Utopia Falling, page 15
Turning to the maiden Teth standing before them, Jerithan continued the story of the Ages of Humanity. “So it came to be, the beginning of the Third Age of Humanity. Yet, Eurithian had come very close to succeeding.” As all eyes turn to face the maiden Teth, standing in the center of the open circular table.
She looked up to the fresco to point to the rise of Teth while Jerithan continued. “Eurithian’s wrath had destroyed so much, but even that was not enough. He rained down upon the remaining children of Earth, poison in the form of rain, and then he set darkness upon all of creation. For generations, He set cold upon the world so much it chilled even the bones of Mother Earth. Eurithian was certain He had finally succeeded, and so He rested.”
Jerithan looked at Lilly in the form of Teth and smiled. “Out of the ashes of what remained from the Great Destruction, a child of Mother Earth was born—Teth, the savior of our world. Eurithian had all but succeeded. Yet Teth traveled the world to find those who had survived the Great Destruction. There were so very few. She gathered them unto herself with the aid of Satrin. It took many years, many years fraught with destitution. Finally, when she found all she could, she brought them all here to our home, our city, the birthplace for the Third Age of Humanity.”
Lilly, taking her cue, stepped forward. “And it was the word of Teth, to the few who survived and gathered about in this place after the Great Destruction and its aftermath, all should love one another without fault, without shame, without jealousy to give joy to Mother Earth once again. We all commit to her and respect the gifts she offers without hesitation, without greed, without the desire to demand more than Mother Earth can give to nurture us, to spread the seed of humanity freely and with love in our hearts until such time we are called upon to return the borrowed Gift of Flesh to our Mother Earth, to her soil, in the Circle of Life, so she may offer our flesh to nourish others throughout her kingdom. That Nature may be replenished, and others may be born to love her as we have.
“I stand here bare before you, before the city, before the Temple of Life. I stand here proud of the Gift of Flesh she has given upon me. Upon all of us. To share it as I want, to love as I will, and to serve all of humanity with joy to our Mother Earth by bringing forth from my loins the future children of our world.
“I stand here before all, as I was on the day of my birth, as a symbol of the rebirth of all humankind. And it is through the Gift of Knowledge that we conceive of what we want, what we expect, what we can achieve, and then consciously or otherwise unknown to us, such thoughts create our reality, either in an instant or over the long stretches of time. But know this: it is in the moment of thought we create the future. It is here we conceived of a new beginning for humankind, and it is here we recreate it this day.”
One tear rolled down Prudent Marvo’s face. Clearly his heart surged beneath his green vestments at the sight of his granddaughter as the maiden Teth reborn. Lilly was beautiful. She looked so much like her mother in her youth. Jerithan took pleasure in seeing his fellow Prudent Marvo; knowing his heart hurt watching his granddaughter, and most certainly Lilly would conjure up thoughts in Marvo of Lilly’s mother, his own dead daughter, whom he repeatedly reminded to all who would listen, he missed so much. Lilly was perfect in both her recital and in the part she played in securing Prudent Marvo’s loyalty to Jerithan. Jerithan was proud of himself for his well-orchestrated manipulation of Prudent Marvo.
Serco, standing alongside the proud grandfather, put his arm around his fellow Prudent. “You should be proud, Marvo. That’s a very special granddaughter you have there.”
From his perch, Jerithan caught the exchange, and it irked him. This performance would be done again for the entire city at the end of the parade. He would have to make sure Razoal did not station Serco near Marvo next time. It was the only flaw in an otherwise perfect morning.
Jerithan stepped down into the center, draped a robe over Lilly, and kissed her on the cheek. “Your mother would have been so proud of you today. You were perfect,” Jerithan said, holding her hands in his as he turned to look for Prudent Marvo, who was making his way toward his granddaughter. “Go to your grandfather. He is so proud of you. As we all are, my dear.”
Lilly thanked the First Lord, offered him a quick curtsy, and rushed to her grandfather’s arms. “Did you see me, Granddaddy? I did good, huh?”
With more tears in his eyes, Prudent Marvo said, “Teth herself could not measure up to you today.” Sacrilege, maybe, but he was a proud grandfather. Surely, Teth would forgive him.
She wiped the tears rolling down his cheeks with her thumbs. She leaned in, speaking softly in his ear, “I love you, Grandpa.”
Razoal looked at Jerithan, and they both grinned. Razoal, standing at the top of the steps, clapped his hands together and announced, “Let us eat. Firstmeal awaits.”
Jerithan spontaneously threw in, “Children, Lilly, please join us as my honored guests.” No one was prepared for the invitation Jerithan offered—the event administrator, the cooks, the waitstaff, the Prudents, the children, Lilly or Second Lord Razoal. Firstmeal was a time for informal Temple business. It had always been that way.
The invitation caught the waitstaff off guard more than all the others. There wasn’t enough room. Not enough plates. More utensils were needed. More glassware. And food—would what they had already prepared be enough?
Jerithan cared little for the event manager’s concerns. He didn’t want to give Serco a platform or any opportunity to address the Council of Prudents in a formal setting.
Nothing positive would come of that, he thought. Better to take the win and stop the game while I’m ahead.
“That could not have gone better, my friend,“ the Voice made its observations known to Jerithan. “It will pay dividends. Brilliant call inviting the little urchins to the table. Let us see Serco sow his seeds of dissent with the beautiful little flowers seated between them all.”
The woman overseeing the details of Firstmeal was exceptionally good at her job. To Jerithan’s surprise, the waitstaff recovered quickly, and servers entered the hall with chairs, plates, glasses, and tableware. Soon after, they brought elaborate trays full of food and drink for the gathered to enjoy. It was so well organized that it might have looked like the impromptu invitation was planned.
It wasn’t planned, but that didn’t prevent First Lord Jerithan from patting himself on the back. He was well skilled at recognizing when he did well.
One of the flowered children tugged on Razoal’s vestments. She stood only as tall as his waist. Looking up, she asked, “Please tell us the story about how Jhonay spread the seeds across the empty land! Please. Please,” she pleaded.
Stroking her head, covered in white petunias, Razoal deferred. “We’ll get to it later, little dove. We’ll get to it later. Come on, you sit next to me. I’ll tell you Jhonay’s story over Firstmeal.” She beamed at being so honored to sit with the Second Lord.
“Please find seats for all our flowered guests,” Jerithan ordered the waitstaff. He inconspicuously directed the event manager to seat several young children between Prudent Marvo and Prudent Serco.
Jerithan did not know it then, but a new tradition was born that morning. They would remember it as an insightful, kind, and benevolent gesture to the city’s children, mirroring Teth’s own behavior. No one would ever recall it was borne of one man’s insecurities.
The Voice broke in. “Once again, you have done well. There was nothing more to gain. A wise decision to bring those young ones into the lion’s den. Who amongst these vultures would pursue their private agenda with these sheep at their sides? I am impressed. Now, what about the Chancellor? Is he dead?”
Old Habits, New Dangers
Owls Neck: 27th day of the Salmon Moon
Mithany | Arek
Mithany, Arek, and Neladith had barely traveled fifty yards when they heard the mysterious sound again. The blood-curdling growl. Louder this time, if possible. The three travelers froze.
“Shit, that’s close,” Arek observed, although obvious to everyone.
Mithany was scared. They were all scared.
Neladith asked, “What do you think it is?” Fear dripped from her every word.
Mithany stood silently.
“Damned if I know,” Arek whispered.
The three stood looking about, searching the forest for a sign confirming movement of any kind.
Nothing moved. Every living creature in the area responded with silence.
“Listen.”
“I don’t hear anything.”
“Exactly.”
“Whatever made that noise has every living thing in the forest scared shitless,” Mithany noted.
Arek pointed to a clearing off in the distance and about twenty yards up the road. “It came from over there.”
“Okay, so we all agree, we don’t go there,” Neladith demanded.
Arek took two steps in the direction he was pointing when Mithany grabbed his arm. “No.”
“I’m going to check it out.”
“No fuckin’ way.”
In a small whisper, Arek proclaimed, “I’m gonna go over by that tree. Might be able to make out something.”
Neladith joined in, adding support to Mithany, “No.”
Mithany’s facial expression posed a question for her brother, “What, to impress a girl? To get laid? Are you crazy?”
He replied to them both, Mithany’s unverbalized query and Neladith’s spoken demand, “It’s what I do, ladies.”
Mithany was right, of course, or so she guessed. This level of stupidity could only be to impress Neladith. Then again, he was always the first one out of hiding whenever their mother got close to finding them. He always stepped up and took the beatings to protect Mithany from their mother’s wrath.
“If anything happens to me, you two run,” Arek added, this time less confident.
About to take his first careful steps towards the danger, Mithany squeezed his arm. She looked him in the eye. What she read on his face almost brought her to tears. It wasn’t to impress Neladith. It’s for me. She thought, Shit! He’s doing it again. To protect me. Experience told her there was no stopping him.
He leaned in close, putting his lips close to her ear so only she could hear. “Old habits die hard. Run like hell if you have to, and don’t look back. Love ya, kiddo.”
Arek kissed his sister on the cheek and took his first steps toward the awful sound.
Arek reached an opening in the brush close to where Mithany and Neladith were standing. He spied something moving further along in the forest, near the top of several enormous boulders. A head, completely covered in thick, matted, brown hair, perched atop enormous shoulders, bobbed up and down. Its head stopped moving. The hairy, brown face turned toward him.
Its eyes locked on him. Mustard yellow irises encircled dark, almost black, large pupils. Arek’s own eyes bulged, and his mind reeled, gripped at the beast’s discovery of his presence. Adrenaline shot through his body by the force of rapid hammer blows thumping inside his chest. Unable to control a single muscle, his brain scrambled.
He almost shit his pants.
He might have.
Just a little.
Blood pounded in every artery, in every part of his body, but none more than in his head, threatening to burst apart his skull with explosive force at every contraction of his heart. Arek tried to run. He wished he’d never gotten this close. But more than anything, he wished he could move.
He’d seen nothing like it in all the world, nor had he ever experienced such incapacitating terror.
Poked out above the tops of boulders that themselves stood a good eight or nine feet from the forest floor, the head of the beast stopped moving. Whatever comprised the rest of the hairy, brown body hiding behind the huge boulders gotta be enormous.
Arek was afraid to move—even if he could.
Panting heavily, half scared to death, he gazed at the object of his terror. The object of his all-consuming fears glared back at him with angry, yellow eyes.
Looking like a giant hairy man, its piercing eyeballs stared him down, nailing him to the spot where he stood. His heart pounded so loudly the monster almost certainly heard it beating.
Seconds passed. A minute passed. Neither of them blinked. For a moment, Arek’s mind escaped the dread bewitching him. A simple realization slipped through the blind terror obscuring all other thoughts.
The beast wasn’t howling.
It wasn’t moving.
And it wasn’t attacking him.
The giant, hairy, man-looking creature kept glaring at him. Terror faded to a degree just above scared shitless, giving him the slightest chance of getting out alive.
Arek never understood how he gathered whatever bravery he had buried deep inside. But for Mithany, he called up, from somewhere in his soul he’d never accessed before, all the courage he could muster. He inched towards the monstrous creature, one careful step after another. He kept a suitable distance between himself and the beast. With each slow step, the giant thing studied him as Arek circled around. The enormous, hairy, man-like being didn’t move, but it kept its eyes locked on him.
The brave young man changed his path from a wide circle and took a few steps forward. The closer Arek crept forward, the more he realized this was something he’d never figured he would see. It had to be a Great Yetgnal, like the one he’d seen so many times carved into the frieze on the wall of the Forest Maiden. Arek, standing several feet from the real thing, marveled at the massive size of the Great Yetgnal and was appalled at the smell it gave off.
Time passed impossibly slow for the two women waiting for Arek’s return. Neither had moved in the minutes following Arek’s disappearance into the clearing. They’d made out bits and pieces through the openings between the leaves, enough to tell them he was still alive, but not enough to know what was going on. Mithany reached out for Neladith’s hand.
It was then the blood-curdling sound rang out again. A ferocious, deep, penetrating growl rolled over and through anything alive or dead. Bones, trees, and the ground rattled as the penetrating vibration of waves passed through everything in their wake. Pure terror washed over Mithany, and she expected the same response in Neladith. The piercing howl reached into her and seized her heart. As if a large hand compressed it inside a fist, struggling for its freedom, it stopped beating. Breath fled her lungs, and try as she might, she couldn’t get it back.
She couldn’t lose him too, not knowing what had become of Reyne and now Arek. It was too much. She almost collapsed in Neladith’s arms. Seconds passed, and with a hard-fought gulp, air filled her lungs, bringing life to her heart.
Neladith appeared to be shouting something her mind couldn’t put together. Mithany’s attention followed the direction of the woman’s arm, pointing at a large blob of brown fur moving quickly away from the clearing, showing itself for a few seconds before escaping out of sight.
Without realizing, Mithany ran to the clearing where she expected to find her brother.
In the span of just a few minutes, her heart stopped again. Sheer horror washed over her, too much for her to comprehend. Half propped up against one of the large boulders, a limp, lifeless Arek lay before her eyes.
Lies on Parade
Teth: 27th day of the Salmon Moon
Tomelai
The Adelleian entourage prepared to assume their place in the Grand Parade. Derr rode up alongside Chancellor Tomelai. “Your entire retinue is in position and is set to go. If you’re ready, Rotti, I’ll have your Chief of Staff get this show started.”
“Do it. Down the Grand Protisium another year, Drew.”
The other national leaders, along with their respective supporting staff, would also march down the street of Teth on the celebratory day.
Chancellor Tomelai, with First Lady Kaythlin by his side, sat atop two of the largest tribian horses the crowd had ever seen.
The First Lady said, “You and I haven’t spent this much time together in quite a while. Reminds me of when we were first married. Before your father died. I miss this,” she said, reminiscing about the life they shared before Madrotti assumed his position as Chancellor.
Twenty security agents of the KCG rode the edges on either side, creating a barrier between parade onlookers and Chancellor Tomelai. Tribian horses of the Chancellor’s Guard were draped in a resplendent summer green. Adelle’s crest, proudly embroidered on each side, depicted a snow-capped Mount Tandure. The Chancellor’s sigil spoke to the formidable and ever-present strength of the nation-state of Adelle. The tribians stood eight feet tall from hoof to head, carrying the girth of twice a normal steed.
“It has been nice. Hasn’t it? If only the demands of running this country would allow us more time together. I miss it too. I have missed you. Glad we are here together,” Tomelai said, always the statesman, even in his marriage.
Tomelai tried to put the incident at The Stand out of his mind. He couldn’t afford to look concerned for the crowd. First Lady Kaythlin by his side helped him put a warm smile on his face. Kaythlin Tomelai, the former Kaythlin F’Siyn, held men’s eyes at a single glance, and the women’s as well. Born into a high station, with all the privileges commensurate with wealth, she took full advantage.
