The Revolutions of Time

By Jonathan Dunn

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Title: The Revolutions of Time

Author: Jonathan Dunn

Posting Date: February 14, 2015 [EBook #8735]
Release Date: August, 2005
First Posted: August 6, 2003

Language: English


*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE REVOLUTIONS OF TIME ***




Produced by Jonathan Dunn









THE
REVOLUTIONS
OF
TIME

By Jonathan Dunn


Note to the reader: The manuscript for this book was found in a
weather-beaten stone box on an island in the Pacific Ocean. Its contents
were written in an ancient form of Latin, which was translated and
edited by Jonathan Dunn.


Dedicated to Bernibus,
amicus certus in re incerta cernitur.


Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Past and Present
Chapter 2: Predestined Deja Vu
Chapter 3: Zards and Canitaurs
Chapter 4: Onan, Lord of the Past
Chapter 5: The Treeway
Chapter 6: The Fiery Lake
Chapter 7: Down to Nunami
Chapter 8: The Temple of Time
Chapter 9: Mutually Assured Deception
Chapter 10: Devolution
Chapter 11: The Land Across the Sea
Chapter 12: The White Eagle
Chapter 13: The Big Bang
Chapter 14: Past and Future


...The very men who claimed mental superiority because they were free
from superstitions and divine disillusionment were themselves victims of
their own sophism, and while they thought themselves crowned with
enlightenment, it was naught but the Phrygian caps of their prejudices
toward the material state.

--Jehu, the Kinsman Redeemer

The physical manifestation of the spiritual force is not the spiritual
force at all, only a bland deception. If you only focus on what you can
see directly, than you chase after only the representation and not the
object desired. If a bird is flying through the sky at noontime, casting
a shadow on the ground below him, and a man comes along, and in the hope
of catching the bird chases after its shadow, it is evident that he will
never catch it, for when he does reach it, he will find that there is
nothing there at all, only the shadow of what it was he desired. So it
is with the spiritual!

--Onan, Lord of the Past





Chapter 1: Past and Present



My name is Jehu. Most probably it sounds foreign and unfamiliar to you,
devoid of the qualities of affection and personality which give
character to a name. It is a harsh name, cold and inhuman, like
something out of the night, an unwelcome intruder into the warmth of
familiarity. It inspires no blissful memories, nor does it kindle fond
feelings in the bosom of the hearer, instead the heart is hardened to it
like the feathers of a duck to water, repulsing it, leaving it to run
off into the ditches and by-ways of the long forgotten past, to trickle
dejectedly into those stagnant ponds where so many words of wisdom are
imprisoned: out of sight, out of mind, out of heart, out of history. Yet
while history is forgotten and misconstrued, it is repeated, for what is
life without water, which nourishes and sustains it, and what is life
without wisdom, which protects and cultivates it?

Jehu is my name, though it no longer brings the quickened pulse and keen
anticipation of happiness to the hearts of any, not even my own. For
what deference can be given to a name, though not in itself a thing of
dishonor, which represents the failure to derail the evitable fate which
wrecks the race of man again and again. Not that I myself embody such a
failure, nor even that I gave birth to the dreaded fate's latest
momentum, but as is seen time and again throughout history, one name is
brought to represent the tide of change, for better or worse, the doer
of deeds which were done not by him, but by a mass of independent doers,
yet it is written in the annals of history as the deeds of but one man.

While I had little to do, consciously, with the doom of the earth, I
will always be fingered as the villain, as the ambitious Napoleon or the
barbaric Atilla, the arrogant Augustus or the fearful Cyrus. Someone has
to bear the burden of shame on the pages of history for the people of
his time, and in that sense, maybe I truly can be called their kinsman
redeemer. Perhaps it is my fate to bear witness to the wrongs of a
people, of which even you are not wholly innocent.

And yet can an individual be blamed for the faults of a society, can
personal responsibility be extended to the members of an unknown
multitude? How the enjoined conscience of one longs to say no, but in
good faith it cannot be said, for in this case the mask of ignorance
cannot supersede the face of guilt. Indeed, ignorance in this case only
adds to the shame of the guilty, this being a crime not of misdeeds but
of negligence, twisted together with the vices of humanity into a thick
and sturdy cord, a rope that cannot be pulled apart and individually
examined, yet must be taken as a whole. Insularly, the strand of
ignorance could be easily snapped, remedied by but a little education,
yet when woven together by one's own hands with prides and prejudices,
it forms an unbreakable rope, which is placed about our neck to hang us:
through means of our own doing is our fate foretold. If but one or two
of the strands were omitted, the result would be a feeble rope, easily
broken, and we would live. But by our own vices is our mortality made
manifest, by our own wrongs are we wronged.

By now you may be beginning to feel the impulses of indignation arising
in your breast, for who am I, the admittedly despicable Jehu, to group
you as my fellow convicts, my co-conspirators, in a sense? And you are
right, for I am not your judge and neither do I wish to be.

Having said that, I now request of you to put down the book and
discontinue reading.

"Surely," you say to yourself, "He is mentally deranged, for what author
in his right mind would encourage his readers to disperse, what writer
does not thrive on the digestion of his words by an eager audience?"

Here I must make a revelation to you: if my manuscript has indeed been
found, then I have long since been dead; and I assure you that in
whatever form my existence takes in the present, I have little desire
for your intrigue or goodwill. Do you think Melville is consoled in
death of his miserable life by the vainglorious praises of the living?
Or do you think that Poe is comforted by such avid attentions in his
present abode? In truth, Melville's only rivalry is now within, and
Poe's only raven that daunting memory of those truths which had escaped
him in life, but which now are opened to you.

More importantly, if this manuscript has been found, it proves that what
is contained herein is the unerring truth. I do not write this to
exonerate myself, however let me say here that I am more the Andre' than
the Arnold, for I was but the emissary of history, not the traitor to
humanity, and if not me then some other would have filled the void. Let
it be remembered that it was Andre' who gave his life for his deeds, and
yet it is Andre' who is recollected with a sweet sorrow, and though
Arnold lived, he had no peace. Yet while history is vivid and
encyclopedic, in itself a living organism, it can speak only through the
mouths of men, who often misrepresent it for their own partisan and
prejudiced plans. It is strong and steadfast, though, and in time is
always victorious over its menial opposition, for what is history but
the past tense of truth, and it is justly said that veritas numquam
perit, truth never dies.

Going back to what I said before, namely that at my manuscript's
discovery my demise will itself be history: I am assured that such is
true, for even now as I write this my death is near at hand. How wide
the abyss of time that separates us is I cannot tell, but I do know that
it is beyond the reckoning of men, such an unknown barrage of hollow,
formless years. Yet as you read this it is as if I were speaking
directly to you, despite all of the desolation between our times. That
is what makes history an organic being, and by history I mean all of the
past, or all of the future, depending on your viewpoint.

A book is a connection between times and peoples, more so than any other
medium. As I put these words down in writing, it is as if I am imparting
my very self into the pages. And as you read them, the name Jehu slowly
forms into an image, into a personality, and from the empty word Jehu
comes the great well of affection springing from a personal intimacy. A
book is an enigma in which no time exists, and as it is read it brings
the reader into its eternal being, for while it sits closed on a shelf
it is no more than a forgotten memory, yet when it is opened its
contents come to life and its characters and locations are once more
existent in the same state as when they were written, the story becomes
once more reality.

While I have long been deceased, when you read this I am brought to life
once more, and with my rebirth I tell you my story, and make known to
you the truths contained therein. The words of this book are a rune
gate, a portal to the past, and as you read them, your present fades
away and you are drawn into my present, this very moment in which I now
write. Then you connect with me intimately, and for a brief time the
gulf of mortality is transcended and the depths of my being are laid
open to you. We commune together and you eat of my flesh and drink of my
blood, merging your existence with mine.

Come to me now, my friend, come to me across the gulf of mortality, for
I await you. Come, and in your spiritual peregrination meet with me, in
this land of the past which is so foreign and unfamiliar to you, but
which will become for a time your home. Come to me, my friend, and let
me tell you my story.






Chapter 2: Predestined Deja Vu



It was in the last stages of sleep that I began to feel the warm morning
sun strike my face, and hear the pleasant chirping of birds and
crickets. I rolled slowly over, stretched my legs and my back, and stood
up, with the last remnants of a dream playing quietly in my mind. But as
I came to my feet and got a clear view of where I was, I realized it was
not a dream that I had had at all, but something far more sobering. I
found myself somewhere in the center of a very large prairie which
covered the land for many miles around. From the sun's lowly position on
the eastern horizon, it was evident to me that the new day was just
dawning, casting a golden hue on the grasses that covered the prairie's
surface.

Around the distant outskirts of the plain I could make out a ring of
trees circumventing the whole, waving almost imperceptibly to and fro in
the light breeze that was blowing. A few miles to the southwest there
was a group of odd looking trees stretching up over the horizon to a
considerable height. They were closer than the outer ring, which kept a
uniform girth around the prairie, but somehow they looked very peculiar
and foreboding, and I got one of those sobering feelings which I like to
call predestined deja vu. What I mean is that I got a sense of deja vu,
but instead of the past converging with the present into one thought,
the present seemed to converge with the future, and the result was a
mysterious foreboding of something, though I couldn't tell what. That is
the sensation that I had when I saw what I assumed to be a small
grouping of trees somewhere in the southwestern portion of the savanna,
though that was merely a guess, for in the distance I could only make
out several dark forms rising out of the grassland like trees, or
possibly buildings, one of them being a great deal taller than the
others, with a spherical shape on top that only faintly resembled a
tree's crown. If it was indeed a tree, it was the largest that I have
ever seen, for it looked to be upwards of 800 feet tall.

My mental warning bells were ringing quite loudly, and I endeavored to
silence them by extreme exertions of the will, but they would not be
subdued. I assumed that they were not at all correct, much like the
fearful expectancy some have while swimming in the ocean, out of sight
of all land, of being attacked by an enormous leviathan of the deep. As
unfounded as the fear is, it places one into a frenzy of dubious
thoughts that inspire equally frantic and anarchist actions. Because of
this, I thought that my ideas were naught but superstitious fancies, yet
try as I might, I could not rid myself of them.

Instead, I made up my mind to set off in the opposite direction, north,
and to advance at a double march until I should reach the woody border,
which looked to present shelter not only from the southern apparitions,
but also from the shielded underworld of the grasses, in which also
dwelt the mysterious sense of fear and predestined deja vu. It was
slightly chilly, but beyond that nothing defaced the temperate beauty of
the day, and even that promised to soon dissipate with the continual
strengthening of the sun's warmth. As I walked, or rather, trotted
along, it did just that, and in the growing warmth of the day the sweet
fragrances of the many various grasses rose to the surface, delighting
my odor perceiving sensors with their earthy simplicity.

The day marched on, and with it I, and the distant wall of trees began
to slowly grow closer. At length, I found myself at their edge, at
around the noon hour, and as I came upon the first of them, I leaned
against the trunk of a large, thickset tree for a moment of repose and
reflection in its shade. It was by all appearances an ancient wood, for
the line between it and the prairie was distinct, appearing as if the
shrubs and lesser flora had acquiesced to fate and retreated beyond the
forest's claimed boundaries, rather than continue for countless ages to
charge and then be pushed back, to gain a foothold only to be thrown out
a year or two later. The trees themselves were mighty pinions of
strength, tall and of great girth, and spread far apart from one
another, leaving wide open spaces between their towering trunks. A
short, soft grass clothed the land that stretched on in their midst,
joined in its solitude by a hearty looking moss that stretched itself
out on the trunks of the trees and on the rocks and boulders that lay
scattered here and there among the open spaces. Far above, the trees'
great branches spread out a thick canopy, covering the whole of the
forest area in a relaxing and invigorating twilight, rendering itself
homely and quaint. After a few moments of enjoying that most pleasing
scene, I roused and extricated myself unwillingly from its enchanted
depths and set off once more into the heart of the woods, having no
where else to go.

After a time, I cannot say how long, I came upon a small, trickling
stream which flowed deeper into the woods, that direction being
northward. A short walk along its path, after refreshing myself to
content with its pure waters, brought me to its destination: a large
lake into which the forest opened. Its banks were very gradual and the
grass of the woodland led right up to the water's edge. The surface of
the water itself was smooth and delicate.

Amidst the pleasantness of the scene, there was something missing from
the feel of the area: inhabitants. There was an abundance of wild life
of all kinds, and much organic life as well, but something greater than
flora or fauna was missing: people. I had traveled so far, and without
any sighting of a person. It was a lonely and desolate feeling which
prevailed, despite the abundances of life. Novelties soon grow worthless
with no one to share them with, ideas become meaningless if not
communicated timely, emotions grow boisterous and uncontrollable with no
end to receive them.

I was quite alone, unfortunately, and it dampened my spirits
considerably. Feeling despondent, I turned and walked sullenly from the
lake's edge into the woodland once more, with no definite purpose in
mind, only a meandering thought of my dismal situation. My thoughts
morphed, in succession, from anxiety to despair, to anger, to
frustration, and in my frustration I knelt down and picked up a fallen
branch from the ground, walked to the nearest tree, and eyed a strange,
protruding knob that stuck out from the trunk. I held the branch at
shoulder's length and swung it at the knob with all the force of my
built up emotions. It hit with a crash and a hollow thud, leaving the
branch broken and my arm sore, but the knob undamaged.

But then something unexpected happened: with a grating noise, a small
hole appeared part way up the trunk, coming from what looked to be solid
wood, for no sign was seen before of its having an opening. From the
newly opened hole was then thrust out a head, hairy and with a short
snout-like edifice for a nose and mouth. Its eyes and the furry hair
which covered its face were brown, and a few wily whiskers protruded
from its snout. With a look of utter surprise, as if it had not expected
me as much as I had not expected it, it eyed me closely for a moment and
then looked anxiously from side to side and told me to come in.

When those words passed its lips, or whatever artifice it spoke from, a
great weight fell from my shoulders. After a short moment, quickened by
my relief, a door appeared in the trunk of the tree, its edges
previously hidden behind the thick mosses. Swinging inwards, it opened
and revealed the creature standing there, beckoning me to enter. I did,
and the door shut behind me, leaving me in the darkness of the hollow
tree.






Chapter 3: Zards and Canitaurs



My eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness, and once they did I saw that
the trunk was hollowed out to the extent of eight feet in diameter, with
two stairways, one up and another down, filling either corner of the
small entry room in which I found myself. Observing that my vision was
returned enough to see, the strange creature which had greeted me led me
down the descending staircase for a short way, until we came into a
cavern which was delved beneath the roots of the tree.

The walls and floor of the cavern, or more accurately, the sitting room,
for such it appeared to be, were paneled with a thick, heavy wood with
an almost artificially symmetric grain, and the ceiling was done in
diagonal boards of the same. Sitting in the center of the room was a
brick-laid pit in which burned an illuminating fire, and around it was
placed an odd covering frame that caught up the smoke and channeled it
via underground passages to some distant wilderness, where its sightless
remnants would dissipate into the atmosphere unnoticed. On the near side
of the fire was a round table flanked by four large, comfortable chairs,
padded by cushions made from the same material as the various carpets
and tapestries around the room.

There were two more of the strange creatures seated at the table, called
Canitaurs as I later found out, and as they are closely entwined with my
story, being prominent participants, I will describe them in some detail
here. They stood erect like a man, yet were quite contrasted in
appearance. Their skin for one was covered in a thick, impenetrable coat
of hair, much like a dog or a bear's. Their hands, also, were less
distinct in the fingers, though but slightly, and their limbs were a
little longer and thicker than a man's. The two most notable
differences, however, were the formation of their shoulders and chest,
which were very pronounced and muscular, and their faces. The latter's
features were brought to a point in the short snout, or muzzle, that
formed their nose and mouth, taking their chins with it and leaving a
long line from their neck to their chest open. Humanity prevailed in the
rest of their features, though, giving them the look of a man and canine
hybrid.

By then I had overcome my initial perplexion at the sight of the
Canitaurs, and I endeavored to put a strong check over my emotions in
order to prevent another outbreak of panic and to remain cool and
candid, come what would. Yet it was, ironically, the product of my
rashness that I had found their habitation at all. This I successfully
did, and as I entered the room, led by the Canitaur who was on watch,
the others stood politely and greeted me with an apparent intrigue.

Our conversation proceeded at follows:

"I am Wagner of the Canitaurs, my friend," said the one who appeared to
be the leader, "And these are Taurus and Bernibus," the latter being the
one who had led me down. "Welcome to Daem."

"I am Jehu," I told them, "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Indeed, and under such circumstances as well. Tell me, how did you come
to be here?"

Here I smiled nervously, and replied, "I am a traveler from a distant
land, and came here by the advice of a friend."

At this somewhat false answer, more in character than in content, Wagner
looked at me wonderingly, as if detecting my falsehood, but did not
follow his look with any probing questions, to my great relief. In order
to steer the conversation away from this point, I added quickly, "I am
not at all disappointed, either, for the landscape is beautiful and the
trees and foliage are wondrously large, but I was surprised to find
that, from the prairie to the lake, I saw no one living among these
quaint locations."

Wagner looked at me closely, with a hint of almost reverencing respect
and said, "You were very fortunate in your travels, I assure you, for
had you arrived at any other time, you would have fallen into fouler
hands than ours by far."

"I do not understand what you mean," I said.

"Of course not, I am forgetting your new arrival has left you
unacquainted with affairs that I am faced with everyday. Let me explain:
we, that is, the Canitaurs, have been in open hostilities with the other
group of people on this island, the Zards, for as long as we can
remember. They have great military superiority in this section of Daem,
and when we come here we are forced to live in hiding, in outposts such
as this one."

"Why not just make peace?" I asked.

"Because it is our ideologies that conflict, neither group of us will
yield, and the solution can only be decided by force, military force. It
is fortunate that you have come among us first, for they would have
mistreated you."

"So you have said, though I do not see why I was not captured by them on
my journey through the plains, if they are as powerful in this quarter
as you say," I replied.

"As I said, the timing of your arrival was very fortunate," he said, "At
any other time you would have surely been caught, and then your fate
would have been uncertain, but yesterday was the Zard's new year, the
Kootch Patah, on which they spend all night in celebrations and
revelries. Because of this, they were all soundly asleep on your trip
through the prairie, very possibly laying at your feet, covered by the
tall grasses."

So my fears were not as unfounded as I had thought, was my predestined
deja vu, then, real as well? Only time would tell.

"I am indeed lucky then, as you have said, not only in the Zard's
unattentiveness, but also in finding of your secreted habitation, as
well as your friendly welcoming of me," I said.

"I must confess," he chuckled, "It is not merely from a one-sided
hospitality that you are welcomed."

"Indeed?" I said.

"Indeed," he answered, "For your appearance and the circumstances of
your arrival are almost uncannily the realizations of one of our most
ancient prophesies, one which we have longed to have fulfilled."

"Is that so?" I rhetorically asked.

"Surely it is," he said with a smile, though from happiness or humor I
could not tell. He went on soberly, saying: "The prophecy is concerning
the kinsman redeemer, one of the ancients sent by Onan, the Lord of the
Past, to redeem us from the destruction of this polluted world."

"What do you mean by 'one of the ancients'?" I interjected
questioningly.

"Exactly what I said," Wagner replied with a light hearted smile, "Let
me explain."

But before he could, we were interrupted by a violent scratching and
pounding at the door, along with some grunting voices which I could not
understand. The Canitaur's ears, which were quite large, though more
erect and postured than floppy, quickly rose to attention, and they had
spent not a moment listening when they uniformly chorused, "Zards," in a
hoarse whisper. My earlier fear, then mysterious but now understood,
returned in full force, and my face writhed in horror as I ejaculated
remorsely, "Then we are lost."

Wagner turned gravely towards me and said, "Perhaps, but there is still
hope. Come, follow me," and rising from his chair he led the way to the
furthest corner of the room. A primitive tapestry was hanging there, and
Wagner lifted it up while Bernibus and Taurus hit two hidden switches,
one being on either extremity of the room, to avoid discovery. That
unlocked the wall behind the tapestry. It opened along lines previously
concealed by the wood's grain and revealed a small cubbyhole built into
the wall, probably meant for its present use, concealment. Wagner led us
into it and no sooner was the door, or wall, latched again than the
Zards, having broken down the outside door by brute strength, flooded
into the room.

We could see them as they did, for the wall that concealed us had many
small holes, and the tapestry as well, so that on the inside we could
see all that happened in the well lit room, while they could not see us,
as there was no light to reveal us. Indeed, I had been sitting facing
the hidden compartment during our brief dialog and had not detected it
at all. The situation was quite different at that time, though, for the
Zards were actively looking for us, whereas I was merely glancing
occasionally at the wall.

Now that they were closer, I could easily understand their conversation:


"Blast it, they aren't here," said one,

"Probably deserted the place after Garlop saw them, he should have kept
watch."

"Why? He couldn't have stopped a group of them, and they're too keen to
be followed."

"Aye, he did right to hurry off, but it would be a shame if they
escaped," another joined.

"The King is here though, and there's no fooling him.

"Hear ye, hear ye," the others assented, that being a common phrase
among them which was the equivalent of an 'I agree' or 'Amen'.

A larger, more commanding Zard, whom the others looked in deference to,
then came down the stairs, saying as he entered the room, "Let us not
celebrate prematurely, gentlemen. There is nothing of interest above, so
we will have to search carefully down here."

"Sir, is it true it was a hairless one he saw?" one asked him.

"We are all hairless here," he said, laughing with the others, "But yes,
it is reported that Garlop saw one of the ancients, and with his sharp
eyes and knowledge of history, it is assumed to be true. I need not
remind you, then, the need to find them before they are too far away, it
is imperative to the cause that the ancient is not brought to the hidden
fortress of our adversaries."

The Zards then set to work with great assiduity searching for any clues
of the Canitaur's whereabouts, examining everything meticulously, yet
quickly. They tore the furniture apart to look for hidden compartments,
followed the smoke pipes through the ground to their outlets, tore off
the floor boards to look for secret passages, and did the same to the
ceiling.

Before I continue with my story, let me pause for a moment to describe
to you the appearance of the Zards, for you are probably curious as to
what they look like.

Quite different from the Canitaurs, they were, in fact, completely
hairless, being almost lizard-like. They stood erect, about the same
height as a man, that is, about six feet or a little over that, and
their bodies resembled those of alligators, with short, thickset legs,
stout arms, and a long body with a tail draping down to the ground,
looking like a giant tongue, though covered, of course, in scales. Their
heads were small, having a little skull on which were the eyes and ears
and with a long snout that, like the Canitaurs', held their noses,
mouths, and chin. Huge, sharp teeth filled their mouths and gave them an
odd, fiercely sophisticated look. Their hands were thick with long
fingers, and though their overall appearance had an air of awkwardness
about it, they set to their tasks with great dexterity, though if it was
natural or the result of their excited state, I could not tell. Indeed,
I began to grow worried when the Zard who was removing the walls, to
check for holes or tunnels, drew near to us as he methodically pried off
the panels with a metal bar and looked for anything suspicious.

He moved along quickly and was just about to put the bar to our covering
and pull when another Zard, on the other end of the room, held aloft a
piece of paper, calling the attentions of the others to it. Our almost
discoverer went himself to the other Zard, and we were, for a moment at
least, saved from being exposed. Having read the paper, the taller Zard,
the King, said to the others, "Well done, lads. We have here a map to
the Canitaur's hidden fortress. Let us go to Nunami, gather some troops,
and surprise them. Today may prove victorious, so let us hurry."

The others assented and as a body they went up the stairs and out the
door, hurrying forth, it seemed, to do their dastardly deeds, and in
their ardor not leaving behind even a single one to guard the hideout.
Despite our good fortunes, my spirits were damp, for my sorrow of the
Canitaur's ill fate was as a wound in my bosom, knowing that I had been
the sole reason for their discovery. What a good kinsman redeemer, I
thought, for my coming may have ended the wars, or put its completion in
motion, yet not in the favor of my hosts.

To my chagrin, however, the Canitaurs, led by Wagner, were buxom,
seeming to find great humor in what had happened. Turning to them in a
zealous perplexity, I said spiritedly, "How can you laugh? You may have
escaped, but your brethren are doomed, and you yourselves will not last
long around enemies without the protection of the other Canitaurs."

But my rebuke only seemed to make their laughter and mirth more hearty,
and they raged on without ceasing for a time. After a while, when they
were reduced to a smiling remnant of their former pleasure, Wagner
turned gravely towards me and said, "Forgive me, Jehu, for not
explaining it to you. You are right to chastise us, but the situation is
not as you seem to think it, for the map they found was a fake, and will
lead them to nowhere of importance, while we affect our escape. We are
lucky that they left no guard, but come, let us not tempt fate and
remain any longer in this compromised outpost, to the fortress we go!"

He finished and met with the approbations of the others, and
accordingly, we exited the cubby hole and made our way through the
rummaged room, up the stairs, and out of the tree. It was now early
evening, and the temperance of twilight, with its soft and mellow
splendors, only increased the pleasantness of the area. A slight breeze
prevailed and rustled the leaves and boughs of the giant trees just
enough to render it pacifying and comforting. Being quickened by the
breeze, the lake danced on in its earlier smoothness, only in a faster
tempo, improving the ruggedness of the watery wrinkles. The last
visiting rays from the sun were congregated on the eastern shores,
saying their good-byes to the glowing trees, and giving their parting
respects before being whisked away to their native lands of fire, to
come again in great numbers on the morrow.

We set off around the lake, making our way northward towards the rugged
mountains rising before us in a grand show of might. Wagner and Taurus
walked before and behind us, respectively, Wagner leading the way and
Taurus erasing the marks of our passing, and both watching for any signs
of ambush. Bernibus walked abreast of myself, keeping me in pleasant
company, for he was a very enjoyable companion.

During our walk, Bernibus and I had an insightful conversation, of which
I will relate to you the following, as you may find it interesting:

"Tell me," I said to him, "You seem to be a jovial people, despite the
war that you find yourselves in, but are all of your people of the same
attitude?"

"Very nearly, yes," he replied, "For though we do not wish war, the
principles at stake here are important enough for us to sacrifice an
easy life for them. We've grown used to it, everything is done in such a
way as to promote secrecy and stealth, those being our main advantages
in the conflict. Out of hundreds of outposts like the one we were just
in, for example, only four others have ever been discovered, and the
Zards still have no clue where our fortress is." This he said in a
boastful manner, but as he did a faint spirit of sorrow spread across
his face for an instant, as if in memory of one of the raids of previous
times.

"That explains their rapture when they found the false map," I returned,
"But I must admit that I am still ignorant of the cause of the wars. It
was said that it was conflicting ideologies, yet that is self-evident,
as all conflict is at heart just that. I don't mean, either, the actions
that caused the most recent inflammation, but what exactly your
conflicting ideologies are? What is it that keeps you from harmony?"

"You have a knack for hard questions," he said with a smile. Then he
paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. At length, he continued,
"The Canitaurs have a profound respect for all that has gone before us,
we honor the traditions of our ancestors and revere their beliefs and
their ideas of truth. The past, in the guise of history, is the key to
the future, we believe, and we hold strictly to the worship of Onan, the
Lord of the Past," at this my attention was perked. He continued, "Our
adherence to the ways of our ancestors is based on the idea that what
has continued throughout the ages has continued because it is right,
that it has remained steadfast because it is based on the immovable
foundations of reality. We follow Onan because he is real, because the
past has existed, and it is certain that it will continue to exist, and
because that existence dictates the operation of the present. Although
we may seem ritualistic and entrenched in tradition to the outside
observer, we enjoy the comforts of knowing that we are on a well tread
path, that we are not alone in time but in company with our forebears.
We are called the Pastites because of our beliefs, because of our
tradition based lives that instill in us a reliance on history, on the
events of the past as a light by which to guide our own actions, as a
road paved by the flesh and blood of our forefathers which leads to
happiness and peace."

Bernibus paused for another moment, as if in contemplation once again,
before he continued, saying, "The Zards are followers of the future, or
Futurists as they are called. They believe that the past is just that,
the past: the ignorant and selfish times of the unenlightened who were
too shrouded by prejudices to understand the world clearly. Instead they
place their faith in the scientific and philosophical ideas of the day,
believing that while history and the past were delegated to the control
of the unsophisticated whose ways were superstitious and outdated, the
present contains truth in its pure form. Reform and revolution are their
watchwords, for they tinker with the very foundations of society and
life in an attempt to cultivate it. Zimri is their Lord, of the Future,
and they follow him loosely, for he doesn't require the strict adhesion
that Onan does, which suits their independent and relaxed world view
very well."

He went on, in summary, "In a word, the Pastites believe that history,
the reality of the past, governs the present and the future, while the
Futurists believe that the future defines the present and the past."

"I begin to see the differences," I replied in a humble, questioning
manner, "And yet they seem to me to be passive, secondary differences,
the kind that result in a conflict of subtle disagreements here and
there, argued over dessert like tariffs or taxes, not at all violent.
How is it that they take such a prominent role in everyday life that
they can only be resolved by force? What is it that takes it from the
fireside to the battlefield?"

Here I was slightly taken aback by the expression on Bernibus' face, it
was one of surprise mingled with apprehension and questioning. He said,
"Then you do not know?"

"Know what?"

He laughed, "I take it you do not." Becoming solemn again, he continued,
"Our land, Daem is on the edge of ruin, and has been for all of my life
and those of many generations before me. About 530 years ago there was a
great war on earth, one in which no restraint was used, no mutually
assured destruction, for nuclear weapons came into the hands of those
who cared not for any life, not even their own. Tensions were high for a
decade, and in the following segregation, the peoples of the earth lost
their personal connection with their enemies, and, as always happens,
ceased to view them as equals, but instead as evil ones bent on their
destruction. Things came to such a crisis that at last a little flame
was lit and it grew and grew until it became a full scale nuclear war.
The destruction was total: no one was exempt, as almost everything, and
everyone, was destroyed. The only surviving place was this island, which
is the sole habitat of the delcator beetle, a small insect that digests
nuclear waste and neutralizes it. The first few decades were horrible,
before the atmosphere recovered enough to return to normal, and in that
time things mutated and grew gigantic. The trees and foliage, as you
see, are an example of this, even the redwood trees of old were nothing
compared to the trees of Daem. And the Zards and Canitaurs grew and
changed as well, and, as we lived on either ends of the island, as we do
now, our forms morphed into the separate forms that they now take.

"And that is where our conflict turned violent," he continued, "For it
is our desire, on both sides, to return the earth to its previous state.
The Pastites want to return through time and stop the destruction before
it happens, because we believe that the past is what must be changed in
order to change the present and future. It is the actions of the past
that brought about the present woes, and it is they that must be undone.
For their part, the Futurists want to change the present through the
future, to go into the future and bring back its completion, in the form
of restored RNA cells, which is congruent with their belief that the
past is the past and all that matters is that which is yet to come, that
which still has the hope of existence."

I looked at him as he finished and said, "But, why not do both. Wouldn't
that be more effective than fighting each other? How can continued
destruction revert previous destruction inflicted in the same manner?
Could not both ideas be tried?"

"If only they could," he replied. "It goes back to Onan and Zimri, you
see, for we ourselves cannot do such things, but the gods whom we follow
can. Shortly after the worldwide destruction, we, meaning both the Zards
and the Canitaurs, received the prophesy of the kinsman redeemer, who
would be sent to help us change the earth to its former majesty. He was
to be one from the time right before the beginning of the final
firefight, one of the ancients who still kept the pure human form. Our
hostilities broke out in an attempt to control the entire island, so
that when he should come, the dominant force would have him. Each side
was convinced that theirs was the right way, the only way through which
the end of restoring the earth's ecosystem could be reached. You are the
kinsman redeemer, Jehu, for you fit the prophecy perfectly, and I am
glad that you have fallen in with us."

After his discourse, Bernibus fell into a silent meditation, as did I,
and the rest of our walk through the now dark wilderness was one of
silence and solitude. Given the cessation of action in my narrative, I
will take this opportunity to describe the circumstances of my arrival
on the island of Daem, about which you are no doubt wondering.






Chapter 4: Onan, Lord of the Past



Not wishing to delve too far into my past or relate what would be
mundane and disconnected with my story, I will summarize with brevity
what my situation was. I was a military man, an Air force pilot to be
exact, and was on active duty patrolling the no-fly zones off the coast
of China, it being, at that time, an area of very high tensions. The
situation was grim, as any small incident promised to set the pendulums
of war into motion, but the worst had subsided, and things were
beginning to look as if that incendiary incident wouldn't come after
all. The main part of my story begins on a cloudy night of what was to
me just a few weeks back, though it seems like many ages ago now, and
indeed, it was.

I was flying over an area that was littered with small volcanic islands,
the type that rise above or fall below sea level continually, so that
what one year is above water is later below. Some of them have even been
known to only rise above the waves for a short time, and then vanish
from the sea completely, worn down by wind and waves. The night was
murky, and the air was thick with water and dust, the result being that
there was no natural light whatsoever, and any artificial light that
could be mustered was largely reduced to nothing, visibility being no
more than twenty feet.

The wind was calm and the flying, though strenuous from lack of sight,
was without turbulence. I was doing well, until out of nowhere I heard a
loud crack of thunder, followed by a bolt of lightning that hit the
plane. At once I lost all of the instruments, excepting the actual
control of the plane in manual, meaning that the radar and all the
guidance systems were crippled, and I could see nothing. Not knowing
what to do, and not being able to radio for help, I pulled down and
slowed until I was just barely remaining airborne, and began looking for
an island to land on.

Once below 200 feet, the clouds gave way and I saw an island. I aimed
for it and slowed more, preparing to land on it. I did, though just
barely, for it was extremely small, being one of those inconsistent
volcanic islands. Getting out of the plane, I was greeted by a strong
blast of wind that was dripping water from its cold grip, and I was
instantly chilled to the bone. There was nothing on the island at all,
except for the hole in its center, from which, no doubt, came the lava
that had formed it. It was on a slightly elevated hill, and looked as if
it had not erupted for many thousands of years. With nothing to do at
that moment except to get an idea of the island that I had landed on, I
walked over to it and knelt down beside it, peering blankly into its
depths. It seemed to be absolutely devoid of light, and, as often
happens, its darkness was mysterious to me, for I wondered what lay
hidden in it, and my curiosity got the better of my common sense. I
leaned slowly forward. Then, as I did so, I heard a loud and terrible
voice, personified in the crashing of the waves and the moaning of the
wind, and it said in a monotonous and unending refrain, "Enter." Nothing
more nor less than the continual repetition of that word. This alarmed
me, and as I did not want to do that, I began to stand upright and back
away from it, to return to my plane. But as I raised my knee from the
ground in order to stand, my other knee slipped under the increased
pressure, and in the ensuing instability, I completely lost my balance
and fell forward into the hole.

There are certain events in our lives that change the whole course of
our existence, and falling forward into the hole was one for me. Its
immediate effects weren't injurious to me at all, but it matured with
time, like a good wine, and grew until it overcame me, starting the
chain of events which would result in my demise. Yet not only mine, but
that of everyone.

Let me continue, though, and I will explain what I mean and not confuse
you more. I landed with a thud on a pile of soft dirt some twenty feet
down, in a dark place which seemed open, not cavernous and cramped as I
would have expected. My eyes adjusted to the darkness, and as they did,
I realized it was not now totally lightless, for there was a faint glow
coming from somewhere in the distance. Looking up through the passage I
had come down, I saw that there was no way to climb up it, and,
accordingly, set off to find the source of the faint light that came
from the distance. After walking cautiously through the darkness, I
reached a curve and then a tunnel-like exit to the spacious cavern that
I was in, and as I turned it I saw the source of the light: lava flows.
The room, or area, I had entered was rather thin and round, with a river
of lava flowing downwards and a small ledge of rock winding along its
edge. Together they descended spirally downwards at a gentle angle,
taking the form of an intelligently designed ramp. As I followed it down
I soon broke out in a sweat, for the gurgling, fiery plasma heated the
area up to a warm degree.

I found myself looking intently at the flowing fire beside which I
walked, its strangeness stealing my meditations from other things, and I
looked at it absorbingly, not paying attention to the path that I walked
on, so entranced was I with the feeling that its boiling character gave
to me.

As I walked along the lava preoccupied with my meditations and not
paying conscious attention to the path, my subconscious was carefully
monitoring my way, and when once my eyes glanced upward, I quickly saw
that my surroundings had changed. The narrow, spiral descending tunnel
had given way to a very cavernous area where the lava flow formed a
large lake of fire. A domed ceiling crowned this great room, though not
exact and polished, having instead a rough appearance as it stretched
from wall to wall, a semi-chasm of a hundred yards, more or less, with
its uppermost height being not less than twenty yards. On the far walls
were two lava falls, trickling from raised tunnels in the wall into the
body of lava, which covered the whole bottom of the room. There was a
platform that sat in the middle of the fiery lake, connected to the
tunnel I had come from by a walkway of stone. This room was different
than the other two, also, in its fashion, for while the previous had
vague evidences of intelligent design, this one was very obviously
artificially decorated. The walkway above mentioned was of ornate stone
with an intricate design of circles, squares, and triangles carved into
it, and on each corner of the center stage was a long pillar that
reached from floor to ceiling, each carved like a totem pole, with a
variety of animals and shapes stacked upon one another. The dome was
done ornately as well, for I saw as I walked further into the room that
what I had thought had been imperfections in the dome proved to be an
elaborate three dimensional sculpture that stuck out from the ceiling,
depicting an intricate scene of figures and telling a story of some
great saga of war and peace, pride and prejudice, love and hate, faith
and betrayal, all combined to make the greatest mural: history, the
story of time itself.

As I looked in awe upon its beauty, I was startled by a voice coming
from an unseen figure somewhere on the center platform. It said, "Jehu,
you have come at last. Welcome."

The voice was very gentle and pleasing to the ears, slowly and
confidently spoken, meticulously articulated. I looked around in its
direction and saw a short, elderly gnome with a long white beard
reaching to his chest and a short crop of hair on his oblong head, which
was outfitted with a sharp, angular nose, a pair of sparkling eyes, and
two protruding ears. He was no more than four feet tall, and no less
than three, with a dignified poise to him, and was dressed in a dark
robe with a black and gold design on it. We looked at each other for a
moment, he smiling pleasantly and me expressionless, for though I felt
that I should be surprised, or at least bewildered, at the sight of a
gnome in an underground cavern, I was not, it was as if I had almost
been expecting it to happen, as if in the back of my mind I had already
been there and done that. Perhaps it was only a case of predestined deja
vu, or maybe it was something less tangible. Either way, the gnome then
broke the silence again, saying:

"Let me introduce myself, Jehu. I am Onan, the Lord of the Past, and
these are the Chambers of History."

He then paused for a moment, waiting for my reaction, which was, again,
not too much surprised, but rather complacent, thought I didn't look
bored or snobbish, as is sometimes the case in that situation. Instead I
became as genial as possible, realizing that whatever force was behind
this, it was greater than I.

"Hello, Onan, it is pleasure to meet you," I said, advancing with a
proffered hand extended towards him, which I realized belatedly made me
appear oafish, but he took it good-naturedly, and with his pleasantness
eliminated my unease at shaking the hand of one half my size. He then
beckoned for me to follow him, and turned and walked to the center of
the platform, where he unexpectedly laid down on his back, facing the
muraled dome. I did the same, somewhat hesitantly, though I found it to
be quite comfortable once I was down. He saw my sluggishness and by way
of explanation said to me:

"Do not be troubled, my dear Jehu, for we lie on our backs to bring
about clarity of mind."

Then he continued speaking, calling my attention to the sculptured dome:


"That is history," he said.

"What do you mean," I asked, "I've always viewed history as an organic
being, constantly growing as it devours the present."

"It is an organic being," he replied, "A monstrous beast of sorts. But
that (meaning the mural on the dome), my friend, is the genetics of
history, its code that dictates what it is and what it will become, the
master plan."

Allow me to take a moment to describe the mural for you. Firstly, its
form: it was spread out across the dome like the painted ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel, its whole being a broad, harmonious picture that
complimented itself, telling a story throughout its united branches. It
was much more than a painting, though, because it stood out from the
dome like a group of completely independent sculptures, but placed so as
to tell the combined story with a sort of native ease, not stressed or
artificial, yet seeming as natural and beautiful as water in its flowing
grace. Now I will endeavor to describe its content, though I realize
that in this case the picture must be worth many millions of words.

The center of the mural was its beginning, and there a man was standing
proudly upright, dressed in splendid clothes of fine linens. He held in
his hand a magnificent cup of gold with a row each of diamonds, rubies,
sapphires, and pearls running along its breadth. It contained a dark red
liquid, which appeared to be boiling, and the man was holding it out to
a fierce lion whose shoulders were four feet across and whose mouth was
like a cavern, with stalactites and stalagmites of the most terrifying
nature. With an evil glare in its eyes toward the man, the lion drank
thirstily from the cup. Around the man and the lion there was a ring of
blazing fire, leaping out of the dome like great pillars of flame,
entrapping them within its narrow circle. On the outside of the fire was
a group of mighty lizards and beasts, the smallest of which was larger
than several elephants. Their whole attention was paid to a great fight
in which they were engaged, yet their foe was naught but the reflections
of themselves on the great sea which surrounded the island that held
these strange sights. Several of them were dead or severely wounded at
having been accidentally mauled by their fighting brethren. Across the
ocean from the island there was another landmass, whose far edges were
not in sight. On it were many ape-men bowing down in worship of a
gigantic White Eagle which was soaring far above them with a multitude
of lords and ladies gripped in its massive talons. The lords were
dressed in silken robes and adorned with many pieces of fine jewelry,
and the ladies were clothed in skirts of crimson; both groups had upon
their faces looks of pleasure, and contempt towards those far below
them.

Onan continued speaking, "You see, Jehu, the whole of history, both that
now written and that yet to come, is planned, executed according to its
own power, for the course of time is marked as clearly as the tides: by
its own coming and going it is revealed. Revealed, however, only in an
abstract and undefined manner, so that while its marks are clearly seen,
it is only by special revelations that it is shown in a comprehensive
and detailed light. And that is why I have summoned you here, my dear
Jehu, for you are the chosen one, summoned to help me."

I was skeptical and asked him, "You summoned me? But how, I was to
forced to crash land on the island by the weather, and accidentally fell
into the volcano's mouth. It was by my own freewill decisions that the
circumstances of my arrival here were fulfilled."

Onan laughed quietly and said, "History is not an unstoppable machine,
allied with fate to control the destiny of all things past and future,
nor does it nullify the power of man's freewill, yet the force that acts
upon the minds of men to form them is history itself. You see, men are
not the opponents of history and fate, for they do not impede its
progress with their freewill decisions, instead they are its minions,
its slaves, building up its strength and carrying out its dictates by
its influence, so that they become history as they serve it, adding to
its organism their own consciouses. While you were brought to these
Chambers by circumstances of your own choosing, your desires in choosing
those circumstances were dictated by the experiences of the past. But
never mind how I summoned you, for you are here now."

"Very well," I said, not wishing to disagree with the Lord of the Past.
Still, I was in a stubborn frame of mind, and asked, "But if the past is
as powerful as you construe it to be, then why does the Lord of the Past
need the help of a mere mortal like myself? Or do you mean you need a
more direct agent than those you control only by influence?"

"Something like that," he answered. "You see, there was a great disaster
once, which was blamed on me, and in order to atone for it, I promised
to send a kinsman redeemer before anything so devastating happened
again, and I believe you are the perfect choice."

"What devastating event hasn't been blamed on the past in one form or
another?" I said, "But why not just go yourself?"

"It is against the rules," Onan told me.

"How typical."

"Yes, indeed, I sometimes wonder what good it is to be a god if you
can't do anything yourself," he said with a sigh.

"What do you want me to do there, then?"

"I cannot tell you, unfortunately."

"Against the rules?" I asked.

"Very much so. All that I can do is send an agent with a slight
understanding of the situation of history and physical existence to the
people, but he must make the judgments of how to proceed all on his own.
If I did tell you, it wouldn't be much different than going myself, and
then there would be no human resolution to human problems."

"Our lives serve as a spectator sport to the gods, then?" I inquired of
him.

"I am afraid not," he said, "It is much more serious than that. The
Greeks were not all wrong, you know."

"Who else, I wonder."

"Not many," he sighed, "But tell me, are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

"Then I will begin. The understanding of life begins with the
understanding of physical existence," Onan said, "And by physical
existence I mean the quality of being materially animated. Not to
confuse it with consciousness, which is the ability to think and reason,
it is rather the realm in which one has substance and continuity. I will
call the elements of physical being time and matter, those words
representing widely known concepts. Matter provides the raw substance
and time gives those lifeless objects a plane of being to exist in.
Without time, matter can do nothing except sit in a sterile state, in a
vacuum in which nothing could occur; and without matter, time would
flow, but nothing would move with it. Thus, the basis of physical
existence is time and matter, each being useless separately, yet
together being the perfect combination of a tangible object and the
fluid, forward movement to animate it. Imagine it as a three-dimensional
painting, matter given depth by time."

"Not so complicated," I said cheerfully.

"Not yet, you mean," he laughed.

"Exactly, tell me more."

"Not just yet, Jehu. First you must help me."

"The time to begin has come then?" I asked.

"Yes, you must go now," he said, "And remember, I'll be watching.
Good-bye."

And with that, not even standing up, Onan put me into a deep state of
comatose and sent me through time to the unknown lands and people whom I
was to deliver. I awoke, as you will remember, in the center of the
savanna. Now that you know the circumstances of my arrival on Daem, I
will go back to where I was before: on the way to the Canitaur's hidden
fortress.






Chapter 5: The Treeway



I was walking in silence through the rugged forests of northern Daem
alongside Bernibus the Canitaur, with his fellows Wagner and Taurus
before and behind us, respectively, the former leading the way, the
latter covering our tracks, and both on the lookout for an ambush. An
entire lifetime of guerrilla warfare and privations of all kinds had
instilled in the Canitaurs a strong and prevailing sense of caution,
which sometimes rendered their lighthearted and almost spiritually
frivolous nature to the casual observer a dense, deceiving demeanor used
to conceal their true selves. But that was not the case, I believe, for
they were, or at least Bernibus was, truly amorous in personality.

The sky was then in its deepest dark, and in the few breaks in the
canopy above large enough to be seen through, there were few celestial
lights to illuminate the depths of that mountainous forest. The forest
itself sprawled like a great metropolis along the lands above the large
central lake of Daem, Lake Umquam Renatusum, which was close beside the
Canitaur outpost where we had narrowly escaped discovery and capture.
However deficient in sight the forest was, it was abounding with sounds,
everything from the call of the owl to groan of the bull frog, it was as
if the whole of the forest had congregated about us, drawn to us by some
unknown scent of interest and intrigue.

Continuing on for some time in the same way, I found myself growing
weary, nodding my head slowly towards the oblivion of sleep, until I was
brought to an instant liveliness by Wagner's announcement that we had
reached our destination. I looked around carefully, yet I saw nothing at
all to indicate the entrance to a large, covert military establishment,
much to my companions delight. Their whimsical sense of humor surfaced
once again as they laughed with seemingly infinite pleasure, both at my
wondering expression and with a sense of satisfaction at their own
cleverness. After the outburst had been subdued and a certain level of
solemnity had been reached, Wagner approached the nearest tree and
knocked on it with a rhythmic rut-tut-tut.

Expecting their old trick to be replayed, I waited for the tree to open,
but to my surprise, it didn't, instead a strong rope ladder dropped down
from a tree several yards to the east. This we climbed, and I found that
I had been mistaken as to the height of the ancient wooden towers, for
they proved to be even loftier in dimensions than I had imagined.
Accordingly, it took us a good five minutes to reach its top at a quick
and steady pace, and all through the climb I was terrified at the long
drop, from which the ladder offered no protections. Yet I made it to the
top safely, and found that there was a large platform built securely
among its upper branches, with enough room to hold a few dozen persons,
and there was even comfortable seating in the center. There were four
guards stationed on the platform, each equipped with a long bow and a
quiver of metal tipped arrows, and though they were hardly visible
through the dim light emitted from the covered lantern that lit the
platform, I could see them quietly conversing with Wagner and Taurus
while Bernibus and myself reposed on the seats provided for that very
purpose.

They conversed for awhile, though I could not hear them, nor could I see
them well enough to judge their facial expressions, but Bernibus waylaid
any anxious thoughts I had with his encouraging tone, and also by giving
me a drought of ale and a loaf of bread to overcome my fatigue and
hunger, both of which I quickly consumed. He gave me more bread, but
wouldn't allow me another glass of ale, for safety's sake. At first I
thought he deemed me easily overcome by spirits, but I soon discovered
his reasons and thanked him.

Wagner returned from the guards and, finding that we were ready to
proceed, led us to the far corner of the platform, where we were joined
by Taurus. We then set off on a road that ran above the lower levels of
the canopy, made from jointed platforms that were attached to the
massive limbs of the trees, meeting the branches of the next tree half
way across, forming a continuous, snaking path far above the ground.
Traveling on those paths we made our way criss-crossingly to the west.
The walking was no more difficult than on the ground, for the boards
were firmly secured to the great branches, which were at least five or
six feet wide, and there were short rails as well.

After no more than half an hour of travel on the 'Treeway', we reached
another large platform in the center of a great tree which was very much
like the first one, excepting that the trunk of the tree came up through
its center and there was a door leading into the trunk. There were eight
guards on this platform, but they let us pass without more than a
friendly gesture, their scouts having, no doubt, seen us long before and
ascertained our identity and intentions. They seemed to have been
expecting the return of Wagner's group, though the addition of me they
appeared to eye curiously.

Wagner led us directly to the door, which opened into a set of circular
stairs that wound down the inside of the tree like the insides of an old
world lighthouse tower. The stairs descended further than the tree
ascended, wrapping around almost infinitely, at least to my wearied
senses, which were depleted of vividness by the treacherous toils of the
proceeding day. Down, down, down went the stairs, until at length we
reached the bottom and found ourselves in a cave, the stairs ending in a
small foyer area which opened out into the cave, it being delved into
the bedrock layer, indicating that we had indeed passed below the
surface on our descent. The passage was really a narrow defile with high
walls on either side, impenetrable due to the fact that they were the
foundations of the earth above. It stretched on for a ways, its whole
length commanded by little, turret like stations which stuck out from
the upper wall, in which were stationed groups of archers, and though
they now stood in a solemn, dignified manner, any opposition that
attempted to force a way through would have been decimated. Yet they
stood at attention and made no noise or movement at our passing, instead
being the essence of well disciplined soldiery.

This narrow chasm led onward for about three hundred yards, the walls
stretching upwards in such a fashion that it brought to mind images of
Moses crossing the Red Sea, with great walls of water suspended in air
on either side, ready at any moment to come crashing down upon them,
their lives in the hands of another. So did I then feel, the Canitaur
guards being able to slay me on the slightest whim of fancy that struck
their minds into a sadistic mood. Yet I was not afraid, instead I was
overcome by a feeling of relaxation, where all cares and worries are
given up as frivolous burdens, not necessary and not helpful, being, in
fact, harmful to the mind.

The defile, or narrow passage, led to a great abyss, crossable only by a
drawbridge controlled on the other side, which was at this time lowered
and ready for us to cross, which we did, accompanied by four honor
guards who were dressed in all the pomp and pleasantry known by the
Canitaurs. It was a custom among them to greet newcomers with an honor
guard which escorted them to the body of dignitaries and aristocrats
that would be waiting to welcome them in style. This was done for us,
and we were led into the fortress' great room, which was used for
discussions and debates, via another winding stairway that took us even
further below the surface. It was a splendid room, equipped with all
kinds of luxuries and embellishments and spreading out like a quarter
circle around a central stage with a podium upon it. Seats were arranged
in arching rows, with a sort of cluster of seats around a wooden desk
being allotted to each of the members of the council and his aide de
camps; there were two hundred such clusters. Sitting there like they had
been woken from sleep to attend to us were the delegates, looking tired
and untidy, a rare state for a Canitaur to be in, with their clothes
ruffled, their hair uncombed, and their eyes glazed with a discordant
state of mind.

Wagner, who turned out to be a high official among them, led me to the
top of the stage where the podium was, with a sofa, desk, and several
chairs behind it, concealed from the council by the raised floor and
walls that formed the base of the podium, creating a small, private
anteroom for those at the podium. I laid myself down tiredly on the sofa
to rest while Wagner took the stage and began to speak.

"Friends, comrades, associates," he said to the council, "I thank you
for neglecting your beds at this late hour to join with us here in the
Hall of Meeting, for there is something very important to be shared. You
are all no doubt familiar with the ancient prophecy of the Externus
Miraculum: long ago it was told that in our extreme need, when hope no
longer exists in the hearts of many, an ancient would be sent by Onan
our lord to redeem and deliver us from the evils of this world, for as
our doom was wrought in their times, so would our hope originate. The
past cannot be changed except by those who first made it, and our
present is dictated by the happenings of the past, so that for a better
future the past must be changed, and only then will we be freed from the
burdens of history."

He continued, "We have therefore long awaited the arrival of our kinsman
redeemer, who will change the past and prevent the cause of our current
woes from happening, for without its roots, what evil can grow and
flourish? Our redeemer was to come on the Kootch Patah, when our
adversaries the Zards are not watchful, being drunk with celebrations at
the turning of the year. Myself, Taurus and Bernibus went to the shores
of Lake Umquam Renatusum, as is our custom, to watch for the coming of
the promised one, and this time we were not disappointed, for he came to
us, even as the prophecy says, as we sat hidden in the living tower.
Seen by the Zards, we were almost discovered, until the promise of the
hidden fortress drew them away, even as the prophecy says. And now we
are here, delegates of the Canitaurian people, safely within our
fortress with our kinsman redeemer, so what shall be done? Let us
decide."

At this point he cast a glance towards me, as if desiring me to speak
before the council, but I was in the last throes of wakefulness, where
sleep has crept so far upon you that arrival in the land of dreams is
only a matter of moments, and wakefulness is not desired, nor is
anything else. I looked at him with my eyes glazed with that sweet,
savory taste of sleep, and though I was conscious, I was not in control,
only an audience to actions of my subconscious whims, and even that
passed beyond my reach as my eyes fell shut, isolating me in the realm
where worldly concerns mean nothing. And so I was when my exhaustion
overtook me, leaving me sound asleep on the sofa behind the podium.






Chapter 6: The Fiery Lake



When I woke I was no longer in that room but in another, a small homely
room where I was laid on a bed, the room being located, as I found out
later, not too far from the Hall of Meeting. Though the depth of the
fortress prevented me from knowing the time, it felt to be early
afternoon by that strange internal clock that so seldom errs. It was
correct, as usual. There was a quaint fireplace on the far wall of the
room with a small, unadorned and unpretentious mantle, decorated like
the rest of the fortress in a practical and experienced way, finding
just the right flavor between the ornate, the practical, and the quaint,
and avoiding all the while the clutter brought by superfluous material
possessions. A table in the center of the room was furnished with a
steaming meal, beside which sat my new friend Bernibus, smiling on me
with a benevolent and almost paternal affection.

"Good morning, Jehu," he said, "Or should I say afternoon, for the
morning has quite passed by already."

"Yes, and it has left in me a great appetite, my good man."

"As is shown clearly in your eyes," he jested, "Come and eat."

Needing no further urging, I leapt from my bed, sat down across from him
at the table, and began partaking greedily of the hearty breakfast of
hash browns and pancakes, which were pleasing to my mouth and stomach,
for the tastes in food are controlled more by the condition of the body
than by the time of day. When I had satisfied my needs, we reclined in
our chairs and began conversing:

"Tell me," I said, "Did my untimely slumber yester eve cause any
irritated prides?"

"Quite to the contrary, the council was well humored and followed your
lead to their bed chambers."

"I am relieved to hear it, for I was anxious of appearing lax in ardor
or animation."

"Not so, my friend, you are quite exonerated from doubtful thoughts.
There is a session planned for this evening though, so may yet feel
yourself put on trial."

"Unfortunate," said I, "But surely they can mean no harm, am I not the
kinsman redeemer, after all?"

"Yes, you are," Bernibus said with a look of subdued apprehension, "We
have an end in view, though the means are as yet not wholly decided. It
is a complicated situation."

I smiled softly, "So is always the case."

"In truth it is: time reveals all things yet do all things reveal time?"


"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"Our situation is complicated by differing views of time, and I was
wondering aloud if history and the present reality disclose the truth
about time in the same way that time reveals the truth of the present.
If our way were more illuminated, the journey would be easier."

"Perhaps that is why men look to the well lit paths of history, or to
the dim conjectures of the future rather than the dark, yet detailed
ways of present."

"Perhaps," he said, "But the present is so fleeting that it holds little
intrigue."

"Even so, it is the stage, not still waiting behind the curtain, nor
already performed."

"Yet the past controls by influences and prejudices, justified or not,
and it will doubtless be the view of the council that the past must be
redone, that the problems be addressed at the source," Bernibus replied.


"I am still in the dark about all your inferences," I said.

"My apologies, I forget myself. But let us not dwell on subjects which
may become quite exhausted in the near future, for better or worse," he
told me.

"Fair enough," I returned, acceding to the subject change, and jumping
on the opportunity to steer it in a different direction, "I know little
of you, Bernibus, so tell me all."

"There isn't much to tell," he coyly responded.

"Nonsense, Bernibus, tell me or I shall get very angry," I jested,
imitating some mythological god's wrath.

He smiled discreetly and yielded to my request, "Very well, I will tell
you. I was born in the year 490 D.V. (that is, Durante Vita), to a poor
couple from the northernmost pier of Daem, the Gog."

"Wait a moment, Bernibus," I interrupted, "I didn't mean in that
fashion, for when I say I know little of you, it is because I literally
know little of 'you', not the circumstances that make up your past. I
guess it goes back to the interpretation of the past and its powers, and
since we can't seem to escape discussing it, lets embrace it willingly.
You seem to believe that the events of your life have shaped you in such
a profound way that their mere description is sufficient to explain your
personality; I will grant that their influence has effected you subtly,
but history is not the scapegoat of the present. The circumstances do
more to define the character of an individual than to shape it, for even
siblings with the exact same experiences can be greatly different in
personality and achievements. But what I mean is this: your past has
influenced your present, yet it is gone and your present remains, show
me Bernibus, not his previous forms."

You, who are now reading this, may think this statement of mine to
Bernibus to be hypocritical, in light of the very purpose and intent of
these memoirs. You may be thinking that I am relating this whole
happening in order to justify my actions and decisions. But that is not
the case, for I understand that you have no power over me, I have long
been dead in your present and your sentiments mean naught to me. In
fact, I wish to tell of the circumstances I found myself in as much as
of myself, so that you may have a retrospective clarity in visions of
the future. You will understand that statement later on, but for now let
me say that I wished to know the essence, the person, the consciousness
of Bernibus, whereas I wish to impart to you my story, though ere its
end you may come also to know me. I have no ambitions of material
immortality.

Bernibus understood my meaning, and though he disagreed with its
theoretical imputations, he humored me and did as I suggested. He pulled
back his brow in a reflective demeanor, brought his eyes to mine and
began:

"You desire me to tell you about myself without literally telling you of
myself. I suppose you mean that we discourse on some variety of
subjects, so that you can see who I am discreetly," he said.

"Exactly," I replied, "You say it better than I."

"Perhaps it is for the best, as you will draw your own conclusions
rather than be given mine, and instead of my telling you what I would
like to think I am, you would see what I am in truth. Strange, isn't it,
that though we think we know ourselves, we very much do not, and it is
only the unbiased observer who sees us as we are. You know, I was once
thinking of writing my memoirs, and I would have, except that I was
afraid that if I read them afterward I would be forced to see myself as
I am and be horrified at the truth."

"Damn the truth," I said.

"You're starting to sound like a philosopher," he laughed.

"And you a psychologist," I rejoined.

"And where would that place us on the scale of artificial intelligence,"
Bernibus jested.

"Following the footsteps of Jeroboam," I returned.

"Hmm?

"Oh, nothing. Tell me," I asked more solemnly, "What position does
Wagner hold among the Canitaurs?"

"He is the Khedive Kibitzer, our ruler in that he leads the council."

"And you?"

"I am his brother-in-law, a relationship that our culture places great
importance on, especially as he has no blood brothers. I become, in
effect, his partner, though he doesn't accept me emotionally as one,
only in etiquette."

"Why is that?" I inquired.

"Because, I am of weak heritage. His sister loved me, and I her, but to
him there is no such thing as love, only business, the destruction of
the Zards at any cost. No price is too high," he told me with almost a
vengeful scowl on his usually pleasant features, it soon passed, though,
and left no trace when it had.

"You sound bitter, Bernibus."

"My feelings betray me, yet I am not bitter, only disillusioned."

"You sympathize with the Zards, then?"

"Not at all, I do sympathize, however, with peaceful solutions," he
said.

"Which is why Wagner disapproves of you, no doubt."

"Yes, mainly, but don't misunderstand me. I am not a closet Futurist,
nor am I a strict pacifist, I just can't help feeling that there is
another way. But I understand the selection of ideologies, how the
stronger breaks the weaker to submission, and while one flourishes, the
other diminishes, and I understand focus points, but I cannot justify
their marriage."

"What you mean by focus points?" I asked.

"They are the culmination of conflict, where two sides meet and the
battle takes place, not meaning necessarily an important or strategic
military, civil, or commercial place, but one on which the fighting
occurs, the result ending in the defeat or victory of the whole
campaign. The focus point of the Zards and the Canitaurs exists both on
the philosophical and martial levels. On the philosophical level, it is
the question as to what is the proper solution for remedying our current
catastrophic situation. On one side the Pastites wish to correct the
root of the problem by stopping its realization in the past, the
Futurists, however, would venture into the future and brings its
stabilization and completion back. On the military level, our forces
collide in the forests around Lake Umquam Renatusum, the northern
mountains belonging to us and the southern plains to them. The lake
itself is of little importance, yet whoever conquers it will conquer
all."

"Interesting," I said, "But I do not understand how you seem to imply
that I am your ancestor, while Onan seemed to mean the opposite, that
you are my ancestors."

"It is strange and complex, and we understand very little of it,
ourselves. The time for the council has come though, for our talk has
dwindled away the afternoon. Perhaps some of your questions will there
be answered. But come, let us go."

"Very well," I said, "Take me to your leaders."

From that room, the one I had awoken in, it wasn't very far to the
council room. Exiting it, we turned down a short, closed hallway that
opened into the concealed area behind the podium that I spoke of
earlier. On the sofa where I had fallen asleep was seated Wagner and on
a circle of smaller chairs around the edges of the area were seated
about ten stately looking Canitaurs, clean and well dressed, according
to their customs. They greeted me amorously, with a mixture of
eagerness, excitement, and hope painted on their purloined countenances,
taken from the sleepless spirits of several departed generations of
war-hardened veterans.

Standing as we entered, they greeted me cordially, and, once the formal
greeting of a short bow and a blessing was finished, we all sat down,
they in their previous seats, I next to Wagner, and Bernibus in a small
chair in the corner, away from the circle of the delegates. He, that is,
Wagner, then opened our dialog:

"Welcome to the council, Jehu," he said.

"I was under the impression that the council was much larger," I replied
candidly.

"It is, but this is the leadership; we felt that the clamors of a full
legislature would be overwhelming to you at first. I know it still
overwhelms me sometimes," he laughed, and the others with him. That
explanation sufficed at the time, but I later found that Wagner had
taken control of the council himself, and that it had no real power: it
never met for more than ceremonial matters, the Khedive Kibitzer,
Wagner, controlling the rest. But I get ahead of myself.

One of the others then interjected, "Our purpose now, Jehu, is not so
much to make decisions as to inform you of the decisions we have already
made, not that we mean to exclude you from our counsels, but we've been
preparing for this moment, your arrival, for many years, since it was
foretold long ago."

"Decisions with what end?" I asked of them.

"The reestablishing of an efficient and healthy climate, both naturally
and philosophically, one in which tradition, history, and experience
reign supreme," Wagner said in such a way that I couldn't help but think
that it had served as an idiom of his for many years.

"A termination of the Zardovian conflict, then?"

"Essentially, but not wholly, as there are other, more complicated ends
in view, less integrated with the format of a completely ideological
conflict."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that we wish to return to our original forms," Wagner said.

"Those being, I assume, the same as my own."

"Yes, you see after the Great War, the atmosphere was so filled with
radioactive materials that all life was destroyed, except for that on
Daem, which was protected because of our distant and isolated location,
and the presence of a group of insects that neutralize radiation. They
were overwhelmed in the first few decades, for though they were able to
reduce the amount to make it habitable, we degenerated into what we are
now, Zards and Canitaurs, based on our habitats, we being mountainous,
forest dwelling folk, and they plains people. At first our ancestors
grew to immense proportions, as did the vegetation on Daem, but we
slowly returned to normal size as the radioactive material was consumed.
I am surprised that Onan did not tell you about it all," he said,
looking at me with a slight tinge of confusion creeping into his wayward
eyes, formerly filled only with hope and excitement.

"I wish he would have," I responded, "But he said that it was against
the rules."

"Ah, yes, I forgot about the rules there for a moment," he laughed, his
countenance returning to its former gleeful appearance.

"A foolish law, no doubt, and from whom?" I said, availing of the
apparent intra-personal deja vu, that is, the converging of the presents
of our two minds into one idea, between Wagner and myself to cultivate a
bit of sympathy in my difficult situation. But there would be no
harvest, for Wagner checked his mirth and said:

"It was necessary, and the Council of the Gods did well to govern
themselves more strictly."

"How so?"

"Well, during the Homeric period the gods really went at it, using
humanity as players in their battles, like a game of chess, actually.
Come to think of it, chess did originate in the realm of the gods after
the laws. Things were quite a mess back then, though, with a whole horde
of demi-gods walking the earth, and it ended up snuffing out the first
flames of democracy and leaving monarchies for the longest time."

"Homer's stories were true, then?" I asked.

"Very much so, but after the laws of physical abstinence were adopted
things mellowed out considerably, and men went back to their
self-obsession, their material minds weren't yet weaned from the physical
realm."

"So the very men who claimed mental superiority because they were free
from superstitions and divine disillusionment were themselves victims of
their own sophism, and while they thought themselves crowned with
enlightenment, it was naught but the Phrygian caps of their prejudices
toward the material state?" I asked, with more than the average dose of
irony and feeling, both for my subjects and myself.

"Exactly, upon disinterested examination one finds the theater of human
history to be one defined by a ludicrous melodramaticy, the soap opera
of the gods," he answered. "But we digress far from our point, Jehu,
which is a discussion concerning the implementation of our plans of
action formed in preparation of our current situation."

"So I had surmised," I smiled at the reminder, "But tell me, what are
your plans, and what is the current situation?"

"This is a time of fulfillment, with the events of many of our
prophecies coming to pass. Now is a time of action and of hope. You, our
kinsman redeemer, have come, and the time is ripe for victory and
domination, ripe, in short, for a return to natural existence, harmony
between forces interior and exterior. Our plan, my dear Jehu, is to
attack the Zards swiftly and fiercely and break their strongholds like
the walls of Jericho, literally."

"It sounds daring, certainly," I said, "But is it not overly so? I was
under the impression that the Zards were much superior in force than the
Canitaurs."

"In the southern regions, where you landed, yes, they are, but we rule
the northern sphere of action. Our forces actually form a soft
equilibrium that keeps fate's pendulum from straying from its neutral
position, so that a military action previously would not have been
predictable, with either side being capable of winning. Under such
conditions war is avoided, but now you have arrived. The Zards, as well
as ourselves, have been expecting a kinsman redeemer, you see, and our
war has been kept from raging by the belief of each side that their god
would propel them to victory with certainty by the sending of one such
as yourself. Your arrival changes things, it marks the beginning of our
dominance," he told me vaingloriously.

"The muted felicity I have witnessed about my arrival is explained,
then," I ventured, "Excitement that the end is near and victory close at
hand, yet that feeling subdued by the realization that a period of
deeper darkness must first be gone through."

"Your words are true," Wagner replied, "And yet I have a great
confidence in our plans, which have been matured through many years of
careful deliberation. As the time will never be more ready than at the
present, in the present we must act."

"What is your plan, then?" I asked.

"It is calculated to end in the conquering of the Zards, and as such,
only an unexpected and unrelenting attack at the very heart of their
strength will succeed. Anything less will only bring them to a full
alert, and then any battle will have to be drawn out with excessive
casualties on both sides. Therefore, we have decided upon an attack on
Nunami, their capital city and main strength, being the center and
majority of both their population and economy. Yet an outright siege of
the city is impossible for those very reasons, it being so
self-contained that it can resist bitterly, and its military is so
clustered that it can be brought into action almost instantly.

"Considering those problems, it was deemed necessary to draw the Zards
away from the city and destroy it in their absence, so that they are
left destitute of the means of war and sustenance, and rendered weak. To
do this, we have spent the last several years stockpiling huge
quantities of liquid fervidus flamma, an extremely combustible
substance. It is stored in an underground reservoir in the foothills of
the mountains, connected via aqueduct to Lake Umquam Renatusum. When the
time is ripe, we will empty it into the lake and set it aflame, and our
calculations show the flames reaching a height of five miles for a
length of six hours, which should be enough to gain the Zard's
preponderance," Wagner explained.

"But wouldn't it catch the forest on fire and burn down your whole
empire in the process?" I asked, alarmed at his apparent lack of
vigilance.

"We have been treating the trees on a ten mile radius with an
anti-flammatory solution for several years as well, and it is quite
impossible to set them on fire."

"Which explains why you dared to have a fire pit in the trunk of a tree
outpost."

"Yes," he laughed, "We aren't so foolhardy as we may seem. Appearances
can be deceiving."

"The exodus of the Zards from Nunami is almost guaranteed by the
mortal's natural curiosity and delight in the calamities of others," I
said, "But how do you plan on leveling the town before the remnant raise
the alarm and the mass of the people return?"

"Atomic anionizers," he returned.

"Which are what? They sound like they are beyond my level of
understanding."

"Not at all," Wagner told me, "Do not be fooled by the technically
complex sounding name. An atom is the smallest form into which matter
can be broken down into while still retaining its identity, and an anion
is a positively charged ion, or in other words, an instance of an atom
in which there are more electrons than protons, resulting in a charge of
negative electricity. An atomic anionizer is just what its name would
imply: a device that morphs normal atoms into atoms with an extreme
negative charge by emitting massive amounts, to the tune of many
millions of moles, of solitary electrons into the air through a bombing
device."

He went on, explaining the consequences of the weapon, "An atom, and
therefore all matter, which is made up of atoms, is engaged in a
constant revolution around the nucleus, in the same way in which our
solar system revolves around our sun, and our sun around the black hole
in the center of the galaxy. This revolving motion is the basis for the
formation of all matter that we know of, both in its smallest form, like
the atom, or its larger forms, like the galaxy. The electrons emitted
from the atomic anionizer are drawn into an orbit around the nuclei of
the atoms of all the matter near which they are detonated, much like the
way planets catch satellites and space debris into revolving rings
around them. This addition of electrons gives the atoms such a powerful
negative charge that the poles of the atom, which regulate its rotations
in much the same way that the earth's axis, or poles, regulate its
rotations, are thrown from their natural equilibrium, causing the poles
to reverse. This, in turn, changes the direction in which the atoms
rotate, and in the brief instant in which the force of the revolving
movement, or gravity, is not strong enough to retain the atom's shape,
it lapses, bringing the materials they make up crashing down in
disarray.

"We will plant some of these 'atomic bombs' inside the city of Nunami,
and when they go off, the buildings themselves will implode and tumble
to the ground. One hand-sized capsule can easily level almost ten square
miles, and we have enough of them to bring the Zards to their knees,
with plenty to spare for any circumstance."

"Wouldn't the bombs kill those who set them off, though?" I asked him
anxiously.

"We have electron deflecting suits that negate the effects of the
anionizers."

"I'm glad to hear it."

"And well you should be," he grinned, which, as out of place as it would
seem, looked completely natural on his countenance, "For you and I shall
be among the bombers. Our meeting must end here, though, my dear Jehu,
for we each have things to attend to in preparation for the attack on
Nunami. I will see you soon, until then, farewell."

"Farewell, Wagner," I replied, and we each stood and bowed as we
prepared to depart, each to our own occupations.

With that our council ended, and, in the company of Bernibus, I was sent
to another area of the fortress to be measured for an anti-electron
suit, in order to protect me from the effects of reverse revolution. We
didn't converse in the beginning of our walk, for my mind was too busy
subconsciously thinking over what Wagner had said to have any conscious
meditations.

We walked through the fortress towards the northern section, which held
the technological rooms, so as to get an anti-electron suit in the
making for myself. Realizing that the fortress has been little
described, I will do so now. It was broken into six different
sub-divisions, each branching from the only entrance, which was in the
center of them all, the different divisions connecting to it through
long, narrow defiles, or gorges, like the one at the entrance. This was
for security, each area being independently contained within the whole.
The six areas, or departments, as they were called, were as follows: the
Northern was the technological and industrial research and production
facilities; the Eastern was the residential department, containing also
the civil services, such as medical care and distribution centers; the
Southern was the agricultural and other food production areas, though
there was little besides agricultural, for the Canitaurs were strict
vegetarians; the Western was for mining minerals and other raw materials
to be used by the other departments. The other two departments were
below the others, being differentiated between by the names Left and
Right, the Left being the governmental offices, and the Right the
military headquarters, providing protections both civil and foreign
(this was, incidentally, the beginning of the expression of the terms
Left and Right to denote ideological preferences, but I digress).
Uniform in all the fortress was the architecture, it being a strange mix
between elegant and gentle arches and curves and brute practicality, for
while the ceilings were high and open, and the walls wide, they were
rendered homely by their plain surfaces and the absence of small
triflings, conditions that were necessitated because of its identity: an
impregnable fortress containing a highly organized and self-sufficient
governmental society, each citizen having a particular duty for the
common good, and each kept from an unfarcical personal identity by the
means of a statist society.

From the lower, governmental offices we went up a flight of stairs that
wrapped round and round a tower-like tunnel, and soon reached the
departmental portal. Once there, we took the northern tunnel, which
opened into a large hall that stretched on almost endlessly, with hordes
of tunnels branching off to the various agencies. There were a great
many Canitaurs working busily, preparing for the attack on Nunami and
its possible results, which, though long prepared for, had a few last
moment components to be finished. Walking down the central through way,
we went to the far end of the hall, which, as it was a walk of at least
two miles, afforded plenty of time for observation and reflecting, two
things that I am naturally given to. Accordingly, I turned to my
companion, Bernibus, and offered in an almost philosophical way:

"Your society seems to be flourishing, though I am not surprised, as you
all seem vigorously industrious. I am amazed, however, that no one
shirks from their job, no matter how menial or trifling."

"We all have our assigned jobs, and all know that one slovenly job may
cost us dearly," he said.

"I suppose I am prejudiced by my conceptions of personal liberty, but it
is contrary to my conscience that the state should have more duty than
to enforce the individual liberties by common force."

"But we are at war, and we must do as we do, or be trampled underfoot."

"If all states went no further than justice permits, namely the
protection by common force the rights of individuality, liberty, and
property, than there would be no room for conflict between states, and
hence, no war."

"Yet it is our ideologies that bring war, besides, do not the ends
justify the means?" he asked.

"Your ideologies may cause conflict, yet it seems that your behemoth
states facilitate it into war. About the ends and the means, I don't
know: I am no philosopher," I answered.

I sighed and was silent for a moment as we walked along, then, after a
moment or so, I said quietly to myself, "I'm not much of a kinsman
redeemer, either."

We continued on through the hall without further conversation, and I
paid little attention to my surroundings, so that while my eyes saw and
my mind displayed, my subconscious was not present in the effort, and
thereby no memory was retained. This may seem to be the plot of an
unimaginative writer to escape the use of that faculty, but as these are
nothing but my written memories, and I make no claims of producing good
fiction, I will leave that hall primarily to the minds of the reader.

Soon after, we arrived at our destination, which was very nearly at the
end of the hall, and entered to find that we were expected and a space
open for my fitting, which was soon accomplished, and my suit promised
to be at my quarters the next morning. That would be just in time for
the departure of the raiding party, which was set to cut out and embark
for Nunami a little after that, in order to be in place in the hidden
treetop posts surrounding the city before nighttime, as the operation
was to begin at midnight. At first I thought that the attack was pushed
forward in haste, but as I came to realize that my coming had been
prophesied and a great amount of time had been spent preparing for this
day, it seemed only natural that they should want to bring the
hostilities to a close after such a long time. There were other
considerations as well. The weather, for one, had to be dry and not at
all windy for the fire to be safely attempted, and also the possibility
of the Zards making the first offensive could not be ignored, for they
had knowledge of my arrival and may have felt forced to act to prevent
the very type of thing that we were about to attempt.






Chapter 7: Down to Nunami



When I awoke the next morning I found Bernibus and Wagner conversing
quietly in the corner of my bed chambers, and as I first opened my eyes
I saw Wagner looking at me with a blank, glazed expression, while
Bernibus' was one of apprehension, apparently on my behalf. It seemed
odd to me, but as Wagner became livid again quickly after his
split-second lapse and gave me a hearty "Good morning", I thought
nothing more of it. After his greeting, he continued:

"The day is ripe for victory, my friend, and the time is come for
battle. We both have some preparations to complete, and so must
separate, but we will meet again at noon in the entrance hall. Farewell
until then," and with that he quit the room.

I looked at Bernibus, yet before either of us could speak, we heard a
low, hollow grumbling, like the shaking of some building or foundation.
He looked in my direction for a moment with an alarmed countenance,
before I said defensively, "Tis but my stomach."

"Then we must get you some victuals," he laughed, "And I have just the
thing to satisfy you and keep you so for a day or more: some mirus. It
is our traditional energy food, for though its taste is bitter, its
after-life is pleasant."

"And what is food except a servant to the body?" I said, "Let us eat."

"Very well," he replied.

And eat we did, for it was brought by a food service Canitaur on a tray,
and I was surprised to see that it was a mixture of broccoli, spinach,
and mushrooms, with a flavorless, glowing sauce. He was right,
incidentally, for it was both bitter before and pleasant after its
consumption.

"I know of the solids, but what is this sauce?" I asked of him.

"Carbon," he replied.

I looked at him and questioned, "Pure carbon? I have never heard of its
having this use before."

"Your civilization was long ago and had not developed it yet."

"That has perplexed me, now that you mention it," I said, "Onan seemed
to mean that I was going back in time to help my ancestors, but you say
that I went forward, that I am one of the ancients."

He was wary for a moment, though if it was because of the apparent
conflict, or because I was on a first name basis with his god I couldn't
tell. He soon recovered his countenance and said, "It is a complicated
question, and I believe you should ask Wagner the next time you see him,
after the raid though, of course. The time of departure is nigh now,
however, so you should put on your anti-electron suit," he said as he
picked it up from the corner and brought it to me.

It was a subtle dark brown and looked more like a normal suit of clothes
than an electron reflecting suit, but then again, I thought, why would
it be a strange looking apparatus? Why would an advanced technological
age necessarily be devoid of any sense of fashion, although that would
be assuming that any civilization had ever had one. Fashion is more a
characterization of a culture than a basic and unchanging principle, for
a desert people would wear clothes that would be most uncomfortable to a
people who lived in the snow. Clothes may not make the man, but the man
certainly makes the clothes, and you can judge a person by what they
wear so far as it is in their power to decide what that is.

After putting on the suit I found that it fit perfectly, and above that,
I found it to be very comfortable, including the head piece, which
formed closely around the skull and was not at all noticeable or
obscuring. In fact, as it was made of a plasma that allowed everything
through except lone particles, it was so uninhibiting that a moment
after I had put mine on I had completely forgotten about it. The only
other part of the suit that stood out at all was the long, metallic
buckle that secured the belt, it having a bowie knife hidden within it
in an unnoticeable and inconspicuous manner. Bernibus had put on his as
I had put on mine, and as I looked away from the mirror that was
opposite the door, I saw him dressed the same as myself, yet because the
suit so blended with his fur, it was hard to tell which ended where.

Finding that we were both ready, we repaired to the entrance hall. Along
the way I asked Bernibus of his wife, Wagner's sister, of whom I had
heard little and seen nothing. He was quiet for a pause, and then said:

"She was an angel, what else can be said?"

"Was?" I asked hesitantly.

"Yes, she was killed by the Zards on a border raid, as we were at that
time living apart from the Canitaur mass with a few friends. She was
less aggressive than her brother, and, much to his disapprobation, we
lived with a group of separatists, believing that war, physical
conflict, is never the right answer to ideological conflict. Wagner
excommunicated us in his anger, though his sister was very dear to him,
and after she died he was struck with remorse and made me his deputy
Kibitzer. He felt that it would somehow do her honor, as it would
recognize us as having been married and make me his brother-in-law,
which is an important relationship traditionally, as he has no other
siblings. So here I am, technically second-in-command, but because of my
soft lining, I have no real command."

"You would not attack Nunami, then?" I asked.

He chose his words carefully, saying, "More pain will not negate the
pain already in existence, yet war is not always avoidable, and
sometimes it is even necessary."

When we reached the entrance hall, where the raiding party was to meet,
we found that there was already assembled a majority of the force,
including Wagner. The party was only twenty strong, as the atomic
anionizers were to do the main work and the planned raid required
stealth and secrecy, not force or might. Within a quarter of an hour all
the stragglers had arrived and all the anionizers were accounted for, so
Wagner gave a short debriefing to ensure that all the members were on
the same page. We were to sneak into the city when the populous was
distracted by the fire on Lake Umquam Renatusum, which was to be started
at midnight. We would plant the atomic anionizers at the right spacing
so as to bring down the whole city once we were escaped, using the
remote control provided for that very purpose. The suits would protect
us from the blasts, and, as a precaution, the remote had an automatic
five second delay between being pressed and exploding the bombs, though
it was more for form than practicality. After he finished we set off,
being arranged two abreast per row, there being ten rows. Bernibus and
myself were partners, for we had become close friends in the few days
that I had spent among the Canitaurs, while Wagner was once again the
leading guide and Taurus the rearguard.

After crossing the chasm that separated the hall and the entrance
tunnel, we came to the long defile that formed the latter and passed
through it swiftly, the lofty archer guards remaining as stern and
immovable as when I had first come through. We then came to the winding
stairs that occupied the hollowed innards of a massive and ancient tree,
of which kind many were to be found in Daem, being at least fifty feet
thick and 700 feet high, such gigantic trees that were never seen
elsewhere, yet constituted the whole forests of the northern lands. I
found that the stairs were as long as I had remembered, taking us a
great while to ascend to the top of the tree, and when we had made it,
we, especially myself, were dazzled by the effulgent light of midday.
After having been out of the sun's reach for the last few days I was
completely unprepared, though the shock helped me by curing me of the
disillusionment that comes from not seeing sun, moon, or stars for any
length of time. Taking a rest for a few moments on the seats on the
platform, we collected our strength. After our brief repose was
completed, we set off again with renewed vigor across the treeway on
which I had first come to the Canitaur's fortress. You will remember
that the road was made by the securing of five or six foot platforms to
the intertwined branches of those great trees, over which one could
travel with ease and be safe from exposure to those below by the thick
foliage that grew on the trees and was carefully manicured for that very
purpose.

Soon we reached the first platform I had seen, which we had come upon
from below, but we did not descend there, instead keeping on by the
treeway in the direction from which we had come that night, that being
southward, towards the lake, the savanna, and the Zardovian capital,
Nunami. The air was warm, with a slight breeze as we went along, and
that, mixed with the plentiful flora about us and the songs of the
treetop dwellers, rendered the whole feeling of the walk peaceful and
happy, though its end was not to be such. I soon forgot the worldly
concerns that plagued me as I was soaking in the simplicity of nature,
not a simplicity of form, for all things are incomprehensively complex,
but simplicity of meaning.

After a time I began noticing changes in our surroundings that indicated
we were drawing nearer to our goal, namely, the trees lessening in
proportions, the terrain becoming flatter, and the air growing moister
and more vibrant. Still, the trees continued to spring up from the
ground like great earthen tentacles, for while their size diminished, it
was not by enough to change their demeanor, the trees anywhere on Daem
being great in size.

The sun journeyed with us, and by the time we reached Lake Umquam
Renatusum, twilight's last agony was being performed in the heavenly
theater, and the rippling waters mirrored it, adding only a strange,
flowing texture. The lake's current caught my eye with its subtle
oddity, for it was amiss and it appeared upon close inspection that
there was an undertow, as if there was an underground river flowing into
the lake and bringing about its swirling currents.

Bernibus saw me looking down at the waters from the lofty road with a
puzzled look, and asked me if I was wondering about the water's current.
I replied that I was, and he told me that it was the fervidus flamma
being pumped into the lake through the underground aqueducts, which, of
course, was for the purpose of igniting it to decoy for our raid. Once
it was explained it made sense, yet I looked at it anyway, for it was
still a gorgeous and inspiring view.

We were moving quickly, however, and it soon was out of sight, and I
again turned towards our destination with apprehensions of failure. They
seemed to place great faith in my presence, as the emissary of Onan, and
while I was, I was also Jehu, and I wasn't confident with my own
abilities. But it was upon those the situation mostly rested, it being
the resolve of the gods after the Homeric period to take a more removed
role in the lives of men. I wonder how many from my own times were
divine agents, for better or worse. Either way, my main concern then was
making the correct decisions, for I rightly believed that my involvement
would decide the matter, although not in the manner I had anticipated.
As I looked about myself to reconnoiter the feelings of my comrades I
was fruitless, for they all wore impermeable countenances, though that
was itself an indicator of their resolve.

Within an hour after the fall of darkness we reached the outskirts of
Nunami, or rather, its edge, for it was walled in with massive stone
walls and battlements, with a sturdy gate of twenty foot width being
placed at the northern, southern, eastern, and western ends. The trees
hung right over the walls, and as such we were able to take positions
from which we could descend into the city when the time to do so came.
Yet we were still rendered invisible by the thick foliage.

Night's zenith blew in slowly on the wind like the belabored breaths of
a dying man, and after a period of worry, it came: midnight, the
appointed hour. No sooner had the moon reached its utmost height,
shrouding the lands in a shadowless vortex, than a great blaze erupted
from the northern lands, and it rose almost instantly to its estimated
height of five miles. It was a terrible sight to behold, for any flame
is a captivating display of inorganic life, but a pillar of flame
several miles high is more than just an enlarged specimen, for it plays
host to a great horde of phantasmal apparitions that wrestle ferociously
with one another. As the flame shot upwards it cast a great light down
on everything that rivaled the illumination of midday. At first I feared
lest the light should show our silhouettes to the Zards, as we were
between them and it, but it did not, or at least they took no notice of
it if it did, for we were quite undetected in our hiding place.

Our worries were far from over though, for now came the crucial point in
our plans: in order for our small force to infiltrate the city and place
the atomic anionizers, the Zards must not only have been distracted and
preoccupied with the blaze, but they had also to leave the city almost
empty and go to the lake itself, for if a cry was raised, or any
substantial resistance attempted, the complex procedures to detonate the
anionizers properly, so as to level the city but not the surrounding
country, may have been hindered. There were several factors on our side
though, the element of surprise being the foremost, for in their
excitement the Zardovian resistance would likely mistake us for a
regular sized army and flee in fear at our supposed superiority,
especially since the presence of me, the kinsman redeemer, was known to
the Zards. Also, the Zards were known to be curious and careless and
ruled by the desire for excitement, meaning that if an entertaining
undertaking was possible, they would pursue it, no matter how dangerous
or ill-advised.

Within a moment after the flame was lit, all of the Zards outside, which
were many, were gazing with silent wonder at it, and in the second
moment, all the rest had joined them in their confused contemplation.
But the third moment witnessed a drastic change in their behavior, for
their initial bewilderment wore off and suddenly, with a united prelude
of the drawing in of a breath, they all began speaking at once,
resulting in a clamorous din that lasted for a few moments, before
things hushed again and we could hear a few individual voices discussing
loudly. Though we couldn't make out their exact words, they were
apparently conferring with one another about what action to take. Our
breathing became slow and heavy and our brows were knit tensely, for we
knew that the fate of our mission rested on what they did then, whether
or not the long planned decoy would work.

It was an anxious moment, and one with a heavy burden attached to it.
Fortunately, though, as our fate was decided, it was done so in our
favor, for the Zards began exiting the city in a great multitude of
scales that swept along the savanna like a tidal wave over a sandy
coast. They came out fast and strong, and through each of the four
gates, though only the northern was fully visible to us, the others
being too far to be seen distinctly. Still, we could see them rushing
out of Nunami at a quick pace, not hurried, as if frightened or finicky,
nor slow as in deliberation and meditation, instead it was a steady trot
that they took, allowing them to move safely and swiftly.

The tide of Zards swept steadily past us, and it was a good half an hour
later that the final ones had left the gates and the city far behind.
Most had taken some type of weapon, a pitchfork or club or occasionally
a sword, for the threat of war was a constant, but none of them had any
idea that their only danger was behind them. It was not all in the clear
though, for a patrol of guards equipped with long spears and clothed
with a tough, leathery armor were making their way to and fro along the
tops of the walls, where there was a platform of about five feet across
that served as a road to the soldiers in their watches. It was evident
by their countenances, though, that the guards now on duty were more
interested in the fire than in their immediate vicinity, thinking, no
doubt, that the laurels were to be won there and not at Nunami, and as
such, they paid little heed to the walls, instead walking with their
necks craned precariously to the north.

We were able to jump unto the wall silently from our concealed roost on
the treeway when the nearest patrol had passed by. From there we went
along the wall a short way until we came to a battlement, there taking
the downward leading steps that brought us to the ground. Once there we
were pleased and hopeful at what we saw: everything was abandoned, and
no Zards were in sight save those on the walls, whose gaze was cast
elsewhere. We set to work, then, according to our preset plan, which was
to break up into groups of two and cover the city with our atomic
anionizers, so as to spread the destruction as evenly as possible.
Wagner and myself were partners, and we took the central district, near
the government's center, the palace, and the Temple of Time, which rose
above the city like a great tree amidst a desert. It was, in fact, the
very structure that had so stood out to me during my journey through the
prairie upon my arrival, and once again its sobering sensation struck
me, and I found myself staring up at its top, a full 800 feet high, the
bottom being an ornate and elaborate temple. The middle, which supplied
most of its height, was a long, round tower, and at top there was a
spherical pinnacle which had what looked to be a room in it.

Wagner soon called my attention back to our work, and we busied
ourselves with planting a bomb at the base of the palace, using a
smaller type anionizer, which, I noticed, was set just right so that
while all of Nunami would be leveled, the temple with its great tower
would be beyond the impact and left standing. Just as we had set it
correctly, we heard a high-pitched whistle, which was the preconcerted
signal among the raiders to use if any danger was nigh. We looked up
directly and saw its reason: a squadron of Zards had been garrisoned
inside the palace and had not left like the others, apparently because
its sole purpose was to protect their king, who did not leave the city,
being preoccupied with business and not seeing the flames. When he did
go to the window, he saw the fire, and rushed to see what was about, but
instead of finding out, he ran into us, who were right outside the
palace.

Wagner dashed wildly through the streets in an impressive show of
dexterity, and did a wall-jump between two lofty buildings to gain the
wall. The others had done likewise, having been trained by a lifetime of
conflict to have nerves of lightning speed and earthly strength. Their
instincts had come in subconsciously when they had seen the cause of the
alarm and they escaped, without thinking of me in the critical moment. I
lacked such strength and speed of mind and was caught as soon as I had
seen the squadron, aided, probably, by the fact that upon seeing me the
king had become excited and rushed at me with great speed. When Wagner
had first turned around and saw me their prisoner, he looked crestfallen
and hopeless, for he had no way to rescue me. He held the remote control
for the atomic anionizers in his hand and was about to set them off and
make good the plan, but before he could, our eyes met for an instant,
and we connected beyond time and space, experiencing a strange
intra-personal deja vu. All was silent and still in that instant, and I
saw him struggling inwardly: would he detonate the anionizers and make
good his long awaited plan, or would he retreat and leave the city
unharmed, for though I was wearing the electron reflecting suit, the
collapse of all the high rise buildings would litter the ground with
debris from them, and all on the ground would be crushed. Would he spare
me from death, or his people? In that instant his face spoke more than
many others' do in their entire lifetime. It was cut through with a
contrasting countenance, and yet inside of his eyes there was something
foreign to them shining through, something that I had never seen on his
fretless features before: evil intent. I could not tell if it was
natural to them and simply well hidden, or if it was an alien
expression, but it was fearfully expressed, and his eyes seemed to say,
even at that great distance, that he took a third course, that he would
save me, but not for my sake, instead for his peoples'. And then it
passed, for he looked away, replaced the remote to his belt, and leapt
to the ground, where the other Canitaurs were awaiting him. I saw him no
more until the situation was much changed.






Chapter 8: The Temple of Time



I turned slowly away from where Wagner had disappeared over the side of
the wall and faced my captors, the Zards. Chief among them was the King,
he being a foot or two taller than the others, with a graceful and
powerful pose that struck awe into the eyes of the beholder with its
innate command and dignity, both of which flowed from it as naturally as
water from a well. There were about twenty guards in the squadron that
protected the King, but it was not so much from the terror of them that
the Canitaurs fled, nor was it because of the guards that patrolled the
walls and were sure to join any fray attempted, it was instead an
apparent fear of the King, and rightly so, for his demeanor was fierce
and sophisticated, as if he were not just a warrior nor solely a
scholar, but a mixture of the two that gave him an aura that inspired
fear, some unseen presence that filled the air around him and sent his
neighbors into a reverencing awe reminiscent of a lover's sacred
euphoria, intangible yet undeniable.

As I turned to him, he smiled and greeted me softly and pleasantly, in
such a way that seemed contrary to his nature. Instead of being terrible
and glorious like the crash of thunder or the din of waves, his voice
was melodious, subtly so, like a soft summer rain affecting the dreams
of a slumbering child as it falls gently on his face. There was a rhythm
that ran through it, like poetry, yet not like average poetry, where the
rhythm is forced and the lines deformed to its ungainly warble, but like
heavenly poetry, where the rhythm is beyond the conscious and into the
subconscious, where it inspires a feeling of quaint remembrance of
itself, as if it were there and not there at the same time. And while it
was soft and pleasant, it was not feminine, for it was a strong
baritone, reinforced by its own superiority and strengthened by its wit
and sobriety.

"Greetings, o' chosen one," he said to me, "I see that you have arrived
safely."

"Yes, quite soundly," I replied, a little taken aback on two fronts:
firstly that he was not angry or indignant that I had attempted to
destroy his kingdom and take his life in the process, and secondly that
he seemed to expect me, as if I were his midday tea partner.

"I am glad, for I would wish you no harm, though your Canitaurian
friends obviously felt no such concern. But just as well, for they
always were unpredictable. I'm sorry that there is no one here at the
moment, or we should have a great welcoming parade for our newly arrived
kinsman redeemer, but they are off at the lake, inspecting the fire I
suppose. I must admit it caught me off guard for a moment or two, and at
first I was actually quite surprised. I soon remembered, though, that
our friends the Canitaurs would have gotten some notions in their heads
of a battle, at your arrival. It must be a grand sight in any case, and
not one to miss."

I gave him a strange look, for I was a bit confused myself at the
attitude he donned towards me, very friendly, as was Wagner, as I
recalled, though it seemed as contrary to his nature as it did to the
King's. He saw the expression of my eyes, and seemed to read right
through my thoughts and see my apprehension of punishment, for he
beckoned to his guards to leave us alone. They moved quickly and
uniformly, a well-trained unit, and positioned themselves in a line
formation along the street. The King and I then strolled down their
midst, they walking along with us at a distance of a few yards, which
was all that the closely built buildings would permit. In a moment or
two we reached the Temple of Time, which was on the far side of a large
square plaza that opened up between it, the palace, and the government
center. Once we reached it, he led me inside and the guards took up post
around its outside.

"You need not fear," he told me when we were alone, "You are among
friends here. You see, the Canitaurs were not the only ones waiting for
a kinsman redeemer, the Zards were as well. That day that you were seen
going into the Canitaur's outpost was a big disappointment for us, I had
almost begun to think that you were beyond our reach. I am sure you know
all about the conflict between us, and the circumstances of your time
that brought its beginning about?"

"Yes, I do," I responded as we walked through the great entry hall of
the temple, lined with bookshelves and a rich red carpeting. He was
silent for another moment as we crossed into another room that led to a
chamber with a long table in its center and a great many statues and
works of art scattered throughout its whole. There was an altar at the
far end, built into a giant statue of a White Eagle that graced the
entire wall, it holding the altar in its giant claws.

He saw me look at it and told me, "This is the Hall of Time, and that is
the altar to Temis, the God of Time. It is a very sacred place, to both
us and the Canitaurs, for it was built by Temis himself, before the race
of man inhabited the earth. By the time any men came to live on Daem, it
had been buried by the dirt and debris of thousands of years, but when
the Great War took place, the shock uncovered it and revealed it to men,
a sort of revelation that came only as it was needed the most. Daem's
war started over the control of it, and to a point still is. To a
certain extent is has helped us greatly, since the Canitaurs are afraid
to lay siege to us in the regular fashion, for fear that it will be laid
to ruin, and then our fate sealed in flesh and bone as well as earth and
stone. But come, there is something I want to show you," he told me.

With that he started over to a door in the wall adjacent to the
entrance, which, as there were only two doors, was the only other exit.
It led to a long, winding stair that went up to the top of the tower
that I had seen from below. We walked up it in silence, more from awe of
its magnificent construction on my part than fatigue in climbing its
steep stairs, which wound on and on almost indefinitely. There were no
windows in the tower, and only a few paintings to liven up the sparsely
decorated walls, yet they needed no adornments, for they were
beautifully constructed from a strange stone that split and colored in a
marvelous twisting pattern.

At last we came to the top. It was much like it had appeared to be from
below, for it was a large glass sphere that sat on the tower, like the
dome on top of a light pole. It was divided in two, and the stairs went
right through the bottom half and opened into a circular foyer that then
had a small flight of stairs running up to the main room. There were
little closets and such in the empty spaces on the bottom floor. The
upper room was a good thirty feet in diameter, and the walls and ceiling
were all made of glass, very sturdy and insulating, yet completely
transparent. On the floor was an odd carpet that was smooth and thin,
like a silk or fine linen, yet very strong. There was a rounded table on
the side of the entrance hole opposite the stairs, and a curved couch
that sat against the wall behind it, cut perfectly to its circular
outline. Two cushioned chairs sat at the table and a small end table
leaned up against the couch, on top of which there was a medium sized
spyglass, that is, a telescope.

The sun was just coming up and shining its golden hues on the
surrounding lands, which were beginning to darken as the fires of Lake
Umquam Renatusum died down to a faint glow in the center of the forests
of the near-north. It was the first time that I had gotten a bird's eye
view of Daem, and I was amazed at its beauty. The plains stretched on
one side of Nunami like a broad field of gold in the morning light, its
dew drizzled grasses waving in a solemn and dignified manner to and fro
like the constant beating of the earth's heart, and when looked upon
abstractly it moved as if one great beast of benevolence, holding itself
in unison as it chorused back the silent tones of life. Its edges draped
down to the ocean like a curtain of woven sunlight on the eastern and
southern sides of the island of Daem, and on the western side of Nunami
the great forest came up right to its edge. There was a little of the
forest between the ocean and the city on that side, while to the north
there was a great stretch of trees, all the way until the ocean again
came into sight in the far, far north. On the ground the trees of Daem
seemed like mighty towers and battlements of nature, and on the treeway
one felt suspended in air hundreds of feet above the ground on a cloud
of green and growing foliage, but from afar and above they were revealed
in their true splendor, shooting up from the earth as if they were the
arms of the ground itself, grasping huge clusters of leaves and branches
far above in their tightened fists. Some way into the forest, the ground
sprang up into mountains that were as fierce and behemoth as the trees
that clothed them. They were terrible to the eye and mind, as evidences
of the power that exists outside of oneself.

The city of Nunami was also revealed to me for the first time in depth.
As I have said, it was surrounded by a thick, tall wall made of stones
and precious jewels, with four gates, one at the furthest extreme in
each direction. It was a circular city, made mostly of the same
materials as the wall and temple, which were a plain, silvery stone; a
dark rock with inherent patterns; a mixture of cobblestone and a
colorful compositor rock; and a vast array of metals, everything from
brass to silver to platinum. Made in an ancient style, the buildings
were tall, the average being what was equivalent to at least a dozen or
two stories in the pre-desolation times, and they were close together,
built along roads paved with cobblestone and lined with trees whose
girth, though not as monstrous as those in the wild, was still great.
There were farm fields and vineyards and orchards and meadows for
grazing animals all within the city walls, and not just congregated
around the outside, for there were buildings all around the wall's
perimeter, but scattered among the other buildings in a natural and
pleasing way. In the southern part there was a lake that was of fair
size, and a fleet of fishing boats anchored at its shore showed that it
did its part to contribute to the city's well-being. Several of the
trees throughout the city were especially conspicuous in their grandeur,
for they rose hundreds of feet from the ground and had great waterfalls
flowing down from their tops, as if they were crying great torrents of
tears down from their aged faces, though if in sadness or joy, I
couldn't tell.

To the east there was land visible from the height at which I found
myself, though in the distance it became hazy and I could not make out
its distinct features. It was evidentially corrupted, however, for it
had an uneasy look about it, as did the ocean, which was a faint, pale
shadow of the rich blue it was in my childhood days. The sky as well was
tainted, and it looked to be filled with the accumulated atrocities of
countless generations. The clouds were thick and bluish, and the
spherical mural of the sky itself had been greatly dried, cracked, and
crumbled since my time, for it bore the marks of pain, the marks of the
labor pains of the earth's last gestating doom. And well they should, I
thought, for in the years since my natural life it had seen much
suffering and much destruction.

The King broke the silence, saying, "Lovely, isn't it, Jehu? And it is
all yours for the taking."

"What do you mean," I asked him.

"Exactly what I said, the whole world is yours, if you want it."

"But how?"

"All you have to do is join us, the Futurists, and we will reward you
with all the power and glory that you can imagine."

At that I sobered up and replied, "But what of Onan, of my quest to stop
the doom of humanity from materializing in this final juncture. He is
the one who sent me, and he is the Lord of the Past, whom the Canitaurs
follow. I am his agent, why would I turn from him to serve mere
mortals?"

He laughed a slight, sarcastic laugh, "Tell me, Jehu, to whom did he
send you, your ancestors or your offspring?"

"To my ancestors," I said slowly, "Though the Canitaurs seemed to imply
that my time was long ago. To be candid, I do not understand."

"Of course you do not understand, and how could you, when no one has
told you? You see, Jehu, the question of time is not so linear as you
would think. You know full well that the conflict between the Zards and
Canitaurs is over how to address the renewing of the earth: they would
send you, our kinsman redeemer, back into time to prevent the nuclear
wars, while we would send you to the future to bring back its
completion. They hold to traditions as if they were the foundation of
life, while our people have no traditions in the traditional sense, if I
may use that oxymoronic phrase, but we look to what will come instead of
what has passed. History is unimportant to the present, Jehu, because we
have advanced to the point that we do not make the same mistakes as our
ancestors. In the past, they waged war needlessly and did so in the name
of humanitarian deeds. But today, we are advanced enough that we use
peaceful and just means to reach our ends. In your day there were many
absurd beliefs, for example the so-called 'fats' that were so vehemently
avoided, are actually quite healthy, while on the other hand,
protectionism and socialism are quite absurd ideas, and yet they were
held dear. But today we have no such presuppositions, today we
understand the world and know justice where your society knew only its
shadows. We do not need to be bound by the mistakes of yesterday, for we
have the enlightenment of today, and while the Canitaurs cling to the
old time's ways, we have progressed to the point where we have no need
of such traditions."

He continued, "It may seem to you foolish to follow Zimri instead of
Onan, because Onan's realm has already been established and grows
greater everyday, while Zimri's doesn't exist and never will, but you
miss a very important point in the understanding of these matters. For,
as you probably know, time and matter are the foundations of physical
existence, and while the two components are independent, they are also
parallel. Matter is always revolving, from its simplest form in the atom
to its greatest in the universe, everything is revolving and rotating.
So is time. Imagine time as a galaxy, revolving continually around the
black hole at its center, that is, an enigma that is actually devoid of
all matter. Time is revolving around a great enigma as well, which is
devoid of time, that enigma being eternity. Eternity is not a place
where there is infinite time, but rather a place where there is simply
no time, it is the counter-part in the temporal realm of a black hole in
the material realm. And just as a galaxy in the material realm revolves
around the black hole at its center, in the temporal realm, the flow of
time itself revolves around eternity. That means that time repeats
itself over and over again, just as on earth a year is the amount of
time it takes the earth to revolve around the sun once, in the temporal
realm, an age is the amount of time that it takes the time continuum to
revolve once around eternity. Just as every year the climate on the
earth is similar, every particular day having its usual temperature and
weather, and every general period having the same seasons, so is time.
While every age is completely new and original, they all follow the same
pattern, and through every age the same general events happen, though a
few of the small details change from one time to the next.

"So you see, it is true that Onan sent you to both the past and the
future of your original time. The Pastites would say that you were sent
forward in time, because you existed in our past, while the Futurists
would say that you were sent backwards in time because you existed in
our future. While this would seem an unimportant question, it is not,
for we have to choose one or the other. You, the kinsman redeemer have
to choose one or the other. That is why you were sent, you have to
decide. Our fate must be decided by a mortal because the gods have vowed
to never interfere directly in our ways again. You must decide, Jehu,
for you hold the fate of humanity in your hands: in all the other ages
before us, the wrong decision was made, and every time some great
calamity came that somehow threw the earth into a great ice age that
destroyed all life for many millenniums. We know that the wrong decision
was made, but we cannot tell what it was that was done. Tell me Jehu,
will you join the Futurists? Surely you can see that the Pastites are
just that, stuck in the past, with their obsession with traditions and
legends. They are of the past, but we are of the future, we are the
progressive ones. Dear Jehu, choose the future, and when the earth is
spared from the great impending doom, we will set you up as ruler of the
world to show our gratitude. Will you join us, friend?" he asked me with
the most entreating eyes, though of somewhat doubtful sincerity.

There was a deathly silence that followed, for I was thinking long and
hard about what I should do, until at last I spoke, "Your majesty, I am
afraid that I will have to turn you down and remain with the Pastites.
Onan sent me, and it is Onan whom I shall follow."

The King shook his head and sighed dejectedly, for a moment he looked
disheartened and crestfallen, but then he again resumed his former
prideful pose and said to me, less humbly and entreating than before,
"Very well, I was afraid that you would do that. I have no choice now
but to keep you here indefinitely as a prisoner, until such time as you
realize the error of your ways and repent. It may seem improper to
refuse the decision of the kinsman redeemer, but I must, for I will not
allow my people to be destroyed by your ignorance."

With that he turned and walked quickly down the stairs to the door,
turning to me just as he reached it and adding with an almost spiteful
intonation, "But then again, what clarity of mind can be expected from
someone from the unenlightened past." He then left the room, closing the
door with a powerful thud, after which I heard a small metallic click
and his strong, commanding footsteps fading down the long stairway. As
soon as the sound had died away and he was no more to be heard, I ran
down to the door and tried to open it, but to no avail, for it was
locked. There was no way to escape: I was a prisoner of the Zards.






Chapter 9: Mutually Assured Deception



The light of the newborn sun rose that instant far enough above the
horizon to shine directly into the tower's upper dome-like room, and I
was awe struck by the texture that the lights created on the glass of
the walls, for when it shone through at just the right height, a
previously invisible picture came to view. It was of a towering clipper
ship with sails that stretched across their masts like skin over the
bones of a pleasantly plump fellow, the wind billowing them about at a
leisurely rate. Waves broke gently upon the ship's side as the crew
rested peacefully on the various cables and nets, all except for the
one-legged captain who was busy looking at the map and accompanying
charts. It was a quaint and beautiful scene, though it soon passed away
as the sun moved upwards in the sky, and I wouldn't have mentioned it,
except that as it disappeared, I found myself looking at where it had
been, but instead of the ship, I saw directly through the glass the
inhabitants of Nunami arising and beginning their daily business, a
scene which I might have missed since I was previously wholly absorbed
by the picturesqueness of the sky.

Usually the Zards would arise before dawn and be about their business,
but because of the great flames of the night before, they had no doubt
had trouble sleeping, and therefore slept later than usual when they
finally did fall into the lands beyond consciousness. They hustled and
bustled about the streets of Nunami, each doing their own business, and
there was much business to be done in a city in which all provisions are
provided internally, with no trade or commerce outside whatsoever. There
were merchants and stores still, yet they were not traders but
producers, each making their own wares as they sold ones they had
already made. Butchers sat in their shops with their blood-stained
aprons already donned, cobblers and tailors were busy with the day's
repairs and new creations, the milkmen paraded the streets slowly and
methodically, somehow getting their products to the citizens before 8
AM. The farmers and herdsmen were also at work in the fields that were
spread throughout the city, plowing and sowing, and being joined by
those who had just finished distributing the milk.

All was commonplace and normal, I thought, and I was surprised, for the
Zards were not at all martially minded, a great contrast to their
Canitaurian brethren. Of course, I had never actually met any of the
Canitaurian commoners. It seems to me that the only ones who really are
martially minded are the leaders and politicians, everyone else seems to
mind their own business, and sometimes I wonder if there would even be
any wars if there weren't any governments with the power to wage one.
There was a group of Zards by the government center, which was close to
my involuntary quarters, and they were leaning over an opening in the
aqueduct that ran down into the lake in the southern section of the
city, branching off from there into all the various sectors. They were
dumping a barrel of a fine, white powder into the water that was running
down into the lake, and after the first had been poured in, they added
another and another until they had put a good five barrels into the
water source. Once they had finished, they took the empty barrels to a
large cage that was down the road a bit, inside of a small grove of
trees and shrubs. Inside the cage was a multitude of little beetles that
crawled around every which way and were evidentially feasting on a large
chunk of glowing material. For a moment I was surprised, and wondered
what it was they were doing, but then it hit me: they were the delcator
beetles that Bernibus had told me of earlier, the ones that absorbed the
radioactive material and stabilized it. As I learned later, they had two
good uses, one was that they consumed the unstable materials and
neutralized them, but the other was that their droppings, when mixed
into the water supply, also gave all that consumed them a greater
tolerance for nuclear material. It was almost ironic that their whole
way of life was dependent on the feces of another life form, but I will
refrain from turning it into a metaphor.

The female Zards wore a black headpiece that mostly covered their faces,
and at first I found it strange that for all his talk of progress, the
King's people still oppressed their women, perhaps there wasn't as much
progress as he had boasted, or, more likely, he was unaware that there
was no such thing as progress, just different manifestations of
oppression. History repeats itself, they say, and indeed it does, both
literally and figuratively.

There suddenly arose a great commotion in the square between the Temple
and the palace, and as I looked, I was surprised to see that there was a
large crowd gathered. In the middle of the square there were two groups
of ten Zards facing each other, with a single Zard in between them, and
around the outside of the plaza area stood a hundred or so spectators,
apparently watching those in the middle. A moment after I started
watching, the solitary Zard, the referee as I found out, walked to the
edge, and each of the groups walked to one of the opposing sides and
then turned about to face the other. The referee let out a loud yell and
in a flash, the two teams ran at each other headlong, until converging
somewhere in the center of the field. As they met they dived upon one
another and pushed and shoved until the left team had isolated one of
the right's players, who was the only one on his team wearing an orange
jersey. They dived on him and jumped until the whole field was piled
high with them, and then they slowly began to disembark. Once all of the
opposing team's players were off of the orange shirted Zard, all was
silent and still as the referee held his hand aloft and began counting
with his fingers. Everyone held their breathe and stood tensely by as
they watched. Just before the referee's tenth and final finger was
counted, the orange shirted player rose from the ground, amidst the
screams of joy from his team and about half of the crowd, apparently
their fans. The two teams then returned to their respective sides, and
again the referee yelled loudly, signaling them to rush at each other
once more, and more of the same ensued, this time it being the other
team's orange shirted player to get pounced on. Once again there was a
high pile on top of him, and once again, as they crawled off and he was
exposed, the referee began to count. Except that this time the orange
shirted one never got up. The other team cheered again and so did the
other half of the crowd. The referee went to a pole on the sidelines and
put up the number '1' on it while a few bystanders picked the Zard up
and carried him off the field. They continued to play in this fashion
for awhile, going until one team or the other had no longer any players
to be jumped upon, but I was too disgusted at their violent nature to
watch, and instead walked over to the end table and picked up the
telescope, taking back as I did my thoughts about the innocence and
gentleness of the common folk.

With the telescope in hand I went over to the eastern side of the room
and began to closely inspect the savanna in an attempt to get a bird's
eye view of the point of my entrance in Daem. It looked rather the same
from above as it did from below, though the smells and sounds were
missing, and I found that it was rather bland once the initial
excitement, surprise, and respect of its novelty had worn off. Indeed,
it was quite too dull for me, even in my state of boredom as a prisoner,
though I suppose that that isn't a proper description of my feelings,
for I wasn't free from excitement or intriguing events, but rather, I
was in the middle of a campaign of new and anticipated things, but
simply unable to participate. Stuck in a room 800 feet from the ground
with walls of glass that allowed observation of the whole island of
Daem, which I assumed to be the only civilization in the world, while
great events unfolded around me, of which I was supposed to be the
primary actor, was very disconcerting, though I find in retrospect that
fate worked so mysteriously in my situation that it is quite puzzling to
think about, meaning, of course, my relationship with the doom of
humanity as preventer and provoker, as savior and condemner.

My writing of this manuscript may be considered quite a big cheat, as it
details my direct involvement with Onan, the Lord of the Past, and the
general circumstances of the end of life on earth, for the current age
at least, but still I am allowed to write it. Onan told me just a few
moments ago that I could write it and tell all that I want, to which I
was taken aback. When I asked why he would allow me to break the law of
the council of the gods, he replied that there was no rule against a
human agent from detailing his involvement in the actions of the
divines. It was allowed, he told me, because it would never make a mite
of a difference, for even if it were able to survive the bitter ice ages
and all the evolutionary periods in this TAB (Temporal Anomaly Box,
which I will explain later, since I get ahead of myself and have not
told of them yet), and even if it is found by humans, and even if they
are capable of understanding the text contained within it, even then
they will take no gain from it. I was again taken aback when he said
this, for though I know humans to be stubborn and foolish, in general, I
would think that they would at least mind the warning when the
conditions of its completion came to pass. But he dissuaded me, telling
me that my coevals of the next age would no doubt take it as a novel.

At this I took your defense quite personally upon myself, and demanded
in as not so humble a tone as would be thought proper, though as I am
about to die within the next day or two, I have to admit that I don't
give much of a damn for politics or manners. And yet, with all my ardor
I was quickly subdued by a curt rebuke by my interlocutors (for Zimri
was there as well), which was, quite simply, that you hadn't taken Homer
for any more than a creative poet, even after a few thousand years of
study, so why should my meager manuscript make such a large impact. At
that, I acquiesced to them and admitted that on that end my attempt to
save humanity one way or another was contemptible, but I still write, as
you see, for the story's sake, and possibly for my own material
immortality. But never mind that, for it is high time that I went back
to my story.

I was looking through the spyglass at the various areas of Daem where my
adventures had so far taken me. After I had examined them all for a few
moments, I felt a strange urge to use the telescope to look closely at
the mainland that I had seen before, to see what the effects of the
Great War had been there. As I turned the telescope's sights toward it,
I was at once surprised and flabbergasted at what caught my eye. There
were living beings on the mainland, not too far from the coast. And not
only that, but they were standing upright, though stooped, as if by
weariness and the wiles of life, and they seemed, in general, to
resemble humans, not directly, but as much as the Zards and Canitaurs
did, and with the effects of the radioactive instability greater on the
mainlands, it would seem natural that they would be further removed from
normality than those on Daem. The land itself was barren and flat, with
sparse vegetation in the forms of small, deformed shrubs and a short,
weak looking grass. As I looked closer I saw that there were about six
of the strange, stooped humanoids, and they were gathering the fruits of
some of the shrubs for consumption. In a few moments they finished their
task and began to walk further inland, and I followed their progress
with interest until they finally disappeared behind some of the small
plateaus that were scattered here and there among the wastelands.

Putting the telescope down, I walked over to the couch and laid down on
it, with indignation filling my every move, for I was almost enraged
that the Zards and Canitaurs both should fail to tell me, whom they
claimed to respect as kinsman redeemer and whose decisions would seal
their fate for good or ill, that there were other survivors from the
Great Wars. I was also shocked by their selfishness, for while they
fought pettily amongst themselves over how they would change their lands
for the better, a seemingly important question about past and future,
they completely ignored the sufferings of other humanoids, to whom their
way of living no doubt seemed like a paradise. But there they were,
stuck across the sea on their desolate lands, unable to cross to Daem
and enjoy its plentiful resources and luxuries, yet not at all unaware
of them, for as they labored in their hopeless ways, they could see Daem
shining like a heavenly vision before them, one which they were not able
to touch or grasp, but instead one that must infuriate them to no end in
their heart, at the knowledge of fate's unfairness and their utter
hopelessness and complete poverty, not because of their laziness or
their ignorance or anything involving their actions whatsoever, but
simply because they had been born on the wrong side of the sea.

At that moment I was embittered against both the Zards and the Canitaurs
for their selfishness and their pretensions of morality. There is no
morality where one sees another starving and suffering and does not
help, when one sees a whole race of people living on a land where
nothing but sorrows dwell, but will not let them share the wealth that
was given one by no doing of oneself. There is no morality in
selfishness, and when I saw those wretched people, I no longer felt like
redeeming those on Daem from the impending doom of humanity. Whatever
plans they had for me they never told, I sensed, for there was something
deeply wrong about the way they looked at me and talked about me,
something deeply wrong about the way they patronized me and treated me
like a silly child, while I was the one who was to decide their fate.
The Canitaurs and the Zards both looked at me with a subtle sense of
deceit and ill will, all that is, except Bernibus, which is why our
friendship flourished so swiftly. As I laid there with thoughts of Onan
and the decision that I was to make, and of all the responsibility that
was put upon me involuntarily, as I thought of the conflict of past and
future at the neglect of the present, as I thought about the
self-obsession and overindulgence that come with wealth, and the desire
for still more that accompanies it, I fell to sleep and into a place
where no troubles lay, for my long day and night had left in me no energy
for dreams.






Chapter 10: Devolution



When I awoke the sun was once more out in its morning glory, at the
height it assumes at about the 9 o'clock hour, and the room was warm and
cozy because of it, as it shone in through the glass walls. My first
sensation upon waking was one of peace and bliss, the feeling
experienced when you wake up late to a nice warm resting place,
especially so when all the rest of the world is hard at work and you are
not. I breathed in the air deeply and contentedly while stretching my
arms, legs, and back in a most relieving fashion, and then turned
towards the table in the center of the room, from whence I smelled an
extremely appealing smell, that of a hearty breakfast.

As I did so, however, my joy was sent to a bitter, premature death, for
there sitting at the table and smiling sardonically at me was the King,
arrayed in all his pomp and splendor with his powerful pose, which,
while it had impressed, and even to a point overwhelmed me, before, did
no such thing to me now, for I was fresh with indignation at the
exclusion of the humanoids across the sea from the paradise of Daem.

He saluted me in a polite manner, and I him, though there was little
affection behind it. Then, without any more ceremony, I sat down and
began to eat, repulsing any attempt of his to start a conversation with
persistent vigor, until I had finished, when I stood and demanded where
exactly I was to make my toiletry. He laughed and said that he was
wondering how long I would last, but as I was still too unpleasant to
respond with any familiarity, he showed me to a little room that was
tucked off of the side of the bell that formed the entrance to the domed
chambers of the upper tower. The top of the tower itself was a half
complete sphere, while the room only occupied the upper half, so that
the bottom was divided between the entry way and the toiletry room. I
spent a few moments grooming and washing myself and preparing for the
day, and then rejoined him in the room. He was still sitting on his
chair and I took the other. The meal had been carried away.

He began the conversation by saying, "My dear Jehu, I must apologize for
keeping you in this position, but you must understand that the outcome
of this war is very serious, and I will not risk it to your
sensationalism."

"Sensationalism!" returned I, "Is that how you would describe a touch of
humanity?"

"What do you mean?" he questioned, apparently interested in what I said.


"Well," I began, regaining myself, my former indignation being exhausted
by the spirit of my opening comments, and my normal sober reasoning
returning, "I have been observing your society, which you suppose to be
enlightened, but I have seen some things, which, I am afraid, are
evidences of the opposite."

"Go on,"

"For one, your common folk engage in the most violent entertainment. I
saw a vicious game being played not far from here, in the plaza below.
There were two sides, and they rushed at each other in a rage and
clashed when they met until one side tackled the other. This went on for
some time, the evident point of the sport being to gain points by making
it so that one of the opposing players cannot get up at the end of a
round. It was so brutal that I was disgusted and could watch no more."

"Yes, I see what you mean," the King replied, "I myself would much
rather that such games would be forsaken, but the people really enjoy
it. I must remind you, as well, that your society had the same type of
thing, as did every other before it. It was football for you, gladiators
for the Romans, and so forth."

"But I thought that you had no traditions? That you were more
enlightened than those of the past? You can hardly excuse your
misconduct by reminding one of the misconduct of another, especially
when you claim to disclaim the errors of history, or at least, that
altered and redefined thing that you call history."

"You are right, I have to admit," he conceded, "But let me remind you
that it is a static characteristic of humanity to confuse the ends with
the means. When an intense effort is applied, the melodramatic tendency
is to honor that effort, despite its uselessness, instead of honoring
the product of the effort rather than the effort itself. But, you are
right, I admit, for we have still a few places left to refine in the
common folk."

Feeling vainglorious at my victory, I pursued him further, "I also
observed that your womenfolk wear face coverings in public, which is
most certainly a thing of the past."

"I must disagree with you there Jehu," he said, evidentially regaining
his confidence and sense of moral footing, "For even in your own time
the womenfolk all wore masks and face coverings."

I was taken aback and cried, "Most certainly they did not, your history
books may say so, but I, dear sir, was alive and would know best!"

"What, then," he coolly replied, with a sharp grin that reeked of
self-confidence, "Would you call all the messes of make-up and perfume
and other such things which they were virtually forced to wear? I see
nothing different between wearing face coverings and transplanting an
entirely new face, hair, and body on oneself everyday. In fact, our
women got together and decided voluntarily to do so, for the very reason
that if an artificial covering must be put on, it might as well be one
that is easy, for why spend an hour or more a day to change one's
appearance, when it can be done in moments with a head covering? That is
a great time saver for us. And why spend the resources to research,
produce, and market massive amounts of facial paint to cover up the face
when it is possible to put a covering on and get the same effect much,
much easier? It is only logical.

"And in general, Jehu," he pursued, warming to the subject matter, "I
find the oppression of women in your time to be quite appalling. You
seemed to think that the liberation of women consisted in transforming
them into loveless, materialistic thugs, into workaholics whose only
desire is wealth, into aggression driven beings that possessed little
shred of real humanity, into, in a word, men. I think it would have been
a much better endeavor to have attempted to change men into women."

I was taken aback by his eloquent defense of the treatment of women in
his society, and felt, I must admit, a little impressed by his
arguments, seeing as how it did make more sense to wear a head covering
than to paint on a face every morning. Still, I desired to let him see
that traditions aren't all that bad, just as they aren't all that good,
and, as I had still won one point out of two so far, I felt it safe to
move on to my main argument against his humanistic preponderance.

"You are right there, I admit, but tell me, your majesty," I said with a
slow, scoffing voice, meant to show that I had a powerful point to make,
and as if I had to go slow enough for him to comprehend the eloquence of
my speech, "Why, if you are so enlightened and progressive, so
humanitarian and merciful, why do you keep a whole race of people, of
human beings, stranded on the far shore, able to see the goodness of
Daem's plush lands, but unable to visit them? How can you justify the
keeping of people in such conditions when it is in your power to relieve
them?"

He sobered up more than he already was and answered in his most
dignified voice, one calculated to stop opposition by its very graces,
"Their plight is unfortunate, but as they are not my subjects, it is
none of my concern."

"So you knew of them, but did not care. How typical of powerful men.
What are they called?"

"Munams," he answered, "Is what we call them, though people of your time
had a different name for them, Neanderthal, if I am correct."

My intrigue superseded my conviction and I asked interestedly, "But, how
is that possible? The Neanderthals were the ancestors of men in my time,
and the men of my time were the ancestors of the men of this time, how
could they be living now?"

"Very simply, for your scientists and philosophers did not understand
the revolution of time, and what they thought was evolution was in fact
devolution. You see, when they found all the fossils and other such
evidence for evolution, they interpreted it to mean that they had
evolved from lesser organisms. Since they didn't know that time repeats
itself over and over again, ages of time being like the years of the
earth, it was actually the remains of the age before them that they
thought were the remains of their ancestors. In truth, instead of a
great comet hitting the earth and destroying the dinosaurs and many
other living beings, it was the Great Wars, the nuclear wars, that
caused all the damage. And since their perception of the events was
backward, instead of the blasts destroying the dinosaurs and the wholly
mammoths, it was what actually created them, for, you see, after the
nuclear weapons had all been used, everything in the world died, or came
very close to it, all that is, except Daem, which thrived, because of
the delcator beetles.

"There were no 'dinosaurs', only Zards, for when the radiation levels
were still high and unstable, we grew to enormous sizes, and likewise
there were no wholly mammoths, but Canitaurs. And the Neanderthals that
appeared shortly after were not the precursors to humans at all, but the
Munams, who survived on the mainland near Daem because of the corrected
atmosphere, but who were mutilated more than we by the increased
corruption across the sea. The Ice Ages, also, were not as you thought,
but instead mark the position in the last age after the doom of humanity
was played out and everything destroyed. The Big Bang, also, was not at
the beginning, but at the very end, being somehow related to the onset
of the Ice Ages. Your evolutionary theories were close, but the time
tables were rearranged to fit the facts, since time was thought to be
linear.

"That is where our main trouble lies, Jehu, for through geological and
biological evidences, even more advanced than those collected during
your times, we can tell that something happens at this very period of
history that will wipe all life from the face of the earth for a long
period of time, many thousands of years, until somehow they start to
reproduce and grow once more into what they are now. Something very
powerful happens, even more devastating than the nuclear wars, when all
the nations of the world used their entire stock of weapons. Our problem
is how to prevent it, and a great problem it presents, indeed. You see,
while we would wish to be confident of success, since we know generally
what to expect, we know through research that there have been many, many
ages before us in which the same thing has happened. That is why the
geological layers have always been found to be strangely misaligned,
with fossils from an earlier period here and with a later period there.
That is why things like tree fossils are found in coal mines, where they
shouldn't be, and why in general, the evidence found in the ground
doesn't fit a consistent pattern."

As he finished, I could say nothing, for his revelation was sobering to
me, bringing me suddenly back to the realization that our doom was
impending, that every decision I made had the potential to either bring
us to safety, or to supply the necessary force to hurl us viscously off
the cliff of mortality. He was silent as well and allowed me a few
moments of meditation to turn his speech in my mind. As is my tendency,
I looked abstractly out the window as I thought, fixing my subconscious
focus on the road that ran from the northern gate down through the city,
the road which formed half of the plaza beneath the temple. A moment or
two passed like a solemn parade of mourning, then, suddenly, or at least
quite unexpected by myself, a party of Canitaurs came walking down the
northern road, unharassed and unescorted through the heart of the city.
Since they came freely, I knew that they were not prisoners, but still I
was perplexed at how a party of them came to be allowed in Nunami at all
under such pretexts, especially as they had attempted to bring it to
ruin but a few days before.

The King saw their coming and my interest in them, and said in a way of
explanation, "There is to be a council today between the Zards and
Canitaurs, with you present, of course. Our war has rampaged for quite
some time, but we are forced to peace in light of our impending doom,
brought by circumstances outside of ourselves. We will decide tonight,
or tomorrow, what action to take. It is a grim time, you can be sure, my
dear Jehu, when Zards and Canitaurs meet in peace, a grim time indeed."

He said that very importantly, with an air of fright in his voice, as
one who knows his end is near, for both him and his loved ones. There
was another moment of silence as he reflected on the meaning of his
words, and then he rose and beckoned me to follow him. We made our way
through the bottom half of the room and down the long flight of stairs
that wound down the great tower in the Temple of Time. When we reached
the bottom, we went again into the long room with the bookshelves, the
table, and the altar to Temis. Already there waiting for us were the
Canitaur emissaries, Wagner and Bernibus.

They rose to greet me, bowing low in a deferential manner, more out of
forced respect than awe, at least on Wagner's part, and after the
customary blessing that followed, we all sat down at the long wooden
table that stretched lengthwise through the room. Wagner and Bernibus
took their chairs on one side and the King and myself on the other, he
and Wagner being opposite each other, and Bernibus and me being the
same; the King and I were facing the altar and the White Eagle that held
it.

There was a moment of silence as we took our seats, and it continued for
another moment as everyone sat in an awkward situation. As there was no
one else in the room besides the four of us, and as Wagner seemed
disinclined to begin, the King opened up our conference with the
following statement:

"Well, dear sirs, what can I say, except that I am glad that you have
finally condescended to seek a mutual agreement on the actions which are
about to ensue, and that I hope that our conference will be productive
and informative. Before we begin, I will outline the rules of the debate
and of the conference, which were agreed upon before the military action
of the recent past," here he looked at Wagner with the look of a judge
who supposes himself morally superior to the criminal in his holding,
"And by which we will still govern the council, despite the sudden
change in circumstances. The rules are as follows: The decision shall be
made by the votes of the three parties involved, namely the Zards, the
Canitaurs, and Jehu, the kinsman redeemer. A majority of two votes is
required to decide which of the paths will be taken: the Futurist or the
Pastite. As is clearly obvious, my dear Jehu, I shall vote Futurist, and
Wagner shall vote Pastite, and it is up to you to cast the decisive
vote. You are the kinsman redeemer, and for all intents and purposes,
you will be the sole decider of the fate of humanity. It is a great
responsibility, but one that you were chosen for by the child of Temis,
the God of Time. Wagner and myself will each make our cases, though you
know them by now, and then you will have all night to decide and you
will tell us your decision in the morning," thus concluded the King's
opening address.

Before anyone else could follow it up, I interjected, "But I was sent by
Onan to do his work on earth, wouldn't it only make sense for me to
choose the way of Onan?"

The King answered me, saying, "You were sent by Temis, the God of Time,
Jehu, for Onan and Zimri are his children who do his work for him, but
they only have the powers that he gave them. Onan is the only one able
to speak to mortals, for he is in the past, while Zimri is in the
future, but Onan also speaks for Zimri, because he is told what to say
by Temis, whose agents they both are as much as you are Onan's. Isn't
that so, Wagner?"

Wagner sighed in the affirmative, and when he had done so, I asked him
pointedly, "Why didn't you tell me? You led me to believe that Onan was
the one who sent me, and by his own power."

Here the King put in, "He merely wanted to prejudice you to his own
side, Jehu. He attempted to by-pass our peace treaty of long ago when he
tried to attack us and capture this very temple for his own plans. We
agreed twenty-five years ago to do it this way, because enough blood had
been shed, and no good had come from it. He violated it when he took you
into hiding, using our pursuit after his treachery as justification. But
come, in the face of impending doom we cannot squabble over past wrongs,
but must move to prevent future disaster from striking."

"What is so important about this Temple of Time, though?" I asked.

Wagner and the King mumbled together that "It was an essential part of
the restoration of Daem", but would not elaborate, saying that it was
unimportant to the present troubles. They looked guilty as they said it,
though of what I did not know. I was reminded of my indignation at their
ignoring of the sufferings of the Munams and became once more impatient
with their self-importance, so I yielded the floor and they began to
make their cases. In order to decide who went first, they drew lots, and
as the shorter was drawn by Wagner, he went first. His speech is as
follows:

"The past is constant, Jehu. It has happened and is secure in its place,
explored and known. The traditions and customs of our people are
steadfast and immovable, for they have survived the ages like a mountain
that is untouched by the weather. They have lasted so long not because
of the mere namesake of tradition, but because they work, because they
have worked thousands of times before, and because we know they will
work a thousand times in the future. What was good enough for the
generations before us is good enough for us and our children. A
tradition, or taboo, is not formed by the decision of some contemporary
council as a means to control others via social restrictions, for if it
was it would never have lasted, instead it is formed because of
experience, because when something goes beyond it the result is
temporary pleasure, the nectar of the fruits of rebellion, but when the
rebellious desires have faded, what is left is rotten and decayed.

"It brings only more desires for rebellion and more thirst for the
forsaking of traditions, and it will not be satisfied. Then another
taboo will be broken, but this also will not quench the desires of the
rebellious, who do what they do not for any independent purpose, but
only from a desire to break traditions and taboos and to be different
than their forebears. But there is no satisfaction in rebellion, only in
obedience. Obedience not to some alien divinity, not to some social
supremest, not to the blind devotion of parental mandates, but obedience
to common sense, to practicality, to morality. For a taboo is not formed
by any one person, instead it is slowly built up upon the experiences of
many, experiences which show that when one thing is done, suffering is
what follows, and when another thing is done, happiness is what follows.
Of course there are a few, isolated taboos that are based instead on
human prejudices, but that doesn't translate into the abandonment of all
the experience of precedents. What comes when there are no longer any
taboos and traditions to break? Destruction. For as is seen time and
again, the rebellion of societies gains momentum, and while their
consequences are slow in gathering, in the end they multiply and force
those societies over the edge of power, bringing only suffering and
ruin.

"And not only are the experiences of the past wielded together into that
euphoria that eludes the rebellious--wisdom--but its constant state
controls the present and the future. What men have seen in the past
leads them in their future actions, and as a result, it is not the
future that controls the present and defines the past, but it is the
past which controls the present and defines the future. What sense is
there in abandoning the mountain of wisdom that the past has built up
and leaping blindly into hazy, unknown actions and institutions? The
past is steady, Jehu, and it is known; it is the only sensible way."
Thus spoke Wagner.

It was then the King's turn, and he said as follows:

"The past is the past, not the present nor the future, its time has been
spent, its part in the theater of life is over, it is extinct. Jehu,
Wagner speaks of us as rebelliously breaking taboos that were formed by
our forefathers, but that is not true. In the present more is known than
was known in the past, they had outdated views and opinions, and their
ideologies were vulgar and unsophisticated. At present we are more
knowledgeable, more refined than what has gone before. The people of the
past waged unjust wars. They had superstition and prejudices that
clouded their visions of morality, and the product of that is a large
amount of taboos and precedents and traditions that are immoral or
meaningless. Now is the age of enlightenment, now and never before is
the future at hand, mixing with the present as we learn more and more
about our world. We are progressive, learning and growing in philosophy
and lifestyle.

"If those of the past were so upright and wise, than why are they not
still among the living? If they were so powerful, then why are they now
extinct? The past is gone, but the future is yet to come, it still holds
tangible pleasures, not memories, it has promise and potential, while
the past is only the ruins of the same. When the past is looked back
upon, it is small and immaterial, it is like time crumpled up into a wad
of memories, and a time yesterday or a thousand years ago looks the
same, for it is past, it is no more. Life is not short, but in
retrospect it seems to be, and its memories are distant, as they float
like fish in the oceans of time, lacking both definition and scale, and
hanging lifelessly around in random arrays. Every moment is of the same
length, but a moment in the past is nothing, its thoughts and emotions
are nothing, they are gone and useless to the present, while a moment in
the future is long and touchable. A thought that is past is as nothing,
and it is forgotten, for the past and the future are like a one-way
mirror, you can look forward into the future, but looking into the past
you can see only the present reflected back at you. What good are the
joys or sorrows of yesterday? They are as far removed as those of a
thousand years ago, but it is the joys and sorrows of tomorrow that loom
the largest. Why look into the past for completion, when it is found
only in the future?" Thus spoke the King.

Once both of them had finished there was a short pause, each reflective
and absorbed with his own thoughts. At last the King broke through the
still waters of the moment and sent his rippling voice across its
formless surface, which revived at once and was joined by many others,
until the outward expression of consciousness sent the waters of the
mind again into their complex and interwoven dances. He spoke in the
department of host and concluded the short session with these words,
"Now the cases are stated, though but briefly, for they were already
well-known. As planned prior to the infractions of the treaty, we will
adjourn for the night, and in the morning Jehu will deliver his verdict,
whether we undo our problem through the future, or through the past."

We all rose and Bernibus, my only friend on the island, came up to me
and warmly embraced me, while Wagner and the King conversed formally a
few yards away. When they were not looking and our backs were turned to
them, Bernibus slipped me a piece of paper that was rolled up into a
tight scroll. Seeing his caution and secrecy, I quickly stashed it in
the inside of my shirt, where it could not be seen. I was alarmed at the
momentary expression of his face, which showed that he was greatly
worried about me, and made me very interested in what the paper would
contain. His face quickly returned to its original countenance, an
impermeable barrier to his insides, and no one except myself had any
inclination about what had happened. The other two turned towards us,
and quickly made their farewells, Wagner and Bernibus departing for
their quarters, and the King to escort me back to my prison.

He took my arm in his genially, though only superficially so, for he
still had a subdued sense of distrust about him, and we went through the
door to the long, circling stairway from whence we had come. As we
ascended we engaged in small talk, the usual meaningless pleasantry,
which I assume you have probably had enough of in your experiences to
allow me to dispense with relating it, for it was of no weight in any of
the circumstances that I found myself in, and I especially was not
interested in it, as the paper given to me by Bernibus claimed my whole
attention, and filled me with an anticipation and mystery of what it
might contain. I kept up the small talk with the King merely to allay
any suspicions he might have had, though he had none. After a seeming
eternity we reached the top, and once there I stepped into my chambers,
as the King jestingly called them. We bade each other goodnight, which
was followed by the metallic click of the door locking, and the sound
his footsteps as he descended and made his way to his palace.






Chapter 11: The Land Across the Sea



I waited reluctantly with my ear against the door until his footsteps
could no longer be heard, and then waited for fifteen minutes more,
listening carefully for any noises. There were none, and once I had
convinced myself that I was completely alone, I dashed swiftly up the
stairs and jumped onto the couch. My sudden movements caused the
top-heavy tower to sway slightly for a few moments, giving me quite the
scare, for I didn't realize what it was at first. But then my pilot's
instinct kicked in and I mentally calculated the height and width of the
tower and the mass of the dome that rested upon it, and came to the
conclusion that it was stable, for while a swift movement caused it to
sway, it would take a prolonged and deliberate pendulum-like motion to
cause any real damage, and even the fiercest wind would not upset it,
for it would only blow in a single direction at a time, and only a
rocking motion must be feared.

Confident once more of my safety, I took the rolled piece of paper from
the folds of my clothing and opened it carefully. Inside was a note from
Bernibus, written in a legible cursive that flowed from an obviously
educated hand. It read as follows:


"My Dear Jehu, it is I, Bernibus, your friend and comrade, who writes to
you. Wagner and myself are soon to set off for Nunami for a council with
the Zards about the resolution of our conflict. It was decided in a
cease fire treaty twenty-some years ago that whomever first came upon
the kinsman redeemer was to have a council with the other side and the
ancient one to decide which course to take, since either course needs
the support of both the Zards and the Canitaurs to succeed. When you
first came among us, Wagner seemed to break the terms of the treaty and
keep you with us in an attempt carry out our plans independently of the
Zards, using an attack plan that had been held in readiness since the
treaty, to ensure a defense if things went wrong. When the Zards
attempted to capture us upon your arrival, Wagner declared the treaty
violated, and I assumed that it was to be entirely abandoned. I was
under this impression when I befriended you, and once our friendship had
strengthened, I had no fears for you, thinking as I did that new methods
were to be tried.

"After the attack on Nunami failed and the council was once again to be
held, each having violated it equally, my fears were suddenly aroused on
your behalf. It was only then that I saw that it was the intention of
Wagner not only to destroy Nunami and the Zards, but to capture the
Temple of Time, which was the only part of the city to be left intact.
When I confronted my brother-in-law about this, he only laughed at me
scornfully and told me that I was soft, that I was a fool to put one
man's life ahead of the salvation of the whole earth. I was filled with
wrath at him and still am, but I have decided that it was better to
feign compliance and let you know by letter what it was that is being
planned for you. I am only sorry that it should come to you at so late
an hour, when I could have warned and helped you before if I had only
known. There is not much that you can do now, but still I must warn you,
for whatever it is worth, if only to prove my affections.

"You see, my dear Jehu, the Pastites and Futurists interpret the
prophecy to mean that the kinsman redeemer has come to renew the earth,
as you have no doubt heard, although there is strong evidences to the
contrary. I myself have been brought up to this interpretation, as it is
more acceptable than the alternate theories that exist, though I have
been for a time now doubting its accuracy. According to the Externus
Miraculum view, the Temple of Time is crucial to the implementation of
either plan, in fact it is the crux of them both, the one issue that it
is of as great importance, or greater, than the presence of you, the
kinsman redeemer. There is an altar in the center room of the temple, a
great diamond White Eagle that is grasping an ordinary altar in its
talons, and this altar is where the kinsman redeemer is to be
sacrificed. If only I had suspected so before and could have warned when
there was yet time!

"But there is no time now for such reflections, so I will continue. The
method of sending you back or forward in time is to sacrifice you on the
altar of Temis, the God of Time. It is not a traditional, atonement
sacrifice, nor of any kind that involves the cutting of the flesh with a
knife. Instead it is a molecular one. You are to be set on the altar and
then the White Eagle will start to spew forth either protons or
electrons, depending on which is chosen, past or future. When your
body's cells absorb all of the floating matter, they will be either
positively or negatively charged to such an extent that their
revolutions will be rapidly accelerated. According to theory, the
increased speed of the revolutions would cause a rift in the time
continuum, or in other words, would change the proportion between your
existence in the temporal and material realms and change your location
in time, thereby propelling you into the past or the future, depending
upon which was chosen, electron or proton, past or future.

"There has been much experimentation with this process, each person sent
through time being equipped with a matter-proof box that is basically an
advanced time capsule, lasting for millions of years. Into this box (or
TAB, Temporal Anomaly Box) each person was supposed to write an account
of their temporal journey and leave it on the island that is presently
Daem, at specific locations decided on for that purpose. We would search
for those boxes in the present, to see if they had been delivered. None
have yet been found, though there are other possible reasons than death,
such as a failure to find the island, or the box's removal by someone in
an intervening time. Still, I am greatly afraid for your life Jehu,
especially so after what I discovered just hours ago in the classified
archives of the Canitaurs: there was strong evidence that the process
simply disintegrated those upon whom it was tried, instead of sending
them through time. This was kept from the public, and was forcefully
forgotten by those who knew, their reason being that Temis would guide
your travel better than the others who were not called as his servants.
If it were anyone but you, Jehu, I would probably have deceived myself
in the same way, but I cannot let you be destroyed like this. You must
escape and not let them throw away our only chance of salvation in such
a way. I only wish that I had known sooner, I only wish that there was a
chance that you could escape,

"Your Devoted Friend,
"Bernibus"


For a moment I could do nothing except sit in silence and ponder over
this new revelation. After I had reread the letter twice, so as to be
thoroughly familiar with its contents, I ate it, so that if I did
escape, or was apprehended doing so, Bernibus would not be found out and
suffer because of it, though I doubt not that he would have gladly done
so. When I had done that, I ran down to the door and attempted to force
it open, but to no avail. Neither could it be picked. And even if it
had, it would have done me no good, for there were at least two guards
always stationed at the foot of the stairs, and many more between them
and the temple entrance, and even if, by some miraculous intervention, I
made it that far, that left me stranded conspicuously in the center of
Nunami. My only hope was to escape from the island completely, for I
would be found soon enough by the cooperating inhabitants if I remained
upon their own lands.

The land across the sea then entered my mind, and its degenerate
inhabitants, but that was across a wide channel that would be hard to
cross even if I had infinite time, freedom, and materials to make a boat
which would withstand the waves, and I had none of the three. What
little hope I had, then, was out of reach, lost to me like the golden
days of the past. It was then that I was overcome by despondency, the
hopelessness of my situation weighing my spirits down. It is a peculiar
trait of mine that in times of distress and in situations that seem to
have no possible favorable outcome I act rashly and without reason. You
will remember how I leaned forward and peered into the dark hole when I
was stranded on the tiny island in the sea, and how I struck the tree
with a limb on the shores of Lake Umquam Renatusum. Likewise, I again
did something which would seem illogical and vain: in my frustration, I
pushed the table that I happened to be standing against with as much
force as I could muster. It slid softly along the carpeting before
coming to a halt a few inches from the glass wall. It made no noise or
jarring of the floor, but the sudden shifting of weight in the room
caused the tower to sway once more, as it had when I had run up the
stairs to the couch.

And, as had happened on the previous occasions, the result of my
senseless actions was good, as if guided by some external force, for an
idea came suddenly to my mind that would not have been there otherwise,
an idea that was outlandish and far-fetched, but was at the time my only
hope.

I lost no time on preparing my efforts, for there was none to be lost,
and set out immediately to remove the carpeting from the floor. Upon
examination I found that it was not attached to the ground at all, but
only fastened into a wooden frame at the walls that held it tightly in
place. It stretched in a circular fashion around the whole of the room
and into the center until it came to the stairs that led downward, so
that once removed it formed a circle about thirty feet in diameter with
a three foot circular hole in its center. In case I haven't mentioned
the type of the carpet yet, which I must confess that I cannot remember,
I will do so here: it was not a traditional carpet, that form being
apparently lost after the great wars, instead it was a silky sheet-like
carpet, no more than a quarter inch thick, and in fact greatly
resembling the sail of an old clipper ship, the painting on the glass
that I saw earlier probably attesting to the fact that it had been
designed with that appearance in mind. Like its prototype, the sail, it
caught a lot of wind and acted in the same general manner.

Using the bowie knife that was built into the large frontal buckle of
the anti-electron suit, which, by the way, I was still entirely wearing,
I cut the carpet down its center, making two semi-circular pieces, each
with a moon shaped appearance, much like a wing. I based my idea in part
on the observation that the Canitaurs and Zards had apparently lost, or
disregarded, the springs of my time and instead used a hammock of
springy, elastic cords that spread across the face of the furniture.
Simply put, they stretched elastic ropes across an empty frame, almost
like a trampoline made of individual cords. This created a very
comfortable springing feel, for they gave enough bounce to render the
surface pliable, but not overly soft. Taking the bowie knife again, I
thrust it into the couch, and cut away the cushioning to reveal the
support. To my great relief, I found that it was constructed in a manner
similar to the other couches that I had seen. There were about two score
of the cords, each being between three and four feet long. These I
unattached and laid them down in a pile.

Next, I took the four main support beams for the couch, one running
along each side and two down the center in a crescent shape, with the
same curve and slope as the carpet, as they were designed to contour the
same wall. Then I disassembled the table and took from it two of its
main beams, which were about a foot shorter than their curved
counterparts. These I did not fully remove, instead loosening their
screws and swiveling them to extend outwards from the table at a right
angle, tightening them again afterwards so that they were secure.

Once that was accomplished, I went to the frame that had held the carpet
down and took the pins and fasteners which were used to secure it. These
I placed on the crescent beams from the couch, which used the same
standard size. Once I had secured the carpet sections to the beams, I
attached the couch's beams, via the cords, to the long beams sticking
outward from the table, running the ends of all the cords through
another cord that could, upon being pulled, adjust their height by
pulling or releasing, thus controlling the distance between the upper
and the lower beams, and changing the amount of slack in the carpet that
was stretched between them. I then removed the legs from the tabletop,
leaving just it and the beams together, the carpet being attached to the
beams.

Thus my plan was completed, it being, in case you hadn't guessed, a
primitive hang glider, the carpet being a sail and the beams the wings,
the whole being steerable by either raising or lowering one side or the
other, and the altitude being adjustable by raising or lowering the two
simultaneously. I felt keen joy at my skills in air travel at that
moment, and as I stepped back to admire my work, I felt that peculiar
satisfaction of having made something and finding that it was good.

But that moment was short lived, for another problem quickly presented
itself, namely, how would I remove the hang-glider from the tower and
launch it. It was far too large to go down the stairs and needed to be
propelled to a high speed or dropped from a high altitude to become
airborne. Since I had no way of propelling it, I needed to launch it
from the top of the tower, which provided plenty of altitude, but then
the problem of how to remove it from the tower arose. For a moment I was
stumped and almost admitted defeat, but then it came to me.

The tower's only weakness was in its lack of protection against a
deliberate rocking motion. If I was able to swing it back and forth fast
enough by slowly gaining speed and multiplying the momentum, it would be
possible to get it to lean far enough that the dome would snap off,
leaving the room open to the air. This was possible, though rather
unlikely. But I tried anyway.

Starting on one side I began to move from one edge to the other until a
faint rocking motion could be felt. Then I increased my speed in
proportion to the speed of the tower itself. It was a slow start, but
the momentum began to grow, and as it did each successive sway became
faster and faster. Soon it was going so fast that I began to have
unstable footing, the whole tower creaking like a tree that it is blown
by a heavy wind. The speed kept increasing until it reached its fastest,
swooshing to and fro with all of its accumulated force.

It was then that the break happened, for on one of the thrusts the top
snapped off and the upper dome was flung downwards to the ground. As
soon as it was off I shoved the hang-glider with all the force I could
muster towards the edge. At first it fell, but a few feet from the edge
its wings caught the wind and it was brought up to a stable soar, and
just at that instant I landed on it, for I had jumped right after it. I
hit with a thud and felt the craft bounce downwards a little as I hit,
but it soon regained its stability and sped on through the air as behind
me I heard a great crashing sound.

I pulled the left wing down and the glider began to turn in that
direction. Since I had launched into the opposite direction of the
mainland, I needed to wheel around completely, and as such I held the
wing down until I had done an about face towards the east. What I saw
was a striking picture: the sun had just begun to rise, and under the
influence of its soft textures the city of Nunami looked as it had
before: quaint, picturesque, and inviting. But there was a great
difference now, for the tower itself had completely collapsed under the
momentum, and its ruins had fallen down upon the Temple of Time,
demolishing it and leaving only ruins. It had also fallen on a strip of
the city, taking with it several buildings and leaving only rubble. The
King, Wagner, and Bernibus could just barely be seen amongst the crowds
that had dashed out of doors to see what was going on, and I could tell
that Bernibus was smiling at my escape as he looked at my wind sailor a
thousand feet in the air. A friend who rejoices in your advancement,
even at his own cost, is rare indeed.

Turning my gaze upwards, I left Nunami and its troubles behind me and
looked ahead to my promised land, and though it was barren and devoid of
any significant foliage, it still held something equally dear to me as
landscape: safety. The wind currents were strong and my speed was about
30 miles per hour. Great expanses of grassland sped by below me like the
memories of yesteryear, and within half an hour I found myself over the
ocean.

There is something very refreshing about the sunrise that correlated
very well with my present feeling of emancipation, for it is a symbol of
the new and fresh, and of the forgetting of the troubles of the past.
This was true in my case, at least, for I was soon carefree once more,
secure in my freedom. As the wind rushed across my body, I was relaxed
in my adopted element, air, though it was slightly difficult to keep
myself firmly on the glider, as I was lying unfastened to the tabletop.
Below me passed the ocean, looking generally the same as ever, though
paler and less alive, like a ghost of its former self, but still close
enough to bring the calm of reminiscing.

Soon even the ocean began to give way to the fast approaching mainland,
and I abandoned my restive meditations to solve the problem of how to
land. I had not made any contraptions for that purpose, having not
thought about it in the hurry to leave my prison. I decided to use a
traditional circling approach, in the same way scavenging birds descend
on their prey. When I was a mile or so inland, I began to circle about
in wide spirals, narrowing them as I drew closer to the ground. In this
way I had slowed down enough by the time I made contact with the ground
that neither I nor my craft was injured in the landing.

The terrain proved to be as desolate as it had appeared from the
distance, for the main vegetation was a weakly sprouting grass that was
only a few inches high, though not mowed or chewed down. Every few dozen
yards there was a single stunted shrub or small tree, or in some cases a
group of the same, and the spaces between these was littered with
scattered rocks and occasionally a smaller, flowering plant. The
topography of the land was mostly flat, though not in the sense of a
plain or savanna, instead it was merely a gentle slope, so that the
immediate area seemed flat, but in the distance it was seen to rise
considerably. There were also a few small hills that were no more than
twenty feet high across their whole length, but in the obtuse slopes of
the land, even that seemed to be almost mountainous. Brown was the
prevailing color of it all for as far as my eye could see, though I
cannot say if that condition prevailed inland further, since I had
forgotten the telescope, which would probably have proved a useful tool.


A slight wind blew from seaward, scattering the dry top soil about like
a cloud of gnats, though there were very few actual insects, and no
animals that I could see. The only sound that I could hear was that of
the wind howling gently past my ears. I had landed in a sort of valley,
which, though not at all deep, was surrounded on all sides by slight
hills that prevented me from getting an extensive look at the landscape
beyond. Before making any decisions as to which direction to set off, I
decided to climb to the top of one of these hills to ascertain my exact
situation, and although I was generally reluctant to start off into
unfamiliar territory, I also wanted to put as many miles between me and
the coast as possible, in case the Zards and Canitaurs came after me,
which was still a cause of great anxiety to me.

As I rounded the top of the hill that was directly east of my landing
point, I suddenly came face to face with two small people, gnomes by
appearance, one of whom I recognized as being Onan, the Lord of the
Past. He greeted me familiarly as 'My Dear Jehu', and introduced me to
his partner, who turned out to be Zimri, the Lord of the Future. Onan
was dressed the same as when I had last seen him, and Zimri was close in
appearance, though his hair was long and his beard short, while Onan's
were the opposite. Zimri wore a little blue-green frock that fit rather
snuggly but not enough to be considered tight. I started our ensuing
dialog by saying this:

"I am more than a little surprised to see you upon such good terms with
your rival, Onan," giving Zimri an inquisitive glance as I did. "I had
just assumed that you two would be bitter enemies, as your followers on
Daem seem to be, but I can tell now that that is not at all the case."

He laughed, as did Zimri, and replied, "We are brothers, and as such
there is always a strong rivalry, but at the same time there is the
closest bond. There is no real conflict between us, but only a trivial
and jovial mock conflict, the kind that means no harm and does none, to
those involved, but rubs off on others who are less informed, who take
it seriously and have a real conflict."

"What do you mean by that illustration?" I asked.

"Nothing. Nothing at all," he sighed, "I have said too much already, it
is against the rules, you know."

"Yes, yes, the rules. Tell me, though, how would you say I am doing so
far, am I at least doing fairly?"

"Of course, Jehu, you are doing excellently."

"Is it true about the revolutions of time and matter, then?"

"Yes, in fact, it goes even further than that... Say, Zimri, do you
think it is allowable to tell him about the physical and the spiritual
realms?"

Zimri said nothing, for he can say nothing, but he did nod his head in
the affirmative. Thus sanctioned by his brother, Onan continued to
speak, "Well, you know that physical existence is comprised of time and
matter, and that both of these are involved in a revolving motion, from
the minutest foundations to the largest additions. While they both are
revolving within themselves, they are also revolving together, around an
enigma which, as other of the centers, is completely devoid of the thing
which revolves around it, but is found plentifully in them. In the case
of matter, it revolves around a black hole, in which there is not found
any matter, but there are places of emptiness inside of the matter, in
fact, most of an atom is empty space. In the case of time, it revolves
around eternity, an enigma where there is no such thing as time, even as
there are certain areas where no time exists in physical existence, such
as a book. Likewise, physical existence, which is a combination of time
and matter, revolves around a place in which there is no physical
existence, namely, the spiritual realm. There is no physical in the
spiritual, but there is spiritual in the physical. Physical existence is
not whole without the spiritual, which binds it together in such a way
that gives it life, the ability to think and reason.

"There is spiritual matter in everything, but it cannot be seen or
sensed physically unless it is revealed to one by a force on the
spiritual side. Or rather, it cannot be understood unless revealed, for
it can always be seen through its effects. By this I mean that it leaves
a trace in the physical realm, like a jellyfish that leaves a glowing
trail in its wake. When the brain of a human thinks, it is not the
actual brain that is thinking, instead it is the spiritual matter that
exists in the brain, and this spiritual matter leaves a trail where it
goes of electric signals and such. When someone feels a certain emotion,
such as love or depression, it is felt in the spiritual realm, but its
traces are seen in the physical, such as certain chemicals, but these
are not the cause of the emotion, only the effect of them. It is
possible, through certain drugs, to induce varying emotions, such as
happiness or laughter, but these are not the actual emotions, only their
physical counterparts, so that while it appears to be happiness, it is
not, like the shadow of a man in a field: his form keeps the light from
striking the ground beside him, but the shadow is not him, only the
trace of him. Making a shadow like the man does not make the man, only
the appearance of the man. While the how of a situation may be inferred
through physical means, the why is an entirely spiritual matter, and any
attempt to observe life without taking into account the spiritual matter
behind it will end in the same result as evolution, as the scientists of
your day generally imagined it, but which was, in fact, devolution.

"The laws of the physical realm are called science, such as the fact
that energy and matter are neither created or destroyed in any natural
or artificial process, or that everything left to itself tends toward
disorder, or that life cannot come from non-life by natural or
artificial processes. The laws of the spiritual realm are called
morality. You have no doubt observed that when one does a certain thing,
the end result is always good, and when one does something else, the end
result is always bad. That is because there are spiritual laws that
govern life, and just as there is gravity on the earth that always pulls
things down to it, so there is a spiritual law that whenever someone
steals something, the result is suffering for both of the parties
involved. Just as it is a physical law that man must have oxygen to
live, so it is a spiritual law that when someone murders another the end
result is always suffering. Why is this, one may ask, but that is a
foolish question, or at least a pointless one, for the law of gravity
states that on the earth, all things fall downward towards the center of
gravity, there is no reason why, except that it is, for it is observed
continually to be the case.

"Since men cannot accept that there is a power over them, they deny it,
and in the process they misinterpret the various things of life as
physical things, not the spiritual things that they represent. For
instance, love: men in many "advanced," that is to say, self-obsessed,
civilizations, view it only in its physical materializations, but not in
its spiritual context. When they see the results of love, romance
especially, they do not understand that the romance is only the fruit of
the spiritual essence of love, but instead think that the romance is
love. There can be so-called romance on the physical level without its
spiritual counterpart, but it is only the shadow of love, which will
never fulfill and will never be complete, because, by definition, it is
only a mocking of the true force of love. On the other hand, true
romance is not, as some would seem to think, a certain action or set of
actions, such as the gift of a precious metal or some colorful piece of
foliage, instead it is whatever is the result of the spiritual love, for
the physical manifestation of the spiritual essence of love is not
confined to certain objects or actions, but to any that are sanctioned
with its blessings. The daily toil of a poor man shows far more love
than a lavish gift from a rich man."

When he had finished, I gave him a big grin and thanked him for his
lecture, and then asked him how it was that this did not break the
rules, but other things did. To this he replied that it affected my task
only indirectly, while the other things were all direct concomitants.
Then he asked me if I had any other questions for him, and I replied
that I did indeed have one. Which was as follows, "I know that there was
a great war directly after my departure from my native temporal zone,
and that it was very devastating in its reach and effect, and while I
know that the situation was very tense at the time, I was under the
impression that it was starting to cool down once more. What was it that
set it all off?"

"The disappearance of an American fighter jet off the coast of China,"
he replied straight-forwardly.

My interest was suddenly aroused, for that was the very section where my
squadron was stationed, and anyone who was lost would have been a close
friend of mine. "Go on," I told him.

"The Americans claimed that it was shot down by the Chinese, and
demanded an official apology. That the Chinese would not do, insisting
that they had done no such thing, and instead of the whole situation
diffusing, as you thought it would, both sides proceeded to war
stubbornly, each thinking itself in the moral superiority. But that is
as always."

"Do you have any idea whose ship it was that went down? They were all my
comrades," I said.

"Of course I know, Jehu, for it was your plane."

"But how? I wasn't shot down, I crash landed on an island."

"But you came to me and I sent you here, and since your radios went out,
they had no idea that you were safely landed."

"Still, they must have found the plane!"

"No, you know perfectly well that those islands are brought above and
below sea level at different times. After you left, the island was
brought below the water, and your plane was lost in the sea, no traces
were found."

I was confused, "Onan, does that mean that I was the cause of the war?"

"From a certain point of view, yes."

He was about to say something else to me when we saw in the distance a
group of about ten Munams coming toward us, being at that time a few
miles away. He then told me that he must leave me again for the present,
as he could not interfere directly with my mission. They bid me goodbye
and I did the same to them, and then they walked down the opposite side
of the hill that the Munams were approaching from. As they walked, they
slowly disappeared, until they were gone without a trace, for even their
footprints had faded to nothing.

During the time between Onan and Zimri's departure and the Munam's
arrival, I was left to myself for a period of inward meditation, an
activity that you have probably concluded that I am often given to,
which is entirely the case. This new revelation was very troubling to
me, that somehow I was the very cause of the destruction of humanity
during the great wars, while also the kinsman redeemer over 500 years
later, who was prophesied to be the one to bring humanity back into
balance with nature, or to thrust it forever off the edge of existence
into the damnation of the ice ages. As I told you in the beginning, I am
written in the pages of history as the destroyer of humanity, though if
it is just or not, I am not able to judge. The name of Jehu will forever
be a ripple on the surface of the waters of life, and when it is heard
or spoken, the only feeling that it will bring will be hatred and
disgust. If only mortals could see below the surface of the waters of
life, for just as the ocean can be deceiving on its surface, so can
life. Time is like an ocean, but when one looks upon it, what often
happens is that all one sees is the present reflected back in its
surface, and the eyes are shielded from what lies below, focusing
instead on the surface, which is so trivial compared to the abyss which
supports it. When one only sees the surface reflected back, then history
and its wisdom lose their meaning, and one sees not the past but only
the present. What I mean is this: if you look to the past to justify
your actions rather than to guide them, you will not see the truths
contained therein, but only what your presuppositions already were
before you looked, and your ignorance will be reinforced rather than
repudiated. Wisdom is the ability to see the past separate from the
present, but when one sees the destruction of humanity, he will see only
me, his vision being shielded from the true cause of it all, history.

The actions or inactions of one solitary soul cannot bring the end of
life, only the accumulation of the wrongs and injustices of a whole
race, the human race. Forever I will be eyed as the assassin of
humanity, and yet that is not the truth at all, for I am the father of
humanity, I am the beginning as well as the end. If you view me only as
one or the other, you do not see me at all, but only a pale shadow of my
true self. I am Jehu, past, present, and future, I am the concentration
of humanity in all its forms and reproductions, I am the creator and
destroyer of every age of this temporal maze. Why am I the defender and
executioner of the race of men? Why am I the protagonist and antagonist
of humanity? Why am I the father and the son, the beginning and the end?
Such a question is futile to ask in the physical realm, for here there
are no answers to the why's, they are only to be found in the spiritual
realm. The physical realm is left only with the how's, and it is those
which I am attempting to clarify.






Chapter 12: The White Eagle



It was only a few moments after Onan and Zimri left me that the Munams
arrived, for they had run, spurred on, apparently, by their great desire
to meet me. In appearance they were like I had seen from afar: hairy and
stooped, almost using their arms as legs, but not entirely. Their skulls
were large and oddly shaped and their mouths were pushed out from their
faces like an ape's. A limp, furry tail hung down from their lower
backs, and their hands had a tough, leathery appearance.

There were eight of them, and when they drew near, the foremost hailed
me with an eager gleam in his eyes, like one who has long hoped and long
been denied. His voice was low and gravelly, but not at all uncivilized
sounding, as one would have expected by his appearance, and his facial
expressions were equally as livid and distinctly humanoid. He began:

"Hail, the White Eagle, sent by the gods to deliver us! Hail the
redemption from paradise, coming to bring us home." With that he held
out his arms and embraced me in a very warm, heartfelt manner.

"Hello," I replied, somewhat embarrassed by my lack of authority.

"I am Ramma, leader of the Munams," he told me, "And I welcome you in
the name of us all."

"Greetings, Ramma," I replied, "I am Jehu."

"We are joyous at your arrival, oh Jehu of the White Eagle."

When he said this I had a flashback, a moment of memorial deja vu, when
the present and the past are morphed together by one thought, when one
idea from the past and the present exists in such a way as to connect
the two times around it, forming a nexus between the two moments. I was
brought back to two separate times, the first being my initial meeting
with Onan, when I saw the muraled dome, the genetics of history, and its
depiction of the events which were symbolically representative of Daem:
the deformed man, the warring races, the worshipers of the White Eagle.
The other was my arrival in the Temple of Time, when the King showed me
the altar to Temis, the God of Time, depicted as a great White Eagle,
wrought in diamond and grasping the altar in its talons. There was
something about the White Eagle that connected itself to me inseparably,
something that converged us into one form. I had a sense that it was
somehow a key to the mystery of the end times, but I could not make the
connection. I thought back to what Onan had said to me just a few
moments before, that he and Zimri were close friends, and not enemies at
all, while those on earth believed their rivalry was a serious conflict.
Yet while I had two separate memorial deja vu's, I could not make the
connection between them to figure out what they meant.

"Tell me," I asked of Ramma, "What do you mean when you call me the
White Eagle?"

"The prophecy said that our kinsman redeemer, who would bring us out of
the lands of desolation and into paradise, who would come to us like a
giant eagle, soaring high above the sea. Across the ocean there," he
said, pointing to Daem, "Is Daem, the paradise land, wherein dwell our
enemies the Zards and Canitaurs. They keep us off of the island and on
the mainland by force, and here we have suffered ever since the great
wars, in these desolate and barren wastelands, where there is neither
life nor death, but only a hazy in between. An ancient one with wings
like an eagle was to come and rescue us, the White Eagle, and under his
guidance we are to be led to victory against our enemies.

"To them he would be sent first, humbly he would come to redeem them
from the woes of their own causing, but they would receive him not.
Instead they cast him away, and he was to come to us, to bring us to the
promised land. What a blessed sight it was when we saw you soaring
through the sky on your white wings, and now you have come, my dear
Jehu, you have come at last, in the hour of our greatest need. Come, oh
White Eagle, and let us go to Kalr, our city. Tonight is the Feast of
the Hershonites, celebrating the night that the prophecy was received,
and on the same day shall it be fulfilled!"

With that he turned and set off with a step of exuberance to the
northwest, the other Munams and myself following him. He walked quickly,
and it was all that I could do to match his pace, so that I was left
without breath enough to ask any more questions. From what I saw on our
journey, the landscape was the same across the whole mainland that was
near to the coast, and there was neither change enough nor any landmark
conspicuous enough for me to take any bearings. Without the Munam's
company, I would have been lost.

Ramma led us on a straight course for about half an hour, there being
nothing to steer around, and when that time had elapsed, we found
ourselves in a small, battered city. There were no great buildings or
infrastructure like in Nunami, nor any complex labyrinths like the
Canitaur's military base. Instead there were only weak, unsound huts,
built with a framework of oddly shaped driftwood and covered with a
thick layer of insulating sod. A road ran through the center of the
city, only distinguishable because it was packed down by constant use,
and on either side were groupings of the huts in semi-circular patterns,
with no space between them left unfilled by soil. This created a wind
barrier, preventing the strong winds that whipped across the desert
lands from harassing the inhabitants as they worked and played in their
communal yards. Each such grouping had a field of a strange, potato-like
plant that spread across the back ends of the houses, where the fierce
winds piled up loads of nutrient rich top soil from miles and miles
around. In the center of the protected areas, each of the communities,
for such they were called, had a well that reached hundreds of feet
downwards, bringing them almost unlimited supplies of fresh water. Using
these two major systems, they were able to live in a comfortable manner,
not comfortable in a sense of comparison with the Zards or Canitaurs,
but comfortable in the sense that they had food to eat, clothes to wear,
and shelter to protect them. Under such conditions humanity can thrive,
for happiness is not found in the accumulation of excess comforts, but
in the accumulation of excess love. This the Munams had plenty of, and
from that point of view were more the evolutionary form of humanity than
the devolutionary.

The Munams all wore a sort of close fitting frock, a plain colored one
piece suit that displayed their practicality and modesty. It is a hobby
of mine to observe the clothing worn by different groups of people and
compare it to their characteristics. As I have said before, clothes do
not make the man, but the man certainly makes the clothes, and it is
possible to judge a person's character by the type of attire that they
wear, in that it is an expression of their tastes. The Munams were shown
by their clothing to be a very friendly people, for their frocks were
hung gently about the body in a manner that was at once both carefree
and conservative. This is perfectly analogous to their personalities.

When we came down through the center street, which was really the whole
city, for there were no other roads, the people rushed out to meet us,
and when they were told that it was the White Eagle, they began to dance
joyously about in the streets. There was laughter and play going on all
at once, and it was like a great burden lifted from my heart to see them
rejoicing, for it almost reconciled their sufferings with the Zard's and
Canitaur's ease of life, in that they seemed to be much more happy, in
spite of the circumstances.

Ramma gave a short speech to the people, in which he detailed the
prophecy and its fulfillment and, in general, encouraged everyone to
hope for what was to come. When it was over, he and I retired to his
home, which was rather larger than the others and formed its own
semi-circle, containing as it did both his private quarters and the
official offices of the government, which, while extremely limited in
number, were well outfitted. The door of this building opened into a
short hallway that had several doors adjacent to it. He led me down
one of these and it proved to be a dining hall, though it was not as
commodious as most, with only a round wooden table with a few chairs
around it and some cupboards and cabinets.

Pulling my chair out for me to sit in, Ramma went through all the normal
duties of host with great ease, and within a few moments we were eating
heartily from a great dish of boiled potatoes that had been brought in
by a servant, or rather, a deputy minister of state, for such was his
title. We did little talking before we ate, because I was greatly
famished and as such was ill-inclined to be jovial, not that I was
sullen, but I found it hard to be completely relaxed without a full
stomach. Yet when that was remedied and I found myself satisfied and
comfortable in a warm dwelling, I opened up to Ramma and we had a long
and entertaining discussion, some of which I will record here, as it
shines a little more light upon the mysteries of my story:

"So, my dear Jehu," Ramma began, "I trust your stay on Daem has so far
been enjoyable."

I chuckled quietly and told him, "No, not entirely, for there is a war
afoot on Daem, or at least there seemed to be, and it made quite a bit
of trouble for me."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he replied, "But also gratified, for it will
help us in our offensive if they are against each other as well as us.
Still, it will be hard."

"What offensive is that?" I asked, my interest being perked.

"Our jihad, to capture the lands which were meant for us and reclaim
them from the filth that now inhabit them. You are our kinsman redeemer,
Jehu, but it is not with your presence alone that we will be brought
victory, for we also must act. Ever since the prophecy was given we have
been preparing for a strike that will catch the Zards and Canitaurs by
surprise, for those are our only advantages: time and surprise. The
carrying out of the surprise attack is the hardest part, and we decided
long ago to dig a tunnel under the sea to bridge Daem and the mainland,
for if we had made a fleet of ships, or attempted anything on the
surface, they would have seen and known what we intended to do. The
tunnel is very long, and it was an arduous task to undertake, but with
much patience we prevailed, and now it is complete. In fact, it was only
completed yesterday, though it was started more than 500 years ago."

"How is it that you started so long ago and only finished just before I
arrived? I asked.

"Fate," he answered, "All the happenings of the world are controlled by
a force much greater than us, and it brings everything into completion
when it is needed, no sooner and no later. Many civilizations try to out
wit fate, but they cannot, and in the end they do its bidding. Not,
however, in the way they had planned, and with more consequences than
they would like, at which point they try to change fate again and undo
those consequences, and soon they are in a downward spiral of such
deeds. We recognize that we are controlled by fate, and instead of
fighting it, we go along with it. We know that things will happen as
they are meant to happen, and we knew that 500 years ago, so it was no
great trial for us to work at our task for so long and not to know when
things would be brought to completion. You see, if we had worried about
it and attempted to change to course of events that history dictated,
than we would have only given ourselves more work for the same end.
Stress is the only thing that is created when you try to alter fate, so
it is our philosophy to take things as they come and trust to the powers
that be. You may think it unsophisticated, but that is just as well, for
what matters is not appearances, but reality, and we have the two things
that matter most in life: peace and joy."

I agreed with him, for I had found the same to be true in my own
experiences. I then asked him, "When will this grand offensive be
undertaken?"

"Tomorrow," he said bluntly.

"Tomorrow? Isn't that rather soon?"

"Why? Fate has been fulfilled so far, why wait when it is time to act?
Maybe you misunderstood my meaning: it is not our philosophy to simply
let things go as they will. Instead we relax and let things take their
course when it is not in our power to do anything effective, but when
the time comes to act, we act swiftly and do not delay. In a word, we do
not force fate, either by forcing action where patience is needed, nor
by forcing patience where action is needed."

"That sounds well enough," I said, "But the difficulty lies in the
correct classification of the situation, or in other words, deciding if
patience or action is needed."

"Yes, of course, but in this case it has been decided to attack
tomorrow, and there is nothing left to do but to attack tomorrow. But do
not yet let your spirits be dampened by the onset of war, for tonight is
the Feast of the Hershonites, and there will be great celebrating and
rejoicing this evening. Forget about the troubles of tomorrow and enjoy
the celebrations of today, as I always say. And it is now time for the
celebrating to begin, so let us be off."

And with that we both rose and took our plates into the kitchen that was
connected to the dining hall on the opposite side as the hallway and
deposited our plates to be cleaned later (for even the leaders of a
society must do their fair share of the work). Then we walked back
through the dining hall, down the hallway, and out the door.

Outside we found that the people had already began to assemble on the
road in front of their communities and were preparing for the festival
by chattering with one another as loudly as one would think possible. A
hush began to fall upon them like a descending fog when we came out,
though, and within a few moments it had died down to a ghostly silence,
for all that could be heard was the wind's constant blowing. Ramma took
the head of the procession of Munams that had formed on the road, and I
took the place next to him. With a sort of quiet anticipation of the
joys to come, there was little movement, and what little there was, was
hushed by a sense of subdued excitement. Then, with a somber gait, Ramma
began the parade down the road, in the opposite direction as we had come
from, that being northwest, and all followed him as he did.

The sun at that time was just beginning to set, and once we had crossed
one of the larger hills we came face to face with the coast, the sun's
great red form half sunken beneath its surface. A faint cloud layer
floated by and was illuminated by the twilight so that it stretched
haphazardly across the face of the sun. Never have I seen so profound a
scene as that which then presented itself, with the desert sands and the
ocean's still surface reflecting the last agonies of the sun's descent
into the underworld with such a subtle emotional undertone so as to
render it a subconscious delight. Its recognized superiority to mortal
life forms left us all mute and somber, but at the same time the freedom
felt from the same gave us joy beyond reckoning.

The march to the sea was slow and steady, and when we finally reached
its shores it was just at the change of day and night. Several large
bonfires were lit and by their light a great communal dance began,
everyone jumping around, running, and doing whatever their lighthearted
desire may have been. Under stars that shone like the twinkling in a
newborn's eye, we had such a joyous time that it can hardly be
described. We were no longer within the reach of civility or social
duty, but without it we were not mean nor hurtful to one another, but
were playful and joyous, like children without a care in the world. Our
little games and frolics cannot be described with any accuracy, because
outside of the moment's happiness, they cannot be understood, as it was
a spiritual happiness, existing only in the spiritual realm. All that
could be described is the physical actions that were taken because of
that spiritual enjoyment, but that would do nothing to describe the
feeling of the night. It was one filled with more joy than anything I
have known as an adult, because we became as children in our trusting to
fate, and it was natural, befitting to our natures. Man is not meant to
worry, man is meant to be free from all boundaries, inward and outward,
man is meant to be ruled by only one desire: love of others.

As the night dwindled away, we grew tired, but instead of returning to
the city, we laid down wherever we were when we felt that we could
remain awake no longer, and fell to sleep instantly when we did. It was
not at all uncomfortable, for the sand was soft and a warm breeze blew
in from the water, and though as an adult I would have feared sleeping
so openly in the unknown, I was not at that time an adult.






Chapter 13: The Big Bang



The Munams and I were all awoken at the same time late the next morning
by a loud trumpet blast that shook the very air around us with its
intense bass. For the first moment of our consciousness we were all
dazed and could not fully comprehend the situation, and for a brief time
we all sat unsteadily around the beach where we had fallen asleep. As we
grew more awake, we began to understand what had happened, or at least I
did, and I was frightened when I looked around and saw where the trumpet
blast had come from: the entire Zardovian and Canitaurian armies were
assembled around us, having somehow crossed over to the mainland in the
night, while we slept peacefully, unaware of their presence.

My first thought was for myself, and what would become of me in the
wrath brought on by my escape, but that soon vanished when I thought of
the Munams, for they were the enemies of those on Daem, even more so
than those on Daem were to each other. We were completely surrounded,
with the ocean on one side and the Zards and Canitaurs circling us in
the front, the former on the left and the latter on the right. All of
them were equipped for war, with swords, spears, and shields held firmly
in their hands, and thick, leather armor stretched across their chests.
The Canitaurs had especially come prepared, for they had brought all of
their atomic anionizers with them, enough combined fire power to level
the entire world several times over.

Within five minutes, all of the Munams had assembled behind me and
Ramma, who stood between them and the Daemians. They huddled closely
together and quaked slightly in fear, for they evidently thought that
their plans had been discovered and their enemies had come for revenge.
I, myself, thought that they had come for me, and Ramma's opinion could
not be guessed, for he was a statesman first and foremost, and when his
people were in need he rose to the occasion with all the power and grace
allotted to mortal beings.

Wagner and Bernibus broke the Canitaur's ranks and drew near to us in
the center, as did the King from the Zard's. They reached us in silence,
and for a long moment there was no talking, for all present knew that
something grave was about to happen, something that would decide the
fate of the men of this age, whether they would pass or fail the test.
Bernibus looked at me with entreating eyes, showing his sorrow at my
recapture and asking for forgiveness, but I had none to give him, for he
had done no wrong to need it. He had no power among the Canitaurs, but
was only a titled commoner, more like Wagner's groom than counsel.

I noticed that the Canitaurs were not wearing their anti-electron suits,
which was strange, for they had brought a few hundred atomic anionizers,
though I didn't question them about it, for the answer was evident
enough when I had given it some thought: the Zards had no such suits,
and were afraid that the Canitaurs would destroy them and Munams at the
same time, for while they were allies against foreigners, they still did
not trust each other. I still wore my suit given me for the raid on
Nunami, though I had forgotten about it due to its comfort. That made me
the only person on the earth still wearing one, the only one safe from
the anionizers.

It was an overcast morning, and the air was damp with a cold, wet wind
that blew in forlornly. The ocean's steady swoosh added to the scene,
making it as depressing as the night before was joyous, and in the
bluish half light all was colorless and hopeless. At length the King
spoke, saying, "My dear Jehu, I am very disappointed in you. Not only
did you flee from us irresponsibly, but you destroyed the Temple of Time
and the altar to Temis. Without the White Eagle, the prophecy says that
there is no hope for humanity."

Wagner added, "And now the only way left to bring about the completion
of the world once more is to sacrifice you using the old methods." This
he said with evident pleasure, no longer feigning to be my friend.

Here Bernibus entered the dialog, throwing away his timidness with one
quick motion and saying to Wagner, "You scoundrel! You said that we came
to retrieve Jehu, not to sacrifice him. How is it that you lied to me in
such a manner?"

"You fool," Wagner said, "If I had had my way, you would have been dead
long ago. You have no authority here, so begone."

Bernibus grew angrier, a terrifying state for a Canitaur to be in, and
he was a strong and powerful one at that, though his meek nature had
hidden it before. "You would never dare to kill me in the open, you
coward, the council would banish you," he said.

Here the King joined in once more, laughing, "He wouldn't, no, but I
would. Do you really think that we found your outpost on our own, oh
Bernibus the 'deputy kibitzer'? You know that we have no tracking
ability, and least of all in your own territory."

Bernibus grew more enraged, and the King was spurred on by it.

"Oh yes, you know what I speak of. Your brother-in-law told us where you
and your wife were living, and not only that, for he also told us when
you would be there."

Bernibus became even more flushed with anger and vehemently asked
Wagner, "Why, you heartless brute? What could you possibly value more
than your own sister's life?"

"It was a pledge to the Zards of our intention to abide by the
agreement, what more precious thing could I give then my own sister?" He
spoke calmly and spitefully, enjoying the end of his long charade of
nicety, "Besides, the council was falling for her peace talk, as they
always give great heed to every member of the royal family, and I was
not strong enough at that time to control them, as I do now.
Unfortunately for me you were out at the moment of the attack and able
to escape, but still it was a favorable outcome," Wagner said, sneering
at Bernibus' outrage.

But Bernibus was not to be taken lightly, and neither was he to let the
love of his life go undefended. He leapt at Wagner and grabbed the
remote to the atomic anionizers from his belt, where it was always
clipped. Wagner tried to get it back, but Bernibus was too strong and
hurled him to the ground. Then he took a few steps backwards and stood
his ground far enough from everyone to have at least a moment to react
before they could reach him. He held the remote out towards Wagner,
pointing it at him as if it were itself a weapon, with his thumb and
forefinger in position to set it off at a moment's notice.

"Bow before me now, Wagner, or I shall destroy us all," he demanded with
a grim smile that showed his resolution.

Wagner did as he commanded and fell to his knees in front of Bernibus,
saying in the same gentle, appeasing voice that he had first used on me,
"My dear Bernibus, do not be rash, do not act in anger. Let's talk this
over, and see ... and see if we can't find a peaceful solution," his
fear of death evidently caused him to stammer.

"You fool, do you think that I haven't heard that voice a thousand times
before? Do you think that I will fall for your same trick once more?"

Wagner put his face to the ground and groveled like the filthy swine
that he was, for he knew full well that if Bernibus set off the atomic
anionizers he would die. His life was completely out of his hands and
there was nothing that he could do to reclaim it, except to beg for
forgiveness. This he did, saying, "Bernibus, you do not understand, the
situation was more complex than you realize, and I had no choice but to
act as I did. Do you not think that it was as hard on me as yourself?
She was my sister, my only sibling. But there was no other way, I had to
put the advancement of our people over the life of anyone, even my own
sister, as you must do now, putting the advancement of our people over
petty differences."

Here the King interjected, "Bernibus, do not act rashly, I beg of you,
for if you set off the anionizers, than all is lost. Do you not realize
that if you do that, all that we have worked for all of our lives is
lost?"

It was Bernibus' turn to sneer, and he did, raising the skin above his
teeth and scowling fiercely at the King. "What is it that we have worked
for all of our lives? Do you still not understand? You and Wagner plot
to return the world to its former glory, each by his own way, but take a
look around you. The trees on Daem are taller and stronger than any
known before, the grasses are thicker and livelier, the waters are purer
and cleaner, the wind is fresher. You know no suffering. The prophecy
had nothing to do with you, and nothing at all to do with the
restoration of the world! Can you not see that what you have is far more
than you have need of, that there is no desire left unfilled in your
lives, except that of ultimate power? This world does not need to be
restored. Only your hearts have need of that.

"The prophecy was given for the Munams, who were left stranded here in
this desert wasteland, while across the ocean they could see the great
paradise of Daem, the great paradise that you took for granted. There is
to be no restoration of Daem to its original form, but a restoration of
the Munams to Daem. You struggle to restore Daem, but have no compassion
for the suffering of humanity across the sea. You are the fools, not me,
and you are the ones who have brought us all to the very brink of
destruction, to the ice ages which you have tried so hard to prevent. Do
you not see that Daem is already the paradise, that the only thing that
it needs for completion is the residence of the Munams? Jehu is not our
kinsman redeemer at all, he is theirs." Here Bernibus seemed to lose his
anger and passion and become meek once more, saying humbly, "You have
destroyed the life of one whom I held more dear than myself, but that is
past, and I will not destroy us all for vengeance.

"Zards, Canitaurs, and Munams, hear me now and listen to my words," he
continued, speaking to the amassed groups of the armies that had been
listening closely to his words, "We are not separate people at all, we
are not different races. We are not Zards, or Canitaurs, or Munams, we
are Daemians, and it is time that we came together, to help each other
instead of hindering. Look at how much blood has been shed, how many
lives have been lost, must we all be drowned in the blood of our
brothers before we realize that we are one people? Must we suffer more
than we already have in an attempt to undo what has already been done?
More pain will not negate the pain that has already been felt, it will
only result in more suffering than we have known up to this time. My
friends, we need not look for our redemption in the past, for it has
gone and though it influences us, we are not bound to its suffering. And
we need not look for our redemption in the future, for it is not yet
here, and when it comes it will only be what we make it. Instead let us
look for our redemption in the present, where it can be found, let us
put aside our hate and our divisions and become one flesh and blood, one
body. People of Daem, let us live in peace!" As he said this, the Zards
and the Canitaurs and the Munams all let out a joyous shout of
agreement, and there was seen on every face a remnant of the happiness
that had so long alluded them in their wars.

To emphasize his point of harmony and trust, Bernibus dropped the remote
to the atomic anionizers to the ground. But it would never land. Wagner
leapt forward from his groveling position and grabbed for it as it fell,
reaching out with all his strength. There was a sudden silence that
overtook everyone as they saw what was happening. Bernibus looked down
and saw Wagner leap, but he was too late to prevent him from reaching
the remote. There was no noise at all, for everyone looked in horror at
Wagner's plunging form. As if in slow motion, his hand wrapped around
the remote and he squeezed it so as not to let it go. But as he did so,
there was a loud beeping sound that came from his fist: he had triggered
the anionizers.

The eager faces of everyone there, of everyone alive on the earth, was
turned towards Wagner. The remote had a five second delay built into it,
and those five seconds were the longest of my life. Bernibus' eyes met
mine, and we experienced an intra-personal deja vu, the converging of
the presents of two minds. His face showed the depths of his being in
that split second, and he was peaceful. Though he was about to be
destroyed, he had no fear, no regrets, and in those five seconds, while
Wagner and the King were frightened and frantic at their impending doom,
Bernibus was as calm as ever. As I looked Bernibus in the eyes, I could
hear Wagner break the dead silence with a shrill scream that echoed
across the horizon and ripped through the hearts of every hearer. When
faced with death he had no courage, no strength to face the unknown
beyond the veil that separates life from death.

As I turned and cast my eyes across the horizon, I saw the faces of
hundreds of men, whether Zard, Canitaur, or Munam, and written on
everyone of them was a great despair, for they stood unprotected in the
presence of death. It was like the calm before the storm, those five
seconds, and through them time seemed to stop, to be non-existent, and
there was not a sound to be heard, except for Wagner's scream. Oh, what
anguish was written on the faces of all around, standing defenselessly
before the end with neither will nor way to stop its terrible approach,
oh, what fear filled their eyes as their mortality was made manifest
before them like a vulture's approach, oh, the pain, as fate stood
before their distraught faces and silently whispered, "And to dust shalt
thou return."

But then even that was silenced. There was no noise. As I looked upon
them they were destroyed, before my very eyes they breathed their last
and were no more. One moment they were normal and healthy, and the next
they disintegrated, falling into little heaps of limp skin and bones. In
that moment I felt a horror such as I have never felt before, a complete
loneliness, like a night that never ends. There was no one, nothing,
around me. The force of the blast had leveled the already flat terrain
completely. The ocean was suddenly solidified into the same lifeless,
inorganic mass that the land had become. Across the channel, Daem was no
more. There were no more trees, no more grasses, no more cities, no more
mountains, everything was leveled, decimated. The sky began to turn a
dark, bloody red, and the sun was hidden behind it. Like a disease it
spread across the horizon, devouring the light hearted blue and leaving
only red: lifeless, deathless red. There was no wind, no sound. I was
all alone, I alone had survived the blast because of my anti-electron
suit. I gazed in absolute horror across the field where only seconds
before thousands souls had been congregated. I looked at its emptiness
and I saw nothing, for there was nothing. They were all dead. Every
single one of them.






Chapter 14: Past and Future



I have no recollection of how long I stood there staring blankly into
the void, for the sun was hidden behind the darkened sky. I have no
memory of that period until I saw two short forms coming towards me in
the distance. They walked slowly and methodically, as if they were not
hurried on by any physical concerns. As they drew near, I saw them to be
Onan and Zimri, the Lords of Past and Future. When they arrived I was
awakened from the trance that I had fallen into, and I gave them a
slight bow, for I was still standing upright. The look on their faces
was one of sorrow, for no matter how many times they had seen the
destruction of humanity, each time it brought only fresh, poignant
sorrow.

Onan was the first to speak, breaking the silence with a long, hopeless
sigh, "My dear Jehu," he said, "This age has come to a close."

I could say nothing, for Bernibus' face was still gazing at me in my
memory.

"Do not be saddened by grief or guilt, Jehu, for it is what has always
happened. It is not your fault, for the events that you have witnessed
do not have their roots in your time or in this one, but in the very
foundation of the world. It is not your actions that caused this, but
rather the accumulated momentum of all the ages of humanity, for they
are history, and history reigns by influence. There were no right
choices and no wrong choices for you, for the power of the kinsman
redeemer is not in himself, but in the way that those around him react
to what he signifies. In every age before this you have done the same,
as you will in every age after this as well. You were humanity's last
chance, yet it is not up to you to change their course: it is up to them
to change their own."

Here I raised my head from its dull droop and looked questioningly into
his eyes. "What do you mean," I asked, "That I did not prevent it in any
of the other ages? How could I exist in any other age but this?"

"Then you do not understand?"

"Why else would I ask?" I faintly smiled.

"These are the Ice Ages, the end of an age of history. Every time that
the temporal continuum revolves around eternity, it has a new age, much
like the years of the earth as it revolves around the sun. When the
atomic anionizers went off, they did on a large scale what they were
designed to do on a small scale: reverse the poles through an extreme
electric charge, by injecting countless solitary electrons into the
atoms. But with so many of them exploded at once, they did this to the
earth itself, reversing its poles. It was a theory at your time that the
poles reversed about every 170,000 years, this is because that is how
long an age is.

"When the earth's poles were reversed, it brought all to desolation,
excepting you, for you were protected by the suit. But while this is the
ending of all life on earth, in a way it is also the beginning, for you
see, Jehu, you have just witnessed the Big Bang. In a few days, at the
longest, you will die yourself, for there is no food or water for you
here, but inside of your anti-electron suit, your remains will be
protected. Slowly the earth will regenerate, and when conditions
suitable for life have been once more returned, your suit will be blown
against a rock somewhere and broken open. From that little hole, the
atoms of life, your life, will escape into the atmosphere and grow and
evolve until they become like what things were before you were born.
Then the process will be repeated. You are not only the one who
symbolizes the destruction of humanity, but also the one who symbolizes
the rebirth of humanity. You are the beginning and the end, in a sense,
a descendant of yourself, simultaneously the father and the son. You
will be born again through your own descendants, and will once again
become the kinsman redeemer. It is your destiny, there is no other way.
You are the White Eagle."

"You only confuse me more, what is this White Eagle?"

"Do you remember when we first met, in the Chambers of History? On the
dome of the ceiling there was a sculpture mural, and in it was a White
Eagle, holding many lords and ladies in its talons while it soared far
above the lands, and those on the land were worshiping it. You are the
White Eagle. You hold all of humanity in your hands, for you are the
father of all men, they all descend from you, including you, yourself.
You were the White Eagle, for the altar had no power, the power was only
in you.

"Those who worshiped you were those who worship time, in either of its
forms, past or future. Those who worship the past recognize the
influence of history, and they understand that there are taboos and
traditions created through mutual experience. These traditions reign in
humanity by keeping men from actions that lead to pain and suffering.
But they do not understand that while it influences mankind, the past
does not control them, for it is gone, and it will never come again. In
their strict keeping of traditions, they focus on the physical act of
the tradition, while neglecting the spiritual principle behind the
tradition. If you keep only the physical form of the principle, you have
nothing.

"On the other hand, those who worship the future neglect the past and
the valuable lessons that it teaches. They believe that there is some
moral advancement that places them above those that have come before,
they believe that the people of the past were blinded to the truth, and
that the revelation of the truth in the present supersedes the
traditions of the past. But they are wrong as well, for humanity is
humanity, and those of the past were no more ignorant than those at
present. The people of the past fell into the same traps as the those in
the present, and both suffer the same consequences.

"While one group remembers only the physical display of the spiritual
truth, the other rejects the spiritual truth because of its physical
display. Those who worship the future break taboos because they
recognize that the mere physical manifestation of the truths is not
their entire essence, but they reject the spiritual truth as well. When
taboos are broken, there is nothing gained, but everything lost, for the
physical traditions at least lead to the knowledge of the spiritual laws
to those who seek such wisdom. One taboo is broken, but as there is no
satisfaction in the breaking of taboos, every one of them is broken in
succession. Then there is no limit to the immorality that is left to
freely roam the hearts of men, and when immorality, the breaking of the
spiritual laws, is widely propagated, there is spiritual suffering. When
this spiritual suffering begins to accumulate and is translated into
physical suffering, the people see what is happening, how their very
society is crumbling to ruin around them. Yet instead of recognizing the
truth of what is happening, they see the traditions of the past as the
cause of their problems, and continue to make their plight worse. This
downward spiral continues until at last we find ourselves where we are
now, at the end of an age."

"But what else is there to do?" I asked Onan, 'If both the past and the
future lead to ruin?"

"The answer is in the present, my dear Jehu, for if one focuses on the
spiritual laws that bring good or evil, and acts according to them,
instead of their physical counterparts and manifestations, then things
will thrive and become prosperous. What is evil brings evil
consequences, and what is good brings good consequences, over time. The
ends define the means, just as the fruit shows the tree to be either
good or bad. These spiritual laws become known and remembered, not why
they are so, but simply that they are so. No one can question why, for
morality is observed through its effects, just as science is. When
people observe that one thing brings good and another bad, they remember
to stay away from the bad things and cling to the good. Over time these
evolve into taboos and social restrictions, not meaningless laws
enforced by tyrants for their own reasons, but rules that are observed
by all because the are the laws of the spiritual realm and govern
physical life. But when the people forget what the traditions represent,
then all is lost, and either of the two paths that present themselves
lead to ruin."

"But why do not men see?"

"Because they are rooted too strongly in the physical realm, and cannot,
or will not, see the spiritual. What they see as happiness is not the
spiritual matter that is happiness, but the physical actions the
represent happiness. What they see as love is not love in the spiritual
sense, only its manifestation in the physical realm. When they see the
happiness that comes from a spiritual connection, they seek after it.
But they do not seek after the actual essence of the spiritual
connection, yet after its physical counterpart, marriage. This they take
and defile, and when they go through the physical actions of the
spiritual marriage but forsake the very thing that makes it bring
happiness, they are left without any real sense of satisfaction, without
any real happiness.

"You must understand that the physical manifestation of the spiritual
force is not the spiritual force at all, only a bland deception. If you
only focus on what you can see directly, than you chase after only the
representation and not the object desired. If a bird is flying through
the sky at noontime, casting a shadow on the ground below him, and a man
comes along, and in the hope of catching the bird chases after its
shadow, it is evident that he will never catch it, for when he does
reach it, he will find that there is nothing there at all, only the
shadow of what it was he desired. So it is with the spiritual!"

"Yes, I think that I am beginning to understand."

"Excellent. If only I could tell you more, but I must go, my dear Jehu,
for Father Temis is in mourning for his children, and I must go to
comfort him."

"I thought that you and Zimri were his children?" I asked.

"You are all his children. He is patient, ever so patient, but still
they fall by the wayside, too caught up in their false perception to
rest in him. Fare thee well, Jehu, may you be blessed ere you must die."


And with that, Onan and Zimri turned and walked away in the other
direction, never to be seen by me again, in this age. I took a look
around me, and could not bear to remain any longer in a place of such
ill remembrance. Turning slowly and despondently to the westward, I
began to walk over the lifeless mass of what had been the ocean not too
long ago. For how long I walked, I could not tell, but in due time I
reached Daem, though it was no more hospitable than the mainlands, for
all was laid to ruin by the Big Bang, all was equally devoid of life.

When I came to what had been the center of the savanna, I came across
something that had survived the blast, being unearthed from its previous
burial hole by the force of the anionizer's explosion. It was a two foot
by two foot box, made of a strange metallic substance with an intricate
etching along its top. Written there in its center were these words:

"Temporal Anomaly Box, Number 12, Location: Central Savanna"

I took the lid off carefully, though it was in perfect condition and I
did not need to treat it so, and looked inside of it. There was a
notebook and a pen there, both capable of producing a large of amount of
enduring text. This was one of the boxes that had been taken back
through time in the experiments of the Zards and Canitaurs, designed to
withstand any conditions, and to hold its contents for countless ages,
until they should be retrieved and studied. I sat down on the ground and
began to write my story down, in order to assist whoever takes the job
of kinsman redeemer in the next age. I knew that it would have all been
forgotten, so I made sure to carefully record it, for it could mean the
difference between the life and death of humanity.

This was only hours ago, and now I have reached the end my tale. If by
any chance you come upon this in some subsequent age, I beg you to take
heed, for what I have written will surely come to pass once more if
something is not done to prevent it. There is nothing else for me to
say, for this is the end of my story, and within the next day I will
also pass over to the spiritual realm. What, then, can I say to bring
this to a close, for this is neither the end nor the beginning. I
suppose all that can be said is this:



DEJA VU (THE END)









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