TC2

1

Ice pinched the equatorial latitudes of Kemen in three places, leaving three unfrozen  swaths of  roughly equal  length. Each land in the Slush Belt was some two thousand  leagues long but only a hundred  leagues from  north to  south. The ice bridge between the East and West Lands was the thinnest of the three, and in the centuries to come it would be the first to melt. But the earliest  explorers  despaired of  crossing  four  hundred leagues of treacherous crevasse-ridden ice and turned back.

The first travelers to succeed in crossing the ice bridge waded through swamps that may have run another  four hundred leagues for all anyone knew, as none found their way to the outflow of the vast bog  that was the source of the  River Loenna. Yet the West Lands could still  be reached by  traveling the  long way around the world. As elyonim and nephilim multiplied on Kemen humans of original stock crossed two other barriers  of ice to reach a fer- tile land they called Sala.

The Gold Beards of Sala developed an enduring culture unique in Kemen, based  on  the  Ringhouse. This was  a  common  wooden dwelling with eighty peo- ple at the center of  a small circle of cultivated fields. Along the rim of  this circle  a dozen footpaths entered the forest,  but only half  of these  led to another Ringhouse some leagues away. The rest dwindled to game trails or dead-ended in a grove of lethal  whipping trees. The wealth of the whole land of Sala was scattered in this way.

No Adanite would cross the ice  and the swamp for  such meager booty. What combat, such as it was, came against the capital of Saharad. There were  periodic  raids by  the  Red  Beards  of Gerazan, and more frequently Rimmon appeared to both sides with the newest Adanite arms and left  with their gold. But in the main the men and women of Sala embraced Hamon's teachings to an extent that rivaled the Salemites. Yet Hamon hymself had never visit- ed Saharad. To Lilith's mind that  raised a  pressing problem.

When Lilith experienced the portal travel that  four times had whisked her brother  between worlds,  and beheld  Saharad, she remembered how few in the land of Sala knew  her by sight, and Hamon none at  all. "What do you  imagine they  will do  when strange elyonim  arrive at the  city gate demanding to  see the queen?"

"I imagine they will throw  us in  chains. But I  have already given  some thought  to  this, dearest  one.  My covenant  with Shemhazai makes only the land of Adan forbidden to my avatar."

So it came to pass that Saharad, that great capital city of the land of Sala, knew the terror  of the coming of  the avatar of Bat-El upon  jets of fire from  the very heart of  Earth's sun. And when it had safely touched down upon a field of unoccupied land outside of the  gates of  the city  and the  flame ceased Hamon walked to stand near it,  and Lilith went with  him with baby Laylah in her arms. It was there the guards  of the city found them when they had summoned the courage to approach.

To a man the Gold Beards they were proud subjects of a powerful queen, Aur-  ra  Firegem,  which  thing  would  be  absolutely unthinkable to  the  Adanites. Queen Firegem  canceled  what audience her courtiers had  prepared for  that day  to receive instead her unannounced visitors.

With her husband Duke Evander  the two made an  imposing pair, but the queen was not beautiful in the eyes of many men, as she was broad of face and frame. Her skill with the bow was said to be unmatched anywhere on Kemen.

Lilith felt a  little awed  in the  queen's presence. Setting Hamon aside, Queen Firegem  (or at the  very least,  the Queen Firegem that was  depicted in the words of those  who knew her) was the greatest influence in  her life. But a more important thing was pressing. Lilith said, "Your Majesty, I re- gret to say my father and my brother were slain by their own kinsmen on a single day. Even as I speak  the city of Salem is trampled by the Eyes of Shemhazai and forces loyal to King Rimmon of Adan."

The queen was shocked almost  beyond the capacity  for speech. When she found her voice she could only gasp,  "How could this come to be?"

"Hashmal Malphas killed  my father  in a  most cowardly  way," answered Lilith. "He appeared even as Hamon tells me Shemhazai has  appeared  before  you,  by that  bridge  in  reality  only Seraphim can summon. He appeared  behind my fa- ther's back and struck off his head without warning.  He left no chance for the king to defend himself. But I will avenge my father."

After the queen had absorbed this she said,  "And your brother Melchizedek? How did he die?"

Hamon spoke for Lilith  here. "Your Majesty, Melchizedek knew King Rimmon  had brought  overwhelming force against  his city, and a siege  was immanent. He deemed, correctly,  that no edict the king  of Adan would likely  impose upon the elyonim  of the city  for  their  long  defiance  could  be  worse  than  their starvation. He went  willingly to the enemy  camp and Shemhazai admits he died quickly and cleanly."

"Your Majesty, King  Rimmon has  already appointed  a governor over  the city,  and he  has levied  a heavy  tax. The  Eyes of Shemhazai multiply almost as fast as do the mournful edicts and the checkpoints,  and none  may depart. And  yet for  all that, Queen Firegem,  Rimmon has  utterly failed, because  a daughter and a granddaughter  of King Melchiyahu remain  alive, and both have slipped away from his grasp. I hold Lilith to be the Queen of Salem in ex- ile. Rimmon will come for her."

Duke Evandr Firegem was moved to speak. "Do you seek safety for your family Lord Hamon? We are eager to have  you live with us here in Saharad, and if our city  is not to your liking you may dwell anywhere in the land of Sala."

"I thank you, Sire, but my family aside King Rimmon is pursuing other exiles from Salem even into the land of the Brown Beards. Were I to do nothing to stave off the war that must follow King Galizur would no more welcome them in Rumbek than Rimmon would in Salem."

The duke said in  reply, "Lord  Hamon, if  war comes  to House Larund, know that the men and  women of Kemen hold ourselves to be exiles also, and  Bat- El to be our only  God. We will never turn away any who embrace her."

"I thank you,  Sire,"  said  Hamon, "and  I  thank you,  Queen Firegem. But  if war comes it  will not stop at  Rumbek. Rimmon means  to overawe  the kingdoms  of Kemen  one after  the other before they can  unite to stop him. Think on  this when next he appears before you as a merchant of arms."

2

Azarael and Jael of the Fallen Angels slinked their way through caves and tunnels in the  ice far to  the west of  Salem. Only three of Rimmon's sol- diers ever discovered them. Their bodies were left to be found in such a way that their deaths could be explained as entirely accidental.

There the yen discovered the enemy's main storeroom of meat and grain. Not even Bat-El knew  the exact location of  that cache where it lay under the ice, but she always knew the position of Lilith's headband.

Azarael left the artifact inside a container near the center of the cache in such a way that it would not likely be discovered, even if the storeroom were actively being drawn down, which to her eyes it was not.

After that she and Jael moved some distance away. They went far down one of the tunnels radiating from the  central space like wheel spokes,  there to  remain  until  such  a time  as  they detected (as Hamon  described  it, using  what  he warned  was extreme understatement) a disturbance.

"This is not a  suicide mission,"  Hamon assured  Lilith's two spies when he briefed them. They would not have to  wait for long. Lilith rejoined the main body of the Fallen Angels where they camped east of the pass.

Lilith's spies could live upon the bounty of stores but it was always cold. Fortunately they had  a nice  remedy that  never seemed to get tiresome. In the cozy little rat's nest they made for themselves Jael slipped  nude be-  tween fur  blankets and purred to Azarael to come to her.

3

When the Fallen Angels forced the entrance of the ice cache the Adanites fell  back  in  good order  to  the  central  chamber while dealing out fire. There they made a stand  that seemed impossible to break. As the Fallen An- gels emerged from each tunnel the enemy  commander, Bezaliel,  shifted sol-  diers to meet the threats  as they appeared. Lilith found it impossible to attack the core simultaneously from more than  a handful of tunnels since  the cross  tunnels were few  and the  enemy knew them well.

Raphaela spied a drop of water rolling down Lilith's cheek. Her lieutenant was  shocked at  the  sight  of this,  and  steeled herself to rebuke her queen. It was one thing to feel despair during a battle, it was quite another to allow that despair to be visible to underlings. But then a large drop of water landed square on Raphaela's own head. She looked up to see many such drops were falling from  the dimly-illuminated ceiling  of ice far overhead. As she watched, the drops became a true rain.

The ceiling began to glow with a light of its own and a steady thunder grew. Lilith ordered the Fallen Angels to disengage and fall back into the  tunnel. The roof of  the ice  cave glowed orange before  exploding,  with  the  more  fortunate  Adanite defenders killed by  house-sized chunks  of ice  and the  less fortunate ones boiling alive.

The avatar of Bat-El drilled into the supply cache with all six engines skewed, spouting fire from the heart of Sol and turning the ice directly to steam.

Falling ice melted to  water, the water  boiled away,  and the bodies of len were crisped by raw flame until even their ashes were scattered away.

Lilith and her lieutenants walked to the ragged end of several tunnels and looked down, trying to comprehend the chaos of the scene below even as the avatar abruptly fell silent.

Far across the chamber at the entrance to another tunnel stood Azarael and Jael, both quite safe. The applause of the two yen echoed across the newly quiet space.

Lilith dropped to  the lowest  level  and spoke  to the  inert avatar. "Hamon, if Laylah is  in there with you,  you're dead. And if you left her alone  in Anshar where Shemhazai can get at her by portal you're twice as dead!"

The avatar of Chokhmah began to shrink before her eyes until it was a white faceless figure  with a  head, arms, and  legs. It said, "Do give me some credit, Lilith."

Lilith had quite forgotten  that Bat-El  could fly  her avatar perfectly well without anyone riding inside.

4

When the ordinary  force Adanite  army reached  the garrisoned cache, now en- tirely in shambles, the len of the vanguard were ordered to line the walls of the central chamber at attention, for King Rimmon, the living avatar of Shemhazai and Lord of all Kemen was come. After he surveyed the damage he bade the len to rise.

Malphas said, "My  Lord,  look what  the  she-demon Lilith  has done!"

Rimmon looked at the violet sky visible through  a gaping hole in the cave ceiling. "No, this was Bat-El. But, Malphas, it was also partly your own doing."

Malphas became fearful and quickly looked at his feet. "The Lord forbid!"

"When you negotiated the  no-go zone  for Bat-El's  avatar you were tricked into  excluding the ice. You must  take great care when making covenant with a seraph. Every word carries import."

The king commanded a brigade of  hyz army to set  the garrison back in order while Rimmon, Malphas, and the bulk of the force rode west into the lands of House Larund to  pursue the Fallen Angels.

During the ride Malphas ever prattled on  about the wickedness of Lilith, annoying Rimmon to the extreme, yet  he did nothing to silence his lieuten-  ant. Lilith was indeed  his foremost enemy in Kemen, and heretofore Malphas had badly underestimated her. It was well that he stoked his own fears now.

When the Adanite expedition-in-force emerged from  the ice and the underly- ing  hills to  reach the  flats of  Magodon, like numbers of Brown Beards stood across the path of their advance. Two soldiers of the House of Larund ad- vanced alone under flag of truce.

King Rimmon wore no emblem  of rank. His raiment was that of a  common  foot- soldier  and  no  banner  flew over  him,  yet the envoys from  the Larund  side galloped  toward the  Seraph unerringly.

Then Rimmon saw one herald was Lilith herself.

The other  wore  a  brass  helmet  but  when  he  drew  nearer Rimmon identified him as Ophan  Barachiel. Both hy and Lilith dismounted and sank to  both knees,  bowing deeply  before the living avatar of Shemhazai with their hands open.

For Malphas to see his personal monster Lilith crouching before him on  her  haunches,  with  her head  offered  as  though  a sacrifice to Rimmon, was too  much. He stepped forward with his blade raised and screamed,  "See Lord how  I remove  this dart from your flesh!"

Still crouched upon her knees, Lilith reached  for the Killing Artifact at her  side. Even as  Malphas made  his stroke  the hissing black shaft of Li- lith's own weapon  extended and was raised to meet it. Where it crossed Mal- phas' sword the blade simply was not. The severed tip fell to the ground  as Lilith jumped to her feet.

When she saw that no other attack was forthcoming  she let the hissing black pole retract into the hilt. Then she said, "Has the purpose of our embassy been taken amiss?"

Barachiel said, "Your Majesty, we are come in the  name of the Holy One,  Bat-El, and from  King Galizur, to trade  words with the Lord of Adan, not blows."

King Rimmon said, "Alas, the discipline and honor of my army is lessened of late, to  my great  embarrassment. You  may remedy this,  Princess Lilith.  Be- hold,  Malphas is  entirely within your power."

Malphas was horrified that  his own god  delivered him  to his worst night- mare. With no hesitation  Lilith struck  off the Killing Relic and flourished the black shaft.

Lilith stood well away from her victim, touching  the shaft to his arms and  legs here and there, letting all  to see how easy it was for her to turn a lan into a limbless ruin. His agonized screams did not last long. He bled out at her feet.

"Your blade," said Rimmon. "I've not before seen the like."

"Your Majesty, this is the weapon of a Salemite cherub. Bat-El give it to  my brother Melchizedek, and by heritage  it came to me."

Her meaning was clear. She was a queen, not a princess. But in truth she was really a  seraph of the  same order as  Hamon or even Rimmon himself.

"So be it, Queen Lilith, state your piece."

She said, "My Lord. Bat-El is willing to give Belial that which he most desires."

Rimmon said, "You have  not the wit  to comprehend  what Belial craves most."

Lilith said, "Indeed, the courtship of elohim is far beyond the reckoning of elyonim, yet Bat-El has put me in something of the role of  a  chaperone.  You  must please  me  to  please  her. Therefore send  the army of  Adan back  to your own  realm, and come not again save by leave of Galizur the rightful king."

"That is quite impossible, Your Majesty, and you well know it. I never re-  linquish one scrap where my  forces make footfall. This all in Kemen know."

Lilith turned   to  her  companion. "What  say  you,  Prince Barachiel? As touch-  ing oaths the elohim  are never faithless like elyonim or  nephilim or men can be.  King Rimmon's resolve never to retreat  from conquered land would also  hold his army here just as firmly once his word is given."

Rimmon held up his arms. "See how this land is of small worth!"

Barachiel said, "Indeed it is, and I deem my father would give it in ex- change for the word of a seraph that no Adanite boots would  ever across  west. And  if  that seraph's  word one  day proved false that precedent, too, would be worth the land."

"So let it be," said Rimoon.

Lilith struck up the Killing  Relic once  more and dug  a deep trench in the stony ground  between her and the  Adanites. She said, "My Lord King Rimmon, sight ye north and south along this line. Henceforth no soldier of Adan shall be found west of this frontier."

King Rimmon said, "So too shall it be a fence barring yourself and  the  Fallen Angels  from  the  east.  You, and  your  sons daughters after you, shall be  sovereigns in name only, forever in exile, with no city to rule."

"So be it." Lilith uttered words formally sealing the bargain as a covenant between elohim.

Rimmon said, "Are you now sufficiently  pleased, Your Majesty, that we may proceed to the other thing?"

Lilith said, "Assuming King Galizur does ratify our truce there remains the matter of Demonstroke."

"Yes, Your Majesty,  there does  indeed remain  the matter  of Demonstroke." King Rimmon reached over his shoulder to draw the blade strapped to his  back in a  leather sheath,  the diamond sword known by  the name  of  Dragon- thorn. "In Kemen there always remains the matter of Demonstroke."

Rimmon pressed on gems set  in the  hilt and made  the diamond blade to dart this way and that. Then the last dragon in Kemen, Demonstroke, was seen crossing the sky in the  north. The dark shape seemed to grow.

As he  drew  nearer  the  armies  moved  apart,  leaving  only Barachiel, Lilith, and Rimmon standing at the  new border. But soon even Rimmon  backed away  from the  line, and  the others found it prudent to follow his cue.

Lilith was fascinated by the grace of the landing. The wings of Demonstroke spread  to their  full  extent  and he  sank. The dragon's hind legs touched first, then he tipped forward to run on all fours. He slowed to  a stop  and sank  to the  ground directly between the three nobles.

The queen noticed that the beast  did not belch smoke  or even seem to breathe. With the dragon so inert, curiosity overcame her caution. She ad- vanced to touch the creature's  hide and found its scales  did  not merely  resemble  metal, they  were metal. The dragon was not a he nor a she, but an it. Lilith had flown with Hamon enough  times to recognize  the avatar  of an eloah when she saw one.

Rimmon said, "Come, Queen Lilith. Let us have an audience with King Uriel and so complete our bargain."

Apparently there was no chamber inside the articulated machine to ride with comfort. King Rimmon seated himself forward of a horn  on the  dragon's back. Lilith saw that Rimmon,  who was patting his thighs, expected her to sit forward  of him behind another horn. She sighed and took  the indicated  posi- tion, knowing it was the only way to be done of her errand for Hamon.

Demonstroke sprang to  life. Lilith was not  dismayed by  the sensation of sudden  rapid  flight. She had  flown by  avatar before.

As Demonstroke rose into  the air Lilith  looked down  and saw Ophan Barachiel turn west to ride home to his father and carry out his unenviable task of  explaining why he  negotiated away the eastern  hinterlands. She also  saw  the  Adanite  force dispersing to garrison their new province against invaders who would never come.

The dragon's head bent back over Lilith and Rimmon on its long neck. Fire spewed out in  a jet  that propelled the  dragon so high the air became almost too thin to breathe.

Lilith was pushed back against Rimmon, and he  in turn against the bony ridge at the place where the serpentine neck joined to the rest of its body.

Then Demonstroke's head  bent forward  again. It extended its wings and with gentle motions the avatar extended its glide as the wastelands of eastern Magodon rose to meet them underneath. Then, when the tops of trees native to Kemen nearly brushed the belly of Demonstroke it bent its head back again and let loose another long jet of flame.

They chased the two suns out over the sea. Lilith lost count of the drag- on's cycles. As westering Rigilkent sank  below the horizon they glided down to one of the many scattered campfires visible on the island of Sealiah. A party of Brown Beards were preparing to sup around their fire on the moors in the north of the isle when Demonstroke appeared and scattered them all away in abject terror.

When the dragon came to a stop, Rimmon slid  off to check what was cooking, and seemed pleased.

Lilith joined him after  pissing behind  the beast's  bulk and found supper was beef stew made all the more  delicious by her near starvation. She smiled and said, "Will your pet have some? Of course not, with only pulleys and ropes inside!"

"What a clever yen to have guessed  Demonstroke is mechanical. Tell me, Queen  Lilith, did you imagine any  living thing could maintain such a hot fire within itself?"

Lilith shrugged. "At least Bat-El's  avatar has  provision to ride comfort- ably inside."

"Bat-El's avatar can also scatter  Larund len and  steal their food,  but they  would  already  be returning.  Not  so with  a dragon."

Lilith took a deep swig  from one of the  abandoned wineskins. "By the gods you have thought of everything, King Rimmon! What a useful toy!"

"But such a toy I am willing to discard, Your Majesty. Tomorrow we will make a gift of it to King Uriel."

"And when you leave the beast with hem what  is the qualifying stipulation? With you there is always at least one."

"I  will  make   it  abundantly   clear  to   the  king   that world-dwellers  must use  Dragonthorn  to  control the  dragon, which is true. And I will  also impress upon hem that the blade must  only be  touched  by  a virgin  female  or  it will  grow brittle. That  is not  true now  but it will  be true  after we reach Jela- ket."

"I knew it would be something like that! Do you know that Hamon calls you HaSatan?"

"HaSatan? The Accuser?" Rimmon considered it, then he shrugged, because it was entirely warranted.

"No doubt Hamon has also claimed that you are the Students, the ones all elohim are commanded to find. But I  am allowing you, collectively, to build the case  you are not the true Students. You are not the first creatures  of similar kind we have known. There were others,  on worlds circling other suns.  We spoke to them also,  but they did not  heed our wisdom. We  watched them drive themselves  to their  own destruction. The  true Students will lis- ten to our teachings and obey our commandments."

5

The city of Jelaket was the keystone of Kemen. It was a seaport on Thalury and the first step in a staircase ascending the Wall of God. The city was the gatehouse for all goods  moving both east and west through Sastrom and  she grew fat on  the duties levied thereon. Many subjects  in Jelaket  re-  called  when Demonstroke came last and none were happy memories. When Rimmon and Lilith landed in the large outer courtyard of the castle of the Cherub Uriel, near the stables, they  were most unwelcome, but a dragon need never knock.

From the ramparts  of  his castle  Uriel  watched hez  archers assemble in  a  wary  circle  around  the  beast. Two riders dismounted. One che recognized as Cherub Rimmon, but the other, a yan arrayed for war, che  knew not. They conversed with the guard, and one man ran inside. When this soldier ap- peared he said, "Your Majesty, King Rimmon is come. With hym is Queen Li- lith of Salem.  She says  they  have flown  from the  frontier between Magodon and Adan and  they both crave audience with the king."

Uriel said, "And  shall I  treat with  foreign nobility  while their living engine of war skulks within the walls of my castle like a blade over my neck?"

"Your Majesty," said the soldier, "King Rimmon swore the beast would not move  one whit, not even so much  as breathe, so long as he and the queen remain your guests."

Uriel sighed. He knew Rimmon  always coated  his menace  with words of honey. He told the soldier to attend to the needs of his visitors and send for First Minister Makassar.

Uriel met the nobles in hez smaller council  chamber. Che knew the presence of the dragon,  the last remaining alive  and the only one ever to  cast fire,  must portend  some deep  form of humiliation that che would rather keep pri- vate.

At first  glance  First  Minister  Makassar  might  have  been mistaken for the Red Beard king and Uriel merely his son. As a human male, for instance, Makassar  actually had a  red beard, while the actual  sovereign of  House Bel-  lon, a  jen, could barely manage a sparse down.

Lilith and Rimmon both stood  up when they entered,  but Uriel said to them, "I beg you, esteemed ones, be  seated once more. There is no need to observe the usual formalities here."

Makassar remained standing at  the cherub's  side, interposing between Uriel and Rimmon and  armed with a sword. King Rimmon glanced at it and Uriel glanced at Rimmon glancing at it.

Che said, "Forgive the perceived affront, but Makassar tells me that you, at  least, King  Rimmon,  will not  lay your  weapon aside."

Deliberately, with a pace  that gave no  hint of  the violence feared by the king's minister, Rimmon brought the diamond blade into view and  laid it  upon the  table with  the hilt  toward Uriel. Hy said, "Dragonthorn, Your Maj- esty, is  not really a weapon but it  is, rather a talisman with  powerful spells that act as invisible reins upon Demonstroke."

"Then tell me,  King Rimmon,  what does  your dragon  and this blade,  bewitched or  no,  have to  do  with me  or  any of  my subjects here in Jelaket?"

"Your Majesty, the perpetual family squabbles  among the Black Beards do  not concern you, that  much is true, but  should the dragon escape  my control it  would destroy all life  on Kemen. Queen  Lilith proposes  the talisman  that  acts as  a rein  on Demonstroke  should  go  into your  safekeeping.  More  specif- ically, Dragonthorn  should go into  the possession of  a human female who has never known man nor jen nor lan. She must remain pure for all the days she  cleaves to the enchanted blade or it will shatter."

"I will ask only one more  time," said Uriel, "why  do you lay this burden upon House Bellon?"

Rimmon answered, "When I brought humans from the other world I have ever played the natural philosopher, mixing potions to see what happens. Will one maid child break the glassware?"

Lilith spoke  quickly  to  fill the  sudden  awkward  silence. "Everyone on Kemen knows you to be a good and wise ruler, Your Majesty.  Who better  to keep  Demonstroke out  of play  than a consecrated virgin in your own court?"

"Take your talisman, King Rimmon,, and make your offer to Queen Aurra or  King Galizur.  I  am  in  no  mood for  your  veiled threats."

After KUriel uttered hez decision the blade began to glow. Blue and white the  weapon shone  until  it became  so bright  that Uriel, Makassar, and Lilith shielded their eyes. Rimmon simply looked away.

When the glow faded once more Rimmon said, "Behold, the deed is done. Drag- onthorn will shatter  of its own accord  without a damsel's touch, and that soon.

Uriel caught Lilith's eye. "Is this what you intended?"

"I knew only the broad  outline of  what Rimmon wanted  to do, Your Majesty. Not this detail."

Cherub Uriel looked into the eyes  of Rimmon then and  saw the matter was clearly nothing even Queen Lilith could describe as a joke. Che stood up. "Makassar, send for food and wine and see to our noble guests. A grievous errand has fallen  to me and I must be about it."

Uriel was supernaturally patient with hez daughter Dafla, With all civili- zation in Kemen  hanging upon one  slender thread, the king took the  time to  listen to the  girl, who  was only fifteen years of age, as she spoke of last night's dream.

"Beloved parent," said she,  "I dreamed it  was night  and the ground was cov- ered with  sleeping metal children. People came out of the  sky in two tall silver engines  of war that spouted fire, but they wore armor and I could not tell if they were men or women, jin or ambe, yen or len.

"One person picked up a metal child and took it into the first tower. Some-  how I knew  that metal  child was myself,  in the strange way of dreams. The tower  flew into the sky and we were safe. But the second person stayed  be- hind to pick up another child, and somehow  I was also back there  watching them, again in the strange manner of  dreams. That second person was caught by  dark iron  men  who came  and killed  them.  Then I  awoke. Parent, is that not the queerest dream you have ever heard?"

Uriel smiled at  hez  Dafla. 'I shall  interpret your  dream, child. The first person you saw was myself. You feel protected around me, which is a good thought, because in  fact my entire will is bent toward  keeping you safe. The second person was your mother, who wanted to have other children by me, and those were the other little metal  people in  your dream. But as we know, to our grief, she fell victim to poison in her drink, and so was killed by the palace intrigues that never cease here."

"As simple as that, Parent?"

"As simple as that. At night your sleeping mind creates images to express  what you  feel deep  in your  heart. You  are still dealing with your grief. I take solace from the content of your dream that you do not blame me for your mother's death."

"Never, Parent!' Dafla was shocked at the mere suggestion that she would think that, or even dream it.

"If you did blame me,"  che assured  her, "even in  your inner heart, your dream would have been very different."

Uriel stood up, and walked to Dafla's window. Demonstroke still lay idle in the courtyard. "Now we must set aside talk of your dreams, daughter, and our lingering  grief for your mother, and our lamentation  over things we  can never change. Did  you see the dragon?'

"Oh yes, Parent, but only for a little while. Makassar came and locked my window."

"He did so only at my command, that you might  be safe. I have been  speaking with  a  king  and a  queen  who  came with  the creature from Adan."

"Who are they, Parent?"

"One of them is King Rimmon of Adan. He has come here before on a number of occasions. Have you learned something of the elohim from your tutors, Da- fla?"

"Yes, Parent, I learned the elohim are alive but  they are not like  elyonim or  nephilim or  humans.  We see  them as  stars. Bat-El  is really  the star  we call  Nahash, the  head of  the snake. Shemhazai and El are so close  to us that we see them as suns."

"Did your tutors tell you the  elohim can also appear  to us as elyonim?"

"Yes, Parent. They said the  first to  do this was  Bat-El. We know her  as the seraph Hamon.  And they told me  the hot white sun Shemhazai has King Rimmon as his living avatar."

"The same King Rimmon has just spoken with me," said Uriel. "He has brought Queen Lilith  from the  city of  Salem far  to the East. They demanded  to see you, daughter, but truly  I have no wish for you meet them."

Dafla slid off her bed to embrace her parent. "Then send them away! Do you not rule this city absolutely?"

"You do not understand, dearest daughter. Shemhazai's dragon is capable of killing everyone  who lives  in Kemen.  But somehow Queen Lilith  has forced  a bargain upon  him. The  dragon will stay here with us. Demonstroke is  con- trolled by a sword that is also the largest diamond ever to exist. But only one such as yourself can touch it. Only a human female who has never been a wife or a mother. One who must never become a wife or a mother! Now do you  see why I wish  these guests had never  come to our palace?"

"I think I do, Parent."

"In years to come what you must sacrifice will weigh upon your body and mind  as a terrible burden. Yet what  choice do any of us really have?"

"Parent, do you fear that I, at age fifteen,  have no right to decide some-  thing for  the Dafla at  age twenty-five?  Or age fifty-five? Of course I do! That's just me living my life!"

"Such wisdom in a  child," wondered Uriel. "When I hear your words I  hear the voice of  your mother. But come,  let us meet these foreign guests."

Lilith had known early  on that the  king's daughter  would be chosen to  safe- guard  the dragon. Rimmon had conditioned it upon her  celibacy, and Uriel,  for as long che  reigned, could control that absolutely.

Now, once more seeing the diamond blade lying on the table, and knowing King Rimmon had somehow  given it complete  power over the dragon, a gentle deception  suggested itself to  Uriel. It would be a way to make  bearable the heavy lifetime  yoke that was about to be laid upon Princess Dafla.

Che said, "Behold the Dragonthorn, daughter. Take up the weapon and none  shall  have  the  power to  deny  your  least  whim, save  in the  matter in  which  we already  took counsel.  With the  Dragonthorn in  hand the  beast  must obey  you. With  the Dragonthorn in  hand, all my  subjects and even  these foreign- ers  must  obey you.  If  you  so  choose, daughter,  with  the Dragonthorn in hand even I must obey you."

Makassar, Lilith, and Rimmon immediately discerned  what Uriel was doing and none dared to contradict hem.

Then Uriel's daughter did take up the sword, unleashing another light show that impressed  everyone except Rimmon,  who worked it, and Lilith, wife of Hamon, who knew all sorcery to be mere showmanship like the ruse Uriel was carrying out with Dafla.

King Rimmon  said, "The  dragon  Demonstroke  is now  entirely within your pow-  er, Your Highness. Furthermore,  you have the means to  travel anywhere in  Kemen in  a few days  rather than many months, and none outside Sastrom now dare assail you."

Uriel said, "Indeed,  King Rimmon,  I  need not  see you  ever again, peddling the works of Adanite weaponsmiths and departing with the gold of my treas- ury."

Dafla took this as a cue  to put the power  of the Dragonthorn blade to the test. She pointed the tip at King Rimmon and said, "Leave at once, you, on foot if you must, and never return!"

Rimmon rose to his feet.

Dafla pointed the tip at Queen Lilith. "You must leave as well, for your part in bringing my parent so much unhappiness!"

Lilith raised  an eyebrow  and  said,  "Indeed." Sha rose  to her  feet,  but  bowed  to  Uriel while  Rimmon  did  not. The portal formed around  them. In ap-  pearance it  was like  an insubstantial ball of glass.

Lilith said, "Farewell, Your Majesty, and in the days to come I hope you will think better  of me! In  the name of  Bat-El may good fortune be with you and all who look to you."

With a loud report that frightened Dafla to tears they and the portal were gone  in  the wink  of an  eye,  leaving only  the familiar and entirely unneces- sary  crater in the  floor that was becoming Rimmon's calling card.

6

Every million years or so a new volcano burned its way up into one of the two ice sheets of Kemen and  broke through. And the ice sheets were always in  motion, even  if only a  few inches every year. For as long as the volcano was  active, the moving ice gave way around it.

When the volcano grew dormant, the ice sheets whittled away at its flanks until  only the stony central plug  remained and the exposed land was closed up once more. In all of Kemen outside of the equatorial belt, only the land of  Anshar remained free of ice.

Anshar, however, remained  bitterly  cold, much  more so  than Lilith was pre- pared to endure with the raiment she presently wore. Lilith broke into  a sprint  toward Hamon's  home across the stony plain. The avatar of Belial,  a black  featureless human-like figure, followed at a more stately pace.

So Belial was come to the stone dwelling of Hamon for the first time. There was much glass, yet natural heating from geothermal features ensured it remained comfortably warm indoors. Laylah, just four years of age, touched  the back of Belial's  hand to har forehead.

'Laylah!' said Hamon, sharply. 'That is Belial. Show us how you greet a Seraph.'

Laylah released Belial's hand as though it had  burned har own and moved back a few steps. Then sha sank to one knee and all the while kept har eyes on the floor.

'Very good, Laylah,' said her mother.

Lilith picked Laylah up and  kissed har. 'Wait for me in the kitchen baby doll.'

Belial watched  har  leave,  then  caught  Hamon's  eye. 'Your daughter.'

'Sha knew who you were,  just not the proper  etiquette." Then Hamon and Li- lith embraced for a kiss of their own.

Belial watched their display  of affection with  some disgust, but this was not expressed on his blank face. Lilith broke it off and followed Laylah toward the kitchen.

"You should tell Hamon what we have already  agreed," he called after har.

Lilith glanced back. "There is no need.  Hamon is  always in contact with me."

Lilith resumed walking away and Belial turned  to face Hamnon. "Very well, then you tell me what you think  Lilith and Rimmon conceded to one another so there is no mistake."

"Sha cut a line  on the Bellon  frontier. Hamon  said Rimmon's forces must never cross west  of it. Lilith and her descendants and  the Fallen  Angels  must never  cross  east. In  practical terms, it means Lilith can never  return to Salem and rule. But please, Father,  be seated wherever  you wish. We  have further things to  discuss as  Lilith prepares what  might be  the last decent meal I will both eat for many days."

"What do you mean last decent meal?'"

"As an  eloah  I  am  female and  therefore  I  have  not  yet experienced inter- course, but I do have access to testimony by way of  El, and no doubt  you can confirm, that  the experience captures the psyche like no other.  Do you see how that will be a big problem in my case?"

Belial said, "I do not."

"Please, I insist," said Hamon. "Let us take a seat, and I will explain."

Belial did so, and as he was seated he took his first real good look at the home. "You have done well for yourself, yet this is still Shemhazai's world. He never conceded this land."

"You have  an interesting  way  of  courting a  lady,  Belial, threatening to take away her house in the opening gambit."

Listening to Hamon refer to hymself (even obliquely) as a lady struck home the ridiculous nature of the whole situation.

"I am an eloah in union with world-dweller flesh.  What do you think will  happen to  my body, left  unattended, while  we are fully occupied with our lovemaking as stars?"

Belial said, "I imagine you would starve."

"I would perish  for lack  of water  long before  that," Hamon replied. "And I assure you I am not finished with this elyonim body."

'I see you have given this more thought,'  Belial admitted. 'I trust you have arranged things so you do not  lose your living avatar. But recent  events  have  brought  something  to  the attention of Shemhazai. In times past Rimmon had no need of an avatar to move about Kemen. He could open a bridge at any time simply by ordering El to summon a portal. El refuses to do this now, and he refuses to explain."

"El resents being made accessory to murder. When Shemhazai last summoned a bridge  he sent  an assassin  through to  kill King Melchiyahu."

"I see.  El  has  developed  a  conscience.  But  this  leaves Shemhazai at  a disadvantage.  You can  retaliate by  doing the same trick and sending an  assassin of your own. Perhaps Lilith will come to avenge har father."

"I have never asked El to  summon a bridge. He  will no sooner bring forth one for me than he would for Shemhazai. Were Lilith to kill Rimmon by the same cowardly trick El's conscience would be stained that much more."

"But in  the years  to  follow  as  our own  daughter  attains awareness you have the power to do this without the aid of El."

'In that you are very much mistaken, Belial. El and Shemhazai can open a bridge on Kemen because they are a relatively close binary system. But when our daughter comes  into existence she will be more distant from Kemen in three-space than you are."

And yet,'  said  Belial,   "Shemhazai  allows  you  to  bypass three-space space by passing a  second link through the natural link that  formed between yourself  and him when you  came into existence. In this  way you are able to power  your avatar with star-stuff in  a distant system  when otherwise you  could not, and in this way you brought  us here by a bridge formed between your- self and Shemhazai."

"I see.  So   how  does  Shemhazai  propose   to  remedy  this disadvantage he per- ceives himself to suffer?"

"No avatar  of our  daughter,  living  or otherwise,  will  be permitted  to  trav- el  to  Kemen.  If  she attempts  to  come here despite  this ban,  Shemhazai will  sever the  link. This, unfortunately, will  also result in  your own isola-  tion from Bat-El."

"Heretofore my  presence here  has  only  been a  side  effect of  what Shemhazai  dubiously  claimed to  a  project to  study world-dwellers.  If he  severs  the link  he  is declaring  the research to be concluded."

"Shemhazai tired of the project long ago."

"And yet I still have ancillary investigations underway here on Kemen," Hamon said, and he gestured at his wife and daughter as examples. "I pro- pose raising this to the level of a covenant, Belial. Our daughter will never bring an avatar  to Kemen, but my own remote  presence here shall con- tinue  for the duration of the project."

"That is not enough. Shemhazai refuses  to be at the  mercy of El, should he have a change of  heart one day in the future and permit assassins to come."

"Then I hold myself forever bound west of the same border that now re- strains Lilith and the Adanite army."

Belial said, "Shemhazai  accepts your  terms. Now,  before you ask, I have insisted this little  land far to the north of Adan not be placed out of bounds.  You can still remain here in your house. I would not  want to my put my lady out  of the mood for love."

Hamon went on to the next step, which was to stuff hymself with a meal pre- pared by Lilith. Afterward he would be hydrated and nourished only by in- travenous means.

When living stars mate the male literally extends  some of his living sub-  stance across  the  shortcut  in space-time  that bypasses the parsecs  of real  space separating  him from  the female. The sensation is ecstatic beyond all reason  but it is only available to him by mating.

For female elohim  pleasure  comes from  her living  substance being compressed to accommodate the male, which culminates when their living star-stuff merges to form a third individual. But mating is not the sole means of ob-  taining this compression. She can indulge herself.

Put in a more crude way, female elohim  could masturbate while males could not. Evolution drove this  adaption. The female could postpone having inter- course  until she found  the most suitable mate. Males, in a perpetual state of blue balls, were motivated to make themselves suitable.

For thousands of years Bat-El had resorted  to this expedient, although nev- er while in union with Hamon, since the activity captured her full atten- tion to the exclusion of attending to the basic needs of living as an an- gel. But now it was safe to do so.

Bat-El did the thing once  more and felt the  organized living nuclear matter that was herself pile up in  density, leaving a large  area empty  in  the thin  layer of  the  core where  she existed. At the same time  Belial  pushed into  her as  well, unaware of the ongoing sabotage.

This is what was supposed to happen:

Eight to ten cycles of Belial pushing his substance into Bat-El over sever-  al  months,  with each  cycle  culminating  in  a spherical wave that rang out from  the star Sol at the speed of light, seeking a wild F, G, or K sun to germinate.

This is what happened instead:

One cycle of Belial pushing  his living substance  into Bat-El over the course of three weeks, culminating in the germination of his eloah daughter in the  habitable layer of Sol  that had been emptied out by Chokhmah by pleasuring herself first.

The deed was done and Hamon, who went into it prepared, was the first to come back to full awareness in Anshar.

Far away hyz half of the stellar body which hy now shared with a daughter  was beginning  to  become  permanently male. That brought an abrupt end to the mating.

Lilith helped  Hamon  remove  all the  catheters,  tubes,  and needles, get dressed, then sha  gave hym the first  hot, solid food hy had taken in  three weeks. Hy was pleased to  find hy suffered  no  bedsores. Lilith and  Laylah  had done  well  in repositioning hyz body during the coma.

But hyz meal was necessarily  rushed. Belial was beginning to realize what  had happened and  grew more wroth by  the moment. The anger would be ex- pressed  as a general rampage  when the avatar of Belial became fully awake. Hamon did not expect that hyz house would survive, but at least hy and  Li- lith and hyz daughter would be safely on their way to Rumbek by avatar when it came to pass.