The Orb And The Spectre (Book 2) (24 page)

   "And always a secret," breathed Issul.

   "Always a secret. It had to be. I told Leth that he must never reveal this great secret to any other. My world is governed by precise laws, held in a fine and delicate balance. Now Leth has upset the balance. He has entered with your children at a time when I was not present. He has upset the balance. This is what I mean by invaded. I do not know the full consequences of what he has done, but it means that I am no longer a part of what I am. And he and the children are trapped within me."

   "Let me be clear on this. You are saying that you and the casket are one and the same?"

   "That is so."

   "And you hold Leth and our children within you and cannot release them?"

   "Not hold," replied Orbelon. "Leth has been within many times and we have had long and mutually advantageous discussions. He came voluntarily, at my call, and at those times I was always present within. I could release him, and did so. But I have been researching and experimenting, always, and my most recent endeavours have involved attempts to externalize myself, to pass from my world into yours, the world I knew so long ago. I have had some success: witness my presence here now. But today Leth entered the blue casket when I was externalized. Worse, he brought others, and I have cautioned him again and again never to reveal the secret of the casket to anyone else. In bringing your children into me he has destroyed the balance that maintains my world. They are unnatural elements, alien presences, individuals that have evolved in another milieu. In bringing them Leth has sealed the portal. If I am not there to free him he has no means to leave my world. But he prevents my return. I, who am my own god, am cast out of my world."

   "I still don’t understand," said Issul. "How are you prevented from returning?"

   "My world cannot accommodate more matter than it is formed to contain. A universe is composed of a finite amount of matter, energy and space, all of which are mutually interactive. It can contain no more, other than through the infinitely gradual process of natural generation. I had created the means to enable my world to accept but one other being from yours at any one time. Had I been present when Leth chose to enter with the children he would have found it impossible. But I was absent, which enabled them to take my place. Now that they are there, my return would cause a clash of cosmic energies far greater than you can imagine. I would be annihilated, with everything that is within me. Even this, the formed world, might be destroyed as a result. I speak of divine energies, Cosmic pre-mind, awesome Potentia. I speak of the energy of becoming and un-becoming. We are but specks of insignificance within Mysteries such as this."

  The candle-flame wavered. Beyond the indistinct figure of Orbelon the weird-lights of far Enchantment glowed in their flux of colour. Issul sat absorbed in her thoughts. "How, then, can they return?"

   Orbelon slowly shook his huge, ragged head. "I do not know if they can."

   She swallowed. "There must be a way."

   Orbelon was silent. Issul said, "Can they survive within your world?"

   Orbelon inhaled deeply. "I think there is sustenance."

   "Think?"

   "Very slowly, over a long, long period of time, I have absorbed elements into myself. Leth brought me things, as did his forebears. They have helped to bring my world to life. I do believe that the basic elements necessary to support life are here, within me."

   "Then you have expected this, or something like it?"

   Orbelon hesitated. "No. I have experimented, that is all. I am, if you wish, a Creator, largely blind to what I may have created. I have had the most profound understanding lately that there is life within me. I sense it, though I have never seen it. I do not know its forms. I have endeavoured to communicate, but to no avail. Perhaps, as both world and Creator, my purpose prevents my having direct contact with whatever dwells within me. But, definitely, there are other existences."

   Issul blinked back tears.
My babies, what unknowns do you face? Will I never see you again?

   She pushed back her hair from the temples. "There has to be a way of getting to them."

   "I don’t know it, if there is. But the formed world has changed since my dwelling-time in Enchantment. Enchantment itself has changed. Leth made it plain that my former adversaries are greatly advanced. Who knows, then, what might be possible now?"

  
"Within Enchantment."

   "Within Enchantment, where also lies my soul."

   She stared at him. "The Orb's Soul?"

   He slowly nodded. She thought back to the evening Leth had referred to it, his reluctance when she had pressed him to know more. "What can it do?"

   "It can empower me," said Orbelon. "I could exist again, as I was, in the formed world. And I would be more than I was before, I am certain of that."

   "Empowered? Enough to save Enchantment's Reach?"

   "That would remain to be seen. But it is likely I could at least be influential upon the 'god' who stands with your enemies, the Karai. I have learned much in my eons of isolation."

   "What of the Legendary Child?"

   "Leth has spoken to me of this. The Child's role is unclear, but if it is the spawn of one of my old adversaries it can surely be no more powerful than I."

   "But you are not certain."

   Orbelon leaned heavily upon his staff. "Certainty, at this stage, would be inappropriate."

   "What of Leth and my children? If you are united with the Orb's Soul, can you free them?"

   "I would be strong. If the Soul of the Orb is not enough in itself, then within Enchantment there must exist the means by which all this can be resolved. But of course, you are prevented from entering Enchantment. And I cannot stray from the vicinity of the blue casket."

   Issul scratched her brow. Was he being truthful? If he was truly a god, seeking revenge upon his former adversaries, what ultimately might he have in mind?

   "You are troubled by me, are you not?" asked Orbelon softly.

   Issul stared at him. This was no dream, she realised now. And she had little choice but to confide in him, and hope.

   "I know of a way into Enchantment," she said.

   "You do?"

   Briefly she told him of the Farplace Opening and her experience when she had been drawn into it.

   "Ah!" exclaimed Orbelon. "It is a long time since I have heard the name of Triune spoken."

   "What or who is Triune?"

   "The Sundered God, broken and scattered. Defeated at about the same time I was. Triune was a single entity
who chose to adopt a three-part form. When defeated her punishment was to be sundered for all eternity. Like I, she is deprived of the soul that will unify her."

   "And it is the other 'gods' who have done this?"

   Orbelon nodded.

   "Triune claims that she will soon be
One again. Also that she has taken the Farplace Opening from the god who aids the Karai."

  
"More and more interesting. But I suspect half-truths at best."

  
"Then, what?"

   "Until more is known, I can’t say. Think of what I have just related to you. The ultimate purpose of the beings you have termed gods is to reclaim the world which was all once part of the flux that is Enchantment. Enchantment diminishes.
Infinitesimally. Leaving behind it the Mondane world, the world that you and your kind inhabit. The gods war constantly, perhaps not always wholly aware that the reason they do so is to generate the chaotic energies that keep Enchantment alive. So if Triune stands against the god of the Karai, she does so with still the ultimate aim of destroying your world. Still, something can perhaps be made of this."

   "Not wholly aware?" queried Issul. "How is it that you, who are one of them, know so much more than they? Are you so much wiser?"

   A low, rasping chuckle sounded from within Orbelon's mass of rags. "I have had ample time to become wise. And I am now truly a god. Inadvertently they have made me so, and it changes everything. They have given me an understanding I could never have had before. They seek to regress, turn the world back to what it was before. Do you think, now, that I could be part of that?"

   Issul lowered her gaze, haggard. "I no longer know what I think."

   "I want to help you, Issul, troubled Queen of Enchantment's Reach. I want you to have your husband and children back. I want you to overcome the menace that rises all around you."

   "Then tell me how!"

   "I cannot, until I know. But the gods seek the means to reclaim all of the world. The first indication that they are succeeding will come in the form of Reach Riders."

   "What are they?"

   "Phantasmal creatures which will come out of Enchantment, bringing with them a wake of destruction. Wherever they go they will leave chaos, paving the way for Enchantment to grow."

  
"The Legendary Child?"

   Orbelon's great head swayed from side to side. "He is a dark enigma that has yet to be understood. Linked in some way, I don't doubt, but he is not a Reach Rider. Everything you have told me, however, indicates that the Reach Riders will come. And I think they will come via the Farplace Opening."

   Issul caught her breath. "That is its purpose?"

  
"One among several, I think."

   "Is it Triune who will control the Reach Riders?"

   "How can I say without going there? You tell me Triune claims to be holding the Opening against the god who controls the Karai?"

   "That is what I was told."

   "Then you must take me there. Together we must go to Enchantment."

   But if I leave here, thought Issul, I will be giving Enchantment's Reach to Fectur again.
Playing straight into his hands. Giving him the freedom to do just as he wishes. And you, Orbelon, how do I know if I can trust you?

   Though she could not see Orbelon's eyes - could not even tell if he possessed any - she sensed that his gaze was upon her.

   "It is the only hope you have," said the god.

*

   And on the roadside at the foot of the colossal, soaring scarp of Enchantment's Reach a group had gathered around a camp fire. Most were sleeping, the fire dying low. But a single figure sat alone, huddled in a shawl, gazing to the myriad twinkling lamplights high above which marked the site of the great city-castle. Arene rocked herself slowly, her heavy arms wrapped around her bulk. Ah yes, young Queen, she thought to herself, I am almost with you. Your time has now come. I tried so hard to prevent all this. A single stroke would have done it. But it was not to be. Now you have no choice but to step forth and discover your destiny. Your time is upon you now, and
ah!
what a path lies before you! Issul, Queen Issul, how my heart bleeds for you.

The saga continues in:

Enchantment’s Reach 3: Orbelon’s World

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