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Authors: Robert N. Charrette
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Security Agency bureau chief that it needed to be studied. Who better to do so than himself chief technical adviser to the FSA's top-secret Dark Glass program? No one among the agency's magicians could mulch Van Dieman's expertise, which was not surprising since half of them were charlatans. In its attempt to learn about and control the magic that was rising all around, the federal government had been less selective in recruiting for Dark Glass than it might have been, but even among the true magicians of Dark Glass, no one could offer a better chance of unraveling the object's secrets.
Of course, Van Dieman already understood some of those secrets; but his knowledge had come, not from study of the object, but from the cult of which he was a part. That cult, the Followers of the Glittering Path, understood what this object was for. They knew that it was what they had sought for more than a millennium: the Key. Not just any key, but the Key. The Key of the sacred texts, the Key to the Glittering Path. The key to power!
And who had a better claim to it than he? He had spent years learning the ancient ways and readying himself. When Quetzal, the Awaited One, he who had been called Quetzoucouatl, had come, Van Dieman had been ready to bask in his radiance. Van Dieman had exalted the Feathered Serpent and given him the honor due him. Quetzal had approved of Van Dieman's devotion and had seen his worth. Had not the Awaited One, from his own hand, given Van Dieman a taste of the glorious power that was the true follower's reward?
Quetzal had opened the way for him and set him on the path. When Van Dieman had received the sacrament fror~ Quetzal's hand, his mind had been opened to thoughts beyond the ken of the sheep around him. Awakened, he saw more clearly now. He understood Quetzal's role as the Lord of Change. Van Dieman's life was changed by his contact with the Awaited One, as it was to be. Now he knew his role, understood his place in the opening of the Way. He was Quetzal's chosen successor. Had he not received the sacrament from Quetzal's own hand? Who else could say that?
All was moving as the stars decreed. All was becoming as it was meant to be.
Before his sharing with Quetzal, Van Dieman had struggled to maintain his position at the sixth degree. Now the power came easier. Already he had passed the test and achieved fifth degree—as high as Ryota Nakaguchi had ever achieved—and he was ready for fourth. Magical power meant political power among the Followers of the Glittering Path, and political power within the secret cabal meant secret but potent influence in the mundane world—influence that Van Dieman had used to engineer his own promotion within Metadynamics, as Nakaguchi had done for himself within the Mitsutomo megacorporation. Van Dieman intended not simply to equal Nakaguchi's successes, but to exceed them.
Quetzal's awakening had been Nakaguchi's greatest success, but ultimately his downfall. There was no denying that the Awaited One had not been exactly what the followers had been expecting. The teacher and guide of whom they had dreamed had turned out to be a tyrant, shaking the foundations of the followers' beliefs. Like Van Dieman, Nakaguchi had chafed under their new master. The overshadowing of Nakaguchi's power among the followers had prompted him to act, in an attempt to contain the threat posed by Quetzal. It was a logical and necessary rebellion, but one launched too soon. The Followers of the Glittering Path had spent centuries honing patience as one of their most valuable tools, something Nakaguchi had forgotten. The gleam of the path shining through the gray dawn of this new age of magic had blinded Nakaguchi with its promise of power, and he had
led hastily. He had paid for his impatience.
But the followers had paid a price as well. Quetzal was gone now, and with him the opportunity to learn from the Awaited One. But from each loss a good businessman finds a way to gain.
With Quetzal's
Of course, Van Dieman already understood some of those secrets; but his knowledge had come, not from study of the object, but from the cult of which he was a part. That cult, the Followers of the Glittering Path, understood what this object was for. They knew that it was what they had sought for more than a millennium: the Key. Not just any key, but the Key. The Key of the sacred texts, the Key to the Glittering Path. The key to power!
And who had a better claim to it than he? He had spent years learning the ancient ways and readying himself. When Quetzal, the Awaited One, he who had been called Quetzoucouatl, had come, Van Dieman had been ready to bask in his radiance. Van Dieman had exalted the Feathered Serpent and given him the honor due him. Quetzal had approved of Van Dieman's devotion and had seen his worth. Had not the Awaited One, from his own hand, given Van Dieman a taste of the glorious power that was the true follower's reward?
Quetzal had opened the way for him and set him on the path. When Van Dieman had received the sacrament fror~ Quetzal's hand, his mind had been opened to thoughts beyond the ken of the sheep around him. Awakened, he saw more clearly now. He understood Quetzal's role as the Lord of Change. Van Dieman's life was changed by his contact with the Awaited One, as it was to be. Now he knew his role, understood his place in the opening of the Way. He was Quetzal's chosen successor. Had he not received the sacrament from Quetzal's own hand? Who else could say that?
All was moving as the stars decreed. All was becoming as it was meant to be.
Before his sharing with Quetzal, Van Dieman had struggled to maintain his position at the sixth degree. Now the power came easier. Already he had passed the test and achieved fifth degree—as high as Ryota Nakaguchi had ever achieved—and he was ready for fourth. Magical power meant political power among the Followers of the Glittering Path, and political power within the secret cabal meant secret but potent influence in the mundane world—influence that Van Dieman had used to engineer his own promotion within Metadynamics, as Nakaguchi had done for himself within the Mitsutomo megacorporation. Van Dieman intended not simply to equal Nakaguchi's successes, but to exceed them.
Quetzal's awakening had been Nakaguchi's greatest success, but ultimately his downfall. There was no denying that the Awaited One had not been exactly what the followers had been expecting. The teacher and guide of whom they had dreamed had turned out to be a tyrant, shaking the foundations of the followers' beliefs. Like Van Dieman, Nakaguchi had chafed under their new master. The overshadowing of Nakaguchi's power among the followers had prompted him to act, in an attempt to contain the threat posed by Quetzal. It was a logical and necessary rebellion, but one launched too soon. The Followers of the Glittering Path had spent centuries honing patience as one of their most valuable tools, something Nakaguchi had forgotten. The gleam of the path shining through the gray dawn of this new age of magic had blinded Nakaguchi with its promise of power, and he had
led hastily. He had paid for his impatience.
But the followers had paid a price as well. Quetzal was gone now, and with him the opportunity to learn from the Awaited One. But from each loss a good businessman finds a way to gain.
With Quetzal's
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