Zeus 25 - Praxis

22 - Terpsicore

On his first visit to the House of Fire and Light, Zeus and Hermes 24 rode horseback, a new experience for Zeus that he loved. They met the Grand Mage, Theodoros, who showed them the furnaces that smelted iron and other ores dug by Goldmen from the Well of Rocks in the courtyard of the House of Rock and Air. Smelted copper was combined with tin imported from the Hook, or zinc, or lead to make ingots of brass or bronze.

This was the first place on Olympus that reminded Zeus of HaziKan's industrious lower workrooms. When they were alone, riding back to the House of Law and Punishment, he asked a favor of Hermes 24. "Since I will be in charge of the House of Fire and Light in a few years, could I appoint someone now to apprentice with Theodoros so that when I take up my rule, I will have that person ready to be Grand Mage?"

"You already have someone in mind?"

"Master Mage Izador, of Apollo's Guild in Argos, was more responsible than anyone for my becoming Zeus 25, and I would like to reward him."

"Certainly," Hermes 24 agreed, "but only put people in such positions if you're sure of them. Not everyone has good motives when helping others to power."

"In this case, I'm confident Izador's goals align with mine."

"Then we'll send an Airman immediately to bring him from Argos and install him as Theodoros's apprentice."

#

The following week, after Izador had assumed his new role, Hermes 24 informed Zeus that AvoDar's Blessing would be arriving the next day and invited him to a session at the Sphere of Life with, Zenon, the Grand Mage of the House of Law and Punishment.

Zeus had already seen the huge wooden sphere where mages created the Orb of Death, but apparently something different occurred when AvoDar's Blessing arrived.

The prior demonstration had been of a mage chanting the Word of Capture where a huge green sphere of lightning coalesced into a large silver Orb that you could hold in your hand. Of course, no one in their right mind would hold an Orb of Death in their hand for long, and Hermes 24 had tucked it away immediately in his belt of power where the Orb's natural magnetos bound it to the iron preventing unwrapping. Even Hermes 24 could be killed by an Orb of Death unwrapping prematurely. "Why do they call it the Sphere of Life if it creates an Orb of Death?" Zeus asked.

"This sphere can sustain life or provide the means to end life," Hermes said, which was no explanation at all.

Skipping the Grand Council meeting that day, Hermes and Zeus had joined Zenon at the great wooden sphere where a stream of Claymen were finishing packing baskets of vegetables and boxes of fresh fruit into every bit of space on the wooden platform that seemed to float within the sphere a few feet below the midline entrance.

After the room had been cleared and they were alone, Zeus turned to Zenon, "You're going to electrocute fruit and vegetables?" Zeus said, amazed at what was going on.

"Today, at exactly an hour before midday, AvoDar's Blessing arrives," Zenon explained, "and the Word of Capture will work differently. The same green sphere that you saw create an Orb of Death will take this harvest of life-giving food outside of time itself, preserving it as it is at this moment in a golden Orb of Matter. If the Orb is unwrapped in the middle of winter, or in a thousand years, the food will be exactly as you see it now. This building holds hundreds of harvests stored in this way and could withstand a siege that lasted decades." After saying this, Zenon moved to a small round window in the room to consult the sundials in the courtyard.

"It's time," he said, after observing the sundials for a few minutes.

Zenon walked to the center of the sphere on a narrow path that had been left between the stacked produce and faced Hermes 24 and Zeus. He chanted "Al...Jaaaaaaaav...." and returned, turning to intone, "Ra." As the green sphere burst forth about the harvest, a second green sphere blossomed to match the first as AvoDar's Blessing arrived, and the entire platform of food seemed to twist and shrink at the same time. With a clap, a small golden Orb of Matter appeared at the center of the wooden sphere and dropped to the bottom. The food and the floor beneath it were gone. Air rushed past Zeus in a brief puff to fill the void created by the items that had vanished.