David Gemmell - Lion of Macedon

Leucion sighed, then smiled. 'It is enough for me,' he lied.

The warrior prepared a fire and left Derae sitting before it, her thoughts distant, her spirit eyes watching the dancing flames.

'I need help,' she whispered. 'Where are you, Tamis?'

The fire surged to life, the flames dancing high, twirling in on themselves to form a woman's face. Derae lifted her hands, soft light spilling from her fingers and surrounding her with a shield of brightness.

'You do not need protection against me,' said the face in the fire. 'And you can no longer call upon Tamis. I am Cassandra.'

The face became more solid, framed by hair of flickering flames. Warily Derae let the spell of protection fall.

'You are the Trojan priestess?'

'Once upon a distant day,' answered Cassandra, 'I warned Tamis of her folly. But she did not listen. When Parmenion sired the Dark God, Tamis was filled with despair. Her soul is far from us now, broken like crystal, fragmented like the moon on water.'

'Can you help her?'

'No. Though all others forgive her, she cannot forgive herself. Perhaps in time she will return to the Light. For myself I doubt it. But what of you, young Spartan? How can I help you?'

'Tell me how to fight the evil that is coming?'

'My gift in life — if a gift it can be called — was to speak the truth and never to be believed.

That was hard, Derae. But I obeyed the Source in all things. Tamis was corrupted by pride. She believed she alone was the instrument to bring down Kadmilos. Pride is not a gift of the Source.

In teaching you the ways of the Mysteries, Tamis instilled in you a sense of that same pride. My advice is to do nothing. Continue to heal, to work with those in pain, to love much.'

'I cannot do that,' Derae admitted. 'I was as much to blame as Tamis. I must at least try to make it right.'

'I know,' said Cassandra sadly. 'Then use your mind. You have seen Aida and her wickedness. Do you not think she also has seen you? If she is prepared to destroy a Persian child, will she not — even more powerfully — seek to destroy you?'

'She and I have met twice,' said Derae. 'She has not the power to overcome me.'

'There speaks pride,' answered the face in the fire. 'But Aida has many servants and can call upon spirits, demons if you will. They have the power. Believe that, Derae!'

The fear returned and Derae felt the cold breeze from the curtained window behind her. 'What can I do?' she whispered.

'All that a human can do. Fight and pray, pray and fight. Yet if you fight, Aida wins, for to fight successfully you must kill, and in killing there is the joy of the Dark, touching, corrupting, changing.'

'Then I should let her kill me?'

'That is not what I am saying. The battle between Light and Dark is not without complexity. Follow your instincts, Derae. But I advised you to use your mind. Think of what Aida must do in order for her dream to be fulfilled. There is one great enemy she must kill.'

'Parmenion?'

'There speaks the voice of love,' said Cassandra. 'Not Parmenion. Who is the great enemy, Derae?'

'I don't know. How many men and women are in the world? How can I see them all, follow all their futures?'

'Think of a fortress, with high walls. Impregnable. Where would the enemy most wish to be?'

'Inside,' answered Derae.

'Yes,' Cassandra agreed. 'Now use your mind.'

'The child!' whispered Derae.

'The golden child,' Cassandra confirmed. 'Two souls in one body, the Dark and the Light. As long as the spirit of the child lives, Kadmilos can never truly conquer. There is a bird, Derae, that builds no nest. It lays its egg in the nest of another, alongside other eggs. When it hatches it is larger than the other chicks, and one by one it pushes them from the nest to fall to their deaths on the ground below. It does this until it is the only survivor.'

'And Kadmilos will push out the child's soul? Where will it go? How can I protect it?'

'You cannot, my dear; you have no link to it. When the birth is close the child's spirit will be thrown into the Underworld, the Caverns of Hades, the Void. There it will burn like a bright flame

— for a little while.'

'What then?'

'Its brightness will summon the creatures of the Dark and they will destroy it.'

'There must be a way!' protested Derae, pushing herself to her feet. 'I cannot believe it can end like this!' Walking to the window, she felt the breeze on her face and struggled for calm.

'You say I have no link,' she said at last, turning back to the face in the fire. 'Who does?'

'Who else, my dear, but his father?'

'And how can Parmenion travel to the Underworld?'

'By dying, Derae,' said Cassandra simply.

For weeks the words of Cassandra returned to haunt and torment Derae, but no matter how hard she tried she could not summon the fire woman again.

'Perhaps she was a demon,' offered Leucion, after Derae had finally confided in him.

'Would that she were,' said Derae, 'for then I would be able to dismiss her words. No, Leucion, she was no demon. I would have sensed any evil. What am I to do?'

The warrior shrugged. 'All the world's problems are not yours, Derae. Let others take up the battle. I know very little of the ways of the gods. They do not — thankfully — take too much interest in me, and for my part I avoid them utterly. But surely it is they who must concern themselves with the coming of this. . Chaos Spirit?'

'You do not know the whole story — nor will I tell it,' answered Derae, 'but Tamis and I are in large part responsible for the coming evil. Cassandra gave me advice similar to yours. But, do you not see why I cannot take it? I live to heal. I serve the power of Harmony. How could I live the rest of my life in the knowledge that I had brought such horror into the world?'

Leucion shook his head. 'Some mistakes cannot be rectified. But even so, lady, why should you blame yourself? You did not set out to do the work of Darkness.'

'No, I did not,' she agreed. 'But I was raised in Sparta, Leucion, and no Spartan would consider leaving the fight until it was won — or he lay dead upon his shield. The babe must have a chance at life. Cassandra says that if the soul is still alive when the child is born, then Kadmilos will be forced to share the body. That would give us a chance to work on the child, to hold the Chaos Spirit at bay.'

'But for this the man you love must die,' pointed out Leucion. Derae closed her eyes, saying nothing. 'I do not envy you,' said the warrior, 'but it seems there is a contradiction here.

Cassandra tells you there must be no killing, or else you serve the Darkness. Yet in order to win -

albeit temporarily — you must kill Parmenion. There is no sense in it.'

Turning away from him Derae moved to the window, staring out over the hills and the distant sea beyond. Leucion left her there and wandered out into the gardens. The roses were growing wild now, the blooms crisscrossing each other in a profusion of colours, the pathways becoming choked.

Leucion strolled up to the ramparts of the eastern wall, sitting on the parapet and gazing over the fields. Suddenly he blinked.

A man had appeared in the centre of the meadow and was walking towards the gate. Casting his eyes beyond the newcomer, Leucion scanned the ground for any dips or hollows. Surely he would have seen him when first he looked east? The stranger's tunic was bright yellow, almost gold, his hair short and grey, his beard curled in the Persian fashion. He could not have just stepped from the air, Leucion assured himself. Unless. . the warrior's mouth was suddenly dry.

Unless he was a god — or a demon.

Cursing himself for leaving his dagger in his room, Leucion ran to the parapet steps and down to the eastern gate which lay open to the fields. Stepping out, he waited for the newcomer.