- 3A: Now the city of Shalem was established upon a rocky isle in Mori, parted from the mainland by a narrow strait, wherefore it stood as a grievous fortress that no marching host could easily shatter. And it came to pass at the breaking of the dawn, that twelve ships of war came forth from the borders of the sea. Yet unto the eyes of the Stygian army it was plainly manifest that some strange manner of ruin or sorcery was upon them. For they pitched in the waters even as the wooden playthings of a child, and the sea behind them was made to boil, sending great pillars of vapor unto the heavens. Yet all their sails were bound fast, and their banks of oars lay idle. Then one vessel parted from among the squadron and hasted toward the shore. And upon the very threshold of the land it heaved backward, and with a final bursting of seething waters it cast itself upon the sands, even as the great leviathans of the earthly deep. And the seawater that swirled about its hinder parts slowly gave up its heat.
- 3B: But Azul purposed in his heart to make of this vessel a fearful sign to all the rest. Wherefore he sent forth his avatar, the fire drake Moloch, who flew low along the shores from the east and breathed forth consuming fire upon the wreck, setting it utterly ablaze; and seeing this, a great cry of rejoicing went up from the Stygian host. But behold, a strange mystery was upon them. For though the hulk was utterly consumed with fire, and the pyre thereof raised a mighty pillar of smoke, yet no cries of men perishing within came unto their ears. Neither did the wrath of Moloch stay the hand of the enemy; for the eleven ships of the Shalemite fleet pressed onward, and cast themselves upon the sand in like manner unto the first. Then Sar Malphas commanded his host, sending forth two parts of his men, but the third part he held back, that they might keep strict watch upon the cage wherein Uriel was bound. And when the soldiers had breached the ships, behold, they found them utterly forsaken of sailors.
- 3C: Now in the belly of every ship were discovered two great vessels of bronze, having pipes of lead drawing backward toward the stern; yet there was not a man among the host who could discern the purpose thereof. Then spake the hashmal Armaros, saying, “Verily, Your Highness, this beareth the dark makings of a snare. Kar Melchizedek doth but beckon us to cross the waters, that we might fall into whatsoever ruin he hath laid in wait.” And Sar Malphas answered him, saying, “I deem thy counsel to be wise. We shall not swallow his hook, yet his ships we shall take for a spoil; and we shall lay siege unto Shalem at a time of mine own choosing, and not by the design of the king.” Thereupon he gave commandment, that a third of his men should go up into the vessels and take hold of the oars. And another third of the host set their shoulders unto the wood, heaving the vessels forth from the sands. Yet still, a full third part of the army stood idle, keeping the watch nigh unto the cage of Uriel.
- 3D: Then, behold, two mighty wings of the host of King Melchizedek broke forth from the thick woods unto the south, wherein they had lain concealed, yea, hidden even from the piercing gaze of the dragon. And the army of Shalem and the Fallen Angels closed upon the shores, even as the crushing jaws of some monstrous beast. And a sudden ruin fell upon the fleet, for the brazen kettles within the ships drank in the sea and were flooded, insomuch that half the oars of all the eleven vessels were thrust up vainly out of the waters. Then the men within certain of the ships strove mightily to row further out into the deep, whilst others sought to flee back unto the shores; yet the greater part did but spin helplessly in their place. And suddenly, all the vessels were taken by fire. For nothing now held back the wrath of Ayat, seeing that Azul had been so bold as to provoke her by the assault of his dragon. And in that hour, the shrieks of perishing men were assuredly heard over the waters.
- 3E: But the Stygians upon the shore could in no wise come to their deliverance, for they were sorely beset upon the left flank and the right, and the twofold assault fretted them beyond measure. Wherefore Malphas gave strict commandment, that his men should drag the cage of Uriel down from the hill, and bear it unto the very midst of his embattled lines. Yet the heat of the battle waxed sore, and showed no sign of waning. And Uriel served as a shield only against the might of Lailah, not the host of her father; neither did the dragon avail them aught upon the field, lest Azul should consume his own host together with the men of Shalem. And as Sar Malphas looked out over the tumult, his eyes espied Lailah, how she hewed her path toward the hill behind his lines, where the ancient wagon remained bound fast. Then a sudden dread laid hold upon his heart, lest Lailah should undo the Gordian Knot, and so bring to pass the promise of the oracle to bear rule over all Kemen. Wherefore he hasted to cut off her path.
- 3F: And being come alone unto the summit, they both alighted, and stood face to face with drawn swords in their hands. Then Lailah mocked him, saying, “I perceive thou art come to make answer for Bodea.” And Malphas spake, saying, “Never shall I suffer thee to put the oracle to the proof!” Then she stretched forth the point of her blade toward the wagon. “Speakest thou of this? Verily, my father’s father was either half-mad, or this knot of his is the most renowned jest in all Kemen.” But these words wrought only a sudden and grievous clashing of steel. And Lailah drave Malphas backward, crying aloud, “Shalem is the city wherein I ever dwell! I might have put the oracle to the proof at any hour, had it been my desire!” Yet the reasoning of Lailah seemed not to move the prince. But rather, Malphas sprang forward with sudden fury, and his blade found the bare flesh of her midsection, drawing the first blood. Then she feigned dismay at the wound, and made the swiftness of her dance to slacken.
- 3G: And Sar Malphas, perceiving this, suffered his guard to wither for but the space of a few heartbeats; yet it sufficed. For seeing the narrow way open unto her, Lailah let fly a grievous blow with her booted foot against his countenance, insomuch that Malphas was stricken to the earth, void of all sense, and his sword was parted from his senseless hand. And Lailah spurned the blade afar off. Now, with her prey lying helpless before her, the princess pondered in her heart whether she should make an end of him. For in the days before she knew Uriel, she would have done this very thing, and that without a second thought, that she might exact vengeance for the blood of Bodea. Yet she said within herself, Nay; it is a far better thing to suffer Malphas to live, that he may give account of this great defeat unto his father and unto his god. Then she cast her eyes upon the forgotten wagon, which was bound fast unto a tree upon the high place, and she hasted toward it instead.
- 3H: And she heaved the drawbar upward unto the seat, and looked closely upon the knot, which was wrought with such vain and wondrous cunning. Yet even as every curious pilgrim that had journeyed thither before her, Lailah prevailed nothing against the tangled cord. And looking down, she beheld the skirmishers of the Stygian host, how they hasted up the hillside to bring succor unto their fallen commander. Wherefore, seeing her time was exceedingly short, Lailah raised her sword and smote the knot fiercely, hewing at the cords until they were parted asunder. Thus was the wagon loosed, though she knew full well within her heart that her father’s father had purposed no such deliverance when first he bound it. Then the steepness of the hill took hold of the wain, and it began to roll downward. And Lailah leaped upon the seat, and laid hold upon the drawbar that she might guide its path. And the thundering of the wheels came unto the ears of the soldiers, and they looked up, and gaped in horror.
- 3I: For they beheld a great and rushing terror, swifter than the galloping of any steed. And the men fled from before her face, even as Lailah’s desperate lot unfolded. Now Uriel beheld her coming, and perceived the design she had purposed. Wherefore he pressed his flesh flat against the hinder side of the cage, judging that the blow might not fall upon him. And the wagon smote the prison with a mighty rushing, insomuch that both the cage and the wagon were shattered into splinters, and Lailah was cast roughly down into the dust. Yet, behold, through all the ruin they were both preserved alive. Now Sar Lailah was sorely bruised, more than in all the days of her life; yet Uriel was delivered, and the host of the enemy was scattered into broken bands. Then Ambriel drew nigh to succor the princess. And when the hashmal saw that no mortal hurt lay upon her, she spake, saying, “Behold, the enemy hath no more a united host. They flee hither and thither by companies.
- 3J: Shall we pursue after them and cut them off utterly?” But Lailah answered, saying, “Nay; for my father shall of a surety leave one path open, that the enemy may be enticed to depart. And that which slippeth away as a trickle shall quickly become a rushing flood. We must in no wise shed blood merely for the lust of slaughter, dear Ambriel. It sufficeth that we have conquered the field this day.” Then spake Ambriel, saying, “Blessed is the city that prepareth for war in the days of peace!” But Lailah said, “Blessedness hath no part in this matter, Ambriel. For the clashing of arms is the most grievous woe that the dwellers of Kemen might ever endure.” “Yet what of the vainglorious,” asked the hashmal, “who boast themselves to be lovers of the fray?” And Lailah answered her, saying, “Either they speak a lie, having never tasted the bitter cup of war, or else madness hath wholly consumed their minds.” But a more heavy matter weighed upon the mind of Lailah, even the welfare of her teacher.
- 3K: And she hobbled painfully unto the great heap of wood that had been his prison. And when he beheld her, he spake, saying, “Let there be no more of these wild ventures for a season.” And they searched one another, making sure that no mortal hurt had befallen them. Then said Lailah, “Thou hast spoken well, teacher. My ribs are cracked within me; yet this battle had been needless, hadst thou but suffered me to perform my purpose at Adan, rather than bearing me back hither in haste.” But Uriel shook his head, saying, “Nay, for thou wouldst surely have been slain.” Then Lailah put her hand unto her brow, and said, “Yet thou hast changed me, and hast unleashed a warrior jan in Kemen who blencheth not at the shadow of death.” “And gladly would I unleash an army of such as thee,” answered Uriel. “But tell me, wherefore hast thou cast away all that thou hast striven to do since the day thou didst first look upon me?” And Lailah was sore perplexed, and she said, “I comprehend not the words which thou hast spoken.”
- 3L: Then Uriel lifted up the severed end of the wagon’s cord. “I speak of the Gordian Knot,” he said. “I grant thee, to cleave it asunder was likely not the intent of the oracle; yet now art thou destined to bear rule over all Kemen. It is fate! The unreformed Lailah of old must now of necessity return.” “Must she needs return?” asked Lailah. “Dost thou imagine that Azul shall have his way forevermore?” And Uriel slowly shook his head. Then Lailah spake further, saying, “What if the oracle declared this mystery: that the spirit of the new Lailah shall bear rule over Kemen? Even the Lailah who was changed—” And her eyes overflowed with tears, and her voice broke within her, yet she pressed on. “The Lailah who was changed upon that day in Tannedi, which shall never be forgotten, when first she heard thy voice.” And her last word was given up as a bitter sob, for her heart mourned greatly for the wasted years. Then Uriel stood upright, ceasing from the search of her wounds.
- 3M: And in that hour he spake as an oracle himself, as though adding a latter seal unto the seer whom old King Gordiel had aforetime inspired, or perchance purchased with a price. “Many ages of men must pass away ere this be fully wrought, my beloved,” he said, “both in this realm and in the world that is to come. Yet thou hast broken asunder far more than the bars of my prison this day. For if the children of men in every age shall make themselves willing to do for one another even as thou hast done for me this day, then hath love gained the victory. Dost thou not perceive it? Once and for all time, love hath triumphed!” Now it came to pass on a certain night, when the hashmal Ambriel returned from the field, that but a single lamp was left burning to give light within the king’s hall of audience. Wherefore she bent her steps toward that wing of the palace wherein Sar Lailah dwelt, knowing full well that the princess was ever a creature of the night.
- 3N: But as Ambriel drew nigh unto the chambers of Lailah, behold, she saw maidservants hastening outward with wet linen, and bearing inward that which was dry; and a doubt arose in her heart whether she should press further. And her worst fears were brought to pass: for upon entering, she beheld Lailah laid bare from the waist downward, while her handmaids upheld her knees. Yet Lord Uriel was also there, standing firm amidst the great tumult. And Lailah, spying her, smiled with exceeding gladness, and cried, “Ambriel, thou art come! And verily, in the very hour!” But a sudden and grievous travail laid hold upon her, and her words were cut off. Then Uriel spake with a loud voice, saying, “The head is brought to the birth! Push, Lailah! Push!” And of the things that followed, Ambriel remembered but little, save that it was a time of much water and blood. And when all was finished, she perceived with great marveling that she, a seasoned warrior and a noblewan of the city, had wholly swooned away.
- 3O: When she was revived the newborn was already skin-to-skin against its mother. Lailah said, “Ambriel, is he not beautiful?” “I see there have been many changes in the city this past year.” “Who more worthy to wed an ophan of Shalem than a Seraph?” replied Sar Lailah, affirming what Uriel had long guessed about Uriel, that he was greater in glory than any king. And looking upon the estate of the room, she perceived the utter folly of the matter: that she, who had stood steadfast and unblenching amidst the slaughter of armies, should be so easily overthrown by the birth-pangs of a jan. Wherefore a sudden and great mirth laid hold upon her, and she brake forth into loud laughter, marveling at her own frailty. And Ambriel, wiping the tears of her mirth from her eyes, spake unto them, saying, “What name have ye purposed in your hearts to give unto the lad?” Then Lailah looked upon Uriel, and hearing the joyful noise of the hashmal, she smiled and answered, “Hearken unto the gladness of our friend.
- 3P: Because her laughter hath greeted his coming into Kemen, his name shall be called Yishak; which is, being interpreted, Laughter.” And Uriel was well pleased with the saying, and he nodded, answering, “Even so let it be.” Now the victory at Shalem yielded Kar Melchizedek but a little space of peace. For according to the certain tidings which Ambriel brought, the Emperor Rimmon had purposed to strip bare his own lands, and to cast even his rearward host into the fray; for he wagered in his heart that the kingdoms round about would hold their peace. And so it was that the Stygian armies came up once more, and laid hold upon the eastern ways that draw nigh unto Shalem. Then spake Uriel unto the king, saying, “The emperor waiteth to receive epistles of contrition from Thy Majesty, that thou shouldst sue for peace.” “It is an excellent thing!” cried Lailah, even as she sat giving suck unto her infant son. “For then shall he be utterly confounded, when we offer him yet another taste of the sword!”
- 3Q: But Ambriel cautioned her, saying, “Yet the multitude that moveth upon the field is threefold greater than that which came against Shalem in the days past.” Then the king opened his mouth and gave his decree, saying, “Whether they be threefold, or an hundredfold, or but half the number, mark well my words: so long as I sit upon the throne of this city, no man shall again go forth to face the enemy upon the open field. Yet Lailah would in no wise believe that her father nurtured any thought of submission in his heart. Wherefore she spake unto him, saying, “My father and my liege, the upper vale of the Acheron is exceeding rocky, insomuch that thy people cannot draw their sustenance from the earth. Yet we possess ships in abundance, that we might bear away all the inhabitants of the city by the sea.” “But whither should they flee, my daughter?” answered the king. “For the towns of the coast do not prosper, and they should be swiftly swallowed up by such a multitude of hungry mouths.
- 3R: “Behold, there be an hundred small coves scattered about the sea of Mori, where the clans of the fisherfolk do but barely sustain their lives by the meager harvest of their nets, and the lesser gain of their trading.” “Even so, Your Majesty,” spake Uriel, “I counsel thee to send forth at the least one stout vessel upon the waters. For I would send spies behind the host of Rimmon, even unto the frozen wastes of the Thanatides. For the Emperor keepeth a stronghold there, which is abundantly provisioned.” And he said moreover, “This I know of a surety, for in times past he hath ever called upon me to fashion one end of the portal whereby he moveth his men of war and his stores into that place. Yet in this thing doth Rimmon hold the mastery over me: for he knoweth the exact measure and location of his caverns beneath the ice, but as for me, in this present hour, it is hidden from mine eyes.” “Whither do thy thoughts lead thee, Lord Uriel?” inquired the king.
- 3S: And Uriel answered, saying, “Your Majesty, I deem that many of thy subjects would choose to seek refuge with Kar Galizur, rather than bow down under the direct yoke of the Emperor. Yet the pass which leadeth unto Letheia is shut fast by the stronghold of which I spake.” Then Melchizedek turned his eyes upon his daughter, and she gave consent with a single slow bowing of her head. And Ambriel spake, saying, “Princess, the way of the sea seemeth good in my sight. For every road that lieth between this place and Stygia is strictly guarded; Rimmon hath set a watch there, lest the king should send a force behind his host, to fall upon the wains in his rear.” And Sar Lailah said, “If it find favor in the eyes of my father the king, Azarael and Jael would be exceeding well-fitted for this quest. For they are night hunters, and even as ghosts.” “Then thy spies shall have their barque, and all the provender they require,” said Kar Melchizedek. And after these things, the hosts of Emperor Rimmon ceased not to flow toward the city.
- 3T: And wheresoever they set their feet, they raised up ramparts of earth and of timber; yea, the camps and the garrisons of the Stygian army reached even unto the eastern bank of the River Acheron. Now far to the westward of Shalem lay the Mneme Wastes, wherein no man could dwell. But Azarael and Jael, of the Fallen Angels, went softly, creeping through the caves and the tunnels within the ice of the Thanatides, which are the high hills that stand between Acheria and Stygia. And but three of Rimmon’s men of war ever espied them; and these they slew, leaving their carcasses to be found in such a wise that their deaths might be deemed a thing of chance. And there the twain discovered the chief storehouse of the enemy, wherein was kept great abundance of meat and of grain. Yet not even Ayat knew the very place of that storehouse where it lay hidden beneath the ice; because Azul alone had set the hither endpoint of their folded-space bridge.
- 3U: Yet ever did Ayat know the exact place of the headband of Lailah, even the lamp of white light she herself had fashioned for the princess to wear upon her brow. This channel of light was an imperceptible thread that went back to Ayat alone. And Azarael hid the artifact within a vessel near the center of the storehouse, in such wise that it might not easily be espied, even if the stores were diminished; howbeit, to the eyes of the wen, the wealth thereof remained untouched. Thereafter she and Jael departed, and went a great way down one of the tunnels that went out from the central place like spokes of a chariot wheel. There did they purpose to tarry, until they should perceive what Uriel had foretold, with what he warned was a passing great understatement, to be a disturbance. For Uriel had comforted the two spies of Lailah, saying, “Ye go not forth unto your death.” And though they might eat of the abundance of the storehouse, yet the frost of the ice-caves was ever upon them.
- 3V: Howbeit, they possessed a sweet remedy against the cold, of which they grew never weary. For within the narrow nest they had fashioned, Jael laid aside her raiment and slipped between blankets of fur; and she purred softly unto Azarael, that she should come in unto her. Now by the time Yishak was weaned, the Stygians had laid hold upon the first of the coastal towns to the westward of Shalem, shutting up all hope of succor. And Shalem, gathered thick upon her island rock, was cut off utterly from the land. Then spake the king, saying, “What thinkest thou, O my daughter? Shall I yield up the throne and reign no more?” “Rimmon would in no wise suffer me to sit as queen, my father,” answered Lailah. “And whosoever he should raise up in thy stead would be an abomination unto all the dwellers of this city. Yet verily, to endure a siege were a thing far more grievous.” “If it be so, Lailah,” said the king, “the hour is come that thou and thy Fallen Angels must depart from Shalem.
- 3W: “Or else lay down your arms and become unwarlike for all the days ye dwell within her walls.” “My father,” she said, “all the Fallen Angels have sworn a mighty oath, that their hands shall forever cleave unto the sword, and even now they are keeping watch.” “Yet I forbid them to make a stand of battle within Shalem,” said the king. “They must take ship unto Cocytia, or unto Letheia, or unto Phlegethon, even as I purposed when we took counsel aforetime.” “My father and my liege,” spake Lailah, “Kar Galizur of Letheia boasteth that he shall gladly receive all cast forth from the places he nameth ‘the unlovely lands under the yoke of Rimmon.’ Yea, he hath set apart the isle of Esdara for the people of Shalem, if the siege of the city should wax too strait.” Now Kar Melchizedek perceived how all things hasted swiftly toward an end he desired not to look upon, neither had he power to alter it, notwithstanding all his might as king.
- 3X: And Melchizedek sighed heavily, saying, “Then even so let it be. For there hath been a spring and a summer within this city, which hath endured far longer, and tasted far sweeter, than any soul therein dared to dream.” And Lailah answered, “If the winter must now fall upon Shalem, I pray that the flowering which we have known may take root anew, even far from the lands trodden down by the Stygian hosts.” Then spake Uriel, “Your Majesty, wilt thou not turn thy heart to consider the proffer of Avyah, lest Lailah be parted from thee forever?” “It draweth me greatly, Lord Uriel,” said the king, “and most of all in this present hour. Yet of a surety, this mortal flesh must fail and return unto the dust. And neither thou nor Avyah possess the cunning to stay it, lest I be greatly deceived.” And Uriel shook his head in sorrow, answering, “Thou art not deceived, Your Majesty.” And the king said, “If I should taste of death, yet endure for ages, my mind cannot fathom how such a thing might be.
- 3Y: “Yet as the days multiply, methinks I should wax alien unto all living flesh, even as a cold stone smuggled privily into a nest of eggs.” Now Uriel beheld how the heart of his wife was made heavy by these words. Wherefore he spake, saying, “I pray thee, Sire, consider the subtle cruelties of the Eyes of Azul, and the torments thou shalt suffer if thou fall into their hands. Suffer me, at the least, to grant thee the power to yield up the ghost in an hour of thine own choosing.” But the king shook his head, and said, “I fear no torment of the enemy. For every hour I remain alive in the snare of Rimmon, he must stand in dread lest I be plucked out of his hand by my daughter, or by her Fallen Angels. Nay, Lord Uriel; though my end be not void of pain, yet shall it come swiftly.” And Melchizedek looked upon Lailah, and saw how her tears flowed freely. Then was his heart moved within him, insomuch that he laid aside the majesty of a king, and embraced her, even as a father embraceth his beloved daughter.
- 3Z: And she wept openly, crying, “O my father, the bitterness of this parting is exceeding great!” Then Melchizedek held her apart from his breast, saying, “Hath not Uriel declared unto me that thy son Yishak is the firstborn of the B’nei Elohim? Yea, the children of the gods! How great is thy blessing!” But even as a cloud’s shadow passeth over the sun, the king perceived they did but inflict a grievous torment upon their own souls in suffering the parting to linger, mayhaps as cruel as any snare of Rimmon. Wherefore the king commanded, and they arrayed him in his glorious apparel. He put on a mantle wrought with precious stones, and set upon his head his father’s crown, fashioned with exceeding cunning. Then did he lead his weeping people unto the lower parts of the city. And Lailah yearned greatly to follow after him; but Uriel laid his hand gently upon her to stay her, and taking up the child Yishak, they turned and went by another way.
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