The Paladin's Odyssey (The Windows of Heaven) (27 page)

“Fearful of tumbling into the void, Shining One fled to the new-made Earth and hid himself in the body of a jeweled fire-serpent. Of all the beasts in the field, this kind of basilisk was the most beautiful and the most cunning. With scales
as
gemstones of every color and eyes like wizened stars, this creature walked upright, like a drake or a wurm—though most say that it stood straighter than they—almost
as
a man with a balancing tail. It was cousin to the dragon and brother to gryndel, wyverna
,
and cockatrice.

“In those days
,
all beasts ate fruit or grass and no higher animal with the breath of life
in it
ever
died. All was harmony, with nature balanced by
E’Yahavah’s
love rather than by death as it is now. Having taken the fire-serpent, Shining One
became the Basilisk—
his name
today.

“Slowly, the Basilisk began to engage the Woman, Ish’Hakka, in all sorts of conversation, complimenting her beauty and keen
insight
as
a child-stealer woos a young girl into captivity, or a man seduces a maid
…
”

U’Sumi thought he saw a shadow pass over Pyra’s face. Her jade eyes grew dull
,
as if some “parasite” had just sucked away their luster. She slouched over in
to
a flaccid slump that somehow twisted her alarming beauty into something revolting
,
a sight that did to his
eyes
what the cloying perfume of the pearly chamber
did
to his
sense of smell
.

She whispered,
“Did he sleep with her?”

A’Nu-Ahki looked
for a second
almost as if he would laugh at the thought. “Oh no, nothing like that
;
Ish’Hakka would have found such a thing repugnant—no
!
The Basilisk was more subtle than that. His aim was to draw her into his insurrection and by her to secure Atum as well. Eventually,
after
many weeks, their talks meandered
toward
the trees on the island in the lake. From there
,
the topic casually danced around the Knowing-tree. ‘Has the Eluhar really said that you shall not eat of every tree in the Orchard?’ he finally asked her one day
,
directly
.

“The Woman paused at this, for the Basilisk had worded the question to give it a double meaning. Had he implied that E’Yahavah
had never really placed any ban on any tree, or did he mean that
E’Yahavah
had forbidden them to eat from
most
any tree?
She thought that p
erhaps
,
because it was only a beast
,
it had
heard wrong
.

“Ish’Hakka answered, after taking some time to think things through, ‘We may eat the fruit of all the trees in the Orchard except the fruit of the one at the middle. The Great God said to my husband, ‘You must not eat of it or even touch it, lest yo
u die.’

“On hearing this, the Basilisk knew that he had brought Ish’Hakka to the place of doubt and confusion he wanted for her. Never had E’Yahavah told Atum not to touch
the Knowing-tree. Atum
worked
the Sacred Orchard
. In order to prune it, he would have had to touch it.

“The Woman, thrown off balance by guile, had unintentionally magnified the prohibition in her mind. On the one hand, this made her feel safe—fear of even an accidental brush by the tree’s branches motivated her to keep her distance. On the other hand, it made her dwell too much on the one thing she could not have—and fear, however
well
-
motivated, gives rise to suspicion. Yes, the Basilisk had her exactly where he wanted.

“‘Dying, you shall
not
die!’ he declared openly. ‘For the
Great God
knows that on the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened. You will be gods, knowing fully the
experience of good and evil.’

“Suddenly, in Ish’Hakka’s eyes, the fruit of the Knowing-tree
was not something to be feared but possessed. Her mind reeled at the possibilities—she could be a goddess! She could be
come
the
Goddess, understanding the mysteries of the cosmos! She ate the fruit
,
and her mind expanded in dark ecstasy
;
yet she did not know that death had begun in her.

“She
gave
some of the fruit to Atum and seduced him into eating also. Only he ate knowingly, angrily. For Ish’Hakka had intimidated him with
new
‘knowledge’ and mocked his innocent trust. When he ate, both their eyes were opened. The Woman
saw
then how the ecstasy of her first experience had been a delusion. Their view of reality changed.

“They understood that they were naked because shame now foamed in their blood. Alienation, terror, and distrust gnawed for the first time at their insides. If they
understood
a few things they had not before, they also realized that what they had enjoyed in their bliss was now forever lost. Without nakedness of spirit, nakedness of body held no significance.
N
ow
however,
the eyes of all the heavens beat down upon them. They could not reverse things. There was no escape.”

Pyra said,
“Wait a minute
;
I’m not sure I understand this thing with the nakedness—I’m naked in front of strangers all the time and I don’t mind. Does that mean I’m like Ish’Hakka was before she ate?”

U’Sumi watched his father ponder her question, thankful that he wasn’t the one sitting
at
the answering end.
It would have been too tempting just to tell her,
“No,
sorry
, you’re just a shameless
slut
.”

“No, child—I’m sorry that I must needfully use that word again—but it does not mean that. Of course, we all have no shame in our early childhood. I also know that your Temple is very strict about letting children remain naked as long as possible and teaches you all to be proud of your bodies. Still, clothing serves many purposes beyond primal shame. You have uniforms that signify different things like rank and job specialty. There’s also the desire for adornment. I dare say that I’ve yet to see any of you traipsing around here completely naked. Why do you suppose that is?”

“It isn’t shame.”

“Really? I’m sure that’s true for the little ones. But once children first begin to play dress-up in their parent’s outfits and then receive clothing of their own, it does not come off quite so freely ever again, does it?”

Pyra replied, “I suppose not. But that’s just because clothing also communicates status. The people we look up to as children all have uniforms
—uniforms that are all about status.”

A’Nu-Ahki nodded. “True enough—as far as it goes—but that’s not nearly far enough to tell the whole story. What happened th
at
first time
, when
one of those status-filled uniforms, belonging to a powerful person you did not know well, or fully trust, told you as a child, to take off your not-so-status-full uniform before strangers? Was that comfortable for you?”

“No. But I got used to it.”

“I dare say you did. You
got used to it
. But it’s deeper even than that. If you search your memories, you’ll find something else also happened
—that the shame, rather than being absent, is simply buried. At some point in your childhood, one of those uniformed people made you do things
…
”

“Okay, stop!”
Pyra raked a hand through her hair
and
leaned forward to let it fall in front of her eyes, hiding her face. “I get it! Please, just go on with your story. I want to give you a fair hearing.”

A’Nu-Ahki said, “I’m sorry. My purpose is not to humiliate you. I believe you are honest in your intentions and in your questions. You could have simply called me a crazy old man, but you didn’t. That took integrity.”

She sniffed, wiping her eyes. “Thanks. I know you’re not trying to be mean to me, either.” She looked up, revealing her reddened eyes. “What happened to Atum and Ish’Hakka? What does it have to do with me?”

“Everything
;
E’Yahavah found them hiding in the Orchard that evening. They had taken fig leaves and sewn them together with vines to cover themselves. Creator asked them why they had hidden.

“Atu
m said, ‘Because I was naked.’

“‘Who told you that you were naked?’

“Silence.

“‘Have you eaten of the tree I commanded you not to eat from?’

“
Unt
il now, man and wife had been in this thing together. However, the estrangement that seethed below the surface had cracked a great rift between Atum and his Maker. It now branched off and split Atum from Ish’Hakka too. The act that he had hoped would keep his wife from
leaving
him by whatever this
new
terror called ‘death’ was
,
had actually sundered them farther apart. The Man crumpled under the fist of this new thing called
cowardice.
He answered, ‘It was the Woman who you
gave to be with me! She gave me some of the fruit, and I
ate.’

“Imagine her horror—have you ever been in love, Miss T’Qinna?”

The Priestess stole a quick glance at U’Sumi that sent a shiver up his spine—whether of revulsion or excitement he dared not ask himself. Then she averted her eyes and almost whispered, “I’m set aside for all. My love must be for all and not selfishly hoarded for one only.”

“I see,” A’Nu-Ahki said. “What about a small child—you know how they trust people so implicitly?”

“I suppose.”

“Well, that’s how Ish’Hakka was. She had never even conceived that such a thing as betrayal could happen. Her man, her partner—the one she had given everything to
…
”

“Is there a point to all this coming soon?” Pyra said. “Forgive my rudeness. But I can’t stay much longer and I really do want to understand.”

“I’m sorry
.
I get rather carried away at times. As briefly as possible
: T
he
Basilisk tricked the
woman into disobeying E’Yahavah. Her husband disobeyed knowingly, willfully, at her word. Shining One got what he came for. The basic nature of our first parents shifted toward rebellion against the Creator. We have all inherited that character ever since.”

“Through our creation codes?”

“More basic even than that
;
E’Yahavah
cursed the entire cosmos—down to the smallest elemental particles, beyond even the creation codes—to reflect the acquired conflict in Man’s inner world.
Alt
hough harsh, it was his first act of mercy. Had Creator left the universe balanced by his own justice, we could not have survived anywhere
beyond that brief judicial allowance protecting Atum between his act and the execution of the Curse. Nature, as it exists today, is both kind and cruel
;
a mirror of humanity’s
warped psyche. It no longer fully reflects the good character of E’Yahavah.”

Pyra scrunched her forehead. “I still see
some
good in the world.”

“Yes; fragments of beauty, truth, l
ove, and kindness. Sometimes a
bit more,
usually
when the human conscience is diligently trained to embrace them
, or when common sense prevails in mutually beneficial ways to more than one party
. That’s just it, though. We need training
and incentive
. It doesn’t come to us naturally.
E’Yahavah
altered Nature so that death became its balance—the death that is in us
.
On the day Atum ate, dying, we all died!

“Even when Nature shows kindness, it often hides more subtle cruelties. The reverse is also true, thankfu
lly. We still see artifacts of D
ivine power and intelligence in the cosmos, but no longer the complete loving personality of Creator, except as in a broken mirror.

“Rather than let Atum and Ish’Hakka grow endlessly more corrupt for all eternity—like Shining One—
E’Yahavah
designed it so that the death now at work in them would also be the limiting force in their domain.

“Atum’s firstborn son became the murderer of his own brother. A generation
later
saw the first tribal war. You can see it in each child who breaks the womb. Parents must work hard to teach children to
speak
truth, and to show kindness. Yet a youngster left alone with no correction—even in a plentiful world—grows selfish and cruel, without any model for that behavior at all. I’m sorry, but the truth is that people
born into the Curse
aren’t good on the inside the way you imagine. I’m not and neither are you.”