Read Online A Paradox in Retrograde by John Faherty - Free Book Online

entirely. Everything
about this stranger seemed to speak of a mythic nature she had
always read of, but never experienced beyond the pages of her
books. She wanted to learn as much about him as she could. She
sensed he was somehow connected to these forerunner objects.
He may even be one of them himself. So she for now would keep
a close eye on him until she could learn more about this connection.
    In a pilot less conveyance they made short work of the meandering path along the rocky cliff side that marked the way to her
home high above the sea. Once there atop the plateau the vehicle
settled onto its landing pad in time for them to see the last tendrils
of daylight slip over the horizon. He stood there for a moment
and looked out onto the now featureless sea, looking for any telltale signs that might show him the way. Only the bright glint of
the sun reaching over the edge of the water could be seen. Xora
escorted him up a set of marble stairs to the guest cottage that
overlooked the cliffs. "There are clean linens on the bed. I took
the liberty of having a light meal prepared for you. I hope you
enjoy it" She bid him good night and left there with the setting
sun. He was quite hungry and quickly consumed what her servants had prepared for him. By the time he had finished his meal,
the sun had slipped away. There, sitting in his bedroom through
the window he watched as the sea seemed to shine in the moonlight. Within its cool rays the luminescent creatures feeding on
the abundant plankton created a delicate and subdued light show.
Lying down he kept this haunting image in his gaze until as if by
the seas motion he had once again drifted him to sleep.
Chapter 3
    Ananda, in a dream wandered heavily upon the plane of Thera.
There he stood awash in the debris of fallen cinders and yellow
sulfur that had rained down for days uncounted. One of the few
sounds to be heard was the soft noise of this gently falling ash.
Its incessant patter muffled all other sound save for the distant
wails of dogs and the cries of children. As he walked upon the
blanket of porous silt at his feet, the dim light filtering through
the ochre veil of the sky cast there no shadows. For sometime he
wandered. As he roved the he recognized the silhouetted hulks
that were once the familiar landmarks of his youth.
    As if having been blind to the calamity, he stood staring in
shocked amazement at the wretched scene. All he could do was
wonder to what strange evil had befallen this world, once flush
with verdant olive and laurel. There too upon farmed tracts vast
fields of barley had once swayed ever so gently. Now it lay barren and lifeless, a mere echo. Observing there what was to be
seen left him with an odd feeling. He could not say for sure, but
he had a suspicion that he somehow possessed a dormant
memory. And in this memory unknown even to himself there resided a cornel of a most obscene story.
    The words rose up from his subconscious mind, and again he
pushed these words from his thoughts before his mind could
again assemble them. Trudging onward through pungent clouds
that blanketed the air, he came upon a familiar place. There he
could make out the smoke tinged faces of children he seemed to
vaguely recognize. They stood there silently with the black pits of
their eyes glaring blankly. The words again welled up. He tried to
speak but the stifling clouds again descended before he could utter a word. On his tongue he rolled a sound to which his mind
was not conscious of. A word, a name if only one were to speak it
aloud the world would again come crashing down. He tried to
speak it but as his mouth moved to form the word it faded again
from his memory. Just then he was startled from this vision as
again the sound of chimes, like those he had heard in his childhood filled his thoughts. This time they resounded more distinctly
than before. He followed their sound and as he did it grew louder.
The sound then abruptly stopped. There in a clearing he came upon