The Chronicles of Heaven's War: Burning Phoenix (37 page)

“What is the misunderstanding that you are
referring to?” Mihai asked wryly. “It is not a misunderstanding on
our part, is it? Speak honestly, or all this treasure will be lost
to you.”

Mihai had put everything on the table,
played all her cards. Legion knew this, but could do little about
it. With all his cajoling and badgering, the woman had not yet
taken the bait. He had not been able to provoke her into a fight.
Even worse, she was making
him
appear the fool! Now, again,
she was representing him as the recusant one, unyielding and
obstinate. Oh, how he hated this creature! How much he wanted to
tear her eyes from their sockets and rip the tongue from her mouth!
He must bide his time though, bide his time... Give it rest, calm
down...

Taking a deep breath and releasing it in a
long sigh, Legion nodded apologetically. “Yes, a misunderstanding
on… on… on my part.” He quickly adding, “I must take this matter up
with the lord of the land. After all, it is to him that all this
treasure belongs.” Soon the two men were in deep, private
discussion.

Legion hated making his last statement, not
wanting Asotos to become too possessive of the day’s treasures.
After all, he had done a great deal of the work and deserved
reasonable compensation. A KaminosKtisis or two would be fine, for
starters. Yet how else could he have saved face? If he openly
apologized for his actions then, oh, the shame, never! By deferring
to his archon, stating it was Asotos’ decision to accept the reward
given, he would merely have to admit that he was correcting an
overlooked minor detail of protocol, and was acknowledging that
little indiscretion.

Asotos was pleased with the overall
situation, although he was not happy with the
antics
of his
herald. But what else could he expect? Always the father to the
childish, little younglings... The same as the others, Legion would
never grow up, never become wise and insightful like him. How could
the man? After all, Asotos had tasted the hidden powers of the
Upper Palace, knew how to tap into their energy. For countless
ages, he had tunneled deep into the butte beneath, in search of the
energy’s source. Then, when he believed his quest was nearly
accomplished, the evil witch, Erithia, cast him from his home.

For the longest time, the two men huddled in
quiet conference, each occasionally glancing toward the horses or
wagons. When that occurred, the gesticulations and animated
conversation would wax into a crescendo of apparent debate,
gradually ebbing until another look was taken at some desired
treasure.

The reality was that Legion and Asotos were
stalling for time, seeking to wear Mihai down physically. Already
the woman’s unprotected head was burning from the scorching sun.
Although she had sipped some water, it was not enough to slake her
thirst. Her belly was still agitated, a nauseous feeling ever
present, along with an overall weakness in body and limbs. And, as
Asotos had calculated, the woman was also growing weak in mind and
spirit. She was simply tiring out.

The hour was already well past noon when
Legion turned his attention back to Mihai. He stood close, raising
a hand while shaking his head. “Small are the treasures of
retribution that you deliver here, but…” He paused for effect. “but
we are willing to take them into consideration. Bring them over
here to us so that we may examine them first. Then we will decide
if it is enough to compensate us.”

Mihai may have been tiring, but her wit was
not fully departed. She shook her head in disagreement. “That will
not do at all! Do I open the cage on the bird’s promise that it
will not fly away?!”

Anger clouded Legion’s face.

Before he could reply, Mihai motioned with
raised hand. “I suggest that you take a dozen trusted men of yours
and have them come here and make a search of what we have brought.
Let them deliver into your hands certain items that you may
scrutinize, so that you may see we are speaking truth to you of
their value and quantity and make reply whether it is good or bad.
Then we shall exchange our peoples and depart, leaving to you all
that we have promised to leave.”

Legion was not pleased, but fearing the
wrath of his own impatient soldiers, and having no way to counter
Mihai’s reasoning, he relented, choosing twelve trusted men to
‘
search thoroughly
and make full report’. Off the men went
in a rush, rummaging wagons, crates, barrels and boxes. More than
one wine flask was opened to taste the purity of the sweet Medeba
blend, more than one round of cheese sliced up to sample its aged
perfection, more than one bowl of fine pipe-weed puffed to verify
its proper curing. All the while, someone or other would take a
treasure over to Legion and Asotos for them to make personal
examination.

Long into the afternoon hours, this
searching and rummaging went on. It was disheartening enough to
watch these
hoodlums
pawing through all these things, but to
have these same people who were luxuriating in the articles
discovered and becoming intoxicated over the good drink speak so
disparagingly about their quality and quantity was nearly too much
to bear for many of Lowenah’s people. At last, when the sun was
hurriedly searching for the western horizon, Asotos and Legion
called an end to their investigation.

Slowly, Legion approached Mihai. Holding a
bolt of the finest of woven silk, he sadly shook his head. “What
has your world come to?” Looking into Mihai’s face, he continued.
“This
rubbish
you are offering to us, why, this is no better
than the goods the traders try to pawn off on outlanders when they
come to barter their furs and mined treasures! What has come of
your people? Is this the best they can any longer produce since
evil intent has deprived them of their great minds and
leaders?”

Mihai knew she was being goaded into
committing some regrettable act. She refused to fall victim to it.
The hour was late and the lives of her brothers and sisters were at
stake. These priceless items being squabbled over were mere refuse
compared to her loved ones held captive.

Humbly nodding her head, Mihai somberly
answered, “We have delivered you the very best our hands can now
produce. Whether or not they can serve your needs is not within my
ability to discern. All the day, you may raise complaint, but none
better will you ever find come from us.”

Legion was now at a loss for words. The
quality of these goods far surpassed anything his people currently
manufactured except, possibly, by a select few of the highly
skilled. He feared continued complaint might cost them these very
precious treasures.

His long face shook slow and sad. “It is
understandable that your kind have come to this. I and my people do
have heart and understanding...pity for those weaker of mind and
spirit. Seeing that
this
is your
very best
, as a
caring father to a dull-witted child, unable to do better, I will
accept for the League of Brothers
all
these stuffs,
including the fine stallions, as payment for the sacrifice and
labors my people have gone to in order to secure the safe release
of your fellows. Bring us the goods, and then the exchange of our
kindred can be made.”

Mihai snapped back, angry. “
No! Your
people have snooped, pawed, and burrowed their way through all the
gifts offered you. They know to the handbreadth and pennyweight
every last item we have brought with us. The quality and quantity…
including every morsel chewed and glass drunk… of everything
delivered here is inscribed in their notebooks. The horses have
been poked, probed, and possibly humped by your people. They know
exactly what we have provided. Deliver to us, now, our people, and
we shall do the same for you. We will then depart, leaving you all
these spoils to fight over.”

Legion said nothing, but deferred to Asotos.
Asotos smiled. Mihai was stretched thin. He could tell by her
latest reply. Now was the time to finish springing the trap.
Nodding his approval, he motioned for Legion to proceed. In only
moments guards in both camps were scurrying to gather up the
prisoners in preparation for their release.

(Author’s note: ...‘
KaminosKtisis’ was
the technical name given to the genetically engineered hybrid
geldings used by both sides during the age-long wars. Originally
produced to withstand the rigors of space exploration, this
adaptation of the horse proved itself so useful in harsh and
exhausting situations, it eventually outnumbered the true equus
caballus for such work. Those same outstanding qualities made it a
valuable warhorse and beast of burden. The KaminosKtisis that came
from LathraNesion were the very finest of all the KaminosKtisis
ever produced, their breeding and distribution personally
controlled by Lowenah. Only as a gift could anyone obtain one of
Mother’s wonderful creations, and only by permission of the animal
could it be mounted and ridden.

... It was said that somewhere, deep in the
Nebulan Cloud Bank, there existed the secret planet of
LathraNesion. Tolohe spoke of it in ancient song, telling stories
of its immense oceans of grasses, endless forest of hardwoods and
dark evergreens, and its countless crystal-clear freshwater lakes
and streams. It was Tolohe who hinted to Mihai that Gabrielle was
born there, and was delivered to their world after the darkness
arrived. Fables aside, the land of myth, LathraNesion, did exist,
and the delivery of Lowenah’s KaminosKtisis was proof of it.

‘
Outlander’ was a term used by the League
of Brothers to describe any people populating distant and/or
inhospitable star-systems who lived by their own set of laws and
rules and swore no loyalty to either the League of Brothers or The
Children’s Empire. These included the Stasis Pirates and other,
sometimes wildly independent, peoples residing in the fringe
territories. To Mihai’s people, the Stasis Pirates were mortal
enemies of the Children’s Empire but, for the other more peaceable
people, the general term ‘Wildcatters’ defined them.
)

* * *

Mihai’s anger was nearing its boiling point.
Long forgotten was her nagging thirst and queasy stomach. The
growing fury welling up within her breasts over the abysmal
condition of her imprisoned brothers was the only feeling her
senses could gather up and deliver to her mind. These were not
deeds done by the brutish hands of the degenerate Stasis. They
might well torture, rape and murder out of revenge, hatred, or for
the momentary gratification of some carnal instinct, but not on a
scale of this magnitude, or at this level of viciousness.

The growing collection of torn and ruined
bodies being presented to Mihai’s people was the deliberate
handiwork of pathological psychoneurotic sociopaths. The Stasis had
demented minds that made them act like rabid beasts, carrying out
their evil more from instinct than premeditation. The people who
did these horrendous acts had deranged hearts and decaying souls.
No longer was there any decency remaining within them. Even foggy
recollections of goodness and morality were long departed their
memory.

When Mihai saw a guard stop the lead
hostage, forcing him down on his knees to wait for the others to
arrive, she had shouted orders to not allow any of Asotos’ people
to cross over into his camp, stopping them directly behind the
front line of her soldiers. She was now paying no heed to her
protagonists, her full attention focused on the hostages assembling
in front of her.

Trisha was not distracted. In fact, she had
half expected to see this present reality, expected to see even
worse. Stepping up close to Mihai’s side while intently observing
events unfold, she watched Legion and Asotos very slowly backing
away until they both stood behind several heavily armed guards.
They were preparing for something to occur, and that
something
they must be expecting to come from her
people.

Seeing only the suffering of her brothers
and sisters, Mihai was unable to grasp that the destruction of body
and mind she was witnessing was not random acts of loathsome
beast-men bereft of heart and soul, but part of a well-orchestrated
scheme with a more sinister purpose...at least that was what Trisha
believed, indeed, anticipated. Scanning the maddening scene around
her, she sighed under her breath, “So it has come to pass. Hell is
delivered to Heaven’s heights. Look and see… I am Death,
Destruction my lover. Today I set the universe ablaze, and Phoenix
will burn, and the gods will bow low to the Children of
Damnation.”

Crying aloud as tears welled up in her eyes,
Mihai demanded that her people be released to them. “There is no
reason to keep them any longer! Here are you kind.
Now hand over
to us ours!
”

Legion raised his hand, shaking his head.
“Patience... Patience... We will deliver them over to you when all
have arrived. First you must see we are true to our word and that
we will hand over all who wish to return to you.”

Mihai continued to argue to have the
hostages released. Legion became angry, stating, “Many times have
our sacred protocols been broken this day, your apologies providing
proof of your sins regarding this. Our custom has always been to
release our prisoners at one time. That is what we intend to do
also this day.”

Audible sighs and groans went up from
Mihai’s crowd when one of the hostage women was dragged some
distance in the sand after she had collapsed. It was obvious she
was suffering a dislocated shoulder along with a broken arm.
Asotos’ guards paid no attention to the woman’s cries as they
yanked her up by her manacled hands, screaming for her to
stand.

Mihai’s right hand twitched, as if searching
for something to grasp while with curses and oaths she shouted at
Legion,
“Stop such
travesties
!”
Trisha watched
a twinkling glint flash across the man’s eyes just before he raised
a hand, directing his soldiers to assist the woman along. The guard
holding the chain that bound the woman gave one more quick yank
before obeying, the other guards with him laughing as he did
so.