Chapter II:
Victory
The End of the War
Every torch was lit in Peiraso, and every fireplace was ablaze with warm red fire. It was late summer, and the night sky was cloudless. The stars seemed to sparkle and dance even as did the revelers below. Hundreds of men, women, nobles and peasants broke bread together and feasted, celebrating the deliverance that had come at last to Noras and to the Galvahirne. For Dadron had been spared, Marin had been defeated, and the shadow that lay over Noras had at last been removed. It was the twenty first day of Solest, in the thirty-third year of the fourth millennium of our age.
Speeches were made, songs recited, poems devised and good food was passed around to all. At the center of all, seated side by side in the great hall of Peiraso was Cheftan Biron and his wife Marima, and at their sides sat both their sons. This was, in fact, the first day they had all been together for some 7 years, which is when Dynamis first left home for the east.
The joy of their reunion seemed to flow from them like a river from its mountain streams, and happiness orbited about them in waves and cheers. There was a cool breeze that evening, and by means of the many windows of Cheft Biron's estate it was allowed to enter Peiraso at will, cleansing as it were, the last heat of summer from the house and the last stench of Cheft Ponteris' treacherous occupation. Much of its splendor had been diminished as Ponteris carried off what goods he wished and sent many other things as bribes to those who were loyal to him - or to those whose loyalty he meant to acquire. Some of these things had been returned, but the greater part of theme were lost in the blaze that consumed Natham, Ponteris and his finely ordered house alike.
Seated beside Dynamis, strong and beautiful as the sun, but cold and somber as the frozen north sea, sat Lyris of Marin. So sorrowful and noble was her face that it was impossible for her to go without notice, and her place beside the heir of Galvahir was also noted. The whispers and rumors soon required an explanation, and Dynamis explained it thus:
'When at last we had made an end of our enemies, chasing the army of Amlaman into the west and the army of Marin into the river, we entered the city of Dadron and joined in the great celebrations that had therein begun. But ere a grin or a cheer would pass from the lips of the men of Galva, the son of Biron was sought out. When it was made known to us that my dear brother was alive and well, and when it was made known what brave deeds he had performed on the field of battle, we at last let loose our teeth to smile, like ten-thousand swords unsheathed for war. A cry we let out as well, greater than any war-cry. But it was a cry of joy. Heaven had vindicated the sons of Galvahir it seemed, and all would soon be set to rights.
'For a week I remained with my men in that city, seeing to its restoration and planning how we might restore the forest of Noras to its former state. But on the ninth day after the battle, I saw Maru, flying high above the city, swooping down to draw attention and then soaring up into the northwest, as if to warn us that our labors were not over. Noras was not yet free. Ponteris, indeed, had no hope of victory; but a hopeless foe is more perilous than one full of ambition. My heart sunk, and I knew that I must make haste to Noras. I took my leave of the lords of the city and of my brother, who insisted I take Novai, my beloved horse, and make all haste to our father.
'Thus, by Novai's mighty hooves I made the journey from Dadron to Noras quicker than ever was done by rider or walker. At first I sought out news, making myself out to be a stranger. But as I drew closer to Oastir-la, the sense of peril that had impelled me to undertake the journey in the first place came upon me again, and, casting aside my traveler's cloak, I rode on toward the Usurper's house openly and full of rage. But as I arrived I was greeted by a spectacle such as I could not have anticipated. The whole house was ablaze, and the whole night sky seemed to be illuminated by it.
'In great desperation I dismounted and rushed into the building. As if guided by some good spirit I made my way through halls that had not yet seen smoke or flame, to the place where my dear mother had been, for all these years, kept captive. Sending her from the house, I made my way to the cellar, where I found Cheftan Biron, lord now of all Noras, imprisoned and left by his guards to perish in the conflagration.
'When at last the Cheftan had been freed from his cell, I led him out of the house to be reunited at last with his dear wife, whom he had not seen for all these years. Joyful as such a reunion was to my heart, I perceived that my work in that place was not yet finished. There on the grass, just where the light of the burning house seemed at last to fail, lay a woman of unsurpassable beauty. I took her up into my arms and carried her back to where I had left my tearful parents. As I walked, she stirred, and said in a whisper, 'Two new stars. Two new stars.'
'Indeed, that very night it was that we first noticed those bright brothers of the night, those shining stars of heaven that seem to have heralded the victory of the Noras over their enemies and the punishment of their enemies.
'For it was not Ponteris only who found justice that night. In the north and in the Southeast, the brigands of Bronning made such a noise and such a clamor of swords that the servants of Olgrost and those faithful to Ponteris were set to flight. Thinking their lives to be worth nothing at all, and being fully convinced that in a life to come they would be duly rewarded, the mercenaries of Titalo, along with a great many others, both of Daevaron and of Noras, fought a fierce battle against all our enemies. Seeing the end that fell upon their master Ponteris, and seeing how the soldiers of Marin were divided against themselves, and seeing also how Amlaman was driven away from Falsis into the west, whatever residue there was of that fell plot disappeared from Noras forever. Cheftan Horan and Cheftan Gornas came to Peiraso with many gifts and with many apologies, but to no avail, they were stripped of their honors and put in chains. So also did we deal with all those who happily served the betrayer of the Galvahirne. If after all of this, any foe yet remained, the return of the army of Galvahir has sent them so deep into hiding that we need fear them no more than we fear the insects of the ground.
'But so it was that upon returning to this land I found this fair and sorrowful maiden of Olgrost. When I had been told her story in full, I offered to send her speedily back to the land of her birth, but she refused, saying, 'To that land of darkness never shall I regress. Here the infant light of heaven first I saw, and so here in this land my days shall pass and end.'
It was not long before rumors, both innocent and obnoxious, began to circulate regarding the former Marshall of Marin and her tenure in the house of Cheftan Biron. When these rumors at last reached her ears she said to Dynamis, 'In the home of your kindly family a guest I shall not long remain.'
To which he answered, reassuring her, and taking her hand into his own, 'It is not my will that you remain always a guest.'
The news of their betrothal was greeted by the people of Noras with great enthusiasm. The great feast of Peiraso, which I have already described, was as much in celebration of this pairing as it was in praise of the victory and restoration of the Galvahirne. To some, indeed, the taking of a noble woman, rescued from the wiles of their eastern enemies, seemed to represent their triumph in human form.
The Lesser Son
Throughout all this time, Dynamis grew in the eyes of the people of Noras. His warrior hands seemed to grow soft and his raiment tidy and his face clean and young. But it was not so for his brother. Daryas, for all that time ate no meat, nor would he drink anything but water. He grew thin and wane, and his eyes were always somber.
In his presence, all happiness seemed to be stolen away, and men found an almost unbreakable gloom to rest upon every room in which he sat. He cheered, indeed, for his brother's betrothal, for there was nothing in the whole world that delighted him more than his brother's happiness. At the great feast he almost seemed to have shaken off his unhappiness when he was, as tradition requires, asked to bless his brother's impending union.
'I have been asked to pray for my brother's health,' Daryas tol
d his listeners. 'But what is it that sets the mark for such things? To what are they compared that are called either sickly or well? Before us this day stands what, to me, has always seemed to be that standard and rule. Dynamis is, to me, that universal and unwavering ideal, that living law, who inspires respect and honor with his every word and deed.
'His happiness, then, we celebrate this night. And glad am I to see him come to it. For all these long years he has sought truth, righteousness, kindness, but never happiness; at least, never his own happiness.
'Hail Dynamis Galvahirne, Biron's son! Proud am I to have stood in your shadow.' A tear fell from his eye, but his voice did not waver as he spoke.
At this the whole estate seemed to burst into songs and cheers, and the celebration lasted long into the night. Great tents were prepared out on the lawn and every room in Peiraso was filled with guests.
'That was well-said, my son,' Marima said to Daryas when all the clamor of the evening had ended. 'I am honored by both of my sons.'
'You are most gracious,' he replied, 'We both know his great worth.'
'Know you not your own worth?' Marima said to him kindly.
'What is worth? I am worthy of my mother's love, I am not doubtful,' he said as he kissed her cheek. 'But what measure is that? For the Fell Usurper of Oastir-la had this as well. No man survives his infancy if he is not at least worthy of his mother's affections and his father's protection. But of what makes men great I am not constructed. And to men like my brother, I am but a shadow.'
'Your brother thinks more of you than that, you know well,' she said sternly.
'Indeed,' Daryas laughed, 'and in that singular mistake of his, in that he thinks better of me, I take comfort, knowing that for all his learning and prudence he is still less than a god.'
'Are you so unhappy to be home at last, my son?' she said with sorrow in her voice.
'My happiness is as a treasure sunk beneath the waves,' he said. 'Do not trouble yourself with it, mother, or you will sink after it in your gloom.'
Greatly troubled by such words, she went at once to her husband. Biron, however, could get no more from Daryas than the assurance that he was indeed, truly glad for his brother's happiness.
That night, and indeed, every night since the ending of the war, Daryas dreamed his terrible dreams. In the waking hours he was little better, hearing, he thought, the fell and powerful voice of Evna accusing him of wickedness. Added to all this was the knowledge that in every way it was Lutrosis who truly bore the mastery over his words, thoughts, and deeds. 'Well hidden, you are, devil, ' he said to himself, 'when many good men surround me I am tempted almost to believe that you are dead.'
This thought would only bring to his remembrance, the words of that demon, when he said, 'you have always served me, though you have denied me and hidden me in dark places.'
He woke from his dream with a fright, and found that he was covered with sweat.
Without a word, indeed without even a thought it seemed to him, he rose from his bed and dressed himself. He took all of his equipment, his dagger, a bow and arrows, his chain shirt and wrapped them in a great bundle in such a way that they would make little or no noise. These he lowered from his window with a rope, so that he would not be encumbered with them as he stole through the house. He might very easily have climbed out of the window himself. But there was something within the main hall of the house that he had great need of, or so he seemed to believe. In silence he crept through the house, making use of all the stealth he had practiced during his exile. He came to the meeting hall, and took from its stand, Aevangelu, the sword of Hiron, which had belonged to his grandfather.
Without a sound he slipped from that room and found his way to the kitchen. There he took a few scraps of food, enough to last him to South Lake or to Belnan, where he deemed he could better prepare himself for his journey (to whence he was not fully certain). Taking what he could carry, and what he thought would not be greatly missed, he passed out through a side entrance and came at last to the place where he had left his belongings. All of this he carried to the stable, where he found a man named Alsan standing watch. 'Your horse is prepared, son of Biron,' he said at once, rising from his seat.
'My horse,' Daryas said with great amazement.
'Indeed,' he said, 'I was given instructions that the horse Novai was to be kept ready at all hours for your use.'
'But Novai is my brother's horse.'
'Not by your brother's account,' the man said. 'Dynamis came to me before he left and said, "This horse I give to my brother, he will have greater need of her than I shall henceforth."'
'Dynamis is gone?' Daryas said with great surprise.
'He had some political affairs to attend to in Dadron, I don't doubt,' Alsan said, smiling. 'He will be going to and from that great city a great deal I fear, now that the Galvahirne had saved it from peril.'
'It was not the Galvahirne, but the Monster that saved Dadron,' Daryas corrected him.
'Nonetheless, to Dadron the heir of Biron must go, to maintain the alliance that has for so long proved itself to be the foundation of the peace of Falsis.'
Daryas turned his eyes to Novai and patted her neck. 'A kingly gift my brother has given me once more. Would only that I were worthy of it.'
'All of us are debters, my lord,' the servant said as he led the horse from her stall. 'Who does not die a debtor to parents, a debtor to the earth, a debtor to fellow man? Much has been given to us, and to pay for it all is beyond our ability. But gratitude alone is within our grasp, therefore, be content with that.'
'Thank you,' Daryas said as he received from this kindly servant both horse and counsel. 'Farewell, Alsan, you are a faithful servant.'
'May heaven watch over you,' the man said, repeating the blessing that had been introduced in place of 'Pelas guide thee' since the release of Cheftan Biron.
Day And Night
From the ending of the war until this moment, Daryas had been tormented both day and night by some fell spirit or another. By day he heard the voice of Evna, who taunted him for his weakness, and threatened him with cruel promises of torment and death. By night, the dark servants of Pelas crept into his mind and sent dreams and visions, much as they had done before. As always, he heard at the last that same fell voice question him. He always awoke that very instant, never remembering what, if anything, came to pass after those words. For this reason he was always in a state of confusion when awake, and helplessness when asleep. 'Useless knowledge in dream, hapless ignorance in life,' he cursed his state of mind.
It was Lord Pelas' intention to bring the whole of Weldera under his dominion, and (who can know?) perhaps eventually the whole world. But there is much in the mind that even those called gods cannot fathom. There is also much concerning the future that cannot be known, even to such a being as Pelas. A long life gives a man prudence through the wealth of his experiences; but even an immortal cannot attain anything resembling certainty concerning things yet to come. So the visions he gave to Daryas were troubling on two accounts: Firstly, there was undoubtedly much that was added to them by Daryas' own imagination, and so they could not reveal, or at least not clearly, what it was precisely that he was intended to know or to do. Secondly, there was much in Pelas' predictions that could not properly be called prophecies, but rather, prudent guesses at best.
The dream, in full, when all its parts were arranged according to the pattern in which they typically appeared, was as follows:
'On a seashore of pure white sand, surrounded by nothing but a silent wilderness, I find myself at rest. An island I can see at a great distance. It is of such beauty that I cannot resist casting myself into the waves and swimming for it. But long ere I reach it, a voice calls to me and summons me back to the shore. 'Leave me alone,' I protest, 'For I would rather die trying to reach that blessed place than sit here wishing and languishing forever.'
'I will show you how to reach that which you have long desired,' the voice says. I turn to loo
k upon him, but his face is hidden. In his hand he bears the sword that was broken in Dadron, and I perceive that it is Lord Pelas himself, god of Falsis, that thus speaks to me. 'But ere I tell thee, there is that which must first be accomplished. Even as your great forefather first rescued Dadron and then afterwards was blessed with the help of the gods, even so must you perform first your pledge.'
'My pledge?' I ask him, puzzled.
'In your youth your father swore the lives of his children and his children's children to me. Do you think that the gods forget such oaths easily? Do you think, that though your father perish, he shall be released from an oath sworn to the god of his fathers?'
'What must I do?' I ask.
Suddenly, I find myself in that forest, which by now I know better than even my beloved Noras. That wooded valley in which lies the Nunnery of the Devil, from which many of our foremothers were anciently stolen. I am told that I must bring the Siren to Noras, and from there wage war against Amlaman.
But when I enter the woods I hear the voice of Pelas lamenting, 'Flames!? Not in flames! Curse the erring stars! Curse the distant meddlers all!'
I am transported, as it were, to the Nunnery, and what passes there I can never tell, for it is as changing and shifting as a rapid, and as dark as midnight. Leaping flames and laughing shadows encompass me, and a new will enters my heart. A dark will and an evil thought comes to me, and I recognize it immediately. All my hopes he holds within his fists, ready to crush, and to replace them with dark desires and secret wishes. My heart rises and sinks and as he speaks, I realize who he is at last. But then, waking, I forget, and my ignorance replaces the clarity in a flash, leaving only cold fear and perilous uncertainty in its wake. Then I am left with a riddle, the answer to which I know not.'
Such is the dream, as it was described in his own words. Noctunan, if my reader will recall the name of that fell spirit on whom was placed the duty of inspiring these dreams, had been, along with many other such spirits, cast into the pits of hell for his failure to instill in the young Galvahirne a full understanding of his divine task. Though I am not altogether convinced that Pelas himself was ever possessed of certainty regarding the means to his desired end.
'What is the meaning of this dark voice, which ever wakes him ere the truth of my will can be revealed?' he demanded of Noctunan and his fellows.
'I do not know,' he said, shaking his head. 'For many ages I have haunted the dreams of mortal men, and for most of that time I have been among the dreamers of the Noras. I am better acquainted with their temperaments than any other, yet I cannot make sense of what has come to pass. Be assured, blessed master,' he said, 'There are none who can do better than I in this regard.'
Such excuses serviced these nightmarish spirits for a while. But as time wore on, Pelas wearied, and he sent them one by one into the fires that burn beneath the earth. New spirits he summoned to his side to take the place of the former. With these he was much better contented. But these, knowing the fate of Noctunan and the others, simply told him what he desired to hear, that, 'Much progress has already been made,' and, 'It will doubtless be within the month that some new secret shall be revealed to us,' and many other such empty words. But in his folly, empty words seemed to be all that Pelas could comprehend. He ignored all the warnings of Maru, who indifferently and aloofly told him that he should not expect his plan to succeed, nor should he ever expect the people of Noras to rise up and conquer Amlaman.
'We shall see, fell demon of birds, who is god in Weldera after all. When they march to war, they shall not be alone. I myself shall go at their head, with my servants at my side. And when peace is brought to the North, the South shall rise up to join with me, and the old order of things will be restored.'
At those words even the great eagle Maru could no scoff, for he still remembered the days when Pelas ruled over all Bel Albor as a king of flesh and blood.
When Pelas at last ceased from tormenting him, however, Daryas was not free to shake off the terrors of the night. In his mind he heard always the fell voice of the goddess Evna, who accused him with cutting words and with evil sayings. 'Shadow-born I name thee; a dark son of a black-hearted people. Thy mother's shame and thy father's bane thou art. Happy to love a lie art all thy kin. But thou, and I alone, the truth of thee doth understand.'
More than anything else - more than the dreams and the waking terrors - what drove him to leave behind the comforts of Peiraso and set out alone for that hidden place was the voice of that most beautiful creature Leonara, Princess of Amlaman. Her beauty alone seemed to be a comfort to him, and when he reflected upon her voice it seemed to come to him with new words; words he heard not from her lips, but which seemed to pass over the mountains from her heart to his. 'Rescue me, forever thou shalt be mine alone. Flee from me, I shall destroy thee. Come unto me again and I shall again drive thee away. But come nonetheless, and we shall never be parted.'
'A heart of peril ought to love a heart of peril,' he thought to himself as he rode away on his brother's horse once again. 'It is a lovely night,' he thought, 'a lovely night for the lovely. But for such as I it is a good night to vanish away.'
Thus he set out alone, seeking the fate that had for so long overshadowed his every thought and deed.