Broken World Book Four - The Staff of Law (27 page)

Talsy went
over to him. She did not know where amongst the thousands of laws
the one that would change him would be, but did not think that
Danya should be beside him when his fate struck. She advised the
girl to stand with her parents, stilling Travain’s protests with a
steely look. He sighed and turned his attention to the staff as
Danya left. Kieran joined them, standing on the other side of
Talsy, and she was glad of his solid presence.

Chanter and
Dancer stood beside the staff, the young Mujar plucking up the
courage to begin his long ordeal. He seemed uncertain, but his time
in the wilds had filled him with the purity and power only a Mujar
could contain. Thousands of glowing golden lines ringed the staff’s
gnarled stone, each a sentence of illegible script. It radiated
power in a strange, passive way, bestowing neither joy nor sadness,
but a strong sense of order. At Dancer’s nod, Chanter addressed the
Staff of Law.

“
Staff, begin.”

The first law
scorched the air with golden fire, written in the strange angular
runes that covered the staff, unreadable to anyone but Dancer. The
youngster gazed at the burning words, then stepped up to the staff
and gripped it with one hand. The staff hovered several inches
above the floor, towering over the Mujar. His eyes swept the sea of
faces that the guttering torches on the walls lighted, lingering
for a moment on Travain. Turning back to the golden words, he read
them again, then spoke slowly, with grave intonation, his face
devoid of emotion.

“
Mujar ess Hashon isharak con torra
.
Life and Death shall never mingle.”

Dancer pulled
the staff down as he spoke the god words, and its foot struck the
ground with a mighty boom that shook the castle’s foundations. As
it struck, a sheet of golden fire spat from the first line of
writing, swept outwards in a ripple of flame that hissed through
the stone walls all around them and vanished into the world. People
ducked and cried out in fear, but the fire harmed no one, not even
those it passed through.

Out in the
chaos, not far from the vanishing red desert, a mighty black
monolith loomed ugly and corrupted over the blighted land. Neither
dead nor alive, it tore apart in a crack of thunder as the sheet of
golden fire passed through it. A rain of ash fell, and two spots of
power appeared in its place, hanging in the air like stars, one
radiating pale brilliance, the other a point of utter darkness. For
an instant they hung, then the brilliant one turned into a brown
nut and fell to the ground, the other became a bleached bone. The
Staffs of Life and Death lay not far from each other, forever
parted.

The Torrak
Jahar, galloping in pursuit of fleeing Truemen, stumbled and fell.
Some smashed on the hard ground, others slowed like clockwork toys
unwound, the light of their sullen yellow eyes snuffed out. Their
victims turned to stare at their former hunters with hollow,
grateful eyes, remembering the sheet of golden fire that had hissed
over them moments before. The living rock ceased to grow, the
elementals of fire and wind fell apart and blew away. Creatures of
stone and soil slumped, giving up their corrupted life. The walking
corpses of those who did not know they were dead fell and did not
arise. A gentle wind began to blow, fluttered dead leaves and broke
the hush that had fallen when the first law traversed the land.

The staff floated up, and the line of golden writing changed.
Dancer read it, and spoke again. “
Isha ess
amon isharak bacha tosh alchon
. Day and
night shall follow each other. “

He pulled the
staff down, and the foot struck the floor with another thunderous
boom, shaking the castle. Golden fire spat from the second line of
writing and hissed away in a ripple of flame. A shudder passed
through the ground, and the staff floated up once more. The burning
words changed, and Dancer read them.

“
Dolan, shissa, ashmar ess crayash isharak ton deva rullon ess
shava chrujon
. Land, sea, air and fire
shall have separate dominions and equal power. “

The staff
struck the ground with a boom that rattled the windows, and golden
fire hissed away from the third line of writing.

In the chaos,
the golden fire whispered across the land in a spreading circle,
like a ripple in a pool, spreading out in all directions from the
valley of its source. The clouds loosed their burden of Dolana in a
storm of falling dust. The sky turned blue, and the clouds grey and
fluffy white. The sea turned aquamarine as the silt that killed its
fish sank to the bottom, allowing the beleaguered water breathers
to shake the dirt from their gills and breathe easily again. The
streams cleared, the lakes became blue, and the burning land
extinguished with a dull thud. Fiery rain turned to water, rivers
of acid dried up. Skinny, weary people emerged from their shelters
of stone and dried mud to stare up at a sky of perfect blue and
count the white clouds that marched across it. The gentle breeze
gusted, lifted dead leaves from forest floors, and strengthened to
a soft wind.

Talsy glanced
out of the window and gave a cry of joy, drawing everyone’s
attention to the indigo sky above the valley. While they gazed,
entranced, at its beauty, Dancer brought the staff down and spoke
the fourth law.

“
Ast theja isharak ot jashor purderos
.
All things shall be drawn downwards.”

The boom
rolled away with the hissing fire, but no discernable difference
could be sensed. Only those who had ventured into the chaos knew
that now the streams and rivers would resume their flow to the sea,
and those things that flew but where too heavy for flight would
plummet to the ground.

The staff
floated up, and the writing changed. Dancer read it.

“
Dolanoras isharak jor imdar echerin
moranoch
. Earth blood shall run deep within
the world. “

Again, as the
fire hissed away, accompanied by the boom of the staff striking the
floor, nothing appeared to happen, not even a shudder. Talsy,
however, knew that all the foul black rivers would cease to run,
and the corruption beneath the soil would sink back into its proper
place. This was the fifth law, and she wondered when they would
come to the one that would decide Travain’s fate. It appeared that
the first laws dealt with the world in general, its construction,
makeup and behaviour. The sixth law ordered the changing seasons,
which had been erratic since the breaking of the staff, and the
seventh ordered the weather to follow its rightful course. The
eighth law was a long one, and brought a glad sigh from the chosen
as the staff boomed onto the floor and the fire hissed away.

“
Trees and plants shall grow upon the earth, yielding their
bounty to those who must eat.”

In the chaos,
the soft wind rose to sweep the clouds into long streaks across the
sky. Dying trees bent in the wind, dry branches snapping off to
crash down. As the golden light hissed through them, greenness
sprouted from their twigs. Leaves unfolded and spread to catch the
sun, rattling in the growing wind. A spatter of rain wet the soil,
and a billion seeds sprouted at once. They sent eager roots into
the fertile soil and raised delicate, questing shoots to the
sunlight and wind.

The blackened
land became furred with greenness, and long dead forests burst into
life. New shoots twisted towards the sun, lashed by the wind. In a
distant land, a group of men felling a forest looked up as the
golden fire hissed past, the rising wind ruffling their hair. The
mighty tree they had just cut creaked and groaned, and they gaped
as the wound in its trunk sealed up. Many flung down their
wizard-made tools of Dolana and fled, the wind beating their backs
as if to drive them away.

The wilting
forest giants the woodcutters had felled rotted away in a moment,
giving back their precious goodness to the land that had birthed
them. In their place, a million seedlings burst from the fecund
soil, opening fresh young leaves. The Kuran’s power enveloped the
Lowmen with her fury and joy, and the air filled with her sweet
power, a green mist that speeded all growing things to sprout.

The men
cowered as the wind howled through the forest and the earth shook.
The forest people raised their faces and fell to their knees to dig
in the rich earth and savour the winds of change. They held out
handfuls of soil in homage to its power, smiling with joy at its
coming. All over the land, the chosen fell to their knees in
gratitude and worship, revelling in the cleansing wind that rose to
a howl of fury. They dug their hands into the forgiving earth and
clung to it as the wind shrieked.

The ninth law
hissed away with a savage crackle of fire as Dancer brought the
staff hammering down. “The guardians of this world shall protect
their dominions.”

The staff
rose, the writing changed, and Dancer read the tenth law. “The
beasts shall dwell within their own realms.”

The staff
smashed down, and the law sizzled away on its golden fire. The
staff rose, the writing changed, and Dancer’s voice rose to a
shout. “No creature of this world shall kill another!”

The fire
hissed away with the thunderous boom, the staff rose, the writing
changed, and Dancer shouted, “No creature of this world shall
practice deception!”

The chosen
cowered from the young Mujar, whose eyes glowed with power, his
face lighted by the god words he spoke. The staff rose, the writing
changed, and Dancer cried, “No creature of this world shall take
what is not rightfully theirs!”

The guttural
god words filled the watchers with awe and fear. The staff’s
booming crashes cracked the floor stones. The fire hissed away with
a savage snarl of flame, brighter and hotter than before. The staff
rose, the writing changed, and Dancer cried the fourteenth law.

“
Unon isharak megan Mujar
! None shall
harm Life!”

As if to
punctuate the words already bathed in fire and heralded by thunder,
a crackle from outside drew everyone’s attention to the windows. A
great wind invaded the valley and howled around the castle. It
battered the windows and swept into the hall with a cold, fresh
breath that scoured the darkest corners and filled their hearts
with joy. Talsy gasped, clinging to Travain as the wind moaned
around them. Travain stared at his father, who stood behind Dancer,
as unmoved by the wind as the young Mujar. Dust and leaves blew in
through the doors and windows to cover the floor, carried by the
winds of change. Talsy turned her face to it and savoured it,
revelling in its sweet power that blew away the dirt and stagnation
and replaced it with the thrill of the wild.

Out in the
chaos, the golden laws flashed over the land. A deer that hunters
had recently brought down leapt up as its wounds healed and
vanished, to bound away into the growing wind. The hunters cursed
the wind and shielded their faces from its stinging power,
staggering under its pushing force. They clung to trees as the wind
rose to a screaming fury, and several were swept away with cries of
anguish. The men gaped as herds of extinct beasts appeared from the
air, galloping wild and free, brought back from oblivion.

Far from
shore, upon the wind-tossed waves of the blue ocean, fishermen
pulled in nets filled with struggling fish and drowning dolphins.
The golden law rippled overhead, and the wind shrieked down upon
them with avenging fury, capsized their boat and tossed them into
the stormy sea. The net shredded and the dolphins swam free. On a
beach, a group of hunters smashed the heads of helpless seal pups,
killing them for their valuable fur. The law sizzled through the
sky, and the wind picked them up and flung them into the sea.

In a distant
land, an army of twisted creatures led by Truemen soldiers invaded
a town of chosen, intending to steal their land, rape the women,
and plunder their few possessions. The laws scythed overhead, and
the wind screamed in their wake. It enveloped the warriors in a
howling storm so strong it sent them staggering back, forcing them
to retreat its vengeful wrath. The chosen fell to their knees and
dug in the soft brown soil, raising hands smeared with mud. Driven
by an urge they did not understand, they used the wet soil to trace
a circle on their brows, drawing a cross through it.

Talsy sensed
the wind’s growing power. Twenty laws had been read, a fraction of
the thousands to come, but she knew that the one she dreaded drew
near. She could sense the direction of the writing that now
instructed the beasts in their ways. She caught Chanter’s eyes,
which were full of sorrow and gentle pain. Fear gripped her heart,
and she turned to embrace Travain.

“
Don’t be afraid,” she said, the wind carrying her words to
him. “I love you, Travain; you’re a child of the gods.”

The crossbreed’s eyes widened with realisation, and he turned
to look at his father. The staff rose, the fiery words changed, and
Dancer read the next law. “
Yay isharak
teshon ejan toh yinja
! All shall breed only
with their own kind!”

The staff hit
the ground with a mighty boom, and golden fire spat from the
twentieth line, hissing across the room. As it touched Travain, his
back arched and his mouth opened in a soundless cry that Talsy
filled with her scream. His eyes glazed and rolled back, and he
shuddered as he crumpled.

“
Chanter!” Talsy shrieked, clutching her limp son. “Help
me!”