EPILOGUE

THE BEGINNING OF THINGS

Surely, much had passed.

Schala looked out the window, to where the westering sun was setting. The light would be failing soon, and she placed a small oil lamp on the table. With a sweep of her hands a flame sparked to life, and the light filled the room. Drawing up a quill, she dipped it in the ink and drew characters upon a page of parchment:

Es madin ar ainana Dielo aith sol elth, madinad saio,

Lavos is now perished, and the world is free of one great curse. Yet the wise might see that others shall arise in his place, and indeed others there were long before his coming. Look to our own hearts, and we will see that perhaps therein lies the first and last of all the evil in this world. But all evil things, from greatest to least, are destined to fall: already they are vanquished, from now till eternity, and what we see are but the dying embers of a fire of woe, whose sparks strike up now and again to kindle a passing blaze. And even so this spark has passed, as must all. Some might call this the end of a tale, yet it is in truth but the end of a chapter of the book of Mankind; and that is but one among many in a library vast beyond measure. And the Keeper knows all that is contained therein, and writes the beginning and end to every tale, and so at needs all that passes beneath His watch must, in the fullness of time, be found to be good. Perhaps it will be tomorrow, or not till the end of the ages, but you may be assured of it. Remember this, Serge, and be comforted until our next meeting, God willing.

Ever your friend, dearest and beloved,

Lady Schala of Zeal

With a bead of wax she sealed it in an envelope, and trusted it away to a corner of the desk, where lay many such letters. Janus glanced lightly over her shoulder, seeing the what she had written even as she sealed it away.

"You write as if things had not finished, Schala?" he asked with the trace of a smile, for many things now lay clear before him, and he needed not have asked.

"Yes," she answered as it was, "for as you have said: this is not the end of all things, but of only one tale, a thread of ever-living fate. What mortal may say where we now stand? For all our traversing of time, we are none the wiser. Still, for the most part, our minds look back upon the past with memory, but we do not know the truth of the end. And so, seeing only beginning, we can do naught but measure our place from the past, and by how far we have come; but how is before us? And where stand we now on that line?"

"Ah, that is an eternal question, and it shall not be answered until the last day," Janus said, taking a fleeting glance into his own mind. "It is a strange thought. A marvel and mystery that will stand elusive nigh on forever."

"Indeed! Indeed, it is!" Schala continued with a light laugh, but then sombred again. "For we cannot know in what age it is that we live. Are we now standing at the end of all days, after which this world and our race will pass into nothingness?"

"Somehow I do not think so, for this seems to me more like to a beginning than an end," Janus said knowingly.

"But where, then, are we?" Schala replied. "Are we the middle-born of the children of this world, having ages behind us, and eons yet to come? Or are we perhaps only at the start of all things, long though the ages past seem to us now? Ah, it may even be that all we have endured, the trials of war and evil, are but the birth pains of our race ere we are full born. Can it then be that we shall some day be regarded as the eldest of ancient peoples, and be spoken of in myths, to which people will say: 'surely they are but legends, and never truly lived'? If it is the will of fate that our race should endure for the ages to come, then that may indeed be our lot, strange though it seem to us now. Then perhaps dangers far darker than Lavos, deeds mightier than any we have yet wrought, and works more wondrous than any before conceived lie yet in the future. And we have but set the path, taken the first steps for all that shall follow in after times."

"But forgotten, as it is," Janus said.

"Ah, most certainly. To be forgotten is the fate of all. I deem that even the great evil of Lavos will one day become shrouded in legend, even as so much of what came before us is scarce remembered. Yet who among men knows what the future holds? The best of all may be yet to come. And perhaps, God willing, some day we too, as Lavos did, will tread amongst the stars. And when that day comes, can we guard ourselves against the arrogant folly that took him? Will we think ourselves lords and go forth as mighty conquerors, or remember our place and journey as explorers of His vast creation, in humility and wonder?"

"That, as you have said, the future shall tell," Janus answered, "and I should pray that is the second else, as the folly of Lavos has shown us, we will only be doomed to ruin. But peace, sister, that will come as it may. Only the One who knows and is all endings and beginnings can understand such things. I deem that all that has been done this far is but the first page of a tale long beyond reckoning."

"Let us hope so, brother," Schala replied with a smile. "And let us hope that the end is every bit as wondrous as the beginning."

(Last Edited October 17, 2004)