The Chronicles of Heaven's War: Burning Phoenix (78 page)

Olam eventually became sad and began to
withdraw from the outer universe. The Bathos came close to Olam and
offered whatever comfort they could. They loved Olam very much, yet
none could understand what was making Olam sad, only Tereobathos,
but Tereobathos could only observe, having no speech given it.

And Olam’s bright glow faded as it focused
inwardly, searching for answers to its loneliness. The Bathos came
to Olam, questioning what was being done. When Olam explained to
them what the desire was, the Bathos would laugh and say that it
could not be done, but Olam refused to listen. For ages beyond
measure, Olam experimented, attempting to do what the Bathos said
was impossible. If tears had existed at that time, Olam would have
shed an ocean full.

Then, one day long into ages new, Olam’s
glorious glow erupted to shine blinding again. The Bathos came
close to discover what was causing Olam’s great excitement. When
the matter was revealed, the Bathos cried out joyfully, bestowing a
new name upon Olam. Tereobathos strained its senses to hear this
name, but secreted from it the name remained. Olam cried out in
joy, for it was a very beautiful name, indeed.

And Olam, along with many of the Bathos,
grew very, very, busy, designing and building an extremely complex
machine. When finished, Olam took some of its living energy from
within and infused it into the machine. The machine sprang to life,
filling the void with blazings of fire that shot ever this way and
that until the edge beyond the void could not be seen. Then
Tereobathos began to see a division between the blazing fires until
web upon web and measuring line upon measuring line filled the
darkness.

Upon these immeasurable webs, new fires
began to burn, scattering this way and that across their respective
webs. As the dancing flames raced about, the webs began to fade
from sight until but three remained to be seen, and to the web in
the middle Olam and the Bathos retreated, Tereobathos following
close behind. They soon came to a fiery sphere, but this one a
living machine of sorts. The machine Olam called a ‘planet’ – oh,
but a very
special
planet, far different from the others
Tereobathos could see. This was the planet on which Olam and the
bathos would invent and build countless, wonderful treasures that
would then be cast or placed into the many other webs, including
the two webs that could yet be seen by Tereobathos.

Tereobathos continued to watch in awe until
it saw Olam gather up a ball of static energy and pitch it into the
first of the two other webs. A blinding explosion ensued, flooding
across the web until its entire surface was filled to overflowing
with fitful flames of fire. Olam and the Bathos rose up from the
surface of the planet in the middle web and darted away to the
first web, exploring here and there their handy-work. In time, they
came to a fiery ball of energy, and Olam saw that it was good.

Now Olam and the others, including
Tereobathos, dove deep into the fires of the flaming ball, until at
its very core the company arrived. There, a chorus of boisterous
music caused a growing agitation within the ball of fire. Soon
great chunks of fire were being cast out hither and thither, some
to slowly fall back into the burning ball, but others to be set
adrift until being locked in the ball’s invisible grip. Tereobathos
lifted itself up to the ball’s tumultuous surface, staring out in
wonder at the glowing fires far off in the sky.

When Olam and the others arrived on the
surface, why, the distant fires were no more, just hard, barren
rocks spinning about this giant fireball at their center. At Olam’s
signal, everyone departed for one particular rock. Upon reaching
it, the Bathos broke out in chorus, celebrating the marvelous
machine that Olam had created. They then hurried away to deliver
the many inventions harbored upon the planet in the Middle Web.
Meanwhile, Olam became busy preparing the rock for all the
inventions.

Olam looked around and found a mountain
standing alone in the middle of a broad, flat plain. Upon the
mountain, there was built a giant palace with many walled
enclosures round about. To this palace, the Bathos delivered the
countless inventions from the Middle Web. Soon the rock was covered
with blue skies, deep, watery expanses, and green-covered hills and
valleys. In time, there were creatures aplenty filling the seas,
birds floating high in the sky, and every variety of beasts roaming
about upon the land.

When all the Bathos saw how pleased Olam was
over all their handiwork, they broke out into musical songs that
echoed upon the air. Olam rose up over the Bathos, settling down
upon the palace ramparts. There awoke within Olam a blinding blaze,
the raging inferno enveloping Olam’s golden sphere. When the
excited flames subsided, Tereobathos saw a person in womanly form
standing where Olam had been.

The person in womanly form spread her feet
and arms wide, and for the first time uttered speech from a mouth.
The womanly form cried out a new name for herself. “I am become
AsahIsEnos (IamDamOdem,
Lit:
‘I am man’, pronounced in the
common tongue
:
Lowenah.). From me will come the ‘Adam’, the
geber and issah, to fill this world with my own blood.

The Bathos gathered around AsahIsEnos in
elated excitement, and as they sang songs of rapturous melody, a
cloud shrouded them in mist. When the cloud faded away, why, there
stood AsahIsEnos, her hands resting upon a swelled belly. The cloud
returned, enveloping everyone. When it had departed, Tereobathos
found that the company was standing high upon a grassy hillock
looking off toward the rising sun. As Tereobathos watched in
amazement, over the rise came running a little blonde-haired boy
with ocean-blue eyes. Then there came a child’s cry, and a little
girl with flowing silver locks and smoky-gray eyes came on the run,
calling for the boy to wait for her. Then there came another and
then another, until the entire land was filled to overflowing with
little children. As the children grew into manhood and womanhood,
more and more little children continued to come on a run over the
rise.

In time, there came over the rise a child
with golden blond tresses, with eyes rich in depths of inquisitive
blue, a misfit of sorts because full of questions she was.
AsahIsEnos took a special liking to the child because the child was
so different, filled with a happy contagion that AsahIsEnos had so
long searched for in her other children. The child was taken up in
AsahIsEnos’ arms and taught in all the ways of the Bathos – the Way
of the North. As the child was swept away into womanhood, she was
delivered to the feet of the ancient and wise in hopes that her
contagion would also infect them, and to many did this contagion
come.

Then many more ages passed. And to the
Second Web came the Bathos, eventually AsahIsEnos and her children.
Into the Second Web was power of life’s creation delivered until
it, too, was filled with teaming oceans, skies, and fields. It was
then that AsahIsEnos said to her children, ‘Let us make children in
our image, for our enjoyment.’ But secret AsahIsEnos kept the
powers this new creation was to have - that these new creatures,
made in their image, would make for
themselves
offspring in
the same way as the animals. For AsahIsEnos had finally succeeded
in accomplishing her greatest dream...to give to her
children
the gift of making life in their image.

Yet AsahIsEnos wished to teach her older
children humility, so she gave, first, to the children of the
Second Web, the power to procreate in their exact likeness, keeping
secret that soon she would bestow the same gift upon her older
children. Meanwhile, she gave birth to even more children.

In time, AsahIsEnos delivered into the First
Web a daughter with long, black hair and hauntingly deep hazel
eyes. And she lifted up the child to her breasts to nurse the
child, giving her the name, ‘my beautiful ewe’. Well, upon seeing
the baby child, the girl with the happy contagion fell in love with
the baby, and the child fell in love with the girl, snuggling also
at the girl’s breasts.

As Tereobathos looked on - for only could
she witness the events about her – AsahIsEnos prepared for her
children a great celebration as she unveiled all of marvels found
in the Second Web, and the secret of birthing she disclosed at that
time. Then, bringing the golden-haired girl up before all the
children, AsahIsEnos gave to the girl all the lands in the Second
Web as a gift to her. Yet, not everyone celebrated.

A dark, fearsome shadow grew across the
countenance of the oldest of all the children, he harboring
jealously over the gifts given. He could see the power of
reproduction, envisioning a world, a universe, filled with people
praising
his
name. After all, had he not designed many of
the wonderful things in this world? The oldest went off sulking,
scheming up mischief in order to take the gift away from the girl
and possess it for himself.

In time, AsahIsEnos gave birth to another
child, a boy with dark wavy hair, and large hazel eyes. Beautiful
the boy was and different – oh, so different, but in what ways
AsahIsEnos kept secret in her heart.

Suddenly the rage of the eldest child
exploded across all the worlds of men and beasts. He reached out
and struck, with the intent to destroy, the golden-haired girl to
whom the gifts of the Second Web were given. Chaos began its
supreme rule over all the mortal elements. The black-haired girl
child was pitched into madness, her cries of agony reaching across
time and space. When she awoke from her fitful dreams, why, there
was Chaos living within her. She became a child skulking about in
the shadows, avoiding the day while haunting the night. The others
were fearful of her for they saw someone residing behind her eyes,
and heard cryptic, dark, foreboding prophecies echoing from a voice
within.

Still, the little dark-haired child grew up
strong, loving AsahIsEnos with a love deeper than any of
AsahIsEnos’ other children. She, along with her youngest of
siblings, took up the sword of vengeance to return to their mother
what the oldest of her children had stolen. Long were the wars and
many the battles, yet the vigilance of these two people did not
waver, their righteous indignation only growing stronger as time
passed.

In the Second Web, the ages of men came and
went, kingdoms rose and fell, and rose and fell again and again. In
time, there was a maiden born with copper-red hair, and disposition
to match. The maiden grew into womanhood, beautiful in appearance
and charming in tongue, when she chose to do so. Her uncle and his
God she fell in love with, lifting up her voice in praise of
AsahIsEnos in the same manner of the Bathos. But the Demons of
Darkness hated the girl, finally deciding to bring her to a finish
in a horrendous manner.

So it came to be that a chief among the
demons, known as ‘Zeus’ among men, but ‘Legion’ to his demonic
kindred, lifted his arm to bring this girl and her uncle to ruin,
but he did not succeed, for the dark-haired child lifted her sword
and charged the enemy’s gate and, by her own destruction, delivered
the girl to lands far from the evil of her world.

Tereobathos stared in amazement upon seeing
the maiden lifted up to glory and set down upon a mountaintop.
There, a silver-haired woman with smoky-gray eyes kneeled before
her, handing the maiden a sword. The woman begged, ‘Please, my
lord, take from me this gift, my own blade. Lead my armies to the
glory promised us. Give back to us what has been stolen. Return to
us our virginity… restore to us our honor.’

At that instant, the sun broke over the rim
of the distant mountains, shattering the dream-share of the blood
grape. Ishtar’s eyes popped open, wide-awake, staring into Darla’s
alert, surprised face. For the first time, the girl felt the
softness of Darla’s tongue in her mouth, the pleasant residue of
the lingering wine exciting her senses. Darla slowly sat back,
staring, perplexed, at Ishtar, who was staring back in growing
disappointment at losing the woman’s passionate embrace.

Oh the kiss, that
wonderful
, sinful
kiss! Ishtar could think of little else as her body cried out for
more of Darla’s sensuous touches. On the other hand ,Darla was just
beginning to fathom the visions of the dream-share. Taking Ishtar
by the shoulders, she exclaimed, “Mother’s been busy with you! The
wine opens hidden vaults to memories one already possesses, but not
to knowledge untold.”

Ishtar argued that she knew nothing of the
final dream, she as surprised as her companion. The girl blushed
thinking about her amorous feelings for this woman sitting beside
her. Those feelings suddenly turned to growing panic. She fell to
the ground upon her knees and began to beg, wailing, “Forgive me,
my lord, for an angel of God I have dared to touch and long for in
an evil way! Spare, please, this child of wrath and destruction. In
sin my mother conceived me. Please forgive this wayward
child...”

Darla reached out, lifting Ishtar up while
she, too, stood. Together, the two women embraced, Darla singing
sweet love songs to the weeping child. When the tears subsided,
Darla softly echoed sentiments of her own. “Oh my darling one, like
a mother, sister, lover, I am to you. Forever one we are, no power
existing that is great enough to break the chains binding us
eternally.”

Ishtar sobbed, dejected. “But you are an
angel
, and I, I am just a
foolish little child.
”

Darla mused. “A little child? Maybe... Yet
in this world - my world - which is now also yours, only the souls
of angels and Immortals may reside here. You then, must also be an
angel of sorts, unless you are an Immortal, and I do not think that
is the case...yet.”