Rebecca Newton and the Sacred Flame

by Mario Routi

  The young Orizons hurled themselves at the enemy.

  “Charge!” ordered a Porth General.

  The children warded off the Cyclopes’ clubs with their shields and struck hard and fast with their swords from underneath. The fury of the battle was deafening.

  Lady Danae lay motionless on the ground as Lord Life fought his way through to her, slaughtering Porths with single, furious thrusts of his blade.

  The highly trained, effective, invincible valour of the Orizons was beginning to pull the tide of the battle in their favour. Seeing most of his comrades falling, a Porth General started to run.

  “Retreat - retreat - the day is lost!” he ordered.

  The remaining Porth and Cyclopes gratefully accepted the order and retreated towards the trees as the young Orizons prepared to pursue.

  “Halt!” Lord Life ordered them. “Remember, we never strike an enemy in retreat.”

  Sheathing his sword, he fell to his knees beside his stricken wife, tentatively touching her, hoping against hope that she would survive. He bent down close, listening, straining to hear, but there was no heartbeat. He lifted her in his arms, cradling her as he carried her to the gentle shelter of a tree. He laid her down as a father would a baby.

  As he sat with her in silent communion, the young Orizons gathered round, stunned, their breathless faces trying to comprehend and their swords falling limply to the ground. Behind them, the lovely old house was in flames.

  “There’s someone here, alive!” Leiko shouted.

  Lord Life stood and turned to Leiko, who was bending over a groaning Cyclops, oozing blood from his head and eye.

  “He’s coming to,” Lord Life said. “Bring me some water, Leiko. Quickly, please!”

  Leiko sped off and the trainees looked on in silence as Lord Life comforted the Cyclops while waiting for Leiko to return.

  The Cyclops was only half conscious as Lord Life cleaned the head wound and bound it with a piece of soft leather, cut from the Cyclops’s own jerkin. Blood still seeped from his temple and ear.

  Lord Life supported the creature’s head and put the bowl of water to his mouth. With difficulty, he sipped, most of the liquid dribbling to the ground.

  The Cyclops opened his eye. “Lord Life?” He whispered. “Lord Life? Thank you! But, but it was me. I... I killed her!”

  Lord Life did not react. It was as though he had heard nothing. But the children had heard and they all waited, silent and still as statues.

  “Prepare two stretchers,” Lord Life commanded. “One for the Queen, one for the Cyclops. We must go to Utopia. The Princess may be the leader of the army, but the death of her mother will hit her hard. We’ll take the Cyclops with us. Take turns, four of you on each stretcher - eight of us at a time.”

  The young Orizons looked astonished, uncomprehending.

  “What are you looking at? The battle is over. He’s no longer our enemy - just a creature from the Land of the White Sun who needs our help.”

  25

  Those who carried Danae put their swords and shields on the Cyclops’s stretcher because they had no scabbards, dressed as they were in only their bloodstained pyjamas.

  As Lord Life gripped the handles of the stretcher, he felt as though he was carrying the weight of his whole world. He plodded on, lost in thought, lost in memories... The universe, the galaxies, the solar system - the Earth, eternally following the same orbit at the same pace, as if it were being turned on a spindle.

  He had been born on Atlantis, a beautiful, rich island, overflowing with all of the finer things in the world. It was a land of exceptional culture, great power and dazzling wonder. But one day, megalomania took hold of its King. He became possessed by greed, avarice, ambition, arrogance and vanity and, in his madness, he decided to conquer both Greece and Egypt.

  Lord Life was strongly opposed to the expedition but was only a nineteen-year-old officer at the time. Although his talents had already been recognised, he was too young to make a difference. The attack on Athens was intense and violent but the skilfully trained Athenians, with their great knowledge of the art of war, led their fellow Greeks to victory over Atlantis.

  The dead were countless and there were many prisoners, including Lord Life. He was forced to become an oarsman in the Athenian King’s galley and he accepted his fate with fortitude.

  The years passed and, while enslaved, he heard that Atlantis had sunk. Everyone, including his family, had been lost.

  One night, they were returning from the island of Delos, where the Athenian King had gone to offer sacrifices and worship to the God, Apollo. A gentle, favourable wind filled the sails and gave the oarsmen little to do. Suddenly, as if the bag Aeolus burst open, the wind decided to blow hard into the sea. Enraged, the sea resisted with mighty, foamed hands. The harder the wind blew, the more the sea pushed back in fury. Before the travellers’ eyes, the sea was transformed - where it had been calm and friendly, it became wild and hostile. The night darkened. Thick, black-robed clouds clashed furiously, like rampaging bulls. Every so often, light flashed from their nostrils and they bellowed like salvoes of cannon fire. The raging storm hurled stones at the sea and the ship - hailstones as big as eggs. Before the sailors could gather them in, the sails were shredded to rags despite their leather bracings.

  Within moments, the ship looked as though it was covered with snow. It swirled helplessly in the heart of the storm. Waves, like mountains, raised it to their peaks, then plunged it down into abysmal darkness. Everyone on board hung on for dear life as the galley lurched like a drunkard beneath them.

  The sea had become a maniac killer, beating the defenceless sailors mercilessly with its waves. Both the King and the Captain were at the stern, clinging to the handrail of the bridge and barely protecting themselves from the hailstones and the rain that had begun to lash down simultaneously. The King kept shouting to his crew to cut the ropes and free the enslaved oarsmen. After a desperate struggle, they managed to release all the slaves, including Lord Life.

  Whips of lightning fell continuously from the sky and spent themselves in the sea, but one of them hit the galley’s single mast. It snapped and landed across the stern like a felled tree, killing two sailors and the Captain.

  Lord Life saw that one of the horizontal spars of the mast had fallen onto the King’s legs. He struggled towards the trapped man, holding onto the railing with grim determination. The King moaned in pain and clasped his broken leg. There was another massive cracking noise, like the sound of a thousand breaking bones, as the ship juddered into an offshore reef, the rocks ripping through the wood as if it were paper.

  Lord Life realised that the vessel was just at the point of sinking. He grabbed an axe and frantically hacked off two pieces of wood from the spar that had injured the King. He roped them together, leaving enough space between them for the makeshift contraption to serve as both a stretcher and a life-raft. He tied the King onto it, asking some sailors for help while yelling at the rest to abandon the crippled ship.

  The men from Atlantis, traditional islanders as they were, swam like dolphins. They plunged into the waves of hell, followed by the rest of the crew. As the galley started to sink, Lord Life lifted the Athenian King with the help of some sailors and they found themselves in the water. He had wrapped the end of the rope around his arm and he held it tightly so that he would not drift away from the stretcher.

  He struggled like Odysseus against the storm and, with the help of some Atlanteans and members of the crew, he managed to keep the wounded King from drowning. Their ordeal lasted many hours, but eventually they reached land and, when day broke, they found that they were on the south coast of the island of Euboea. All the Atlantean slaves were safe, as well as most of the crew and the King.

  The Athenian King granted them their freedom in gratitude for his life but Lord Life decided to stay by the
King’s side, since he no longer had a homeland and family to go back to. There, he met Hercules, Theseus and other heroes. Before Earth’s destruction, the Olympian Gods selected him to join them in the First Parallel Dimension and gave the Flame to him so that he, too, would be made immortal.

  Many years later, another being was born in that dimension. Despite all the chaos and confusion of life, they met each other. A chance in a trillion!

  “Somewhere in space,” he thought, “someone is waiting for us - and this is also the person for whom we are waiting. The remaining half of the apple, as the Chinese saying goes. And the two halves love each other before they even meet in life.”

  As he walked on, his memories continued to unfold. He remembered how the love between him and Danae had been born and how it had grown. He remembered the uniqueness of the experience from the moment his heart first thumped in his chest at the sight of her. He never made any attempt to hide his overwhelming feelings.

  All the Gods liked her. Eros told Lord Life that he had chosen well - that he had truly found his soulmate and that they were perfectly matched. Lord Life believed him because there was no greater expert on love in the entire universe. The question was whether she would want him too.

  He spoke to her and his words were like the petals with which he filled her hands, born from the love he nurtured in his heart: “I’ve been waiting for you my whole life. I didn’t know where you would come from, or how we’d meet, or how I’d recognise you...”

  He told her to think things over carefully and also to ask for Eros’s opinion, since he knew he already had the God’s support.

  They didn’t rush into marriage and, even after the wedding, they decided not to have a child for a while because Lord Life had already been given leadership of Utopia and had many extra duties. Sometimes they needed to travel to Earth, but Danae found it hard to adjust to life there, because she had been born and raised in the Land of the White Sun. Then, a hundred and twenty Earth years ago, Felicia came into their lives and so he realised what it meant to be a father.

  His thoughts were jumping from one thing to another, like a sparrow picking at the ground. What to recall first after so many years together?

  How right Eros had been! She was a perfect mother, a fearless fighter, and a wise companion. Now, she was dead. He’d never remarry, but would sleep at night with his memories, instead.

  With each painful step, Lord Life felt himself ageing. When a young Orizon from the previous batch of trainees had asked him how old he was, he had replied: “My heart is only twenty; that’s how I’ve felt ever since I was fifty.” Now, he felt his heart becoming a thousand years old, while his body remained fifty, like the bodies of all fully grown male Orizons...

  26

  Lord Life, Leiko, and the trainees formed a solemn procession on the approach to the Fortress. Lord Life’s face was sombre as he supported one side of Lady Danae’s stretcher. Leiko held the other grip.

  One of the guards in the tower saw the procession as it drew close.

  “Something’s wrong, mate,” he told his colleague. “Sound the trumpet!”

  The trumpet sounded and the Great Gate rolled open. Felicia was in the stables when she heard the trumpet and was immediately alert. Jumping on her horse bareback, she rode to the Gate, where the guards were running from their quarters to help their leader.

  Lord Life refused to let the stretcher be taken from him.

  “Take the Cyclops to the hospital,” he ordered. “Call Doctor Afterland. And with the utmost speed, send forces to my house to carry Pegasus here. He’s been poisoned! Let’s hope he’ll still be alive.”

  Felicia pulled her horse to a stop, jumped down, and ran to her Father, hardly daring to believe what she could see. She drew a deep breath. Then, without a word, she joined the stretcher bearers as tears formed in her eyes.

  The procession continued, each bearer walking proud and tall through the streets of Utopia. When Bull arrived, he stepped up and made a fourth bearer. With every step, they were joined by crowds of people. By the time they reached the Theatre, the whole of Utopia was encircling them, sharing their grief.

  Silently, the huge procession filled the Theatre. Everyone, other than the sentries at their posts, had joined by the time the stretcher bearers walked the final few steps. Nobody spoke. The birds stopped singing but a large flock gathered in the skies above the stretcher and the crowd, over the last resting place of their Queen. Soon, there were hundreds of them, flying low, like a multicoloured cloud cloaking the mournful sun. The trees lowered their branches in respect. The wind in their leaves held its breath. All was still and silent.

  The procession entered the amphitheatre. They lay the stretcher down in front of the shocked Wise Tree. Felicia left the group, walking away with her head held high. She entered the broadcasting station and stood by the transmitter.

  “People of Utopia. In the middle of the night, the forces of Evil poisoned Pegasus, who is now struggling to live. They burned Leiko’s and Lord Life’s houses and launched an attack. The battle was fierce but the Orizons prevailed. All trainees have survived, as have Leiko and my Father. Alas, the Lady Danae was killed. As of now, we are at war. Rules - thousands of years old - have been violated. From today, all minors and non-combatants will move inside the Fortress. It will be cramped, but safe. Look outs will be posted. Lord Life has sent a message to King Turgoth to call for a meeting on neutral ground. Until Pegasus recovers, we cannot communicate with the Gods to let them know of the situation.”

  ***

  Later, at the sacred garden, Lord Life was digging a grave beneath a majestic palm. Lady Danae’s body - with Felicia kneeling next to it - lay on the stretcher beside the grave. Bull and Leiko were also present as Lord Life finished his task. Bull stood guard with Lady Danae’s sword lying ready and a jug of water next to it. He respectfully knelt and lifted her body, passing her to Lord Life.

  Lord Life kissed his love for the last time. He lay her in the grave and started to fill it in as the others watched. Once it was filled, he shaped the mound. Bull handed him the jug and he sprinkled water over it by hand.

  He passed the jug back to Bull, who pulled out a packet of seeds and gave them to Lord Life and Felicia. Father and daughter tenderly, carefully, sowed each seed.

  Bull handed Lady Danae’s sword to Lord Life. He thrust it deep in the earth at the head of the grave. Then, all four of them stood by their resting Queen in silence.

  27

  Two Days Later

  Lord Life and Bull rode through Domus Forest accompanied by hundreds of armed and angry Orizons, Amazons and Centaurs. To their surprise, Turgoth came out to meet them with only Zengo, one Cyclops, one Porth, and one Sharkan General at his side.

  Lord Life ordered the army to halt while he and Bull trotted forward to meet Turgoth as he came forward on his own, their eyes wary of traps.

  “What’s this, Lord Life?” Turgoth asked, appearing as surprised as them. “You’ve brought a whole army with you? I thought you just requested to see me in a personal meeting.”

  Lord Life reined in his horse sharply. “What do you expect, Turgoth?” he snapped. “You’ve violated rules that have served us for thousands of years! You attacked and kidnapped a young girl; then you sent the Gorgons to kill children and tried to burn us all alive. I had to consider that you might be setting a trap. You know perfectly well that I don’t put my own life first, just as I know that you don’t either. But, like you, I am responsible for my people, so I came prepared. I am deeply disappointed in you for having behaved so dishonourably that night when I came to your house looking for Rebecca. We, in the Land of the White Sun have never been two-faced liars, regardless of which side we were on!”

  Turgoth looked down. Lord Life’s words stung like a whip and he felt the cuts all over his body. It was as though they were rubbing salt into alre
ady open wounds. When he lifted his face, it showed a mixture of shame and pain and he spoke with a broken voice.

  “First of all, I want to offer you my condolences for the death of your wife - I know exactly how you must be feeling. I also want to apologise for what I did to Rebecca, but I had my reasons for needing to meet with her. You should also know that I agree with what you say. Once events were set in motion, however, I couldn’t turn back or I would have been betraying my people.”

  “Look Turgoth,” Lord Life’s voice had softened a little. “I need to know if our rules and agreements are still in force. Can you give me your word that nothing else will happen?”

  Turgoth bowed his head respectfully, but shrugged.

  “Alas, Lord Life, I regret, I cannot promise. I’m not in total control anymore.”

  Lord Life paused, then gathered his reins as he spoke. “Thank you for your candour. We have a Cyclops in hospital. If he survives, we will send him back.”

  He and Bull turned their horses and left without looking back. As Turgoth watched them go, he desperately searched along the army ranks to see if Rebecca was among them. Unable to see her face, he felt a physical stab of pain in his chest and a burning behind his eyes. He jerked his horse’s bridle and galloped away in the vain hope of escaping the pain.

  28

  One Week Later

  Inside the Fortress, Rebecca had requested to speak to Lord Life, Bull and Felicia about what had been deeply troubling her for so long.

  “So you see,” she said, “even if it could have somehow been chance that Turgoth found out I was wavering about taking the Flame, after I overheard the Gorgons talking, it became clear that someone had betrayed us. It was not a matter of chance.”