The Chronicles of Heaven's War: Burning Phoenix (66 page)

Apollonius interjected a question. “So you
think that Ishtar might be a sword of some kind, or that she could
be the creature having waked?”

Not knowing, the man answered, “Rumor and
gossip is all I’ve heard regarding the matter. I did speak with
Symeon, but that was right after the council meeting. He was so
excited to have his girl back. I could get little more out of him
other than he and Hannah were to assist Ishtar with her new
surroundings. You know how difficult that can be, even for us older
ones.”

Apollonius grinned. “So when the child gets
adjusted to her new life, which should consume several months, she
will be more receptive to you. Symeon can break it to her that
you’re here and eventually set up a meeting. You and she will be
able to patch things up just fine.”

“No, that won’t do!” the man moaned in
despair. “Ishtar and I are fated to cross paths soon. Exactly when
or why, I don’t know, but it will come, can’t stop it. Just the
thought of it has troubled my sleep ever since I found out.”

“
What?!”
Apollonius nearly cried.
“You and Ishtar? You sure?”

The man nodded sadly. “That’s not all. Found
out that was a reason for me being delivered here, into this
realm.”

Apollonius could hardly contain himself.
“Whoa! That’s the biggest news I’ve heard in some time! How do you
know? Symeon? Hannah?”

“No.” the man replied in a subdued hush,
staring down at the table. “I don’t think they know about her and
me, ‘least not the part I’m speaking about.”

He looked up at Apollonius, distressed. “I
doubt Symeon would be pleased - will be pleased when he finds out.
Still holds a grudge, I believe, over what happened in the past. I
never did make it right with him back then, never got to explain
things to him before he was later imprisoned and executed.”

As he slowly tapped his fingers on the
table, the man explained, “Paul introduced us after I arrived here,
not telling him the role I played in Ishtar’s death. He hoped that
getting to know me first would help mend things up concerning what
happened back then. Told me to remain silent about matters. Symeon
warmed up to me quickly, and we became close, good friends. Hannah
gave the store away, not intentionally, or out of spite… She’s a
real sweet heart, you know.”

Apollonius agreed.

“Symeon took it well, I guess. Still treated
me fine, ‘cept I could see in his eyes the hurt over what I did to
his little girl. He tries to forgive, but I don’t think he can
quite forget. That was why I was so hopeful when told that the girl
was coming here. I figured that once the two were reunited again,
after a while Symeon could finally forget and maybe take me back as
his friend again.”

Apollonius nodded his understanding, asking,
curious, “Then how did you find out? Paul? Maybe Mihai?”

“No. No.” the man answered uncomfortably. He
glanced about the room as if searching for a friendly face, finally
whispering, “Lowenah...”

“
What?!”
Apollonius nearly
shouted.

Some people at a nearly table turned to
stare. Apollonius smiled sheepishly, lifting his mug. “Good ale for
a thirsty soul.”

The people agreed, shrugging while looking
at each other, and were soon back in deep conversation.

After taking a swig of the ale, and smacking
his lips rather loudly, Apollonius leaned forward until his face
was only inches away from his friend. Forcing down his excitement,
he asked anxiously in a hush, “Lowenah?”

The man nodded in acknowledgment.

His ears all a tingle, Apollonius then
asked, “When?”

“You already know where I went in the
evening times while Sirion’s been held captive these many long
weeks…” the man quietly answered, “Seeing that for as busy as you
say you were after having returned, someone managed to get your ear
about me going to the Silent Tombs and why, I’ll go right into
it.”

“It was the night before departure of those
going to the Prisoner Exchange that I happened to be about my
duties for Sirion in the Silent Tombs, just having finished my
little night song at Periste’s grave. As I slowly strode up the
draw, deep in thought about Sirion and all the things that had
happened to me since I got here, I spied Lowenah walking down the
path toward me.”

The man put a hand to his heart. “I became
nervous, maybe at seeing her. Oh yes, I’ve been in her company in
the past - you know, the cordial welcome to this place and pleasant
chit-chat conversation and all, when a person is soon arrived, and
once or twice more at some public event or other. It might not have
bothered some to see her and talk with her, but for me it was
terrifying...beautifully, intoxicatingly
terrifying.
..”

He mused, “More beautiful than a
drug-induced dream she is. And then to think she’s God?! Scares me
to death to have the feelings that come up inside me at seeing her
all naked and stuff…you know.”

Apollonius grinned, agreeing. “I’ve been
told she does it on purpose with the newcomers. Likes it when the
men… and the women, too, I suppose… get all heated up in a passion
over her. Then she plays the game in their head as being
untouchable, at least for the moment. Says to them in whispering
thought, ‘some day, my lovely one, some day we’ll sing Love’s
songs.’ Then she sends a calming breeze across the excited heart to
ease the emotions. I’ve been told there’s a real purpose behind
what Lowenah does, but that’s a discussion for another day.”

The man continued. “So…well, I got really
nervous when she motioned to me and picked up her pace, stopping up
close. Reaching out, she took my hand and, in the most charming of
voices I’ve heard, asked me to walk with her. I about swallowed my
tongue trying to make some kindly reply. Lowenah just laughed and
began to chatter away about little, unimportant things. Then she
got me to talking about myself, Sirion, this place, and on and on,
until I was prattling on about any little thing at all.”

He motioned for Apollonius to keep eating.
“Anyway, Lowenah managed to put me in a comfortable mood, she
acting so innocent and casual, sort ‘a like she had just happened
out for a walk that evening, and came by chance upon me. Got me
good, she did, real good...”

Talking through a mouthful of food,
Apollonius agreed, shaking his spoon as he replied. “Yep, she’s
good for that. A real trickster she is, always playing games with
your mind.”

“Sure did with me...” the man replied. “as
tricksy as may be. Made me feel so comfortable, I didn’t see at all
what was coming as we walked along, Lowenah holding my hand, making
an occasional reply while acting so nonchalant. Then she suddenly
sprung the trap, and I walked right into it without even noticing.
She asked me my thoughts about Ishtar’s approaching arrival.”

“Well, sir,” He frowned. “I just came out
and told her how bad I felt about Symeon… what I told you… and how
I wished I could mend things up someday, make it right. You
know...” He grimaced. “Before the last words were out of my mouth,
I glanced down in time to see Lowenah’s twinkling eyes go impish
with mischief a’growing in them. At that instant, I heard that trap
go snapping shut. Uh-oh, something was up and I had walked right
into it.”

“’You’d like to fix things up a bit wouldn’t
you, son?’ She asked so innocent.

“Still playing the fool, I answered ‘Yes,
anything.’ Fool me, I said ‘anything at all!’ pondering her calling
me ‘son’. Think of it, Lowenah, Lord of Lords called me ‘son’! It
screwed up my head so bad I couldn’t think of what I was really
saying. Anything! Fool man, I was. Sealed my fate, I did.”

Apollonius agreed that such things could
happen with the Maker of Worlds. He took another gulp of his ale,
and then asked, “So, what fate did you seal?”

The man scowled and then slowly released a
resigned sigh. “Well, she just made me feel so guilty - in a sneaky
way she did, all polite and innocent. You know... Well, Lowenah
said that things were all in a rush and all, something about
mechanical delays and all that stuff that I haven’t wrapped my mind
around yet. Anyway, she said the girl was being dumped, last minute
like, into this world, said how difficult it can be under such
circumstances to adjust quickly and all.”

He looked, hopelessly, into Apollonius’
face. “She told me that someone
dumped
into this world so
fast might have great difficulties accepting the realities of this
world, might become locked into believing they were lost in dreams
and nightmares. Then she asked me what I thought of that.”

“What did you say?” Apollonius asked,
curiosity growing as he spoke.

A visible shudder ran across the man’s
shoulders as he answered. “You know how I feel about the girl,
always blaming myself over all that happened to her. What could I
say? And Lowenah knew it, the
sneak
, set me up!”

Apollonius could not help but laugh, his
light-heartedness regarding matters easing the man’s tensions.

The man began to smile. “Yep, she set me up.
I told her how much I wished that things could be different, how
badly I felt about the girl.” He held up a hand. “Lowenah took this
in her hands, squeezing it while giving me a tender peck on the
cheek. Then she told me a secret, said that one of the reasons I
was delivered here was for the upcoming day when Ishtar would
arrive...just in case. She said she might need me to shake the girl
to her senses. She said what I might have to do was very important
because time was run out, and the girl was to hit the ground
a’running.”

“
Whoa!”
Apollonius sat up straight,
forgetting his meal, asking, “Lowenah told you time was
run
out
?”

“Yep...” Came a certain reply. “That’s
exactly what she said. She then looked into the sky as if watching
or waiting for something. As she stared up at the evening star, her
words echoed cold. ‘Where the river crosses time and space, a
witch’s caldron brews. She rides upon a midnight fleece of fire,
beasts and hounds. Virgin bride of the Gorgons she is, must
be...’”

The man looked down at the table,
confessing. “A smile crept across Lowenah’s face, but I saw
something in her eyes that I believed she wished I not see, for it
was gone away in a flash, a dark shadow filled with
uncertainty.”

The man leaned back, slapping his hands on
the table. “Lowenah changed the subject, speaking about some
whimsical little matters, but she could tell by the look on my face
that I knew something was up. Her smile melted away as she stared
into my eyes, speaking in a desperate whisper. ‘Only the
bastard
son, brood of the werewolf, has the power to defeat
the hidden demons. He must not fail.
You
must not
fail!’”

“She then kissed me on the cheek,
apologizing for thinking out loud, adding. ‘But that is for another
day. Not your concern, your concern at all.’”

Apollonius asked, intrigued, “What then?
What did you do?”

“What
could
I do?” The man replied,
his voice filled with growing despair. “I’d promised to stay near
Palace City, being told that my friend, Drorli, would soon be about
and fill me in on all the goings on.”

“And that was all?!” Apollonius asked,
amazed. “What of Lowenah’s prophecy? I’ve not heard her speak to
another of us in such a manner.”

The man puzzled, “Isn’t being upside down
over the part I play in helping that girl enough for a soul to
bother about? Prophecy? Well, I haven’t thought much about what it
was. Lowenah said it wasn’t my concern. So I didn’t make it my
concern.” He pointed toward his head. “It’s how I’ve managed to
keep this on my shoulders. Not my concern...”

Apollonius was stunned silent. How hard it
was to shake the world of old out of someone’s life, especially
when you might have been in as deep as this fellow was. Loose lips,
loose head. He had survived a long time by playing it safe. Hard to
forget what works.

The man added, “Lowenah and I walked along
through the Tombs until the moon rose high above the hills,
chit-chatting about the most carefree things. At length, we parted,
she seeming to be in little hurry to go. The gloom swept over me
soon after she was gone, and I’ve been sort ‘a moping about ever
since. I’m glad you arrived here tonight. At least you can
understand… at least a little bit.”

Grinning, Apollonius clasped his friend’s
hand. “Yes, yes, I understand, but oh so much more than you may
think.! Of all the sages in this world, you have revealed more in
this little conversation than they might in the longest
speech.”

“
What?
What have I told you?” The man
asked curious.

“Well…” Apollonius looked toward the ceiling
before staring into his friend’s face. “Let me put it this way: war
is coming, and coming soon. I mean a big one, bigger and badder
than any before it. And you and that girl, Ishtar, are going to be
playing a real big part in it in some way. I would…”

At that instant, Apollonius chanced a glance
from the corner of his eye, seeing a very impatient Suan standing
by the door. He wiggled out of the booth and jumped up, saying his
adieus to his friend, adding, “Mustn’t dally or the ship will long
have sailed, leaving this sailor alone and lonely on the
shore.”

The man reached out and grasped Apollonius’
hand. In desperation, he asked, “My friend, what must I do? Does my
wise sage have some parting advice?”

First, acknowledging Suan that he was
quickly coming, Apollonius leaned forward, the flickering flame of
the table candle dancing off his glistening white teeth. “How does
one prepare for the tempest?” He glanced over his shoulder at Suan.
“You just make up your mind it’s coming and put down your head and
row. Let the storm take you where it will. It’s better that way,
less work, will take you longer to drown.” He laughed.