Eden's Jester (32 page)

The land shook as they fell.

“Now, elementals. Bear your prisoners to their cells. Hold them fast. Free them not, until the end of this age.”

The Pillars did their jig-bow thing, then moved toward the fallen Preceptors. Dozens of elementals swarmed upon them and carried them in various directions, placing each of them into pyramids of the elementals’ choosing.

Death leaned over and whispered, “Shouldn’t we be numbering these things? So we can remember who’s in which?”

“No. Let the elementals be the only ones who know. That’ll keep things safer, in the long run,” I said.

The procession continued as the stunned Apolloi were likewise deposited in their own prisons. One by one, the pyramids were shut.

The elementals began to leave.

“Hold on there, gang,” I said. “What about the co-conspirators? What about the lords? Guys like Aeson and Melanthios? They don’t get to just walk, do they?”

The Patron held up the rod. “I declare amnesty to all who have followed the Preceptors. They have been deceived. They may be restored. If they continue in the ways of their old masters, they shall suffer their fate.”

I couldn’t believe it. “Well, that’s awful nice of you, Ms. Patron. But that doesn’t seem righteous to me.”

The Patron looked down at me. “Then do something about it, Jester. You have the power to oppose any who remain in the land. Hold them accountable. You have earned that right.”

She turned to go.
 

“Okay. I can do that. But where are you going? You can’t just leave.”

The Patron stopped, stepped back to where I stood, and knelt beside me. As she bent down, giant locks of hair flowed forward, revealing a thread of silver among the black. A familiar warm smile illuminated her face.

“But I have never left, my Elson.”

CHAPTER THIRTY

It took very little time for the battleground to empty of all supernatural creatures. Only Els, Rolic, and I remained. The Engineers of Rolic’s team returned to our world to pass the word about the Preceptors.
 

My head was spinning with the possibilities the future held. A whole new world awaited. Talking about a change in venue . . . But I still had questions. What I had discovered over the past week answered much but, as usual, when you answer one question two more pop up.

“Why so quiet, Elson?” Els asked. “You don’t look happy. I’d say things worked out miraculously.”

“Yeah. That’s about the word I’d use, too,” I answered. “That’s what bothers me. There are some questions that need answering.”

She covered her ears. “Are you kidding? Like what now?”

“Like how did Aeson get his hands on that birdbath? The Patron didn’t give it to him. The Preceptors didn’t have it. So who was it?”

A familiar voice chimed in. “Logic would indicate that there is another enemy of the Patron, one we have not yet seen.”

The three of us turned to find Diomedes standing there.

“Diomedes!” Els exclaimed, and rushed to him.
 

He looked her up and down. “It seems this assignment has left you somewhat worse for wear, my dear. Are you well?” He asked.

She stepped back. “Better than ever, no thanks to you, you meddling old Engineer. You could have at least given me a clue about what I was getting into, working with that maniac.”

“I’m sorry, my dear. You see, I really didn’t know how it was going to work out. I ‘borrowed a play’ from Elson’s book, as they say: do what seems best and trust in the powers-that-be.”

I cleared my throat. “I don’t think that’s exactly how my plays are laid out, Diomedes,” I said. “Trusting the powers-that-be isn’t my style.”
 

He turned to me. “And Elson. Excellent. You survived, as I guessed you would.”

 
“You have some explaining to do, mister. And what do you mean, ‘guessed?’” I said.
 

He looked tired, but whole. Biolos had healed him well.
 

“Yes, my friends, I do owe you both an explanation. You see, once I had learned the truth about the Apolloi and the Preceptors and of Biolos, I found myself in quite a quandary. It was not hard to deduce that Elson was in fact the Jester. I had known of Death for some time, but didn’t know of the Patron nor of Death’s connection to the Patron. But here were both Death and Elson at my disposal. So I decided to put Biolos back into the only hands I believed could be trusted.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” I asked. “Why all the subversion?”

“Because, Elson, you were not yourself and seemed prone to covert operations, whereas a more direct approach was required to resist this evil. You had to fight. And for all your talk about questions, you don’t react very predictably to answers. Your nature is not in answers, but in questioning. I could not be certain you’d come to fisticuffs with Melanthios and Aeson if you simply knew the truth intellectually. You had to be made to
feel
the truth. So I arranged for you to work with Aello. I was confident two things would happen. First, you would become attached to her.” He looked her over and raised an eyebrow. “Apparently that is somewhat of an understatement.”

I didn’t like where this was going. “And what was number two?” I asked.

Diomedes looked more tired than ever. I had to give him credit. The decisions he’d had to make over the last year were hard on a person like him.

“I knew that Melanthios would sacrifice Aello for his program,” he said.

“And you knew I stick by my friends and would go postal,” I said.
 

“Among other things. I’m sure the two of you have deduced that there were many other outcomes I desired in pairing the two of you.”

I was about to lay into Diomedes with such a tirade that it would have burned his ears off, when Rolic caught sight of an Engineer floating toward us. It was Melanthios.
 

Rolic turned to face him and planted his feet.

Melanthios’s hair was stiff and sticking out all over like he’d been electrocuted. He looked like a burnt medusa on a bad hair day.

“Well, isn’t this the nice little reunion. Elson, you and I have unfinished business, I believe,” he said.
 

Great. I was just beginning to feel like my fighting days were behind me.
 

“This isn’t your domain, Melanthios. You have no authority, here.”

He smiled politely. “Elson, I have authority everywhere I go. I would cite, as proof, the note you sent me.” He handed it back to me. I made sure he didn’t touch me in the process. “You, shall we say, motivated me to oppose Aeson, which I did. He was not in my domain.”

“What note?” Els asked.

Melanthios turned to her, “The note in which he said that he intended to hand the creature contained in this prison to Aeson in exchange for Diomedes’ freedom. He knew I would not allow that, and he knew I wouldn’t be able to intercept him in time to stop him. So I’d be forced to confront Aeson with direct pressure. I invaded Chile, then the Falkland Islands in order to free Diomedes. It was then I discovered Diomedes’ fate—“ He turned to Diomedes. “Happy to see you have recovered, Diomedes.” He turned back to Els. “This confirmed Elson’s claim of Sancrotos’s treachery. And I understand that an inflammatory note was also sent to Melia. She was so disturbed that she refused to speak anything but French. All this fractured several alliances and nearly paralyzed the combined forces of Law.”
 

That had been my objective.
 

“This forced the Preceptors to become directly involved.”

That had
not
been my objective.
 

“Elson made quite a mess of things in so little time,” Melanthios said.

Melanthios didn’t scare me any longer. Now that the local caste system had been turned upside down, he was weakened considerably. The bottom line was he had very little to threaten me with. I folded my arms across my chest and glared.

He continued. “Yes. Well,” he tried to smooth his Einsteinian hair. “In any case, tell me, what did you do to that creature? He was not what we expected. Not at all. I was led to believe that it would be no match for our will. That turned out to be very incorrect information.” He brushed dirt, dust, and ashes from his jeans and sweatshirt. There were several holes in his sweatshirt.

“I didn’t do much of anything. I just gave him a part of me, so he could screw with you at a new level,” I said. “You started this, Melanthios. If you had stood by your friends when you should have, I wouldn’t have had to get nasty.” I didn’t look at Diomedes, who I’m sure was feeling very satisfied with himself.

“It’s much more complicated than that, Elson. You know that. But don’t worry. I don’t plan on getting too close to you personally. I really don’t know what to expect from you anymore. So let’s say I’ll have to take out my frustrations on some mutual assets. Perhaps I’ll turn your coffee shop into a parking lot and bury all its employees in the cement footings. I
will
miss their coffee. It is extraordinary.”

I thought that over, then smiled. “You know, Melanthios,” I said, “I’d like to see you try.”

“Well. I don’t know how else to keep you in line, Elson. Next, I’ll put a maximum-security prison, with incompetent guards, in your precious gravel pit. If you don’t get in line, that is.”

Man, did I hate this guy.
 

“Melanthios, if you think I’m even capable of standing in any line, you don’t know me at all.”

“Well said,” came another voice, this one from behind Melanthios.

Melanthios turned and looked into a shadowed cowl. “Who are you?”

Death dropped some sort of veil and revealed a small part of himself to us all. The being underneath was awesome to behold. The strangeness and complexity were beyond anything I’d ever seen. Instead of the normal pulsing crystalline lattice, he was made of what looked like many swirling galaxies, orbiting a central core of steady light. It looked like the astral plane.
 

The motion of the galaxy-like whirlpools mesmerized me with their slow, eternal dance through the minor heaven that was Death’s soul. The rest of the world drifted away as I was drawn into him. All was quiet. There was nothing else.

My mind was being consumed as I was forced to confront the infinite from a finite perspective. Instead of pain, it was bliss. The never-ending journey of the celestial bodies, turning and traveling, defied any concept of change. Yet purpose was there. Progress was there.
 

The sense of it all was cresting the horizon like a sunrise. It called, beckoning for me to join it in its eternal circle. At last.

The veil hiding Death’s true nature returned, thrusting me back to myself--back to the real world.
 

“Hey, that was creepy,” I said. “Don’t do that again.”

“I am Elson’s friend,” Death said to Melanthios. “And I believe you just witnessed Elson here, with a small amount of help from me and the Patron and all the elementals lay out your army, your Preceptors, and your Apolloi. And look,” he pointed to me, “the Jester isn’t even scratched. We aren’t Engineers, Melanthios, and we don’t fear you.” He thumbed towards the mass of pyramids at his back. “And as you can see we have plenty of prisons remaining.”

Melanthios turned to me, pale.
 

“I guess it would be too much to ask you to leave my domain and to never return?”
 

“Nope. It’s my home. I’m staying,” I said.

“Hmm. Pity. Oh, well. I guess I’ll have to make the best of it,” Melanthios said.

I wasn’t buying his capitulation for one second. But there was nothing I could do about it now. I’d have to wait for his next move.
 

He turned to go.
 

“Melanthios, one more thing,” I said. “Don’t get too close to Aeson. You don’t want to get caught up in the fallout.”
 

He called out over his shoulder, “I’m not an idiot—like you—Elson,” and he was gone.

Epilogue

Els and I sat on a boulder, sipping coffee as the sun came up. It was a beautiful sunrise. Lots of reds and purple and blue.
 

“Red in the morning, sailors take warning,” Els said.

I leaned back and looked straight up into the sky. “Nonsense. What could go wrong on a day like today?” I said.

“Is that optimism I hear? Or sarcasm?” She asked.

The breeze was warm and smelled of wild flowers. A leaf left over from last fall swirled up into the sky, and was gone.
 

“Don’t be so cynical, girlie. Life is good.”

She laid back next to me. We watched the sky turn to pure deep blue.

“Elson, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“What did you hear at your birth?”

“My birth wasn’t a birth at all, it was an awakening.”

“But what did you hear?”

“It was simple enough. A voice said, ‘You are Elson.
Follow me
.”
 

“The Patron told you to follow her without introducing herself? And why would she change your name from the Jester to Elson? I don’t get it.”