The Dragon Star (Realms of Shadow and Grace: Volume 1)
Page 85
For so long as we might roam the great forests of Orne Klaad [The Wood Realm], the spirits would protect and provide for us in exchange for the worship and care of them through the forest whole. We wyrins keep this covenant even above all others made with mortal creatures. As we shall until the exodus time, when we finally leave our forest home for good.”
— Fragment from Essential Knowing — A Primer for Wyrin Children, Thaluufa Juula, mistress of learning, sometime after the Twenty-Seventh Great Cycle.
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YUTAN PRAYER FOR THE LIVING AND THE DEAD AND THE LIVING
in creator Onn
all things begin
the sunrise at morning
the seed of the tree
the bud of the flower
the spark of the flame
the chick from its shell
the babe from the womb
in sustainer Tam
all things endure
the cloud smeared sky at midday
the sapling bent by the wind
the flower blooming in the rain
the fire blazing in a tempest
the bird flying through the storm
the child running to maturity
in destroyer Kiv
all things end
the sun fleeing at dusk
the tree felled by rot
the flower shriveled in drought
the flame sputtering to smoke
the bird falling from the sky
the elderly body rotting into the soil
yet the cycle of all things
continues to turn
the stars birthed at nightfall
the forest feasting on the fallen branch
the wind-borne seeds taking root
the ember coals wafted to new light
the eternal essence emanated in a new life
may Tam sustain you
until Kiv destroys you
and Onn births you again
— Yutan prayer for the dead of the Aasho sect. Traditionally spoken at the moment of death or just afterward.
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RAKTHOR CONSTITUTIONAL PREAMBLE
“There are no inherent rights possessed by beings of any nature. Individuals possess only the rights they are willing to demand, obtain, and maintain. Nonetheless, rights, duties, and obligations are the cornerstones of any society. The rights, needs, and duties of the individual must be balanced with the obligations and responsibilities of the broader social assemblage. This constitution seeks to explain the relationship between individuals, groups of individuals, and the greater whole of society as expressed through its means of governance. What the individual owes to the collective, and the collective to the individual, is made explicit where necessary and implied where circumstances might render specifics impossible to implement. As no document of social guidance is perfect to its own time, much less to future generations, the first requirement of the implementation of this constitutional construct is that it be revised and amended as conditions and needs require on a half-centennial basis.”
— Excerpt from the Preamble of the Rakthor Constitution of Ranikttak [The Sun Realm].
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PASHIST TEACHINGS OF THE TEN PURITIES
In a field at the edge of the plains beneath the shadow of the Red Bone Mountains in the third year of the third turning, Tivone Mata Kargteka sat beneath a tree, speaking with the farmers and villagers of a nearby town.
“How does one become as you, a Tivone Mata, oh glorious one?” asked a farmer.
“One must embody the Ten Purities and follow their path,” Tivone Kargteka said.
“What are the Ten Purities, and how does one follow their path, oh radiant one?” a village woman asked.
“To attain the state of a Tivone Mata, one must practice Pure Being. To attain Pure Being, one must cultivate Pure Awareness. To apprehend Pure Awareness, one must cultivate Pure Concentration. To understand the importance of Pure Concentration, one must develop Pure Compassion. To achieve a mind of Pure Compassion, one must nurture Pure Love. To truly experience Pure Love, one must commit to Pure Forgiveness. To fully fathom Pure Forgiveness, one must engage with Pure Generosity. To grasp Pure Generosity, one must perform with Pure Action. In order to perform with Pure Action, one must first communicate with Pure Speech. To acquire Pure Speech, one must realize Pure Thought. These are the Ten Purities and how one follows their path.”
“Oh great Tivone Mata, bless you for your instruction,” a village man said. “If one wishes to embark upon the path of the Ten Purities, how does one achieve Pure Thought?”
“To attain Pure Thought, one must train the mind,” Tivone Mata Kargteka said.
“How does one train the mind?” a farmer woman asked.
“One trains the mind through the application of the Eight Golden principles,” Tivone Mata Kargteka replied.
“What are the Eight Golden Principles of training the mind?” a young village girl asked.
“Sit with me and I will teach you.” Tivone Mata Kargteka smiled.
— From the Teachings of Tivone Mata Kargteka in The Golden Book of Great Fortune, Chapter 6.
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KETH DICTUM OF ACCEPTANCE
“There is one god or two gods or many gods, or there are none. There are spirits and ghosts and demons, or there are none. There is a soul or a sliver of eternal essence in each person, or there is none. There is a life after death, or there is rebirth into further life, or there is nothing after this life except eternal darkness.
We must accept what we can know with conviction while admitting that there is little we can know with certainty, and that what we cannot know absolutely, we can only believe with faith.
While we can choose what we have faith in, we must accept that faith is not knowledge and that when faiths disagree, they must do so in humility and respect.
There are countless paths and innumerable destinations. Importance lies in choosing a path, walking it with dedication, and respecting all those whose paths one crosses.”
— First Dictum from the Keth Book of The Unknowables.
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TOT GIOTH RITUAL OF CLEANSING
“I completed my first ritual of cleansing on assumption of my twenty-fifth year. It is a rite of passage for all truly devout parishioners. With the setting of the sun, I was taken to the inner temple. Stripping off my clothes, I entered the first pool of scalding water. I winced in pain as two attendants scrubbed me with lavender scented soaps and thick cloths. The attendants led me, dripping with suds, to the rinsing pool of chilled water. From there, they dried me and covered me in oils scented with cinnamon and clove and clariss.
They dressed me in a simple white gown of linen and took me to another chamber, where I was given a large clay cup of cool water to drink. The water tasted like mint. After I drained the cup, they ushered me into a small room of stifling steam. Five other supplicants sat in the room on stone benches while an aged attendant continuously poured water over a brazier of coals. Admonished not to speak, we sat in silence all through the night. When we started to feel the heat of the steam lull us to slumber, the attendant rang a gong and roused us to alertness.
The doors finally opened and sucked in the cool air of the outer hall as the attendants led us to another pool of cool water where two priests, a man and a woman, immersed us one at a time, speaking ancient prayers over our submerged heads.
Dripping from the blessing pool, we were led outside to witness the great fiery orb of the sun cresting the horizon to begin a new day. As we watched the sunrise, the priests led us in a song of surrender to the Great Mother and Great Father, handing us each a cup of nectarous liquid to drink as the song concluded. The priests said a final blessing over our bowed heads, and thus we were proclaimed cleansed and reborn in the light of the Mother Creator and Father Destroyer.”
— Excerpt from the journal of Tsentey Laharn Pa
lhan of the Atheton Dominion, final year of the Third Great Dominion.
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THE NI-KAM-DJEN SECTARIAN SCHISM
“The Zatolin sacrilege must not be tolerated.”
“To travel the old way of the Ketolin is to follow the path of corruption and degeneration.”
“The place of the priest within the hierarchy of Ni-Kam-Djen’s divine order is made clear in the second book of the Fourth Prophet, Tepig-Tao, when he writes: ‘Take your prayers to the holy man for he shall purify them and present them to The True God.’”
“It is written by the great Seventh Prophet, Kengtee-Wiku, in his lone work that we should ‘cast our prayers up to the heavens that they may be heard and considered by he who knows all and judges all in his great wisdom.’ What need have the people to pray through priests such as ourselves when they might petition Ni-Kam-Djen in their own sincere voices?”
“The common man is not fit to speak to Ni-Kam-Djen beyond the nine prescribed prayers, much less a woman of any station, who should more appropriately be limited to only the first three traditional supplications.”
“The words of the nine prayers are a sacred cage holding the non-ordained in a prison proscribing non-canonical petition without first making payment to a priest. What concern nor need does Ni-Kam-Djen have for coin when the only currency of matter is the sincerity of one’s devotion?”
“The Zatolin heretics must be cleansed from the realm, their blood an offering to Ni-Kam-Djen!”
“If the corrupt Ketolins will not heed rational heartfelt pleas for justice before Ni-Kam-Djen, let them come to heel at the tip of a sword!”
— Fragments from a transcribed debate between Ketolin Priest Dang Von-Lan and Zatolin Priest Taing Ki-Lee at the beginning of The Great Schism, fifth year of the Second Great Dominion.
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NI-KAM-DJEN — THE 21 LINE PRAYER OF TURNING
…in words of contrition and petition.
We pray that the sun climbs daily from beyond the horizon to stride across the sky.
That the sun will sink past the edge of sight and immerse the world in darkness.
That the night finds you, The True God, our Protector, embracing us in our dreams.
That the moons forever show their shining faces.
That the stars eternally burn through the black cloak of night and never dim.
That the sun once more ascends to the heavens and banishes the night.
We pray that the oceans continue to offer up the bounty of their deep waters.
That the clouds gather to weep and moisten the fertile land.
That the wind always carries our supplications to your ears.
That the fields of grain always ripen for the scythe.
That the storms which shatter the sky spare the crops.
That our harvests are bountiful and never wither on the vine.
That the trees bear their fruits to nourish all and seed future orchards.
That the beasts born for burden and hunt and slaughter flourish and multiply.
We pray that our men are born righteous and worthy of your blessings.
That our women are virtuous and deserving of your grace.
That our children are dutiful and obedient to your scriptures.
That our rulers and priests are pure examples of your will in the world.
That our homes and towns and cities and temples never fall to ruin.
We pray that you hear our voices rising…
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WORDS WRITTEN ON THE WALLS OF THE FREE CITY OF TANJII
“Burn all the heretics.”
“There is only The True God and all other gods are false.”
“The True God is silent while the false god speaks. How can this be?”
“The fourth chapter of the third book of the seventh prophet says ‘Suffer not the infidel nor the blasphemer to live. Cast them down with stones and burn their flesh to ash and scatter the ashes over water that their souls may never take root in the Pure Lands.’”
“I have the dreams, and they frighten me. I do not want to burn.”
THE LIVING DEATH
“There is no doubt. The illness grips me as it has so many in our town. I woke this morning unable to recognize my mother or my sister. Their names came back to me for a time, and I gained enough clarity to send them away. To make them flee. My mother wished to embrace me one last time, but I ran from her.
I ran until I suddenly realized that I did not know where I ran to or whom I ran from. I do not know how, but I found myself back in the house. A shop, I think. My father is … I do not remember.
I know he has gone with my father. I know he promised to return. I hope he does not. It is too late now. I know this. As I know that I will be mindless soon. As I know that I love him. I only wish that I could remember more than the vague impression of his face.
I shall try to kill myself now. If I am fortunate, I will remember this desire before more of me fades.
If he finds this … if you find this … know that I love you. That my last thoughts are of you. Even if I cannot remember your name … or my own.”
— A letter found concealed in a clay jug in the burned out remains of a merchant family’s home in northern Punderra several years after The Great Plague.
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THE HEART PRAYER OF MOARATANISM
“Goddess Moaratana,
Star of the Dragon,
beacon and in the dark night,
bestow upon me the depth of your infinite compassion
to feel the hearts of others,
grant me the clarity of your omniscient vision
to see the suffering of all the world,
impart to me the boundless love of your heart
to witness the pain of all beings,
illuminate me with the fire of your supreme wisdom
to apprehend the means for bringing justice to the world,
entrust me with the power of your limitless strength
to work your will in my life and in other’s lives.
As I become as you,
the world becomes as you.
May your grace infuse my life
and the lives of all others.
Anaha, Ahana.”
— Verse 7 from The Red Book of Revelations.
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SHEN LANDSCAPE PAINTING
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THE UNSEEN CODEX — PAGE 37
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank Dain Dunston and Ed Roland for their generous and helpful feedback.
I would also like thank my wife Tsufit for her assistance with editing, story counsel, and art design. And especially for her love and her unwavering belief in me.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
After a childhood spent whizzing through the galaxy in super sleek starships and defeating treacherously evil monsters in long forgotten kingdoms, G.L. Breedon grew up to write science fiction and fantasy novels. He is also an ordained interfaith minister. He lives with his wife in Brooklyn, NY.
Word of mouth and recommendations are essential in helping an author’s work find new readers. If you enjoyed The Dragon Star please consider writing a review at Amazon US or Amazon UK. Even a few words would be helpful.
For more information about G.L. Breedon, his books, to follow his blog, or to sign up for his mailing list to receive updates on the status of the next novel, free short stories, and other interesting things please visit: Kosmosaicbooks.com
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Gabriel closed his eyes as the fist dug into his stomach, knocking the air from his lungs in a gust of breath and pain. He opened his eyes in time to see a second fist strike his chin. A blinding white light suffused his brain. His vision blurred as he saw another fist swinging for his face.
The bus swayed and the tires squealed as the brakes locked up. People screamed. He screamed. The bus hit the railing of the bridge. The boys beating him flew through the air as the bus tumbled over the railing, spinning as it fell. Gabriel spinning as it fell.
It must be a dream, he thought. It was too real.
The bus struck the water, the engine dragging it down into the river, the water rushing in, filling the bus as the screams echoed in the air until there was only water. Ice cold water filling his nose, filling his mouth, filling his throat, filling…
Gabriel woke from the dream, lurching up in bed, gasping, sputtering, and sucking for air as though water really were flowing down his throat and into his lungs against his will.