Illustrated Sample
Publication date: December 1997
Author: L. E. Shaffer
Artist: Tony Spaar
Company: Shaffer Novels/Poetry Company
COPYRIGHT 1997 - 2007, 2008 L. E. Shaffer
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WORLDWIDE
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
FIRST PRINTING; ELECTRONIC AND PRINT MEDIA
BOOK ONE
ILLUSTRATED TEARS FROM AO
L. E. SHAFFER AND TONY SPAAR
Prologue
On an unknown, mysterious planet somewhere in the middle of the galaxy stood a priest named Abmar from the Family of Ab. The wind moved his white, wispy hair. He was deep in thought thinking of the Runes of Kale, the voice of his god, Ao. The One Prophecy out of many contained in the Prophecies of Ao consumed his mind. Two great galactic powers lay in peace across from each other, but the one called Ral was ready to strike. All it took was a subtle shift in the balance of power. The millennia of peace were going the way of the approaching dusk and the coming of the two moons. The One Prophecy would start it all.
Abmar wiped the tears from his ancient, wrinkled face. No prayers to Ao would stay the monsters that would be let loose when the mylyn would be found. On the edge of the galaxy the crystal that powered the great starships across the stars was beckoning. And Abmar knew what evils would follow. The time of death was here in the next solar eclipse, and then war would be awakened. Then the beast in the next galaxy would open sleepy eyes in glee. The priest whipped around as a darkness streaked by in the dying light of the sun. Suddenly, Abmar saw the face of the Ralian who would start it all...
CHAPTER 1
Abmar was both happy and sad with this personal connection, because the One Prophecy was about to begin. Because death was about to be let loose among the innocents...
In the dimness of the Bridge on the Srau, Captain Kralc of Ral continually scanned the screen. A green glow engulfed his face. The surrounding noise faded as his mind raced with the possibilities. He thought he had detected something. Something faint. There was no warning light or audio alarm showing a target just entering his scanning sector. It was possible for the computer to miss slow, determined targets, if that was the intention. He probed with his eyes making them water with the effort.
There was still no indication, but intuition prevailed. Kralc motioned the operator to stand aside while he settled into the console bay. Disengaging computer lock, Kralc waited for the screen to settle and focus. He magnified the subsector where he thought the momentary target had appeared. Then engaging the computer scan, he sat back to read the indicators above the consoles. As the computer scanned the assigned subsector, the density readout jumped at the same time the audio alarm buzzed indicating a small target moving at a slow pace. Automatically the computer transmitted an identification request.
Seconds later the battle alert sounded. Kralc ran to his station taking charge of the Bridge. The duty officer, once relieved, rushed to his battle station. Males and a few females ran across the Bridge taking up their respective stations. The air was charged with excitement, everyone anticipating the possible danger the moment presented. Sweating hands checked and manipulated controls at every station around the Bridge. Reports began flowing in from all over the ship. Within moments the Srau was battle ready!
Kralc smiled. Everything was set. He was prepared. Shields were up and strong. Weapons were fully charged and programmed. All the intense training and drilling had paid off. He glanced at the Communications Station giving a nod for the next step to begin. The Comm Officer warned the target it was violating Ral space and to veer off immediately.
A message returned. There was a moment of hesitation for the translator to interpret the language into understandable Ralian. "This is the Commander of the Imperial Courier Ship Malston...We are confused over your message stating that this is Ral space. This sector and planet nearby are, by interstellar law, neutral. There must be a mistake. We intend to continue to our destination with our cargo."
Kralc again reviewed in his mind the orders for this particular operation. They were clear. He relished the thought of battle even if the enemy was a small courier ship. He had waited long to again taste battle and feel death and ordered a warning shot fired. The crew on the Bridge tensed and waited for a reply.
The Comm Officer bent over his console bay puzzling over something he had heard on a certain frequency he had thought dead. Suddenly, he realized what this might mean. He quickly ran an analysis on the snatch of a message he had intercepted. Kralc turned toward the officer noticing the frantic actions. Before he could question the activity, the scanning sensors initiated the alarm sequences from the main computers. More alarms sounded, lights started flashing. A moment of confusion reigned as the ship heaved. Automatically weapons went free and returned fire. A slight ozone could be detected as fire was received and returned. Kralc assembled his reports quickly to evaluate the present situation. A large cruiser was on his right and several smaller craft above him. Where they had appeared from so suddenly would have to be investigated later. The hesitation to react properly had irritated him. A faint twinge of fear ran through Kralc's body. There were supposed to be no cruisers within his present operational range. He ordered a course shift to take them away from their present sector but to continue to exchange maser and phaser fire.
Slowly, the distance grew greater. There was no pursuit. The cruiser and the smaller craft stayed put. This puzzled Kralc, but he was satisfied to disengage in the face of their superior force. His mind began to face the report he would have to write. Certain officers would have to be assembled to help. He wondered what his counterpart on the cruiser would say in his report. This would certainly raise a big fuss. Yes, he thought to himself, a report favorable to us would be in order. After all, he had not broken any interstellar laws. He hoped so anyway. That worry would have to wait as the battle damage reports began to come in from all stations aboard the starship.
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Abmar blinked his eyes and the vision was over. He stood on the Plains of Mar and knew the regret of mourning. He sensed that this beginning was not over. Another portent of great dimension was about to occur. Yet he couldn't fathom what was to happen. That could only mean one thing; whatever was to occur would happen soon and close to home. And then a child's mourning touched his mind, and he looked to the Gathering some distance away. And the Prophecies moved slowly but relentlessly ahead.
It was raining. Marc put out his hand and let the rain touch him gently. The raindrops sparkled in the setting sun. Whispering with the gentle fall of rain. Marc sighed, "Tears from Ao."
Margon beheld his young son. Rain was streaming down the boy's body. "Glisten-in-the-sun, your mother is smiling now at your beauty. It is but a moment before the spirit of the rain carries her away from us.
"Death is far from you. I know it is hard to understand why your mother left her lifeform so soon. Do not try to understand the ways of Ao, son. Be filled with joy; your mother will be with Ao in a short time."
Marc caressed his father's hand. "I will never see her again."
"You are so young..."
The Guardian of Death for Section Thirteen, Osmar, finished the Ritual of Cremation. "As our gods Ab and Ob are one, so are birth and death. Ao, our master, take this, thy creation. As she was born, let her live again in death. May the fires burn higher." He bent down and placed his torch on the funeral pyre.
The darkness that followed formed over the flames of the funeral pyre. The Gathering watched the flames as each member placed their torch on the funeral pyre. Myrax, mate of Margon, saw her last nightfall.
As the flames died down, the moons came out. The rain slowed and then stopped altogether. A breeze from the nearby lake scattered the ashes.
Osmar gently handed Marc the precious urn. "Little one, thy mother." The clouds hid the moons for a moment. There where the Gathering had been wandered a large, black panther. The animal circled the ashes and left silently in search of prey.
The panther traveled swiftly. In a short period Panther arrived near a domed structure. There was light emanating from inside the dome. The dome was empty except for the soft light. The light flickered as the clouds raced by the moons, as if the moons and the light were somehow connected. Troubled, Panther moved on silently.
A shadowy form reflected off the inside surface of the dome. Slowly the form became solid. Marc made a place for the urn and caused a soft green light to shine on it. He stepped back to see. His heart felt heavy. He lowered his head in sadness. The gentle sounds outside dimmed.
His father startled him in the soft darkness. Marc said, "You surprised me. I didn't expect you so soon."
Margon touched the child's cheek thinking of Myrax. "Did you finish the required prayers at the Temple of Ob?"
"Yes," Marc replied impatiently. The boy looked perplexed. "I left the Plains of Kale before you. Why is it that you are faster than I?"
Margon laughed and tousled the boy's hair. "Have you ever considered that I am greater than you in many things? Such as the number of seasons of Ao I have enjoyed? Remember, my son, that I have seen three thousand seasons of Ao to your eight."
Marc, satisfied, looked over at the urn. He asked, "Do you think she would like where I put the urn?"
Margon gazed at the urn in sadness wondering why she had given up life like she had. It had been so mysterious. Finally, he whispered, "She would be very pleased, my son." Margon looked into Marc's eyes. "She used to call your eyes pools of blue...Marc...she is with Ao now. I... will take another...mate...in two risings of the sun."
"I will have another mother?"
"Yes, little one, you will love her as if she were your own."
Marc twisted free from Margon's stare. "No!"
Margon sighed and turned away. "Not all in one cycle, my son. I need not explain that custom and traditions demand I take another mate immediately."
"I don't understand." Marc looked down at his feet. "I won't love her. She is not my mother."
"What would Myrax say?" Margon asked in a whisper.
Marc, mist in his eyes, repeated what his mother had told him so many seasons, "'My precious little one, follow Kale and her ways and love will seek you all your life. Ao will not leave you, my love.'"
Whispering sounds...Margon, towering over the child, cast a flickering shadow across the boy's downcast face. "Memories are so precious; teachings are to be heeded."
"I do not know how, father," cried Marc falling into his father's arms.
"Give Kale a chance to work its wonders. Let Kale flow into the lakes and ocean. In season, my son, all things pass..." Margon placed his hand on the slender shoulder. The hand became blurred, then was gone. Murmuring...a rustling ever so gentle as to be sheer silence...
Marc dried his tears walking around the inside perimeter of the dome. He gazed at the moonlit landscape through the now transparent dome. The dome reflected the child's mood. Outside the wind was whipping at the treetops. The clouds were racing faster. The light within the dome flickered faster and faster. The light, its dimness was comforting. Marc melted into the darkness and appeared outside the dome in the rain-fragranced air. He breathed deeply. The wind moved slower, dying now.
Marc sensed the dark form lurking in the trees. He followed the figure as it moved off into the lingering breeze. In his mind he saw it drink from the river. He sensed the peace within the creature. The night took its course.
The sun slowly came up over the distant mountains gentled with age, the ancient Mountains of Ao. The light for an instant came through the dome, but afterwards reflected most of it away. Marc reappeared among the dewed grass and waited for his father.
Shimmering image...Margon appeared smiling, "How were the moons of Kale, my son?"
"I was with the trees. It was nice to watch without being observed."
"I must attend an emergency meeting of the Council today. Be here at the rise of the moons. I am planning to visit kin."
"Yes, father." Margon went his way into the morning air. Marc frowned. A strange sensation sent shivers through his body. He shook his head and became a gentle breeze.
Another reflection was added to that of the panther's when Marc appeared beside the stream. The panther, startled, whirled about, but relaxed when he saw who it was. "Give me warning next time."
Marc laughed as he petted the panther, "I sensed last night that you were longing for a female, Panther. Does that mean you want to leave me, too?"
Panther, not realizing the intent of the question, replied in a joking manner, "If you don't stop sneaking up on me, I will consider it."
They walked with the flow of the stream as a breeze was born. The sunlight appeared as many pinpoints of light underneath the oaks. Marc asked, "Did you like my mother?"
"She was a fine female of your race, but I never trusted any creature with blue eyes. I suppose, when I meet her with Ao we will argue like before."
Marc stopped. "Panther, I have blue eyes?"
Panther with humor sparkling from his eyes replied, "There is a difference, you see. You and I were raised together from our beginning."
Marc frowned. He still did not see how blue eyes justified the quarrels Panther and his mother had. "Were you sorry she went to Ao, my panther?" he asked as he ran to catch up with his cub-mate.
"No. How can any creature be sorry that any other creature has finally met Ao? This world, our home, is a wonderful place but is not the dwelling we are promised in the Greater Dwelling of Ao. I am sure all twenty-six families of Kale would agree."
"I wish she had not gone to Ao. Then my father wouldn't take another mate." Marc picked up a stone and threw it across the surface of a little pool fed by the stream.
"I understand the custom. If it were not so, your kind would die out. Besides, Kale will heal the wounds, and you will go to your father's mate and accept her as your mother."
"No!" Marc stated defiantly.
The panther raised its head to see the boy. "We will see, my cub-mate. We will see..."
The trees started to thin out. Marc sensed how tense the panther was. Every muscle taut, the panther stared intently at a nearby object. At the instant the panther moved, Marc saw the deer. Before Marc could protest, the panther was upon the deer. There was a brief struggle. The deer lay limp with eyes open. The panther sniffed at its prey and circled the meat with pleasure.
Marc, trembling, shouted, "Why did you have to kill!"
"Marc, I am not like you. You do not have to eat. I must hunt to live. I need meat."
"Why can't you eat plants?"
"I could not live as Ao intended." The panther entered the carcass, tugging and pulling at the warm meat.
"Do you know that the deer you killed had as much intelligence as you?"
"Yes, Marc. It is the way of Ao. Ao has set the balance and the natural way for all of us, even you."
"I cannot understand killing, even if Ao says it is right and natural," Marc said and vanished.
The panther stared into space for a while thinking; then returned to its prey. The carcass would suffice for several moons, if he could keep the jackals and the like away.
Abmar held his heart feverish with fear. The second part of this Prophecy was about to play out. There would be no stopping it, but his heart also ached for his family of Mar. Especially the infant child called Marc...
Margon, as Patriarch of the Family of Mar, was attending the special meeting of the Council of Kale, the ruling body of the planet and advisor to the Commonwealth Imperial Senate. Kamen, the Patriarch of the Family of Kos, was speaking to the council. "...Our reports are correct, I assure you. An unprovoked attack by the Srau that..."
At that instant Marc appeared and ran to his father...The Ky, Borth, smiled and raised his wrinkled hand. "The Council shall pause so that a little one's troubles may be heard by his father."
Marc cried softly in his father's lap as Margon put his arms around him. "What is wrong, my precious one?"
"Panther killed a deer. It was horrible. Yet he says Ao made it right and natural that he kills to live."
Margon lifted the downcast face and wiped the tears away. "Young one, it will take many seasons to comprehend all the ways of Ao. A long period ago when the animals had no intelligence, this was the way of Ao. Ao does not change. So now after eons the animals think and reason, but still must survive as Ao has taught them. Now go and tell Panther that you are still his cub-mate after all that has happened. Ao has left you two with a love for each other as it was ordained to be."
Borth got up slowly as his robes settled into place. He put his hand, brown-spotted with great age, gently upon the smooth skin of the boy. "Little one, just as you do not understand killing, Panther cannot understand why it upsets you so much. To him it is the natural order of things. Go back and explain why killing any living creature upsets you. Then tell him that now you understand or that you are trying to. Tell him not to kill again in your presence. That should solve your little problem, young child of Mar." Borth smiled upon the child feeling at peace as never before. He bent down slowly to peer into the child's deep blue eyes.
"Thank you, my Ky," Marc said as he kissed the old one on the cheek. Marc became air and went in search of Panther.
The council chamber became quiet as Borth continued to kneel in the same spot. He stared off into space, his face aglow. Members began to rise in puzzlement. Alarm spread through the group as they realized how pale and transparent the Ky was becoming. Borth smiled as he looked around the chamber at each Patriarch with love. He whispered, "The problems of little ones, you know, are the most important matters to be considered. Even above matters of the Imperium. Remember, my brothers, the Oath of the Ky? The last lines say that the Bringer of the Revelation is the Ky after me..." Borth's breath became labored. His figure became shadowy.
Margon, shocked, "Ky! It cannot be. You can't-"
The voice of the wind came from Borth's mind. "What is, will be, and Ao has ordained me a happiness. I shall pass to you, my brethren, this last legacy. A child and a panther. I give you Marc of Mar, Ky of Kale, Protector to the Commonwealth Imperium..." Borth raised both hands in a sign of peace and freedom as he joined Ao forever.
Margon stared at the others in grief. "I have lost a son..."
On the Plains of Mar Marc petted the panther. They walked along the stream. The panther found the shade of a tree and the softness of the grass. There Panther and Marc fell asleep against each other.
Marc woke up to grief once again. This was the first season he had ever slept in his life. And now upon waking, he heard the call of his father's mind. Marc appeared before his father in the dome's cool dimness.
"Borth has left us, my child."
"Who brought the revelation?" It was all ritual. Tears brimmed on the boy's eyes. He knew! He knew...
"My beloved Ky."
Marc backed off in terror. "No!" Marc disappeared. Margon probed and probed, but Marc had gone farther than Margon could call.
Abmar stared at the vapors rising off the geothermal pool. He could feel the long trek that the child of Mar made across the galaxy. The priest wanted to help but couldn't. The Prophecies wouldn't let anyone interfere. He could only watch as tears fell from his face.
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Publication date: December 1997
Author: L. E. Shaffer
Artist: Tony Spaar
Company: Shaffer Novels/Poetry Company
COPYRIGHT 1997 - 2007, 2008 L. E. Shaffer
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WORLDWIDE
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
FIRST PRINTING; ELECTRONIC AND PRINT MEDIA
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