She looked down and gasped. I followed her gaze and saw blood rilling down my armor; my running had reopened all my wounds. She dropped to her knees beside me, fear in her eyes. "Andros!"
"We're home, Naani," I finally managed. "I brought you home."
A haze covered my vision. She cradled my head in her breast, there upon the earth. The air shook all around us with a tremendous noise, and a mighty spiritual stirring rocked the ether.
"I love you," I said. "I won't die now. I'll fight and not die."
Even as I spoke, I fell into darkness.
XX
THE VISION ENDS
I returned to life to find myself once more back in my bed at the Healing Center, a bed I had thought never to need again.
I remained somewhat disoriented, but heard, rising out of the depths of the world, the deep thunder of the underground organs accompanied by a rolling chant, as of multitudes singing beyond far mountains, or even beyond death itself. Sometimes it sounded like a blowing wind, only to rise golden and recognizable as the ancient melody of the Song of Honor.
By this, I knew the inhabitants of the Great Pyramid rejoiced over Naani's revival, but everything seemed faint and far away, and I did not have the strength to open my eyes. I felt as if I drifted on the deep waters of an endless sea.
I think I moaned a little, for I heard the Master Monstruwacan's kind voice above me, repeating over and over, "You must live, Andros, for Naani is well." He must have repeated it for hours, for every time I neared the surface of consciousness, I heard his hoarse, whispered voice reassuring me, and each time I descended back into slumber more determined to survive.
For days I dwelled in that half-waking, half-sleeping state, always remembering my mentor's words, fighting with all my will to live.
Other days came, when I lay quietly, thinking of nothing, but looking out with open eyes. I remember the Master Healer bending over me at various times, studying my face. And always the kind face of the Master Monstruwacan hovered above me, reminding me that my love waited for me on this side of life.
After a long time, the dear face of Naani appeared, her eyes shining with love. I must have fumbled my hands a bit, for she reached out and held them. The warmth of her spirit surrounded me, and though she did not speak I felt a great contentment, and soon drifted into a peaceful slumber.
A day came when my attendants helped me up and carried me to a quiet, dimly-lit garden, where they set me down and left me alone. I thought of my journey, and of other days, centuries past, when I had sat in such a garden with the sunshine upon my face.
After a while I heard a rustling and Naani stepped out from behind a bush, looking somewhat shyly at me, but with love shining in her eyes. She wore a garment blue as the ancient sky, and her hair shimmered in the light of the lamps.
"I have never seen you properly dressed before," I said. "You are even more dainty than I thought."
She raised one small fist close to her nose. "I am strong enough to deal with you."
I tried to rise to go to her, but she dropped all her playfulness and rushed to my side. "Andros, you mustn't," she said, scooting onto the bench beside me.
We kissed beneath the light of the lamp.
For a pleasant hour we talked, and I asked her about her revival, for the healers had not yet explained it to me.
"They tell me the attack from the House suspended my life signs, leaving my spirit dormant until I passed into the cloud of the Earth Current, when its power woke me. They have searched the ancient Records—you know they would—until they found a similar occurrence several centuries ago. I suppose in all the ages if something could happen it has. But I'm afraid I made a terrible disturbance."
"You did, indeed," I said, running my hand over her wrist. "I didn't know it at the time, but Cartesius told me it nearly caused disaster, for everyone who watched rushed toward The Last Road. Many would have been trampled, including you and I, except the Master of the Watch kept his head and lined up the regiments to hold everyone back."
"All for one person," Naani said.
"A brave and special person. I remember you coming to my bed and holding my hand. The Master Healer said you were extremely weak yourself, at the time."
"I was. He only allowed it because he thought you would die unless something strengthened your spirit."
"He was wrong; I couldn't die, not after finding you again."
Her eyes grew moist. She looked down, running her fingers along mine, and for a while we sat in mute happiness, still both far from recovered.
Finally, I said, "When I thought you . . . dead, all I could remember was that during our travels, I never woke to find you kissing me while I slept."
She blushed slightly and smiled a mischievous grin. "Perhaps you will soon get another chance."
The Master Healer, looking quite satisfied, returned with the attendants to take us both back to our rooms.
***
I saw Naani every day after that, and nurtured by our shared love, we both soon returned to health. The Master Healer eventually allowed us to take short walks in the Underground Fields, though we always followed obscure paths to prevent the multitudes from thronging around us.
Three weeks later, Naani and I were married in a private ceremony with a Minister of Matrimony, the only other guests being a few close friends and the Master Monstruwacan, for neither of us were strong enough to handle a public service. We would have to have one later, for the pyramid would not be denied honoring us, and there has never been a more glorious wedding than that, when the multitudes formed an Honor Guard eight miles high from the top to the bottom of the redoubt.
Naani and I, unable to bear being apart, stayed almost constantly at one another’s sides, and we soon grew to perfect health. I now think of those times as the Love Days, which are the most beautiful days of all if the love is true. We wandered along the paths of the Underground Fields through the numerous villages of that deep country. Often, we withheld our names to avoid being approached by the kind and curious, for we wanted only one another. We frequently carried food with us and slept among the grass, though sometimes we ate in the villages. Naani teased me once, saying, "This is a lot like our journey together, eating and sleeping out in the open, but the food is better. Don't you miss the bubbling powder?"
I patted my stomach, which was quite full at the time. "No, I don't. I never want to feel that gnawing emptiness again."
We went down to the Country of Silence once, but did not stay too long, for the memory of the time when I thought Naani dead overwhelmed me. But later, we often walked there, talking of the ancient days and of our journey together.
***
After being married a few weeks and going through the public marriage ceremony, Cartesius visited us.
"I have a surprise for you," he said. "Put on your best and come with me."
He led us down the lifts into the Hall of Honor, which we found filled with all the great and influential inhabitants of the pyramid, a tremendous multitude, all standing in waiting silence.
The Master Monstruwacan led me to the center of the hall, where a structure stood in the Place of Honor, veiled by a curtain. My mentor said a few words about my journey into the Night Land, and the curtain was thrown back, revealing a statue of a man in broken armor carrying a woman in his arms.
Naani and I were dumbstruck, for I was still a young man, and this honor was usually reserved only for those already dead. I did not believe I had done some great deed; I had only loved with all my heart and spirit, which made danger a small thing by comparison. I was humbled, proud, and awestruck that they would give us such a tribute.
Naani broke into tears of joy and held me close while the audience kept a sweet, sympathetic silence, which was their way of doing honor in that day. But Cartesius beamed with pride.
We left the hall quietly, holding each other as we went.
***
So ends my tale of the Night Land, and of the vision that came to
me in my sorrow after Mirdath died. I do not expect those who read these words to believe them. Sometimes I can scarcely believe them myself, as I sit in my quiet hall in the heart of the English countryside. Sometimes I wonder if it is all the delusion of a man made insane by sorrow, a man who wanders the dark fantasies of an alien future to comfort his own terrible loss. Yet I have strange evidences as well: I understand mathematics now, which I did not before. I can speak the language of the Last Redoubt, and I know how many times a stone attached to a strap of a certain length can be thrown in an hour.
No, I do not believe I am mad. I think rather that I have been granted a tremendous gift. I do not understand why this should be, but I believe, out of all humanity, I was given the chance to find my true love again upon this mortal coil. And though I will die, as men always do, I will live again in that far future.
I have had love. In finding my love I have gained honor, but have learned that honor without love is but the ashes of life. Having love is having all, for true love is the mother of honor and faithfulness, and those three together build the House of Joy.
***
A FINAL NOTE
So ends the strange narrative of Andrew Eddins found within the ruins of the ancient manor upon the high hill. No corroboration exists for his story, yet one single fact remains. Not far from the desolate house lies a small family cemetery. Among the markers, three particular headstones can be found. The first is for Mirdath Eddins, with the inscription Beloved Wife. Upon the second, that of the Eddins' infant daughter, is written simply Baby Mirdath. The third epitaph, etched upon the gravestone of Andrew Eddins, is more mysterious:
Do not think I died of grief
Why do you seek me here?
I am not dead, I have but gone
To find her in the Night
According to the dates on the stones, Andrew Eddins died five years to the day following Mirdath's passing.
THE END
Table of Contents
Cover
Introduction
Mirdath the Beautiful
The Last Redoubt
The Quiet Calling
The Expedition
Preparation
The Night Land
Doors in the Night
Night Hounds
The Great Slope
The Country of the Seas
The Darkness Once More
Voices in the Dark
Forces
Down the Upward Gorge
The Ancient Woods
The Island
The Dark Again
Forces of Evil
In the Country of Silence
The Vision Ends
Table of Contents
Cover
Introduction
Mirdath the Beautiful
The Last Redoubt
The Quiet Calling
The Expedition
Preparation
The Night Land
Doors in the Night
Night Hounds
The Great Slope
The Country of the Seas
The Darkness Once More
Voices in the Dark
Forces
Down the Upward Gorge
The Ancient Woods
The Island
The Dark Again
Forces of Evil
In the Country of Silence
The Vision Ends
The Night Land, a Story Retold Page 32