He forced himself to look beyond that moment and thus witnessed one scene after another as the years of his pitiful little mortal existence raced along in what was for Trag’Oul surely the blink of an eye.
Trying to shake free of his feelings of insignificance, Mendeln beheld the fantastic entity as a whole…and in doing so noticed that not only was his life displayed before him, but so were hundreds, no thousands more.
We are all there, Mendeln realized. All of Humanity, from the first on…each scale…each scale is a measure of some part of us…
And among those lives, his eyes somehow fixed upon Uldyssian. In fact, the images of the brothers intertwined constantly, which made sense, of course. Whether together or alone, they were bonded by more than simply blood.
Yet…as the years of their lives swiftly progressed down the “body” of the giant, the two lives grew more separate. Mendeln saw the discovery of the stone near Seram and his brother’s seduction by Lilith as Lylia. The images flashed faster and faster. Partha. Lucion. Achilios’s death. Toraja. Serenthia. And on and on until—
Trag’Oul shifted again and the lives of the sons of Diomedes became lost among the sea of other existences. The human let out another cry and stared at what passed for the face of the dragon.
No more should you perceive, Trag’Oul told him. For beyond that is the realm of possibilities, where what you see are the paths that choices not yet made determine. It would be a danger to yourself and to this world to try to choose from them before life has assisted you in the decision…
He was speaking of the future. The dragon not only reflected the past and present, but what could be. The incredible immensity of the being stretched above him only now struck Mendeln. He sensed that Trag’Oul only revealed to him—and even Rathma—a most minor portion of himself. Turning to the cowled figure, Mendeln blurted, “What—?”
“What is ‘he,’ you want to ask?” Rathma gestured at the ever-shifting form. “Even Trag’Oul does not entirely know. He has existed since just after the beginning of creation, although not quite as we sense him now.”
No…that came later… Whenever the dragon spoke, the scales flowed and shifted, constantly displaying other lives, other times. That came with the finding of the Shards…with the molding of Sanctuary by the renegade angels and demons…
Mendeln had no idea what the leviathan was talking about save that it had mentioned demons. He glared at Rathma, whose features had, for the past few moments, greatly reminded him of another…too much of another, in fact.
And then it struck Mendeln like a bolt through his heart. He knew exactly who it was.
“You and she!” Uldyssian’s brother grated, anger exploding. He pointed a condemning finger at the figure, who stood as motionless as death. “You and she! I can see it in you! You are hers ! Hers!”
Mendeln summoned words of power, words that he was well aware he had gained from the very one he sought to attack.
Rathma raised a hand. In it materialized the ivory dagger that Mendeln had seen before his kidnapping. As the last of the words escaped Mendeln’s lips, the dagger flared bright.
So near the unnatural illumination and with his eyes now accustomed to the darkness, Mendeln was instantly blinded. He let out a cry and stumbled back.
He has adapted to your teachings well, Rathma…
“Almost too well. I was nearly too late. But his mind…his spirit…are not yet utterly in tune with the Balance.”
Discovering yourself before the offspring of Lilith can be rather disconcerting. You must consider emotions, Rathma. Sometimes I believe you have taken my teachings too much to heart, my friend…
Mendeln paid no mind to their discourse, his only concern recovering his sight. He continued stumbing back, somehow hoping to escape the demon before him.
“I am no demon…at least not in the full sense, Mendeln ul-Diomed,” Rathma declared, again seeming to read his thoughts.
“Get out of my head!”
The cloaked figure began to coalesce before Uldyssian’s brother. “We are beyond that, my student. You proved yourself receptive to what I offered that day when you were shown the stone near your village, the stone that was the first of your tests.”
“Tests for what? To see if I would become servant to a demon?”
Above, the stars abruptly shifted. Looking up, Mendeln thought that the face of Trag’Oul seemed almost… reproving. You are much too absolute at times, Rathma. Explain more. Tell him of his bloodline. Tell him about Lilith…
“I was going to.” For the first time, there was a hint of emotion—irritation?—in the cloaked figure’s tone. “You know I was.”
Eventually…More reshaping of the stars, more displaying of different lives. Never the same ones. Always eventually…
Rathma suddenly sighed. “Yes, perhaps I do hesitate, despite what I have said about the need for haste.” To Uldyssian’s brother, he calmly explained, “Mendeln, son of Diomedes, who himself was son of Teronus, who was the son of Hedassyian…I tell you now that you are of my own blood, my own offspring…and, thus, in turn, the one you know as Lilith…”
And Inarius, too, recall…
“He will know of Inarius soon enough.” Rathma watched Mendeln closely, the dagger held ready.
But there was neither a renewed attack or even protest from Mendeln. The skills he had gained through Rathma were enough to enable him to gauge the truth of the other’s words. “You do not lie…” rasped Uldyssian’s brother. “You’ve made certain that I would know it!” He shook his head. “Uldyssian and I—we are of her ?”
“As are so several others, the generations that have passed being of great number. And as I said, you are also of mine,” Rathma pointed out, finally lowering the ivory blade. “Which number far, far less…”
Mendeln sought to put this all together. “Is that why she chose him and you me? Because it was easier to play games with those closest to your infernal blood?”
Irritation once more crossed Rathma’s face, but before he could speak, the stars once more briefly swirled, then re-formed into Trag’Oul. Peace, the dragon murmured as best as he could. If Rathma can be called a demon, so, too, can you and every human. Theirs is where in part all of you come…but also there are the angels to consider…and their role is no less significant in your creation…”
Demons and angels… The notion that he—that everyone—was descended from such sounded so ludicrous. Yet once again the abilities with which Rathma had imbued him made it impossible for Mendeln not to see that all of this was truth.
It all only verified what Lilith herself had revealed in the course of matters. Mendeln had always secretly denied her claims, believing them lies used to undermine Uldyssian’s defiance somehow. But the only lies involved were to myself, it seems…
“Very well. You know that I must believe you. What does that matter? I will be your pawn no more than my brother will be hers!”
Rathma let out an exasperated sigh. For him, Mendeln realized, these small slips represented major displays. “We seek no puppets. That is my mother’s way…and my father’s, it appears, also. No, Mendeln ul-Diomed, what we seek is nothing less than any who can stand against what has been destined to come to pass since the very beginning…”
Above, the dragon stirred. In some ways, Trag’Oul was to Mendeln a far more emotional being than the man with whom he trafficked. Therefore, when the leviathan spoke, Mendeln had no trouble sensing the urgency Trag’Oul sought to relay.