Revealed (47 page)

“Oh my God!” he said aloud, looking around the
Healing
Garden
. “It wasn’t a dream. I really
do
have wings.” He flexed them both and the feathers rustled softly, making an almost musical murmur as they moved.

But not as musical as the sound which had woken him up. Standing, he followed it a few feet away to the center of the garden. It seemed to be coming from the stone fountain—the one he had cursed earlier when he thought Nadiah was going to die because it was dry.

However, as he approached it, Rast saw that it wasn’t dry after all. The strangely carved alien animal heads that sprouted from it had silvery streams of water flowing from their mouths and the basin was filled to the brim. Rast stopped where he was, wondering if he was dreaming. Could this be true? Had there been some kind of rain that filled the fountain? But why hadn’t it woken him and Nadiah up?

You may approach, Counselor .

The voice—low, feminine, and authoritative—nearly startled Rast out of his skin. It was the same voice which had told him to use his wings to heal Nadiah. But though he looked high and low, he couldn’t find its source.

You may not see me, Counselor . To look upon my face is to die for a mortal,
the voice said.
Now come, approach the fountain.

Not sure what else to do, Rast obeyed. Though it was only a few steps, it seemed a very long and strange journey to the side of the stone basin. When he finally got there, he just stood, looking around.

“Uh…I’m here,” he said at last, wondering if the owner of the voice had left.

So I see.
The voice sounded amused.

“Are you the Goddess?” Rast asked, deciding to cut straight to the point. “I mean, excuse me if you’re not but—”

I am called by many names. Goddess is one of them. Mother of All Life is another,
the voice said.
Here in my garden, I am Healer of All Wounds.

“Healer, then,” Rast said, bowing his head respectfully. “I suppose you’re the one who healed Nadiah. Thank you.”

Actually, it was you who healed your female,
the Goddess told him.
By the power of your wings. Know this, Counselor —there is great power in them but it must be used only for good, for healing. They are given you for that purpose, and that you might fly to my garden to commune with me when you have great need.

“Oh, uh…so are we going to have daily planning meetings or something?” Rast asked. “Because now it looks like I’m supposed to rule this whole fucking—uh, excuse me—freaking planet and I don’t have the first clue how to start.”

You must rule as you see fit, with wisdom and grace.

“What about all this stuff about me being a
Challa
and needing a
Lyzel?”
Rast asked. “I only want Nadiah but she’s not a priestess or anything.”

Nadiah has something more important than training as a priestess. I gifted her with the Sight that she might help you in this new undertaking.

Rast felt a sense of relief. “I’m glad to hear you say that. But the whole thing with the high priestess and growing wings and nearly losing the woman I love—you have to admit that’s a hell of a first day on the job.”

Do you regret your vows to serve and guide
First World
?
The Goddess sounded almost sad.
Do you wish to be released of them?

“Well, I…” Rast cleared his throat, not certain what to say. “I never expected to have to stay here forever. Not that it’s not a beautiful place…”

Its beauty will soon be erased, along with all other beauty in the universe if it is not guarded carefully.

Rast frowned. “What do you mean?”

Look into the fountain.

Suddenly, the streams stopped pouring from the animal heads and the water in the basin went as smooth and dark as black glass.

Not sure what he would see, Rast leaned over the stone basin, searching its inky depths. At first there was nothing but then…

“Hey, that’s the planet the high priestess showed us,” he exclaimed, frowning. “The one with the…what do you call it—”

The Hoard.
The Goddess’s voice was hard and cold now.
They seek to destroy and devour all that is light and good and pure in the universe. And
First World
will be their first target. Their memory is long and still they hate the First Kindred for their near extinction over a thousand years ago.

“But what can I do about it?” Rast asked. “I’m no military genius.”

You are uniquely suited for this office,
the Goddess said.
It is in your blood.

“And if I refuse?” Rast asked, his heart beating in his mouth. He half expected to be struck down by a lightning bolt for his question. But the Goddess only said,

Look into the fountain again.

Rast looked and saw the black masses of the Hoard once more. They were leaving their world in droves, blotting out the stars with their sheer numbers.
The Blackness which Eats the Stars,
he thought.

Indeed,
the Goddess murmured.
But watch…

Rast kept staring into the basin as she directed. The sky around the black, dead planet was dark with the ships of the Hoard—hundreds—no, thousands of them taking flight every minute. Then, in a single instant, they all disappeared.

Rast frowned. “Where did they go?”

Keep your eyes trained on the fountain. You shall see.

Rast did as she said and was surprised when the view changed. Instead of the bleak world of the Hoard, he now saw a new world—a pale gold globe bathed in the glow of two small suns. The view grew closer and he saw that it was covered with peaceful looking cities and quiet farms. The inhabitants were tall and thin with blue fur and backward bending knees. They reminded Rast a little of llamas which had learned to stand upright and use technology.

Behold the Pardos,
the Goddess whispered.
You will probably never meet them. They live across the universe in a galaxy far from this one and their genetic make-up is too different from the Kindred to make a viable trade.

Just as well,
Rast thought.
Can’t imagine wanting to have sex with a llama woman.

They are different from both Kindred and the humans you grew up with,
the Goddess said.
Different but peaceful. They have no weapons of warfare, no way of defending themselves. Watch.

Rast watched. The view pulled back again and suddenly the sky around the peaceful golden planet was filled with black ships, swarming with the Hoard. They descended on the planet en mass, covering its surface in the same way they had covered their own planet. The round, golden surface was black with them, like an apple riddled with rot.
They’re a disease,
Rast thought.
A cancer growing and growing—they’ll kill everything.

Shrieks, cries, and moans of agony drifted up from the golden planet and he realized he was right. The Hoard were systematically covering the entire globe, leaving mass destruction in their wake.

This planet will be despoiled and all its inhabitants dead before the setting of its suns,
the Goddess said.
And then the Hoard will look for new worlds to devour. They will find them, too—for darkness ever seeks to extinguish light.

The scene changed again. This time it was Earth in the basin of the fountain. Rast recognized the familiar blue and white globe at once—he could even see the long
peninsula
of
Florida
, his home state. Then, suddenly, the sky around Earth was black with ships.

“No,” Rast whispered numbly. “No, they
can’t.”

They can and will. They are seeking to destroy and this planet you think of as your home burns brightly as a beacon of civilization in the blackness of the universe. The Hoard will seek out all such planets until there is nothing left.
The Goddess’s voice was cold with certainty.

“When is this going to happen?” Rast demanded. “I have to warn them!”

No warning will help. Prevention is the key.
The Goddess’s sigh was a warm breeze stirring the branches full of green and purple leaves.
I have shown you a possible future. It is up to you, Counselor , to see that it does not become the present.

“But
how?”
Rast demanded, exasperated. “How am I supposed to prevent this…this universe-wide genocide from occurring?”

Stay at your post. I will not always be able to commune with you but you must sit on the Seat of Wisdom and look often into the Eye of Foreknowledge. These are the tools I have given you and the Counselor s before you—I know you will use them well.

“What am I looking for? How will I know when I find it?”

You will know.

“Why can’t you just
tell
me?”

Because the future is fluid and ever changing. It is affected by the million different choices made every second of every day. And because some hearts are shadowed, even from me.

A new picture appeared in the fountain. A man—Rast supposed it was a man, anyway—tall and broad shouldered as any Kindred with thick black hair and a neatly trimmed black goatee and mustache framing sensual red lips. When he smiled, white, even teeth were revealed. Teeth that looked every so slightly too sharp. His eyes were a solid silver with no pupil at all.

“What is he? Is he one of the Hoard?” Rast couldn’t take his eyes from the man in the fountain. Behind that handsome face there was a blackness—a roiling, hungry evil like a mass of snakes which could never be satisfied, which would never stop eating.

He is Draven,
the Goddess murmured.
The leader of the Hoard. His power for destruction is unmatched in the universe. Your father wounded him badly—drove him underground. But a thousand years have regenerated him completely—now the Hoard grow ever stronger and their appetite for destruction grows with them.

“Great,” Rast said flatly, still staring. He had the feeling if this guy looked at you in just the right way, you might fall down dead from an aneurysm or wake up the next day with a tumor the size of a baseball lodged in the base of your spine. Babies would cry until their noses bled and old men would have heart attacks wherever he went. Yet, he would also be able to walk around in broad daylight, looking perfectly normal and carrying that cloud of evil wherever he went.

He is one of the soulless ones—what you would call a demon
, the Goddess said.
The most powerful one the universe has ever seen. And he is hungry, Counselor —ever hungry.

“Yeah, I get that,” Rast murmured, still staring. Suddenly the demon-man turned his head and those his pupiless eyes bored into Rast’s own, making him gasp. “Turn it off! Turn it off—he can
see
me.”

He can sense you.
The vision in the fountain faded and the water began flowing once more.
He knows there is a new Counselor
 
on
First World
—the first in a thousand years. And he knows you are your father’s son—it makes him wary and cautious—slow to act. This is the only advantage you have.
The Goddess’s voice was becoming faint.

“So I’m just supposed to keep an eye on him?” Rast asked. “I mean, I’m not allowed to go fight him, am I? I’m not allowed to leave the surface of the planet.”

To leave
First World
is to lose your wings forever.
The voice was fainter still.
You will find others who are suited for this battle as well. Find them and gather them to you. They will help you learn what Draven is planning—his strategy and secrets. Even now he is searching for the key—the key to unlock the universe for his designs. He must not find it!

“But…but how will I know them?” Rast asked. “The ones who are supposed to help?”

You have ever been a finder of the lost.
The Goddess’s voice was little more than a whisper now.
It has been your calling from the first. Use it now along with the knowledge and wisdom I will send. For now, I must go.

“But Goddess—”

B
e vigilant, Counselor . Guard
First World
well. For if it falls, the universe will follow.

And then she was gone.

Nadiah woke and yawned, stretching her arms above her head to get the tingly feeling out of her fingertips. She looked around for Rast and saw him pacing a few yards away, his new wings tightly furled against his back. In that position they were almost completely invisible as the feathers molded to his body and took on the coloring of his skin. She reflected that unless someone knew his secret, they would never guess he had the power of flight.

“Hello.” She rose and went to him, smiling. “I guess we must have fallen asleep. I can’t believe we spent the whole night up here.”