Issue 16

by The Cross and the Cosmos, Jr

  “Alright.”

  Brother Iretus had taken his place at the podium which towered over the arena floor, and created about twenty light orbs and sent them floating to the high vaulted ceiling. In the new light, Janae could see there was balcony off to their right, a good ten feet off the ground.

  “Welcome to the Tesara Arena, students.” Iretus’ voice boomed out over the room. “The rules of combat are as followsno lethal weapons allowed. One hit with a weapon to the head, or two to the chest, will be counted as a kill. Once you are killed you are out of the game. No taunting or name calling is allowed. Be good sports, and have fun.

  “Now, begin in three...two...one...go!”

  Janae shot forward like an arrow from a bow. Ariel ducked and twisted under the flying kick, and Janae hit the ground and leaped again. Ariel followed as Janae create a light platform in midair, hit it, and jumped again, reaching the balcony easily. She twisted away as one of Ariel’s daggers shot by her head. Janae responded with a burst of light, which Ariel deflected as she stabbed and slashed at Janae. A quick back-flip kick disarmed Ariel, and a flash of light sent her dagger out of range. Ariel and Janae closed quickly and went at it hand-to-hand.

  On the floor below, Alemnar had closed the distance between himself and Matan in three easy strides and attacked with a simple 1-2-3 combination, easy for Matan to counter with his staff. Still, he knew as soon as the larger boy decided to go all-out, he would lose. Matan was mentally preparing a light-shield for the inevitable as Alemnar feinted left, then brought his staff sweeping up toward Matan’s head. Matan ignited the shield and the blow glanced off harmlessly. He promptly pressed his advantage, sending Alemnar flying a good six paces.

  Janae blocked a chop from Ariel, and dropped down into a sweep kick. Ariel leapt over her legand went flying, struck by a burst of light from Janae’s hands. She managed to slow her descent with a burst of light, then grabbed hold of the railing and vaulted over. Janae followed with a quick hop, rolling into a ball as she dropped, and none too soon; a blast of light from Alemnar shot by where her torso would have been. As she unrolled, she saw that Alemnar had forced her brother back a few feet and was attacking hard as Ariel closed from behind.

  “Behind you!” she yelled, bouncing off an impromptu platform and hurtling at Alemnar.

  Matan whirled and threw the staff at Ariel, following it with two beams of light. Ariel managed to avoid both bursts while snatching the staff out of midair and returning a blast of her own. Matan deflected the blast and charged.

  Janae managed to grab the staff out of Alemnar’s hand, and tapped him on the side of the head with it.

  “Alemnar is out,” Iretus boomed.

  Janae threw the staff to Matan, who used it to counter a blow from Ariel, who had retrieved one of her daggers. Janae then unleashed a burst of light which slammed Ariel into the far wall, and Matan tapped her on the head.

  “Ariel is out. Matan and Janae are victorious!”

  Janae sagged with relief, and reached out to help Ariel back to her feet.

  “I didn’t hurt you too badly, did I?”

  Ariel gave a wide smile. “Not at all. A good fight on your parts.”

  “Thanks,” said Matan.

  The far doors slammed, and Ariel whirled. “Oh, my brother. He’s a poor sport at times.” Her tone was apologetic. “I’ll see you around.” She took off after Alemnar at a run.

  Father Quinar had entered from the closer door without Janae noticing, and now stood in front of them.

  “You fought wonderfully. If you’ll come with me, I’ll take you to your quarters.”

  “Sure.” Matan put his staff and Alemnar’s against the weapons rack again. “Let’s go, sis.”

  ###

  “Oh, come on, Al. Just lighten up, will you?”

  “We should’ve won. They’re not even first-year students.” He flopped down on his bed, exasperated.

  “So they’re better than us. So what? We were better than most when we first came. Just because Janae can create platforms and Matan is better at shielding himself than usual doesn’t mean we can’t beat them in the future. Besides, they seem really nice.”

  “Oh, we’ll be able to defeat them in the future, for sure,” he said darkly.

  “Look, you aren’t the be-all and end-all of power, OK? The High Father could probably beat both of them with one arm behind his back.”

  Alemnar stroked his chin thoughtfully. “True....”

  “But to tell you the truth, I don’t think I would want them beaten. I think these two are really going to be great, and I like them.”

  That got Al’s attention. “Both?” he asked incredulously.

  “Of course.”

  “Hmph. I think they’re stuck up.”

  “And you would, because that’s how you’ve been.” She sat down next to him and took his hand. “Look, bro, I love you very much, but your competitiveness gets the better of you a lot of times. And when it does, it’s not pretty. So can you just relax?”

  He sighed and hugged her. “You’re right, sis. I can be friends with them, I think....”

  “Good. Now, I don’t want to hear another word about this, you hear?”

  “Yes, mother.” He grinned, then ducked as she slung a pillow at him. “Death to ambushers!” He snatched up the pillow and swung it at Ariel. Within moments, the room was a havoc of flying pillows and socks, interspersed with shrieks of laughter.

  ###

  High Father Jameson leaned back in his seat as Brother Iretus told him, with some excitement, of how well the brother and sister team had fought.

  “We haven’t had fighters come to us this advanced since...since 352, Yriand’s entrance exams! I don’t know if there’s much more we can teach them in the area of battle.”

  “Impressive. We’ll have to keep a close eye on this pair. They may end up being the next Ynur Istarí.”

  Brother Iretus’ eyes widened. “The nextto think, I have the opportunity to train the next Ynur Istarí! I must begin planning...” He left the office, still chuntering to himself.

  The High Father watched him leave, a slight smile on his face. Then he stood and walked to his window, and gazed out at the city below, hands clasped behind his back. He wore nothing to indicate his rank, other than the two silver chains across his chest and the ornate silver housing around the pink amulet at his throat.

  He turned abruptly and strode to the wall at his left, where he pressed a hidden switch and a panel in the wall swung inward. Jameson walked through into a sunlit room where two sundials sat. The walls were covered with arcane carvings, and the room was filled with a quiet ticking as the sundials rotated, bring their shadows ever closer.

  Jameson headed directly for an alcove in the wall. He drew even with it and looked in at the dark figure hunched in the shadows, observing his motions with red eyes.

  “They are more powerful than we anticipated, are they not?” hissed the figure.

  “Thus they will be all the more when turned to our side.”

  “True enoughif turned to our side.”

  “You are too pessimistic.”

  “Nay, I am realistic. I know what can happen. If our plans go astray, you must crush them.”

  “But not until I am assured we have no hope of turning them.”

  The figure gave a creaking laugh. “Hope is for the Enemy.”

  The eyes receded into shadow, and the ticking of the sundials filled the room again.

  ###

  Matan and Janae slumped onto their beds in the room where they were to spend the night. Matan twisted from side to side to pop his back as Janae stretched her biceps.

  “Ooh, that was some workout,” she commented. “I don’t think they expected us to fight as well as we did.”

  “I don’t think I expected us to fight as well as we did. I’ll be sore for the next few days, that’s for sure.”

  “At least we don’t have to do anything else today.” Janae turned and began s
towing her spare clothes in the set of drawers next to her bed. “When did Father Q say we’d be going to supper?”

  “In an hour.” Matan was storing his own clothes. When Janae turned back around, she saw he had unrolled a length of cloth and was shaking it out. As he hung it over the curtain rod between their beds, she gasped and took a step back.

  “You saved it!”

  Matan smiled sheepishly. “I had to work fast, but yes, I got it down from above the mantel before we ran.” His smile faded. “There was no reason to leave them with any more of our heritage than we had to.”

  Janae stepped closer and touched the cloth reverently, then bowed her head. Tears dripped down the bridge of her nose to fall to the dusty floor, and Matan gathered her in his arms.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “It’s all gone, isn’t it? We’re all that’s left.”

  “We are,” Matan said reluctantly. “But we won’t forget who gave us our freedom and kept us alive.” He pointed at the motto, which read Vertavit on Duch Firthos Est.

  “In the way of Firthos is truth.” Janae wiped her tears with her palm.

  “And in the way of darkness is death.” Matan recited the second line of the well-known verse. “We can never forget that. It’s by His grace we’re still around, so He must have a purpose for us. We know He led us here; let’s see what He has to teach us.”

  Part Two

  “...and with Tirenan’s foolish choice, the dark dragons were released to ravage the land again.”

  Brother Paul, the loremaster, sat back in his seat contentedly as Matan finished. “I would say you have proven yourself well-versed. There are few among my first-year students who have even heard of Tirenan’s Folly, and fewer still capable of reciting it.”

  “Thank you, Brother. My knowledge of it comes down through my mother’s side of the family, who hold Tirenan to be their progenitor.”

  “Fascinating. Now, Janae, it’s your turn. What can you tell me about the fall of Oiden?”

  She shuddered involuntarily at the mention of the accursed island. “Oiden was once a stronghold of the light, as far back as 100 IF. Then, one day, a traveling warlock arrived at the door to the palace....”

  The Fall of Oiden

  Chuwisar could feel the surging light all around as he knocked at the palace gates in Oiden city. It made him nervous, being in such a hotbed of resistance against the darkness. He knew, however, he was good enough at concealing his power to avoid detection.

  The porter’s gate opened and the porter poked his head out. “Hello, who goes there?”

  “A poor traveling oracle seeking shelter for the night,” Chuwisar croaked. He was careful, of course, not to say whose oracle he was.

  “Come in then, and welcome.”

  The gate creaked open, and the warlock came in.

  “Unfortunately, all our guest rooms are full. Will you be averse to sleeping in the stables?”

  “Not at all. ’Twill seem as a downy bed after the nights I have spent sleeping on rocks.”

  “This way, then.”

  Chuwisar closed his eyes and hobbled after the porter, focusing on feeling his way through the currents of light, waiting to touch an unilluminated mind. His body climbed the rungs up to the hayloft automatically and laid down, all while he probed and slid and searched among ribbons and blobs of light.

  His eyes snapped open, and he uttered a soft curse in disbelief. He could find no unilluminated minds anywhere nearby. Everyone in the city was, it seemed, serving the light.

  So, his path would have to one of careful deception. That was fine with Chuwisar. But to begin, he had to plant seeds of doubt in the king’s mind and the minds of those closest to him.

  It would be a delicate process to perform in a land so saturated with cursed light of Firthos. But, if he could suitably disguise his intent, he knew the people of lands not openly at war against the Shadow for many years became complacent and didn’t look for the more insidious attacks of darkness.

  That was his opening, and he would use it.

  ###

  The next morning, Chuwisar was up with the dawn, and looked out to examine his work of the night before. He was pleased with the result. Perhaps this would not take as long as he had feared. A thin grey fog surrounded the castle, inside and outside the outer walls. As thin as it seemed, Chuwisar could see no further than three feet in the mist.

  Within a few minutes, a messenger came running to the stables.

  “You are the traveling oracle?”

  “Yes, that is I.”

  “The king wishes to see you immediately. Come this way.”

  Chuwisar followed the messenger obediently through the front gates of the keep. The ascended a spiral staircase, and Chuwisar noted with pleasure some of the fog had even worked its way into the castle, making it rather cold and clammy inside.

  “The king awaits you in here,” said the messenger, opening a large oaken door. Chuwisar dipped his head in thanks and stepped into the king’s chamber.

  The king was standing with his back to the door, gazing out the widow at the gloomy view of a fog-shrouded courtyard.

  “I have come, your highness.”

  The king turned. His brown eyes had been bright and merry when Chuwisar had last seen him a week ago, but they were troubled today.

  “I would seek what the word of El is concerning this sign.”

  “The fog, your majesty?”

  “Yes, the fog.” The king sat heavily on his chair. “Did you perchance hear of El last night concerning this blasted greyness?”

  A kernel of truth wrapped in a liethe most effective method.

  “And El would say unto you, sire, that this fog is but a symptom of the disease that rapidly consumes your peoplethe disease of lacking passion for Him. ‘And behold,’ saith El, ‘As you have become lukewarm and not accepted the new thing I am doing, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.’”

  “What is this new thing? You must know, traveler, I and all my people live only to love El and his son Firthos, and to please him.”

  “Aye, I know; as does He. It’s why He sent you this warningso you may have a second chance.”

  “Praise be to Him who is merciful to us, sinners as we are!”

  “Amen,” said Chuwisar quietly. Oh, the irony of it all. “The new thing is thisthe shadows are gathering at their Lord’s command, their goal to invade and overwhelm this island and make it a haven for the Nameless One.” Chuwisar held up the amulet he had concealed beneath the folds of his robe, rose to his full height, and put all his power into his voice, eyes flashing. “These will protect you!”

  The king stared at the ivory five-pointed star in a circle with multicolored glass panels filling the open spaces and catching the torchlight in the room. He rose slowly from his seat and hesitantly touched itthen, with sudden decision, he took it and put it around his neck. The black panel in the center glowed faintly, as did Chuwisar’s own all-black amulet under his robe.

  “Now,” he said softly, “we must make amulets such as these for all the people in your kingdom. Only when every true follower of the light wears one can you hope to overcome the darkness.”

  “Truly, I feel more strength already. I shall send for our best craftsmen immediately.”

  ###

  Chuwisar himself oversaw the casting and decoration of the amulets. Few people resisted when the king sent boxes of the amulet about with the royal edict that all light followers must wear them to defeat the impending invasion. Those who did resist were dealt with quickly and quietly.

  The greatest warriors were given all-black amulets, thus increasing their susceptibility to the shadow.

  Beasts of the shadow did attempt to invade the island, but it was a false attack, and was repulsed easily by the light warriors, all of whom had been trained in the use of the amulets.

  Believing the power contained therein had been the thing that dispersed the shadow, the people willingly embraced that power. Thus w
as the conquest of Oiden by the Nameless One completed, and from its fall, the kingdom never rose again.

  Janae’s voice dropped to a whisper as she finished the tale.

  “Very good,” said Brother Paul. “Very good telling indeed. What does it teach us?”

  “It shows us how the shadow works in devious and underhanded ways to undermine our faith in Firthos where a frontal attack would not succeed.”

  “True,” said Matan. “And something you emphasize with your students, else I miss my guess, Brother.”

  “You have guessed right, Matan. Now you must be off before you miss your next test. Brother Raynen will not be in a good temper if you are late, else I miss my guess.”

  Matan was already on his feet. “You are right, Brother Paul. Have a fine day.” He turned to the door, followed by Janae.

  “You also, young ones. I shall hope to see you in class in two days.”

  ###

  Brother Raynen was not irritated with Matan and Janae, who had had to run to get to his class.

  “Two minutes early.” Brother Raynen glanced at the clock behind him. “Very good for novices.”

  “Thank you.” Matan bit back a smile, then went on. “What are we to be quizzed on?”

  “You will not be quizzed on anything; we will merely be discussing some truths from the Words.”

  “Such as...?”

  “Such as the difference between the power of El and the power of Sheitan. Please, sit.”

  They sat.

  “What can you tell me about power?”

  “Well,” said Matan, “we have power, through Firthos, to fight the shadow.”

  “Right, and the shadow has power over those who aren’t protected by Firthos’ light,” Janae added.

  “But what is power? Is it the ability to do whatever you want? Is it the ability to protect yourself? To crush others? What is the essence of power?”

  Matan glanced at Janae, and they shrugged. “We’ve never given it much thought,” Matan admitted.

  “But you must if you want to understand what separates you from the followers of the shadow. Let us turn to the letter to the Ivarians, part six. Here the word ‘power’ is, in the original language, ‘authority.’”

  “Ah!” Janae's eyes widened with sudden understanding. “That’s what we have through Firthos.”

  “Exactly. The authority we have is essentially like the authority the first man hadover all creation. You know the verse: ‘Through Firthos we are more than conquerors.’ Now, if we did an in-depth study, nowhere in the words would we find the word ‘authority’ connected with the shadow. Sheitan gave up any authority he had when he rebelled against El. He regained a semblance of authority in this world when he deceived the first man and woman, but El has the ultimate power.