Fractured Paradise (Volume I)
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Diawl peered into the
pool in front of him. The glow of gurid lamps filled
the cavern as the delicate fingers of a cedor plucked a melody from thin
strands of periath vines pulled taut between gialen rods. He was
entranced.
He stared briefly at the beautiful Anreg. He considered her to be the best of
the cedorai living in Cedule.
Anreg stopped playing to adjust the strings and rods
suspended between her legs. The lamps dimmed in the silence.
"Don't stop," growled Diawl, "I need the light." Anreg quickly finished and started playing again before Diawl complained further. The lamps flickered, then brightened as music flowed into the room. Diawl turned his attention back to the pools where images danced In the stillness of the water's surface. He could see Merca and Gure strolling together as they moved about their home in the Cavnod. He missed his conversations with Merca and yearned to reach out and touch her, but he reminded himself that she was no longer in Addewid, no longer accessible. However, he wondered. He had seen Cren slip into the Osta Pools on Drus Mountain and he saw her move with Merca and Gure in the lush, green countryside of earth, her serpent form weaving a smooth path beside them as they stepped through forests, waded streams and climbed hills. He was only able to watch from afar, hidden by the dense foliage of the Crisalid Trees, not able to get close enough to see the details of her work, but he suspected that crisalid leaves were used in some way. After observing Cren for many Henin breaths, he became determined to learn how she was able to enter the pools and move upon her creation. He was convinced that he could get to earth's surface and be with Merca again, but he also realized that it would not be safe to do this on top of Drus mountain, where he could be seen by Cren, or one of the Guardians loyal to her. He needed a hidden place, a place far from removed from Cren's ability to see him or hear of his activities. And that is what lead him to build Cedule. He knew that the Gwenen were deeply affected by the breakup of the Intredu, each one being forced to choose their allegience to of the three, but there were some who simply couldn't choose, or who refused to choose, and simply broke away from the ranks of those loyal to one of the Intredu. It was from these that Diawl began to select and entice into his own personal army of workers. He knew that they needed a place to hide from the vengeful Intredu and he knew that they needed to have some purpose, for they were earnest creatures who were most satisfied when they had well defined tasks to focus on. So he promised them shelter and work if they would help him build Cedule and they were eager to oblige. . and he would provide them extensive projects to accomplish. Many were eager to accept his proposal, so he put them to work digging into the side of Istriu moutain. His obsession with the Osta pools at the summit of Drus mountain lead him to travel extensively in the area, and it was this study of the nearby Athivon peaks that lead to his discovery of Istriu mountain and its strong physical connection to Drus mountain. This was where he wanted his cavern, and it was here that he set his Gwenen army to work. It was because of his memories watching Cren that he felt so strongly satisfied with the accomplishment that lay before him. The pools that he walked around now were his own, filled with waters drained from the very same place that he watched Cren. This was a work that had taken many cycles of Henin breath to complete. To do it, he picked the best and strongest of the Gwenen who were the most dissatisfied with Cren and he promised to provide them with rooms of their own within Cedule, and protection from the demands and whims of Cren, who had become increasingly capricious since the breakup of the Intredu. Within the vastness of the Athivon Mountains, even Cren would have difficulty finding his cavern, with its many rooms and tunnels deep beneath the surface. He had constructed enough space for all of his Gwenen laborers and the OstaPools. the ability to try and work the pools on his own, safe from the watchful gaze of Guardians more loyal to Cren. Here, in his cavern deep within Istriu Mountain, he has used his army of Gwenen to dig a tunnel to the bottom of the Osta Pools, channelling the precious liquid to Cedule (his cavern), thus creating his own pools, which would provide access to the Cavnod. In his talons, he rolled a sparkling crisalid leaf absent mindedly as he watched a scene unfolding in the dark pool. Slowly, he paced around the edge of the pool, never taking his intense eyes off of the figures moving in the pools surface. Closing his claw around the leaf, he clutched it tightly and then breathed out over the pond, causing a slight ripple. Immediately, Merca and Gure drew closer together and looked around themselves, as though they feared someone was watching. Their hair lifted slightly as though a light breeze was passing by them. Diawl was curious, wondering if they they somehow knew of his presence. He breathed onto the pool again, this time with greater strength. Merca and Gure struggled with the gust of wind that suddently set upon them. Diawl smiled thoughtfully and looked down at the crisalid leaf he was holding. Placing the leaf on a small outcrop of stone protruding from the cavern wall he breathed once more, but without the leaf in his claw. Merca and Gure presented no reaction. "So," Diawl mused to himself, "it is the crisalid leaf after all." Diawl started to reach for the leaf when he heard a soft prattle of stone echoing on stone. There was also a rustle of fur and the rumble of a low, rattled breath. Diawl was familiar with the lumbering, but steady march of the Gwenin going about their chores, and the sounds of thier labored breath, as they thrust the Gialen Rods into the stone and soil of the cavern, expanding his underground domain. But this sound was neither subservient nor humble. It was determined, purposeful and careful. Diawl flinched as he took in the rugged form of a lion boldly entering the room. He had seen lions before, in the Oesdur pools when Cren would spend long periods of time surveying the activities within the Cavnod. Even from a distance, within images projected in the pools, the lions looked formidable, but nothing had prepared him for the raw fear that such a creature could instill in someone encountering a lion in the flesh. Even with his greater size, Diawl was taken aback by the power excuding from the muscles and presence of the body approaching him. Diawl stepped back, clutching the Crisalid leaf even more tightly. His folded wings shivered as they came in contact with the cavern wall behind him. "You needn't be afraid," said the lion, "I will not harm you." There was a an ominous depth the lions voice which stung his ears. The lion's words seemed to tear through him and take something with them as he struggled to comprehend the circumstances unfolding at the moment. "I apologize for the intrusion," the lion continued, "I don't normally speak to Cren's creations directly, and strictly speaking, it violates Addewid law to do so, but from what I can see, we are both working against Cren's will, neither of us wishing to reveal our activities Cren or the Henin Council. For you it could mean a Dark Shadowing, for me it could result in reprisals from the other Henin." "Other Henin?" mumbled Diawl, perplexed. "Why yes," replied the lion, "I take it you have not discerned my identity yet." Diawl shook his head. "I get the impression you are one of the Henin," said Diawl. "One of the Henin?" growled the lion, angrily, his voice ripping on the the inside fabric of Diawl's body. "Is that all I am? One of the Henin?" Diawl stared at the lion silently, not knowing what to say, fearing what he may say. "I am none other than Nerth," stated the lion strongly, "the Henin of power, and I demand that you bow down in reverence to me." Diawl stumbled briefly, terrified of the strength, power and commanding presence of the lion, then he kneeled down in complete, contrite reverence. "That is much better," said Nerth, more calmly, "now relax, we have much to discuss." Diawl rose once again to his feet and studied the Nerth's physical form. "I'm sorry," said Diawl, "I just haven't actually been in the presence of one of the Henin, except for the Cren, Treven and Hesbrid, but they have always been here on Inniscren, so I have never thought about it." "Oh, but we have been here," countered Nerth, "we are all around you, in the mountains, in the lakes, in the water, even the trees. But we rarely take our physical forms here. We have our own islands, out beyond the Cluay Ring, where the colors of the Henin spring forth from." Diawl, relaxing somewhat by Nerth's assurances, looked over to the Osta pool and momentarily took in the movements of Merca and Gure within the Cavnod. Then he turned back to Nerth, who waited patiently for him to speak. "You said that we have much to discuss." "Yes, we do." "About what." "About the work that you are doing here, with the Osta pools, and the Cavnod, and your creative skills that you have developed while watching Cren. You have become quite powerful." "But I am not one of the Henin. You have far more power than I will ever have." "Ah, but it is the fact that you are not one of the Henin that makes you so valuable to me and what I want done." "How can that be? What can I do that you, yourself, cannot." "I cannot look upon the images within the pools, nor can I enter the pools. As a result, I am not able to influence the activities of those creatures within the Cavnod. But you have this ability, especially now that you have created your own pools, outside of Cren's knowledge, or ability to see." "But how did you know? And how can you know whether or not Cren knows of these pools?" "I may not have the ability to look upon or enter the pools, but I do have access to knowledge that is beyond your understanding. Let me simply say that I have been watching you for many Breaths, and the time has come for us to work together." "Work together?" "Yes, you and me." "But how can I be of help to you?" "I need for you to start going into the Cavnod and carry a message to creatures that Cren has placed there, the descendents of Merca of Gure." "What could be of interest to you, in these creatures? I was under the impression that the other Henin, besides the Intredu, did not approve of the Cavnod's creation and the placement of Merca and Gure within the Cavnod." "And indeed, that is the truth. We were most dissatisfied with this activity on the part of the Intredu, but they have succeeded in the creative endeavors and have even dare to bring the spirits of these creatures back into Addewid, and all of these creature have developed a love for the Intredu, something that was not discussed at the Henin Councils. Cren, Treven and Hesbrid have gone far beyond what we all agreed to, so it is time to punish them." "Punish them? The Intredu? How can that be done? They are Henin, those who have always been? How can they be punished?" "They must be punished in the only way that they can be punished, by turning the allegience of their creations against them." "But how am I to do that? They are the creation of the Intredu, who else would they recognize as the creator?" "I am Nerth, the Henin of power. They need to come to know me as their one and only God, their creator, their source of value and the ultimate arbitor of their fates when they arrive here in Addewid." "But that wouldn't be true. How could they come to such a conclusion?" "That will be your task." "My task?" "Yes, your task. You will convince these creatures that I am their one true god, the almighty benefactor, and that their lives are entirely dependent upon me, and that they must obey my rules or suffer greatly after death." "But there is no death hear in Addewid. What can you do to them?" "They will be Shadowed, and they will be emptied of their memories. They will be left with nothing of their experiences within the Cavnod." "But if they are the creation of the Intredu, how can their thinking be changed? Aren't they required to obey their creators?" "That was the way Cren, Treven and Hesbrid said that it would be when we discussed the creation of Addewid and the Cavnod on Inniscren when it was brought before the Henin Council, but something has happened to everything that the Intredu have created, and we think that it had something to do with Merca's finding her way through the Eithin Hedge and eating the fruit of the Madru trees after you told her about them. "But I didn't think that she could do it, nor did I think that she would do it. These creatures have turned out very differently than other creations by the Intredu." "That is because they created them with too much of the Henin powers within them. They are too much like us. And when Merca found her way to the Madru grove and ate of the fruit, they then had access to the knowledge that we, as Henin, have. And with that knowledge they have the ability to decide for themselves what they believe and how they will go about their lives, just as we Henin have. What they have done is a violation of every law we have established for Addewid and the Cavnod. Now we must punish the Intredu. And you are the one who will be working on my behalf." "And what will I get in return for this work?" "You will be rewarded, let me assure you." "In what way will I be rewarded?" "You have always yearned to be more than you are, a Guardian. I, as the Henin of Power, am prepared to satisfy this desire, but not until you have successfully turned the creatures within the Cavnod against Cren, Treven and Hesbrid and helped to foster within them a desire to acknowledge me as their one and only almighty god, renouncing all acceptance of the Intredu." "Then you will give me the powers of the Henin?" "I can promise you," said Nerth, "that we will make you more than you are at present, a mere guardian. You will become a god in your own right." |
