CHAPTER 7 : OF AGES GONE BY
"Hello, Father" said Aphrael.
"Aphrael." Sparhawk rose groggily to his feet. "Flute". He held out his hand, and there it was, his sword, shining as black as his Pandion armour. "Daughter" he breathed, energy rushing into his limbs. And it felt right.
And with that word, and all the love it entailed, the child Goddess grew brighter than ever, seeming to grow in stature. Like a wildfire, she consumed the sickly fog in her divine light. A warbling scream of impotent rage came from it and for a moment, the fog seemed to fight back, to expand, and from within its depths stretched out a pale limb, its fingers reaching towards the shining figure.
Aphrael faltered, her light dimming. As the miasma reached even more towards her, she screamed, her voice that of a little girl, shrill with fright "Father!" And deep within himself Sparhawk felt something. Something indescribable. It began in his chest and seemed to swell until it seemed his frame would burst.
With a roar of rage, it burst forth, an energy blue as the wide open sky and cold as ice. Rising like a great tidal wave, it crashed down on the fog, burning it away like so much dry tinder. And it revealed a pitiful figure. Tiny, like a dwarf, swaddled in clothes of greasy wrongness, it hissed as Aphrael's light once more flared and tried to slither away.
Sparhawk was having none of that. With ominous, resounding steps, he strode forward to the creature that dared raise its hand against the Child Goddess, and lifting his sword, now coated in that same blue energy, he brought it down stabbing it through its pitiful head. And it let out a final wail that had Sparhawk clapping his hands to his ears, before being burnt down to ashes.
Picking up his sword, he sheathed it and turned to face the child Goddess. She was dressed in a plain Styric smock of homespun wool, her dark hair floating around her as she grinned down at him from her floating heights. And then just as suddenly, her light faded and she collapsed, falling to the ground.
In a feat of athleticism, Sparhawk lunged forward, armour and all, and managed to catch the falling child before she hit the ground. Clasping her to his breast, or breast plate rather, he murmured "I'm here. I'm here" as she stirred weakly.
"Father" she said, her voice a weak whisper, "It stinks" and she tapped his armour. "I'm tempted to drop you" he said, eyes suddenly filling with tears. Nevertheless, he wished his armour to vanish and so it did, and she snuggled up closer and promptly fell asleep.
And so Sparhawk sat there with the sleeping Goddess in his arms for he knew not how long. His arms did not grow tired and he felt rather disappointed when she finally woke up with a great big yawn and slid to the ground.
"Well, Sparhawk, you called?" she asked.
He stood there dumbly.
She sighed. "Elenes" she muttered, rolling her eyes. Then she focused her gaze on him once more, an immeasurable fondness warring with astonishment and curiosity shining from within them.
"But that is precisely the question, is it not father?"
"Why do you call me that?" he asked.
"Father? Are you not my father, Sparhawk? Am I not Danae, daughter of Ehlana?"
Sparhawk recalled the visions. And knew them to be true.
"Where am I Aph...Danae? What was that, just now?"
The name seemed to trigger something deep within her and she glowed. "Don not concern yourself with it, father. It was but a parasite, now taken care of." Sparhawk doubted that. It had been powerful enough to give him a run for his money. But..." and her face turned wistful "How long it has been since I have heard that name, father!"
"What do you mean?" he asked, confusion seeping into his voice, "Just a few hours ago, I destroyed the Bhelliom so Azash could not lay his hands on it."
She looked at him strangely and as though the last few moments had not passed between them, once again said, "Elenes. That is the mystery here, is it not?"
Sparhawk was not amused. "Danae. Aphrael. What is going on here?"
"Elenes, father, have not been around for a very long time. Particularly you." she said, elaborating no further.
Sparhawk felt his confusion grow. What did she mean 'not around for a very long time?' How could the Elene race just disappear? And more importantly, where was he then.
The little girl seemed to read his mind. "The question, I believe, father, is when are you?"
He stared dumbfounded.
"In the first year of Queen Ehlana's rule," began the child Goddess, "after the tyrant Annias had been deposed, the Prince Consort and the Champion of the Pandion Knights went forth with his companions, each a champion of his order to vanquish the evil God Azash and put an end to the threat of Otha and his Zemoch's forever. In this venture, they had the help of the mysterious artifact, the Bhelliom, it's power said to rival the Gods themselves. After many a travail, Sparhawk and his companions reached the foul city of Zemoch. None knew what transpired there, but sources say that the noble Sir Sparhawk, after sending away his companions, destroyed Bhelliom, blowing up Azash, Zemoch and himself in the process. Nary a trace of the three could be found after the cataclysm, but the site of Zemoch forever more glowed in an eerie blue light."
Sparhawk relaxed a bit. "So I did destroy Azash" he breathed in relief.
"The Queen remained steeped in sorrow over the death of her beloved, and some wicked nobles plotted to take the crown while the head that bore it was still clouded, but they were mistaken, for her resolve was as steel and those who tested her soon found themselves tasting its sharp edge. Once the traitors had been put to rest, colour erupted in the grey landscape of Elenia, for it was found that Queen Ehlana was with child, the Knight Sparhawk having sowed the seeds before his journey."
Sparhawk coloured a bit at that.
"Then was born the greatest ruler that the known world had ever borne witness to, the Princess Danae, Queen after her mother. Under her auspices, her Kingdom grew in power and wealth and soon all the kingdoms paid homage to this Queen of Queens, for none could hope to match her in beauty, wits or statesmanship. But she spurned the advances of the powerful monarchs and instead took for her husband a Pandion Knight, Sir Talen, much like her mother had before her. And under their rule, the Kingdom of Elenia and indeed the Eosian continent itself reached its zenith. The people of Elenia worshipped their Queen as a God, and there were rumors that she was indeed divine, something that caused the Church no end of grief."
Taking a breath, she continued, "But the good times were not to last. From the Daresian continent blew winds of strife, strife in the name of Cyrgon, a God long thought dead, and his anachronistic people, the Cyrgai. In a scene out of nightmares, the Cyrgai had appeared out of the blue and laid waste to Daresia. The Atans, the vaunted military arm of the Daresians, found themselves defeated before this supernatural threat. And the vile God and his creatures marched on Eosia."
"As they had centuries past, during the first invasion of Otha, the concerted might of the church knights and the armies of the monarchs of Eosia marched to meet them and they met on the blasted plain of Zemoch. A great battle ensued. Men fought and died. Magic lit up the night and rent the very air. But the Cyrgai and their supernatural allies seemed to be gaining the upper hand. And when it seemed that the Eosian forces would be overwhelmed, the queen of Elenia rode into the battlefield, bathed in a blue nimbus. And from the enemy lines, rode in a giant of a man wreathed in red flame and those who gazed upon him could not help but know him as Cyrgon, the God. On that battlefield, the claims that the queen of Elenia was indeed a God were tested and they held. The Queen beat back the God and he fled in impotent fury.
The tired forces of the Eosian continent cheered, but their joy was premature, for as the God fled, a red light sprang from his body and rushed at the God-queen. In response, the blue nimbus surrounding the queen took on a life of its own and rushed to meet it, solidifying into an amorphous shape. The energies released as these two forces, that we would later learn were Bhelliom and Klael, the eternal enemy of the World-maker, tore the field asunder and wiped out every soul on that battlefield and laid the Earth barren. Cities were leveled by the great quake that followed and the sea rose up in a great fury and swallowed up the lands near the shore. The great civilizations of Eosia and Daresia devolved into nomad tribes in the apocalypse. And then a great ice gripped the land as she strove to heal herself. People struggled to survive and all knowledge of the past was lost in the stark fight for life. When the ice finally thawed after centuries and man kind crawled out of their caves, the only ones who remembered the golden ages of the past were the Gods themselves, and soon enough, they faded into obscurity."
Sparhawk was silent. How could one respond to what he had just been told?
"I am Aphrael, the Child Goddess, and I am Danae, the God-Queen of the Elenians. I was asleep for so long, but you have brought me into this world once again, Father, as you did millenia past. And I don't know how you'll take this, but I sense your Elene God is still around"
The abrupt change in subject matter and the earth shattering revelation that came with it temporarily put Sparhawk's brain out of commission. He vaguely felt himself sit down.
An impish face came into view, filling his field of vision. "Father? Father?"
He raised his head, eyes unfocused.
"I too have no idea how the old bore survived, but I can feel him, clear and strong."
He desperately tried to clear his head to little success and asked the first thing that came to mind. "How come I can't feel him, then?"
"Oh Father" and he could feel the absolute delight in her voice, "You're mine, now."
A/N : Well, that wasn't a complete summary, but I hope it suffices. If you're curious about Sparhawk, you can read David Eddings wonderful fantasy series, The Elenium. Sorry for the delay. irl troubles.
