Lycanthropos (42 page)

"You three are the hope of the people," he said to the young men in his soft, aged voice. "You are the sons of the noblest clan of the
Aryanavayu,
you are sons of the Magaya, and when I have left this world and gone to my rest in the bosom of Ahura, you will keep alive the sacred fire of truth." The three young men bowed their heads to signify their unworthiness to accept so profound a charge. "I have known each one of you since the day of your birth, and your fathers before you." Dzardrusha went on. "To you I shall reveal all mysteries and all knowledge, and these sacred
words you shall keep hidden in your hearts all your lives,
entrusting them to none but those whom you in your turn
appoint to succeed you."

The old prophet rose from his large, throne-like chair, took two burning torches from the wall, and gestured for the three young men to follow him. They had been standing before him in his audience room, the largest room in the
inner recesses of the marble fire temple in the ancient city
of Balkh, and they now walked slowly behind the old prophet
as he made his way through the secret passageway in the wall
behind his throne, the passageway which led down far beneath the surface of the earth to the secret inner temple where burned the purest of sacred fires upon the holiest of altars. None of the three young men had ever seen this most sacred spot, though they had of course heard of it; and by taking them with him unto the holy of holies, to the Altar of Burning Truth, Dzardrusha was demonstrating his trust in them, for it was in the fire room far beneath the earth that Dzardrusha kept the written record of the revelation of Ahura Mazda, a written record which he guarded with his life.

Downward they walked through the dark corridors, the only light being the flickering torches which the prophet held aloft before them, until at last they entered a large
subterranean chamber. They heard a soft, low, whistling
sound as the hidden conduits which reached from the chamber upward to the surface sucked in the air from above, the air necessary for the life of the sacred flame.

At one end of the chamber stood a high marble altar, and
in the center of the altar burned the sacred flame
itself. The three young priests prostrated themselves, and the
prophet said. "Arise, sons of the Magaya, and face me, for now
will
the
mysteries of Ahura be revealed unto you."

The young men returned to their feet, and each looked about the room in respectful awe. Carved deep upon the walls
were a series of symbols that were unknown to them, a series of circles containing dots and lines. They turned to
the prophet and stood in silence, waiting for him to speak.

When he spoke, he began with a catechism, a series of
questions and answers well known to all priests of the Great God. He turned to the first young man and said,
"Jamnaspa, son of Ardishir, answer me in truth."

"I answer in truth, O Beloved of Ahura," the young man replied.

"What is the duty of man, Jamnaspa?"

"The duty of man, O Destroyer of the Daevas, is to
serve the Great God Ahura Mazda and to battle Angra Mainyu, the Spirit of the Lie."

"And how does a man serve the Great God Ahura Mazda,
Jamnaspa, son of Ardishir?"

"By living righteousness and drinking righteousness and
breathing righteousness and being righteousness, O Father of
Our Hope."

Dzardrusha turned to the second young man. "Hystaspes, son of Frashaostra, answer me in truth."

"I answer in truth, O Keeper of the Sacred Flame."

"What is the reward of righteousness, Hystaspes?"

"The reward of righteousness, O Teacher of Mysteries, is
eternity in the Abode of Truth, where the angels of Ahura and the souls of the saved rejoice and sing praises to the
Wise Lord."

"And what is the reward for evil?"

"The reward for evil, O Guardian of Those Who Struggle,
is to be cast on the last day from the bridge that connects this world to the Abode of Truth, the Bridge of the Separator, to fall into the pit of despair, and to suffer endless agony throughout all eternity in the House of
the Lie."

The prophet looked at the third young man. "Isfendir, son of Kuriash, answer me in truth."

"I answer in truth, O Son of Eternal Wisdom."

"What is the universe, Isfendir?"

"The universe, O Master of All Knowledge, is a vast battlefield upon which is waged the war between Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu, between wisdom and ignorance, between
order and chaos, between kindness and brutality, between the
soul of man and the spirit of the beast."

"And what is the predestined end of this battle?"

"All that is evil will be overthrown by all that is good, O Voice of the Great God. All lies will burn in the heat of truth, and all that is darkness will be illuminated by the light of the sacred flames of Ahura Mazda."

Dzardrusha looked at the three young men and asked, "And what is the sacred duty of the priesthood of Ahura Mazda, sons
of the Magaya?"

They answered in unison, completing the oft-repeated ritual. "To conquer the evil within, to battle the evil without."

Dzardrusha smiled, satisfied. "And now, my children, one
final question." The three initiates exchanged puzzled looks, for the ritual litany was ended and no further questions and answers remained.
Dzardrusha knew this,
understood their confusion, and he said. "Fear not that you
will fail to answer correctly, sons of the Magaya, for now I
show to you the mysteries of the past and the present and the future." The prophet swept his old, stiff arm outward and pointed one thin, gnarled finger at the symbols which
were carved deep into the stone walls. "Behold the
revelations of Ahura Mazda!" he whispered.

The three young Magi, Jamnaspa, Hystaspes, and Isfendir, f
ollowed the prophet's gesture with their eyes and tried to
understand the significance of the seven circles with their
lines and dots. They turned back to the prophet, and
Jamnaspa said, "Master, your words are a mystery."

"This
is
a mystery, son of Ardishir, the greatest of
mysteries," the prophet replied. "Here is my final question,
sons of the Magaya: if Ahura Mazda has revealed Himself to
me alone, must then the other tribes of man suffer in
darkness and ignorance? Must they all then fall victim to Angra Mainyu? Must they all be cast from the Bridge of the Separator and fall to the House
of the Lie?"

"But...but surely your words will touch their hearts, Master," Isfendir said, "as they have touched the hearts of
the people of Chorasmia!"

"If my words were heard and heeded, son of Kuriash, perhaps they would," Dzardrusha said quietly. "But my words do not echo in empty solitude, for the Great God reveals Himself to mankind in other tongues and in other lands and by other
names. The Great God has spoken in the past and will speak
in the future, and He has revealed to me what has been and what will
be."
The prophet turned his ancient eyes to the
carvings upon the wall and said. "Behold the symbols of the
prophets of Ahura Mazda. Behold the voice of Ahura as he
spoke to men now dead and to men not yet born!"

The three young Magi allowed their eyes to drift once again from circle to circle as the prophet said. "In these
signs are the revelations, sons of Magaya, the signs of the
nameless ancestor, the king, the tent maker, the carpenter,
the shepherd, the merchant and the camel driver, all who have been or shall be the prophets of the Eternal One."

Isfendir frowned and shook his head.
"It
is as Jamnaspa
has said, Master. I cannot lift the veil of my own weak
ignorance."

"Ignorance is strong, son of Kuriash," Dzardrusha said,
"but ignorance falls before knowledge, and so I shall teach
you. Give ear to my words, sons of the Magaya." Dzardrusha
pointed to the first symbol:

 

 

"This is the sign of the ancestor," Dzardrusha said, "whose name is not known. The circle is the universe of eternal truth whose image is the disk of the sun, the holiest of fires, without beginning and without end, and the one single point is the indivisible essence of Ahura Mazda, Who has always been, Who will always be, within Whom is all, without Whom is nothing." Dzardrusha moved his finger from the first circle to the second
:

 

 

"This is the second sign, the sign of the king, O sons
of the Magaya. The line connects two points within the circle of
universal truth, as the heat of the sun's fire connects the
sun and the earth. This is the sign of the Egyptian king,
the fourth Amenhotep, called Akhnaton, who died three hundred and fifty years ago. To this king, Ahura Mazda
revealed himself as Aton, the god who can be seen in the
energy of the sun, and this king proclaimed the unity of
Ahura, and died of sorrow because his people would not accept his words." Dzardrusha moved his finger from the
second symbol to the third:

 

 

"This is the sign of the tent maker, O sons of the Magaya,
whose name will be Paul, and who will dwell in the city of
Tarshush
in
Syria
. The lines connect three points within
the circle of universal truth, for to Saul will be revealed the three-fold manifestations of Ahura Mazda, as Creator,
Redeemer and Sanctifier, three eternal subsistences in one essence, each of the same substance as the other in an eternal, indivisible unity." The aged prophet moved his finger to the next
symbol: