ECHOES OF THE GREAT SONG by David A. Gemmell

‘I will. But why have you changed your mind? What vision have you experienced?’

‘Ask me again when two moons appear in the night sky.’

Rael took that to mean Anu was unwilling to discuss his reasons. He considered the offer, and found that his mouth was dry. What the Holy One was suggesting was almost frightening. For it meant the rebirth of hope, and the consequent fear of despair.

‘How long will it take?’ he asked, knowing the answer would be in decades, and wondering how they could survive in the meantime.

‘Six months.’

The answer was a shock. Rael sighed. Was the old man senile after all? ‘You taught me mathematics, Anu. Now, if I remember correctly there were a million blocks in the White Pyramid

‘One million, one hundred and seventy thousand,’ the old man corrected him.

‘Very well. If I divide that number by the number of days in a year I find you will need to quarry, cut, move and place two thousand nine hundred blocks a day -blocks weighing more than thirty tons.’

‘Three thousand four hundred and twenty-two,’ said Anu. ‘That is why I need the chest.’

‘With a hundred chests you could not do it!’ snapped Rael. ‘You are limited by the speed of your workmen.’

‘Not at all,’ said Anu softly. ‘I am limited only by time. How long have you been here, Rael?’

‘Half an hour, perhaps a few minutes longer. Why?’

‘You arrived, as requested, at noon. Now you may draw the curtains.’

Rael strode across the room and dragged back the heavy velvet cloth. Beyond the window it was night, the stars bright in the sky. Rael blinked, stared at the pale moon, then swung back to the old man. ‘An illusion?’ he asked.

‘No. You have been here for ten hours. Time is also part of the Music, Rael. You are quite correct. Even by dismantling the four failed pyramids, and using some of their blocks it would take six hundred skilled workers more than twenty years to complete. We do not have twenty years. We have – at best – six months. I shall use the Music to make time dance for me. Here in this room I have slowed time. In the Valley of the Stone Lion I shall – with the power of the chest – increase it twentyfold.’

‘But you have done this here without crystals? It is hard to believe.’

‘The crystals merely enhance our powers. The true strength comes from within. That is the knowledge we have lost.’ He paused, and fixed Rael with a searching gaze. ‘Now, there is something else you will need to consider, Questor General – and it is a revolutionary thought.’

‘And that is?’

‘My six hundred workers.’

‘What about them?’

‘They will age at twenty times the normal rate. Many of them would not see out the year.’

‘I will find you more.’

Anu shook his head. ‘You do not understand, Rael. The timing is vital. Six months. Not a day more. I cannot achieve this if my workforce is ageing and dying around me. Every day that passes, within the Dance, they will become more skilful, increasing the speed of the project. This too has been used in my calculations. As has the slowing of the Dance every five of your days to allow three months’ supplies to be brought through to us.’

Realization struck Rael. ‘You think to use crystals on Vagars? By Heavens, man, the Council will never allow it.’

Then don’t tell them.’

‘I have no choice.’

‘It is a military decision, Rael. And that means it is yours to make alone.’

‘The pyramid is not a weapon, nor are we under attack.’

‘I do not lie, Rael. It is a military decision. As to the Vagars, they will not know they are crystal-fed. All they will be told is that we are using great magic. The men I hire will be told a part of the truth – that twenty years will pass in the Valley of the Stone Lion, while only two seasons will touch the world beyond. I will also promise them that, because of the magic, they will not age. And each man will receive a wage totalling thirty years of service. Each of them will be rich when he returns.’