The Chronicles of Heaven's War: Burning Phoenix (49 page)

She then angrily declared so that all would
hear,
“My mercy to your kind ends
now!”
At that, she
glanced down at the bleeding animal carcass and spit on it.

Whipping her steed about, she was off on a
run, shouting for the others to follow. As her troop passed under
the belly of the DusmeAstron, riding hard to the west, the battle
cruiser slowly lifted into the evening sky. The sound of Trisha’s
retreating host rapidly faded and all fell quiet, other than the
occasional whispering breeze that carried upon it a chill in the
gathering darkness.

Asotos glared at the shadowy figure sitting
her mount, his self-righteous anger over the outrageous atrocities
inflicted upon him and his people welling up within him. He was
about to confront his imagined protagonist when the mesmerizing
music of dancing bells again crashed upon his ears. So intense was
their hypnotic power that it made him wince when his heart leaped
with the pain of desires lost.

At that instant, a cheerful voice cut
through the darkness, stabbing the man like a knife. “So, are we
finished, or do you have other business tonight?”

Asotos screamed, “
Witch! Evil witch!
You’ve plagued me… us… with your stolen magic all this day, ruining
all that was supposed to be by numbing my mind with your treachery
and demon deeds!”

Lowenah coldly replied, “I would be careful
at how I spoke to the One - the
only
One - who could and did
save your life this day. I need not call my child back to bring you
to a finish. Naked and alone you stand before me, and I with all my
hidden powers riding with me.” She again cooed, “Do we have further
business, or may I and my people take their leave?”

“
No, you may not take your leave!”
Although still enraged, Asotos cooled his rhetoric, not wishing to
risk his well-being to uncertainty. “We have issues to address,
must be addressed. Those… those…
creatures
you have
delivered here, how
dare
you allow such vile things into our
world! It is against all our living kind that you have committed
such atrocities.”

“How is that so?” Lowenah asked,
curious.

Asotos ranted, “You know full well. By their
very design, they were flawed from the beginning. I tried to warn
you - you and all the others - and what did I get for revealing the
folly of your invention? Ostracism and denunciation! That’s what I
got. The bodies of these
monkey-children
should have been
returned to the melting pools where other rejected creations were
tossed, before they could reproduce. I showed to all their flawed
design, but you…” He shook a finger at Lowenah. “but you let them
continue to live!” He shook his head in dismay. “And now you have
delivered those same decrepit abominations into our world, brought
them here to pollute this land, our home.”

Lowenah scowled. “I will not debate you
tonight or any other night regarding my lovely creation - one, as I
recall, you were deeply infatuated with until I produced his
blonde-haired companion who rivaled my child, Michael, in her
appearance and beauty.” She frowned, accusing, “What did you offer
in return? What was
your
vision for those worlds but brutish
men more like the wild ape than the gods, with weak minds and
arrogant hearts? And what of womankind? Your choice was an enslaved
servitude for all their days, blindly obedient to the
real
ape-men you wished to produce.”

Wagging a finger, Lowenah chastised Asotos.
“The minds of dullards you desired to place in my children, so
fearful of your own majesty should they prove to be as intelligent
as you. No! I made
all
my children with insightful potential
equal to mine, so that one day all my secrets they could
understand, and then even they could teach me new things. ‘Fear no
intelligence,’ your own wise man, AsreHalom, once stated, as you
well recall, ‘but fear the stupid one with an arrogant heart.’”

Asotos pointed off toward the west, ranting,
“You call the antics displayed today by those… those things… that
thing
… insightful?! Oh, what folly to allow our world to be
contaminated by such loathsome creatures.”

Leaning back, Lowenah asked sardonically,
“Of what folly are you referring to, the antics of those
monkey-children
, or the torture and murder of your own
brothers and sisters at the hands of those in your keep?”

Asotos shrugged, pious. “What? How can one
naked and alone be held responsible for the actions of others? You,
yourself, have said that my kingdom is illegitimate. If that is so,
then how do I share in the crime of another man? Little control do
I have over these poor, wretched souls who flock to my arms after
being cast away by you. I do the best I can, considering. I cannot
be everywhere at the same time. I have no hidden powers to keep
these people in check. Things will happen. One must be
understanding of such damaged souls.”

“
Bullshit and fiddle de-de!”
Lowenah
exclaimed. “
Blow it downwind so you don’t stink up this
place!
I need not defend my actions or address your
accusations, for everyone here knows the kind of inveterate liar
and whore-master you are. I asked you what further business you
have tonight. Speak up or I will take my leave.”

Shocked at the rebuke, but realizing well
that Lowenah might not be bluffing, Asotos fought down his aching
desire to return the insult. No, the fear Trisha and the other
off-worlders had put in his heart impelled him to force an
agreement with Erithia that would halt any further of that rabble
from being delivered to his world.

Asotos ranted, “Still, you shouldn’t have
brought them here.”

Lowenah refused to be placed on the
defensive. “Long ago, I spoke concerning these sons of Adam being
delivered to this place. It was no secret to you. Within the very
Holy Book that you stole to accomplish your sordid purposes, the
statement was written clearly that one day those
monkey-children
would enter these worlds as warriors and
demon-chasers. It’s not my fault if, in your ignorance, you failed
to discover my words. Or did you refuse to believe that I had the
power to bring them here, so paid my prophet’s written word no
heed?”

Asotos did not acknowledge the question, but
chose to continue his attack. “By your very traditions, you have
taken counsel when making weighty decisions that affect the
citizens of this world. Not once have you come to the table to take
up the debate as to whether our world should be opened to the
likes… to any other-worlder. This is
our
world, given to us
long before that kind was even a whisper. You have betrayed our
customs, our ways, and your very traditions. Oh, what a shame...”
He placed a hand over his heart, standing ever so pious. “I have
never claimed to rule with absolute wisdom, doing the best I can
with whatever skills I have developed.
You!
You have always
claimed mystical powers and insight, but still choose to ignore
your own trusted customs in this regard. What good is the music
when you dance to your own tune? How can you expect our trust when
you take the twisted road?”

Lowenah quietly sat her mount, offering no
rebuttal. Indeed, this was the contest she had anticipated,
desired. Having appeared to be backed into a corner by shrewd
speech, she asked defensively, “So what must be done to correct
this oversight of mine?”

Asotos wanted to wildly rant that this was
no oversight, but a willful act of malcontent. He chose not to,
seeing a door of strategic opportunity open before him. He must
strike now, while it remained such. These wild off-world creatures
were dangerous, a real threat when conflict again arose… something
already in his plans. No, the moment was now to rid him of this
threat.

He shook a finger at Lowenah, demanding,
“You must return those… those
things
back to whence they
came, and promise to never pollute this world with their kind
again!”

Lowenah remained quiet the longest time. She
finally spoke while slowly shaking her head. “This is become the
home of the children I have delivered here. I will not, cannot send
them back. They are now of this world whether anyone desires it or
not. As for your other demand,
never
is a very long time,
too long for such a promise.”

Asotos lifted his arm in retort. Before he
could speak, Lowenah made a counter-offer. “I am willing to do
this...”

Asotos stopped, waiting to hear more.

“In the end, there are two opposing
destinies sought by you and me: you, to retake in conquest the
glory you believe was stolen from you and to capture whatever
powers await you hidden in the Palace...and me, to have my children
drive you from this world, and to eventually hand you over to my
little child to choose to do with you as she pleases.
It is a
horse race, the winner takes all.
”

Lowenah leaned forward. “Should you win, I
will leave this universe, never to return. It is yours for as long
as time within it exists. Should
I
win…well, then, I will do
as I have already spoken. My victory ride you will not
witness.”

She waved a hand. “Now here’s the deal: I
will promise not to interfere with coming events once hostilities
have been engaged upon, and I will not deliver any more of my
other-world darlings here if you take the Palace, or until after my
children drive you from this world.” Sitting up straight, Lowenah
declared what Asotos’ end of the bargain must be. “For your part,
you must take an oath unto death that you and your ilk will no
longer directly interfere in any way with the children in the Lower
Realms. You must leave them be until Salem’s glory is
revealed.”

This was a bitter pill for Asotos, something
not to his liking at all! His clandestine activities in the Realms
Beneath were many and varied. This was a lopsided arrangement,
totally unfair! He was opening his mouth to offer rebuff when
EremiaPikros’ moon suddenly broke over the horizon, its cold,
silvery light casting a chill breeze over the land.

Darla shivered from the cold, her bells
setting Asotos’ world ablaze. He cried out, clutching his head,
shouting angrily, “Who
are
you and why do you continue to
torture me?!” Still holding his head, Asotos stepped forward,
impatient, shouting, “Who
are
you?!”

Lowenah spoke up, her irritation very clear.
“Why do you address my horse-maiden when there is business to
finish here?”

“Be off with you, witch!” Asotos pushed
against the air with his hands as if warding off a blow. “Always
you stop up the mouth of your servants while proclaiming their
freedom!”

“
Enough!”
Lowenah retorted. “Speak
she will, but not until our business is finished!” Asotos glared at
Lowenah. Before he could make reply, she continued, “I proposed to
you a deal. What do you say? Speak and finish our negotiations, and
then you may seek answers to other questions.”

Asotos was frustrated, his senses
overwhelmed by the creature hiding in the shadows who was making
that terrible, wonderful music. He could not concentrate on
anything else until these most pressing questions were answered. As
the events of the day spun about in his mind, the need to know was
driving him to distraction.

He shook his fist, pointing, “That
creature
has been our business all day! You have tortured me
with its incessant intrusions since the morning hour. Intentional
it is, and I demand my questions be answered!”

“What, this creature?” Lowenah acted
surprised. “This creature, this woman, my darling child, is come a
horse-maiden at my request...just a horse-maiden.”

Asotos railed angrily, “That creature…
woman… has been troubling me all this day, her music pulsing in my
head to effect a total distraction! You have made a travesty of our
traditions by bringing her here. It is the witchery of ardor-music
that she plays, and you know it.”

“I’m sorry.” Lowenah apologized, concerned,
“I didn’t know you were still into women. Have your girly-boys
tired of your charms, or has your manhood become weak because of
some fever? Or have manly desires faded because of the mental
stress from caring for all those poor, lost souls in your
keep?”

Muffled chuckles echoing across the chill
air infuriated Asotos. He lashed out against his antagonist. “Your
ways are crooked and twisted, filled with malice and deceit!
Through public humiliation, you seek to gain your advantage over
the innocence of others. You attack the very freedoms each and
every citizen of the League of Brothers has been endowed with in
our constitution. I – we - practice openly, freely, the arts of
love that move our hearts. Men with men, men with women… should
they choose… it is each person’s choice. Yet you attempt to make a
mockery of those freedoms.”

Lowenah raised an eyebrow. “So,
who
has
endowed
your people with these constitutional
rights?”

Asotos’ face reddened in rage, but he
quickly gathered his wits about him as he shouted, “You have
attempted a coup on the children by declaring your godship over
them. Their endowed rights are beyond anything you could
offer.”

Lowenah smiled. “True... I cannot offer what
is not mine to give. By the very creation of my children, they have
inherited laws and freedoms beyond my ability to offer. So, now
that we have settled that matter, let me ask you again, are you
back into women, or is it just a passing sickness, or…?”

“
Enough!”
Asotos screamed.
“Enough!”

Lowenah paid no attention, calmly
continuing, “Or has this woman creature rekindled the old flame you
once had for your sisters?”

“You deserve no answer at all!” Asotos
ranted, shaking his fist. “But I deserve one from you. Who
is
this woman?”