• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

“I had somehow to do what the old god had commanded me, which was to escape the imprisonment in the oak. And I also had precious little time in which to do it, no more than an hour before dawn.

“As for what lay ahead in Egypt, I had not made my decision yet. But I knew that if I let the Druids enclose me in the sacred tree again, I would starve in there until the small offering at the next full moon. And all of my nights until that time would be thirst and torture, and what the old one had called ‘the god’s dreams’ in which I’d learn the secrets of the tree and the grass that grew and the silent Mother.

“But these secrets were not for me.

“The Druids surrounded me now and we proceeded to the sacred tree again, the hymns dying to a litany which commanded me to remain within the oak to sanctify the forest, to be its guardian, and to speak kindly through the oak to those of the priesthood who would come from time to time to ask guidance of me.

“I stopped before we reached the tree. A huge pyre was blazing in the middle of the grove, casting ghastly light on the carved faces and the heaps of human skulls. The rest of the priesthood stood round it waiting. A current of terror shot through me with all the new power that such feelings have for us.

“I started talking hastily. In an authoritative voice I told them that I wished them all to leave the grove. That I should seal myself up in the oak at dawn with the old god. But I could see it wasn’t working. They were staring at me coldly and glancing one to the other, their eyes shallow like bits of glass.

“ ‘Mael!’ I said. ‘Do as I command you. Tell these priests to leave the grove.’

“Suddenly, without the slightest warning, half the assemblage of priests ran towards the tree. The other took hold of my arms.

“I shouted for Mael, who led the siege on the tree, to stop. I tried to get loose but some twelve of the priests gripped my arms and my legs.

“If I had only understood the extent of my strength, I might easily have freed myself. But I didn’t know. I was still reeling from the feast, too horrified by what I knew would happen now. As I struggled, trying to free my arms, even kicking at those who held me, the old god, the naked and black thing, was borne out of the tree and heaved into the fire.

“Only for a split second did I see him, and all I beheld was resignation. He did not once lift his arms to fight. His eyes were closed and he did not look at me, nor at anyone or anything, and I remembered in that moment what he had told me, of his agony, and I started to cry.

“I was shaking violently as they burned him. But from the very midst of the flames I heard his voice. ‘Do as I commanded you, Marius. You are our hope.’ That meant Get Out of Here Now.

“I made myself still and small in the grip of those who held me. I wept and wept and acted like I was just the sad victim of all this magic, just the poor god who must mourn his father who had gone into the flames. And when I felt their hands relax, when I saw that, one and all, they were gazing into the pyre, I pivoted with all my strength, tearing loose from their grip, and I ran as fast as I could for the woods.

“In that initial sprint, I learned for the first time what my powers were. I cleared hundreds of yards in an instant, my feet barely touching the ground.

“But the cry rang out immediately: ‘THE GOD HAS FLOWN!’ and within seconds the multitude in the clearing was screaming it over and over as thousands of mortals plunged into the trees.

“How on earth did this happen, I thought suddenly, that I’m a god, full of human blood, and running from thousands of Keltic barbarians through this damned woods!

“I didn’t even stop to tear the white robe off me, but ripped it off while I was still running, and then I leapt up to the branches overhead and moved even faster through the tops of the oaks.

“Within minutes I was so far away from my pursuers that I couldn’t hear them anymore. But I kept running and running, leaping from branch to branch, until there was nothing