TC5

TRUCE

TC512: When the Adanite expedition-in-force emerged from the ice and the underlying 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 advanced alone under flag of truce.

King Rimmon wore no emblem of  rank. His raiment was that of a common footsoldier 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.

TC513: The other wore a  brass helmet  but when he  drew nearer Rimmon identified him as the ophan Barachiel.

Both he 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!"

TC514: 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 Lilith's own weapon extended and was raised to meet it. Where it crossed Malphas' 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. She said, "Has the purpose of our embassy been taken amiss?"

TC515: Barachiel said, "Your  Majesty, we come  in the  name of Bat-El and  from King Galizur  to trade  words with the  Lord of Adan, not blows."

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

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

TC516: 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.

TC517: "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 beyond  the reckoning of  elyonim, yet Bat-El  has put me  in 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."

TC518: "That is quite impossible, Your Majesty, and you know it. I never relinquish one scrap where my forces make footfall. This all in Kemen know."

Lilith turned to her companion. "What say you, Prince Barachiel? As touching 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!"

TC519: Barachiel said, "Indeed, and I deem my father would give it in  exchange 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."

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 north  and south  along this line. Henceforth  no soldier  of Adan shall  march west  of this frontier."

TC520: King Rimmon said, "So  too shall  it be a  fence barring yourself and the Fallen Angels from marching west. You, and your daughter  after you,  shall be  queen 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.

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

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

TC521: "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 Dragonthorn. "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.

TC522: 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.

TC523: Lilith noticed that the beast did not belch smoke or even seem to breathe. With the dragon so inert,  curiosity overcame her caution. She advanced 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."

TC524: 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 position, 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.

MANGLER

TC525: Jashen and Judith were both shocked at the ruin of an old man they saw  through the  one-way  mirror. A survivor of  the camps, he was missing his nose and his entire lower jaw. Still, when this unfortunate man saw the prisoner cuffed  to his chair it took  two burly  Mossad  agents  to restrain  the  Holocaust survivor from assaulting him in a blood-blind rage.

Neither Jashen nor Judith could stand to watch it any more. They turned away to  face their  own interrogator  around their  own table.

TC526: "Sir," asked Judith, incredulously, "what was the meaning of that display? I'm a seren of the Tzahal. I bring in the Angel of Death and you don't  believe it's  really him? Do  you think that  I fabricated  all this  supplementary documentation?" She gestured at all the paperwork arranged on the table.

"Documentation," Commander Gavish of Mossad snorted. He wasn't having any part of what Judith was feeding him. "We were never properly briefed on the last high profile Nazi you brought in.

TC527: "You just appeared  in the  middle of  the night  on the front door  of the old  Mossad Headquarters with  Hartmann Vogel and no explanation of how you  found him, no explanation how you captured him,  and no explanation  how you both ended  up there. How fortunate  for you the founding  father of our nation  had a keen sense of the propaganda value of such a stunt."

"Yes sir, Commander Gavish," she said, "as I  recall, the Prime Minister stroke Defense  Minister gave me a  promotion after the stunt."

TC528: "And do you imagine the PM will walk in here as some sort of ... deus ex  machina .. and  let you to  carry off  a repeat performance?"

"No sir. That  would  be  unlikely in  the  extreme.  But as  I reported at  the time,  and I  am reporting  now, I  had outside assistance." Her head inclined slightly toward Jashen.

"That brings me to the subject  of your friend with  no papers. You  say he's  an  American. Well,  lately,  with Eisenhower  in office, things have not been so rosy between the US and Israel.

TC529: And you, an Israeli army officer with one of the highest security clearances in the country, have clearly been in contact with foreigners of unknown status, possibly intelligence agents, without declaring the contact and all  relevant details through official means."

"Sir, please review the security  profile in my  service jacket once more. You  will see that I have indeed  declared my studies with  the Assyriology  program  at the  B'nei Elohim  Historical Institute, which is fully accredited."

TC530: "B'nei Elohim? The offspring of God? That name is such an arrogant presumption we thought it to be some disgusting variety of messianic Christianity. Is it,  in fact, a  religious group, Seren Margolies? Are you really a secret Christian?"

"She is not yet one of us," Jashen chimed  in, speaking for the first time since helping Judith bring the Mangler to captivity, and speaking in excellent  Hebrew at  that. "But Hamon Shalom, dean  at BEHI,  expects Judith  will be  fully B'nei  Elohim one day."

TC531: Commander Gavish asked, "What is the nature of your B'nei Elohim, Mr. Shybear? Are you Christian? Or are  you a different offshoot of  Judaism? I know  of a certainty that  orthodox Jews will have nothing to do with you."

"I would say we are more  orthodox than even the  haredim. What you think of as Judaism  didn't really come into existence until after the Third Temple was destroyed.  But I didn't come here to offend your religious sensibilities."

"Then why did you come here, Mr. Shybear?"

TC532: "Because  lately  the  B'nei  Elohim  have  become  pest exterminators. The  low-level Nazis, the sadistic  prison guards who  managed to  worm  their  way back  into  German society  or smuggle themselves overseas, we hunt  them down. No one escapes, because 'Never  Again', right?  I'm explaining why  Judith keeps missing her reserve  duty. She's got a higher  calling. But back to the Nazis!  The ones responsible for thousands  of deaths, we bring them here.  And Hamon ordered me to stick  around for this one."

TC533: "That takes me back to 'why'?"

""Because Hamon already gave this speech to your Prime Minister once before but it didn't seem to sink in here at Mossad."

The door to the interrogation room opened just then  and a flag officer blerted, "Ten-HUTT!"

Margolies and Gavish  came to  attention while  Jashen remained seated. A short elderly man with  a bald head ringed  by a wild tuft of white hair walked into the room with the chief of Mossad and two general officers of the Israeli Defense Force.

TC534: First David went to the  one-way mirror to stare  at the Mangler sitting at a table with his hands cuffed to either side of his chair. The PM was silent for at least a minute examining the prisoner before he finally spoke. "So there he is." Then he turned to examine the interrogation room, with his gaze settling finally on the face of Judith. "Seren Judith Margolies, is it?"

"Yes sir."

"We never met, the last time you made a delivery like this."

"No sir, I know but you are a busy man."

TC535: "Do you  feel  you were  adequately  compensated for  my failure to thank you in person, Seren Margolies?"

"Yes sir. The promotion was a very nice touch, but I would have brought this  asshole here today  while still a sergeant  in the reserves." She rolled up one sleeve so the Prime Minister could see the  tattoo she  had  received  in  the satellite  camp  of Buchenwald where her life came very close to being snuffed out.

Ben-Gurion saw the six numerals  there and a dark  cloud passed over his face.

TC536: He said,  "The  same rate  applies,  Seren Margolies.  I brought  these officers  with me  today to  note you  are hereby brevetted to the rank of rav  seren. And should the Arabs tangle with us once more I am certain  you will do the thing you always do, which  will make  you full  rav seren with  all the  pay and privileges that go with the rank."

"Thank you, sir."

Jashen addressed the Prime Minister at that  point. "Sir, Hamon is of the opinion that more than ten years will pass before that happens."

TC537: "I see. And may I ask your name?"

"I am Jashen Shybear, sir. I helped Captain  Margolies make the Mangler extraction. If Mossad is worried we are working them out of a job  we can step back  for the next decade  while things go quiet. It  seems this  fellow fancied  himself a  humble country doctor in  Argentina. When we fetched  him we also took  some of his patient's charts. They're all here  on the table. One of the folders  is  for  none  other  than  Adolf  Eichmann,  the  very architect of the Shoah.

TC538: "It seems he didn't fancy seeing just any  old doctor in Argentina. You'll find  all the contact information  you need to grab Eichmann right there. If  there's one thing doctors want to be certain about, it's getting paid."

That last bit sent David Ben-Gurion into a fit of laughter. When he recovered he said, "We'll take what you've given  us and try to  capture  Eichmann  ourselves.  The day  he  arrives  in  the country, living or dead, brevet  Rav Seren Judith Margolies will become a full major."

URIEL

TC539: 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.

TC540: 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.

TC541: They chased the two suns  out over the sea. Lilith lost count of the dragon'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.

TC542: 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 comfortably inside."

TC543: "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."

TC544: "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 Jelaket."

"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.

TC545: "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  listen  to  our  teachings  and  obey  our commandments."

TC546: Jelaket was  the keystone  of Kemen,  a seaport  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  recalled when Demonstroke  came last. None were happy memories. When Rimmon and Lilith landed in the large outer courtyard  of the  castle of  King Uriel,  near the stables, they were most unwelcome, but a fire dragon need never knock.

TC547: From the ramparts of  his castle King Uriel  watched hez archers assemble in a wary circle around the  beast. Two riders dismounted. One che recognized as King 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  appeared he said,  "Your Majesty,  King Rimmon  is come.  With hym  is Queen Lilith  of Salem.  She says  they have  flown from  the frontier between Magodon and  Adan and they both crave  audience with the king."

TC548: 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.

TC549: King 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 private.

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 king of House Bellon, a jen, could barely manage a sparse down.

TC550: 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  king'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."

TC551: 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.

He said, "Dragonthorn, Your Majesty, 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?"

TC552: "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 go  into  your  safekeeping. More  specifically, 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."

TC553: "I will ask only once more," 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 king, Your Majesty.  Who better  to keep  Demonstroke  out of  play than  a consecrated virgin in your own court?"

TC554: "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 King Uriel 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.  Dragonthorn will  shatter  of its  own  accord without  a damsel's touch, and that soon.

"Only a broad outline of  what Lord  Samael wanted to  do, Your Majesty. Not this detail." Cherub Uriel looked into the eyes of Samael 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."

TC557: Uriel was supernaturally patient with hez daughter Dafla, With all civilization in Kemen hanging upon one slender thread, the king took the time to listen to the girl of fifteen years as she spoke of last night's dream.

"Beloved parent, I  dreamed it  was  night and  the ground  was covered 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.

TC558: "One person picked up a metal child and took it into the first tower. Somehow 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 behind  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?"

TC559: 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."

TC560: "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."

TC561: King  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."

TC562: "Who are they, Parent?"

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

"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?"

TC563: "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 demand 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?"

TC564: "You  do  not understand,  dearest  daughter.  Shemhazai created  his dragon  to kill  everyone who  lives in  Kemen. But somehow Queen Lilith  has forced a bargain upon  him. The dragon will stay with us. Demonstroke is  controlled 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 be a wife or a mother! Now do  you see  why  I wish  these  guests had  never  come to  our palace?"

TC565: "I think so, 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  something  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."

TC566: Lilith had known early on that only  the king's daughter could safeguard the dragon. Rimmon had conditioned it upon her celibacy, and King 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.

TC567: 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 Dragonthorn in hand the beast must obey you. With Dragonthorn in hand, all my  subjects and even these foreigners  must obey you. If you so choose, daughter, with Dragonthorn in hand even I must obey you."

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

TC568: Then  the  king'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 power, 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."

TC569: 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 treasury."

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!"

TC570: "Indeed."

Lilith rose to her feet, but bowed to Uriel while Rimmon did not. The portal formed around them. In appearance it was like an insubstantial ball of glass.

She said, "Farewell, Your Majesty! 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 unnecessary crater in the floor that was Rimmon's calling card.

APOSTLE

TC571: During Temple the Prophet  of the Church of  Green Dome, Jashen Shybear, said he was setting aside the discipline of the Church, in  a single  case,  so  his  son Gabriel  could  marry Kimberly Zinter. With a loud  outcry of  righteous indignation Apostle Klaus Hansen stood  up and  left the  sanctuary, taking half the White Wing with him.

Hansen declared himself the Prophet  of the Reformed  Church of Green  Dome. Forbidding interracial  marriage  was  his  first article of faith, but there were many more.

TC572: Listing the new "original" articles of faith handed down from Jesus made  up the  bulk of  Hansen's first  Sunday sermon following the disastrous split in  the Church. Hansen said the curse of God lay upon all those who  played cards. Parishioners who engaged in dancing were  in danger of God's  holy judgment. Those who permitted themselves to even listen to race music, let alone dance to it, would  face the fires  of hell. He told his flock to let not one single drop of Demon Rum pass their lips.

TC573: To prove they were indwelt of the Holy Spirit he ordered the faithful to roll in the sawdust on the floor of the barn out on River Road that  was their  new "temple". That was just as well, as there were not enough  benches for everyone to sit. The actual Temple of Green Dome, prominently visible  at the source of the Squaw River, seemed to  mock them just by  continuing to exist. Many got up to leave during the service. Most alarming of all to Hansen, the plate came back largely empty of cash.

TC574: Paul Bergin, the reformed Apostle,  went door-to-door to the  homes of  White  Wingers  passing out  hastily-mimeographed tracts that promised eternal damnation to  backsliders who were tempted to stay or to return to the mother  church. Many of the white parishioners weighed  the peril  to their  souls if  they remained in  schism. Most found  the  barn  situation  to  be intolerably pathetic. Pressure mounted on Hansen to approach the Prophet of the  Mother Church  and negotiate  a healing  of the breach.

TC575: Paul Bergin and Klaus Hansen approached the Temple office door. It was opened by Gabriel an instant before they pounded on ithe door.

"How did you do that, son?" asked a startled Klaus.

"The Prophet foresaw that you were about to knock."

In the office Paul and Klaus  saw no one except  Gabriel, Dory, and Kim. It soon became apparent the men knew only Kim by name. Quelle surprise the former Apostle and Deacon never troubled to get to know anyone outside of the White Wing of the Church.

TC576: "I came to speak to the Prophet."

"She's right there," said Dory, pointing at Robyn.

"I see three kids  who broke  into the  Temple and  are running loose. Where's Jashen?"

"He's in a better place," said Gabriel.

"He's dead?"

"No," said Kim,  "but  he  blamed himself  for  the schism  and stepped down."

"He was right to blame himself but if he left  you in charge he must have  gone demented in the  end. The scripture says,  'I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over men.'"

TC577: "You're going to have to show me a little respect, Mister Hansen, as I am indeed the Prophet of the Church of Green Dome, notwithstanding whatever  Paul wrote in the  First Century about womenfolk." Kim reached into  a  desk  drawer and  withdrew  a leather-bound green book. "I know you've seen this before, Mr. Hansen. It's Mark Lange's handwritten  copy of the Book of Green Dome.  He called  it  the Printer's  Manuscript.  The first  few sheets on the inside cover are an official Church document."

TC578: The first  entry on  the inside  cover said  PASTOR MARK LANGE, PROPHET, SEP 1, 1866, followed by Lange's signature, and this in turn was followed by a mark of an individual unknown.

Kim said, "We believe Lord Yeshua himself made this initial."

This entry was followed  by the First  Decree, which  read, THE PROPHET OF THE CHURCH SHALL CHOOSE, FROM THE WING OF THE CHURCH OF WHICH HE IS  NOT A PART,  ONE WHO SHALL  HOLD THE  OFFICE OF APOSTLE. It was dated Sep. 1, 1866 and signed by Mark Lange.

TC579: This was followed by  the Second Decree, which  read, IN THE  EVENT OF  THE  DEATH  OR RESIGNATION  OF  THE PROPHET,  THE APOSTLE SHALL VACATE THE  OFFICE OF APOSTLE  AND ATTAIN  TO THE OFFICE OF PROPHET, dated and certified Sep. 1, 1866.

The next entry, in the same handwriting,  read, JASHEN SHYBEAR, APOSTLE, SEP. 1, 1866, followed  by Jashen's mark and  again by Lange's initials. Kim said, "We hold September first  to be the day of  the founding  of the Church  of Green  Dome, seventy-six years ago."

TC580: The next entry was written in a different hand. It said, PROPHET MARK LANGE, DECEASED, NATURAL CAUSES, MAR. 6, 1922, and this was initialed by Jashen. A diagonal line was drawn through the remaining blank space to the bottom of the inside cover and this, too, was initialed by Jashen.

The facing page read, APOSTLE JASHEN SHYBEAR,  PROPHET, MAR. 6, 1922 and this was signed and initialed by Jashen.

The second line read, KLAUS HANSEN, APOSTLE, OCT 9, 1931, signed by Jashen and Klaus.

TC581: Kim rotated the book to show Hanson the entry. She said, "Until I read  this I  wasn't even  aware the  Church had  gone nearly a decade  without an Apostle. I suppose  Jashen found the choice  to be  such  a  difficult one  he  was  willing to  risk breaking the clear order of succession with his own death."

Klaus said, "At the time you were either not  born or too young to care about Church politics.  We forced Jashen's hand and made him create  the office  of Deacon to  prevent it  from happening again."

TC582: "Almighty Klaus,"  said Gabriel,  bitterly. "You forced him."

"Gabe, please," said Kim. "Anyway, all that does  explain the next line."

Jashen had written the text of the Third Decree, dated the same day as the appointment of Hansen. It stated, THE PROPHET SHALL APPOINT, FROM ALTERNATING WINGS OF THE CHURCH, A DEACON TO SERVE THE SPIRITUAL AND MATERIAL  NEEDS OF THE  WHOLE CHURCH. IN THE EVENT OF THE DEATH  OR RESIGNATION OF  THE APOSTLE,  THE DEACON SHALL ATTAIN TO THE OFFICE OF APOSTLE.

TC583: The next line read PAUL BERGIN, DEACON, Oct. 9, 1931 his. Twas signed by Paul, and initialed by Jashen.

Kim asked, "Does everything appear to be in order, gentlemen?"

Paul nodded agreement, and Klaus said it appeared to be so. Kim then indicated the next line, which  was so recent none  of the men had ever seen it:

ANY OFFICE OF THE CHURCH SHALL NOT BE TERMINATED  EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF THE DEATH OR RESIGNATION OF THE OFFICEHOLDER.

This was signed by Jashen and dated January 10, 1943.

TC584: Kim  said, "Jashen  told  us  the Fourth  Decree  became necessary following the events of  Wednesday the 5th of January, when you went out from us. But let us go on."

The next line  read APOSTLE  KLAUS HANSEN,  RESIGNED, JAN.  10, 1943, signed by Jashen

Hansen grew angry and objected to that. "No! I never resigned!"

"I was there in that barn you call your temple,' said Kim. "I'm White Wing, remember? You introduced yourself as the Prophet of the Reformed Church of Green Dome."

"What of it?"

TC585: "When your words reached the ears of  the actual Prophet he took them  to be your official resignation as  Apostle of the Church. How did he put it, Dory?"

"Father said, 'No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one,  and love the other;  or else he will  hold to the one, and  despise the other.' In  fine, if you're an  officer in the Reformed Green  Dome Church you cannot be an  officer in the actual Green Dome Church."

Kim nodded, then she said, "That led to the next line."

TC586: It read KIMBERLY SHYBEAR, APOSTLE, JAN. 10, 1943. Kim had signed it, and Jashen had initialed.

"The upshot of all  this," Kim  said, "is that  in the  view of Prophet  Jashen Shybear  you quit,  and he  chose me  to replace you."

Kim proceeded to the next line, which read  DEACON PAUL BERGIN, RESIGNED, JAN. 10, 1943. This was also signed by Jashen.

Kim asked the men, "Do we need to go over the same argument for the resignation  of the Deacon  as it  was for the  Apostle? No? Then let us go on."

TC587: The next line  read, GABRIEL  SHYBEAR, DEACON,  JAN. 10, 1943, signed by Gabriel and initialed by Jashen.

Kim said, "All perfectly legal, of course. Jashen's decree said the  Deacon  shall be  of  alternating  race.  As you  can  see, last  Sunday was  quite  the  busy day,  but  now  we're in  the homestretch."

She advanced to  the next  item written  on the  page. It read PROPHET JASHEN SHYBEAR, RESIGNED, JAN. 10, 1943  and it carried his signature.

That seemed to grab the attention of Bergin and Hansen.

TC588: Kim said, "Now I will  show you gentlemen how  we closed out that rather eventful Sunday."

Kim flipped the page over  and showed everyone the  next entry: APOSTLE KIMBERLY  SHYBEAR, PROPHET,  JAN. 10, 1943. This  was signed and initialed by Kim, exercising her apostolic authority under the Second Decree established by Prophet Jashen.

Underneath that was the  final entry  in the  manuscript, which read DORIEL SHYBEAR, APOSTLE, JAN. 10, 1943. This was signed by Kim and affirmed by Deacon Gabriel.

TC589: Kim said, "Now that I have established my credentials as the Prophet of the Church, what  have you and Mr. Bergin come to say?"

Klaus was silent while he gnawed through his options. At length he realized he had to go along with these  kids playing clergy. He said, "We  pray  for the  reunion of  the  Church. Were  the Killing Relic to alternate in  possession between members of the red and  white wings,  as the office  of Deacon  presently does, that would go a long way towards sealing the breach."

TC590: Kim said,  "Link  the  office of  Deacon  to the  sacred artifact? That is easily enough done."

She took up her pen and wrote in the leaves  of the Green Book, THE SACRED RELIC SHALL REMAIN IN THE POSSESSION OF THE DEACON OF THE CHURCH, WHO SHALL  BE MINISTER  OF THE  LAST RITE. And she dated it January 12, 1943.

This was not entirely to the liking of Hansen, who imagined the sacred relic somehow caused the one who possessed it to age very slowly, but he could think of no way to object to it.

TC591: "That is acceptable," said  Hansen, "if and only  if you enter a Fifth Decree that  enshrines God's eternal and immutable law forbidding non-consanguineous marriage."

"Again," said Kimberly  with a  gentle smile,  "that is  easily done." She inked the following into the manuscript: MARRIAGE IN THE  CHURCH  OF  GREEN  DOME SHALL  BE  SOLELY  BETWEEN  PERSONS WHO SHARE   AT  LEAST   ONE  GRANDPARENT,   OR  AT   LEAST  ONE GREAT-GRANDPARENT, UPON PAIN OF  EXCOMMUNICATION. She dated it January 12, 1943 and signed it.

TC592: Hansen said, "Good. Now, when do you announce the end of your engagement to Gabriel?"

"Never," Kim replied. "The decrees of the Church don't work ex post fucto."

"The decree governs marriage. You haven't married him yet."

"Ah, but there you are wrong, Mr. Hansen."

She displayed her wedding ring and Gabriel flashed his own. They did not mention they were wed in Kemen and  they'd been married for a year already, because  he would  never believe it  and he would just be confused anyway.

TC593: Kim could hardly believe she needed to  remind Hansen of sacred scripture. "Yeshua himself said if a woman puts aside her husband to  marry another  she  commits  adultery against  him. That's one of the Lord's  non-negotiables. I wonder why you look so  surprised,  Mr.  Hansen.  You  must  not  have  been  paying attention when I signed my entries in the Green Book as Kimberly Shybear rather than Kimberly Zinter."

Hansen told Gabriel, "Watch your  back" and stormed out  of the office with Bergin in tow.

TC594: The Zinter  house on  U Street  had been  turned into  a ransacked mess. A hooded invader held  Gabriel at  knife point while two others searched through it, but they didn't find what they were looking  for. What they were  looking  for was  the Killing Relic.

Gabriel was grateful his  wife, a prophet  after all,  had seen this all coming and made herself scarce. She laid out the broad outline of how it would go and said, "This  attack is important to Hamon's plan. You should just let things happen."

TC595: Gabriel was marched at  knife point to the  backyard and hung by  ropes from  a  basketball  hoop. Despite his  height, Gabriel's feet, tied together around the ankles,  dangled a few inches over the concrete of the patio.

"Cut his shirt off so he's not wasting my time."

Gabriel recognized the  voice as  belonging to  that of  Johnny Sunkel.

When his shirt was cut away in strips another voice said, "Look at that! He's got little titties!"

Gabriel knew that voice too. It was Larry Porter.

TC596: "Where is it, Shybear?"

"Where is what?."

A whistle and a crack. But Gabriel didn't make a  sound. B'nei Elohim are immune to torture.

"The Killing Relic, asshole! We turned the Temple upside-down. We turned your house upside-down. Where is it?"

"I don't  know, Johnny.  When  I  need  it  for Last  Rites  on Wednesdays Kim gives it to me."

The whip struck again. The skin on Gabriel's back  split open with a cloud of red mist.

"Bullshit! And you don't know my name!"

"Johnny Sunkel."

TC597: Johnny hit him again, harder. On the backstroke the whip caught one of the other boys on the back of his leg and that kid screamed, even though he was  wearing blue jeans. When the boy cursed Johnny out Gabriel recognized the voice  as belonging to Scott Hilling.

Scott said, "You Red Wingers don't get to marry our white girls, Shybear. That was the arrangement going way back."

"Your white girls, Scotty? When was the last time you got laid?"

That remark bought Gabriel a fourth stroke.

TC598: "Make  sure you  fellows  keep  going until  I'm  dead," Gabriel said, "and hide my body. If my cousin Remy finds out you did this to me he'll  pick over your  feet for a  whole weekend with a blowtorch and knives like they were leftover turkey."

Johnny didn't care. "This is gonna pinch some."

With the fifth blow it become apparent that what they were doing to Gabriel was a very ugly thing  to do to a  human being. They could see fat under the  shredded skin. Scott and Larry turned away and puked.

TC599: Gabriel knew it was time to do his dance. He twisted his right hand to reach into a small hidden bubble  of reality that perpetually tracked  with him. His fingers  returned to  view holding the Killing Relic. He extended the black shaft about a foot to cut the rope binding his left hand. Then he switched the artifact to  his  free  hand  and cut  himself  down  from  the basketball hoop.

Johnny aimed the whip at his  face but Gabriel let  it fly into the Relic while it was fully deployed as a shield.

TC600: The black dome simply ate the whip, leaving just a riding crop for Johnny to swing. Gabriel cut his legs free. The boys ran away, but Gabriel was in  no condition to run  after any of them. They were lucky to leave when they did, as neighbors heard the attack on the Zinter household from the beginning and called it in. They escaped only moments before deputies arrived.

At the little hospital that served Headwater, Sheriff Rod Walker asked if Gabriel saw who it was that messed him up.

TC601: "I don't know, sir. There were three of  them. They wore black hoods over  their faces. They also messed up  my house and they told me they messed up the Temple."

"Did they tell you why they were doing it?"

"They said didn't appreciate me  marrying one of  'their' white girls, sir."

"I can't imagine how much that smarts."

"Not any worse than the last time it happened, sir."

"Last time? You've been flogged before?"

"Yes sir," said Gabriel,  and his  eyes drifted  towards Doctor Wahkan.

TC602: "It's a Kuwapi thing,  Sheriff Walker. The young  men of the People  camp out on  the plains  overnight and have  at each other to see how much they can stand."

"Ah, so it's like a Vision Quest?" Gabriel nodded.

Dr. Wahkan, who was called Plenty Practice by the whites, rolled his eyes and asked,  "How long  until they  found out  you were cheating and got tired of that game?"

"Not very long," said Gabriel,  smiling. "But they found a new game called Peace Pipe!"

The sheriff quickly departed.

TC603: Remiel paid a visit  later in the  day. When he saw his cousin lying face down in a hospital gown with his back bandaged up against infection he said, "What the hell is this?"

"Keystone Cops, with a whip."

"Who?"

Gabriel didn't want to spill  it. Johnny, maybe, deserved what was coming next but the other two were just stupid kids who fell in the the wrong fellow.

"You know  the  rules,  Gabe.  We gotta  keep  this  crap  from happening  again. FUBAR!  Our deterrence  needs some  freshening up."

TC604: Gabriel remained silent,. Remy tried running a  hand up the back of  his cousin's bare thigh  affectionately but Gabriel warned him off. "I'm spoken for now, Rem."

"Tell me who did it."

Gabriel sighed. "OK! Johnny  Sunkel, Larry  Porter, and  Scott Hilling.  I  told  'em  they better  finish  me  off,  otherwise Thanksgiving would come way early this year."

Remiel unsheathed his ceremonial blade and held it up, smiling. Plains Indians  knew  something  about  retribution. He said, "Gobble gobble."