Dark Lady Rising

Chapter 26

          She had been riding for days before she finally approached the Kenroshan border. She had bought a second horse, walking Monare for a half hour, riding him for a half hour and then switching to the brown gelding. In this way, she didn't significantly exhaust either beast. But she wasn't sleeping much these days. Although she needed little rest, days of near-continuous riding were taking their toll on both animals. Monare was leaner than ever before. She promised to fatten him up as soon as they got back to Charnell. The gelding would not survive.

She had used her time in the saddle wisely however, studying the spirit in the wand. It had taken a lot of patience and practice but she could now make the captured soul talk to her. Slowly, the story she was looking for began to emerge. The spirit still resisted for he was incredibly strong - Kellara granted him that. But he was trapped forever, waiting upon her pleasures. At least her head didn't ache as much now when she played with him.

His name had been Kadu, but Kellara just called him "priest." What he told her was intriguing. The gods were not omnipotent beings creating and ruling the world as most people thought. She remembered what J'aror had told her. As far as she could tell, these creatures who called themselves gods were not really gods. They were something else...something less.

What the priest explained to her, was only his conjecture. But she believed him. He theorized that there was a powerful entity or being at the centre of everything. Kind of like a king on a throne, overlooking all creation.

This Being, was not really like a king however, but more like a giant fire burning brighter and hotter and more powerfully than anything a mere mortal could comprehend. Nothing could survive near this thing; it was that powerful. So this Being created a series of veils or curtains around itself to help reduce some of its energy from hurting the life forms around it.

As the energy passed through the first veil, it was reduced to a more tolerable level. As it passed through the second veil, it was reduced even further. The energy passing through each veil was less than that of the one above but greater than the one below. The further away from the searing energy one got, the more creatures could survive there. The more powerful creatures could survive closer to the energy source. So the gods were more powerful than the mortals of her realm, but less powerful than the beings from realms above theirs.

What Kellara refused to accept however was that this Centre Being sustained everything beneath it with its energy. The priest explained that each level received energy from the one above and gave energy to the one below. Like a linked chain, each piece in the link affected what came before and what came after. She didn't like the thought of owing her existence to the gods, or the gods above them. It did however confirm what J'aror had told her – what was it he had said? As above, so below. The gods could affect the realm beneath them, but that realm could also affect what was above.

If this were true, it meant that Kellara could accomplish her mission by ascending from her realm to the realm of the gods. Perhaps even beyond. Unfortunately, she still had no idea how to do that.

She learned other things too, about the gods. She learned of the Godly Wars where the creatures in the realm above hers fought and toiled with each other to obtain the energy emanating from the realm above theirs.

Then she heard the story of how Sela the White brought peace to the gods by showing each of them how to receive as much energy as they wished. With unlimited energy at their disposal, the gods had no further need to fight amongst themselves and instead turned their attention to improving the lives of those beneath them. They began exerting their influence, spreading the energy made available to them to the realm below – Kellara's realm. That was when the mortals of her world were first introduced to the gods above them.