Wielding a Red Sword (40 page)

“I would give you that,” Lila said.

“Before Satan?”

She moved back as if struck. “Oh, immortal mortal, you know not what you ask!”

“I think I do. Since it is obvious that you can not give me what I require, you might as well leave me alone.”

“But then I will have failed to please you, and the penalty—”

“I am familiar with the penalty,” he said, remembering the fate of the lovely concubines he had rejected when his father had kept him prisoner. Satan would surely be
no more merciful. Those grisly deaths had hurt him; he steeled himself not to be hurt by this one.

He saw the tear at her eye again. There really was no point in artifice at this point; she surely was experiencing whatever emulation of emotion she was capable of. “If I am to perish, then it behooves me to choose the manner of it,” she said. “I would rather let my final act be an expression of my true private will than a lie. Therefore I will agree to this.”

This set him back. He had expected her to admit defeat. But of course she could be lying, as she had no concern for truth, only for convenience.

Or
had
she? He had never caught her in a lie. Satan was the Father of Lies, but did that mean that all of his constructs were liars too? It might be that Lila, sent to subvert an honest man, had been fashioned to be honest and would remain so until Satan changed her.

Still, this was suspect. He needed proof of her commitment. He knew of a way to get it—but the problem was that this would require a commitment from him, too.

Yet what did his relationship with one demoness matter, compared to the fate of the world? It would be selfish of him to put his own preference for a woman with a soul before the welfare of the world.

“Give me your absolute loyalty, and I will take you as my concubine,” he said. “But you will have to prove it.”

“I will prove it,” she said.

“Tell me how I may foil Satan’s plot and save the world from his dominance.”

“That is simple,” she said. “Precipitate the holocaust.”

Mym’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“Götterdämmerung. Ragnarök. Day of Doom. World War Three. The final confrontation between Good and Evil. Whatever it is termed in your mythology.”

“But that would destroy mankind!”

“Yes.”

“I ask you how to save the world, and you tell me to destroy it!” he exclaimed incredulously.

“You asked me how to save the world from Satan. I have told you how.”

Mym shook his head, disgusted. “I should have known that a demoness would not give me any answer I could use!”

“I gave you truth,” she said. “I can explain.”

“Don’t bother!” he said, turning away.

“But you agreed to take me as your concubine if I proved my loyalty!” she cried. “I have proved it! Are you not a man of honor?”

He whirled on her. “You had to know that that is no answer at all! It would only swamp the Afterlife with all the remaining souls of the mortals, in a few savage minutes. To give an answer you know is useless is no signal of loyalty!”

“But it is a good answer!” she protested. “Why won’t you hear my explanation?”

“Then give your explanation,” Mym said through his teeth. She had betrayed him, but the terms of his agreement required that much of him, that he hear her rationale.

She spoke. Gradually the sense of it penetrated.

“Lila, I apologize,” he said. “Now that I understand it, I see that it is a good answer.”

“Take me now, Mym,” she said. “Because when Satan learns what I have done, he will abolish me.”

True, again. She had shown him how to save the world, but she could not save herself. She had given up her existence for the sake of a few hours of acceptance by him.

He took her in his arms. “Now that it is too late, Lila, I regret that I mistrusted you. You shall have my thanks and my passion, while you exist.”

“That is all I desire,” she said, meeting him with a fierce kiss.

The day before the last civilian governments on Earth were to fall, Mym emerged from the Castle of War. He summoned his lesser Incarnations, and the five of them mounted. “To the Doomsday Clock!” Mym cried.

At that Conquest, Slaughter, Famine, and Pestilence looked askance. But their steeds knew the way, for the Clock was one of the artifacts of Mars. It was the timepiece that marked the incipience of the Final War that would destroy mankind on Earth.

They drew up before it. The Doomsday Clock stood on its mounting, fifty meters tall, and its huge hands were set at three minutes to midnight. This, in the metaphor of eternity, indicated the proximity of that War; it was not far off.

Mym dismounted and drew the Red Sword. “Let there be War,” he said.

Power radiated from the Sword. It bathed all the world—and all about the globe the tensions that led to conflict and violence intensified. Nations that had considered war now declared it; armies that had been in position to do battle now began it; individuals who had been bluffing each other down now called their bluffs and entered combat.

For this was the ultimate power of the Red Sword. It could not pacify violence, it could only enhance it. But what it enhanced, no other power could deplete; only the cessation of its own activity could abate the terrible malice of its nature. When allowed to radiate freely, it would amplify the warlike passions of man until they erupted in the greatest conflagration ever to occur—Doomsday.

The four subsidiary Incarnations stood taller and more imposing as the effect of the Red Sword was felt. Their colors brightened, and their steeds paced eagerly. Conquest’s white cape commenced a secondary radiation; Slaughter’s red became the texture of flowing blood; Famine turned so black that he was no more than a dark blot; and Pestilence’s entire body became a brown mass of vermin. They were approaching the moment of their greatest fulfillment.

Mym’s Cloak of War, too, was intensifying, the golden hue suffusing the region. Even his horse, Werre, was assuming a preternatural glow of strength.

The hands of the Doomsday Clock were traveling toward midnight at a visible rate. The two minutes became ninety seconds, then sixty.

Satan appeared. “What are you doing, Mars?” the Lord of Evil demanded.

“I am finishing what you started, Satan,” Mym replied evenly. “You fomented unrest during my absence; I am bringing it to climax.”

“But you will bring on the holocaust!”

“Yes, this will be the moment of my greatest glory,” Mym agreed.

The Clock had moved to thirty seconds. “Wait!” Satan cried. “Are you sure you want to do this, Mars?”

Mym lowered the Sword, and the Clock halted at twenty-four seconds to midnight. “You have a consideration, Satan?”

“I merely wish to point out that, once the final earthly reckoning occurs, you will have no further job, because all the mortals will be dead. Is this what you want?”

“Why, I believe it will do,” Mym said. “Why should I limp along piecemeal, when I can accomplish my purpose in one glorious burst? All mortal cares abated in a single effort!”

Now the other Incarnations appeared. Thanatos rode up on his pale steed Mortis, the woman Luna behind him. Chronos coasted in obliquely, holding his Hourglass, facing away, oddly. No, not oddly; this was his departure, by his backwards’s reckoning; he would reverse his perception to phase in to mortal time. Fate, in the form of a giant spider, descended a thread from nowhere. And Gaea coalesced from a cloud of vapor. All knew that this was the showdown.

“But you have always tried to preserve the lives of the mortals,” Satan reminded him. “To ease the suffering brought about by war.”

“That was before I realized the extent of my power,” Mym replied. “Now I prefer to exercise it in full measure.” He raised the Sword again.

Satan glanced about at the other Incarnations. “You tolerate this?” he asked. “You, who have always sought what was good for mankind?”

“Each Incarnation is supreme in his own bailiwick,” Gaea said. “Our preferences do not matter; this is Mars’ show.”

Satan shrugged. “Well, certainly if none of you are interested in doing what is good, it ill behooves Me to do it for you. I will receive more souls in one batch than ever before.”

“And God will receive even more,” Mym said. “Since
the balance of this world is currently positive—as it will not be after your folk assume political power among the mortals.” The hands of the Clock resumed their motion toward midnight.

“You would destroy the world—merely to deny Me a few souls?” Satan asked. “That is very shortsighted.”

“Well, the whole matter of war is shortsighted,” Mym agreed. The sweep-hand passed fifteen seconds.

“Wait!” Satan cried desperately.

The hand paused. “I wish you wouldn’t keep interrupting me with inconsequentials,” Mym said. “I’m sure we all want to get this matter expeditiously completed.”

“If the world ends now,” Satan said, “God will win, for the balance will be in his favor at the Final Reckoning.”

“Fancy that,” Mym agreed. “Since I have no interest in your victory, this does seem to be the appropriate time to make my play. Then I can retire from this office and go to Heaven to join my love who is there. Now, if you have no other observations—”

Small flames crackled about Satan’s body. He knew that Mym had found the key to victory. The Lord of Evil could not afford to have the world end in holocaust while the overall balance of living souls was in God’s favor, however marginally. “How did you learn of this?”

“Does it matter?” Mym asked. “All that should concern us is that it is true. Now, of course, if you should happen to choose to give up your plans for dictatorships and martial law on Earth—”

“Lila!” Satan exclaimed. “That demoness betrayed Me!”

Lila appeared. “I no longer serve you, Satan,” she said.

Satan stared at her, considering. Then he seemed to come to a private conclusion. “There is something that may interest you, Mars,” he said. “You mentioned joining a certain party in Heaven. Did you know that your companion in Hell did not go to Heaven?”

“She didn’t?” Mym asked, dismayed. “But I know her balance was good! The hearings—”

“She is good—but she declined to go,” Satan said.
“For some reason she wished to return to mortality, though it would seem that she had little to gain and everything to risk by that.”

“But she’s already dead!” Mym protested. “She couldn’t—”

“She could—with the help of one of your kind,” Satan said, glancing meaningfully at Gaea.

“This much is true,” Gaea said. “The woman wanted to be with you, Mars, so at the hearing she petitioned for a body among the mortals. There are some few soul-dead bodies, so I made one available to her. I did not realize that Satan had an involvement in this. I think she had in mind a surprise for you.”

“I—I never dreamed—” Mym said, amazed.

“And here she is,” Satan said, gesturing.

A woman appeared. Her apperance was not that of Ligeia, but she approached Mym as if she knew him. He put out his hand and touched her, and knew immediately that it was her soul. Now the body began to assume some of the traits of her former one, as her personality animated it. She was young and comely, and her love for him was manifest.

“But it seems she did not realize that you had made a deal with the demoness,” Satan said.

Ligeia gazed at Mym with hurt questioning.

Satan, with uncanny insight, had brought about the confrontation Mym least desired. To have his lost love abruptly returned to him—after he had made the pact with the demoness! What was he to do now?

“But of course your choice is clear,” Satan said. “You did not know that your true love was returning to you. Therefore any arrangement you made with the demoness is null and void. I will take her off your hands.” He raised one arm, pointing a finger at Lila.

“No”, Mym said.

Satan arched an eyebrow. “No? You intercede for this soulless slut? That does not become you, Mars.”

“I accepted her help,” Mym said with difficulty. “I agreed to accept her as my concubine. I can not go back on my word.”

“And so you reject your true love, who gave up her
place in Heaven itself only to be with you?” Satan made a gesture of dismissal. “You would not do that, Mars.”

“What are you bargaining for?” Mym demanded.

“All I ask is that you allow the world to stand, Mars. As you can see, if it is destroyed now, your re-mortal girlfriend will have made her gesture for nothing. She will be returned forthwith to Heaven, and you will be left with the demoness. For I do not believe that you will be bound for Heaven after you have treated mortal realm so.”

The notion of losing Ligeia a second time, after her phenomenal sacrifice to be with him, appalled Mym But if he backed off now, Satan would have his way with Earth.

“And you have no need to be concerned about this bit of nothing,” Satan said. “I will eliminate her memory of you and put her to another assignment. That will leave your situation clear.”

It was still a sort of betrayal of the creature who had helped him, Mym realized. He had given his word.

“I want nothing from you but your agreement to abate your plot against the mortal realm,” Mym said. “Otherwise I will destroy it. What happens with the women is incidental.”

Satan shrugged. “You have My agreement,” he said.” “You have won this showdown, Mars.”

Mym almost gaped. Victory—just like that?

“And I will take care of this minor business for you, as a gesture of amity,” Satan said. He turned again to Lila.

Ligeia moved suddenly to throw her arms about the demoness. “Leave her alone!” she cried.

“Do not be concerned,” Satan told her. “This is for your own good. Mars needs no concubine when he was you.”

“You understand nothing about the ways of princes,” Ligeia said. “Mym gave his word. She did her part.”

Satan looked at Mym. “Does this make any sense to you, Mars? Why should the woman you love want competition from a demoness?”

Why, indeed! Mym did not know what to think. He looked at the other Incarnations, but all of them were mute. It seemed that he had a decision to make.

There was something about this that he didn’t understand. It was as if this were far more important than just a decision about a demoness whose presence had become an embarrassment. But what was the significance? He had won, hadn’t he? Why should he concern himself over such a trifle as the existence of a demoness whom all parties knew had never expected to survive beyond this point?