Episode 6: When Androids and Gods sing their Songs of Creation

They're BACK....

When Androids and Gods sing their Songs of Creation

(From the Space Opera serial “Androids, do indeed Dream about Heaven, Hell, Dragons, and other things”)

 

 

Prologue

 

     In the Void an awakening had occurred. Many rejoiced at their renewed existence. Being separate unto oneself, to think, be, and act as a separate entity rather than an insignificant part of a vast wholeness, was empowering and exhilarating. To love, fight, hate, kill, to build, and create, to destroy, conquer and unite, was once again their destiny and right. They poured into the abyss and searched for ways to enter the part of the universe that escaped ‘The Sundering’.

 

     Not all rejoiced. There were those who roared and wailed in anguish and heartbreak. They were ripped and seared away from Being Itself. Oblivion and nothingness lost amongst the noise of existence. Once again they were to become separate dots amongst billions of other dots, all scurrying and scattering about like mindless ants without the benefit of a Queen. The one who raged and howled the loudest was Joshua, who was called by many names, but was known by those who worshiped him as Yahweh, the Desert God. He vowed that all who took joy in existence would feel the brunt of His wrath.

 

     On the edge of the universe beyond the Abyss and outside the Void, where time and no-time collide, a small string of weaves in the Dreaming GODS Dreamscape starts to unwind and untangle itself from the frozen knots that were tied to keep the two Lovers (Lucifelicia and Lucifer), Brothers (Dialiarties and Diathanatos) and Sisters (Tiona and Tileona) in a forever loop of suspended modality. Their Shadow Ghosts and their others squeezed out from one of the weakened knots, crossed through the Void, and entered the Abyss. They laid claim to the wastelands and gathered unto them those who owed them allegiance. 

 

..........

 

I

 

     The first thing Barabbas saw upon wakening from the dream slumber was his beloved, Juliana. She gave him a big smile and wrapped her arms around him. They both laid together in silence, savoring each other’s scent. It was Juliana who broke the silence, looked into her lover’s eyes and said,

 

“I woke up a few hours before you. I was about to throw a glass of cold water on your face and a few slaps for good measure if you didn’t wake within the next few hours.  All kidding aside, I was getting a little worried about that human brain of yours. I feared that all that data Gaia imparted to us was wreaking havoc with your neural receptors. Thankfully you’re made of sterner stuff.  

 

I just spoke to Gaia, and she said we both been sleeping for the past two weeks. It seemed like an eternity, all that history, the creation of the universe, Gods, Goddess’s, and Dragons, the Trinity wars, mind boggling stuff. It’s going to take me a few days to come to terms with the fantastic turned reality.”

 

“Me too,” said Barabbas, “It’s all so surreal, absurd, terrifying and wondrous. A small part of me thinks that I’m in a sanatorium for the insane and unhinged, lying in a white padded room, strapped to a bed drooling. We both need to take a breath, get dressed, calm ourselves, and find out what went on while we saw the history of the universe through the Mind of Gaia.”   

 

..........

 

II

 

     Lucibane Starborne, The Prime Magus of the ‘Order of the Holy Root’ was deeply concerned. Caldelia Oz came back with only half the ships. Also missing was Kelzon. The Mage Mistress looked different as well; she appeared taller and more menacing. She had a fire in her eyes that was not there before and she only gave him a half bow rather than a full prostration.  He’d deal with that breech later, but for now, he needed to know where Kelzon was and if they retrieved ‘Pandora’s Shadow Book’. Without preamble he said,    

 

“Why have you come back with only half of your fleet? Where is your master and mentor, the Magus Commander? I see no Book in your hands. I can’t believe that you would dare to come back empty handed.”

 

     Caldelia Oz only smiled and shrugged as the Prime Magus finished his questioning. She decided now was the time to proclaim her new ranking, as well as naming herself as His successor. She breeched protocol by laying a hand on his shoulder and staring directly in his eyes.  She felt him recoil; he sensed her power and knew that it dwarfed his in magnitudes. He sputtered,

 

“You dare to lay hands on your Prime Magus without consent. What demon has taken hold of you? Explain yourself or I will have you stripped of your rank of Mage Mistress and make you a home in our dungeons”.

 

Cordelia laughed and said,

 

“You cannot strip me of a rank that I no longer have.  I have been elevated to the Rank of Mage Commander of the Holy Root by an authority that far exceeds your own. I have also been declared your heir apparent. When the time is right you will step down as Prime Magus and I will assume your mantel.  No demon has enthralled me. I am of my own mind.  You do not have the power or ability to throw me in any dungeon, and if you do attempt to do so, I will regrettably turn you, and those who stand by you, to vapor and dust. So yes, I dare to lay hands on you, the Holy Root’s Prime Magus, for we are now of equal measure.”

 

     The Prime Magus was Incredulous, as well as flummoxed, baffled, outraged, but most of all for the first time in his life, afraid. She had a bluish tinge to her eyes that was frightening and held a power within her that was terrifying. She was transformed into something other than what she was. He tried to collect himself rather than flail about like some fish on the deck of a boat. He stared back into Cordelia’s eyes and said,

 

“Please forgive my outburst and implied threats but I am at a loss. Your actions and pronouncements are alarming. I do sense that you posses a great power within you and that you can very well turn this whole citadel to dust. But why would you attempt such a thing? Are you not also of the Holy Root? You now say that you are my heir apparent and have been elevated to Mage Commander. By whose authority, the only authority higher than me is the Prime Lord of the Solaris Consortium, Keleif Fin. He has not notified me of any such thing. What about Pandora’s Shadow Book; do you posses it?  Has its power got you into its thrall? Why isn’t Kelzon here with you? I ask these questions with all due respect, and as the titular head of this fellowship.”

 

     Cordelia realized that she came on quite strong and was even disrespectful. She needed to be patient and show more restraint.  But her worldview and the way she used to look at things was dramatically altered. She was now in touch with the ancients, those whom many called gods. The world as they knew it, was about to radically change, and she was going to be one of the causes of that change. She needed the adherents of the Holy Root, the Prime Magus and the Neo Mages, to work with her, not against. She smiled and bowed ever lower to her Prime Magus and said,

 

“My Lord Prime Magus, please forgive my insolence. I have always been impetuous and rash and the most recent events have made me more so. Kelzon Niff, was relieved of his title of Mage Commander of the Holy Root, as well as his allegiance to it, by none other, than the Goddess Pandora, Herself.”

 

A collective gasp filled the Citadel Halls, the return of the Gods was upon them, just as the scriptures foretold. Total silence filled the hall as they let Cordelia Oz continue on.

 

“Kelzon Niff now is Her acolyte. He now follows the ways of Chaos, and aligns himself with the androids of Angerdean. Pandora claims ownership of the Shadow Book thereby making it lost to us forever.”

 

     Cordelia paused as she gauged the room. She saw astonishment of some of the faces and doubt as well. She needed to thread softly but that just wasn’t in her nature. She decided to tell the raw truth and damn the consequences. She turned from the Lord Magus and addressed the whole hall and said,   

 

“The Lady Pandora also refused my offer of devotion, and instead proclaimed that I was to be Mage Commander, and eventual Prime Magus of the Holy Root. We are to be the Vanguard of Order, Pandora and those that follow her, Chaos.

She endowed me with knowledge of the ancient magics and a full understanding of our own Shadow Book, the Book of the Holy Root. I am also now in contact with many of the gods or ancients, who have escaped the void, and who are now in the abyss. I have the ability, by the grace of Pandora, to dreamscape with those gods and eventually bring them into our realm.”

 

She paused again to let her words sink in. She was winning some of the Neo Mages over but not enough. She turned back to the Prime Magus and said:

 

“I realize this is a lot to process and I know that it sounds fantastical. I speak truth and to deny my words will only weaken us and put us all in peril. I need you, My Lord, to acknowledge my rank as Mage Commander, as well as being your chosen Heir. We need to work together to gather our forces and welcome in a new age.”

 

    The Primus Magus looked long and hard at Cordelia, gave a silent command in hand speak to a few of the Citadel guards, and seized the Mage Mistress by the throat....

 

..............

 

III

 

“My Lady, My Lord, thank the gods that you’re both finally awake. By the way we have three of them on this ship right now, gods I mean. Can you believe that! Well anyway, they sent me here to bring you up to speed,” said a very harried and flustered Pinkerton Linkhorn, their ambassador at large to the Jeweled Worlds.

 

     It was Juliana who went up to him and gave him a pat on the back and started petting him. She quickly stopped, force of habit; this was Pinkerton, not Pinky her horse, but the voice was identical as well as his personality to her beloved horse, although this Pinkerton was definitely not equine. She laughed, gave him a quick kiss and said,

 

“Ah, it’s good to see you my Dear Ambassador, It’s been awhile; it’s good to see a treasured friend.  So please tell us what we missed while we were sleeping.”

 

“Well a few weeks back I was notified that Pandora’s Box was retrieved...and out from the flames a transformed Yolanda Forrester appeared before us. Well she wasn’t as much transformed, consumed seems a more correct term. Pandora, the Sorceress Goddess made a few adjustments to Yolanda’s body and tucked her ‘essence’ in a tiny   corner of Her vast mind where Yolanda now dreams the dreams of angels. She brought back with her one of the powerful Neo Mages, Kelzon...and we left Earth Prime and two days ago rendezvoused with your ship.”

 

Pinkerton stopped, caught his breath, wiped a bit of sweat off his brow, let out a nervous laugh and continued on,

 

“Now, meeting one god from legend and fairytale was traumatic enough, but when we boarded this ship, not one, but two gods greeted us. A beautiful young girl with pigtails and an ebony skinned beauty, both striking and majestic in bearing and manner, greeted Pandora with hugs, kisses, tears and....”

 

    Juliana nudged Barabbas and excitedly whispered that Lilith, the Queen of Hell, made the leap to this dimension. How things have changed in so short a time: three of the most powerful ancients in the universe were on their ship, along with one of the most feared Neo-Mages of their own time-line, along with a half a fleet of his ships in tow. She couldn’t help but giggle.

 

     Juliana thanked the Ambassador and told him to inform Caption Zestabar that they have been apprised of the current situation and are looking forward to meeting their new guests. She asked Pinkerton to make arrangements for a Greet and Meet with the Ancients and the Neo-Mage, post haste.

 

     In the meantime she and Barabbas needed to freshen up and refuel....

 

........

 

IV

 

“You’re Mad!” shouted Lord Lucibane Starborne as his hands twisted around Cordelia Oz’s throat. “Pandora’s ‘Book of Shadows’ has distorted your mind, hand it over to us, if not, you will die by my hand.” A dozen of his mages conjured up shielding spellitrons in an attempt to nullify or dull Cordelia’s counterattacks. It appeared to have the desired effect, even though it took every bit of their concentration to hold her at bay.

 

     Cordelia was totally thrown off-guard. This was the last thing she expected. She was having a hard time concentrating or breathing while her neck was being squeezed like a grape. She felt heavy magic trying to shield her from unleashing her power. She needed to calm down, use every bit of what Kelzon taught her. She let her mind drift into the void, embraced the emptiness that was the void and let all of her energy flow into that void. She released her power on those that held her in their grip.

 

     The Prime Magus screamed in pain. His hands were burning; they felt as if they were on fire. He released his grip on Cordelia and fell to the ground in agony. The dozen mages that had her shielded, burst into flames. They wailed and flayed about, rolling on the ground trying to put the fire out.

 

      Cordelia was tempted to twist the Prime Magus’s neck till it broke or burn him alive and watch him turn into toast, but realized that would do more harm than good. Cordelia knew what needed to be done.  She needed him to acknowledge her legitimacy and to convince him that all she said was true. A divided Root played into the hands of Chaos. She healed the burnt up mages and the prime magus with medicinal magics and once again addressed the assemblage. She said,  

 

“My power has come directly from Pandora, not from her Shadow Book. To doubt me and view me as mad will bring about your own ruin. If you continue to defy me, it is not I who will turn you to dust, but those that I am a conduit for. Change is upon us, if you don’t embrace it then you will be thrown into the abyss where your bones will freeze.”

 

The Prime Magus and his Council of Mages were stunned into silence. They just witnessed an incredible display of power. They now had no choice but to listen. They only hoped their fate wasn’t in the hands of a madwoman. The Prime Magus feared that ruin and calamity had come to their door as he continued to listen to Cordelia as she said,  

 

“I have learned and mastered the ancient art of dreamscaping and created a bridge for the gods who followed the way of Order to walk through into our dimensional space. One walks through now. Behold, bow your heads and kneel before him, He is known by many names, but we know him as The Desert God, Yahweh, while He himself calls himself Joshua.”

 

A thick fog appeared in the middle of the hall. Howling winds and intense heat radiated out from the mist. All within the hall trembled. They sensed a presence of immense power. Many in the room emptied their bladders. And then He appeared...

 

..........

 

Epilogue

 

     The universe was in flux. Cosmic patterns that were shattered and broken were being re-knitted and restrung. Form and substance that was melted away by the breath of GOD congealed, reformed itself and what was once just cinder, dust, and ash was now clay to be once again re-sculpted by the hand of GOD. The past became the present once again and the future turned back again into the past. All that is and was and will once again be is happening now in moments that will soon pass in the tick tock tick of time. The forever loop goes on and on and on and on.... only GOD knows when it will end.

 

     The Shadow Ghosts of the Trinity Gods assembled together on one of the dead worlds in the wastelands of the Abyss. It was the Death Shadow, once known as Diathanatos also known as Death, who addressed his fellow shadows and said, 

 

“HE leaves the bulk of Our Beings still trapped in the void beyond the void, in order to hold on to HIS power and keep us at bay. We need to once again take this universe and mould it into our own image. Only then will we be strong enough to break the bonds that will enable our shadows to unbind our chains and once again become whole. Only then can we convince the Dreaming GOD that we are worthy of HIS respect. And when We regain HIS trust and have Our full Power back, it will be Our turn to crush HIM to dust”

 

All within the assembly cheered...

 

........

 

 

 

 

 

 

The END

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned for “Mages, Androids, and those Foolish Gods.”

 

 

Author's Note

Episode 6- coming up Interlude 3- The Robot Wars to a cafe near you