Russell Kirkpatrick - Fire of Heaven 03 by The Right Hand of God

Author:The Right Hand of God
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-02-03T13:40:32+00:00

‘Yes,’ Maendraga had said, his rich voice reminding Leith of the time they shared on the Wodhaitic Sea. ‘Jethart is right when he says the Arrow only affects those of the Fire.’

‘Why is that? Are there talismans for each of the other elements?’

Belladonna laughed, the gap in her front teeth visible in her smile. ‘We were told so. The knowledge was passed down from Bewray’s time, but no one knows with certainty.’

‘Can’t see it myself,’ Maendraga interrupted his daughter agreeably. ‘The Jugom Ark is the product of rebellion and justice. I don’t think similar situations prevailed for the people of the Water, Earth and Air.’

For a while the two guardians debated this idea, constantly referring to the writings of Maendraga’s ancestors, an increasingly esoteric subject to which Leith could contribute nothing. Eventually the river rocked him gently to sleep.

A few days later Leith had asked the question foremost

on his mind. ‘Is the Jugom Ark a weapon?’ For a reason he could not yet name, the subject was difficult to broach.

Father and daughter discussed it for a while, but could not make up their minds. Maendraga began by arguing forcefully for the position that the Arrow must have a function as a weapon, but Belladonna opposed him. ‘Can a weapon unify?’ she wondered aloud, after her father suggested the very shape of the Jugom Ark pointed to its function.

Leith seized on her argument. ‘Weapons are made to divide and defeat,’ he said. ‘How does division suggest unity?’

Maendraga answered immediately. ‘Easily, Leith. Especially if the weapon divides Faltha and Bhrudwo. What better reason to unify Faltha? Of course it’s a weapon.’

‘But if it is a weapon, how does it work?’ Belladonna continued to pull at the issue like a loose thread hanging from a garment.

Maendraga turned to Leith and raised his eyebrows ques-tioningly.

‘Well, I haven’t used it as a weapon,’ he said. ‘I’ve healed with it, at the Court of Nemohaim and when Escaigne and the Ecclesia were ambushed by Deorc. I used it to resist the blue fire of the Destroyer. I don’t know what other powers it has.’ He looked down at the Arrow in his hand.

‘The biggest miracle, of course, is the assembling of this army,’ Maendraga said thoughtfully.

‘Perhaps the Bearer is supposed to heal the hurts of his army, thereby maintaining their unity?’

Belladonna uncrossed her long legs as she said this, and began pacing back and forth on the barge.

‘Or maybe heal the hurts of the Bhrudwan army, drawing them in to some greater unity with Faltha?’ Maendraga put out an arm and touched her, emphasising his point.

‘But it took the Destroyer’s hand,’ Leith said. ‘Wasn’t that its original purpose? What if I’m supposed to assault the Destroyer with it?’

‘I’m not sure how you would go about that,’ Belladonna said doubtfully.

Leith pulled out his most convincing argument, the one which had come to him weeks before.

‘The carvings in the Hall of Meeting show the Most High loosing the Arrow at the Destroyer using a bow. I wasn’t given a bow.

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