The War of the Realms

by C Steven Meldrum

  The Witch-Queen regarded her and turned her energies towards her. I screamed out and from the spear of light I held a beam shot forth towards her. She screamed and writhed in the blinding white light which pushed away the evil darkness. I ran towards her, now on her knees. But in a show of amazing strength and resilience, she reached out and grabbed me. From the ground sprang cruel black tentacles and green fire bathed me from all around. Such power, I thought to myself as I screamed in agony. The weight of evil that pressed upon me was more than I could bare. A hideous laughter was all I could hear as she slowly crushed me and hideous spines grew out of her hand and stabbed into me. I screamed. What more could I do?

  And then the strangest thing happened. Time seemed to slow to an infinitesimal crawl. In burning agony, I was looking into those burning green eyes and screaming for Irirangi to run and then a blur of abyssal emptiness passed between the WitchQueen’s head and her armoured shoulders. There was a mild look of surprise as her head went flying one way and her gigantic body slump to the ground the other way, releasing her grip on me.

  Gasping, I looked up to see Tetsuko standing over us, her sword afire with flickering blackness.

  “The sisters guided me to you,” she said, and then very matter-of-factly, “Good, she is dead, finally. I have wanted to do that for a long time.”

  Before we could congratulate each other however, I slowly looked up at the walls as scores of landers came into view, engorged with warriors ready to leap down and engage us. They were armed with various types of guns and fiery lances. My bubble was gone. I was so injured I could not begin to refocus on building it again. A great victory to remove such an evil but then to lose now was heartbreaking.

  I turned to the others and was about to scream to them to them to run but then suddenly another protective shield went up in its place, encompassing the whole of the arena. Some of the Sidus or preta-mech hybrids tried to rappel down from their landers but disintegrated as they hit the outside of the bubble. Other landers turned their lazguns upon the crackling sphere and began firing. Within the bubble we could hear a dull thud as each of the blasts hit it, but it held firm. I was amazed and looked to where it had come from and was surprised to see Irirangi standing there with her arms pointed upwards, looking up, translucent beams of pure white light flowing from them to the underside of the bubble, strengthening it.

  “Irirangi!” I exclaimed. She finished and ran towards me. She embraced me and said, “Come!”

  I looked to Tetsuko who was busy rummaging through the remains of the dead sorceress and then followed Irirangi to where to Jigme knelt, holding Gada and protecting the lady. She turned to me.

  “My name is Pandara, or Pāṇḍaravāsinī if you want to be more accurate. I have been trying to find my mistress for a long time now… and to bring her home.”

  She looked at me. “Thanks to you, Tashi. You see, you are a god after all.”

  She knelt down to the dying tigress. “My lady,” she said, and placed her hands on the tigress’s broad head. A gentle light grew there which became blinding such that all gathered there had to shield their eyes. When the light subsided, the tigress was gone, and in her place, the Lady of Melody, Vajraveena Sarasvati, the Budhi Pallien, sat. She looked up at me and smiled.

  “Thank you for finding me, Tashi,” she said in a course voice.“And thank you, my dear Pandara, for bringing me back. Dark have been my days since the Silver Palace.”

  I knelt down beside her. “You are my friend, my companion, always, through this world and the next. Go and heal and come back to me.” I could not hold back tears of both relief and loss, for I had just found her, and now I knew I would lose her again.

  I hugged my friends. “Irir … Pandara, save her, take her from here, go.”

  She looked at me and embraced me once more, kissing me on the cheek. “Thank you, my dear friend.”

  We parted and moved to help the lady stand. Pandara caused a doorway to open and then as the swirling energies showed the light of the hot jungles of the southern lands through the centre, turned to me. “You can come with us. I can save youall.”

  “Take the lady. I must find Dorje. I will not leave him here, to torment and death.”

  She smiled and in a moment they had passed through the portal and were gone. As the shield above continued to be hammered with the tremendous energies from outside, I turned to Tetsuko.

  “Save Jigme and Sukhothai,” I commanded. I knew she would want to find Dorje and started to protest. “No, listen to me. He is somewhere in this city and they will kill him before any of us can locate him. They cannot kill me, but they can kill the two of you. In fact, they would simply for the supposed dishonour we have brought to them by ridding them of the sorceress.”

  She looked at me, searching for an argument to mount. I saw another look in her eyes, almost an unpalatable truth she had had to come to terms with. I looked at her.

  “I must make a peace with them. Maybe now that the Witch-Queen is gone I can influence them myself and show them the error they have made. They wanted my help. I will see what I can do.”

  She knelt down and I saw she was crying blue tears as she looked at me. “I have not told you everything,Tashi,’ she cried. “I have seen this moment, and beyond.”

  “You have told me enough. Dorje lives, and that is pleasing, but it will not be at the expense of you, my friends.” I thanked Sukhothai and told him to keep the daggers which he would need in the fight to come. He winked at me and smiled, looking very pleased that he would be leaving this place. I looked at Jigme who knelt down and extended his hand to me. We grasped forearms in the way of the Sera Ngariand I nodded my head. “Strength and honour,” I said.

  “Strength and honour,” he repeated. We all stood and Tetsuko grasped me in a hug, stronger than what Irirangi’s had been. She stood back and turned to Jigme. I fancied I almost saw a tear at the corner of her eye.

  She turned to Jigme. “Here, I retrieved this from the body.” She handed him Vel, which I had thought forever lost. He smiled and I could see before me the mighty deeds that the warrior who held both Gada and Vel would do. She turned at last to me and held out her upturned palm on which lay the KriyaShakti. I took it from her and thanked her.

  I stood back and watched as she waved her sword and created a similar doorway to what Pandara had made. I looked through it and beheld my home, the lonely monastery of Bâm-e Donyâ perched atop a snow-swept hill, looking out over the over the hidden valley of the Artemisiae and in the distance the mighty ranges of the Beyul Khenbalung, watched over by the Mother Goddess, Qomolangma.

  And nearly did my resolve faulter. Tears of loss and longing cascaded down my face. Irirangi gave me a wink as she stepped through, followed shortly behind by Sukhothai, who, in the short time I had known him had provide his quality to me. I think from his expression, as he stepped though the portal, he still did not understand why I had to remain. Tetsuko and Jigme looked at me as they stepped though, both their expressions saying this was not the end and they would see me soon enough. Then the doorway closed and I was alone.

  I breathed deeply and slowly turned to face the hordes. Their energies had gone quiet and instead of attacking, they merely regarded me through the bubble. They parted at one point and a creature I had not seen before approached along the aisle the assembled Sidus created. It paused at the edge of the bubble and, putting out a black mechanical arm, touched the edge of the bubble. Amidst sparks and what looked like dripping molten steel, the bubble began to melt at the point the creature touched it. It slowly pushed its way through until it stood fully inside the bubble, the parts of it that had touched the edges of the decaying bubble smouldering and smoking. It regarded the molten state of its useless hand and where the shield had touched it, smoke pouring from it,and merely said, “Interesting.”

  It was still a chain away and as it turned its attention to me and started to approach. I whispered to the air, “Me-khri, So-Khri. Once I find Dorje I will leave this p
lace. Save yourselves now, go, lest they, by their arts are somehow able to trap you too.”

  “They can’t,” whispered a petite voice. “Thank you Master. We will find you on the other side.”

  I was now truly alone.

  The creature came to stand before me. It was humanoid in appearance, taller than me, armoured, though still quite thin, with a narrow-helmeted head with a blank, mirrored faceplate.

  “I am the engineer,” it said simply in a slightly mechanical and slight high-pitched voice that was somewhat calming and reassuring. It regarded the floor of the arena with the bodies of its own preta-mechs and the hundreds of dead demons piled high. It then turned back to me.

  “Quite a spectacle. We did not give you enough credit. Our intelligence was based on what our spies had observed. My, how your powers have grown.”

  “I wanted to help you. But this was not way to doit.”

  “She wanted to see you. And we could not have progressed our research as adequately withouther.”

  “My friends and I have removed a great evil from the universe. You do not realise the depth of your stupidity in allying with them.”

  “Perhaps. Now, I believe you wish to be re-acquainted with your compatriot.”

  “If you have hurt him,I will destroy you all.”

  “Quite the opposite. We have taken what was done and improved him. He will be a glorious champion of our cause, as will you, once you have shared what is yours.”

  Chapter 22: Terra Nullius The radiant Dawns have risen up for glory, in their white splendour like the waves of waters. She maketh paths all easy, fair to travel, and, rich, hath shown herself benign and friendly.

  We see that thou art good: far shines thy lustre; thy beams, thy splendours have flown up to heaven. Decking thyself, thou makest bare thy bosom, shining in majesty, thou Goddess Morning.

  Rig Veda 6.64.1-2 After my escape I wandered aimlessly for days. The sun beat down upon me, unrelenting. The hatch had opened into a narrow defile with high walls on either side. Unless the sun was directly overhead I walked in a perpetual twilight but with a bright azure band of sky above me. I walked until it was too dark to walk and where the uneven ground of the dry river bed became too treacherous with pointed rocks and loose shale and so lay huddled against the ravine wall with my cloak drawn up around me, shivering from the cold.

  On the morning of the third day I continued on as I had the last two days, slowly shuffling along, hardly noticing when the path curved left or right or ran straight. The undulating earthen and rock walls rose up on both sides, as they had since I escaped. I wanted to climb to the top of the defile and see what the land was like on top. But there were no handholds and footholds, and in my present state, I did not have the strength to hold on even if there were.

  Thirst and hunger assailed me. I was thirstier than I had ever known. My lips were cracked and my tongue felt swollen and I could not conjure enough spittle to soothe my throat. In the gloom of the path ahead I could make out little but for the roughly concaved shape of the dry river bed, full of shale and stones and glazed sand. I looked upwards, my eyes scanning the featureless walls– what else could I do?

  I walked on, the canyon gently snaking through the endless hillocks with no way open to me but to continue onwards. I felt that I would die of thirst in this place. The bitter irony that I would end my journey in a place that had seen raging torrents of water was not lost on me as I sat for a rest on the hard edge of a large boulder. I rested my staff next to me and stared at the ground, my mind numb. I could hardly hear my ownrasping voice as I cried, “Vajra.” There was no answer. A calescent breeze swirled around me, dust devils dancing among the rocks and along the floor of the dry river bed. The sun was directly overhead now and baked everything beneath it. I moved to a small shaded area at the canyon wall and knelt, my staff on the ground in front of me.

  I must have fallen asleep, or passed out. When I woke, it was in the twilight of dusk. I resolved to move on but I had not taken three steps before I collapsed. Knowing that I would not see another morning I thought of one final hope.

  “So -Khri, MeKhri … help … me …” I rasped.

  “Yes Master, what can we do?”

  “Ffff … find … wa … ter.”

  “We can find it master. But we have no means to bring it to you.” That

  was Me-khri. SoKhri said, “Fly with us Master and we shall show you where a lake is.”

  I was leaning against the wall of the ravine and turned painfully to look at her fluttering just away from my shoulder, feeling that they were playing with me in my final moments.

  “You make fun of me?” I became angry.

  “No Master!”

  “What then… do you… mean, … fly?” I rasped. I was not really listening. Couldn’t they see I was dying? Could they find me some water, or fashion a cup full to overflowing with their magic?

  “Change, transform, become. You are a godling. You have that gift.”

  “But beware, Master. You will become that which you become. To regain your humanity may be difficult for one so… unskilled,” said Me-Khri.

  I was delirious. I was imagining things. Where were these voices coming from? I wanted to sleep, just sleep. I wished that Pasang would shut the door. There’s a draft andit’s too noisy. I’m trying to sleep!

  A new sound awoke me from my dying. An annoying screech that wouldn’t stop. I opened my eyes and beheld a large, elegant bird streaking back and forth through the canyon at least thirty feet up, alighting at last upon an outcropping. In my delirium I almost fancied that it looked down at me.

  I laughed a little, andcalled in my parched and cracked voice, “Ushas!”

  The bird called back and suddenly launched itself from the outcropping, soaring toward me. I held out my forearm and within seconds massive claws clasped gently to my arm. Wings wider than I was tall beat the air as it balanced upon me. I looked in those wild eyes and in a laboured croak managed to say, “Ushas, you … you mock me in my final moments? Here… at the end. You are… the goddess of the dawn… but I… I know that I will not live … until then. Th… thank you… for sharing my death-watch… with me. You have… come, no doubt, to… guide me on my final … journey?”

  The great beast flapped those enormous wings and screeched. “Go with her Master!” yelled the sisters together.

  I looked at them with a defeated andhopeless look upon my face, “How?” “Do it!”

  Grasping my cudgel, I closed my eyes and wished with all my heart for I

  knew not what. In that moment she leaped away from me and was suddenly a woman of extraordinary beauty in flowing raiment, all of golds and browns, standing before me. The Lady of the Dawns, goddess of birds and enemy of evil spirits, the divine daughter of the sky-lord, Mithras, and supreme blessedness.

  “Follow me, young Goldenhawk. I am the mistress of all birds and you are now my subject. May your golden robes become as golden feathers, your strength and skill and speed those of the ancient hunter of the skies, ferocious and unyielding. You will rule the skies with and eye and claw, as an eagle among the partridge and the quail, as a wing-ed god among men.”

  In an instant I was no longer. I looked out into the twilit canyon with my new eyes and beheld a world more beautiful than I could possibly explain. Such was the clarity with which the world leaped at me that I felt reborn. As weak and thirsty as I was, I exulted in such strength and wholeness as I have never experienced.

  What can I say of what the masters of the sky see, except that it was as though I had been blind my whole life and I could suddenly see things that I never would have thought possible. Ants and insects and all the invisible life of the desert crawled, slithered and burrowed around and beneath the rocks and in the river bed beneath me. I felt the power in my wings, with a span of more than a fathom, and in the taloned feet that could shred the prey I suddenly hungered for and in the legs that propelled me from the ground to take flight.

  “Go with the gr
ace of the gods, Master!” yelled the sisters. “There is a water source to the southeast!”

  I spread my enormous wings and launched myself easily into the air and out of the rocky defile that had nearly been my death, the giant red sun above me and the sanguineous dunes below. I revelled in the power and grace of the creature I had become and could happily have stayed always in that form. But SoKhri’s warning tempered my jubilation and I determined that I would use this gift for what it was for; to save my life.

  Ushas led the way and sped through the darkening sky to a narrow spring that my human feet would never have found. It was fresh and cleansing and the greatest joy of my lifeto sip those softly flowing waters with my eagle’s beak. Afterwards we hunted. I snatched desert rodents from the plains and lesser birds from the sky and when we were both sated, soared high in the kingdom of the sky. I noted that I was no longer in the desert land I had spent the last many months of my life because shining down from on high was the magnificent moon of my youth, and I fancied I felt the cool air of the mountains of my home and spied the snow-laden jagged peaks in the far distance, or maybe I just wanted it and it was so.

  In the fleeting darkness of the dawn, I sat upon a rocky outcropping that jutted out from a high place, maybe a half mile above the desert floor, legs dangling over the edge, leaning back on my hands. Ushas stood next to me, her delicate and flowing raiment gently waving in the light morning breeze. A league distant stood the immense and evil blackness of the Citadel.

  “I did not realise how big it was.”

  “The soulless ones built their cities thousands upon thousands of years ago to keep the rest of the world out. Your races harried each other to the brink of extinction. Even after all these millennia this world is hardly fit for any growing thing to liveon. You don’t have to dig too deeply to find the broken skulls of either race, such was the ferocity of the Humanity Wars. They rebuilt on Irth’s moon so they could look down on their prize while humanity fled to the stars.”