Fractured Paradise (Volume III)
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No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding except he be detached from all that is in heaven and on earth. Sanctify your souls, O ye peoples of the world, that haply ye may attain that station which God hath destined for you and enter thus the tabernacle which, according to the dispensations of Providence, hath been raised in the firmament of the &Bayan. The Canon of Truth: Kitab I Iban, Baha'i Memory And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of thy mercy. The Canon of Truth: Nehemiah, Hebrew Memory O you who believe! when you rise up to prayer, wash your faces and your hands as far as the elbows, and wipe your heads and your feet to the ankles; and if you are under an obligation to perform a total ablution, then wash (yourselves) and if you are sick or on a journey, or one of you come from the privy, or you have touched the women, and you cannot find water, betake yourselves to pure earth and wipe your faces and your hands therewith, Allah does not desire to put on you any difficulty, but He wishes to purify you and that He may complete His favor on you, so that you may be grateful. The Canon of Truth: The Dinner Table, Muslim Memory But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: The Canon of Truth: Corinthians, Christian Memory And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ; and their names were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith. The Canon of Truth: Moroni, Mormon Memory "Qwin, it's time for Sunday school." Qwinn flinched as he listened to his mother's voice quiver with Sunday morning panic before heading off to the church on the edge of town. He thought of the white steeple rising from the left of the double doors in front. Brother Barnes would be extending a firm hand with a cloud of aftershave, smiling with tobacco teeth. Car grease darkened his rough fingernails while he adjusted his holy clothes. After a week of revival meetings after school and a youth rally the night before, the last place Qwinn wanted to be was in church. "Did you memorize your verses, Qwin?" his mother asked, yelling up from where she was fixing breakfast,"you need to know all of Genesis 1 today, remember?" "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." The words flowed through Qwin's mind with the grim cadence of a loose faucet. He dreaded reciting verse and he had no desire to attend the service. He knew what was expected of him. He had just turned eight, the age of "accountability". The age at which he was expected to know the difference between right and wrong, and that meant that he should walk down the isle to bother Jacobs. He figured he would cry because the pianist would be playing "Just As I Am", just like Billy Graham crusades, and he would hear brother Jacobs say something like "Son, do you want to give your life to Jesus today?" I knew that was what brother Jacobs would say because he heard it that way when Johnny went down the isle last year. Qwinn and Billy were hiding underneath the pulpit in the crawlspace where they stored extra chairs and folding tables. They spent the entire service there, listening and giggling. Johnny was mad when they told him afterwards that they had heard the whole thing. He was embarrassed and yelled at them. Qwinn pulled the covers over his eyes, hoping his mother would just forget about him and go to church alone. The cloth was pulled down from Qwin's head, revealing flawless sky that hovered over his life in Addewid. It was framed by the top edge of four walls surrounding him. They were dark brown and rubbed smooth, like mud piled high and crafted into panels. His hands rested on the hard curved surface of something that felt like barrels laid down beside each other. Looking over him was one of the men in a blue uniform. "Good," he said, "you are awake". He was gruff and cold, impatient. "This is Kreb, one of our Mendial Monks. He will start teaching you the essential passages from the Canon of Truth. Learn your lessons well." Kreb tilts his head into Qwin's view and nods, standing rigidly next to where Qwinn was laying. He was wearing a robe made of the same blue material as the uniforms worn by Alliance guards. In addition to the robe, he wore a cape that hung down over his arms and hood was pulled up over his head, leaving his face dark, his expression firm. Qwinn sat up, noticing that he had been dressed in a robe himself, but it was not as full and flowing as the one worn by Kreb. "I understanding that you are new to Addewid," said Kreb. Qwinn nodded. "Are you among those who belive in the One God?" came Kreb's next question firmly. Qwinn felt that Kreb was looking for an affirmative answer. "One god?" answered Qwin, "what do you mean?" "Do you believe in the one true god of creation?" Kreb asked, frustrated with Qwin's reticence. "I was a Christian on earth, if that matters," stated Qwinn with uncertainty. "Then you are from those devoted to the One God," smiled Kreb, "you life with the Alliance should prove quite fruitful if you follow my council. "I have been told to start your training in the necessary verses from the Canon of Truth." "Canon of Truth?" asked Qwin, "what is that?" "That is the collected words of prophets sent to earth by the One God of creation, in all of his manifestations." "Do you mean the Bible?" "I mean the Canon of Truth," said Kreb. On Addewid there are the words of many men who served as prophets to the One God on earth. The Bible contains part of those words, the words of all the prophets are found within the Canon of Truth, from Zoroaster to the Bab." "I'm not familiar with Zoroaster or the Bab." "You will soon learn of these prophets, in addition to Muhammud, Jesus, Isaiah, Joseph Smith and Moses. They are all prophets of the one God." "Joseph Smith?" Qwinn said, surprised, "the Mormon?" "Yes, he did receive the words of the angel Mormoni, which are now part of the Canon of Truth." Qwinn just stared at Kreb, but he was trying to sense Mag and the others, feeling nothing. "Where are my friends?" he asked. The Alliance Guard stepped to Qwin's side and said, "They have been removed from the ship. The two men have been assigned for training in the Alliance Guard and the women have been taken to Island of the One God for auctioning off as brides, maids, or slaves." The guard stepped back once again, his duty done. "They have been taken care of in a manner consistent with Alliance decrees," explained Kreb. "You need not concern yourself with the like of them. They are not of the One God people. I advise strongly that you stay away from them. "It is time to begin your first lesson," he stated sternly. Qwinn remained silent. "If you do not cooperate your memories will be erased and you will be disposed of." Qwinn recounted in his mind the disappearance of Kihanga, then looking at the Kreb, he nodded. Chapter 14 Contact He closed his eyes to the four walls and endless light above him. He didn't want to see or think about this Kreb with the blue cape or the alliance guard. He didn't want to sense the emptiness of Kihanga's face. He didn't want to think about Addewid or the distance of his life on earth. He only wanted to feel the spirits of Mag, Kuan and the others, even though Kuan had sternly warned him about using his budding apelene skills. Breathing softly while sitting up, his legs crossed before him, and his hands clasped into interleaved strands of flesh. He felt the presence of Kreb and the guard, but he ignored them and pressed beyond, to the scores of Alliance soldiers on the ship, Their thoughts lined up within his body like fence posts along the country roads he saw as a child in Mississippi. The restless guardian spirits on the ship appeared to him coldly as they awaited orders. Alliance deltens thrashed within nightmares as they pulled the ship through the strange sea he has been surrounded by since arriving on Addewid. Suddenly, his soul was filled with the cacophony of spirits beyond comprehension. So many people, so many thoughts, and the phrase "Island of the One God" seemed to pervade all he felt, riding the wave of all emotions, from fear to the pride to aggressive authority. He guessed that he had found his way to the Island of the One God that Xiaohong had talked about so disparagingly. Whatever Island of the One God was he could tell that it was large and filled with many people. Their memories were overwhelming his ability to read any thing distinct in their thought, so he pulled back, looking for clues as to the whereabouts of his companions. Within the myriad gusts of spirit he was experiencing he became aware of patterns that he could sort through within himself. Some of these patterns of personalities he could recognize as being distinctly rigid and aligned with the Alliance of Truth, much like those he grew up with in Christian fundamentalist churches back on earth. There were other spirits, of rebellion, of concession, of hope, of resignation. Then he felt a familiar thread of expression, but he couldn't quite place it in his experience. The name "Kolysta" came into his being, which he was assuming was the Addewid name of whomever this was. It was a feeling of fear, loneliness and an anxious anticipation, even terror, like he sensed when the delten picked up on the presence of the rogue guardian on his island. The delten! That was who Qwinn was sensing, and it's Addewid name was "Kolysta". There was no discerning of location or distance, only a knowledge that contact had been made with the delten. In this, Qwinn felt some comfort, so hope, that perhaps he would be able to find those with whom he had traveled. The delten's emotions seemed to calm slightly, as though the delten, too, felt that Qwinn would be able to bring them all together, but Qwinn became concerned about how to make a similar contact with the others. Pulling away from Kolysta's spirit, Qwinn searched for other patterns within the sea of spirits on Island of the One God. Qwinn thought back to the time when he helped his wife pick apples in her parent's orchard in Vermont. After several days of staring at hundreds of trees and thousands of apples he began to see the ripe ones in the midst of hundreds that were not quite ready. He got to the point where he could reach over, gently nudging them into his fingers, each one ready to yield to the knowing hand, to the hungry tooth, to the time of their harvest. As the spirits of Island of the One God passed through him he began to pick up on hints and clues to the presence of Mag, Kuan, Xilotl, Sayed, Xiaohong and Thrace. He felt Mag's name being passed back and forth between two men bargaining for her, then he Xiaohong flinch as he yielded to the orders of an Alliance soldier. Once again, he couldn't make out any locations or how far each was from the other, but he was finding each of them. Then he felt Kuan, but she was seeking him out and she was saying "Qwin, you have found us in your spirit, now you must leave us for a while and not let them know that you have done this." Qwinn wanted to speak, he wanted to answer her, but she continued, "Qwin, don't linger here. You are in danger and we need you. Go back to yourself and wait for the right moment to contact us again. We are all safe, for now." Qwinn withdrew his spirit from Island of the One God and opened his eyes to find Kreb staring at him. "Are you all right, Qwin?" Kreb asked. Preacher nodded his head and smiled, "Yes, I'm fine, I was just remembering something from my life on earth." "We do not have time for such pleasures right now," Kreb advised, "we have much to memorize or we will both be punished." Qwinn was relieved to understand that Kreb was unaware of the contact with Kuan. Chapter 15 Canon Of Truth "Will I get to see Island of the One God?" Qwinn asked, "I've heard so much about it." Kreb looked at Qwinn as if to discern why he was so suddenly interested in Island of the One God. "As a matter fact," he answered, "We are headed there now. We have been ordered to return and provide security for a trial to be held within the next few feedings." "A trial?" Qwinn asked. "Yes, and Alliance Trial." Qwinn thought about asking more questions so that he would be able to find his friends when the ship arrived, but he decided to listen to Kuan's warning and not raise suspicion. "What will you be teaching me?" he asked Kreb. Kreb sat down next to Qwinn and bowed his head. "Blessed one and only god," he began, "be with me as I teach this man the ways of truth. Help me be the holder of his divine intelligence, let him feel the words that never change, let him become the pure voice of thoughts that please your will." Kreb lifted his head, looking at Preacher, then smiling broadly. "We are in the presence of god." Qwinn flinched as he absorbed the cadence and voice of Kreb. It was filled with the confidence of someone who believes thoroughly in his ability to understand the essentials of life, as though it were all obvious. Qwinn was uncomfortably in the presence of such assurance. Kreb's gaze was unflinching. His smile was stoic and warm, but mechanical, like the faces of Sunday school teachers he knew while growing up. "Repeat after me," stated Kreb, "you must not stray from the words I will say to you and you must not change them, not a single phrase, not even a word." Closing his eyes, Kreb started to recite something: "In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful. Praise be to God, the Lord of the words, The Beneficent, the Merciful, Master of the day of Requital. Thee do we serve and Thee do we beseech for help. Guide us on the right path, the path of those upon who thou hast bestowed favours, not those upon whom wrath is brought down, nor those who go astray." Qwinn watched as Kreb opened his eyes. "Do you want me to say all those words now?" Qwinn asked, confused regarding what was expected of him. Kreb's lips melted from the smile it once held and grew firm, cold. Without sensing any movement from Kreb, Qwin's face was set on flame with pain as Kreb's hand shot to his jaw, throwing him back. Angrily, Kreb stood up, looking down at Qwin. "I said repeat after me," he said, "I didn't give you permission to ask questions. When I return I will expect you to follow my instructions and repeat my lessons without fault. If you change even a part of one word there will be punishment, so prepare you mind to remember flawlessly." With that, Kreb left the room through the doorway directly in from of Qwin, pushing aside the blue material covering the door. Qwinn stared at the curtain in the doorway. It was not a solid sheet of blue. It was a patchwork of Meithrin fruit skins, just like the clothes worn by everyone in the Alliance of Truth. Lifting his hands to his face, explored the pain cascading through skin. It was his first direct sense of physical pain since arriving on Addewid. Like all other sensations on Addewid, the experience was magnified compared to what he experienced on Earth. As he massaged his face with fingers he started to feel a soft, light touch upon his back and shoulders. Thinking that he was alone, he brought his hands down to his shoulders, expecting to find some Meithrin fruit skin from the clothes that they dressed him in, or perhaps some hair. His own hair had become long since he arrived on Erestyl and it was starting to brush against his shoulder, but when his fingers search for the source of the touch he had experienced he was surprised to come in contact with small, thin fingers placed softly on his skin. Reacting to the unexpected presence his fingers recoiled, as did the fingers on his back. Turning around, he found himself facing a woman wearing a short smock that was barely large enough to cover her torso, her legs extending from below and her breasts pressing against the edge on top. She was scooting back on the uneven floor to the wall, never taking her eyes off of him. Her appearance struck him as odd because she wasn't totally nude, as was the case with Kuan and the others on the Delten. It was at this point when he realized that he had not seen any women on the ship before now. Kuan, Mag, Xilotl and Thrace were the only women he had actually seen on Addewid, and this was the first to have any clothes on. She seemed, at the same time, puzzled, curious and frightened, "Don't hurt me," she pleaded, "but you can do with me as you want. I have been assigned to you for your pleasure." "Pleasure?" queried Qwin, "What kind of pleasure are you referring to?" He wasn't really expecting an answer, but she sat up, looked at him saying, "sex, what else?" "Sex?" Qwinn exclaimed, not entirely believing what he was hearing. He stared back at her confused. "Didn't you have sex when you were on earth?" she asked, showing no embarrassment. "Well, yes," stammered Qwin, "but why are you asking me, don't you know? Weren't you on earth?" "No," she answered quickly, then after a pause, "well yes, but I don't remember anything about it." The woman remained quiet as Qwinn waited, trying to put in perspective the conversation. "I was on earth, but I never lived there," she continued. "But how can that be?" Qwinn countered, "How can you be on earth and not live there?" She moved her fingers along her lips as she thought. "I'm not sure," she said, "but I have heard that people developed inside a woman's body and then came out after a while, right?" Qwinn nodded, not wanting to appear impatient by speaking. "Yes, that's true," he stated softly, trying to understand who this woman was and what she was doing on Addewid if she didn't have any knowledge of earth, "we did come out and we lived our lives and we died, sort of." "Didn't you?" he added when she simply stared at him. She dropped her head, brought her hands up to cover her face, then shook her head, crying. "You were never born?" he asked, now uncomfortable. Then he sought her with his spirit, seeking the memories that he could usually pick out from others he had encountered, curious to understand the riddle sitting before him. There were memories, but not of earth, at least not of the earth he knew. Deep within her, searching for the earliest of her existence he could only sense darkness, warmth, and the soft pulse of fluid against flesh, but it was fading, growing cold, shifting to the light of Addewid, a small island like his, and a fresh sense of discovery, not like his where he was confused by differences between his life and Addewid, but with no knowledge of earth, or life on earth, seeing light for the first time, and separation from a mother never known. Pulling her hands from her face she watched his strange expression as he combed through her past. "What are you doing?" she asked, concerned. Qwinn came back to the room, where the woman had moved closer to him. "What are you doing?" she repeated. "I was just thinking," he answered, not comfortable with revealing his invasion of her spirit. "So you were never actually born!" he exclaimed, understanding the situation, "you are from earth, but you never lived on earth." He was speaking to himself as much as he was to her. "I'm not sure," she said, "but I have been told by men that I have been assigned to that not all people made it outside women's bodies alive, that some of them left earth and came to Addewid before they came out." Qwinn started to think about miscarriages, abortions and other ways that fetuses died on earth. "Yes, I understand now," he said. A name appeared to him. "Fawnkin," he mumbled. "How did you know?" she exclaimed. "No one has used that name except for the apelene bards from the Alliance when they wanted to force me to do something. You can't be one of them." Qwinn shook his head, "no, I'm not one of them. I'm not even sure what I am. I haven't been on Addewid very long and there are too many things I don't know. Chapter 16 Deithryn "We are called Deithryn, those with no memories." Qwinn looked at her, sensing the shame and humiliation that the term evoked. "So having memories of earth is considered to be a valuable part of someone's life on Addewid," he observed, thinking about Kihanga and the woman with him in the room. "What name do others call you, since you did not have an earth name?" he asked, believing that it would be inappropriate to use her Addewid name. "They don't call me anything. They just tell me what to do. They don't give the Deithryn names. Only those with earth memories have call names." "I want to give you a name," he said, "May I?" "Why?" she asked, looking at him, puzzled. "Because I don't want to control you and I don't want to make demands of you. I would like to have a name I could use when talking to you." Silently she nodded, unsure. Qwinn thought back to a time when he was a child traveling with his family through Arizona. They heard about a canyon which had a ghost that appeared on clear nights with a full moon. Since it was a full moon at the time and the night was clear they decided to stop by the canyon. As they approached the edge of the canyon and looked across the vast space between the canyon walls the were stunned to find the image of a young woman holding a child directly over a column of stone rising up from the canyon floor. This experience had affected Qwinn profoundly, but he hadn't found a way to express how he felt about that night, until that moment. "What about 'Moon Song'", he said. "Moon Song?" she repeated. "I like that, but what is a 'moon'?" she asked. Qwinn thought about the mechanics of the solar system as he understood it, trying to define some way to describe to her what the sun, planets and moons were like and how the moon, in particular, would be seen by those who had lived on earth. He looked up to Addewid's sky and sighed. He missed the infinite variety of clouds, the singular warmth of the sun and the mysterious light of the moon. "What have you heard about 'earth' Moon Song," he asked, trying out her new name. She smiled when she heard the words, answering, "They just say it is something that was in the sky at night. They also say it was pretty and that they miss it. Some of them say it is romantic, but I don't know what any of them are talking about so I just forget about it." Looking around the room, Qwinn noticed a pile of Meithrin fruit pods laying in one corner. He walked over to the stack, gathered several into his arms and returned to where Moon Song was sitting. After he sat down, he took one of the Meithrin fruit pods, holding it in his hands. "Pretend that this is the earth," he said, "except that the earth is more round." "If you had lived on earth you would be on the surface of this Meithrin Pod and you would be looking up at the sky." Qwinn held the Meithrin pod in one hand and positioned the other hand a couple of Meithrin pod lengths away, making a fist. "This is the moon," he continued while moving the fist in a circle around the Meithrin pod, "on earth the moon appeared in the sky, in addition to the sun and many stars. We call it the Universe." "This sounds like Cyfanfyd", she said, "the place where Ellyn created the earth and all that is around it." "Cyfanfyd?" Qwinn asked, now being the one surprised. "Yes, it is on Ynyscread, Ellyn's island." Chapter 18 Cyfanfyd This was the second time he had heard someone speak of Ynyscread, and he was becoming more intrigued with the place as he looked at Moon Song. "Have you been to Ynyscread?" he asked her. "Oh yes," she said eagerly, "I was assigned to a captain of an Alliance ship, similar to this one, when the Alliance raided Ynyscread for Chwedl branches and the supplies they need to make Anesh." "Anesh?" asked Qwin, interrupting her. "Yes, Anesh", she repeated, "it is something that the Alliance uses to control Rogue Guardians, but I don't know much about it, only that it requires several things collected from Ynyscread. Qwinn remained silent, thinking about the new word, waiting for Moon Song to continue with her story. "When the ship approached Ynyscread near the place where the Enthrenden River opens into the Malyan sea, Ellyn's Guardians attacked, driving them towards Ynyscread. "They wanted to reach the Elran river where Calerian Trees grow, but the presence of the Ellyn's Guardians forced them into the Enthrenden river. "I remember the captain being very upset. He kept repeating the word 'Cyfanfyd', and how he didn't want to go there." "But the Enthrenden River, with it's Gwialen Trees on one bank and the Chwedl Trees on the other, along with large stones and frequent bends in the river provided cover for the pursued ship, frustrating the efforts of the Guardians to capture them. "After several feedings, the ship came became still as the Alliance Ephelene called the Deltens to a halt. "The captain moved quickly to the edge of the ship, looking up the Enthrenden river. "I followed him looking up the river myself. I could not believe what I was seeing." Qwinn listened intently as Moon Song struggled with words to describe what she was witnessing. Frustrated with her loss for words, Qwinn allowed his spirit to sink into hers. Immediately she sensed his presence, but rather than resisting she allowed him, allowed him to see what she saw at that time, and to feel the rich emotions that overcame her. Through her eyes and emotions he saw a darkness deeper than any he had experienced before, as if he were in a closet when he was a child, at night, with no lamp glow surging beneath the door. It was a darkness greater than the absence of light drawing him close, as though he was being called. The Enthrenden river was flowing out of this darkness and there were swirls within the friese where the movement of something just below the surface would slither just beyond detection. Occasionally a shape would form momentarily, but not long enough for him to detect anything recognize, yet it all felt familiar. Had he seen this before? Suddenly a large creature came to the surface along with an elongated, rounded object. The creature was swimming carefully next to the object, excreting a fluid on the object carefully, working delicate lips upon the vague shape floating in the river. Before too long the shape became more distinctive, more well defined, more human! The river creature would alternate between coating the evolving form with the fluid and shaping the form. Qwinn was reminded of the candle making process, where layers of paraffin are built up across successive dips in vat of wax. As he looked more closely the shape of a man started to form, with broad, smooth shoulders, and relaxed, as though in a deep slumber. There was no hair on the body, neither on his head nor around his genitals, but the fact that this object was becoming a man was indisputable. Suddenly, the creature pulled the unconscious man below the surface of the river. Then Qwinn noticed that the river was full of this kind of activity, with river creatures building bodies and dragging them below the surface. It was at this point that Qwinn noticed a large barge close to the bank of the river, and drones were lifting the newly formed bodies onto the deck, stacking them several high along the edge, just as he saw them on the drone ship before. Looking back to the pool of darkness from which the Enthrenden River flowed he stared into the presence of countless, brilliant patches of light that danced slowly in the depths that extended before him. The darkness seemed infinite to his spirit even though his earth bound logic resisted the impulse, but the drama and intrigue which took over him at that moment was unmistakable. Without any explanation it was clear to him that what he was looking at, through the spirit and eyes of Moon Song, was the very source of life as he understood it on earth, and that earth was somewhere in the midst of the currents that flowed into the Enthrenden river. Chapter 18 Droolyn Breath Suddenly, a voice broke into his spirit, "You have violated an Alliance Law by peering into the spirit of this Deithryn. You shall be punished." Startled, Qwinn came back to himself just as Kreb walked through the draped door with two Alliance guards, one of them holding a branch from a Chwedl tree. Moon Song jumped to her feet, approaching Kreb, "Please, don't do this, he didn't know it is against Alliance Law." Kreb pushed her aside brusquely, forcing her to fall into the hands of a guard who quickly restrained her. Kreb looked down at Qwin. "You have fooled me, Qwin. It seems that you have apelene skills, and if one of our Alliance apelene hadn't penetrated your spirit you may have gotten away with this terrible sin." Kreb circled Qwin, with the guard holding the Chwedl branch following. "There is a price for this behavior here in the Alliance and you will pay for it." The Guard grabbed Qwinn by the cape they had tied to his neck, lifting him to his feet, choking him. "Do you know what this is?" said Kreb, pointing to the Meithrin branch. Qwinn just stared at Kreb, neither acknowledging the question nor providing an answer. Kreb motioned to the Guard, who started to lower the branch to Qwin. Stories from his life started to well up inside him, coming to his consciousness with the clarity of the original experiences. Apple trees, birthdays, lovers, all rotating through his thoughts, boiling within him. Thinking of Kihanga and the emptiness that overcame him before he was thrown into the Melyan sea, Qwinn struggled, not wanted to lose his own memories. Never had they seemed so precious before. Then, suddenly, Kreb stepped back and the Guard released him. Quickly, they ran through the door, leaving Qwinn and Moon Song along in the room. A strange sound started to pierce the air around him, like a crude horn or someone playing a conch shell back on earth. Moon Song, who was also released, looked to Qwinn and smiled. We have arrived in Island of the One God. You are now insignificant to them. Looking over to the door Qwinn asked Moon Song "What do you mean?" "Now that we have arrived in Island of the One God they will be too busy to worry about you, at least for the moment. "We'll probably be assigned to a prison." Qwinn looked back to Moon Song and asked, "How can you know so much about this?" "I have been assigned to other men before and this is what happens whenever an Alliance Ship arrives in Island of the One God." "How many men have you been assigned to since you arrived in Addewid"? Qwinn asked. "Thousands, maybe millions." Qwinn was stunned, not only by the magnitude, but by the calmness with which she made the statement. "Do you have any idea how long you have been on Addewid?" Once again, Qwinn was filled with many questions, not only about Moon Song, but about the nature of Addewid, and how time has an entirely different foundation on Addewid than it did on earth. "As far as I can tell, I have been here for around six thousand Droolyn breaths." "Droolyn breath?" What's a 'Droolyn breath'? What's a Droolyn?" As Qwinn asked the questions he though back to when he first met Kuan, Hian, Mag and the others on his island. Kuan tried to convince Hian not to bring him with them because it would take as long as a Droolyn breath to train him as an apelon. Qwinn was desperately wishing to see the sun, the moon, and their respective cycles of days, months and years. "No one has told you about the Droolyn yet?" Moon Song seemed very surprised. Qwinn shook his head silently. "The Droolyn are those who have always lived on Addewid. There has never been a time when they did not exist." "Is Ellyn one of the Droolyn?" Qwinn asked. "Yes." "How many more are there?" "Thirteen, that I know of." "You mean that there are twelve other beings just like Ellyn?" Qwinn exclaimed, not really how to react. "Yes," Moon Song responded, surprised by Qwin's reaction, "why are you so surprised?" she asked. Qwinn lifted a hand to his forehead and started rubbing his skin softly. "Because, on earth, many people thought there was only on god. This revelation is a bit of a surprise." There were so many other questions he wanted to ask, but he was most concerned about time, at the moment, so he asked, "Alright, what is a Droolyn Breath?" "Addewid needs two things in order for life to take place," Moon Song song, her voicing taking on the tone of child reciting something a parent has said, "the breath of the Droolyn, and the Trees of Life in Landslay." Qwinn could not believe what Moon Song was saying, wondering where she had learned these things. "The Droolyn all breathe at the same time. When they breathe out all of Cyfanfyd is fresh, warm and comfortable. Whey the breathe in Cyfanfyd becomes stale, cool and uncomfortable. We are in a period where the Droolyn are breathing out, including Ellyn." Qwinn looked at Moon Song and said, "For someone who was assigned to me for pleasure you are full of valuable information. Where did you learn all of this?" "I was fortunate," she responded, for many breaths I was in the company of someone by the name of Hian, who knew many things, more than anyone I have met within Cyfanfyd." "Hian?" exclaimed Qwin? "Yes, Hian, do you know him?" She asked, excited. "I did briefly, when I first arrived here at Cyfanfyd, but then he was captured by a rogue guardian and taken away." Moon Song approached Qwin, now worried, "Hian was captured by the Alliance?" Qwinn shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know where he was taken, but Kuan and Mag said that he was in Island of the One God." "Kuan? Mag? They were with Hian too?" "Yes, why do you ask?" "Because," said Moon Song, "I helped Hian find Mag when he first arrived in Cyfanfyd around many Droolyn Breaths ago." Chapter 19 Island of the One God Before Qwinn could think about Moon Song's revelation, Kreb returned to the room, where they stood, surprised at each other. "We have landed," he said curtly, "and you will now be turned over to the Alliance authorities on Island of the One God. Four Alliance guards entered the room and positioned themselves next to Moon Song and Qwin, two for each of them. Once again, Qwinn was blindfolded, and once again he was being separated by someone he had come to know and understand within Cyfanfyd. He wanted to reach out with his spirit to Moon Song but he kept thinking of Kuan's warning to him, believing that he would now be jeopardizing both himself and Moon Song. He could feel himself being passed from one set of hands to another as he walked and was told to step over, around or onto to something. There were many different sounds, just as there were many thoughts trying to work their way into his consciousness from those around him. I resisted, closing his spirit, desperately trying to keep from giving up clues that he could read the spirits of others. Then, he found himself in a place where the noises and aromas of Island of the One God faded away. Soon, there were no sounds at all. His blindfold was removed, but the room he found himself in was totally dark. From somewhere else in the room he could here the rustled of Meithrin fruit skins that he figured were hanging across the door. There was also the sound of ropes being strung and tied. "They must be locking me in," he thought to himself. A silence came around him, becoming as deep as the darkness around him. Crouching to the floor he spread his hands out, feeling the smooth texture of the floor. It was firm, but covered with dust that stuck to his fingers briefly before falling to the level floor. Crawling, he sought a wall, someplace where he could lean back and think about the situation he was in. This is when he felt the spirit of someone. It was afraid, aware of his presence, but also curious. The spirit wanted to know who he was. "Hello." he called out. There was only silence. "Hello!" he repeated a bit louder, but not wanting to attract attention. After waiting for a few minutes with no responses to his calls he thought that perhaps his imagination was creating the presence. Resting against the wall he let the darkness take him away, to sleep, to dream. Images of people being herded through wooden shoots, like cattle, came to him. He could feel his body being jostled and prodded. Men were coming up to him, calling him bitch, cunt and whore. Looking down on his own body he could see a dark, gnarled nest of pubic hair where his legs came together.His skin was to the color of light coffee and was smooth as polished stone. He had breasts, fully exposed to the groping hands of men pushing him against others as he walked, his female skin pressed tight to other women and men, sticks and whips stinging the air around him, wooden planks screeching under the weight of bodies huddled and hobbling into the side of a ship rocking on the edge of a worn pier, logs and planks splitting from sun and sea licking the beauty from trees once held majestic in nearby woods. Into the musty hold he came to rest on steel chains and manacles. Those around him stiffened as the ship mates bound the ankles and hands of others around her, then he, too, felt firm hands take hold of him, roughly pulling his feet along splintered floors and cold metal finding their way to bone and pain. His arms were spread wide to the wall and bound. Chains rattled as he breathed a nervous song in sync with the rising tone of fear. When the ship mates left, after the cargo had been secured, they all looked across to each other, no words escaping from lips, only spirits sinking cold waves beneath the hull. The calls of the sailors above were followed by listing of the ship as it took to sea, then the night came and the weary breaths of the captured gave way to the groans of word resisting the sea and clutching the wind. A door opened and slammed. Whispers caught his ears, then large rough hand grabbed hold of his thighs, pulling them apart. Knees draped in knotted cloth squeezed between his legs, lowering a massive torso to his body. A bearded face descended to his own face, grating against his skin. A tongue found his lips, slipping inside. Pulling at the chains and shaking his head he struggled against the hulking body liquor breath. He could sense that he was much smaller. His muscles didn't respond in the same way and he was helpless as pain invaded his abdomen. The chains, the rough wood beneath bare skin, the large frame of a man penetrating his own will left him now room for breathe. Fingers were pulling on his breasts, uneven teeth explored his face and a blood engorged penis stole his own sense of life as one piece. He felt dissected like worms and frogs in biology labs. The pain leaked out into the ship, through the cracks, to the rocks below, far below, where he crawled in to stone and disappeared. Then he felt his mouth come up against his assailant's shoulder. His mouth opened and he clamped down with fevered teeth, taking flesh, scrubbing bone, drawing blood to his own chin, into his mouth, the strange sweet taste of retaliation rising up to the screams of giant in the darkness of a ship's hold. The door opened once again as ship mates clamored to the side of man bitten. "Throw her overboard," he growled, turning away. Several hands wrestled with his bindings, then he was free, lifted high upon broad shoulders, taken to the deck, to the each of constellations disappearing and appearing behind the wind blown sails high above him. "Well, throw her over board," came the order. He could taste the blood of the man as he dropped to waters unseen in the night shadows of a ship. The cold was almost friendly as he sank, swimming briefly, but without a will to try a stay afloat. He welcomed the embrace of such loneliness. Qwinn snapped awake as a pair of hands grabbed him by the shoulders, it was still as dark as it was when they first put him in the room. "What are you doing?" came the voice of a woman from directly in front of him, but he could not see her because of the darkness. Qwinn pulled away, shuddering from images of his dream, and the unknown voice in front of him. "Who are you?" he yelled, quivering. "My name is Nkiru," was the response. "and I want to know what were you doing to me?" she asked. "I felt violated by you, as though you were crawl throughout my spirit, experiencing my memories. Are you an apelon?" Qwin, remained silent for the moment, wilting within his guilt, thinking of Kuan and her stern warning to not do this. He argued with himself, trying to figure if he could control this ability of his, even if he wanted to, especially in moments when he was not fully conscious, as when sleeping. "I'm not sure," he responded, louder than he intended. "I think I may be, but I haven't figured out how to control these intrusions into the spirits of others, at least sometimes." Before he could say another word, he felt fingers on his lips. Nkiru approached him, bringing her head next his, whispering, "don't speak so loudly, they listen to us continually." She pulls away, leaving a cold cavern in his skin. "'Us'", he whispered back, "are there more people here?" "Not in this cell," she said, "but there are many cells, maybe millions, I don't know." "Where are we?" he asked. "We are in the catacombs of Island of the One God. This is where they keep slaves, rebels and those who violate laws within the Canon of Truth. Which are you?" "I seem to have violated something within the Canon of Truth," he confessed, "but it is not clear what." "If you can see within my spirit, then you should be able to sense the lamp which hangs above us," she said. tell me its name." She sounded skeptical, but she was asking him to do something that Kuan would never have asked of him. He felt awkward actually trying to see what others could not. He was also concerned that Kuan would be able to see him. He was nervous, But he did draw back into himself, pushing his consciousness into the darkness around him, sensing the floor, the walls and the ceiling. There were images and impressions of patterns in the wall, curved lines and dimples where digging instruments scraped the room into being. There was a single pattern in the shape of a door, but it was closed, recessed by the length of a finger. The shape of the Nkiru's erect frame in the darkness came to him, tall, with hair extending straight from her head in all directions, thick. Her arms were extended in front of her, holding a long tube connecting outstretched hands to her mouth. She was blowing air through it, but no sound came forth. A flute!, he thought to himself, like Xilotl. From the ceiling he felt the presence of a shape suspended. It was hollow and, with fluid. Then the name came to him, "incrienthyl". "Incrienthyl," he said to Nkiru, who immediately breathed deeply, he lungs lurching out, full of Addewidian air. His back shivered with anticipation. From the darkness, the sound of a flute came to his ears, similar to the sound of Kuan's flute, giving rise to thoughts of Kuan and others. He wondered if they were also in one the cells around him. Then a glow started to fill the room, originating from the lamp suspended above, the one he sensed in the darkness. It looked exactly as he had felt it in his spirit. Just a short distance from him stood a tall women with skin the color of brushed charcoal. His immediate thoughts took him back to Boston in the sixties when black men and women proudly displayed hairstyles defied all conventions at the time. Images of protestors, film stars and news reels passed through his consciousness as he stared at the woman before him. As much as he considered himself a liberal and a proponent of civil rights in the race torn United States back on earth, he was struck by the thought that Nkiru would have been just another black woman with several kids, struggling to survive in the ghetto, someone he was see only in passing on the trolley, or on the sidewalk, someone to be pitied and helped, but standing before him, was Nkiru, as fierce and strong as Kuan, Xilotl and Thrace, but covered with skin darker than the felast surrounding them. Her flute swayed within flexed hands. Her lips encircled the tip of the flute and her fingers danced on a row of holes carved into corilyn reed. She stopped, looking down at Qwin. "What are you staring at?" she asked, matter of factly. You're the first black woman I've seen here on Addewid. "Black? You mean people with skin darker than yours?" Nkiru let out a laugh. "You haven't been here very long have you?" Qwinn shook his head. Holding her flute to the side, she paced the room in front of Qwin. "Until I was captured, I had never seen people with skin so light. I didn't know there was such a thing. Then those fools from the village down river caught me unaware as I was swimming. Did you see that too, when you were looking inside?" Qwinn shook his head. "When I died in the ocean and came here, I learned that there were many kinds of people one earth, with looks so different I couldn't believe we all lived on the same planet, but you know what?" Nkiru paused, as though waiting for answer, but then continued, "I found out that there weren't very many people on earth with such light. Most people you will see here have skin darker than yours. Actually, I'm surprised you haven't found anyone else as dark as I am." Qwinn thought of Kihanga and wanted to tell her about him, but he kept silent. "You are a strong apelon," she said, "only the advanced can find a lamp in the darkness and sense the name." "It was also unsettling to have someone invade me that deeply so quickly," she continued. "Have you been trained?" Qwinn shook his head, leaning back against the wall, felast rubbing off, unto his back. Nkiru walked over to one corner, kneeled down and brushed away a layer of loose felast on the floor. From beneath the dust a Meithrin fruit skin bag appeared, buried in a hole camouflaged by loose felast. Opening the bag, she placed her flute inside, closed it up and placed it back into the hole. It was deep enough to allow the bag and the flute to slide straight downand out of sight, carefully replacing the felast covering with her fingers, she smoothed it over, then stood. "I've wanted to light that lamp since I've been here, but I needed an apelon to tell me its name. Thanks." "I'm curious," she started up again, "why did they leave you in my cell? Especially with you being an apelon, or did they know?" "I think they were in a hurry," said Qwin, "there seems to be some kind of event taking place in Jerusalem. I remember Kreb telling me that there was a trial taking place. It seemed serious." Nkiru looked over at him, nodding, "yes, there is, and there are many of us trying to stop it." Chapter 20 Nkiru Nkiru stood before Qwin. She was tall and carried herself with the taut presence of everyone else on Addewid, but her eyes bore the intensity of someone determined to hold her own in the midst of adverse circumstances. Her broad face hovered in the center of hair exploding from ebony roots. Angela Davis and Jimi Hendrix came to Qwin's mind as he watched the light of the lamp mold softness into muscle, sinew and bone. "Are you through gawking?" demanded Nkiru. "I thought everyone in the Alliance of Truth had to wear clothes," Qwinn stated, not really sure what to say. "Do I look like someone who would be willing to wear their damned clothes? Why do you think I'm down here? I've taken my last order and that is why I'm locked up in this place and not up there." Nkiru pointed to the ceiling, frowning. Walking over to the wall and leaning her back into it, she folds her arms together, cupping elbows with palms. "How long have you been here?" Qwinn asked. Nkiru looks in his direction, then eyes the door. "This is Addewid. Does it really matter how long we have been anywhere?" Qwinn looked down at his hands as they lay entangled at the intersection of his calves. His penis and scrotum pushed softly against the felast on the floor. He hadn't really thought about the meaninglessness of time on Addewid. It was simply convenient to think in terms of years, months and days. He watched as Nkiru slid her back down the wall into a sitting position, her legs drawn to her chest, burying her head into folded knees. "I'm sorry," Qwinn said. "For what?" "I didn't mean to look inside your memories. I'm not really sure how to control this ability I have." Suddenly, Nkiru leaped to her feet, "This ability may be able to get us out of here!" "What?" Qwinn asked, "Do you want me to tell you the name of the door so you can open it?" "No," said Nkiru, "that would put us right into the hands of the Alliance. We need to go through the wall, that one." Nkiru was pointing to the wall that Qwinn was leaning against. Qwinn stood up and looked at what seemed like a wall with no openings, smooth, free of any apparent flaws. "What do you want me to do with a wall," Qwinn asked. "Tell me its name," Nkiru insisted, "just look into its spirit, like you did with me." Qwinn looked at her, full of doubt, then he turned back to the wall, closed his eyes and moved his spirit into the wall. The faces of many people passed through him. He could sense the walls that touched this wall, and the walls that were connected to them. A web of rooms extending deep into the felast beneath Island of the One God came into him, rippling within his skin, bones and hair. Whenever someone touched a wall he could tap into their spirit as well. Memories upon memories flooded his awareness. Nkiru watched Qwinn swoon beneath the burden of his connection to the catacombs, then he fell to the floor, shivering. Kneeling down next to him, she slapped his right cheek with the back of her right hand. Qwinn opened his eyes, flinching at the sight of Nkiru. "What the hell were you doing?" Nkiru asked? Part concerned, part angry, "sensing the whole goddamn labyrinth beneath Island of the One God? I wanted the name of one wall. This one." Qwin, not saying a word, stood once more, facing the wall. Once again he entered the wall, but this time he resisted the tempted to venture further, remaining within the spirit of the one wall, feeling it history from the first etchings of fingers and rough sticks that formed it, giving it life as a wall. "Mentestical", he blurted out, giving rise to a smile in Nkiru's face, her teeth gliding into view. Rushing over to the corner where she had buried her flute, Nkiru lifted the bag from its hiding place and extracted the flute, blowing air through it a soon as the mouthpiece touched her lips. The wall heaved, bowing slightly towards them, then contracting, felast lifting into the air around them, taken into their lungs. From two thirds up the wall, a horizontal crack started to form, extending left and right to about twice the distance between his shoulders. Then the cracks turned down towards the ground from each end. When the cracks reached the ground, the freed slab of felast fell towards them, hitting the floor with a dull thud and breaking apart into many pieces. In the new doorway, the face of a tall man appeared within the clouds of dust. "Nkiru!" the face said, "How did you do it?" Nkiru approached the man, wrapping her arms around him as he received her. Then they kissed, before pulling from each other. Nkiru grabbed one of the man's hands and pulled him towards Qwin. "Qwin, I'd like for you to meet Ngakwoi, a long time friend of mine." Qwinn extended his hand in greeting as he did on earth, but the man simply dipped his head. Qwinn found himself looking up into two eyes with dark centers and a face framed by wooly hair, broad lips and rounded cheeks. He was every bit as dark as Nkiru. "This," said Nkiru to Ngakwoi, "is Qwin. He seems to be a strong apelon, whose skill I just put to use." Chapter 21 Ngakwoi "An apelon!", Ngakwoi exclaimed, "Why would they put an apelon in your cell?" Quickly grabbing Nkiru, Ngakwoi pulled away from Qwin, towards the door that Qwinn had just helped Nkiru open. Qwinn stared at Ngakwoi and Nkiru, confused by Ngakwoi's behavior. "Who sent you here," yelled Ngakwoi to Qwin, "I know that the Alliance would not be so foolish as to put an aphelon in the same cell as Nkiru. Are you one of their tellers?" "What's a teller?" Qwinn asked. Nkiru stepped away from Ngakwoi and said, "Qwinn couldn't be a teller. He wouldn't have given me the name of the wall if he were." "We don't have time to find out for sure," said Ngakwoi. "Grab him and pull him through the door and re-seal the wall. We'll find out later the real reason for his presence." Nkiru took hold of Qwin's right arm and pulled him through the opening in the wall, following Ngakwoi. When they got inside, Nkiru rushed back into the room and removed her flute from its compartment in the floor. She no sooner had taken the flute in her hand when the door to her cell was thrown open. Quickly, Nkiru slipped back through the wall and stood next to Qwinn and Ngakwoi, bringing the flute to her lips. Music flowed with an intensity that Qwinn hadn't heard before, even from Xilotl when they were on the delten. Immediately, the wall started to heal itself, closing in on the open space. As the hole diminished, Qwinn saw the angry face of Kreb as he and several Alliance guards rush to the wall where Qwin, Ngakwoi and Nkiru waited for the wall to become solid once again. Kreb reached the wall just as the final gap grew together. With a great leap, Kreb reached the breach in the wall, managing to slide through to his torso just as the wall sliced through him, severing his body, his chest, arms and head collapsing lifelessly to the floor. Qwinn was stunned. "I didn't think anyone could die on Addewid," he said. "He's not dead," Ngakwoi explained, "his spirit has been taken back to the Enthrenden river, where the Xerxa will reconstruct a new body. We must move on. Soon the Alliance will bring one of their own apelon and ephelon and they will have this wall reopened. We must block this passageway lest they find their way into the Chambers of Resistance. Qwinn wanted to ask questions but Nkiru and Ngakwoi were pulling him deeper into the dark tunnel in which he found himself. As he blindly walked, feeling the firm fingers of Ngakwoi on his arm, Nkiru's flute sang out once more. Qwinn felt the spirits of more walls forming, crawling into his consciousness, then the walls around him came into focus. The end of the tunnel they had just traversed was moving towards them, as one wall after another slide down to fill space, growing from the walls around him. For a long period of time, Nkiru played her flute while Ngakwoi and Qwinn retreated, just ahead of Nkiru. Eventually, the three of them reached an opening into a new tunnel, moving in different directions. When a final wall had formed, completely sealing the tunnel they had traveled, Nkiru collapsed, exhaused. Ngakwoi, tenderly picked Nkiru up in his arms and carried her down one of the tunnels. Qwinn followed the presence of Ngakwoi's spirit in the darkness, curious about where they were headed, and wondering why Ngakwoi wasn't calling him, telling him to follow. Soon, Gnakowi's frame started to become apparent to Qwin's eyes as light reached into the tunnel. Looking around Ngakwoi and Nkiru, Qwinn could see a room bathed in light, and there were people milling about in the opening. A rush of garbled conversation enveloped him. Ngakwoi carried Nkiru into the room. An opening in the crowd formed as onlookers gazed intently at the three of them. Some of them looked at Nkiru in the arms of Ngakwoi and others stared suspiciously at him. He had the distinct impression that he was the only one of the three that the rest of them in the room did not know. Now knowing out to respond to stares Qwinn mechanically followed close on the heels of Ngakwoi. Ngakwoi approached a corner of the large room where there were Meithrin fruit blankets gathered in a makeshift bed on the floor. This is where Ngakwoi placed Nkiru, who was deeply asleep from exhaustion. Ngakwoi stood up from Nkiru's body and turned around, staring at Qwin. "Now, I must learn why you were in Nkiru's room and who sent you there." Qwinn was now surrounded by strange faces. Every shade of skin and size of body and facial features were present: Asians, Africans, Europeans and Indians from the Americas on earth. There were as many women as men and their nudity was a clear sign that this was not an Alliance gathering, but he didn't feel at all safe. For the first time on Addewid, he was truly frightened. "Grab ahold of him, yelled Ngakwoi, we must find an apelon who can tell us what is inside this man. Is there an apelon here!" Ngakwoi looked around, then a woman appeared on the edge of the crowd, a tall woman with red hair, a woman who looked intently at Qwin, her hands propped on her hips. Then another woman stepped from behind her, wearing a Meithrin fruit skin belt across one shoulder, a flute protruding from a long sheath connected to the belt. Qwinn relaxed as he looked at two familiar faces: Kuan and Xilotl. "I thought I told you to control your gift!" Kuan said sternly, not smiling. Ngakwoi looked at Kuan and Xilotl, then back to Qwin. Kuan looked at Ngakwoi and said, "Do you remember that apelon we discovered just as he arrived in Addewid?" "You mean this is him?" Ngakwoi stated, surprised. Kuan nodded her head, then approached Qwin. Welcome back," Qwin, "I guess you found a good time to disobey me." |
