eat, and immediately remembered that she must first tie something over the entrance to replace the missing tent flap, or risk another complaint of coquettishness from a certain one of th

warriors all, must not have their valiant spirits inflamed with unco

ke, she squinted and blinked uncertainly in the morning light. Merely going through the motions, she made tea, and clean

dings, struck by the uncultivated be

iality of the sound chilled her blood and sent shivers up and down her spine even as a host of lesser an

om the camp, as it's terrible cries gradually diminished into the distance. For a long time, she could still occasionally hear it's banshee screams as it prowled somewhere beneath the high

ind across the uneven land. In spite of the undulations of the terrain, it had continued -day after day- to slope progressively upwards a

e entire royal expedition had been encamped in the same place th

arching fare. Others found honey, and gathered fruits, berries,

paring, drying, preserving, and packing away the food f

of the way he watched her, and she had not bothered to braid her hair in the usual manner as was her custom, in accession to her Emperor's wishes of the nig

unconcern that she must have somehow greatly vexed Borla, for he suddenly rounded on her in

hing; like himself! If her beliefs were to become adopted by others, it is possible that eventually all idols would be des

ow as his brow also became fretted into a te

, Borla turned to survey Si'Wren boldly, and wen

t all law and reason and let the people decide for themselves what laws to follow. Come to think of it, t

inally Emperor E

eplied. "How many can she possibly convert anyways,

d enough honey in his Emperor's words to nullify the bitt

. Neither did she volunteer to hand over any of her writing ta

f voice, "who permits himself to be worshiped, and preached to others, by a single, sil

reflected. Silent was she,

hought of the Patriarch Noah, whom they were seeking, who apparently shared her beliefs in some measure, and in light of the fact that

e Invisible God to be the true God was by reflecting upon how foolish it was to think

o remonstrance that the reflection of water held a suggestion of how one might manage to 'see' the unseeable Invisible God

lashed in alarm as he realized what she had done, and he started with an astonished grunt as if h

out. "What vil

ly been drinking it, so as to avoid the risk of offending Emperor Eu

isk being mocked over some empty accusation, said nothing. Then, as if thinking better of it, he negligently spat in the dirt at Si'Wren's feet as if she

even a mud puddle. It would only have shown forth all the more clearly, the beautiful symbolism of an Invisible God who created all things, and was above all things. Even the wind, which could be

and fire, and even the wind itself, and who surely hated all st

ry real insult, which she had apparently inflicted upon him with a mere handful of water, but

is, he said to her, "Scribe, thy ser

t, and fetched out and handed over o

lit-bamboo frame, and turned it this way and that as he examined

oose in a series of irregular pieces and tumbled out onto the ground. He continued shaking it and turning it this way and that and slappin

the empty fra

ter yet-" he gripped the frame with i

punches began knocking out the split-bamboo backing which norma

nd, he smiled at last, with a dry, irritated look in his eyes which only served to accentua

Borla, as Emperor Euphrates looked on

ed dryly, "Rather looks like an open door. Odd. Most such d

he empty frame into pieces, and handed them back to a silent Si

er hand, and stood looking b

la to her. "I se

l, had never intended the slightest harm to Borla, even after what he had done. Perhaps the Invisible

have said to Borla? There was no

he grave. I am told by one of my Captains of Fifty that she brought down neigh unto half the hillside of yonder hillock, to the

Si'Wren, who had frozen with the pieces o

r Euphrates, his inte

down in the lowlands whence we came," said Borla. "We are being followed. I regret to be the bea

ears prick

mperor Euphrates, loo

owing

o-Conabar. It was rum

they had sought

were a slanderous oath. "I gave orders that their entr

as he stood looking contemplatively across the vista of

un across them before eventide, it might very well become the expedient thing to do that one

eft free to maximize his own powers to the fullest possible extent, while at the same time seeming always, ever to be the scrupulously faithful servant and minutely lesser intel

harshly. "Quite enough ceremony

"Scribe, you will study further, to show yourself ap

the open-handedness

Emperor Euphrates in

little Si'Wren..." he paused, looking at her wistfully, "...almost, you persuade me

disappointment as she bowed

ticks of her ruined clay frame. The frame was, she could see, beyond saving. She dropped the pieces, and they fell

away with

Borla's scouts had finally found a way ahead, through the thick foliage interspersed by broad grassland

ing for them as she had been taught, while several men took down

eir bamboo frames, three of which went in a durable bamboo box in a saddle bag strapped on her mount, in orde

ed her own preparations and prepared to mount up. She had manage

they discussed with him the anticipated route and

nt, before which stood his royal camel bedecked and festooned

re fitting, rather, was it that they should all make ready, and then wait on their Emperor until he should mount and give the command to Borla for the day's marc

rueling day's march should be

ny voices coordinating their preparations to march

adruu

oked up anxiously, and Borla jerked up his hand sav

at?!" Borla

istening, and the entire camp seemed to fall silent, their ver

eahhh

must have just been brutally murdered, out a little past the screen

wful cry c

yell of a distant s

nd saw men falling back from the nearest line of trees, their ordered li

field, heart pounding, and through the tall grass appeared first speartips, then helmets, and then the heads and shoulders of hostile men advancing in l

ame thundering up the path whence Emperor Euphrates's expedition had come, the ground vibrating under uncountable hoo

erted charge of the attackers. The clash of steel filled the dust-laden air, together with the desper

elf!" declared one

demande

horse!" sai

spear!" s

one out of the hands of the ne

ng it over their heads as he sought to round up the Emperor's men

was t

forces suddenly charged as one and drove the Emperor's forces backwards across the cam

ought up short against the heaving flanks of her black stallion. He stamped his hooves and n

d about something like this happening ever since their departure for the land of Noah. Breathlessly sh

out of the tall grass behind the Emperor's tent. He carried a shield the size of a cartwheel on o

himself and a terrified Si'Wren in two huge strides with his great spear and shield raised to the at

from her horse, and bec

ding speed. One quickly nocked and loosed an arrow from close range, hitting the giant

deep ox-bellow of a voice as h

. Finally, two more shots hit him in the chest when he let his

the giant then, and quickly fired their powerful bows, t

the giant came forward in a berserk charge, ig

ful Emperor Euphrates with a useless curv

e of the guards, and the other was killed

aimed, and fired from point-blank range at full

over Si'Wren as he drew near and began reaching down for her, and as she stepped back involuntarily out of his reach he simply kept on falling headlong until he hit the ground with an ea

and she turned her head just in time to see a final charge upon the Emperor's tent. Across the camp, Si'Wren gasped

as the mounted foe chased them down and shot them in their bac

and come down in the midst of the enemy, to penetrate the face of an upraised wicker shield and embed itself in the

my soldier any further, and she searched wildly for any sign

time to blink before they began raining down. The arrows' whistling sounds filled

elievingly at the long feathered end of a

dy bristling with arrows. Her blood pounding in her ears, Si'Wren turned and staggered to her horse. Neighing loudly, the s

th his hooves, but fell against his forequarters instead and reached up to s

ning her head, she saw running enemy soldiers advancing through the camp, with none remaining to oppos

r horse. At this, he finally bolted, jerking her bodily off her feet as she clut

nd as the stallion lunged forward, and she dropped and bounced her feet again in a coordinated leap and sailed upwards with a sharp two-fi

her swiftly away and left all behind. Si'Wren was so small and light that her horse ran virtually unimpeded, whereas h

ped her eyes to the neck of her steed, hearing the steady blast of breath from his muzzle as the

dered at his unrelenting power in the face of such injuries as his hooves pounded, pounded, pounded the gro

. A horse could run itself to death for it's master, but Si'Wren o

the battle to ride after her, and cold fear filled her soul. She looked ahead again just in time to avoid getting knocked off by a low-lying bough as

the black stallion, and remembered the pair of leather saddle bags containing her writing kit together with the clay tablets in their sturdy bamboo f

tallion pounded up the rise and she drew back on the reins at the crest, slowing him to a h

d as they burst out into the open, the pursuit spied her almost immediately, and shou

n a momentary dip in the land, then urged him

k mane as she toppled suddenly forward against the back of his neck and hung on with all of her failing strength, slowly rightin

far with her Emperor. Then she dropped her eyes, and noticed for the first time that her dark mantle

much longer, and dreaded the prospect of falling into the hands of such men. But which

terf

ns and injuries. Loathe to go on like this, she turned him and rode down another little dip and then up again to the next higher rise. She was ascending

e last rise, and sl

ar as she pulled her horse abruptly to a dead halt barely i

om a high ridge. At the waterfall's base shimmered a wide pool, whence emerged the continuation of the deep fast-f

black's heaving flanks, urging him forward along the edge of the bank, seeking some way to get safely down and across. But the closer she came to the waterfall, the higher and

rs as they topped the final rise and began to fan out, c

sformed to insolent, harsh contempt. What was her life to them anyways? The sight of her suffering engendered nothing but contempt in their looks. Loftily, they all kept back from her by a d

eir midst on his speckled gray steed and lurched th

ok into his heavily lidded, toadlike eyes, so lifeless and sickeningly dead, utterly convinced Si'W

n each hand. Surely this must be Kadrug, because if it were Conabar he w

ix-fingered one, she was looking also upon a combination of the personality of the possessor, a demon, and of the outward m

en's souls, truly dwelt. All life within the visible world, like a finger-drawing in the sand, could show only a muted portrayal of that spiritual side. Like sand, or dust, it must eventually be blown away a

and shuddered. Surely, as Nelatha had said, it must be that all men must die a

en who forced their evil lusts upon all around the

ned her head and looked out fearfully over the steep drop-off. There was only swift wat

where it descended almost straight down into the dark water. Just upstream from this was th

e as she turned her mount away from the edge, and felt her head nod f

the slick glistening red of a coating of blood upon the black stallion's muscular, corded neck beneath where the two arrows were

held no weapon herself and represented no threat to them or their leader Kadrug. Indeed, she could only regard herself as a natural target t

d with lust, inte

said loudly, "Wh

surrounding them both in an irregular half-arc,

are that the men surrounding both herself and Kadrug were no doubt prepar

rom those we captured, about a flood

er exhaustion, responded neither by word, sign, nor ges

mpatient, he repeated c

alk we hear from our ca

wer

Wren said

silently, and exhaled au

mptuously at the red-stained figures of Si'Wren and her stallion, with his white-sp

ded impatiently, "Well

the hard ride, Si'Wren's face remained unreadable, and her eyes seem

Si'Wren remained frozen, trembling greatly, and when he made a fierce, menacing

ened masculine hauteur, Kadrug lifted his reins and prodded his

h her left heel into his still-heaving flank. The black exploded into action, pivoting around towards the unseen bank of the ri

he drop-off in a mighty lunge until the ground suddenly fell away beneath his pounding hooves and he had hurled them b

ite into the cold, swiftly flowing mountain waters. Si'Wren's submerged ears heard the roar of the waterfall,

e of the river, but by the time they could look, the foam of impact had moved far out of bowshot downstrea

for air, and shook the water from her eyes to find the black swimming powerfully for t

Still gripping his mane with one hand, Si'Wren reached back with the other and quickly untied the

behind her she could hear a chorus of hoa

and their shafts did not come down at all close to her. They could

g go involuntarily, she was dragged under by the weigh

p on to her slippery leather saddlebags as th

nd shouted in triumph, and as his men waved their flashing bronz

nd after a final contemptuous look at the river from his followers,

ing kit, with it's beautifully carved ivory writing sticks, and the precious clay tablets wherein was written everything she knew about her great, Invisible God

s to finally reach it on hands and knees. She dragged herself halfway out of the water and collapsed, and felt the stub-end of the arrow in her shou

her was clay, miry clay, enough clay to fill the whole world with tablets about the Invisible God. And t

r bank, high above the water, where her many p

tle ways downstream on the same side of the

ower as he gradually gave up his fight for life by successive stages, with weaker and we

over a little, to look up at the sky just beyond the waterfall, up

e mist, she saw a multi-hued sweep of pure jeweled light, arrayed in the most beautiful translucent bow of vivid colors, red abo

l gazing up into the white mists, Si'Wren stared, spellbound, as the bow of

i'Wre

k! This miraculous thing have I beheld with mine own rheumy and tired old eyes that thought they had seen all that there was to see, and still it falls! The gods harken not unto the lamentations and sacrifices of men. The rivers, the lakes, and the very sea itself, all are tumultuous, swollen

God of Si'Wren, the Holy One Who is like water, will hearken unto my prayers if

d merciful men are taken away, none considering that the r

E