The Munams and I were all awoken at the same time late the next morningby a loud trumpet blast that shook the very air around us with itsintense bass. For the first moment of our consciousness we were alldazed and could not fully comprehend the situation, and for a brief timewe all sat unsteadily around the beach where we had fallen asleep. As wegrew more awake, we began to understand what had happened, or at least Idid, and I was frightened when I looked around and saw where the trumpetblast had come from: the entire Zardovian and Canitaurian armies wereassembled around us, having somehow crossed over to the mainland in thenight, while we slept peacefully, unaware of their presence.
My first thought was for myself, and what would become of me in thewrath brought on by my escape, but that soon vanished when I thought ofthe Munams, for they were the enemies of those on Daem, even more sothan those on Daem were to each other. We were completely surrounded,with the ocean on one side and the Zards and Canitaurs circling us inthe front, the former on the left and the latter on the right. All ofthem were equipped for war, with swords, spears, and shields held firmlyin their hands, and thick, leather armor stretched across their chests.The Canitaurs had especially come prepared, for they had brought all oftheir atomic anionizers with them, enough combined fire power to levelthe entire world several times over.
Within five minutes, all of the Munams had assembled behind me andRamma, who stood between them and the Daemians. They huddled closelytogether and quaked slightly in fear, for they evidently thought thattheir plans had been discovered and their enemies had come for revenge.I, myself, thought that they had come for me, and Ramma's opinion couldnot be guessed, for he was a statesman first and foremost, and when hispeople were in need he rose to the occasion with all the power and graceallotted to mortal beings.
Wagner and Bernibus broke the Canitaur's ranks and drew near to us inthe 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 thatsomething grave was about to happen, something that would decide thefate 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 myrecapture and asking for forgiveness, but I had none to give him, for hehad done no wrong to need it. He had no power among the Canitaurs, butwas 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 evidentenough 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 thesame time, for while they were allies against foreigners, they still didnot trust each other. I still wore my suit given me for the raid onNunami, though I had forgotten about it due to its comfort. That made methe only person on the earth still wearing one, the only one safe fromthe anionizers.
It was an overcast morning, and the air was damp with a cold, wet windthat blew in forlornly. The ocean's steady swoosh added to the scene,making it as depressing as the night before was joyous, and in thebluish half light all was colorless and hopeless. At length the Kingspoke, saying, "My dear Jehu, I am very disappointed in you. Not onlydid you flee from us irresponsibly, but you destroyed the Temple of Timeand the altar to Temis. Without the White Eagle, the prophecy says thatthere is no hope for humanity."
Wagner added, "And now the only way left to bring about the completionof the world once more is to sacrifice you using the old methods." Thishe said with evident pleasure, no longer feigning to be my friend.
Here Bernibus entered the dialog, throwing away his timidness with onequick motion and saying to Wagner, "You scoundrel! You said that we cameto retrieve Jehu, not to sacrifice him. How is it that you lied to me insuch a manner?"
"You fool," Wagner said, "If I had had my way, you would have been deadlong ago. You have no authority here, so begone."
Bernibus grew angrier, a terrifying state for a Canitaur to be in, andhe was a strong and powerful one at that, though his meek nature hadhidden it before. "You would never dare to kill me in the open, youcoward, the council would banish you," he said.
Here the King joined in once more, laughing, "He wouldn't, no, but Iwould. Do you really think that we found your outpost on our own, ohBernibus the 'deputy kibitzer'? You know that we have no trackingability, 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 youand your wife were living, and not only that, for he also told us whenyou would be there."
Bernibus became even more flushed with anger and vehemently askedWagner, "Why, you heartless brute? What could you possibly value morethan your own sister's life?"
"It was a pledge to the Zards of our intention to abide by theagreement, what more precious thing could I give then my own sister?" Hespoke calmly and spitefully, enjoying the end of his long charade ofnicety, "Besides, the council was falling for her peace talk, as theyalways give great heed to every member of the royal family, and I wasnot 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 ableto escape, but still it was a favorable outcome," Wagner said, sneeringat Bernibus' outrage.
But Bernibus was not to be taken lightly, and neither was he to let thelove of his life go undefended. He leapt at Wagner and grabbed theremote to the atomic anionizers from his belt, where it was alwaysclipped. Wagner tried to get it back, but Bernibus was too strong andhurled him to the ground. Then he took a few steps backwards and stoodhis ground far enough from everyone to have at least a moment to reactbefore 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 andforefinger in position to set it off at a moment's notice.
"Bow before me now, Wagner, or I shall destroy us all," he demanded witha 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 thisover, and see ... and see if we can't find a peaceful solution," hisfear of death evidently caused him to stammer.
"You fool, do you think that I haven't heard that voice a thousand timesbefore? 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 swinethat he was, for he knew full well that if Bernibus set off the atomicanionizers he would die. His life was completely out of his hands andthere was nothing that he could do to reclaim it, except to beg forforgiveness. This he did, saying, "Bernibus, you do not understand, thesituation was more complex than you realize, and I had no choice but toact 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 toput the advancement of our people over the life of anyone, even my ownsister, as you must do now, putting the advancement of our people overpetty 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 realizethat if you do that, all that we have worked for all of our lives islost?"
It was Bernibus' turn to sneer, and he did, raising the skin above histeeth and scowling fiercely at the King. "What is it that we have workedfor all of our lives? Do you still not understand? You and Wagner plotto return the world to its former glory, each by his own way, but take alook around you. The trees on Daem are taller and stronger than anyknown before, the grasses are thicker and livelier, the waters are purerand cleaner, the wind is fresher. You know no suffering. The prophecyhad nothing to do with you, and nothing at all to do with therestoration of the world! Can you not see that what you have is far morethan you have need of, that there is no desire left unfilled in yourlives, except that
of ultimate power? This world does not need to berestored. Only your hearts have need of that.
"The prophecy was given for the Munams, who were left stranded here inthis desert wasteland, while across the ocean they could see the greatparadise of Daem, the great paradise that you took for granted. There isto be no restoration of Daem to its original form, but a restoration ofthe Munams to Daem. You struggle to restore Daem, but have no compassionfor 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 ofdestruction, to the ice ages which you have tried so hard to prevent. Doyou not see that Daem is already the paradise, that the only thing thatit needs for completion is the residence of the Munams? Jehu is not ourkinsman redeemer at all, he is theirs." Here Bernibus seemed to lose hisanger and passion and become meek once more, saying humbly, "You havedestroyed the life of one whom I held more dear than myself, but that ispast, and I will not destroy us all for vengeance.
"Zards, Canitaurs, and Munams, hear me now and listen to my words," hecontinued, speaking to the amassed groups of the armies that had beenlistening closely to his words, "We are not separate people at all, weare not different races. We are not Zards, or Canitaurs, or Munams, weare Daemians, and it is time that we came together, to help each otherinstead of hindering. Look at how much blood has been shed, how manylives have been lost, must we all be drowned in the blood of ourbrothers before we realize that we are one people? Must we suffer morethan 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 willonly result in more suffering than we have known up to this time. Myfriends, we need not look for our redemption in the past, for it hasgone and though it influences us, we are not bound to its suffering. Andwe need not look for our redemption in the future, for it is not yethere, and when it comes it will only be what we make it. Instead let uslook for our redemption in the present, where it can be found, let usput aside our hate and our divisions and become one flesh and blood, onebody. People of Daem, let us live in peace!" As he said this, the Zardsand the Canitaurs and the Munams all let out a joyous shout ofagreement, and there was seen on every face a remnant of the happinessthat had so long alluded them in their wars.
To emphasize his point of harmony and trust, Bernibus dropped the remoteto the atomic anionizers to the ground. But it would never land. Wagnerleapt forward from his groveling position and grabbed for it as it fell,reaching out with all his strength. There was a sudden silence thatovertook everyone as they saw what was happening. Bernibus looked downand saw Wagner leap, but he was too late to prevent him from reachingthe remote. There was no noise at all, for everyone looked in horror atWagner's plunging form. As if in slow motion, his hand wrapped aroundthe 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 triggeredthe anionizers.
The eager faces of everyone there, of everyone alive on the earth, wasturned towards Wagner. The remote had a five second delay built into it,and those five seconds were the longest of my life. Bernibus' eyes metmine, and we experienced an intra-personal deja vu, the converging ofthe presents of two minds. His face showed the depths of his being inthat split second, and he was peaceful. Though he was about to bedestroyed, he had no fear, no regrets, and in those five seconds, whileWagner 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 couldhear Wagner break the dead silence with a shrill scream that echoedacross the horizon and ripped through the hearts of every hearer. Whenfaced with death he had no courage, no strength to face the unknownbeyond the veil that separates life from death.
As I turned and cast my eyes across the horizon, I saw the faces ofhundreds of men, whether Zard, Canitaur, or Munam, and written oneveryone of them was a great despair, for they stood unprotected in thepresence of death. It was like the calm before the storm, those fiveseconds, and through them time seemed to stop, to be non-existent, andthere was not a sound to be heard, except for Wagner's scream. Oh, whatanguish was written on the faces of all around, standing defenselesslybefore the end with neither will nor way to stop its terrible approach,oh, what fear filled their eyes as their mortality was made manifestbefore them like a vulture's approach, oh, the pain, as fate stoodbefore their distraught faces and silently whispered, "And to dust shaltthou return."
But then even that was silenced. There was no noise. As I looked uponthem they were destroyed, before my very eyes they breathed their lastand were no more. One moment they were normal and healthy, and the nextthey disintegrated, falling into little heaps of limp skin and bones. Inthat moment I felt a horror such as I have never felt before, a completeloneliness, like a night that never ends. There was no one, nothing,around me. The force of the blast had leveled the already flat terraincompletely. The ocean was suddenly solidified into the same lifeless,inorganic mass that the land had become. Across the channel, Daem was nomore. There were no more trees, no more grasses, no more cities, no moremountains, everything was leveled, decimated. The sky began to turn adark, bloody red, and the sun was hidden behind it. Like a disease itspread across the horizon, devouring the light hearted blue and leavingonly red: lifeless, deathless red. There was no wind, no sound. I wasall alone, I alone had survived the blast because of my anti-electronsuit. I gazed in absolute horror across the field where only secondsbefore thousands souls had been congregated. I looked at its emptinessand I saw nothing, for there was nothing. They were all dead. Everysingle one of them.
Chapter 14: Past and Future