Issue 16

by The Cross and the Cosmos, Jr

  “Sheitan fears that fact, and this is why he still struggles against El.”

  ###

  “So, you wish for power.”

  “Yes. I don’t understand why we can’t be taught everything. I’m a fourth-year student after all.”

  “True. You must understand the danger involved. If I lead you into the depths, you may drown and die. Or you may learn too fast and destroy yourself. It is not an easy thing to wield the kind of power I do. It is a danger every waking moment.

  “There are countless people who have not understood this, and have fallen. You must take carethe path I lead you on is steep and slippery, and if you fall you may never rise again.

  “Why do you want this power?”

  “So I can put those upstart newcomers in their place.”

  “Ah, but there is more. I sense a festering jealousy in you. Is your sister attracted to this new fellow Matan?”

  “Yes,” he said in a whisper.

  “I see. And you want to protect her. How noble. Noble indeed. For that, I will teach you. Follow me.” Jameson stood, pressed the button in the wall, and led Alemnar into the room beyond. “We must work quickly if you wish to protect your sister. I will work through you to begin. Are you willing?”

  “Yes.”

  ###

  Matan and Janae were accepted into the school, and busied themselves with with their various studies. So the months went by; and as Matan and Janae learned ever more about the truth, Alemnar went deeper into the darkness.

  Part Three

  “Uuh.” Matan hit the ground hard, and hauled himself back up again to face Brother Iretus.

  “Keep your guard up, Matan. There is no sense in letting me have more of an advantage over you.”

  “Yes, Brother.” Matan spoke through teeth gritted against the pain. Then he launched himself forward, flying into another combination with the broadsword, against which Iretus easily defended. That was deliberate, though. Matan abruptly switched patterns, catching Iretus off guard. Well, almost off guard.

  CLANG!

  Matan grabbed his smarting wrist and stared down at his broadsword, now lying on the arena floor.

  “Good move. I didn’t see it coming.”

  “You beat me fast enough.” Matan retrieved his sword wearily.

  “Years of training, Matan, will allow you to make up for almost any disadvantage in a fight. Still, you did well. That’s all for this morning. After all, the school-wide championships are tonight!”

  Matan brightened considerably, and went to put his sword back up. He had been looking forward to the championships for quite a while, as an opportunity to prove his prowess with the broadsword. He had picked it up easily, and Brother Iretus said he was a natural sword fighter. Janae was doing equally well with archery and weaponless fighting exercises. Both the brother and sister were ranked high in the upcoming championships.

  Ariel was waiting for him at the door. They had made it a habit of meeting together over lunch to discuss their lessons of the day. Although Matan was slow to admit that perhaps they were beginning to be more than friends, Ariel was not. She was convinced they were perfect for each other.

  But marriage was a long while in the future, and Matan didn’t really want to think about it. Besides, Alemnar was already perpetually irritated with himromancing his sister would definitely be a good way to drive Alemnar into open hatred.

  “Hi,” said Ariel. “You look kinda beat up.”

  “Brother Iretus pushed me hard today. He wants to make sure I do well in the championships.”

  “I’m sure you will. Where’s Janae?”

  “She’s probably in with Brother Paul, working on translating one of his Elvish scripts.” Matan smiled. “She has a real flair for the language, you know.”

  “Yes, I knowmakes me wonder if there is some Elven blood somewhere in your family line.”

  “I don’t know. Some Dwarf, maybemy grandfather is incredibly short and hairy.”

  Ariel giggled. “That’s not exactly a flattering image.”

  “No, it’s not,” Matan agreed. “But now I think about it, he does seem to have a great affinity for gold....” Matan grimaced inwardly. Too much information. “Where’s your brother?”

  Ariel sighed and looked to the ceiling. “Oh, Al is in with the High Father again today. He finally broke down and told me they’re working on a project together for the scientific exposition.”

  “Really? Alemnar doesn’t strike me as overly scientific...no offense, of course. I myself am not very good at science. Did he say what it is?”

  “Nope, not a word.” She shrugged. “He’s been really secretive lately.”

  “Well, I suppose we’ll find out his grand project soon enough.” They walked along in silence for a few moments, then Matan asked, “Are you competing tonight?”

  Ariel made a face. “Yes, I am. I’m probably going to have to fight Janae, which I don’t look forward to.”

  “I’ll be sure I’m out of the room for that contestI wouldn’t know who to cheer for.”

  “BOO!” Janae shouted from behind them.

  Ariel jumped and whirled, then laughed and gave Janae a hug. Matan didn’t even flinch, but grinned at his sister.

  “Don’t do that!” said Ariel. “You nearly scared me out of a month’s growth!”

  Matan turned and kept walking, and the girls caught up with him.

  “Didn’t I surprise you?” Janae asked impudently.

  “I know you too well to be surprised,” Matan returned dryly. “And Ariel will learn.”

  “Aw, you’re no fun.” Janae twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “I wonder which of us will win tonight.”

  “Let’s not talk about it,” said Ariel. “Besides, you obviously like surprises....”

  They both began laughing and Matan rolled his eyes. “Women.” That only made them laugh harder.

  “Oh, poor Matan,” gasped Janae, “surrounded by women! Most boys would want our attention.”

  “Yes, we’re veeery attractive.” Ariel’s lips lifted in a sly smile.

  They burst into peals of laughter again. One of Matan’s friends, Jako, saw the disturbance and grabbed Matan’s arm to pull him away as he ran by.

  “Oh, there goes the cavalry!” The girls laughed even more as the two friends sped away down the hall.

  “Thanks for the rescue.” Matan grinned at Jako. “It gets a little crazy sometimes.”

  “Anything to help. I know what it’s likeI have three girl cousins. How about we have a nice, quiet lunch without any giggling girls around, eh?”

  “Sounds good, Jako.” Matan couldn’t keep the vigorous agreement from his voice. “Let’s go eat at the sea cliffs.”

  ###

  High Father Jameson was to oversee the championships that night, and was thus on his way to the arena with Brother Damon, the archery teacher. They walked in silence for several minutes, then Damon spoke up.

  “Father, you seem a bit preoccupied today.”

  Jameson smiled wearily. “I am a bit tired, Damon; thank you for noticing. I’m more than well enough to oversee the contests tonight, though, so don’t worry.”

  “Very good. After tonight you might want to take a vacation, perhapsget away to your cabin in Ereth Lwain and relax for a while.”

  “That I may.”

  They had reached the open doors of the arena now, and Father Jameson headed toward the podium high above the arena floor.

  Students were already trickling in through the opposite doors and taking their seats in the three tiers above the arena floor behind the podium. There were currently only about twenty students at the Tesara School of Istarí, and all of them were here tonight. Matan and Janae had come in early and were already seated and watching the other students come in.

  Jako sat down next to Matan and spoke in a low tone. “I heard there’s going to be a real, active Istar coming to watch us tonight.”

  “Did you? I haven
’t heard anything about it.”

  “It’s supposed to be a big secret, but Gath’s brother was visiting today, and he told Gath about it.”

  “Interesting. I wonder” But Matan was cut off by the High Father rapping on the podium with his staff.

  “Quiet please,” he said. Brother Iretus had come in and closed the far doors. He now stood with Brother Damon while two other teachers closed the near doors.

  As soon as the murmuring had quieted, Jameson spoke again. “We are gathered here tonight to watch some of our best students compete in the physical disciplines of archery and sparring. First will be archery. Brother Damon?”

  Damon had already hauled out five targets and set them almost against the far doors. “The first round of archers will be William, Janae, Perry, Isien and Olana. Please come down.”

  The two best from each of the two qualifying rounds of archery advanced till there were four left in the final round: Perry, Janae, Fioreth, and Annabel.

  Perry out-shot Annabel, but Janae and Fioreth tied, and so had to go to a tiebreaker round. Janae’s first shot hit near dead-center, but Fioreth’s hit exactly dead-center. His next shot was an inch wide of the mark, though, while Janae’s stayed the same. They tied on the third shot. After a few moments of examining the targets, Damon called out: “First place goes to Janae!”

  The stadium erupted in cheers, and Fioreth shook her hand with a sheepish grin. “Darned if I know how you pulled that off. Good shooting, Janae.”

  “Thanks.” She fell in step with the others as they all went back to their seatsthe awards would be given out at the end of the night.

  “Next will be sparringone on one. Brother Iretus?”

  “Thank you, Father.” Iretus stepped forward. “We have four pairs of fighters tonight, in two different groups. The two victors of one group will move on to face the two victors from the next group. There is only first and second place in this discipline.

  “The first group is Matan against Renevar and Ariel against Diana.

  “You know the rules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.

  “Matan and Renevar, you are up first.”

  Matan and Ariel won their group; while in the second group Janae won out over Olana, and Alemnar defeated Perry.

  After a short rest period, during which one of the other students recited “The Lay of Erebrithil,” Matan and Alemnar took to the floor.

  “Begin in three... two... one... go!”

  Matan and Alemnar whipped out their swords in unison and began circling each other slowly, each feeling out the other’s defenses with occasional thrusts and sweeps.

  “I’m stronger now,” Alemnar taunted in a whisper.

  Matan attacked abruptly, his blade weaving back and forth, but Alemnar always blocked him. Matan fell back a bit, and Alemnar counterattacked. The blows fell fast and thick for a few moments, then with a cry, Matan leapt backward and shielded himself with the light while he stared at his left hand. A collective gasp went up from the seated students as Matan’s blood dripped down to the floor. Iretus started forward.

  “Stop!”

  “Silence, old fool!” Alemnar whirled and Iretus went flying from a burst of shadow that struck him in the chest. He hit the wall headfirst and lay still. As one, the students rose to their feetbut then stopped, as if held by some invisible force. Alemnar glanced up at Jameson, whose amulet was glowing brightly as he channeled his telekinetic power. The High Father nodded slightly, and Alemnar rushed in to the attack.

  ###

  “Greetings, Father Quinar.” The white-robed man with a black beard, black hair, and oaken staff stepped in through the front doors of the school.

  “Greetings, Narahaim. How go the national politics?”

  “As complicated as ever, I’m afraid.” The Istar didn’t smile but the corners of his eyes crinkled. “You know, I truly look forward to being able to get away for a few days every year to help the students.”

  “All I can say is I am glad I do not have your job as King’s counselor. Shall we go see the championships? I believe they have already started....”

  “Indeed. Let us go.” The two started walking down the hall. “Now, I have heard tell of some very talented students you have, new this year.”

  “Ah, yes, Matan and Janae. If I’m not mistaken, we shall be just in time to see the conclusion of Matan’s sparring... match....” His voice trailed off as Narahaim stopped and stiffened.

  “What” And then Father Quinar sensed it, tooa Shadow at the heart of the building. Narahaim broke into a run. They reached the doors to the arena at about the same time, and the teacher at the doors looked at them apologetically.

  “They’re jammed, Father. I’m sorry, but I”

  Narahaim tapped the doors with his staff. “Oret!” His voice boomed, and the doors quivered, rattled, and exploded inward.

  ###

  Matan was lying on his back on the floor with Alemnar’s sword at his throat.

  “I told you I was stronger.” Alemnar's lip curled in menace. “I told you. Any last words?”

  BOOM!

  Jameson cried out as his hold on the doors was broken, and Alemnar flinched and whirled. Matan seized the opportunity to scoot backwards, grab his sword, and come up again. The students, freed of Jameson’s power, rushed forward as one. Matan slammed his sword against the side of Alemnar’s head. The older boy fell with a cry and dropped his sword.

  Father Jameson stared at the Istar from his place on the podium.

  Narahaim’s face went hard and cold as stone. “You made your choice, Jameson. Now face the consequences!” He released a massive burst of light with the swiftness of righteous fury.

  But Jameson, with the speed of fear, was faster. He leapt off the podium, and flew straight up. The ceiling broke above him, and he landed in his office.

  He strode into the room beyond the secret door and stared down at the sundials. He did a double take and cursed vehemently. The shadows had been aligned that morning, he was sure of it. He turned to the alcove where the being was seated and watching him.

  “Your plan failed!” he shrieked.

  The being seemed shaken. “I did not expect”

  “Now we must give battle. Hear? They are coming.”

  “No, we shall not give battle. They will win.”

  “What!” Jameson strode into the alcove. Nothing blocked his wayas the only thing in the alcove was a shadowed mirror, which reflected that which was inside himself. He dropped the white cloak he had worn and turned. Now they will know fear.

  Then something else spoke in his mind.

  No. Your usefulness is over. You have failed. The Great Lord is not pleasedhe wishes to see you, and see you he shall.

  Wha

  He moved, not of his own volition, but controlled by the thing inside him. His arm moved, picked up the dagger that lay between the sundials, and plunged it into his chest.

  Epilogue

  Matan, Janae, and Ariel stood together before the window in Jameson’s office, each rapt in their own thoughts. The sun was setting, bathing the room in red-gold light. Narahaim stepped up beside them.

  “Well, I believe you have learned a valuable lesson this daysomething you may not have learned quite so vividly without experience.”

  “The allure of power.” Matan choked on the final word.

  “Indeed. That, and also you now, perhaps, can understand what drives your foes. Fear, bitterness, envy; all can drive you toward the shadow. It is why the Words say: ‘Do not let the sun go down on your anger.’”

  A tear slid down Ariel’s cheek. “I wish it hadn’t happened this way.”

  Matan put an arm around her protectively. “I’m sorry.” His voice was subdued.

  Ariel leaned against him.

  “It’
s not your fault, guys, you know that. It’s just...he was my brother, you know? It’s hard.”

  “It is,” Narahaim agreed quietly. “But that is the wonder of it allEl, after all, knows our pain. He knows what it is like to lose someone you love, and He is always there to comfort us.”

  “He knows,” repeated Ariel. She drew strength from the thought. After a few more moments, she smiled at Janae and Matan. “Well, I still have a family, at least. You two.”

  “Family.” Matan exchanged a glance with Janae. “And family looks out for each other.”

  Janae nodded solemnly. “We’ll be here for you, Ariel.”

  Before them, the town of Tesara and the surrounding countryside was afire with the blaze of the sunset. The trees of the forest tossed their leaves in praise of the One who made all things work together for the good of His faithful.

  #####

  Joel Parisi began writing at the age of twelve, and has never stopped. Over the past four years, he has developed an intricate alternate world of allegory, high fantasy and science fiction with three distinct languages and a history spanning 7,800 years; it is this world in which he most commonly writes. He currently lives in Tucson, Arizona with his family and a large library.

  Daughter of Abundance

  by

  Eric Ortlund

  My time has drawn short, my son. The physic who visits me daily only smiles, but I can see it in his eyes.

  There was a time when I would have rejoiced to see the kingdom of men burning. But I do not wish that for you, beloved son. Will you listen to an old woman as she tells you why?

  I have seen a vision.

  ***

  It was a beautiful spring afternoon the first day I saw your father. I was sitting in our tiny arboretum when my maid Abi burst through the door. “Mistress! Mistress!”

  “Abi!” I said. “Why are you back?”