When I awoke the next morning I found Bernibus and Wagner conversingquietly in the corner of my bed chambers, and as I first opened my eyesI saw Wagner looking at me with a blank, glazed expression, whileBernibus' was one of apprehension, apparently on my behalf. It seemedodd to me, but as Wagner became livid again quickly after hissplit-second lapse and gave me a hearty "Good morning", I thoughtnothing more of it. After his greeting, he continued:
"The day is ripe for victory, my friend, and the time is come forbattle. We both have some preparations to complete, and so mustseparate, but we will meet again at noon in the entrance hall. Farewelluntil then," and with that he quit the room.
I looked at Bernibus, yet before either of us could speak, we heard alow, 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 thething to satisfy you and keep you so for a day or more: some mirus. Itis our traditional energy food, for though its taste is bitter, itsafter-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 itsconsumption.
"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 itshaving 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 seemedto mean that I was going back in time to help my ancestors, but you saythat I went forward, that I am one of the ancients."
He was wary for a moment, though if it was because of the apparentconflict, or because I was on a first name basis with his god I couldn'ttell. He soon recovered his countenance and said, "It is a complicatedquestion, 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 hepicked it up from the corner and brought it to me.
It was a subtle dark brown and looked more like a normal suit of clothesthan an electron reflecting suit, but then again, I thought, why wouldit be a strange looking apparatus? Why would an advanced technologicalage necessarily be devoid of any sense of fashion, although that wouldbe assuming that any civilization had ever had one. Fashion is more acharacterization of a culture than a basic and unchanging principle, fora desert people would wear clothes that would be most uncomfortable to apeople who lived in the snow. Clothes may not make the man, but the mancertainly makes the clothes, and you can judge a person by what theywear 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, whichformed closely around the skull and was not at all noticeable orobscuring. In fact, as it was made of a plasma that allowed everythingthrough except lone particles, it was so uninhibiting that a momentafter I had put mine on I had completely forgotten about it. The onlyother part of the suit that stood out at all was the long, metallicbuckle that secured the belt, it having a bowie knife hidden within itin an unnoticeable and inconspicuous manner. Bernibus had put on his asI had put on mine, and as I looked away from the mirror that wasopposite the door, I saw him dressed the same as myself, yet because thesuit 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. Alongthe way I asked Bernibus of his wife, Wagner's sister, of whom I hadheard 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 thattime living apart from the Canitaur mass with a few friends. She wasless aggressive than her brother, and, much to his disapprobation, welived with a group of separatists, believing that war, physicalconflict, is never the right answer to ideological conflict. Wagnerexcommunicated 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 deputyKibitzer. He felt that it would somehow do her honor, as it wouldrecognize us as having been married and make me his brother-in-law,which is an important relationship traditionally, as he has no othersiblings. So here I am, technically second-in-command, but because of mysoft 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 thepain already in existence, yet war is not always avoidable, andsometimes 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 atomicanionizers were to do the main work and the planned raid requiredstealth and secrecy, not force or might. Within a quarter of an hour allthe stragglers had arrived and all the anionizers were accounted for, soWagner gave a short debriefing to ensure that all the members were onthe same page. We were to sneak into the city when the populous wasdistracted by the fire on Lake Umquam Renatusum, which was to be startedat midnight. We would plant the atomic anionizers at the right spacingso as to bring down the whole city once we were escaped, using theremote control provided for that very purpose. The suits would protectus from the blasts, and, as a precaution, the remote had an automaticfive second delay between being pressed and exploding the bombs, thoughit was more for form than practicality. After he finished we set off,being arranged two abreast per row, there being ten rows. Bernibus andmyself were partners, for we had become close friends in the few daysthat I had spent among the Canitaurs, while Wagner was once again theleading guide and Taurus the rearguard.
After crossing the chasm that separated the hall and the entrancetunnel, we came to the long defile that formed the latter and passedthrough it swiftly, the lofty archer guards remaining as stern andimmovable as when I had first come through. We then came to the windingstairs 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 feetthick and 700 feet high, such gigantic trees that were never seenelsewhere, yet constituted the whole forests of the northern lands. Ifound that the stairs were as long as I had remembered, taking us agreat 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 wascompletely unprepared, though the shock helped me by curing me of thedisillusionment that comes from not seeing sun, moon, or stars for anylength of time. Taking a rest for a few moments on the seats on theplatform, we collected our strength. After our brief repose wascompleted, we set off again with renewed vigor across the treeway onwhich I had first come to the Canitaur's fortress. You will rememberthat the road was made by the securing of five or six foot platforms tothe intertwined branches of those great trees, over which one couldtravel with ease and be safe from exposure to those below by the thickfoliage that grew on the trees and was carefully manicured for that verypurpose.
Soon we reached the first platform I had seen, which we had come uponfrom below, but we did not descend there, instead keeping on by thetreeway in the direction from which we had come that night, that beingsouthward, towards the lake, the savanna, and the Zardovian capital,Nunami. The air was warm, with a slight breeze as we went along, andthat, mixed with the plentiful flora about us and the songs of thetreetop dwellers, rendered the whole feeling of the walk peaceful andhappy,
though its end was not to be such. I soon forgot the worldlyconcerns 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 indicatedwe were drawing nearer to our goal, namely, the trees lessening inproportions, the terrain becoming flatter, and the air growing moisterand more vibrant. Still, the trees continued to spring up from theground like great earthen tentacles, for while their size diminished, itwas not by enough to change their demeanor, the trees anywhere on Daembeing great in size.
The sun journeyed with us, and by the time we reached Lake UmquamRenatusum, twilight's last agony was being performed in the heavenlytheater, and the rippling waters mirrored it, adding only a strange,flowing texture. The lake's current caught my eye with its subtleoddity, for it was amiss and it appeared upon close inspection thatthere was an undertow, as if there was an underground river flowing intothe lake and bringing about its swirling currents.
Bernibus saw me looking down at the waters from the lofty road with apuzzled 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 flammabeing pumped into the lake through the underground aqueducts, which, ofcourse, was for the purpose of igniting it to decoy for our raid. Onceit was explained it made sense, yet I looked at it anyway, for it wasstill a gorgeous and inspiring view.
We were moving quickly, however, and it soon was out of sight, and Iagain turned towards our destination with apprehensions of failure. Theyseemed to place great faith in my presence, as the emissary of Onan, andwhile I was, I was also Jehu, and I wasn't confident with my ownabilities. But it was upon those the situation mostly rested, it beingthe resolve of the gods after the Homeric period to take a more removedrole in the lives of men. I wonder how many from my own times weredivine agents, for better or worse. Either way, my main concern then wasmaking the correct decisions, for I rightly believed that my involvementwould decide the matter, although not in the manner I had anticipated.As I looked about myself to reconnoiter the feelings of my comrades Iwas fruitless, for they all wore impermeable countenances, though thatwas itself an indicator of their resolve.
Within an hour after the fall of darkness we reached the outskirts ofNunami, or rather, its edge, for it was walled in with massive stonewalls and battlements, with a sturdy gate of twenty foot width beingplaced at the northern, southern, eastern, and western ends. The treeshung right over the walls, and as such we were able to take positionsfrom 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 ofa dying man, and after a period of worry, it came: midnight, theappointed hour. No sooner had the moon reached its utmost height,shrouding the lands in a shadowless vortex, than a great blaze eruptedfrom the northern lands, and it rose almost instantly to its estimatedheight of five miles. It was a terrible sight to behold, for any flameis a captivating display of inorganic life, but a pillar of flameseveral miles high is more than just an enlarged specimen, for it playshost to a great horde of phantasmal apparitions that wrestle ferociouslywith one another. As the flame shot upwards it cast a great light downon everything that rivaled the illumination of midday. At first I fearedlest the light should show our silhouettes to the Zards, as we werebetween them and it, but it did not, or at least they took no notice ofit 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 inour plans: in order for our small force to infiltrate the city and placethe atomic anionizers, the Zards must not only have been distracted andpreoccupied with the blaze, but they had also to leave the city almostempty and go to the lake itself, for if a cry was raised, or anysubstantial resistance attempted, the complex procedures to detonate theanionizers properly, so as to level the city but not the surroundingcountry, may have been hindered. There were several factors on our sidethough, the element of surprise being the foremost, for in theirexcitement the Zardovian resistance would likely mistake us for aregular sized army and flee in fear at our supposed superiority,especially since the presence of me, the kinsman redeemer, was known tothe Zards. Also, the Zards were known to be curious and careless andruled by the desire for excitement, meaning that if an entertainingundertaking was possible, they would pursue it, no matter how dangerousor ill-advised.
Within a moment after the flame was lit, all of the Zards outside, whichwere many, were gazing with silent wonder at it, and in the secondmoment, all the rest had joined them in their confused contemplation.But the third moment witnessed a drastic change in their behavior, fortheir initial bewilderment wore off and suddenly, with a united preludeof the drawing in of a breath, they all began speaking at once,resulting in a clamorous din that lasted for a few moments, beforethings hushed again and we could hear a few individual voices discussingloudly. Though we couldn't make out their exact words, they wereapparently conferring with one another about what action to take. Ourbreathing became slow and heavy and our brows were knit tensely, for weknew that the fate of our mission rested on what they did then, whetheror 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 ourfavor, for the Zards began exiting the city in a great multitude ofscales that swept along the savanna like a tidal wave over a sandycoast. They came out fast and strong, and through each of the fourgates, though only the northern was fully visible to us, the othersbeing too far to be seen distinctly. Still, we could see them rushingout 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 trotthat they took, allowing them to move safely and swiftly.
The tide of Zards swept steadily past us, and it was a good half an hourlater 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 occasionallya sword, for the threat of war was a constant, but none of them had anyidea that their only danger was behind them. It was not all in the clearthough, for a patrol of guards equipped with long spears and clothedwith a tough, leathery armor were making their way to and fro along thetops of the walls, where there was a platform of about five feet acrossthat served as a road to the soldiers in their watches. It was evidentby their countenances, though, that the guards now on duty were moreinterested in the fire than in their immediate vicinity, thinking, nodoubt, that the laurels were to be won there and not at Nunami, and assuch, they paid little heed to the walls, instead walking with theirnecks craned precariously to the north.
We were able to jump unto the wall silently from our concealed roost onthe treeway when the nearest patrol had passed by. From there we wentalong the wall a short way until we came to a battlement, there takingthe downward leading steps that brought us to the ground. Once there wewere pleased and hopeful at what we saw: everything was abandoned, andno Zards were in sight save those on the walls, whose gaze was castelsewhere. We set to work, then, according to our preset plan, which wasto break up into groups of two and cover the city with our atomicanionizers, so as to spread the destruction as evenly as possible.Wagner and myself were partners, and we took the central district, nearthe government's center, the palace, and the Temple of Time, which roseabove the city like a great tree amidst a desert. It was, in fact, thevery structure that had so stood out to me during my journey through theprairie upon my arrival, and once again its sobering sensation struckme, and I found myself staring up at its top, a full 800 feet high, thebottom being an ornate and elaborate temple. The middle, which suppliedmost of its height, was a long, round tower, and at top there was aspherical pinnacle which had what looked to be a room in it.
Wagner soon called my attention back to our work, and we busiedourselves with planting a bomb at the b
ase of the palace, using asmaller type anionizer, which, I noticed, was set just right so thatwhile all of Nunami would be leveled, the temple with its great towerwould be beyond the impact and left standing. Just as we had set itcorrectly, we heard a high-pitched whistle, which was the preconcertedsignal among the raiders to use if any danger was nigh. We looked updirectly and saw its reason: a squadron of Zards had been garrisonedinside the palace and had not left like the others, apparently becauseits sole purpose was to protect their king, who did not leave the city,being preoccupied with business and not seeing the flames. When he didgo to the window, he saw the fire, and rushed to see what was about, butinstead of finding out, he ran into us, who were right outside thepalace.
Wagner dashed wildly through the streets in an impressive show ofdexterity, and did a wall-jump between two lofty buildings to gain thewall. The others had done likewise, having been trained by a lifetime ofconflict to have nerves of lightning speed and earthly strength. Theirinstincts had come in subconsciously when they had seen the cause of thealarm and they escaped, without thinking of me in the critical moment. Ilacked such strength and speed of mind and was caught as soon as I hadseen the squadron, aided, probably, by the fact that upon seeing me theking had become excited and rushed at me with great speed. When Wagnerhad first turned around and saw me their prisoner, he looked crestfallenand hopeless, for he had no way to rescue me. He held the remote controlfor the atomic anionizers in his hand and was about to set them off andmake good the plan, but before he could, our eyes met for an instant,and we connected beyond time and space, experiencing a strangeintra-personal deja vu. All was silent and still in that instant, and Isaw him struggling inwardly: would he detonate the anionizers and makegood his long awaited plan, or would he retreat and leave the cityunharmed, for though I was wearing the electron reflecting suit, thecollapse of all the high rise buildings would litter the ground withdebris from them, and all on the ground would be crushed. Would he spareme from death, or his people? In that instant his face spoke more thanmany others' do in their entire lifetime. It was cut through with acontrasting countenance, and yet inside of his eyes there was somethingforeign to them shining through, something that I had never seen on hisfretless features before: evil intent. I could not tell if it wasnatural to them and simply well hidden, or if it was an alienexpression, but it was fearfully expressed, and his eyes seemed to say,even at that great distance, that he took a third course, that he wouldsave me, but not for my sake, instead for his peoples'. And then itpassed, for he looked away, replaced the remote to his belt, and leaptto the ground, where the other Canitaurs were awaiting him. I saw him nomore until the situation was much changed.
Chapter 8: The Temple of Time