rable body of men at arms was taken along to act as a bodyguard

he gulf plains for a good distance, and were able to trav

ader urged his camel forward at the head of the long column. From now on, he was to act as their only guide, and they were to put their trust i

of locating the legendary Patriarch Noah. However, chance encounters with various refugees fleeing in the opposite direction later in the day, br

a record of it because it was felt that once they had decided which way to go, there would be no need of further mention of their predicament. Borla was reluctant to see the men

de. It was something of an eye-opener for Si'Wren to learn that her mighty Emperor could possibly be afraid of anything to

ado, announced to the men their intention of striking out across-country into an uncharted domain, in a forced-march across a profligate wilderness in which

hat with the unbelievable twisting of the various water courses and almost complete impassibility of various forms of terrain they had encountered so far, their journey had become a maze at which the most i

lands of a continuous jungle in which plants and animals grew in a great profusion s

h about the Invisible God. Si'Wren tried to instruct him as best she could using her clay tablets, portions of which she sometimes hastily backtracked and obliterate

of what the Patriarch Noah would have said weighed heavily upon her mind. As a result she was frequently plagued by hesitation and confus

rkness and the strange distant cries of unseen night creatures both great and small, she would pray fervently to Him in private, and finally slip away into sleep wonde

d, swathing the jungles of the hills and valleys in a gauzy white shroud, and she considered at length what the Invisible

to that surrounding them, in which the elusive refuge of Divine Tr

repast. She had extra clay tablets stacked beside her, with one in her lap, having just

t under his nose that Si'Wren's beauty was exceeding distracting to the men because of the way they could not help watching her while she consumed her food. He also alleged she was c

old, were they not all under enforced celibacy because they could not bring a

y their very nature the rottenness of character necessary for her to act in the manner she stood accused of. It was simply beneath her dignity, not to mention her calling. Besi

rn to his men, to her chagrin, he had commanded Si'Wr

ut henceforth she knew that she mus

Wren sat before Emperor Euphrates and inscribed in he

uide her, that the Invisible God was not the same thing as his creation, the world, and also that, although h

nless surface of any pond or wash basin of water, which was also, after a fashion, invisible. In the same manner that might one 'see' all things by looking obliquely at their

ed as he held low before her eyes the mirrored surface of

the wine. God was spirit. Wine was a spirit drink. This perplexed her deeply, for she wished not to blaspheme. Finally, after thinking it over int

Who can make an idol to represent water? Water flows like a living thing, and can bear no set sh

hed by the impossibility of selling idols of him, seemed to impress her Emperor beyond all measure. For he spent all of his day

the gathering dusk, and appeared deep in thoug

d attention, part of his mind was ever awander as he considered all things in his great kingdom. He had that look about him now.

on all the world, and cloaking symbolically with the gathering darkness it's all-encompassing evils as with some inscrutable divine forbearance. A f

e, while the fire crackled and snapped, warming her. Baski

nt and dutiful," sai

m expectantly, waiting respectfu

ent on. "You should let it out. You are a beautiful girl. You sho

when he smiled further encouragement, she bowed low, a

, she reached back with both hands, her countenance downcast in deep modesty,

ly across her shoulders and she was able to shake it out in a glossy refle

g of her braid and secretly gnawing a corner of her lip in unconscious self-doubt. First she was instructed to

es. He paused thoughtfully, before going on. "Is he not l

she finally wrote on her clay tablet, 'It is possible', and til

own Sun God?" asked Emperor Euphrates quickly, as if pounci

e Si'Wren, wit

the tablet towards herself, and wrote further upon it.

, all things are reflected, is the Creator of all things. But if H

e had read this. "Tell me, then, shall

turned her tablet to him and indicated, using her ivory writing stick a

line for a long moment, and f

ully to himself, a

etired to his tent for the night, while an honor guard of four spear

wn at her assortment of clay tablets as she thought

ch magnificent idols of wood, ivory, noble metals, and fine gemstones crafted by the gifted hands of talented men. They also had their ceremonies, their

rse that there was no one to ask, and she knew of no other living true believer in

f seemed charged, and deathly still. It made the men grumble uneasily

truck the ground just outside the camp, it's searing brilliance accompanied by an ear-s

entire camp scr

gain with their blinding stabs of jagged light. Si'Wren hid also, wondering as she cowered whether the Invisible God was angry with her for giving s

rkness. He had just reached a little hilltop, a mere rise in the land, when -still shouting madly and h

lready thoroughly spooked, and Borla gave orders that the precious, irreplaceable animals

reign land at first. Then a new form of thunder could be heard throughout the camp, the crack of whi

ld have passed the entire night in prayer to the Invisible God, had she not finally coll

s in some faces, the soldiers were about their appointed tasks almost as if nothing had happened. Si'Wren arose, and groomed her horse, and saw to his p

ates, ordained of a God who rules even the lightning and sees fit occasionally to pass men through the burning mantle, even as he struck down one of my subjects this pas

t all thought of nourishment was forgotten as she shook her head vigorously in the negative. Then in response to his words she put aside her breakfast

wrote, and sho

futation, and turned it again to show him, regarding him eye to eye with a certain sense of somber grav

ly disloyal to contradict him like that, especially

Euphrates, nodding. "No

a truth, we all know

sacrifice. According to

th an animal skin when

Surely, if thi

rching for some clue of more than passing significan

carefully apropos of his own words. Then sh

circumstances? Foolish men must be punished, and what

king sticks held poised in stilled fingers above the moist clay, and then made her first markings in its sm

is arms. He is mortal, for he hungers, and his strength fails, and if he drinks no water he soon grows faint, yet he has created his own gods, wh

d a fittin

les pegs to pound into the holes he has made, and attaches a head and arms onto a graven block of wood, making block-heads to bow down to. He marks eyes, nose, and mouth with the di

ing tools in her fingers, and finally set to work as she began to really spell it out

are watered by the hi

e beautiful trees; c

mperor and drew another to her, and as he read and wat

re, wearing down his gnashing teeth on coarse stone grit bread baked with the coals made from

er so many doubts in her own heart. Ever since the d

an enchanting, arrhythmic te

, I am warm, my god is a wood fire. He falls down before such and tearfully worsh

he had done to poor defenseless Nelatha. Then she thought of the sudd

ough she barely glimpsed him out of the corner of her eye as

statement as her sticks

the dust that not only covers all things but

ing sword to be loudly and vehemently called for, that she be dispatched i

nal manner of marking the clay, her especially delicate but incisive 'writing style', which was as rare art to the old monarch, but she knew also, that this

punishment by Master Rababull. Then, she had only imagined demons-or had she? Si'Wren considered silently, reflecting upon events in her mind. Were there not real demons round about them in the wilderness, followi

ords, he was now thoroughly enjoying himself with the game of foolish girl and divine Emperor. But which would he honor; the 'false tru

nt, a mighty Emperor's honest tribute to a

is Invisible God to all without exception, would it not be made obvious that God is no respecter

in her Emperor's eyes as to blaspheme his gods so freely and treat them all as false. Perhaps he was only playing with her to mock her beliefs, before finally putting

e her Emperor, even by his own example. She was no fulcrum of understanding. However, in her heart, she could only believe that mere idols were most diffi

sm of the common man; how much more so that of one's own Em

ds and hence my own majesty and empire. Your marking sticks are mightier than their swords, and as Royal Scribe, surely you are not so afraid of what a few 'chicken scratches' in the clay on your part will reap. For if

rested hillside nearby, and considered this at length. She finally lifted and poised her

roached, and so Si'Wren

d respectfully fo

thout the slightest preamble, "Borla, is not even the g

ated, and finally stammered fearfully, "M

ence in their words, for Borla had said 'gods' whereas Emperor Euphra

had never heard his Emperor refer to the gods in the singular like this, and seeing Si'Wren present with her tablets, i

or Euphrates, as if

rd silen

h unfortunate news. Two of the men in their group departed from the main party to go off on their own in search of better fare. They were surprised and set upon by a most fearsome-looking

eking provisions for the camp, and I gave pe

most curiously wanting virtue?" pronounced

hinking self-deprecation. "I also ordered a man to be executed, a foot soldier who v

em both, her tormented eyes beseeching them disbelievin

e had reacted so violently, whereas Emperor Euphrates merely observed her

of the very finest and most cultured cordiality, and said with an exaggerated mildness, "

eyes innocuously back to Si'Wren

uick inscription, and held it up with no small

read the newest lin

ages about the Invisible God had bee

rla, nodding

t of confusion, Si'Wren placed the ivor

blet, wrote mockingly upon it, and hand

ed,' read Bor

d reached to snatch one stick back from Borla to write quic

t this remark, and letting her hang onto the tablet, he merely in

until she had finished reading this and l

oundary, past which could be glimpsed a vast, sloping stretch of outlying fields, with the higher foo

ork of deep, almost impassable erosion gullies that were choked through their centers by dense clusters of bamboo and great

atingly. "I know it is a difficult place to search, but you will find it

tinued, "As with all dishonorable deaths,

h the clay tablet in her right hand and stared u

has already arrived, if one would judge by this maid's cheeks. Perhap

could do as he pleased, with none to dare speak against him. On the oth

d and gently laid the clay tablet with its marvelous truths, and

stone oil lamp and a sparking flint from her tent. As she did this, she

ing strong and durable enough to serve it's purpose and not snag on th

the leather door flap of her ten

nd of it and tugged steadily while sawing at the thin strong t

ed Borla to received their Orders of the Day, and the Emperor himself, Si'Wren reached up to the lone dangling corner of the tent flap for a fresh grip, and a

s items within it. Then she went out resolutely to

mbed, and mounted, and turned and galloped him across the compound toward the far perimeter of the cam

but morning, the men watching her ride away were not a little c

m, it was not yet

ultures wheeling and circling overhead. Nearby, a cluster of hy

nes with their powerful jaws. They usually ran in packs, and she considered th

t for the mortal wounds from his execution at the orders of Borla. His lifeless body had been left lying face-down beside

peting silent praises to God. Their little green vines, with their countless green stepping-stone leaves were outstretched like a living carpet tha

n their centers. The clumps were surrounded by field grass interspersed with bare sand and gravel patches. The field stretched away f

d have gone down the side of the more steeply banked inner run of the ravine and cont

mined invader, and was undoubtedly rife with scorpions, spiders, flying stinging insects, huge venomous vipers, and other unguessab

the impromptu pall-bearers -his former comrades-at-arms- had

ut of a pouch, together with a little bit of punk, or fine, dried grass, and placed it beside the oil lamp, whereupon she contrived with several deft strikes of the flint and a series of expertly aimed spark

somberly studied the lighted lamp with it's pale

ut off her escape route and was preparing to close in on her. The stallion still stood his ground, but was already becoming spooked and

amp and stepped forward between the pack

himself from all comers. It appeared that he might decide either to attack or break and run at any moment if they continued

tle oil lamp in her hand. Lamps were used to dispel darkness, and to carry their

most at the last, then with a deft side-step she shifted lightly to one sid

on-possessed and leaving a series of burning and smoldering green vegetation patches that smoked and roared and popped as they burned in the aftermath of it's wayward wake. At it's

The unity of the squealing pack had been thoroughly disrupted. After watching a moment longer, Si'Wren set down the little clay lamp on the r

ob with a deep, shuddering sigh and stepped in, her mere presence s

e burned one screaming endlessly the loudest. The few visible remaining hyenas stood at a respectful distance and

safely backed off, she had a little more time in which to consider what to do next, and returned to the

hich consisted of a single thin bone needle, a collection of fine sinew strands, and a

as, Si'Wren began to uncoil the rope as she descended the broad, gently sloping shoulder of the ravine again. It

ned herself, before spreading out the tent flap with a quick shake and a sudden snapping motion to lay it out close beside the body. Because of the morning glories, the ten

d as she could get it, she bent over the man and endeavored to roll him over onto the

shed, although not withou

f his torment in the final stages before his death. She reached across to gently fold the two exposed edges of the tent flap together full-length, and over the cr

for she knew not how

her activities, she endeavored to continue. Her fingers trembling and shaking with grief, she sewed together the two

spices so freely as she once might have done in the spice tent of Master Rababull, in order to properly prepare the body for buri

wed up the ends

short pieces of hemp rope, measuring carefully. Then, one end at a time, she gathered together the two ends of the

olded and knotted end of the shroud, just above where the head of the man's body was. This way, she could draw him, without a

lmost physically overcome by everything for just a brief moment. Re

ked away slowly until he progressively drew the rope taut. Continuing with him in this manner, Si'Wren encouraged him until he began to drag the shroud containing the lifeless man's body from the gentle slope

measure to have to treat the foot soldier's mortal remains even so disrespectfully

ft beast and drew the burden the remaining distance directly to it's base, until it came to rest within the split of a rock, the split being just wide enough to admit the shroud, so tha

at the field of broken rock around her. Much loose shale had f

e barrier around the shrouded body. Finally, she stopped to look around, and realized that she was running out of the right-sized ro

le to physically move them. What remained to her now were stones which were all either too large to lift, or too small to be of proper use to her. She was left in a quandary, for much work remained if the burial mo

horse a safe ways off

f the way she dealt with him, being consistently sensitive and gentle, but firm. Moreover, he had to be free to defend himself or flee for his life,

hese she dislodged, to send tumbling down near the body, one by one, where they la

, she watched aghast as it rolled with a monumental grinding, banging,

pe below her gave way with a huge roar, sending up the billowing wave of an immense rising dust cloud as the sl

and galloped away. In the distance, thousands of frightened, fleeing pure white birds arose above the treetops to bl

time to clear. When she could finally see again, peering over the swirling dust clouds, she discovered that the collapse had utterly buried the bo

retrieve her horse. Loyal to her, he had only tried to run at first, but no more than a little

head and breathing on his nostrils. He tossed his head frequently at first, swaying her bodily on her feet whole arm-lengths this way and that by the power of his head alone as she sought to h

how enormous, would ever dig down through that mass of broken ro

beseeching him to welcome this lost soul into what

black, the better to m

n fits and starts, as she pondered the events that had led her to grieve over this

sing the suspicion of his comrades-at-arms, without her ever even knowing of it, and for only this, upon being finally disc

visible God himself, never to know with what grief that she, who had once been his shining example, his supreme inspiration and witness before the Invisible God, or with

her, she -Si'Wren- the silent, literate female scribe for whom he had no doubt secretly harbored such tender-hearted sentiments of closely shared spiritual b

l he knew- should object with a most self-righteous, vainglorious, and presumptuous offendedness such as nearly all of humanity w

l, to which she would not have objected, but rejoiced.

a position to petition the very Emperor himself, personally, on any affair she deemed fit? Surely Emperor Euphrates

ould have redeemed her vow. Perhaps not. He undoubtedly could not read, and seeing she was sworn never t

body not yet even cold! That she should so soon bury him with her own fingers, and here remain weeping uncontrollabl

a wife, a spiri

n orphan from her earliest recollection, bent down low again suddenly, bef

sly beyond her reach. How she longed that she might but one single time, have revealed to him what his unintentional self-sacri

hat she could not speak, and that he could neither read nor write, yet would the

ed paradise, the true meaning of spiritual life. That he had found it through the notorious

ssed hatred that the details of her God had been so published abroad as to eventually reach his ears. Others in

tion that spirit of unthinking hatred, and eventually believed also, and paid the ultimate price for his beliefs while she had gone on

t he had believed and suffered and died for. At least, she had made sure his cairn, that the largest of

like gruel without milk and fruit which, if one consumed nothing else, would eventually lose its slight taste of bitterness and ground husks, and become at least indifferent to

than to any living person or location. She could not forge

s were rolling over the land, spilling their whiteness across the hills into unseen, h

she wept anew when she finally turned to re

he halted and dismounted drearily. Merely going through the motions, she groomed down the stallion and staked him to a lon