The Chronicles of Heaven's War: Burning Phoenix (85 page)

Chasileah frowned, sadly considering the
great hurt her pernicious ridicule had caused. For a lifetime,
Trisha had suffered the abuses of an ignorant and arrogant society,
and now she, Chasileah, an Ancient of high order had sunk to
delivering little more than jealous insults to a person seeking
only to rescue her people from their own damnation. Little could
she say now in apology. Even begging forgiveness would not win a
cure. Her arrow of bitter reproach had pierced Trisha’s heart and
there was no returning it to the quiver.

Trisha gestured as she went on. “Since
before Time’s founding, was the fourth element theorized, and that
only in passing, Lowenah’s heart refusing to study it further. You
see, the third element is eternal, being part of and from Lowenah.
It is a sweet, beautiful music that flows gently through
everything, for she is in everything, in a way.”

“But this fourth element? It is a cacophony,
a musical discord that can only come from an intelligent mind that
is deliberately twisted and bent away from the third element. Until
your brother rebelled, there had never been a mind twisted so that
this harmonic deviltry could be produced. So until that evil
moment, the effect of discord upon the universal Webs was only an
unstudied theory.”

Trisha stared at Chasileah knowingly. “Oh,
yes, others of your kind knew of it, but nothing was ever pursued.”
Chaslieah winced as if in pain, but said nothing.

Trisha raised a hand, shaking a finger. “Now
here’s the rub...” She covered her face with opened hands,
massaging tired eyes with extended fingers. “Not only does Asotos’
musical discord back-feed into other dimensional Webs beyond our
own, it is also infectious like a virus, feeding the animal in a
careless heart. Like the third element, it grows in strength the
further the infection spreads.”

Chasileah interrupted, asking, “So you’re
saying that this fourth element is some kind of a threat?”

“Not just
some
kind of a threat...”
Trisha exclaimed. “It is an
extinction level
threat!” The
woman shook a finger. “These evil harmonics are slowly consuming
our worlds as I speak. But that is not the worst of it! It has been
theorized by those far wiser than your sages that the musical
discord will eventually reach beyond our worlds and into the very
fabric of the universe, including the Web of the Minds, weakening
the ether and unraveling all mortal elements.”

She turned and looked into the distance. “It
is possible that the Middle Realms might not dissolve into nothing,
they being made of somewhat different stuff than the other Realms,
yet hope for survival would be dismal at best for any making escape
to those worlds. In time, their bodies would become little more
than machines running on
lizard brains
, all power of
intelligence destroyed when the Web of the Minds disintegrates.
Eventually, even that form of life would turn to mist, leaving a
cold, empty universe. In time, even it might dissolve into
nothing.”

Chasileah’s head ached as ancient visions
awoke in her mind. Trisha did not disclose secrets unheard. Long
ago, in a time almost forgotten, she had been warned of the same
fate should her kind fall asleep in forgetfulness. And fall asleep
they did, were still sleeping. Was it too late an hour for
wakefulness? She thought not, for here stood the messenger sent by
the Watchers to wake her people up. But to do so, she must destroy
their souls by exposing their guilt. No wonder the woman was hated
so.

Through pale lips, Chasileah asked, “I beg
you to tell me there is hope for us, for our kindred who rest in
the Web of Forgetfulness. Please say it is so. I see you are a
prophet of the gods, the torch-bearers of Lowenah’s heart.”

Trisha frowned. “A
waif
of disputable
value...I am no prophet.” Then she nodded, answering, “Yes…there is
hope.”

Chasileah was disturbed over Trisha’s self
views, yet did she not feel the same about herself? Seeking more
information, she pursued the discussion. “You speak with dismay.
What poison swims in the sweet wine of Destiny’s success
assured?”

Trisha smiled, grim. “
Poison?
Yes...
And we all must drink the hemlock up to the full. Little it matters
our individual destinies, our lives or deaths during this coming
war meaning nothing if we do not stem the destructive tides slowly
drowning our universe. Prepare to gulp down the gall whether you
stand proud the battle line or cower in hidden caves. Yet there is
still hope if enough join the fight, resisting the evil tide.”

She reached out, gently grasping Chasileah’s
upper arm, her eyes searching for…for understanding, acceptance.
Any feelings Chasileah might have shown in her face were hidden in
the evening shadows. Trisha looked down at the flagstone, her
fingers gradually sliding from Chasileah’s shoulder and falling
away after reaching the woman’s elbow. Turning away, she stared
into the tower’s dark entrance.

She started speaking toward the opening as
if addressing the nameless ghosts hiding beyond the shadowy
passageway. “I seek no condolence or sympathy. The road I have
taken was not forced upon me, yet someone was condemned to take it.
Why not me? Give me grace, then, and allow me a restful sleep so my
mind will be clear for the coming battle. I ask only to be judged
in a court of my own peers - whether for murder or glory, allow
them to decide.”

Turning about, she rested a hand upon the
outer wall. “Lowenah, your mother, has devised a plan, a very
dangerous one, and I have promised to carry it out. Time is not on
our side, the Rebellion having already unleashed its destructive
discord against the Web. Yet it is time that we must buy, stretch
out, so to speak, lengthen, in order to succeed in this
contest.”

“Shiloh must grow and mature. Then, if he
wins his contest against the Evil One, he will need to be taught in
all the ways of the North. Shiloh must learn to deliver mankind
from it own damnation. By his own ruthless acts, he must save the
world of men. If he fails, then Elijah will not come, and the
universe will dissolve into nothing anyway. Only this man, Shiloh,
has the power and ability to end for all time the Rebellion we are
attempting to curb.”

She sighed, wearily shaking her head. “But
Shiloh is only a child, not yet tested to fitness. He must be
protected so that he can grow into the role he is to play. We must
buy him the needed time to grow, and then finish his training so
the world he will save.”

Chasileah asked, concerned, “How does this
coming war do these things?”

Trisha answered sadly, “It is feared by
Lowenah that this universe has few years before it will lose it
cohesive strength, plunging it into black nothingness. We must rid
the universe of Asotos’ presence…or die trying. We must drive him
into the Realms Below. It is our only hope. The Second Realm was
cracked long ago by global fire and flood. It produces a harmonic
discord of its own that helps to nullify the evil effects produced
by the Worm. It’s a pretty tough place, at least in comparison to
here.”

She lifted a hand. “There are powers in this
universe that do not abide by law or rule. Lowenah’s promise to
Asotos to stay out of any coming conflicts until all things are
settled does not bind those powers. Still, no help will we receive
from them until we have been used up to nothing. We must either
drive our enemy from these worlds, or be consumed to extinction in
the coming conflagration if we are to hope a future for this
universe and those of ours who rest in the Web of the Minds.”

“And of Shiloh?” Chasileah wondered.

“Ah, that...” Trisha explained, “This coming
war will not end quickly, cannot. To make our enemy bleed, we must
also bleed. It will take a great deal of time to drive that
bastard, Asotos, from here - decades maybe, but…”

“But what?” Chasileah asked.

Trisha smiled. “But such a war will distract
Asotos, make him keep his promise not to interfere with things in
the Lower Realms until matters are settled here. It gives the boy
time to grow up, unmolested. When the Worm sees our determination
at his ruination, he will focus all his energies here in an attempt
to stop us, thus forcing him to put on hold his future plans for
that world.”

Looking toward the spaceport, Trisha
confessed, “The destiny of all things rests in our hands. It is not
if we succeed or fail in battle that will decide the future fate of
all living things, but whether we endure all the way to the end,
either our own end, or driving Asotos from here.”

Chasileah questioned he, “How can you be so
sure of such success?”

Trisha smiled. “Lowenah cannot lie, nor any
power that comes from her immortal self. Voices have told me so.
That is all I will say of the matter.”

Becoming silent, Trisha leaned upon the
parapet and stared out at the night. Chasileah quietly studied this
woman, a foreigner in her world. What was it about these creatures,
anyway? Loud, crass, arrogant to the extreme, and passionate, there
was a fire that burned deep within their souls hotter than all the
boiling furnaces in the galaxy, Lord Trisha being a sterling
example. Chasileah could feel the touch of jealousy growing in her
heart to have the same flaming emotion in hers.

Trisha finally broke the silence,
commenting, “I hear you dress in the uniform of the Postal, but you
carry yourself like a skilled and taught soldier. A colonel, I
heard Zadar say, but only a colonel? Rumor has it that you have
turned down promotion on several occasions, wishing only to lead
others into death and not command them to do so.”

Chasileah turned away, frowning, a tear
falling ever downward in the evening’s shadows. “I work for the
Postal, Commander, not because I enjoy it, but to maintain my
sanity. You preach well the ending hour and the calamity it may
bring. The ending hour of my life came long before this world
burned. It is bad enough to pay the butcher’s bill leading from the
front, but to order the deaths of those innocents while hiding
behind sheltered rocks…?”

She looked back at Trisha. “If your desire
is to have me rejoin the Army, then I must disappoint you. Have I
not already proved my
valor
to sufficient extremes? No, Lord
Trisha, I will offer my services in other ways, but leading
soldiers to their deaths I cannot.”

Clasping her hands behind her, Trisha
replied. “I wish for your services in other ways. There is a great
need for an officer of your caliber on my staff.”

Chasileah’s eyes bulged as she exclaimed in
ridicule, “
What is with your kind?! Can you not hear the Spirits
whispering denunciations of my crimes? Can you not see the
damnation of my wicked, selfish acts?
Must I spell out in your
monkey speech
the reasons for such a foolish request, or has
the sun burned those senses from your mind also?”

Trisha again ignored Chasileah’s outburst
the same as she had Mihai’s before the Prisoner Exchange. A knife
blow to the heart need not be fatal if the cure is swift and sure.
Trisha had invented her own cure, ignoring such outbursts,
pretending they were for another soul, a wicked little creature
often beaten by a drunken father in a blind, forgetful rage. Yes,
let the wicked little child take the blows. Elaia, the observer
watching from afar, would intercede at the proper moment and set
matters right.

“So...” Trisha asked politely, “please do.
Spell out in my simple speech your reasons.”

At first dumbfounded, Chasileah finally took
a step forward. Pounding a finger into an opened palm, she hissed
angrily, “Let me spell it out! It was
my stupidity
that cost
the lives of eighty percent of my regiment! It was my
selfishness
that saved someone no more deserving life than
so many others! I ordered my command forward, so sure of a victory
that I failed to reconnoiter the field. I saved Zadar because I
wanted his cock tease, while allowing the murder of so many others
because… because my lust was not as hot for them! I wantonly and
recklessly brought ruin to my regiment because I saw only what my
heart wished to see!”

Placing a hand to her chin as she nodded in
thought, Trisha allowed time for Chasileah’s passions to calm. She
then quietly made reply, looking into her face. “Yes, and I do
believe you would do it again should the same moment be upon
you.”

Chasileah gasped, her ears not believing
what they had heard.

Before she could respond, Trisha continued,
“As High Commander of the Army of Children’s Empire, I must make
decisions that will consign many, many Zadars and NiShanderiahs to
the fires of Hell’s Kitchen. My mouth will declare the time of
death for countless millions of
innocent lives
. Heartless I
am, as you well know. It’s in the blood of my kind, as you have
said. Zadar is the only man who excites me so with his
cock
tease
. I need someone close who will remind me of the countless
Zadars that warm other’s beds as my lover does mine.”

She then announced, “Any officer on my staff
has the freedom to speak about any matter openly and frankly to me
in private council. I will at times need a heart filled with
passionate understanding that can communicate to me in simple
speech the reasons why I should reconsider my decisions. I believe
you are the most qualified of all of Lowenah’s children to do such
a thing for me.”

Chasileah did not know how to respond. What
could she say to such a reply? Her supreme failure was the very
asset this person wanted. If she revealed greater crimes, might
they not also be eagerly sought for their value?

Trisha drew close, standing only inches from
Chasileah’s face, the field marshal’s sweet breath softly caressing
her cheek. “I ask no answer from you this eve, but only a very
small promise.”