The Punishment Of The Gods (Omnibus 1-5)

by Jake Yaniak

  End of Book III

  Book IV:

  The Seige of Dadron

  Chapter I:

  Paley

  The Vision

  'I have walked upon the paths of this earth for many ages, treading where few have dared to travel and seeking out much that was hidden even from the very wise. I watched the vanity of struggle, the vanity of desire, the vanity of mortality, the vanity of everything that walked under the light of the sun. I saw children born dead and the living cry out for death. I saw courage and cowardice; but to what end? Everything comes to dust in the end. Even I, the immortal one, must come to dust ere the end. For there is nothing in this world that truly endures. There is nothing permanent; nothing true.

  'So I thought that I might make a name for myself by rebelling against this order, setting up for myself a kingdom of power within it. I dared to do what no other has done. I dared to make myself a god. But power is not a possession; it moves, it breaths, it betrays. I lost what I had and was plunged into the ice of death, or so it seemed.

  'My eyes closed and the world darkened;everything disappeared. One by one my senses were snuffed out until there was only the nothingness of dreamless sleep. Time and space vanished from my thoughts and all the changes of this chaotic world ceased. The whole world had ended for me. No longer could I say, 'I' and 'ye'. I was absorbed into the world like one drop of water into another. Without the mind, what am I but earth? Indeed, we are all but earth - we are all of one substance. It is a flowing stream here and a pebble there, it is a windmill there and again the same substance forms itself into a man or a hawk or some other moving creature. But it is all one and the same thing - There is nothing in the world but Power.

  'Bereft of understanding I could no longer call myself one of this or that group, all such denominations are illusions of the mind. So I looked, if it be proper to use such words, and the whole world was revealed to me. A pulsing symphony of power and majesty indescribable. Movement, power, life surrounded me, absorbed me, and flowed out of me like a rushing wind. But I could not understand it, for my mind had ceased to call things by name.

  'My eyes opened and I saw the light of the stars once more and my name returned to my tongue. I spoke it, and all my memories came rushing back to me. "Daruvis," I said weakly. "I am Daruvis."

  'The next instant I heard another voice speak, but this was not my own. It was deeper than the ocean and more beautiful than the sun, wiser than the stars above. It said - nay it commanded, for its every word was a command, "Open your eyes, son of Albor, and behold the world you have known. Eyes cannot see, nor ears hear, nor mind comprehend that which you have witnessed. Therefore, all these things shall be shown to you again, but in figures and in forms recognizable."

  'I obeyed, I did not dare to do otherwise, and the whole world appeared to me as I had once known it. I felt my broken body once more racked with pain, and above me reeled the starry heavens. I rose from the ground, though I do not know if it were my soul that walked or my body also, or if I had a soul at all. I began to move, taking one step after another. But as I walked the whole world seemed to flee from my feet. I began to float and the earth itself disappeared. I was walking on the wheel of the stars itself. With my every motion the heavens would turn and rotate. The stars grew bright and hot and I was afraid that their fires would consume me. But ere I was consumed the whole world of nature became inverted and I looked upon the stars as though I had passed through to the other side of the vault of heaven. I saw the world from the other side of the astral veil.

  'I saw a ball of fire. This ball burned and raged until at last the flame was extinguished and the molten rock of which it was made began to take form. Little by little it began to grow. Legs sprouted from one side of it and great arms from the other. It struggled and kicked, spinning and turning, and fighting against the darkness until at last it took the form of a mighty beast. The body of the beast was like that of a horse, strong, agile and beautiful. From the beast's neck arose the shoulders and head of a man. Slowly it took form, the ears, the nose, the eyes and the mouth each appearing in turn and little by little. When at last it had ceased its metamorphosis I saw that upon its head there sprouted in place of hair many tiny heads, like the heads of men and women each upon long serpentine necks.

  'The beast began then to run about in the darkness, wild and raging, and taking great pleasure therein, until it had shaken off all weakness and stood at its full health and might. At that moment, when the beast was at its greatest, when its eyes were keen and its body strong, a great music rose up from the shadows and a bright light appeared before the beast. Toward this the creature walked at once, as if bound by a rope or chain. But as the creature approached the light, the brightness thereof began to be blinding, and the heat thereof was immense. The creature turned away, and fled back into the darkness of the night.

  'In the midst of all this confusion the tiny heads began to rage one against another. In the darkness they saw not that they were each but part of one great beast. They raged and slew one another as if there were enemies, not seeing their common root. Thus it came to pass that those heads of the beast that were greatest rose above all the others, terrorizing and maiming them, doing in everything that which pleased themselves.

  'Meaningless!' I shouted. 'What utter nonsense!'

  'But even as this beast raged a light pierced through the wing of the shadow, falling at last upon the great beast's face. At the sight of this great light the beast reeled back as if in pain and set all its will against the light, tearing open its own flesh in the place where the light shined, until at last it had maimed and wounded mortally its own body. But the light that shone upon it was unconquerable. Suddenly, as if born of the light itself, a new head appeared and along with it new shoulders, tiny at first, but rapid of growth. It usurped the position of the first beast casting it at last from the body like one casts aside a cloak. Great compassion was in the head of the second beast, and he took the serpentine heads from the fallen head like a crown and, plucking like weeds those mighty heads who so fiercely raged against the weak in their blind rage, he set this strange crown upon his own head. When this transformation had been completed, great wings, like the wings of a dragon, sprung from the beast in flashes of fire and light. The great beast took to wing and trampled underfoot all that remained of the former beast, which had turned the whole body away from the light.

  'Suddenly the vision stopped. I knew that I was being called back to the world of men for one final task, though the meaning of this vision I did not yet understand.'

  Paley's Hut

  When the wounded man at last opened his eyes he saw that he was staring at a thatched roof in a small hut. The air was warm, from which he could tell that there was a fire nearby. His head ached and his body felt weak. A great blanket of fur lay over his chest, locking beneath it the warmth of his body. He tried to move but a blur of pain taught him better.

  'Where am I?' he asked, not expecting an answer.

  'You are in my hut,' said the voice of an old man.

  'What is your name?' the wounded one asked. 'And how came I to rest in this place?'

  'You can call me Paley, though it is not my name.'

  'Not your name,' the wounded one said with a painful laugh.

  'If it helps you to have a name for me, then you may call me Paley.'

  'I call you Riddle-Master. For none of your words are straight.'

  'You will find,' Paley retorted, 'that it is in fact your own ears that are crooked.'

  'Were I not bound to this bed by these injuries I would meet your bombast with steel.'

  'And my bombast would yet prevail,' the voice said, no longer with any hint of age or frailty. 'You are no longer powerful, Lord Havoc.'

  'You know my name, then,' Lord Havoc grinned.

  'Indeed,' Paley answered. 'I know all of your names. I know, to be honest, your true name as well.'

  'Tell me then, master Paley, who am I?'

  'You a
re Daruvis, the son of the Argent King Falruvis, who was once lord over all the elves of Tel Arie.'

  For a long time Lord Havoc said nothing. He shut his eyes and let his mind wander into the past. He drifted into an uneasy sleep and was tormented by visions of people and places long gone. When at last he awoke it was dark in the room except for the soft red glow of the fire.

  'You are awake again at last,' Paley said. 'Perhaps we might make better progress this time. How much can you remember?'

  'I care not to speak to a stranger of matters with which he oughtn't meddle.'

  'I will tell you then, what you remember, Daruvis. Your scheme had come to naught when your Demon blade was rent from your hand by a mortal man, a child by your standards.'

  'No mere man was he!' protested Lord Havoc, 'he was a Galvahirne, and in his arm is embodied all the fullness of his ancestor!'

  'Nevertheless, the result is the same. You were slain on that mountain, in fact,' Pelas paused here as though he were thinking. 'The blade of the son of Biron pierced your heart, severing it from your body and spilling your blood out like a flood. His kick broke your neck and shattered your skull. Then you fell a long ways and sunk to the depths of an icy river in your heavy black armor. There your lungs filled with water and you lay senseless and by all accounts, dead.'

  'Then how is it that I lay here in such pain?' Havoc asked with a groan. 'For if I know anything, it is that life is pain.'

  'That may be true,' Paley replied, 'but it by no means follows that all pain belongs to the living. At any rate, however, it is true that by all natural means you would have died, my friend, but you have been kept alive for a purpose.'

  'A purpose?' Havoc laughed. 'You mean to bend my will to your own purposes? You mean to cajole the mighty Lord Havoc?'

  'Indeed,' Paley said calmly. 'As I said, you are no longer mighty. Your life is bought and paid for; none of it belongs to you, not a single breath.' With that word the air in the room seemed to vanish away and Lord Havoc began to sputter and choke. 'To make it clear just how precarious your position is, 'Lord' Havoc, let me show you who I am, since no name, as I hinted, could possibly describe me.'

  'One,' Paley said with a snap of his fingers. At that moment Lord Havoc's eyes went black as though he were struck blind. 'Two, three, four,' he continued. Lord Havoc now smelt nothing, tasted nothing and felt nothing. He heard no number five, nor did he hear anything else for a long while. He was, the best he could later describe, in a dreamless sleep.

  When finally he opened his eyes again he saw over him the face of an old man, clad in brown rags. 'You bumped into me once, some years ago, Daruvis,' he said with a smile. Lord Havoc just shook his head. 'How long was I asleep this time?'

  'Asleep?' Paley laughed, 'You are not taking this seriously at all are you?'

  'What are you some kind of conjuror?' Havoc accused.

  'No,' Paley thundered, 'YOU are the conjuror. Which is to say, you can deceive through false appearance. I, however, can alter appearance by altering the substance.'

  'You are some sort of god then?' Havoc laughed.

  'You might say that: Some sort of god. That is close to the mark, but not quite right. I am but a messenger. But as a representative of something greater I have not been left without some token of my master's authority.'

  'It is possible that what you say is true,' Lord Havoc said, still laughing, 'But it is more likely that you are some sort of magician.'

  'More likely, you say,' Paley laughed. 'What is this 'likely' of which you speak? Tell me? Is it not so that I am either lying to you or speaking the truth?'

  'It is as you have said.'

  'How then can you say what is 'likely'? What I am I am with certainty. It is YOU that is uncertain, and therefore in YOU only that the word 'likely' holds meaning. Probability, as you mortals call it, is something your mind does, not something that the world exhibits to you. The way you have often spoken, Lord Havoc, one would start to think that historical events were simply repeated flips of the same coin, landing on one side or the other each time it is flipped. You do not understand the uniqueness of the moment, the spontaneity of existence. Lord Havoc, you have trapped yourself within your own mind.'

  With those words Paley took Lord Havoc by the hand and lifted him from his bed. His grip was unbreakable and his strength irresistible, though at the same time gentle and painless. The moment he was on his feet Lord Havoc marveled, for his bandages fell to the ground in piles as though they had been simply resting upon his chest and not wrapped tightly around him. He also noticed immediately that all of his wounds were closed and healed. Only one scar remained in his breast. 'This is where the sword of the Galvahirne pierced your heart,' Paley explained. 'It is proof that your life belongs no longer to yourself. Whenever you look upon your scar you will be reminded of the death that otherwise would have awaited you; and which awaits you still the moment you depart from your duty. Do not be afraid of it, however, for all men are in this state, whether they know it or not. Precarious is the nature of life.'

  Lord Havoc moved his arms around in amazement, finding not a trace of the pain that had so tormented him until that instant.

  'You are starting to believe,' Paley noted.

  'It is easier to believe in gods when they stand before you,' Havoc said.

  'Indeed,' Paley retorted, 'And no one will be judged in that final day for not having such an encounter. But in your case it has always been too easy for you to disbelieve. As you say, the presence of the divine instills belief indeed. But what about the absence of some such manifestation? Are you justified in your presumption that no such manifestation is possible? One would just as well deny the wall its existence when our back faces it and grant it existence when we once more turn to look upon it. I say, no one will be held accountable for that which they had no means of knowing. But if a man lives his life as though he knows what he cannot know, knowing full well that he cannot know it, then what excuse can he make for himself? It is like a strong man who lies in wait and slays another man, not knowing whether he is a friend or foe. Shall he be held innocent of that man's blood because he was 'possibly' his enemy? Or will a rich man be held wise who ignores the possibility of burglary and leaves no guard to protect his wealth? But you, Lord Havoc, have lived your life as though your doubts were proved. Moreover, you have taught others to do so; to take that leap into the darkness hanging onto your crooked tail. You have made doubt your master rather than your servant. And thereby you have done much evil.

  'You are more like one of the serpentine faces from your vision,' Paley continued. 'You have not eyes to see the light, so you deny it and take it upon yourself to make your own laws; to make your own good and evil. Because you could not see the invisible, or smell the odorless, or hear the inaudible, or cogitate the incomprehensible, you became a denier. But you might as well deny the ocean when it passes from your sight. Men such as you will never have the proof that you desire; you have already chosen to fill your own belly.

  'What did you dream in your last deep sleep, Lord Havoc?' Paley asked suddenly.

  'I dreamed nothing,' he answered, startled by the sudden change in the conversation.

  'Indeed, for you were not asleep. Your senses were stripped away from you, but you were fully awake. But without your senses no knowledge can come to you. No sight, no smell, no taste, no touch, no sound, therefore, nothing. But is that so? Are there still stars for the blind man? Is there still music for the deaf man? Is there not salt despite the tasteless and substance despite the leper, who cannot feel it? Would they be wise to deny that which they cannot experience? How then can he be called wise who denies that which he cannot possibly fathom or experience in the first place? No man, I say, will be judged in that hour for ignorance. But the presumptuous ones, they will have much to fear.'

  Lord Havoc sat back down upon his bed. The face of the prince of Amlaman rushed into his mind.

  'You are thinking of the prince,' Paley said kindly.

 
'I have made him a devil,' Lord Havoc said soberly. 'Even more of a devil than I.'

  'You truly think highly of yourself indeed, Lord Havoc, if you think it is within your power to mold another man's will. Nonetheless, you have not been guiltless in this matter. Therefore, it will be your fate to see the harvest of the dark seeds you have sown.'

  'This is more than I can bear,' Havoc said with tears streaming down his face.

  'Tears you have not cried for many centuries,' Paley said. 'I know your wounds, Lord Havoc, and I know the root of your bitterness. Be free of them.'

  In that instant a great burden seemed to lift from Lord Havoc and he stood up to his full stature once more. 'What must I do then?'

  'You are like me now, a messenger of that mighty Judge. You have been given much, in that you have been saved from certain death and elected to service by the invisible powers. Accordingly, your duties will be great and your sorrows in fulfilling them all the greater.'

  'For what do I then labor, if the road be so full of misery?'

  'You labor not for your own sake as you have hitherto done. From this day forward you are as the axe in the hand of the woodsman. Many trees shall you fell and many beautiful things shall thereby be built again. But what does the woodsman promise his tools?'

  'But a good woodsman,' Lord Havoc said humbly, 'at least sees to the preservation of those tools that serve him best.'

  'You have spoken well, Daruvis,' Paley said with a nod, 'then let your comfort lay in that sublime thought. But never let your own happiness cloud your judgment again, for in the hour that you do, the wound that once fell upon your heart will be dealt to you once again.

  'Now,' Paley said, 'I will tell you all that you must do. But first you must be given a new name, for you are, in fact, in this hour, a man remade.'

  Chapter II:

  Evna