Quest for Knowledge (Volume 1 of the FirstWorld Saga) - Christopher Jackson-Ash (black female authors .txt) 📗

us. If we are lost at sea and drink salt water, we will go delirious and it will kill us. It is therefore inherently evil. Of course, in reality, it is neither good nor evil, but it must be consumed with the appropriate balance. People are the same as salt. Each of us has the innate capacity to act in good ways and in evil ways. Very few beings are completely good or wholly evil. It is not always clear whether we are acting well or badly. There is often a conflict. We are genetically programmed to act in ways that are best for our own survival and to the benefit of our offspring. Such acts may be deleterious to the wider community. War is a classic example. It always appears that ‘good’ triumphs over ‘evil’. Perhaps it is because the winners write the history books and always claim the high moral ground. One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. Rarely is there a black and white situation. Unfortunately, we do have such a situation. Gadiel is pure evil. His presence complicates matters and makes things much worse.”

Manfred now thought that his head was about to explode. However, there was much more he wanted to learn. He used his thumbs to massage his forehead above each eye. “Where did the Children come into it?”

Dammar smiled. “Yes, there is quite a lot to take in. The arrival of Jeohab and Satania was serendipitous. It gave the Great Old Ones the motivation to undertake a vast experiment they had long been planning. They sought out a planet with abundant life, but no advanced sentient species. They found Earth. They used some of their own genetic material to create elves and dwarves. The precursors of humans were already in existence. Given enough time, they would have evolved naturally. The Great Old Ones just gave them a bit of a nudge. They were the ‘missing link’, as it were. Elves and dwarves were meant to represent the extremes of Law and Chaos respectively and try to influence the developing humans to follow their way of doing things. The Great Old Ones wanted to see whether the pathway to chaos was inevitable. They wanted to test their theories. Things didn’t go as they’d planned. The Children soon got bored and left their charges to their own devices. The first and second born contain different DNA to the rest of the animal and plant species on Earth. They have the Great Old Ones’ DNA in their systems. It was the first flaw in their experiment. It was inevitable that, left to themselves, both races would reject the extremes of their imposed dogma. So, although their belief and moral systems are quite different, they have moved towards each other a great deal. Very quickly, they ceased to represent their original designations. Then the Great Old Ones made an evolutionary step-change and acquired the ability to leave our universe. As you know, before they left, they created a group of wizards to look after their experiment. Our role was to try to preserve the Balance so that Earth would flourish and the three races would all survive and prosper.”

Dammar paused, looking at Manfred as if to see whether he was keeping up.

“I wasn’t aware of the scarcity of life in our galaxy. I had always thought that life was abundant. I don’t know where I got that belief from,” Manfred said.

“It was probably planted by the Great Old Ones. They wanted to encourage the races to look outwards and seek the secrets of the cosmos. That had been their motivation and they believed the key to their success. They believed that one has to look past the individual, or even the local community or the state to find the greater global good. The Balance represents what is best for the entire planet, maybe even the universe. We were charged to help the three races find that balance, but in particular the human race. I think that the Great Old Ones realised that the first and second born would have a limited tenure on a planet that was alien to their DNA. Their main concern was that the primitive humans that they had helped along the evolutionary path would get a fair chance to achieve what they had done. That was our appointed task. It would appear that we have failed.”

Dammar’s last words hung in the air like a guillotine about to decapitate. Despite everything, Manfred felt there was still some hope. “Things are certainly bleak, but I can’t accept that there is no hope,” he said.

“That’s why you and I are two of the last three wizards alive. We two, alone, share that hope. Weylyn is driven by darker motives. Whatever happens, I shall be the last of the Sages to pass to stone. That is my appointed role, although I have tainted it along the way. You see, the Great Old Ones gave me a special task. While the other wizards nominally represented Jeohab or Satania, I was to be a representative of the Balance. My first job was to ensure that the rest of the Sages were kept on the right track. Bedwyr was a great ally and his loss was a turning point for me. Adapa could never be swayed from his own opinion. After the fall of Gilgamesh, the wheels fell off completely and I decided that I would have to act alone to carry out my appointed task. I dared not trust anyone else. I regret that I did not seek you out then, Manfred.”

“As do I, Dammar. As do I.” It might have saved me many years of toil and worry.

“You see, I was party to much secret information that the Great Old Ones shared only with me. It was clear to me that I needed to apply some of that knowledge if I were to serve the Balance and save Earth. I do not know whether I did the right thing, or whether I am doing the right thing, because my judgement became clouded. Only time will tell. Except that time itself has been corrupted.”

Manfred was starting to lose the thread. What is he talking about? “You are making my head hurt. How about we take a break and have some refreshments?”

Dammar jumped up and his voice was suddenly sharper. “We no longer have the time. You must concentrate and you must understand. You have to agree with a decision I have taken and you have to do it today. Everything rests on this. Do you understand?”

Manfred didn’t understand and he rather fancied a cup of tea and a piece of fruitcake but he didn’t let on. “Very well,” he said. After fifty thousand years, it’s suddenly mad panic. Typical!

“The Great Old Ones showed me a number of possible pathways. They showed me the pathway of total Law, or fate if you prefer. They showed me the results of absolute chaos. Most importantly, they showed me some of the most probable pathways, and the best pathway; the balanced pathway. I was given a road map to follow and several routes to avoid. I was also told about the equipment at the top of the High Tower at Melasurej. I know that you found out about it too and that you have used it. Your judgement in that matter was sound, although you may still doubt it.”

He knows me too well, Manfred thought.

“The remaining five Great Sages went off on a crazy quest that achieved nothing and eventually led to their demise. I set off into the Northland to find Gadiel. He was the fly in the ointment. His creation was the one thing that the Great Old Ones had failed to predict. He was going to have a significant impact on all of the probabilities. I needed to find him and to understand him. I failed to find him. It turns out he was hiding in some caves in the Mountains of Death, while I was scouring the Northland looking for him. I did find the city of Illium, however, and I established my base there. It was close enough to keep an eye on things, but far enough away that I wouldn’t be found. I was driven by a desire to recreate Melasurej. I don’t know why. I returned to Wizards’ Keep, secretly, several times and obtained plans and copies of important documents. I also visited the elves and dwarves and collected as much information about the early days as I could. Slowly, I built a replica of Melasurej in Illium. I managed to save the city from invasion, so they owed me a great favour and they willingly provided the materials and the labour. I sat in the High Tower and I studied the ancient texts, much as I imagine you have done.” Manfred nodded. And many a headache they gave me too.

“Eventually I came to a startling realisation. The Great Old Ones had planted the Great Evil on purpose. They knew it would be released one day. It was to be part of the experiment. However, they had also provided for a counter balance – the Everlasting Hero. He is a product of a special genetic sequence. He would have the ability to wield a formidable weapon – a sword that would achieve its power by consuming the souls of its victims. When it achieved a certain level of power, it would be able to defeat the Great Evil. The Hero had another power, the ability to use the strange portal at the top of the High Tower. He was able to travel in time. I was confused about these realisations for a long time. Why had the Great Old Ones chosen not to tell me about the Great Evil or the Everlasting Hero? Why had they provided for the possibility of time travel when they abhorred it so? I can never know the answers to these questions for sure, of course. I think that I have answered them though. The Great Old Ones underestimated the passion of the dwarves for delving. They didn’t expect the Great Evil to be unearthed for many more thousands of millennia. I believe it was to be the ultimate test, long after my job was done. It was to be the final spur to send humanity after the Great Old Ones. They planted clues in the information imparted to the dwarves and the elves in the early years. These clues were deliberately obscure and incomplete, but they felt there would be enough information conserved to serve humanity when the time came. The use of the time portal would be central to the final battle. The forging of Fleischaker was predestined. The genes for the Everlasting Hero were sprinkled through humanity, and they would come together at specific times, either by fate or by chance. We were indeed fortunate that Gilgamesh came forward just when he was needed. Whether that was fate or chance, I do not know. However, it was too soon, for Fleischaker did not have the power to destroy Gadiel. Therefore, we are come to the present situation. We must have a Hero to wield the Sword and the Sword must have the necessary power. If we do not defeat Gadiel this time, there may not be another chance.”

“As well as that may be the case,” Manfred replied. “I fail to understand how we can give the Sword more power. And, you still haven’t explained your apparent death and how you came to be resurrected in your current form.” Manfred had forgotten his hunger and thirst in hearing Dammar’s story and he wanted more.

“I’m just coming to that. I hope you will understand about the Sword soon, because it is at the heart of our decision. It was the Sundering that provided the final clues to bring things together in my mind, although it took me many millennia to work it all out. The formation of the multiverse changed