By midsummer in the year 4866, Drasnia had been largely
depopulated – except for the few refugees hiding out in the fens.
One escape column trekked north into Morindland and eventually
reached Cherek. Thousands of Drasnian refugees were taken by ship
from Kotu to other lands lying to the north and west, and the crack
regiments of the Drasnian army who’d been assigned the impossible
task of defending their homeland were literally driven onto Cherek
vessels and freighted to the mouth of the Aldur River and forced
to march south to the Stronghold. King Rhodar had desperately
wanted to mount a defense of Boktor, but father had dragged him
to Kotu and forced him to board King Eldrig’s war-boat. I don’t
think Rhodar ever trusted my father after that.
Once he had absolute control of Drasnia, Torak paused to regroup
and to give the reinforcements still streaming across the land bridge
time to catch up to him.
Let’s clarify something here. Torak himself is no military genius.
Back during the War of the Gods when he was actually making the
decisions, he made so many mistakes that it’s a wonder that his
Angaraks didn’t become extinct. The Dragon-God has an almost
Arendish fondness for the mass frontal assault and the last stand.
The overall Angarak strategy in the forty-ninth century came from
Zedar, not Torak. Uncle Beldin has deduced – correctly, I believe
that when Torak sent Urvon to Mal Yaska and Ctuchik to Rak Cthol,
he sent Zedar to Mal Zeth to work behind the scenes. Zedar was
probably the shrewdest of Torak’s disciples, and the generals at Mal
Zeth gave him an excellent education in tactics and strategy. Torak’s
heavy-handedness was still much in evidence, but most of the
subtlety of the Angarak invasion of the west can be attributed to my
father’s apostate brother.
After Drasnia had been crushed, the Alorn Council, joined by
King Ormik of Sendaria, met at Riva for an emergency session.
Before our meetings began, however, I went through the bleak
hallways of the Citadel to have a word with the Rivan Warder. There
were several things I wanted him to understand.
Most kings select towers for their place of study, probably because
Eminence’ suggests elevation. Brand – all of the Brands – have been
modest, self-effacing men who know that they’re caretakers more
than rulers. Brand’s study was buried deep inside the Citadel, and
there were several meeting-rooms nearby where he could conduct
the actual day-to-day business of running the Isle. At least that
way he didn’t have to climb several flights of stairs to get to his
desk.
very tall, and his shoulders were huge. He held a chair for me, and
I sat down. Then he resumed his own seat. ‘What can I do for you,
my Lady?’
,you can start by dropping all the formality, Brand,’ I replied.
‘We’re too busy for that.’
He smiled. ‘Bad habits are hard to break, Pol,’ he apologized.
‘I’ve noticed. You’re a very polite and civilized man, Brand, so
all your instincts are going to command you to defer to Eldrig. He’s
older, and he’s the king of the original Alorn nation. I know that
it’s always been the custom to let the King of Cherek take the lead
in the meetings of the Alorn Council, but this time we’re going to
set that custom aside. In this particular situation, you outrank the
King of Cherek.’
‘I don’t wear a crown, Pol,’ he pointed out. ‘Rhodar outranks me,
and he doesn’t even have a kingdom anymore.’
‘You’re going to be the Child of Light, Brand. That means that
you outrank everybody. I’m not talking about bowing and sitting
down first or any of that other nonsense. I’m talking about
command. I know that you’re diplomatic enough not to offend Eldrig,
but let’s get your position established right at the outset. The time’s
going to come when you’ll be getting instructions from something
far more significant than any earthly king. You’re going to be the
instrument of the Purpose of the Universe. You’ll be issuing some
orders that’ll come from the Purpose, and we don’t want Eldrig to
start countermanding your orders. Let’s get him into the habit of
obedience right at the outset. I’ve been involved in enough wars to
know that command has to come from one source. You can’t run a
military operation with a committee.’
‘Just exactly what’s involved in this “Child of Light” business?
I’m not too well-versed in theology.’
‘The Universe came into being with a Purpose, Brand.’
‘Yes, I understand that part. The Gods created it.’
‘no. You’ve got that part backwards. The Universe came first,
and then the Gods.’
‘The priests of Belar don’t agree with that.’
‘Naturally not. UL might have come into existence at the same
time as the Universe, but nothing pre-dated it.’ I paused. ‘That’s a
Personal belief of mine, Brand, so it’s open to argument. It’s beside
the Point, though.’
‘Who’s UL?’
‘The God of the Ulgos. He’s the father of the other Gods.’
Brand’s eyes grew wide, and he swallowed hard.
‘We’re getting away from the subject here. The Universe came
into being with a Purpose. Then there was a cosmic accident – a
star exploded in a place where it wasn’t supposed to – and the
Purpose was divided. Those two Purposes have been fighting with
each other ever since. That’s an oversimplification, of course, but
you get the point, I’m sure.’
‘I’ve seen lots of family squabbles, Pol.’
‘I guess it is sort of like a family squabble at that. Anyway, these
two Purposes can’t meet directly. The whole Universe would
explode if they did, so they have to work through surrogates.’
‘The Child of Light and the Child of Dark?’
‘Exactly. Every now and then these two meet – usually for a very
short period of time – about a half-second, actually.’
‘You can’t have much of a duel in a half-a-second, Pol.’
‘Stop thinking of it as a duel, Brand. That’s not what it is.’
‘That’s a relief. Torak’s the Child of Dark, isn’t he?’
‘Usually, yes.’
‘A man wouldn’t have much chance in a duel with a God, would
he?’
‘That depends on the man. Since this meeting’s going to take place
during a war, there probably will be a duel – or at least the
appearance of a duel. You and Torak will bang your swords off each other
for a while, but the EVENT won’t have anything to do with that.’
‘EVENT?’
‘A word we use to describe these meetings. It’s sort of like an
abbreviation. Don’t get carried away with the fact that Torak’s a
God and you aren’t. That has nothing to do with what’s going to
happen.’
‘What is going to happen, Pol?’
‘You’re going to make a choice.’
‘A choice? That’s all? What are the options?’
‘We don’t know. You will when the time comes, though. Father
was the Child of Light once – when he and Bear-shoulders were on
the way to Cthol Mishrak. Zedar was the Child of Dark that time,
and when they met, father chose not to kill Zedar. As it turned out,
that was the right choice.’
‘What if I choose wrong when the time comes?’
I shrugged. ‘We’ll lose.’
‘Pol!’ his protest was anguished.
I laid my hand on his. I liked this man. ‘Don’t worry, Brand. You
won’t be permitted to make the wrong choice.’
‘Then we’ll win?’
‘That’s not certain either. Torak also has to choose. His choice may
be better than yours. The two Purposes are very evenly matched.
Sometimes one wins, and sometimes the other does.’
‘Then I’m not going to be anything but the voice of this Purpose?.
It makes the choice, and I announce it?’
‘No dear one. You make the choice.’
‘I wish I were dead,’ he said glumly.
‘That’s not one of the choices available to you, Brand. At this
point, I don’t even think you could kill yourself. Like it or not, you
are going to meet Torak in Arendia, and you are going to make a
choice.’
‘What if I refuse to make a choice?’
‘That’s also a choice, Brand. You can’t get out of this. Now, stop
worrying about the fact that Torak’s a God and you aren’t. That
doesn’t make the slightest bit of difference. You’ll be equals when
the two of you meet. That’s all the rank you need. Father and I’ll
explain this to the others, so there won’t be any arguments. You
will be in command.’ I paused. ‘We’ll put it to the other kings rather
gently,’.I continued, ‘so I don’t think you’ll need to beat Eldrig over
the head with it. A casual announcement that you’re the Purpose
of the Universe might make him start questioning your sanity.’
‘I’m already questioning it, Pol,’ he admitted. ‘Is this conversation
really happening, or am I just imagining it?’
I unfastened a brooch from the neck of my gown and quite