Thorn Boy and Other Dreams of Dark Desire (22 page)

One morning
soon after this revelation, Lailahel said to Jadalan, ‘You are
nearly a man, or as close to a man as you can get, therefore the
time of testing has come. You must undertake a series of tasks,
which, if you fail them, will mean you’ll have to return to the
world of men.’

Jadalan looked
horrified. In many ways, he had lived an idle life.

‘
It may
sound hard,’ Lailahel said, ‘But believe me, it’s for the best.
Beyond the blue fields of the north, you will find a single stone
sticking from the ground at the boundary of my lands. It is the
last stone of the spire of a buried temple. By sundown tonight, you
must have excavated that temple or else be cast out into the world
of men, where you will be cold and the light may burn
you.’

Miserably,
Jadalan trudged down the blue fields until he saw the stone that
Lailahel had spoken of. Using a spade, which he’d manifested into
being on the way, he tore at the crumbling, fragrant, crystalline
soil, but as fast as he dug a hole the crystals fell back into it.
The land was too dry, the spade too small. By the time Variel came
down the field to bring him a lunch of ambrosia, Jadalan was in
despair, clawing at the ground with his bare hands. ‘Oh Variel,
tonight I must leave here,’ he cried. ‘As fast as I try to dig up
the temple, it is covered again. There’s no hope.’

‘
Don’t
fret,’ said Variel. ‘Go over to that hill and lie down and rest.
You’ll get nowhere if you’re tired. Perhaps I can think of a way to
help you.’

Jadalan and
Variel went to the hill and sat down together. Jadalan ate his
dinner and then collapsed on the short, alien turf, exhausted by
his work. As soon as he saw this, Variel got to his feet and went
back to stand by the temple stone. He held out his arms and cried
out to the sky,

‘
All ye
beasts of field and stone,

All ye beasts
of woodland throne,

Attend me now
and dig this earth,

Bring the
temple to rebirth.’

And in a great
flash of blue light, strange creatures hastened out from the trees
of glass and metal, burrowed up through the crystal soil and flowed
round Variel’s ankles like a sea of fur and spines and fluff. He
directed them to their work and, by the time Jadalan stretched and
yawned and sat up on the hill, in the valley there stood a
magnificent, gleaming temple.Jadalan knew that Variel had done this
for him and ran down the hill to take the angel’s child in his
arms. ‘You have saved me,’ he said and kissed Variel on the mouth.
It was an impulsive gesture and one they had not thought to try
before.

However,
Variel was afraid of experimentation. ‘We must return to the
palace,’ he said. ‘Lailahel will be pleased that you have passed
the first test.’

This, of
course, was not altogether true. Lailahel suspected that Jadalan
must have had some kind of outside help but it never crossed his
mind that Variel might have had anything to do with it.’You will
find tomorrow’s task just as simple, I’m sure,’ he said silkily.
‘To the west of the palace is a lake that is seven miles long and
seven miles wide. Your next task is to drain it so that I may walk
in the ruins of an ancient angelic city that used to stand
there.’

Jadalan was
again filled with alarm. At daybreak, after a mostly sleepless
night, he set out for the great, still lake to the west of the
palace. In the weird, morning light, it appeared as a polished,
silver tray. Surely, some liquid other than water lay there.
Jadalan went to the shore of the lake. White sand of fragrant resin
crunched beneath his feet to release a pungent perfume that made
his head ache. The lake was absolutely motionless - and vast. He
sat down in the sand and rested his chin on his fists to stare
helplessly out over the object of his task.He had no magic strong
enough to deal with it. By tonight, he was sure, he would once
again be treading the rough earth of the world of men, homeless and
unwanted.

After a while,
Variel came down to the lake, bearing a pitcher of milk for
Jadalan’s refreshment. ‘As you can see, I’ve made very little
progress in draining the lake,’ Jadalan said scornfully and with a
dismal, humourless laugh.

‘
Don’t
worry,’ Variel replied. ‘Drink this milk and lie down to rest on
that bank of wild myrhh-moss over there. Perhaps I can think of
some way to help you.’

Gratefully,
Jadalan did as he was told. The milk made him sleepy and presently
he fell asleep.

Then, Variel
went to stand at the edge of the lake and raised his arms to the
sky, calling out over the shining surface,

‘
Silver
beasts of foam and wave,

Attend to me,
my friend we’ll save,

Drain the lake
and drink it dry,

Reveal the
city to the sky.’

Immediately,
the calm, mirror surface of the lake began to stir. Fish of every
shape and size swam up through fissures in the lake-bed from other
water-ways, underground rivers, and hidden oceans.Being angelic by
nature they swallowed the liquid of the lake and took it with them
back to their shadowy aquatic realms, far beneath the ground.And in
its place, the ancient city stood revealed, purple weed clinging to
its ragged spires, its proud avenues choked with silt and
stones.Jadrin awoke and ran to the edge of what was now an enormous
crater. ‘Variel, how did you do it?’ he exclaimed.

‘
It was
done because it had to be done,’ Variel replied.’Let us return to
the palace, so we may tell Lailahel.’

‘
If
first I may kiss you again,’ Jadalan said.

Variel looked
surprised.’Well, if you want to, then you may.’

Jadalan put
his arms around the angel child, and thought about how slim he was,
how fragile. He took a handful of Variel’s silver hair and thought
about how fine it was, how pure and fragrant. ‘Variel, you are
beautiful,’ he said.’I could never tire of looking at you.’

‘
Tire,
maybe not. But Lailahel will lock me away if we don’t return home.
It is late.’

‘
Are you
afraid of me in some way, Variel?’

‘
Perhaps
I am. After all, you are an earthly creature.’

‘
Then
maybe I should return to the place where I came from!’ Jadalan
cried, surprised at the pain those words inspired. He ran away from
Variel, up the swaying fields towards the palace.I belong nowhere,
he thought. I am neither man nor angel. What am I? Is there
anywhere I can truly belong.

Lailahel could
not disguise his agitation when Jadalan summoned him to a western
window of the palace and showed him the drained lake and the city
that lay there instead.

‘
I would
advise you to wait until the mud has dried before you attempt to
walk the streets of that place,’ Jadalan said, trying to be
helpful. ‘It looked very deep and smelled most
unpleasant.’

‘
Don’t
presume to lecture me, boy!’ Lailahel snapped. ‘So you completed
the task?’

Jadalan looked
away. He found it very difficult to lie. ‘The task is completed,
yes,’ he said.

At this,
Lailahel gripped his arm with talonned fingers. ‘You don’t fool me!
By the elements, you surely have the blood of Jadrin in your veins.
A minx, a trickster, like him! Who helped you, boy? Who drained the
lake for you?’

‘
I did
it myself!’ Jadalan cried, feeling his face grow hot.

Lailahel
appeared to withdraw into an icy tranquillity. His temper sloughed
away. ‘Very well. Tomorrow, complete the last task or it’s back to
the earth for you!In the centre of my neighbour’s garden is an
image of the Tree of Life. I want you to climb it and bring me back
a pearl from the crown you will find in a nest at the top of the
tree.’

‘
Your
neighbour’s garden?’ Jadalan repeated in a small voice.

‘
Just
so,’ replied the angel.

Jadalan went
directly to his room, threw himself on the bed and wept. He knew
that Lailahel’s neighbour was a crusty demon of truculent and
unreasonable nature, who guarded his land with basilisks and
cockatrices, who devoured first and asked questions later. Even
before he reached the Tree of Life, Jadalan knew his task was
doomed. He realised that Lailahel really meant to kill him, and in
a flash of insight saw the tasks for what they were. Lailahel had
no intention of testing him, he could see that now. ‘He only wants
to be rid of me,’ Jadalan thought miserably. ‘It is because I am
half human.’ There was no alternative but to leave the land of
angels immediately and find his way to the world of men himself.
Perhaps there, he could find a secluded corner in which to meditate
on his woes until death took the hand of age and left him lifeless.
The thought of solitude gave him some comfort. Lailahel had spoken
of earth as a crude and uncomfortable place, but Jadalan now
remembered the dreams he had once had of green fields and shady
glades in creeping forests filled with the bright eyes of woodland
beasts. Let the angels keep their stark, beautiful purity; he would
go to the land of his fathers. Only the thought of leaving Variel
caused any real pang in his breast. As he packed his most treasured
belongings, he kept seeing the huge violet eyes of the angel he
loved. He saw the smile, the hair, the quickly moving hands. No
matter! Hardening his heart, Jadalan crept from his bedroom and
tiptoed down the misty corridors of the palace, out into the purple
night, where moths the size of dinner plates flickered and glowed
among the curling branches of a grove of maiden trees and the road
shone white and hard towards the north. Jadalan walked through the
night, past the temple he’d been ordered to excavate, past the
boundary of Lailahel’s lands. As he walked, he found he was weeping
and that his body was aching for a final embrace. But he was alone
under a moonless sky and no-one heard him.

In the lilac
morning, Variel awoke and hurried down to the gleaming terrace
where he, Jadalan and Lailahel were accustomed to break their fast.
Only Lailahel was seated at the table sipping a distillation of
amber crystals and staring with unreadable expression out towards
the mud-limned city where the silver lake had once stood.

‘
So
where is Jadalan?’ Variel asked. ‘Have you set him another
task?’

Lailahel
turned a speculative eye towards his son. Maybe there was a note of
sarcasm in Variel’s voice that morning that was not usually
present. ‘As you ask - yes,’ the angel replied stiffly.

‘
What is
it this time?’

‘
What
business is it of yours?’

Variel
shrugged. ‘Curiosity only.’

‘
Someone
has been helping the boy, I’m sure of it. Therefore, I consider it
more prudent to keep to myself what I’ve asked him to do this
time.’

‘
Forgive
me,’ Variel said smoothly, ‘but I fail to see why these tests are
necessary. Hasn’t Jadalan been as much of a son to you as I
am?’

‘
A son
to me, but what to you?’ the angel raged suddenly.

Variel was
taken aback.’A brother,’ he replied, ‘what else. I’m very fond of
Jadalan and it upsets him that you should test his loyalty or his
suitability to remain here like you’re doing.’

‘
Variel,
you are blind! I should send you too to the world of men to learn a
little common sense. Jadalan desires you. He will violate your mind
and body if he remains here. Don’t speak! Just think about my
words. He will bring the crudity of humankind to our dreaming land.
I won’t have it.’

‘
What if
he completes the tasks?’ Variel said quickly before Lailahel could
silence him.

The Angel of
Conception stared long and narrowly at his son who, though small
beneath his father’s gaze, stared back bravely. ‘If he completes
the tasks?’ Lailahel laughed. ‘If he does that, he can have you. He
can have you across my own dinner table if he likes! If he
completes the task! Hah!’

And with that,
Lailahel drained the rest of his amber liquor and swept back into
the palace of light.

Variel sat
trembling for a further pleat of light and shadow. Lailahel had
left a lot of his rage behind, which lingered over the table like a
pungent smoke. Variel was concerned for Jadalan, suspecting that
this final task would be the hardest of all. He realised that
Jadalan would have no hope of completing it without his help.
Sighing, he rose and glided into the palace, gazing at the
marvellous things that Jadalan had wrought for them. Climbing the
white crystal stairs, he went to Jadalan’s room, hardly daring to
hope that he would be there, but perhaps to gain some clue as to
where Lailahel might have sent him. The room felt very different
to how it usually did. This was because Jadalan had left a fume of
grief and despair in the air - alien aromas to the palace of light.
It also felt very empty. Variel sat on the bed and absorbed the
atmosphere. After a few minutes, he gave a short gasp and shot to
his feet. A cursory search confirmed his fears; Jadalan had gone.
He had not gone to complete the task either, but just to wander
away and find some corner in which to grieve. All this, Variel
gleaned from the air of the room, but one thing he could not grasp
- what the task had been. He must know! If he could complete it
himself then he could find Jadalan and bring him back. Hadn’t
Lailahel himself said that Jadalan could stay if the task were
completed? Hadn’t he? Almost in a panic, Variel ran from room to
room, trying to glean some clue, some pervading atmosphere, some
phantom word or sigh that could tell him what he needed to know.
There was nothing. Eventually, he paused in the salon where Jadalan
had told Lailahel the lake had been drained. Naturally, the angel
had been prudent enough to clean the atmosphere in the place; he
wanted to be sure there was no way anyone could discover Jadalan’s
final task, but he had forgotten one thing. On the far wall, almost
obscured by a heavy curtain, hung a large, oval mirror. This was
one of Jadalan’s creations and Lailahel had admired it, which was
why it now hung on the wall. Variel passed through the room like a
ghost himself and he heard the mirror whispering as it revolved the
images it had absorbed over the past few days in its cold, glass
soul. Variel paused and stared at the bright surface. Only his own
reflection stared back. ‘Tell me,’ he said. ‘Is Jadalan in there?
Is he?’