THE GOD BOX

by Barry B. Longyear

  "I see. Since we are not criminals, we will not be thrown to the crabs. Instead we will have our heads removed with one of those formidable looking blades."

  The guard began to back toward the door. In a flash Tah leaped across the space that separated them, knocked him silly with one of her lovely feet, and armed herself with his sword. The guard on the door sprang forward and an unseen hand had me jump in between them. "No!"

  "Korvas," spat Tah, "get out of the way!"

  "No! Hold there, Tah." I looked at her opponent. The man was about to bring his sword down upon my head. I held my hands over my eyes. "No!"

  For a terrified moment I tensed every muscle in my body, awaiting the sensation of having my head split like a melon. I opened my fingers a bit and took a peek at the Ilanyian guard. He still had his sword raised, but he was lowering it.

  "Why do you interfere?" he demanded.

  "I don't know." I lowered my hands from my face. "I don't know why I am here doing this. I hardly know why I do anything. Does anyone?" I laughed like a maniac and the guard began bringing his sword up again. The guard named Ivak pushed himself up from the grass mats. I calmed down a little and the sword came down again.

  "I understand you wanting to protect your lady," said the guard, nodding toward Tah.

  My maniacal laugh escaped once more. "You don't understand, fellow. I'm not protecting her. I'm protecting you and the rest of the Queen's Guard from her."

  This time the guard laughed. Rhal Ivak got to his feet and shouted at the door, "In here!"

  The remaining six guards came into the room. Rhal Ivak took a sword from one of them and joined the arc of soldiers facing me. I turned around and saw Tah's face flushed with anticipation.

  She said, "You are in the way, Korvas."

  I looked back at the guards. "Friends, it will be no end of trouble trying to sort this thing out should I let lovely Tah have her way with you."

  Rhal Ivak nodded. "She is right on one matter, fellow. You are in the way. Step aside and let us finish with that tiny scrap."

  "Korvas," called Lem Vyle, "let Tah have them. She will enjoy the exercise and we can use the weapons."

  Abruptly I faced Vyle. "Can't you think of anything other than blood?" I placed my hand upon the god box and looked at Tah. "You are an excellent fighter. I believe you could slay all of these guards and a hundred more besides. I don't believe you could slay the queen's entire army. A fight at this point will accomplish nothing but a lot of unnecessary dead." I lifted my hand and touched her cheek. "I cannot bear the thought of you dead."

  Tah's lower lip trembled as her dark eyes filled with tears. She slapped away my hand. "Korvas, I could kill you for that. I could rip open your belly and dance in your guts."

  Ah, true love. I could feel a streak of light coming from the god box through my arm and into my mind. Understanding filled me. I spoke to lovely Tah. "How many have you slain simply because you cannot pronounce a single word? How many have you killed just because you cannot tell your master that—"

  The tip of her black blade was instantly pricking my throat. Lem Vyle pulled himself to his feet and limped over to Tah's side. "Look at me, Tah." Her head didn't move. "Look at me!"

  He reached out his hand and turned her face toward his. He looked deeply into her eyes. "Don't do this for me, Tah. Give Korvas the sword."

  She was frozen for a long moment. Then she lowered the blade and held its handle toward me. I took it and watched as Vyle and his lady returned to his couch. As they reached it, they faced each other and embraced. A very strange pain entered my heart.

  "Indeed, you are the Guide, Korvas."

  "Eh?" I looked around as the walls of the room divided into a hundred panels and were carried off by Ilanyian servants. I saw that what had transpired in the room had been observed by the entire queen's court. Queen Alya and her uncle were grinning at me, as was the entire retinue. The one who had spoken was the librarian, old Sahtu Es. He was seated in his chair surrounded by his rotary file of bald children.

  "Another test, then?"

  "Observed through the eyes of wisdom," said the librarian, "everything is a test."

  "I take it that I did well."

  "As you did during the test before: well enough."

  I debated a moment whether I should behead the librarian before returning the sword to the guard. In the end, I just gave it back to Rhal Ivak. "Try and hang onto this," I said to him. I looked back at Sahtu Es. "Why test me? If the prophecy is true, then these tests only waste time. Why bother with them at all?"

  "Only you can answer that, Korvas," answered the old man as the light grew dim and the floor of the underworld opened beneath me. "Only you are testing you."

  It all became black. With my hand upon the god box, I waited for the end to the blackness, confident that it would come.

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  When it became light I found myself standing upon a wide sandy beach. To my left was a garden filled with ornate shrubs and naked trees that filled the air with a heady perfume. To my right was a body of water. On the beach and floating on the water were the leaves from the garden. They were the color of lavender. I let the final words of the Oracle of Heteris come into my mind.

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  At the tip of Ihtar's hand,

  Where float the lavender leaves,

  The Destroyer shall meet the Blade,

  Leaving only one.

  All is Manku.

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  This then was the Sea of Manku, and I was standing on the edge of the holy city of Givida in the Empire of Ahmrita. Here was where the Blade would meet the Destroyer to decide the fate of the world. They would meet and only one would remain.

  "Abrina?"

  "Yes, Korvas." Her voice came from behind me.

  I turned around. The giantess was dressed in a filmy golden gown that went from her neck to her ankles. Golden slippers were on her feet, and in her hands she carried her ax. "You look beautiful, Abrina."

  She smiled widely and pointed at me. "You look very handsome, my Guide."

  I looked down at my own attire and found myself clad in robes of pale blue silk. Upon my feet were soft new boots of matching leather. It was curious how unimportant they seemed just then. I looked back at Abrina. "Are we alone?"

  "For the moment."

  I looked up and down the deserted beach. "Did Tah even exist? Did she ever live?"

  "She lives in your heart, Korvas. It be a precious place."

  "You are in my heart as well, Abrina."

  "I know."

  "I do not love you as a friend or brother."

  "I know."

  I looked across the sea of Manku, hoping to see a piece of reality upon which I could anchor myself. "I move though time and across distances with more ease than I dream."

  "Korvas, the real world has many levels. Somewhere Tah be real. Somewhere she and Lem Vyle be wed. Somewhere she and you be lovers. Somewhere you and I be lovers. But not here; not now."

  "What of you, Abrina? Are you real?"

  "Here and now. There are places in the universe where I be not. But that does not make me any the less real here."

  I glanced at Abrina's amber eyes and immediately turned away. "I don't want you to fight Manku."

  "Why?"

  "I just don't."

  "Do you find it as difficult as Tah to pronounce the word 'love'?"

  I reached up and took her ax, surprised that I could do so. I looked up at her and said, "I love you."

  I threw the ax away. "It is silly, I know. Together we would make a preposterous-looking couple. I can't even imagine how we could have children, and if we did they would probably bounce me on their knees. But I don't care. If the only way to save this world is to sacrifice you in some contest with evil, then the world be damned." I frowned at her expression. "You don't seem surprised."

  "I think
you have finally finished testing yourself, Korvas." She reached down her hand and stroked my cheek. "I be proud that you love me. Especially proud you love me in that way. But in this place, my friend, I be meant for another." She withdrew her hand and stood up. "Turn around."

  I turned around. Before me stood a huge foot. I could hardly look over the top of the big toenail. I craned back my neck and looked up and up and up.

  High in the sky looking down at me was that strangely compassionate face of Manku. I looked at Abrina's ax and almost cried at what a pitiful weapon it was. I turned to tell Abrina to run, and what faced me was the toe of Abrina's golden slipper. It was every bit as tall as the toe of Manku. I looked up and up and up and Abrina's face was among the clouds next to Manku's.

  There were sweet sounds of singing, bells ringing, crowds raising their voices in celebration. I felt myself rising, growing, expanding, and soon I could face Manku eye-to-eye.

  "Am I . . . am I a god, too?"

  "We are all slaves, we are all gods, somewhere," answered Manku.

  Garlands of flowers carried by golden birds streamed through the air as the clouds filled with other faces. There were Nanteria, Heteris, Ahjrah, Tayu, my father. I looked at Manku. "This is a wedding," I said to the god.

  "Yes."

  "There is to be no battle for the world?"

  "Not in the heavens. The battle for the world will be on the world and will be fought by those who still need to test themselves."

  "Why am I here?" I looked at Abrina. "Why?"

  "Korvas, the gods saw your need, and your need was to know of the gods and of the gods' love for you. For you, Korvas, the gods have split the continent again and again." She smiled. "There is a second reason." She took me by the hand. "You are to give away the bride."

  I held her hand with both of mine, not wishing to give her up. I loved her and now I could look her in the eye. Was I not also a god? I looked at Manku. "They call you the Destroyer, fellow. What kind of work is that for a future husband?"

  The god laughed, as did Abrina. Then Manku looked me in the eyes. "The Destroyer is the one who clears the way for new life, new beginnings. Without me there would be no stars, no worlds, no life. Without me the universe ends."

  I thought upon it, cocked my head to one side, and said grudgingly, "I suppose it's a useful occupation." I looked at Abrina. "Is this what you want? Is this who you want?"

  "Yes."

  I realized I was still holding her hand. At that moment I could look her in the face and love her as a man to a woman, and at that same moment I had to give her to another. I held out her hand to Manku, and the god took it. "Take care of her," I said.

  "As I always have," said the god, his eyes drinking in the sight of his betrothed.

  Inside my chest was a horribly dreadful pain. I gave Abrina to a god, it is true. It didn't make any difference to my heart. The pain would have been no worse had I married her off to Captain Shadows.

  Abrina reached to my waist and held the god box. "All of the gods and goddesses, all of the powers of life and of the universe are in here, Korvas. Always it will take what you don't need and will give you what you do need. But you must ask for what you need, and if you take back what you turn over to the box, we will give it back to you."

  She kissed my cheek and handed the god box back to me. I held it in my hands as she released it. "My dear friend, all of the power of the universe be at the fingertips of those humble enough and brave enough to use it. Tell the people."

  The gods kissed and the skies filled with a blinding light.

  At the center of the light the couple embraced, the edges softened, and they seemed to meld into one another until there was a single sunbeam that withdrew to its father in the sky.

  The Destroyer shall meet the blade,

  Leaving only one.

  Suddenly I found myself shrunken to my usual size, back in my rags, and standing in the center of Iskandar's bazaar. I turned around, and turned around again. As the god box had said, "You cannot return to where you have never left."

  The marketplace at Iskandar. The smells, the noises, the bustle—all the same. I looked down and saw my carpets. I sat down, stunned. After a moment I seemed to get a handle on my current reality. I still had my god box, my threadbare rags and soiled rugs. I turned over my top rug and saw the spots left from Dorc falling down and crushing my beetles. I hadn't been away from my place at all. I was back at the beginning—back at one beginning. Realities within realities. It made my head spin. What of Syndia, Tah? And Abrina. What of her?

  "Master Korvas!" I could hear the fool Dorc shouting from a distance. I had no time for the idiot. Somehow I had to sort out things. Had I never left the bazaar? Had I gone and come back? This was a considerable amount of time for the gods to mulch for one little carpet merchant.

  What of the Omergunts? In this reality do they exist?

  What of the Ilanyians, the crew of the Silk Ghost?

  Had this all taken but a split second?

  I had the god box, so that much had changed. It still had that X carved into its finish, so Ker dropping dead in Fort Braw and me being murdered . . . and everything else had happened—or not. I supposed it depended upon where and when one was standing.

  Somewhere, somewhen, I was with Abrina. "Korvas, you thief," I muttered to the inhabitant of that reality, "you'll never even guess how fortunate you are."

  I looked again at the box, then up at the Nant Temple high on its hill. What about Syndia? What about the priestess at the Nant Temple? Had she existed? Did she exist? Will she exist? Was she a goddess, a phantom, a case of indigestion, or in this reality just a person? I needed to talk to someone.

  I felt a movement within my robe. My three surviving mahrzak beetles were still in my pocket. I took them out and placed them on the pile of rugs. "Forgive me, my friends, but I think we are out of business. Go off with you and find some respectable work."

  Amram, Tiram, and Iramiram simply stood there with their front legs crossed and their antennae drooping. "Very well." I put out my hand and they climbed aboard. "Perhaps I'll start a stud farm with a herd of those slick-looking mahrzak beetles from Desivida—if they exist in this reality."

  I climbed to my feet as I remembered. "That's right. I must be going. That magician Jorkis will be here any moment with the King's Guard."

  I turned to go to the Nant Temple to find Syndia.

  There was a warp in the image of the market before my eyes, almost like the shimmering of heat from paving stones on a blistering hot summer day. Through the warp came three men in red uniforms. They blocked my path, and two of them grabbed my arms. The third grinned with the face of Captain Shadows.

  As soon as I saw that ugly face I remembered the prayer I had uttered in the Nant Temple soon after Syndia had informed me that the magician to which I had tried to sell a crawling carpet was Jorkis, father-in-law to Captain Shadows. May the gods save me. All of that which followed was in answer to that prayer. Since the presence of Captain Shadows indicated that the time limit upon my previous prayer had expired, I repeated it: May the gods save me—yet again!

  "You have led me quite a chase, Korvas," growled the captain. "My master must have bled half the wizards in Iskandar for the powers to keep up with you. But now you are mine."

  I shrugged and answered, "By now you must know how hopeless your task is."

  "The power you possess is a gift for my master."

  "The only power I possess, Shadows, everyone already possesses."

  "It is more power than I possess."

  "No, captain. It's more power than you have the humility and courage to request."

  The captain snorted his amusement. "It must be more than this box you wear." He took the box and lifted the strap over my head. He nodded. "I will get this power from you, Korvas. Slowly and painfully. I have an excellent torturer named Quaag who is so skilled and patient he can find and destroy with his instruments every single nerve in your body, one at a time."
>
  I glanced around me and almost everyone in the market seemed to have had pressing engagements; the place was deserted. I faced Captain Shadows. "Well," I laughed, "how many nerves can there be?"

  "Millions. It will take more than a year to get them all."

  Shadows turned and walked toward a horse carriage and his two burly associates dragged me along behind. I was thrown into the carriage, face down on the floor, and the three of them put their boots on me and laughed as the wagon lurched and began moving.