|
Home Index of Tales of Strange Adventures
"Call of the Dragon, Part I"
"Call of the Dragon, Part II"
"Ruins and Hopes"
"Shield Maiden" Cornell #3
"Warrior Eternal" Cornell #4
"Childhood of a Fighter"
"The Pledge" Cornell #5
"The Rock of Discontent"
From here on, downloads will only be listed at the
Downloads page!
"A Tale of the Gods"
- Read in HTML (from Part One)
"The Miracle of Solstice Day" Cornell #6
- Read in HTML (from Chapter
One)
"Life's Values"
"Tangled Elves"
"The Pilgrims' Trial and Faith"
|
by
Marc H. Wyman & Chris Bogues
The
city wall towered high over Lonapal. The god gazed up its broad gilded
blocks of stone, towards the silver caps cresting it. Like the sea,
Mannannan had said, when he did this section. Haguen had not been pleased
that the god of water had presumed to build a part of the wall. For half a
millenium, the two had not spoken a word to each other.
And
neither did they now. The charades had been a bad idea, he now realized.
Both were so serious that they could not see how enjoyable they were. Oh,
how much fun Lonapal had always had playing with the villagers! How they
amused him by trying to transform their tiny ideas into gestures! They had
rarely guessed his gestures right, at least in the beginning, before he
taught himself to lower his ideas to their level. After all, how could
they possibly comprehend the concept of a moon circling a planet because
of its own speed and the planet’s gravity?
Lonapal
smiled. A little longer, and then he could play with the villagers again.
Maybe they had devised a new game? Something physical perhaps. He could
easily limit his strength and limbs to the same as the villagers had, that
wasn’t difficult, and then he could have fun from the start.
Still
so many days until he could traverse the city wall. He sighed and leaned
against the gleaming surface. It felt warm under his back. “Like the
sea,” Lonapal chuckled. The sea wasn’t warm, it was cold, but
Mannannan hadn’t let that stop him. He’d wanted to be comfortable with
this.
Lonapal
patted the wall, reaching a bit inside to see how far the warmth extended.
He frowned after a moment. It was still warm several inches inside, not
the cold of rock. He was sure that Mannannan had only coated the surface,
not worrying about the interior. Curiously Lonapal turned around and
stretched his arm further out, extending it further than the normal
length. And it was still warm. He reached out more, and then he felt his
fingers pass through the wall into the open air.
“I
should ask your forgiveness,” Lonapal shook his head. “Mannannan, you
are a better artificer than I gave you credit for.”
A
presence came closer, he felt and turned his head. Alyssa strode along the
circumference of the wall, seeming very concerned with herself. The poor
girl, Lonapal thought. She was taking the situation worse than he was.
“Hello, Alyssa!” he called out. “Care for a little game?”
The
goddess gave a start, then essayed a small smile in his direction –
which died the moment she saw him. “What are you doing?!” she shouted
and hurried over to his side.
“Why?”
Lonapal asked as he withdrew his arm. “I’m… Well, I wanted to find
out how Mannannan built this, I mean how –“
“How
far did you reach through the wall?!”
Lonapal
shrugged. “To the outside. Did you know that it’s warm all the –“
Alyssa
pushed him aside, stepped past the confused god through the wall. Lonapal
blinked, wondered if he had missed something when the goddess re-emerged,
a bright gleam on her face as she slapped his shoulder. “That’s
wonderful, Lonapal! You did it!”
“Good,”
he mumbled, rather insecurely. What was it about a warm wall that excited
her like this?
She
laughed heartily, slapped him again then patted the wall which was solid
to her touch now. “I didn’t think this was possible. Haguen’s always
so concerned with duty, and he – Well, we won’t tell him, will we?”
Lonapal
wondered what exactly she was referring to, but he quickly shared her
laughter. “No, certainly not.” He went on laughing a bit longer before
he realized that Alyssa had stopped. “Uhm, is there a problem?”
“Apparently
so,” Alyssa said with a raised eyebrow. “You haven’t realized that
you’ve found an exit, have you?”
“An
exit?” Lonapal gaped at her, before his eyes swiveled first to the wall,
then to his arm which had just reached the outside of the Eternal City.
“An exit!” he cried.
Alyssa
snickered, but sobered up quickly. “All right, there is a way out of
this cage after all. I need to tell my brother, so please don’t go out
before he’s here, too. When Decirius finds out about this, you can be
sure he’ll close it down in a heartbeat.”
Lonapal
stared at the hidden passageway in merriment. He could go to the villagers
now, there was no need to wait! He could play charades, he could
– oh, he could do all the things he so enjoyed. Casting the blaze of
happiness, becoming air and light. Oh, yes!
“No,”
he whispered.
“What
is it?” Alyssa asked, on the verge of leaving for her brother’s study.
“I…”
Lonapal started, stopped and thought about the right words. “Decirius
said we are not to leave. If he overlooked this opening, it… That
doesn’t mean we should disobey his commandment.”
“Excuse
me?” the goddess muttered. “You’re happy to stay here? Look, it
doesn’t make any sense to coop us up here! Decirius hasn’t said a word
why he’s doing this!”
“He’s
always taken care of us,” Lonapal insisted cautiously. He could tell
that Alyssa didn’t like what he said, but he needed to explain himself.
He needed to make her understand and appreciate his opinion. Yes, that was
it. She might not enjoy it at this point, but she had to see it was the
right thing. “Alyssa, our lord has never steered us wrong. We have
followed every one of his commandments for all our existence, and that was
good. We shouldn’t disagree with him whenever we do not like his
orders.”
“Oh,
really?”
“Yes,
absolutely,” he hurried to say. “We do not know the purpose of his
actions. I… I have faith in Decirius that there is a good reason for
this, one that will benefit us all. You cannot think that he would intend
to harm us!”
Finally!
That thought hit her enough to make her angry façade melt for at least a
brief while. She had to see the truth of his words!
Alyssa
turned up one end of her lips. “No, he wouldn’t harm us. That is, as
long as we follow his orders. The question, Lonapal, is whom he wants to
benefit. The entire abode, or himself?”
The
god was taken aback. She was questioning Decirius, he who had always been
there for the abode, he who had taken up justice as his purpose.
“Alyssa,” Lonapal whispered, “you’re treading a dangerous course.
Because you don’t believe in our lord’s righteousness anymore. That
only because of one decision, a single order that is unpleasant to you.
Please, reconsider. Talk to Decirius. Ask him to explain everything. I…
Alyssa, he has always been just. Always! You mustn’t forget that, I beg
you.”
She
listened to him. That was more than he had expected. But then she said,
“Justice is a two-edged sword. My brother could lecture you about it for
a couple of centuries, but I don’t have the patience. If you’re
convinced that Decirius has imprisoned us for our own good, fine. I
don’t agree, and my brother and I will decide what we do with this
opening.” She had spoken with an even voice up to this point. Now her
voice took on a deeper tone as she leaned forward to look into the god’s
eyes. “Don’t tell anybody about this passage. If you do, I’ll make
sure you’ll rue this day. I am stronger than you.”
“Yes,
you are,” Lonapal agreed. The conversation had taken a turn for the
worse, worse than he had imagined. “You… I won’t do anything against
you, I promise. I like you too much for that.”
Her
stare did not waver for several uncomfortable heartbeats, then she pulled
her head back and smiled. “I know, Lonapal. I like you, too. But now, I
will go see my brother,” Alyssa said sweetly before whisking herself
away.
Lonapal
frowned and wiped his forehead. He was glad, in a way. Alyssa liked him,
that was very… nice. Yet she would leave the Eternal City, along with
her brother. What would become of her when Decirius found out? The chief
god would be angry, that was sure.
Maybe
Lonapal should tell him, so he could not punish Alyssa. On the other hand,
would she then still like him? He sighed. Why did existence have to be so
difficult? The mortals had it much easier, with their tiny lives that held
no problems when the gods provided everything for them.
|
