Legacy of the Darksword (47 page)

Eliza gasped, wanting to believe,
yet not daring to believe.

“No!” Kevon Smythe cried,
half-strangled. “It can’t be! You were dead!”

“ There will be born to the royal
house one who is dead but will live, who will die again and live again,’
“ Joram
quoted. He sat up, hearty and vigorous, and jumped
down from the tomb.

“Quidquid deliqusti.
Amen,”
said the Darksword.

Joram laid the Darksword on
Merlyn’s tomb.

A man appeared beside the tomb.
He was tall, with short-cut white hair and a gray, grizzled beard. He wore
armor of an ancient design over chain mail. He bore no weapon, other than a
staff of oak twined with holly.

Reaching down, he clasped his
hand around the Darksword and picked it up.

“You’re no Excalibur,” he said, “but
you’ll do.”

“Thank you,” the sword said
coldly.

The old man held the sword high
in the air and spoke words long forgotten. Light began to shine from the
sword,
a light that was blinding to some, for Smythe cried
out in pain and flung his arms over his head. His followers clapped their hands
over their eyes, lowered their heads, unable to look.

I could not take my eyes away.

The light expanded, spreading
outward, banishing the darkness. A globe of light surrounded the tomb, and then
a globe of light surrounded those of us standing near the tomb. The light
flowed outward, to the grove, the broken city of Merilon , the shattered world
of Thimhallan.

The light lit the heavens,
encompassed the starships.

The light lifted us up.

I stood in a radiant globe that
was bearing me upward. Looking down, I saw the dark rain-wet grass below my
feet. I saw Smythe gazing up in wonder and horror; seeing his own doom swarming
out of the skies to claim him. Thimhallan, a world founded by exiles, fell away
from me.

We would be exiles ourselves,
refugees fleeing to some new world, lit by some far distant star.

But we bore the magic with us.

H
aving read and reviewed my
manuscript, Saryon suggests that I include a detailed explanation of our time “hopscotching,”
for fear that many of my readers may be confused. Certainly, as he said, it was
confusing enough just living through it. When Scylla explained it to me later,
after we had settled ourselves in our new world, it made much more sense. I
have therefore included her descriptions of the alternate time lines in an
appendix, which follows.

I have written before about the
various Mysteries of Life that existed on Thimhallan. There were nine of them,
seven of them which existed in the world during Joram’s lifetime. Two of the
Mysteries—that of Time and that of Spirit—were lost during the Iron Wars. It
was believed that all the practitioners of these Mysteries died. That was not
the case. Scylla herself was of the Seventh Mystery, that of Time. She was a
Diviner.

Possessing the ability to look
into the future, as well as into the past, the Diviners were said to be closest
to seeing the Mind of God.

“We do not view the future as one
long path,” Scylla told me. “Rather, we see it as several paths branching off a
main road. Mortals can walk but one path at a time, the paths of their choice.
The rest are alternate futures, what might have been.”

The Diviners looked into the
future and saw the Hch’nyv. They saw the ultimate defeat of Earth Forces, the
eradication of human life from the universe.

“That existed in all paths,” said
Scylla.
“All except one and that in only one of his many
paths.
If Joram could come to the tomb of Merlyn on the very last night
at the very last second of the very last minute of the very last hour and in
that second present the Darksword to Merlyn, the greatest of all magi would be
able to cast a spell that would save humankind from destruction, transport them
to a new world.

“Unfortunately, every path we
took to reach that second ended in disaster.

“We generally do not meddle in
time, but this was critical. There was a chance, a slim one, but that chance
could be obtained only by a manipulation of times—of jumping between times. It
would be tricky, for the participants must be rescued from one time before they
died and transported to another. The four of you had to be dropped down in the
middle of alternate lives you never knew you had been leading.

“It was imperative that two of
you—you, Reuven, and Mosiah—recalled the alternate time, even though it would
confuse you, for you had to be able to take what you learned in one and
transfer it to another.

“As for Eliza and Father Saryon,
the tasks each had to perform were so dangerous that I deemed it best, for
their own peace of mind, if neither knew of the alternate time. Such knowledge
might cause them to hesitate at a critical moment. Also, the fact that they
were so comfortable in their own times helped you and Mosiah to adapt more
quickly.”

Scylla grinned at me. “Better to
have two of you confused than all of you.”

That depends on how you look at
it, I suppose.

And this, I believe, wraps up my
story. I must put my manuscript aside now, for it is my wedding day. It has
been a year to the day that we have spent on this wonderful new world and Eliza
and I are marking the anniversary with our wedding.

Her father, Joram, has accepted
our union, though of course he does not consider me at all good enough for his
daughter. He will never love me, but I think he is at least beginning to like
me a little. He says that he sees much of Father Saryon in me and he smiles his
dark smile when he says this, so that I believe it to be a compliment.
Most of it, anyway.

In Gwendolyn, I have found the
mother I never knew. She has learned sign language for my sake and we spend a
part of each day in study, for she is teaching me much I need to know about how
she uses Life. Magic is abundant on this new world of ours. Even we catalysts
can use it.

All but Father Saryon.
And Joram.

He will not even try, though both
Gwen and Eliza tease him to do so. He is content with himself as he
is,
which must be the greatest blessing to come to him in
this lifetime.

As for Scylla and Mosiah, they
were married almost as soon as we arrived in our new part of the universe.
Theirs is an interesting and exciting life, if dangerous. For, just as there
are dark and shadowed parts to the human heart, so there are dark and shadowed
parts to the world of our creation.

Father Saryon is, at last, truly
happy and content. He is spending his time formulating a new theory of
relativity, having figured out where Einstein went wrong on the last one.

As for Simkin, we have not seen
him since we left Thimhallan.

But I always look twice at
anything orange. . . .

T
his was taken from Scylla’s
description of our “time hop-scotching,” as Mosiah so inelegantly put it. I
have written out each of the three time lines involved. You can see where they
have been cut and spliced in my story.

The Darksword is forged. Joram
goes
Beyond
and is gone for ten years. He comes back
to Thimhallan to warn of Menju the Sorcerer, a Dark Cultist (one of the
blood-doom knights) who has plans to attack Thimhallan. Earth Forces attack.
Joram goes to the Temple of the Necromancers, seeking help for his wife,
Gwendolyn, who does not communicate with the living but talks only to the dead.
Here, due to Simkin’s betrayal, Joram is killed by an assassin’s bullet.

The Darksword is recovered by the
grieving Father Saryon, who rescues Gwen and flees with her to the Font. Earth
soldiers attack the Font, and some of the catalysts are killed. Many more are
able to hide in the numerous catacombs and tunnels. Here Saryon finds a
five-year-old boy whom he names Reuven, crouched near the bodies of his dead
parents. Saryon rescues the child and takes him along with Gwen to safety.

Gwen continues in her madness,
only now she is happy for she can talk to Joram, who has become one of the
dead. She longs to join him and remains among the living only to give birth to
their daughter, Eliza. Gwen dies soon after. Saryon is left to raise Eliza and
Reuven. Keeping Eliza’s identity a secret, Saryon flees with the children to
Zith-el.

The
armies of Earth win. Menju the
Sorcerer plans to take over Thimhallan. Fearful of attack from the magi, he
orders that the Well of Life be sealed. The source of magic is shut off, except
from a chosen few—Menju and the other Dark Cultists. Magic dies in Thimhallan.
The people are forced to learn to live without it. They must rebuild their
cities and they turn to the Sorcerers to help them.

A schism arises among the Dark
Cults. Menju is put on trial before the
Sol-t’kan.
He is found guilty of
innumerable crimes, the main one being that he intended to rule Thimhallan
alone, without offering to share any of its resources with his brethren. Menju
is put to death. Kevon Smythe takes over rulership of the Dark Cultists.

Smythe travels to Thimhallan.

Saryon discovers that the Dark
Cultists are searching for the Darksword. Guided by the Almin, he ventures into
the Zoo, which has been damaged in the assault on Zith-el. The magical
boundaries that surrounded the Zoo have been destroyed, its creatures roam
free. Saryon comes across the lair of a Dragon of Night. The creature was
stunned during the attack on Zith-el. Having been caught outside in the light,
it is comatose.

Saryon charms the dragon, who
swears its loyalty to him. Saryon leaves the Darksword with the Dragon of
Night, telling it that it should give the sword only to himself or the heir of
Joram, Eliza. Bound by the charm, the dragon agrees. Saryon returns to Zith-el,
continues to live there with his adopted children, Eliza and Reuven.

Smythe was going to put Prince
Garald to death, but foreseeing his doom, the Prince fled Sharakan before the
soldiers could capture him. He and his followers hid out in the Outlands,
always on the run from the Technomancers. Garald dreams of driving Smythe from
Thimhallan, but without magic, there is little he can do against the powerful
Technomancers.

At this juncture Simkin returns
from his travels to Earth. Garald accuses Simkin of betraying Joram and orders
him put to death.

Simkin bargains for his life. He
knows of a source of magic, if Garald is interested.

The Well of Life is sealed, but
Simkin reveals that there is a tap, used by Smythe and his people to renew
their own magic. In a daring raid, Prince Garald, his friend James Boris,
Mosiah, and their knights steal into the Well and, following a swift, bitter
battle, unseal the Well.

Magic is once again released into
Thimhallan. Garald forces Smythe and his Technomancers to retreat to Earth.

Garald’s one worry is the
Darksword. He knows that Smythe is searching for it and fears that if the
Technomancers find it, they will use it to once more rule the world. Garald
believes that Saryon knows where the Darksword is hidden. He finds Saryon and
his wards—Reuven and Eliza. Garald is struck by Eliza’s beauty and guesses her
parentage. Saryon reveals her true identity. Garald asks about the Darksword.
Saryon is evasive.

Garald puts Joram’s daughter,
Eliza, on the throne of Merilon. Merilon and Sharakan are allies. Bishop Vanya
has died. Cardinal Radisovik has been made Bishop and he decrees that Father
Saryon should be Eliza’s adviser until she comes of age. Father Saryon accepts
this task reluctantly, thinking
himself
un-suited. He
leaves Reuven behind at the Font, in training as a catalyst.

Magic is restored, but it is
weak. Though the barrier surrounding Thimhallan is rebuilt, magic is found to
be seeping out of it and there doesn’t appear to be anything anyone can do to
stop it.

The people live on a combination
of sorcery and steel. The
Duuk-tsarith
are
the
wizards, they being the ones with the most power left in magic. Prince Garald
trains more knights to guard the realm.

Times are difficult. Though at
first Garald was viewed as a savior, he has come to be reviled. Smythe, in
exile on Earth, has his followers upon Thimhallan and they foment unrest among
the lower classes, foretelling the coming of the end of the world unless Smythe
is permitted to return to save it.

The Hch’nyv
have
attacked outposts and are closing in on Earth. Smythe is secretly plotting with
the Hch’nyv, agreeing to give them Earth if he is given Thimhallan. The Hch’nyv
have no intention of honoring the agreement, planning to kill Smythe as soon as
he hands over the Darksword, which their own Diviners have warned them means
ultimate defeat.

Taking the form of an angel,
Scylla appears to Bishop Radisovik and warns him of a great doom coming to all
peoples on Earth and Thimhallan. The Darksword must be taken to the tomb of
Merlyn and this must be done by Joram’s descendant, Queen Eliza. Radisovik
informs King Garald. At the same time a messenger arrives from General Boris,
telling of the Hch’nyv’s approach. Garald is convinced of its truth.