by L. M. Roth
“It disturbs me greatly, Marcus,” she said as she sighed gently.
They remained silent for several moments, as they pondered the possible significance of the stones and the mystery of their origin.
At last Marcus roused himself from contemplation with a shake of his head. The frown of concentration cleared from his handsome brow and he exhaled deeply. He turned to Kyrene as another thought came to him.
“There is another matter that perplexes me, Kyrene. I have not had opportunity to speak with you about it until now, and I would like your opinion on it.”
He then shared with her the strange visions he had seen in their travels: the evil visage that peered out from the Tribal Chief’s face when he confronted and denounced Dag, and the eerie figure he saw at the edge of the woods at the home of Pascal and Gaelle during the banquet.
Kyrene nodded her head eagerly as he related these visions.
“Very good, Marcus, very good indeed,” she said with the air of a tutor commending an exceptional pupil. “You are growing in discernment, and that is why you perceived them.”
Marcus hesitated a moment, then voiced his own conclusion.
“Were they the Astra?” he inquired as he lowered his voice.
“Yes, indeed!” Kyrene exclaimed. “Or rather, two of the minor ones.”
“Minor?” Marcus asked skeptically. “But they were hideous!”
“Oh yes, I am certain they were!” the girl answered him. “But it is only the minor Astra that are hideous. They are the ones who appeal to our base natures and incite us to indulge in deeds of the flesh, such as drunkenness, lewdness, anger, or as in the case of the Tribal Chief, murderous revenge.
“It is the high ranking Astra who are more difficult to detect, for they disguise themselves as beings of great beauty. These do not incite one to carnality, but rather to a false spirituality. They set themselves up to be worshiped as gods and lure the ignorant to set up idols, to bow down to what is not God, and to persecute those who belong to Dominio.
“They pretend to be loving, kind, and tolerant of all peoples and their faith save one: they hate Alexandrians and incite their own followers to make war on us. Yes, they seem beautiful, but make no mistake, Marcus; they are evil.”
Those last words were pronounced with such finality that for a moment Marcus found himself bereft of words. Yet, he had something niggling at him, which would not leave him in peace…
“I have one more question,” he finally ventured. “Why could not Dag make the Tribal Chief see reason, and how empty the worship of Bjorrne is? Why do they persist in believing a lie?”
“They believe because the lie is of long tradition, and it is entrenched in their understanding. What you saw in the Tribal Chief’s face was a lower ranking Astra, but over that one is a higher, more powerful general, if you will, who exercises control of that territory in Trekur Lende and gives orders to those of a lower rank. It is a hierarchy, Marcus, just as it is in a standing army.”
This statement made sense to Marcus, who was raised in a military family, and whose thoughts proceeded along such lines. And yet…
“Why was Dag unable to break through that lie with the truth of Dominio, and Alexandros Whom He sent?” Marcus persisted.
“Dag could not prevail because he had not yet been tested,” Kyrene explained. “Do you remember what Xenon taught us? ‘You will never defeat the kingdom of darkness unless you conquer the chambers of your own heart.’ ”
Marcus reflected on Kyrene’s explanation.
“But what is the test? Surely when he found out that Cort lied to him he had to forgive and break the vow of his family to kill the members of Cort’s tribe. What test could be greater than that?”
Kyrene looked Marcus directly in the eye as she answered him.
“Fanchon,” she firmly pronounced. “Forgiving Cort and sparing his life was a mere act of obedience to Dominio. What else could an Alexandrian do in such a circumstance? The true test for Dag came when he had to choose Fanchon or Dominio. Who really possessed Dag’s heart: that was the test.
“For love is stronger than hatred, Marcus. And Dag already loved Cort so it was easy to spare his life, although he had to break the pledge to his blood kin. His anger with Cort was born out of a sense of betrayal: he trusted Cort and discovered that he lied to him about his identity. But his decision to choose Dominio over Fanchon demonstrated his trust in Dominio for his future happiness. And that was the greatest test.”
Kyrene paused.
“And that, no doubt, was the reason for Fanchon’s defection. It was not merely the desire for merriment; she knew when Dag adopted Cort as a son that she did not have full possession of Dag’s heart. And that is something she will never tolerate in a husband. She will not share her place on the throne of his heart.
“For Dag, it is Dominio who occupies the throne of his heart. One day he will see it. And when he does, the kingdom of darkness will shudder when they hear the approach of his steps.”
Chapter XXVIII
A Maze of Confusion
Marcus pondered on Kyrene’s words. Yes, he thought, she is right. It was harder for Dag to give up Fanchon than it was to spare Cort’s life once he knew his true identity. In truth, he already loved the boy as his own son, and Marcus doubted that Dag would ever have been able to kill him, even if he had not pledged his own life to Dominio. The tie of affection between them was too strong to sever with such violence.
Marcus also acknowledged to himself the truth of Kyrene’s statement regarding Fanchon. Dag had loved her dearly, and having lost one love in the past, letting go of another must have wrenched his soul. Yet he had done so. Marcus surmised that the break with Fanchon would have come even if Dag had not chosen Dominio over her. For Kyrene had spoken correctly: Fanchon was not happy about the bond between Dag and Cort, and at some future date would have demanded that Dag decide between them.
“As for these mysterious stones,” Kyrene returned to the original course of their conversation, and brought it back from the branching tributaries, “I do not like the look of them, or the feel of this island. Something broods here, a menace that threatens us all.”
“Yes, I feel exactly the same,” Marcus agreed. “But I confess I have felt an uneasiness even before we landed here, even before the storm. Something is amiss, Kyrene: it is not as it should be. I have felt it for some time now.”
Kyrene meditated on his statement with lowered head. She raised her eyes and looked at him gravely.
“I also feel that something is not right. It began, I think, when we boarded the ship. But what is the source? Were we not to take it, but continue our journey by boat? Was it due to Fanchon’s defection after pledging to serve Dominio and to advance His Kingdom? Who knows? Still, I too, sense that somehow, somewhere we have gone off course.”
Marcus silently concurred. They must pray and inquire of Dominio where they had erred.
Just at that moment, Felix jerked in his sleep and sat up with a start. His sudden movement disturbed the sleep of both Cort, who lay next to Felix, and Elena on Cort’s other side.
Cort was not happy at being torn so rudely from his slumbers.
“Felix!” he chided, as he sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. “Have a heart for those who want to rest!”
“I cannot help it,” Felix defended himself. “Who can possibly sleep with that rumbling in one’s ear?” he said as he gestured at the oblivious Dag.
Elena had never before been subjected to the sound of Dag’s snores, the sojourn on the island being the first time they made open camp since embarking on the ship. She glanced at Dag first with surprise, then with a sense of bewildered wonder as though beholding a new species for the first time.
“He is loud, yes?” she asked uncertainly.
“Yes, but wait until he wakes,” Felix continued. “His snore is as nothing compared to his yawn.”
As if he had heard Felix, Dag’s snores cut off abruptly as he slowly emerged fro
m his nap. He turned on one side, then rolled to the other. He slowly rose up and extended both arms into a stretch over his head. As he did so, his mouth opened wide, and from his lips issued a yawn so deep and loud that it startled a gull flying nearby. The bird ceased flapping its wings and dropped onto the beach. After a quick glance in Dag’s direction, it took to flight once more.
Elena, meanwhile, sat frozen as she observed Dag’s ritual of wakening. Felix burst into laughter.
“Good old Dag!” he exclaimed. “I can always depend on him to lighten my heart!”
Felix’s laughter was suddenly and unceremoniously quenched by a shell that flew at him courtesy of Dag. There were many of them lying on the beach, and Dag found them the nearest missile at hand. He gathered a few more, but Felix raised his hand.
“Mercy, have mercy!” he begged through his laughter. “I was only teasing, my friend. My pardon, if you please.”
Dag glowered darkly at Felix, then beamed a wide smile in acceptance of his apology, and the little band decided to explore the island in search of food.
It did not take long to take stock of the island’s food supply. They found a stream not far from the beach and filled their water skins, after each had drunk greedily. Although there was grass in abundance, the only edible thing they turned up were wild berries on some bushes. They were disheartened, not having eaten since before the storm the day before.
Then Dag surprised everyone with a chuckle.
“Look!” he cried as he waved his arms wide. “What do you see?”
Nothing caught the eye of anyone. Kyrene waited, Marcus frowned, but Felix grinned in anticipation of yet another evidence of the Trekur Lender’s ability to keep him amused.
No one said anything.
Dag looked from one to another in marked exasperation. He threw up his arms again.
“The Sea!” he exclaimed. “It is full of food, yah?”
This said, he threw down his arms and strode jauntily toward the sea.
“I go fish,” he stated.
Cort’s face lit up.
“I will help you, Dag!” he cried in his excitement at the thought of a meal. “I love to fish and I am hungry. Oh, how hungry I am!”
Together they waded into the shallow water near the shore. As Dag said, the sea teemed with life, and they quickly caught a dozen or so fish, which they killed by bashing their heads on the nearby rocks. Elena grimaced in disgust, but Kyrene shrugged her shoulders and gathered branches from some of the bushes to start a fire.
Felix leaped to assist her, and Marcus lit the fire by sparking two rocks together. Soon they had a fire heartily crackling and snapping.
Dag and Cort returned with the fish as well as some crabs that had come to investigate their doings. Kyrene dug in their packs for the small cooking pot that Dag carried on his expeditions, and announced she would fetch some water to boil the crabs in. Felix stopped her and grabbed the pot from her hand.
“Allow me, my lady,” he grinned as he bowed to her.
“You are too kind, sir,” Kyrene smiled and fluttered her lashes at Felix in mock coquetry.
The two friends laughed, but Marcus was astonished to notice Elena purse her lips and flash a look of hostility at Kyrene. Why did she do that, he wondered. Was it possible that Elena had taken a fancy to Felix?
But the impression was only fleeting, as Elena quickly lowered her lids over her eyes and shuttered her face with its usual impassivity. Still, Marcus wondered…
After they had indulged themselves in a feast of fish and crabs with berries for dessert, they decided it was of no use to continue their journey by night with only a few hours of sleep since the day before. They decided to make camp on the island for the night. Marcus set himself, Felix, and Dag as guards while the others slept undisturbed. Each was to take a turn for three hours, then be relieved by the next one on the watch. Felix and Dag agreed, then all settled down for the night.
The night passed without incident for Felix and Dag: all was quiet, and no movement of man or beast did they see. For Marcus, the night watch gave a different adventure.
When he took over from Felix at the end of the second watch all was serene: Felix reported nothing untoward. Felix quickly fell asleep, and Marcus settled down for what promised to be a dull stretch of duty, when he longed to continue his sleep.
He was soon struck by the beauty of the night. The heat had abated when the sun went down, but it was still warm enough to prickle his skin, and to leave his robe uncovered by a cloak. The full moon had risen, and glowed like a silver sphere as if infused by a light of its own. He saw myriads of stars, clustered in belts of brilliance the like of which he had never seen on land. They twinkled here and there in the ebon canopy of night, and the sight reminded him of the quartz crystals in the black granite of his father’s villa. Would he ever see it again, ever enter the gates and be welcomed home by those who loved him the most?
How fared his father and mother? Did they still live, or had they succumbed to their imprisonment? How long since he had seen them? He saw his father last in January before he set out on his quest; now it was August. What of his gentle mother? Was she treated well, or did the Empress Aurora revel in the opportunity to spite her rival with a jealous vindictiveness? Marcus trembled at the thought of his mother at the mercy of the Empress…
About half an hour after taking the watch, Marcus found his attention caught by a movement at sea. At first, it appeared as a wave rising from the placid waters of the quiet ocean. Then it took shape as the form of a giant eagle ascended with a flap of its mighty wings. Marcus watched as it mounted the heavens and glided in the currents of the air. It circled in a great spiral; then slowly descended back to the waters.
But Marcus did not see the waves… A tree with barren branches had sprung up while his attention was riveted on the eagle. The great bird alit on a branch where a nest contained five little eaglets. The eaglets were lifted one by one on the back of the eagle, which flew over the waters once again. The eagle released them one by one to loose it to fly. But as each one was released a snake that had lain hidden in a knothole of the tree lunged at it and attempted to bite it. Each time the great eagle beat the snake back, and the little eaglet rose higher to escape the reach of the snake. Finally, the snake lost its grip on the branches and fell into the sea and was still…
Marcus blinked as the vision suddenly faded and he was faced once again with the expanse of ocean. The vision troubled him; what did it portend? Was the little band in danger? What was the source of disquiet that disturbed him and Kyrene?
The sun rose with an emerald flash at its ascendancy at about the end of the third watch. Marcus watched the huge red ball rise with a rapidity that astonished him as the great orb filled the horizon. As if a lighted lamp in a darkened room had dispelled the shadows of twilight, all night visions fled away from him.
The radiance of the morning soon woke the others, and each rose one by one with various blinking of the eyes, stretching of the limbs, and one mighty ursine yawn from Dag. They spent the first hour in morning prayer together, all except Elena who took herself off to gather branches for the morning fire. She alone did not know Dominio, and in the weeks since they left Gaudereaux the right opportunity to give testimony of Alexandros had not presented itself. Marcus wondered if she served any god at all, and what the religion of her native land might be. He sensed a bitterness from her captivity in the former slave girl, and waited for the right moment to share with her the love of the Father for His children.
After prayer they repeated the ritual of the night before: the building of a fire, the catching of fish, and the picking of berries. Dag and Cort soon had a good catch, and Kyrene suggested they boil water from the ocean to burn off the water, leaving salt they could use to preserve more fish to take on their journey. This met with hearty approval from Dag, who clearly appreciated Kyrene’s fortitude and resourcefulness.
After all had taken their fill of breakfast, they decided to explo
re the island thoroughly. A cursory foray for food yesterday had met their immediate need, but all agreed that they wished to examine more thoroughly the mysterious stones that dotted the island.
They began with those nearest the beach. The tallest of them towered by at least five feet over Dag, who stood a full head over Marcus. Felix estimated that the stones were as tall as two grown men. The width was about four feet in circumference. None of the stones were carved of a single piece, but were hewn and precisely placed one on top of the other to form a stack.
They were not like any pillars that Marcus or Felix had ever seen, yet it appeared the stones had some kind of ritual symbolism. The ones nearest the shore bore the signs of erosion from the sea. Some had even toppled from the stack and lay strewn about the beach. Marcus wondered if a great storm had at some time struck the little island and sent the sea ashore in a tidal wave. It would account for the dislodging of the stones, and their wearing away as if by salt water.
Felix suggested they return to the interior where they had observed another cluster on the previous day. This was met with hearty approval, as now that they had partaken of food and sleep, they were rested and ready to take whatever adventure they might meet with.
After journeying some two miles inland, they spotted the groupings of stones. Here the pillars were perfectly preserved in placement and form. These towers of stone were larger than the group on the shore, and somehow more menacing. Some were set into a green hillside, with a ring of stones around it as if placed like the wall of a fortress.
“What is this for, I wonder,” Felix mused. “It is like a wall of protection as if to guard something of value. But what could the treasure be, do you think?”
“I do not like the look of it,” Kyrene suddenly added, in a voice that shook slightly. “There is some great evil here; I feel it the closer we move to that hill.”
Marcus trusted Kyrene’s discernment, yet confessed himself as curious as Felix.