After the Rainbow

After the Rainbow

           "This can't be right—"

           The old man turned on his heel and gathering up his long, voluminous robes, swept towards the tall double doors, each step coating his boots with a further layer of fine white dust. He paused on the threshold, eyes searching the misty fastness of the Great Chamber until a soft rustle caught his attention.

           "Come down now Marius—" he called, voice quivering with uncertainty. "I must examine the portents."

           "Yes grandfather—"

           He scurried around the interior of the dome edging across rather than down. Part of the ancient structure had fallen away leaving a narrow aperture; he gazed out, his round, black eyes hungry for a glimpse of the outside world.

 Dusk was falling and a cold mist beginning to settle on the face of the deep; he stretched a little more straining to catch sight of the reed beds that lined the far shore. The swans had still not returned; a sign more ominous than all of the other portents put together. Even the disappearance of the tallies paled to insignificance when compared to the absence of the swans.

Marius dropped to his feet near to where the old man was waiting.

"The tallies are definitely fading Grandfather—" he said. "I went right back to the third era of the second age; the marks are nearly all gone and—and—"

He reached for the door handle and stood back allowing Grandfather to precede him.

"And what--?" the old man asked impatiently. "Come on child, speak up."

Marius tried to frame a coherent answer but as usual his courage deserted him. "Swans" he whispered "swans—"

"Nonsense" Grandfather said "now be quiet and let me think; third era did you say hmm—"

He strode ahead muttering under his breath "swans indeed—"

Well, the child decided, Grandfather was probably right. But if he'd been in those ancient lower caverns and had seen patterns woven into the fabric of time fading from existence, he would not dismiss any notion however farfetched.  It was Marius, who explored the tunnels beneath Talliman's Keep until he could walk them blindfold; who read the signs on the rare occasions visitors arrived from the outer shore seeking guidance on some issue. Marius who found the correct reference point, teasing answers from a few scratches set in stone by hands long turned to dust. 

Marius scampered down the stone flagged passage; his short legs no match for Grandfather's loping stride. He sprang sideways, hit the wall and rebounded, landing on the ceiling arms and legs splayed out lizard-like; now he could keep up and they continued in the same way until they reached the study. Grandfather unlocked the door and beckoning Marius to follow, went across to his desk and began emptying the drawers.

"What was that you said about owls?" he asked vaguely.

Marius dropped to the floor and closed the door. "Not owls Grandfather; swans."

           The old man took up a bag and began filling it with the items he would need to read the portents.

           "Suppose I'd better take a look. Is the woman who cooks and cleans still downstairs?"

           "Yes Grandfather."

           "Then go and tell her to stop making that bloody awful noise—"

           "I don't think it is her making it Grandfather" Marius said moving back against the wall and pointing to the ceiling. "It's coming from up there."

           The old man straightened "What? Oh no—"

           The bag slipped through his fingers, spilling the contents on to the carpet; using the edge of his boot, he quickly swept it all beneath the desk.

           "What is it Grandfather?"

           "Trouble my child trouble" he took a position at Marius' side "as if we don't have enough to contend with."

           The noise rose to an ear splitting shriek, rattling the window frames and shaking the light fittings until they tinkled in protest; it finally ceased, fading away to nothing, the room filled with a dense grey mist.

A voice emerged; "hello Floode my old friend" it said.

           "Archon—" Grandfather folded his arms in the sleeves of his robe and made a solemn bow.

            "To what do we owe this pleasure?"

           The visitor's wintery grey eyes lingered on Marius for a moment speculation evident in their depths.

"Can we sit down" he said "I've had one a hell of a time."

"Of course-" Grandfather indicated the far end of the room, where a number of chairs were grouped around a low table.

"Marius—" he hissed "go and find us some tea."

"No—" the Archon disposed himself comfortably in one of the chairs. "Let the freak stay, after all this concerns him as well."

He settled back "I won't beat about the bush Floode, it’s the Almighty. Mad as a wet hen, I've never seen him so angry. He's going to do it this time for sure—"

"Do what?" Grandfather asked.

"You know" the Archon said urgently, waving an arm in the general direction of the window "wipe us all out. Says he wants to start again with a different species."

"That's why the tallies are disappearing—" Marius said before Grandfather could silence him. "So there will be no record."

The Archon dropped his head into his hands. "It's a kind of countdown; when it reaches zero then--pouf we are all gone. I've argued and argued for one more chance but he is adamant; adamant I tell you."

"That means he won't give in--" he said as an aside to

Marius.

"There have been other times" Marius said "surely once there was a great—" Marius stopped speaking, crossed his legs and sat down. "Water covered the earth" he said "Grandfather told me that."

But always with a degree of compassion that allowed the species to recover. This time he says he is going to file it under experiment failed; we have no redeeming features so he's going to wipe the lot out and start again."

"Any mention of free will?" Grandfather asked.

"Only in passing" Archon said narrowing his lips to a thin parsimonious

line. "He regards it as the underlying cause."

"I hope you pointed out his mistake."

           "There is always a problem" the Archon said drily "in pointing out to the Almighty that he might be wrong."

 Grandfather pinched the bridge of his bony nose between finger and thumb. "So what caused the—you know, upset?"

"A child in one of those unfortunate war torn countries; the enemy descended on his village like the wolf on the fold, tore him from his mother's arms, murdered, tortured and raped then disappeared, leaving a badly injured child alone and in terrible pain."

Grandfather shuddered, a spasm of grief passing like a shadow across face; "unbelievable" he said "could nothing be done."

"Later some friends and relations of the family went to search but there was no sign of him."

 The Archon moved uncomfortably "it is vital we stop the countdown; or our whole species will be annihilated and that is why I am here, to ask one of you to make a great sacrifice. You see I know what really happened."

It was the last remaining hospital and a small boy lay unmoving in a makeshift bed, two men and a younger woman all dressed in green stood round him, studying the information displayed on banks of flashing beeping monitors. They appeared weary but satisfied by what they read and moved away, discussing the case in low voices. 

"Will he live" asked a voice suspiciously like that of the Archon.

"Yes—" one of the surgeons answered. "But it was a near run thing; we only just got to him in time.

"Poor lad—" the woman added "but we've seen worse. I wonder how torturing children aids their cause."

"But isn't he one of yours."

"We provide help where it is needed, yours or ours it makes no difference to us."

"And that is the redeeming feature we are looking for" the Archon said "the child was picked up by the opposing force who took him to one of their medical units. His life was saved by the enemy—an utterly unselfish act."

"So there is hope" Grandfather said "but why then are the tallies still disappearing, what has gone wrong?"

            "We have to make him stop the countdown. I can't do it, he has denied me his presence but you could—"

 "No—" Marius broke in "No you cannot ask such thing. Grandfather don't—"

The remainder of the sentence was lost; Marius saw the Archon lean over him hand outstretched; he felt the touch on his brow and then knew no more. Except he thought he heard Grandfather say; "a sign—child; I will send you a sign.

           Later standing at the window, he knew the countdown had finished; he could feel it in his bones, the tallies were safe.  There was a lot to do when a Guardian of Talliman Keep died; before long he would have to call the woman who cooked and cleaned and the man who made and mended to remove the body. Then he would take over the Guardianship of the Keep, the tallies and all they represented.

           Some things could be forgotten but not this; he heard the beating of wings, the swans had returned; six this time, setting down, stretching and fanning their ruffled feathers. Marius felt a laugh rising inside him, a combination of joy and relief.

           "Thank you Grandfather" he said.

Folding their wings the swans skimmed the surface of the lake, just then the clouds parted and a shaft of sunlight hit the water, curving upwards like a smile.

           Thank you very much.