Legacy of the Darksword - Margaret Weis [141]
Her father, Joram, has accepted our union, though of course he does not consider me at all good enough for his daughter. He will never love me, but I think he is at least beginning to like me a little. He says that he sees much of Father Saryon in me and he smiles his dark smile when he says this, so that I believe it to be a compliment. Most of it, anyway.
In Gwendolyn, I have found the mother I never knew. She has learned sign language for my sake and we spend a part of each day in study, for she is teaching me much I need to know about how she uses Life. Magic is abundant on this new world of ours. Even we catalysts can use it.
All but Father Saryon.And Joram.
He will not even try, though both Gwen and Eliza tease him to do so. He is content with himself as he is, which must be the greatest blessing to come to him in this lifetime.
As for Scylla and Mosiah, they were married almost as soon as we arrived in our new part of the universe. Theirs is an interesting and exciting life, if dangerous. For, just as there are dark and shadowed parts to the human heart, so there are dark and shadowed parts to the world of our creation.
Father Saryon is, at last, truly happy and content. He is spending his time formulating a new theory of relativity, having figured out where Einstein went wrong on the last one.
As for Simkin, we have not seen him since we left Thimhallan.
But I always look twice at anything orange. . . .
APPENDIX
This was taken from Scylla’s description of our “time hop-scotching,” as Mosiah so inelegantly put it. I have written out each of the three time lines involved. You can see where they have been cut and spliced in my story.
THE FIRST TIME LINE
The Darksword is forged. Joram goes Beyond and is gone for ten years. He comes back to Thimhallan to warn of Menju the Sorcerer, a Dark Cultist (one of the blood-doom knights) who has plans to attack Thimhallan. Earth Forces attack. Joram goes to the Temple of the Necromancers, seeking help for his wife, Gwendolyn, who does not communicate with the living but talks only to the dead. Here, due to Simkin’s betrayal, Joram is killed by an assassin’s bullet.
The Darksword is recovered by the grieving Father Saryon, who rescues Gwen and flees with her to the Font. Earth soldiers attack the Font, and some of the catalysts are killed. Many more are able to hide in the numerous catacombs and tunnels. Here Saryon finds a five-year-old boy whom he names Reuven, crouched near the bodies of his dead parents. Saryon rescues the child and takes him along with Gwen to safety.
Gwen continues in her madness, only now she is happy for she can talk to Joram, who has become one of the dead. She longs to join him and remains among the living only to give birth to their daughter, Eliza. Gwen dies soon after. Saryon is left to raise Eliza and Reuven. Keeping Eliza’s identity a secret, Saryon flees with the children to Zith-el.
The armies of Earth win. Menju the Sorcerer plans to take over Thimhallan. Fearful of attack from the magi, he orders that the Well of Life be sealed. The source of magic is shut off, except from a chosen few—Menju and the other Dark Cultists. Magic dies in Thimhallan. The people are forced to learn to live without it. They must rebuild their cities and they turn to the Sorcerers to help them.
A schism arises among the Dark Cults. Menju is put on trial before the Sol-t’kan. He is found guilty of innumerable crimes, the main one being that he intended to rule Thimhallan alone, without offering to share any of its resources with his brethren. Menju is put to death. Kevon Smythe takes over rulership of the Dark Cultists.
Smythe travels to Thimhallan.
Saryon discovers that the Dark Cultists are searching for the Darksword. Guided by the Almin, he ventures into the Zoo, which has been damaged in the assault on Zith-el. The magical boundaries that surrounded the Zoo have been destroyed, its creatures roam free. Saryon comes across the lair of a Dragon of Night. The creature was