After many long words
With Remoor the First and Thurn,
Taxiss agreed that it was he
Who should take the message
For peace
To the Irro.

So,
Remoor sent word
Into the wild that
Counsel would take place
Between Taxiss and Bandur,
The head of the Irro,
Near the edge of the Shanklands.

When the time was right and
Etu was high in the sky,
Taxiss stepped into the clearing
And saw the lone creature
Awaiting his arrival.

Bandur of the Irro
Met Taxiss, the Hirogen,
On the border of the Shanklands.

'As you well know,
The Irro have nothing
To say to you
Or your Brethren,'
Bandur said.

Trying to appear at ease
For his own sake
And for Bandur,
Taxiss sat upon a rock.

'I would still
Have words with you, Bandur,'
He said.
'If we do not,
You and your kind
May face a doom
Greater than that which befell the K'rta.'

Bandur reared its head,
Its six limbs clutching
The soil
Under their nails.
'A fate crueler than the K'rta?'
It asked,
The fur on its neck quivering.
'What trickery is this, Taxiss?
Do you jest for only my ears?
As Etu rises in the sky,
The K'rta are no more, and
As Etu rests on the ground,
The Hirogen are to blame.
Still,
You would call me into counsel
With the threat of a greater evil?
I can only laugh as I ask
What greater evil there may be
Than the death of an entire kind?'

'You are wise, Bandur,'
Taxiss reasoned,
As he had shown the skill.
'In truth,
There can be only
One greater evil, and that,
My wise friend,
Would be the death of Etutheria,
Herself.'

Bundar raised his head,
The mane of his strong neck
Trembling even greater
Than before.

'You think me a rock!'
It shouted.
'You think me the lifeless stone
If you expect I would believe the words
Of the betraying Hirogen!
Your Brethren are mighty, but
You are not mightier than a world itself!'

'Bandur,
You are wrong in thinking
That the Hirogen feel
Less of you
Than we do of ourselves
Or for our world,'
Taxiss said,
Showing his open hand
To the Irro
As a sign of kinship.
'Remoor the First was of the same blood, and
I am of the Blood of Remoor,
Meaning that you and the First
Are bound.
So am I bound to you.
Still,
There is a greater evil,
One the Cruel Fates have
Set for Etutheria.'

'What is worse than
The death of a kind?'

'The death of Etutheria,'
Taxiss said again.
'If Etutheria were to die,
Then all of us would follow.
But,
It is not the Hirogen
Who would make this happen.
It is no less than Gratta,
He Who Governs.'

The Irro clutched the ground, and
Taxiss opened his second hand as a
Greater sign of kinship.

'Hear me,
Gracious Bandur,
And then I will let you
And your kind
Reason for yourselves,'
Taxiss insisted.
'You know Remoor.
Indeed,
The First tells me that you were present
On his Birthing Day.
That would mean that you,
The Irro,
Know him far long than I,
Know him far better than I,
Know him far greater than I.
Think with your blood,
Gracious Bandur,
Not with your mind!
Would Remoor have willingly
Hunted the K'rta to death?
Would Remoor have willingly
Slain those who were his first brethren?
That which I know of him
Tells me that it could not happen,
It would not happen.
As the First has spoken plain
To me and to Thurn, the Mighty,
He was given no other choice
But to commit the deed.
It was Gratta's command.
If Remoor failed or if Remoor refused,
He Who Governs
Would have demanded even greater
Sacrifices from Etutheria herself!'

The Irro eased his talons
From loving Etu's soil.

'And now?'
Bandur asked.

'Now,
He Who Governs would have
Remoor and the Brotherhood
Slay
Every last Irro as food,'
Taxiss said.

'Am I to be the first?'
Bandur asked.

Taxiss breathed,
Knowing that the
Fate of a world
Had been placed in his hands.

'You are to be the only,'
He reasoned,
As he had shown the skill.

'The only?'

'If you would have it so,
Remoor is willing to present Gratta,
He Who Governs,
With a single slain Irro,'
Taxiss said.

'The God will be incensed!'

'If the Cruel Fates agree,
There is little that Remoor
Or you
Or I
Or any of the kinds of Etutheria
Can do to stop Gratta,'
Taxiss said.
'Even now, I feel it in my blood.'

'Then why would I agree?'
Bandur asked.

'Remoor wishes it to be a challenge to Gratta,'
Taxiss explained.
'The weight that would come from the challenge
Would be mighty if the single slain creature were
A dead Bandur, leader of the Irro,
Brother to Remoor the First.
The weight of the challenge
Might sway He Who Governs to hear our reason.'

'If not?'
Bandur asked.

'In the words of Remoor,
So long as Gratta governs,
Etutheria will never be free,'
Taxiss said.
He looked around the plains
And deep into the Shanklands,
Wondering how such beauty could be
Lost
At the whim of an angry God.
'In the fire that is the galaxy,
Dousing the flame of a single star
Would mean nothing
Unless the Galaxy itself
Is willing to risk all stars,
Large and small,
In growing cold.
If you would be our star,
Gracious Bandur,
Etutheria may become its own galaxy.'