Time of the Eagle by Sherryl Jordan

Author:Sherryl Jordan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2016-06-18T04:00:00+00:00

18

Freedom’s truest flag flies unconfined In the human mind.

—Delano, Navoran poet

“You’ve learned a great many things since you first came to Ravinath,” said Sheel Chandra. “You’ve seen the greatest art in the world, heard the most glorious music, the finest poetry. You’ve witnessed surgery by the most excellent physician in the Empire, and he has taught you how to stop pain and to heal brokenness. You’ve seen through microscopes, marked the life within a seed; and you’ve looked through telescopes and plotted the pathways of the stars. But the greatest frontier is yet unmapped and remains almost wholly unknown: it is the power in here.” He tapped his own forehead, then leaned forward and gently tapped mine. “In here is the greatest wonder of them all.”

We were sitting in his high room where we had first met. He was in his chair and I on a stool near his knee.

“Look about you, tell me what you see,” he said.

I looked up. “I see the glass roof, and the blue sky, and white clouds,” I said. “Along the wall is the window, open. I see far mountaintops. I see stone walls, a wooden floor. And you.”

“Now don’t be afraid,” he said. “Tell me what else you see.”

A shadow caught the corner of my eye, and I turned and saw a large wolf. It was a little behind me, near the far end of the window. It began pacing, its claws clicking on the polished floor. I had seen wolves before, but never this close. Its eyes were amber, translucent, edged with black. Its lips too were black, and its tongue hung out a little, from the heat. Its fur was gray and brown, and dust rose from its coat as it paced. I saw the muscles ripple under its fur, the strong tendons of its legs, its powerful throat and jaws. Suddenly it turned toward me. I froze, hardly breathed. The wolf came over to me, sniffed my hand. I felt its whiskers prick my skin. It licked my wrist; its tongue was warm, rasping. I could see its teeth, yellowed and sharp. I heard it panting. It sat down by me, its tongue lolling, as if it grinned. Then, in the blink of an eye, it vanished.

I stared at the Master, astounded.

“A wolf!” I cried. “You created a wolf.”

“If you did not know me,” he said, “and if you came in here and saw me with that wolf, you would have thought it was real. And if the wolf had snarled at you, you would have been afraid. If it had attacked you, you would have turned to run. But if it had caught you, you would have felt its claws, its teeth, and you would have suffered all the trauma of being killed by a wild animal. In the end your heart would have failed from sheer terror, and from your absolute belief in certain death.”

“But you would never create such an illusion,” I said.

“No, I wouldn’t. But there is one who would, and you have expressed a desire to speak with him.

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