The Fire and the Storm - Metric Pro Edition: Fiction, Dragons, Elves, Unicorns, Magic (90 page)

The Sylvan god raised his hand and spoke in Blezogeth.  “My people, The People of Stealth, I tell you that I was unprepared for the initial casting of the time-bubble by the other gods.  It was not my intent to leave you for so long, with barely a farewell and without preparing you to deal with those you were trapped on these islands with.  It was lucky that the situation was resolved without your extermination or the extermination of the newcomers you were enclosed with.

“As they told you, and as the other gods have impressed upon me, our world faces vast changes and formidable enemies.  I have seen that we ignored the world around us for too long, and the time has come for all of us on Kellaran to join together to protect what is ours.

“Know that I therefore approve of the changes and co-operation that has taken place here since I left.  Know as well that I have formed binding agreements with the other gods ensuring peace between us, and pledged my efforts and those of my people to the defense of Kellaran.

“But know that I have
not
joined the consensus of the gods, I did not agree to the terms of The Withdrawal, I have not sworn on The Truthstone of Falgaroth, nor have we joined The Just Alliance.  I am still your god, my religion is still intact, I expect its conventions to continue to be observed among you, and you are still
mine.
  I am still pledged to your protection.

“As you continue the new training that has been introduced among you, know that I expect you to also continue the training and practices that I have given you, the training and practices that have made you the stealthiest people on Kellaran.  If not for the fluke development of a new kind of psionic mind within the time-bubble with you while I was trapped outside, all of us would still remain completely unknown to everyone else.

“When the time-bubble ends again I will have new training for you, training I have developed with the Gods of Hiding of Kellaran and of The Triax, the Gods of War of The Southernmost and of The Kwetkerthok, and one of the Gods of War of The Triax.

“When you have completed that new training, you will be the stealthiest fighters in any arena; on land, in caverns, on water, under water, and in the void!  When Kellaran has need of the stealthiest fighters for the trickiest missions, I intend that we will be chosen for those missions!

“For millennia we remained unseen by any god or mortal, and if I had not been forcibly separated from you we would still remain unseen.  If we had chosen to go forth from here and kill, we would have done so unseen.  I often considered taking you forth to kill Zarkog, but this land was good, and there was no need for us to return to Serminak.  It wasn’t worth the risk that we would lose the secret of our existence, which is now lost.  That thousands of Sylvan and a god could remain completely hidden and unknown to all the other gods for so long shows that we are the champions of stealthcraft.  We will continue to remain the undisputed champions of stealthcraft, as a people and as fighters, but now all will know the truth of it.

“For now, continue as you have; continue to develop your stealth warfare, continue to train to fight the demons with the military ways of these newcomers, seek always to do both together.  Also, breed.  Bear and raise as many children as is practical.  Be ready to begin the training I will give you when the time-bubble ends.

“Know that I am proud of you, and committed to the responsibility of my leadership over you.

“Rise, and I will bestow my Blessing upon you.”

His people stood and closed their eyes as he held forth his hand, and every one of them felt him lay his hand on their head, felt his mind touch theirs, felt his power active within them.

He considered the Sylvan newcomers, and spoke in Common.  “You Serminaki seek to join my people, but you are sworn to The Just Alliance on The Truthstone of Falgaroth.  I know it was not your choice to do so.

“If you will swear your allegiance to me and accept me as your god, and commit to keeping the ways of my people, you can join us.  I will promise to never command you to act in conflict with the vows you’ve already sworn.  If you will
not
do these things, I will not allow you to remain on these islands when the time-bubble resumes.”

He considered Mark and his family, and said with a scowl; “If any here choose to act against me in any of these matters, I am released from my agreements with the other gods, and there will be a
conflict
here today.  I have been caught by the other gods, but I wasn’t trying to
kill
any of them at the time.  If there is conflict here today, I will
lay waste
to those who oppose me, and then I will take my people and be gone before any here can strike against me.  Any who choose to pursue us will die, be they god or mortal.”

“Stop.”
Mark psionicly commanded his children and Karz, who were already fully Linked and Shielded and were preparing thousands of attack spells.  His grim look said that he expected their obedience.  They let their spells fade, but were obviously unhappy about it.

Mark turned to the gathered Sylvan and called; “You Sylvan newcomers; are there any of you who both refuse to swear allegiance to The Sylvan God of Stealth and take his people’s ways, and who insist on staying here anyway?  If you refuse to swear and you’re willing to leave, raise one hand, if you refuse to swear and insist on staying, raise both hands.”

None of them raised a hand.

“All right.” Mark said to The God of Stealth.  “I respect that you and your people were living here and not bothering anyone before we came here.  I’m grateful that you told them not to interfere with us before you left.  I understand that you were forcibly separated from your people, then hunted down and detained by the other gods, and probably had to make agreements with them under duress, even though you’ve committed no crime nor offended against anyone.

“So I certainly understand why you’re in a snarly mood.  There’s no reason for any conflict here today.

“We’ve done our best to be fair to the Sylvan here, and to help them be ready to face the demons when the time comes.  There’s no doubt that they’re far more capable soldiers now than they were.  We’ve ended the wasteful killing of the young without conflicting with their Sylvan nature, and they genuinely prefer their new lifestyles.  They’ve made agreements with us that ensure the peace between us.  We anticipate that their population will grow faster than Homestead’s, so we’re allocated the surface of most of the islands to their use, on which they will have control over who lives where, and they have the right to exclude us from living there if they so choose.  Your people’s dwellings are very natural and well camouflaged into the landscape, and they will be the only constructions allowed on the surface, which will be left in its natural state, with the exception of the Homestead settlement.  We have left your people the power of self-administration, and we returned military command of them to their elders once their initial training was completed, under my overall command.

“This entire situation came about because you made a few mistakes.  You should have anticipated that others would come here eventually, and you should have anticipated that Zarkog wouldn’t be able to defeat the rest of the world.  Because of those, you should have registered your people’s ownership of these islands with the other governments of the world.  Then I wouldn’t have bought this place from the legal owners, and paid a considerable sum as well I might add, and we would never have come here.

“As things stand, we had no idea that anyone lived here when we came here, and I legally rule these islands.  I see no conflict between your people living under my rule and them continuing to worship you and accept your divine leadership.

“I accept you as their military commander, and if you check with us before you mobilize them for any mission or training, we’ll make sure that they’re released from any responsibilities or duties to us while they do so.  I agree that they’re by far the best stealth warfare unit of their size in the world, and I think it’s a good idea for you to continue to develop that capability to deal with the present circumstances.  Considering how good you all were already on land, and who you’ve got helping to develop your new training, I’m sure you’ll succeed in your goal of soon being the best stealth unit in any environment.  If you succeed in conducting stealth warfare against the demons in those environments, you’ll have our eternal gratitude and appreciation.

“I know you may not want many more Sylvan joining your people and your religion, and you probably don’t want any from the other races doing so.  An aggressive expansion of your religion would place you in direct conflict with the other gods over their unanimous stricture against religion on Kellaran.  A lot of them are going to be upset over these few dozen who’ll swear to you today, but as long as you limit them to the Sylvan who live on Hiliani, I doubt it’ll really be a problem.

“But I think you really should consider finding the stealthiest warriors of every race and recruiting them to your military command, which doesn’t have to be limited to your people.  In The Just Alliance, command of mixed-race forces goes to the most capable, and there’s no doubt in my mind that you’re the best commander and trainer of stealth warfare.  You should have all the best stealth warriors under your command when you engage in a mission.  They can be released back to their regular units when they’re not engaged in training or missions with you.

“So far, the engagement between your people and mine has been of benefit to all concerned.

“But know this; I am
not
giving up my rule of these islands.  After the time-bubble ends, the situation on the surface of Hiliani will continue as it is now, but the whole place is going to get the Hilia treatment.  We’ll be building a city for tens of millions here, all hidden within the stone of the islands and in the waters offshore.

“And if you disagree with any of that, you can take your people elsewhere, or we can have a conflict right here and right now.  The first thing I’ll do is make many of us into gods, and we’ll see if you can do anything about it before I’m done.  Then you’ll have us to contend with, along with the pantheons of Kellaran and The Triax, and the militaries of Serminak.”

The Sylvan god considered Mark’s right hand with a raised eyebrow.  The hand hung at Mark’s side tightly gripping the Truthstone with the Godspell in it.  Little sparks of crackling blue light were leaking out from between his fingers, as the Godspell was on the verge of being cast.

“I respect your position.” the Sylvan god stated.  “There need be no conflict between us.”

He turned and stretched out his hand again, contacted the minds of his new Sylvan, got their silent and instant vow of allegiance, and gave them his Blessing.

Then he was gone.

“Four minutes until the time-bubble is cast.” Visinniria announced.

“Listen.” Talia said as she went to one knee before her children and put her hands on Fire and Six’s shoulders.  “Just before the time-bubble is cast, we’ll cast our copies on Hilia.  And I know that we’ll be with you while the time-bubble runs.  But the us that’ll be in the time-bubble won’t be able to see you for years, and I know that’s going to be really hard on us.  Only the knowledge that it’ll only be a short time for you and that we’ll regain the memories of that time after the bubble ends gives me the courage to do this.

“So give me a big hug, and I’ll take a really good Reading of you to remember while I’m away from you.”

She hugged them with desperate affection while she Read them, and Mark and Alilia did the same, and they continued until all three of them had hugged and Read all four children and Povon and Kragorram as well.

“We’ll miss you.  And you won’t miss us.” Alilia laughed with a tear in her eye as she hugged and Read Povon.

“True, but I’m sure you won’t miss us much, what with all the little ones keeping you busy.” Povon teased as she released Alilia.

As those who would stay and those who would leave separated into two groups Mark asked Visinniria; “Let us know when there’s five seconds to go?” and she nodded.

When she gave that warning, Mark, Talia, and Alilia cast the Multiple Simultaneous Manifestations spell to create their copies on Hilia, and called; “It worked, we’re on Hilia, we love you, take care!”

Amirgath Translocated everyone who was leaving to their preferred destinations just a fraction of a second before the bubble was cast.

“That was different.” Val commented, even as she and her siblings rushed to their parents on the patio of their cottage on Hilia and hugged them.  “When Amirgath jumped us here, there was no perceptible time of transition, and no quick flash of cold.  We were just suddenly here.”

“Yah, but that’s not as weird as hugging our parents while feeling like we just left them for a long time.” Fire commented with a tear in her eye.

“You’re sure right Mother.” Six told her.  “The exceptional really have unique problems.  I’m sure no one ever felt quite like this before.”

They all had to chuckle a little at that.

“Does it bother you, knowing that you’re a copy?” Kragorram asked Mark.

“I don’t think of it that way.” Mark shrugged.  “I know this body is a copy, but it doesn’t bother me because there’s only one me, one mind with one soul.  I just have two bodies right now, and I don’t know what I’m doing in my other body because we’re separated by the time-bubble.

“Most of the time when you use the Manifestations spell you’ll be able to know what you’re doing in your other body any time you wanted, which would reduce the tendency to think of it as two separate selves.  This is just a unique circumstance, and I don’t feel any less me than I ever have, even knowing this body is the copy.”

“I feel exactly the same.” Talia said, as she and Alilia nodded.

“You know something?” Six quietly asked.  “You’re right.  We can take care of ourselves, but we’re still only seven.  We should have just gone back in the time-bubble with you, it wouldn’t have been
that
bad, and it would have saved you a lot of trouble.  But we really don’t have the discipline yet to make that kind of a self-sacrifice.  Now that I’ve become psionicly aware of the full world around me, I’d risk my life in battle before I’d go into isolation like that again.