‘Yes. Father makes it from fishbones and hide.’
‘First bind the hilt until the size feels comfortable. When curled around it your longest finger should just touch the flesh below your thumb. When you are satisfied, glue the strips into place.’
‘You did not answer me,’ she said.
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‘No,’ he replied. ‘Cut and bind the strips tonight. It will give the glue time to dry. I will see you in the morning.’ He rose and strode across the room.
‘Angel!’
His hand was on the door latch. ‘Yes.’
‘Sleep well.’
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4
Dardalion swung away from the window and faced the two priests standing before his desk.
‘The argument,’ he said, ‘is of intellectual interest only. It is of no real importance.’
‘How can that be, Father Abbot?’ asked Magnic. ‘Surely it is central to our beliefs?’
‘In this I must agree with my brother,’ put in the forked-bearded Vishna, his dark eyes staring unblinking at the Abbot. Dardalion beckoned them to be seated and leaned back in his wide leather chair. Magnic looked so young against Vishna, he thought, his pale face, soft-featured and unlined, his blond, unruly hair giving him the appearance of a youth some years from twenty. Vishna, tall and stern, his black forked beard carefully combed and oiled, looked old enough to be Magnic’s father. Yet both were barely twenty-four.
The debate is of worth only because it makes us consider the Source,’ said Dardalion at last. The pantheistic view that God exists in everything, every stone and every tree, is an interesting one. We believe the Universe was created by the Source in a single moment of blinding energy. From Nothing came Something. What could that Something be, save the body of the Source? That is the argument of the pantheists. Your view, Magnic, that the Source is separate from the world, and that only the Chaos Spirit rules here, is also widely held. The Source, in a terrible War against His own rebellious angels, sent them hurtling to the earth, there to rule, as He rules in Heaven. This argument makes Hell of our world. And I would agree that there is strong evidence to suggest that sometimes it is.
‘But in all these debates we are trying to imagine the unimaginable, and therein lies a great danger. The Source of All Things is beyond us. His actions are timeless, and so
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far above our understanding as to make them meaningless to us. Yet still we try to force our minds to comprehend. We struggle to encompass His greatness, to draw Him in and place Him in acceptable compartments. This leads to dispute and disruption, discord and disharmony. And these are the weapons of the Chaos Spirit.’ Dardalion rose and walked around the oak desk to stand beside the two priests, laying a hand on each of them. The important point is to know that He exists, and to trust His judgement. You see, you could both be right, and both be wrong. We are dealing here with the Cause of All Causes, the one great truth in a universe of lies. How can we judge? From what perspective? How does the ant perceive the elephant? All the ant sees is part of the foot. Is that the elephant? It is to the ant. Be patient. When the Day of Glory arrives all will be revealed. We will find the Source together – as we have planned.’
‘That day is not far off,’ said Vishna quietly.
‘Not far,’ agreed Dardalion. ‘How is the training progressing?’
‘We are strong,’ said Vishna, ‘but we have problems still with Ekodas.’
Dardalion nodded. ‘Send him to me this evening, after meditation.’
‘You will not talk him round, Father Abbot,’ ventured Magnic diffidently. ‘He will leave us rather than fight. He cannot overcome his cowardice.’
‘He is not a coward,’ said Dardalion, masking his annoyance. ‘I know this. I once walked the same road, believed the same dreams. Evil can sometimes be countered with love. Indeed, that is the best way. But sometimes evil must be faced with steel and a strong arm, yet do not call him a coward for holding to high ideals. It lessens you as much as it insults him.’