Gemmell, David – Lion of Macedon 01

The warrior prepared a fire and left Derae sitting before it, her thoughts distant, her spirit eyes watching the dancing flames.

‘I need help,’ she whispered. ‘Where are you, Tamis?’

The fire surged to life, the flames dancing high, twirling in on themselves to form a woman’s face. Derae lifted her hands, soft light spilling from her fingers and surrounding her with a shield of brightness.

‘You do not need protection against me,’ said the face in the fire. ‘And you can no longer call upon Tamis. I am Cassandra.’

The face became more solid, framed by hair of flickering flames. Warily Derae let the spell of protection fall.

‘You are the Trojan priestess?’

‘Once upon a distant day,’ answered Cassandra, ‘I warned Tamis of her folly. But she did not listen. When Parmenion sired the Dark God, Tamis was filled with despair. Her soul is far from us now, broken like crystal, fragmented like the moon on water.’

‘Can you help her?’

‘No. Though all others forgive her, she cannot forgive herself. Perhaps in time she will return to the Light. For myself I doubt it. But what of you, young Spartan? How can I help you?’

‘Tell me how to fight the evil that is coming?’

‘My gift in life – if a gift it can be called – was to speak the

truth and never to be believed. That was hard, Derae. But I obeyed the Source in all things. Tamis was corrupted by pride. She believed she alone was the instrument to bring down Kadmilos. Pride is not a gift of the Source. In teaching you the ways of the Mysteries, Tamis instilled in you a sense of that same pride. My advice is to do nothing. Continue to heal, to work with those in pain, to love much.’

‘I cannot do that,’ Derae admitted. ‘I was as much to blame as Tamis. I must at least try to make it right.’

‘I know,’ said Cassandra sadly. ‘Then use your mind. You have seen Aida and her wickedness. Do you not think she also has seen you? If she is prepared to destroy a Persian child, will she not – even more powerfully – seek to destroy you?’

‘She and I have met twice,’ said Derae. ‘She has not the power to overcome me.’

‘There speaks pride,’ answered the face in the fire. ‘But Aida has many servants and can call upon spirits, demons if you will. They have the power. Believe that, Derae!’

The fear returned and Derae felt the cold breeze from the curtained window behind her. ‘What can I do?’ she whispered.

‘All that a human can do. Fight and pray, pray and fight. Yet if you fight, Aida wins, for to fight successfully you must kill, and in killing there is the joy of the Dark, touching, corrupting, changing.’

‘Then I should let her kill me?’

‘That is not what I am saying. The battle between Light and Dark is not without complexity. Follow your instincts, Derae. But I advised you to use your mind. Think of what Aida must do in order for her dream to be fulfilled. There is one great enemy she must kill.’

‘Parmenion?’

‘There speaks the voice of love,’ said Cassandra. ‘Not Parmenion. Who is the great enemy, Derae?’

‘I don’t know. How many men and women are in the world? How can I see them all, follow all their futures?’

‘Think of a fortress, with high walls. Impregnable. Where would the enemy most wish to be?’

‘Inside,’ answered Derae.

‘Yes,’ Cassandra agreed. ‘Now use your mind.’

‘The child!’ whispered Derae.

‘The golden child,’ Cassandra confirmed. ‘Two souls in one body, the Dark and the Light. As long as the spirit of the child lives, Kadmilos can never truly conquer. There is a bird, Derae, that builds no nest. It lays its egg in the nest of another, alongside other eggs. When it hatches it is larger than the other chicks, and one by one it pushes them from the nest to fall to their deaths on the ground below. It does this until it is the only survivor.’

‘And Kadmilos will push out the child’s soul? Where will it go? How can I protect it?’