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"The Dust of Forgotten Temples"
Dec. 24th, 2024 03:12 am"The Dust of Forgotten Temples"
11/22/2003
I.
At the head of the long table, Sable pressed her hands out flat and stared down at them. "It's true. I have been getting dozens of reports from our observers all over the British Isles and Northwestern Europe. Friday night, an unexplained wave of gruesome crimes broke out. People mutilating animals for no reason, cutting out the eyes out of cats and dogs. People harming themselves, slicing long gouges across their own faces, burning their hands in fires, tearing off their own ears. Many brutal murders. And there are reports of thousands of people too exhausted and traumatized to go to work or school because of nightmares which left them shivering and wet with cold sweat."
"Ack, " said Unicorn. "Any of this in the news media? I haven't noticed it."
"No. A few scattered reports in local newspapers and TV stations of the less troubling atrocities. I think it's clear the authorities are consciously suppressing coverage and hushing it all up. But Facebook and the other online sites are on fire. People were hesitant to connect the horrors at first but now the phrase 'the Long Dark Night' has broken out and is referred to everywhere." Sable raised her head and her dark eyes fixed on their visitor. "And this is what you have come to warn us about, isn't it?"
Seated at the other end of that table where four generations of Tel Shai heroes had assembled, Eidurach lifted his bony long-fingered hands and gestured wildly. "That night was but the beginning. It has been seven days and the darkest forces have gathered again. Tonight will be far worse and the next Friday night even more dreadful."
Eidurach's long straight white hair and beard shone in the subdued overhead lighting of the conference room. His gaunt face with its prominent cheekbones and pointed nose was unsettling to see, he reminded everyone of starvation victims. The loose, bell-sleeved white tunic under a heavy cloak of bull hide added to his dramatic image. "Deep in the earth, Forgotten Ones stir angrily and begin to send their murderous hatred up toward us."
"And how do you know of all this?" demanded Josef Jubilec bluntly. The Blind Archer was not one for tact.
"I am the last of the True Druids," said Eidurach. "Our wisdom must never be written down, only passed on in song and recitations. As a boy, my grandfather taught me much so that I would never forget the lore. Ages ago when we were many, our chants and ceremonies served to keep the Forgotten Ones drowsy and harmless but now I alone am left. The new warlocks, the Black Druids, have replaced us. Their sacrifices with golden sickles and Wicker Men have rousted the Forgotten Ones."
Seated to Sable's left, Sheng Mo-Yuan lifted one hand in protest. His normally mild voice had a sharper tone to it. The young Chujiran man was the most scholarly and intellectually curious of the new team. "Hang on a second. I've done some reading on this. The Druids weren't a blasphemous cult or anything. That was propaganda from the Romans and the early Christians to get rid of them. The Druids were like, teachers and lawyers and healers and historians. They've been unfairly stereotyped."
"You speak of my kind, the True Druids. We were the wise men and women of the oak groves. But by the time the legions of Rome marched over Britain, we had been mostly supplanted by the Black Druids." Eidurach's deepset blue eyes had dark shadows under them as they burned feverishly. "Of all the schools of knowledge left on this fallen world, I fear only the Order of Tel Shai might still be able to act against this coming cataclysm."
"It does sound like exactly what Tel Shai was founded to handle," Sable replied. She did not say so, but her gift of enhanced perception had been studying their visitor. Sable could hear and count his heartbeats from twelve feet away. She could smell the adrenalin traces in his sweat, she could hear the subvocal tremors no amount of guile could disguise, she could watch how his pupils contracted and widened as he spoke. Her team knew her powers and understood she was using them as the most accurate lie detection process possible. All her readings were behind her next statement, "For the moment, we believe you, Eidurach. Tell us more."
"It has been longer than I realized since I had counseled with Tel Shai knights. Where is the Dire Wolf? In this crisis, we need the power of Khang, the wisdom of the Eyeless Helmet, the resolve of Sulak. I had hoped to meet with the Silver Skull and the Cat's-Claw. I came seeking the greatest heroes of this era but I see only young unlined faces watching me with dismay."
"We ARE the knights of Tel Shai," Sable told him. "Khang has been destroyed. Nebel doesn't wear Sagehelm any more, Sulak stays in his realm of Androval. The Silver Skull was killed and no replacement has turned up, but at least Levon here bears Cat's Claw. What you see here is the new generation, like it or not."
"Hey, I think we deserve a little respect," interrupted Unicorn. The petite blonde was also dressed all in white and her platinum hair was as bright as their visitor's, but her face had delicate features that were in complete contrast to the Druid's withered countenance. "We're not babies. We have been fighting the Midnight War for three long years. This team been accepted at Tel Shai and we are full knights. Give us a little credit."
A tense silence followed her outburst. Then, grudgingly, Eidurach nodded in her direction. "Overlook any slight my words may have given. In this terrible moment, I must speak plainly."
"Okay, sorry if I over-reacted." Along with her teammates, Ashley turned to gaze at their captain. "So, Sable, this looks like another world-threatening cosmic crisis about to explode. Exactly what we signed up for."
"Yes," Sable responded. "Megan, warm up the CORBY and do the pre-flight check. Sheng, see if you can contact Jeremy, he was in Okali the last we heard from him. We're assembling in the hangar at ten sharp, full field suits and combat gear. The Midnight War has broken out again."
( the rest of the story )
11/22/2003
I.
At the head of the long table, Sable pressed her hands out flat and stared down at them. "It's true. I have been getting dozens of reports from our observers all over the British Isles and Northwestern Europe. Friday night, an unexplained wave of gruesome crimes broke out. People mutilating animals for no reason, cutting out the eyes out of cats and dogs. People harming themselves, slicing long gouges across their own faces, burning their hands in fires, tearing off their own ears. Many brutal murders. And there are reports of thousands of people too exhausted and traumatized to go to work or school because of nightmares which left them shivering and wet with cold sweat."
"Ack, " said Unicorn. "Any of this in the news media? I haven't noticed it."
"No. A few scattered reports in local newspapers and TV stations of the less troubling atrocities. I think it's clear the authorities are consciously suppressing coverage and hushing it all up. But Facebook and the other online sites are on fire. People were hesitant to connect the horrors at first but now the phrase 'the Long Dark Night' has broken out and is referred to everywhere." Sable raised her head and her dark eyes fixed on their visitor. "And this is what you have come to warn us about, isn't it?"
Seated at the other end of that table where four generations of Tel Shai heroes had assembled, Eidurach lifted his bony long-fingered hands and gestured wildly. "That night was but the beginning. It has been seven days and the darkest forces have gathered again. Tonight will be far worse and the next Friday night even more dreadful."
Eidurach's long straight white hair and beard shone in the subdued overhead lighting of the conference room. His gaunt face with its prominent cheekbones and pointed nose was unsettling to see, he reminded everyone of starvation victims. The loose, bell-sleeved white tunic under a heavy cloak of bull hide added to his dramatic image. "Deep in the earth, Forgotten Ones stir angrily and begin to send their murderous hatred up toward us."
"And how do you know of all this?" demanded Josef Jubilec bluntly. The Blind Archer was not one for tact.
"I am the last of the True Druids," said Eidurach. "Our wisdom must never be written down, only passed on in song and recitations. As a boy, my grandfather taught me much so that I would never forget the lore. Ages ago when we were many, our chants and ceremonies served to keep the Forgotten Ones drowsy and harmless but now I alone am left. The new warlocks, the Black Druids, have replaced us. Their sacrifices with golden sickles and Wicker Men have rousted the Forgotten Ones."
Seated to Sable's left, Sheng Mo-Yuan lifted one hand in protest. His normally mild voice had a sharper tone to it. The young Chujiran man was the most scholarly and intellectually curious of the new team. "Hang on a second. I've done some reading on this. The Druids weren't a blasphemous cult or anything. That was propaganda from the Romans and the early Christians to get rid of them. The Druids were like, teachers and lawyers and healers and historians. They've been unfairly stereotyped."
"You speak of my kind, the True Druids. We were the wise men and women of the oak groves. But by the time the legions of Rome marched over Britain, we had been mostly supplanted by the Black Druids." Eidurach's deepset blue eyes had dark shadows under them as they burned feverishly. "Of all the schools of knowledge left on this fallen world, I fear only the Order of Tel Shai might still be able to act against this coming cataclysm."
"It does sound like exactly what Tel Shai was founded to handle," Sable replied. She did not say so, but her gift of enhanced perception had been studying their visitor. Sable could hear and count his heartbeats from twelve feet away. She could smell the adrenalin traces in his sweat, she could hear the subvocal tremors no amount of guile could disguise, she could watch how his pupils contracted and widened as he spoke. Her team knew her powers and understood she was using them as the most accurate lie detection process possible. All her readings were behind her next statement, "For the moment, we believe you, Eidurach. Tell us more."
"It has been longer than I realized since I had counseled with Tel Shai knights. Where is the Dire Wolf? In this crisis, we need the power of Khang, the wisdom of the Eyeless Helmet, the resolve of Sulak. I had hoped to meet with the Silver Skull and the Cat's-Claw. I came seeking the greatest heroes of this era but I see only young unlined faces watching me with dismay."
"We ARE the knights of Tel Shai," Sable told him. "Khang has been destroyed. Nebel doesn't wear Sagehelm any more, Sulak stays in his realm of Androval. The Silver Skull was killed and no replacement has turned up, but at least Levon here bears Cat's Claw. What you see here is the new generation, like it or not."
"Hey, I think we deserve a little respect," interrupted Unicorn. The petite blonde was also dressed all in white and her platinum hair was as bright as their visitor's, but her face had delicate features that were in complete contrast to the Druid's withered countenance. "We're not babies. We have been fighting the Midnight War for three long years. This team been accepted at Tel Shai and we are full knights. Give us a little credit."
A tense silence followed her outburst. Then, grudgingly, Eidurach nodded in her direction. "Overlook any slight my words may have given. In this terrible moment, I must speak plainly."
"Okay, sorry if I over-reacted." Along with her teammates, Ashley turned to gaze at their captain. "So, Sable, this looks like another world-threatening cosmic crisis about to explode. Exactly what we signed up for."
"Yes," Sable responded. "Megan, warm up the CORBY and do the pre-flight check. Sheng, see if you can contact Jeremy, he was in Okali the last we heard from him. We're assembling in the hangar at ten sharp, full field suits and combat gear. The Midnight War has broken out again."
( the rest of the story )
