to normal. Fallion could hear the morning bird song as robins and larks worked the nearby meadows. The rising sun stood golden in the sky. A faint breeze stealing down from the mountains cooled his skin.
And overhead, a great light began to fill the sky.
Daylan Hammer fell silent for a long moment, leaving Alun time to ponder his words.
“Can’t, can’t you help us in some other way?” Alun asked. “You visit the netherworld it is said. Surely … there is some weapon that you could lend us?”
“You think that better weapons can save you?” Daylan mused. “You ask for a dangerous thing. I’ve heard tales of entire worlds that have been leveled—all because one like me handed out such weapons to those in need.
“It is forbidden.
“Even if I gave them to you, they could not save you. In time, your enemies would capture them and turn them against you.
“Besides, you have all of the weapons that you need to destroy this world.”
Alun tried to imagine what he could be talking about. Swords? War clubs? “What weapons?”
“Hate,” Daylan answered. “Your people don’t just live under the shadow of the wyrmlings. You have fallen far beneath it. In a generation, there will no longer be any difference between them and you.”
Daylan fell silent, then at last asked, “So, what will you tell Warlord Madoc?”
Alun thought hard. If he told the truth, he might gain his freedom, untold riches. He could marry well and live happily.
And if he lied….
Then Daylan would free Princess Kan-hazur, leaving his people to withstand the full onslaught of the wyrmlings. Prince Urstone would come to rule, hopefully to help any who escaped.
Even if my people survive, Alun wondered, will House Urstone ever reward me?
He had never caught the eye of the High King. It seemed too fanciful a notion to entertain.
Suddenly there was a bright light in the sky, as if a star had been born.
Alun did not become aware of it all at once. Instead, it seemed that for several seconds it became brighter and brighter.
He looked up, and saw a pale disk, as big as a moon. A star is falling, Alun thought. It’s coming right at us.
The light grew brilliant, and suddenly Alun recalled hearing a tale of a meteorite that had crashed into the mountains years ago, filled with iron from the stars. But he realized that anything as big as this would surely smash him when it hit.
Fallion peered up at the growing orb. He could see blue—vast seas, and the actinic white of clouds whirling above them. He saw the blush of the morningsun striking clouds at the terminus. He spotted a continent, with a great red desert and snow-topped mountains. He could make out silver veins of rivers, the emerald green of forests, a lake shaped like a kidney.
People around Fallion began to cry out in astonishment and fear, and some threw up their hands to brace for the impact.
“What’s that!” Alun shouted, still peering at the coming world. He could not believe that his life was over. He wanted Daylan Hammer to explain the sight away, offer some comfort.
He looked at Daylan Hammer, whose eyes were wide with wonder. “It’s the end of the world,” he said as the huge disk suddenly filled the whole sky.
“This is the end!” Talon cried.
Fallion stared at the coming world, fear coursing through him like a bolt of lightning, and whispered, “No, my friends, it is only beginning.”
The ground trembled and groaned, and a mighty blast raked Alun’s face. There was a fire in the heavens.
Wind roared all around him, and tornados of light touched down.
Alun threw up his hands to protect his eyes, and gritted his teeth.
Two worlds collided, folding into one. There were no crushing rocks falling from the sky, no vast craters formed, no plasma spewing from the far side of a ruined world.
Instead a rain of atoms fell, sizzling past one another through the vast empty spaces that exist between the nucleus of one atom and another.
To Fallion, the impact felt
And overhead, a great light began to fill the sky.
Daylan Hammer fell silent for a long moment, leaving Alun time to ponder his words.
“Can’t, can’t you help us in some other way?” Alun asked. “You visit the netherworld it is said. Surely … there is some weapon that you could lend us?”
“You think that better weapons can save you?” Daylan mused. “You ask for a dangerous thing. I’ve heard tales of entire worlds that have been leveled—all because one like me handed out such weapons to those in need.
“It is forbidden.
“Even if I gave them to you, they could not save you. In time, your enemies would capture them and turn them against you.
“Besides, you have all of the weapons that you need to destroy this world.”
Alun tried to imagine what he could be talking about. Swords? War clubs? “What weapons?”
“Hate,” Daylan answered. “Your people don’t just live under the shadow of the wyrmlings. You have fallen far beneath it. In a generation, there will no longer be any difference between them and you.”
Daylan fell silent, then at last asked, “So, what will you tell Warlord Madoc?”
Alun thought hard. If he told the truth, he might gain his freedom, untold riches. He could marry well and live happily.
And if he lied….
Then Daylan would free Princess Kan-hazur, leaving his people to withstand the full onslaught of the wyrmlings. Prince Urstone would come to rule, hopefully to help any who escaped.
Even if my people survive, Alun wondered, will House Urstone ever reward me?
He had never caught the eye of the High King. It seemed too fanciful a notion to entertain.
Suddenly there was a bright light in the sky, as if a star had been born.
Alun did not become aware of it all at once. Instead, it seemed that for several seconds it became brighter and brighter.
He looked up, and saw a pale disk, as big as a moon. A star is falling, Alun thought. It’s coming right at us.
The light grew brilliant, and suddenly Alun recalled hearing a tale of a meteorite that had crashed into the mountains years ago, filled with iron from the stars. But he realized that anything as big as this would surely smash him when it hit.
Fallion peered up at the growing orb. He could see blue—vast seas, and the actinic white of clouds whirling above them. He saw the blush of the morningsun striking clouds at the terminus. He spotted a continent, with a great red desert and snow-topped mountains. He could make out silver veins of rivers, the emerald green of forests, a lake shaped like a kidney.
People around Fallion began to cry out in astonishment and fear, and some threw up their hands to brace for the impact.
“What’s that!” Alun shouted, still peering at the coming world. He could not believe that his life was over. He wanted Daylan Hammer to explain the sight away, offer some comfort.
He looked at Daylan Hammer, whose eyes were wide with wonder. “It’s the end of the world,” he said as the huge disk suddenly filled the whole sky.
“This is the end!” Talon cried.
Fallion stared at the coming world, fear coursing through him like a bolt of lightning, and whispered, “No, my friends, it is only beginning.”
The ground trembled and groaned, and a mighty blast raked Alun’s face. There was a fire in the heavens.
Wind roared all around him, and tornados of light touched down.
Alun threw up his hands to protect his eyes, and gritted his teeth.
Two worlds collided, folding into one. There were no crushing rocks falling from the sky, no vast craters formed, no plasma spewing from the far side of a ruined world.
Instead a rain of atoms fell, sizzling past one another through the vast empty spaces that exist between the nucleus of one atom and another.
To Fallion, the impact felt
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