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"Yes, mortal, indeed we are. As well as you knew when you first saw us."
"Yes, I knew...indeed." In fact he had thought that all the gods were long
dead, or departed from the world of humankind. "And why is he like this?"
"He has fallen in battle, mortal. I and he and others have laid siege to
Cloudholm, and it has been a long and bitter fight. We seek to free his
father, Helios, who lies trapped in the same kind of enchantment there.
Through Helios' entrapment, the world of old is dying. Have you heard of
Cloudholm, old mortal? Among men it is not often named."
"Ah. I have heard something. Long ago..."
"It stifles the mana-rain that Helios cast ever on the Earth. With a fleet of
cloudships like this one, we hurled ourselves upon its battlements and were
defeated. Most of the old gods lie now in tormented slumber, far above. A few
have switched sides willingly. And all our ships save this one were
destroyed."
"How could they dare?" The words burst from Bormanus, the first he had uttered
since boarding the cloud-vessel. Then he stuttered, as Je's eyes burned at
him: "I
mean, who would dare try to destroy such ships? And who would have the power
to do it?"
The goddess looked at the boy a moment longer, then reached out and took him
by the hand. "Lend me your mortal fingers here. Let us see if they will serve
to drain enchantment off." Bormanus appeared to be trying to draw back, but
his hand, like a baby's, was brought out forcibly to touch the statue-figure's
arm. And Zalazar's hand went out on its own once more; this time he could not
keep it back, or perhaps he did not dare to try. His fingers spread on rounded
arm-muscle, thicker by far than his own thigh. The touch of the figure made
him think more of frozen snake than flesh of god.
And now, Zalazar felt faint with sudden terror. Something, some great power,
was urging the freezing near-death to desert its present captive and be
content with
Zalazar and Bormanus instead. But that mighty urging was mightily opposed, and
came to nothing. At last, far above Zalazar's head, as if between proud kings
disputing across some infant's cradle, a truce was reached. For the moment. He
was able to withdraw his hand unharmed, and watched as Bormanus did the same.
The goddess Je sighed. It was a world-weary sound, close to defeat yet still
infinitely stubborn. "And yet I am sure that there is something in you, old
man...or possibly in your young companion here. Something that in the end will
be of very great importance. Something that must be found...though I see, now,
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
that you yourselves can hardly be expected to be aware of what it is."
He clasped his hands. "Oh great lady Je, we are only poor humans...mortals..."
"Never mind. In time I will discover the key. What is written anywhere, I can
eventually read."
Zalazar was aware now of a strong motion underneath his feet. Even to weak
human senses it was evident that the whole cloud was now in purposeful and
very rapid flight.
"Where are we going?" Bormanus muttered, as if he were asking the air itself.
He was a very handsome youth, with dark and curly hair.
"We return to the attack, young mortal. If most of our fleet has been
destroyed, well, so too are the defenses of Cloudholm nearly worn away. One
more assault can bring it into my hands, and set its prisoners free."
Zalazar had been about to ask some question, but now a distracting realization
made him forget what it was. He had suddenly become aware that there was some
guardian presence, sprite or demon he thought, melded with the cloud, driving
and controlling it on Je's commands. It drew for energy on some vast internal
store of mana, a treasure trove that
Zalazar could only dimly sense.
Now, in obedience to Je's unspoken orders, the light inside the room or temple
where they stood was taking on a reddish tinge. And now the cloud-carvings
were disappearing from what
Zalazar took to be the forward wall. As Je faced in that direction, pictures
began to appear there magically. These were of a cloudscape first, then of an
earthy plain seen from a height greater than any mountain's. Both were passing
at fantastic speed.
Je nodded as if satisfied. "Come," she said, "and we will try your usefulness
in a new way." With a quick gesture she opened the whiteness to one side, and
overhead. A
stair took form even as she began to climb it. "We will see if your value lies
in reconnoitering the enemy."
Clinging to Bormanus' shoulder for support, Zalazar found that the stairs were
not as hard to negotiate as he had feared, even when they shifted form from
one step to the next. Then there was a sudden gaping purple openness above
their heads. "Fear not,"
said Je. "My protection is upon you both, to let you breathe and live."
Zalazar and Bormanus mounted higher. Wind shrieked thinly now, not in their
faces but round them at some little distance, as if warded by some invisible
shield. Then abruptly the climbing stair had no more steps.
Zalazar thought that they stood on an open deck of cloud, under a bright sun
in a dark sky, in some strange realm of neither day nor night. The prow of the
cloudship that he rode upon was just before him; he stood as if on the bridge [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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"Yes, mortal, indeed we are. As well as you knew when you first saw us."
"Yes, I knew...indeed." In fact he had thought that all the gods were long
dead, or departed from the world of humankind. "And why is he like this?"
"He has fallen in battle, mortal. I and he and others have laid siege to
Cloudholm, and it has been a long and bitter fight. We seek to free his
father, Helios, who lies trapped in the same kind of enchantment there.
Through Helios' entrapment, the world of old is dying. Have you heard of
Cloudholm, old mortal? Among men it is not often named."
"Ah. I have heard something. Long ago..."
"It stifles the mana-rain that Helios cast ever on the Earth. With a fleet of
cloudships like this one, we hurled ourselves upon its battlements and were
defeated. Most of the old gods lie now in tormented slumber, far above. A few
have switched sides willingly. And all our ships save this one were
destroyed."
"How could they dare?" The words burst from Bormanus, the first he had uttered
since boarding the cloud-vessel. Then he stuttered, as Je's eyes burned at
him: "I
mean, who would dare try to destroy such ships? And who would have the power
to do it?"
The goddess looked at the boy a moment longer, then reached out and took him
by the hand. "Lend me your mortal fingers here. Let us see if they will serve
to drain enchantment off." Bormanus appeared to be trying to draw back, but
his hand, like a baby's, was brought out forcibly to touch the statue-figure's
arm. And Zalazar's hand went out on its own once more; this time he could not
keep it back, or perhaps he did not dare to try. His fingers spread on rounded
arm-muscle, thicker by far than his own thigh. The touch of the figure made
him think more of frozen snake than flesh of god.
And now, Zalazar felt faint with sudden terror. Something, some great power,
was urging the freezing near-death to desert its present captive and be
content with
Zalazar and Bormanus instead. But that mighty urging was mightily opposed, and
came to nothing. At last, far above Zalazar's head, as if between proud kings
disputing across some infant's cradle, a truce was reached. For the moment. He
was able to withdraw his hand unharmed, and watched as Bormanus did the same.
The goddess Je sighed. It was a world-weary sound, close to defeat yet still
infinitely stubborn. "And yet I am sure that there is something in you, old
man...or possibly in your young companion here. Something that in the end will
be of very great importance. Something that must be found...though I see, now,
Page 17
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
that you yourselves can hardly be expected to be aware of what it is."
He clasped his hands. "Oh great lady Je, we are only poor humans...mortals..."
"Never mind. In time I will discover the key. What is written anywhere, I can
eventually read."
Zalazar was aware now of a strong motion underneath his feet. Even to weak
human senses it was evident that the whole cloud was now in purposeful and
very rapid flight.
"Where are we going?" Bormanus muttered, as if he were asking the air itself.
He was a very handsome youth, with dark and curly hair.
"We return to the attack, young mortal. If most of our fleet has been
destroyed, well, so too are the defenses of Cloudholm nearly worn away. One
more assault can bring it into my hands, and set its prisoners free."
Zalazar had been about to ask some question, but now a distracting realization
made him forget what it was. He had suddenly become aware that there was some
guardian presence, sprite or demon he thought, melded with the cloud, driving
and controlling it on Je's commands. It drew for energy on some vast internal
store of mana, a treasure trove that
Zalazar could only dimly sense.
Now, in obedience to Je's unspoken orders, the light inside the room or temple
where they stood was taking on a reddish tinge. And now the cloud-carvings
were disappearing from what
Zalazar took to be the forward wall. As Je faced in that direction, pictures
began to appear there magically. These were of a cloudscape first, then of an
earthy plain seen from a height greater than any mountain's. Both were passing
at fantastic speed.
Je nodded as if satisfied. "Come," she said, "and we will try your usefulness
in a new way." With a quick gesture she opened the whiteness to one side, and
overhead. A
stair took form even as she began to climb it. "We will see if your value lies
in reconnoitering the enemy."
Clinging to Bormanus' shoulder for support, Zalazar found that the stairs were
not as hard to negotiate as he had feared, even when they shifted form from
one step to the next. Then there was a sudden gaping purple openness above
their heads. "Fear not,"
said Je. "My protection is upon you both, to let you breathe and live."
Zalazar and Bormanus mounted higher. Wind shrieked thinly now, not in their
faces but round them at some little distance, as if warded by some invisible
shield. Then abruptly the climbing stair had no more steps.
Zalazar thought that they stood on an open deck of cloud, under a bright sun
in a dark sky, in some strange realm of neither day nor night. The prow of the
cloudship that he rode upon was just before him; he stood as if on the bridge [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]