease lies in darkness, and what power lies in light!”

  She looked to the army of the Sorceress. The fire burnt still in the eyes of the Southerners; but she doused it in an instant. They launched immediately into the chaos of confusion, but were quieted by Arolah, whose voice was sweet and gentle, and in the presence of which there could be no unrest.

  She looked then to the wolfen beasts, but did smile upon them. “Your evil is not your own,” she said to them. “It is the Sorceress who must answer for it. Yet your bodies have been stolen from you – and there is no life left for you in this place. Come to me now, and I will set you free.”

  They stepped forth in a single movement, enamoured by her voice. She extended her arms to them, and closed her eyes; and there rose up from the bodies of the Narken, a great host of silver shadows, which ascended into the sky. The bodies of the wolves fell down to the ground.

  “Their spirits are free,” said Arolah. “They dwell now where there is no evil, and no pain. You who are called the Lumaria – come to me now, and you shall have your freedom, as well. Your lives, your appetites for human flesh, are not natural, and are not the will of Kengló. Come to me now, and I will free you.”

  It was not, this time, as it had been with the Narken. The Lumaria looked upon her with doubt and suspicion.

  “And why should we trust you, white lady?” asked Edrich. “We know nothing of you.”

  “The choice is yours,” said Aurelus. “Either come to us, and ascend with us to the heavens; or remain here, and bind your fate to that of the Black One.”

  “And what of our brethren in the Mountain?” asked Edrich. “What shall be done to them?”

  “They shall be given the same choice.”

  There was a long space of silence; but in the end, only three persons stepped forth. First came Jade Misaria, with the fire of Férglag dissipated from her eyes. Behind her followed Zana; and behind Zana trailed Biscayne.

  Jade went to Arolah, with tears running all down her face, and was taken into the arms of the white woman.

  “Do not fear,” she said. “You are safe now! Those powers which are now yours, have no place here upon this earth. Come – and I shall make it well.”

  At the appearance of Jade, Heidi fought madly to break away from Lila. Yet she could not be settled (and even then, it was as more of an enchantment than a cooperation) till Arolah had spoken out to her.

  “She is no longer of this world, Heidi Bastian. Let her spirit fly.”

  Jade looked towards Heidi; and the ache of her heart could not but be seen upon her face. She held her hand aloft, with its palm facing Heidi. With a great heaving of her breast, Heidi held her own hand up – palm facing Jade.

  Arolah placed a hand on the hearts of those three who had come to her, and in less than a moment, their souls had departed their beastly cages, and flew forth into the heavens.

  The remainder of the Lumaria looked fearfully upon Arolah, but did not go to her. They only set their faces, and shifted from the city.

  “Come now to me,” said Aurelus, “you who acted without the fire of the Black One in your eyes.”

  As small children reporting to the dealer of their reprimands, Dain Aerca and Jonathan Payton stepped forward, and fell down before Aurelus.

  “You, Jonathan Payton,” said Aurelus. “Do you renounce your evil?”

  “Yes, lord,” said Payton, bending forth till his forehead touched the ground.

  “I am not your Lord,” said Aurelus. “I am only His missionary. You would do well to remember that – and to cease to bow only to he who offers you riches and glory. Return now to your people, if they will have you; and live out your life with the knowledge that, in the end, you shall be judged according to either your good or your evil. Then you shall ascend – or you shall fall to the Pit.”

  Payton squirmed forward to kiss his feet. Then he rose, and ran with all the speed he could muster towards the men of Eredor.

  He halted his step before Lila, who held still in her arms a trembling Heidi Bastian.

  “Will you have me, Princess?” he asked tremulously.

  “I shall,” said Lila. “But do not make me regret it.”

  “You will not, Princess – you will not.”

  He scurried then into the crowd.

  “Dain Aerca,” said Aurelus, turning his face to the woman who knelt before him. “Do you seek penance this day?”

  “I do,” said Aerca, who seemed unable to look up into the face of Aurelus.

  “You took countless lives, during those years you spent with Férglag. Yet even before, your heart was not pure; and your hands were not clean. What evils you wrought, with the very Power that I bestowed upon you! That is the failing of my work, you know – insomuch as, once I have granted the gift, I cannot take it away. Yet I look now into your heart, and do see remorse there. But your fear is far greater! I know not what to make of your half-truths.”

  “My heart bears the guilt,” said Aerca, “and the shame. Pray do believe me when I say.”

  “It is not my place to judge your actions,” said Aurelus; “nor is it my place to decide punishment for them. You shall be judged in the end, as all the rest, by the King of All Things, whose greatness and mercy have only just left your sight. Yet perhaps I might advise you, Dain Aerca – to live out what years are left to you, quite differently than you have lived thus far.”

  Aerca nodded, and rose to her feet; but as she looked about, she saw none whom she could call her ally. She hung her head low, and disappeared from sight.

  That was the last that many of those spectators ever saw of Dain Aerca – the terrible Sorceress of Grénha.

  Aurelus turned then to Lila and Heidi, and said to them, “With you who remain dies the Power of the Aurens. No other shall I endow with what I have given to you. Yet of all who do remain, your own Power, Lila Bier and Heidi Bastian, is by far the greatest. Use it wisely. Use it well.”

  But then he paused, and turned his eyes only upon Lila. “Your mother knew,” said he, “of all that has happened here today. Her eyes were ever clear, and saw what truth there was to see. I hope that you do understand now, whatever you did not, in the words of what she wished to be spoken during the rites of her passage. Take comfort, now, that she is at peace; and that she does dwell in the light of the skies, with her Lord.” He made his voice somewhat louder, so that all of the surrounding crowd might give ear. “Do not forget,” said he, “what you have seen and heard here today. Keep it near to your hearts, and remind others whose memories do fail. From this day forward, you have no excuse for ignorance. Love one another as brothers and sisters; and do unto one another, as you would see fit to have done to yourselves. In times of darkness and despair, do call upon your Lord, who is the only true God above the skies.”

  At these words, a great round of whispering went through the crowd. “One God?” cried some. “It cannot be true!”

  “And you hath seen Him with all thine own eyes,” said Arolah with a smile. “You did see, as He cast the darkness into the Pit. As He delivered you from evil! You may not deny Him now. But do wait in patience; for as mine own dear brother did tell you, His Messenger shall come down to you, and shall teach you all the ways of the heavens. His words shall be written, for all the world to read.”

  Much more talk pulsed through the thick of the people; but none said any more, that could be heard by the shining white figures in the midst of them.

  Aurelus made them a low bow; and Arolah offered them a last smile. But with that, they took to the air, and returned to the skies.

  XLVI: The End of the Beginning

  The city was in shambles. Many homes
had been felled, and the streets lay strewn with pieces of all things broken. The Lumaria had departed, and the Southern men had fled; but upon the extinguishing of the fire in their eyes, the soldiers who had followed Payton returned to Lila, and begged her forgiveness. Feeling that she hadn’t the strength to make a single decision more that day, she left them without answer.

  The city was littered with bodies. Every Narkul who had come into the city, lay now upon the ground, with its soul removed by the Power of Arolah. There had fallen dead also a number of Southerners. Yet the Army of Eredor had suffered not one casualty; and it seemed, indeed, that any man who had fallen before the arrival of the white warriors was revived.

  As soon as Aurelus and Arolah departed, Heidi loosed herself from Lila’s arms, and took to the bloodied streets. She searched long in the mess of bodies to find Jade’s; and when finally she had done so, she sat long with her head clasped tightly to her heart. Her friends went to her, and tried to draw her away, but her response was vicious, and resulted only in the scalding of their hands. With no other choice to be had, they left her alone to her grief.

  Lila felt at a loss. She looked about at the destruction of her city, and was horrified by the devastation and carnage she saw there. Thomas Henry and Harn Fala, accompanied by Antony, came to her, and asked her what was to be done; but she had no answer for them. After a little, they ceased their questions, and took up the march of the soldiers, who were returning to the castle.