The year 2101: Earth lies in ruins after the last great battle in 2099. The only remains of human life are on the planet Kirshwin, where colonies were recently established. Joanna, a liaison agent for the indigenous inhabitants of the northwestern frontier, has fled the colonies; having fallen foul of the regime.

She travels to Jenowa where she is led to the tomb of the Jenowan Queen, Aysha, who is entombed beneath the ice. Her intuitive powers lead her to awaken the queen by piercing her heart with a sword.

Joanna is unaware of the cosmic significance of the event and of her own role in restoring the balance the universe until Aysha encounters her on the Northern Ice Deserts.

Listen well, oh Earth woman, listen to the words of the ancient ones, whose names were called blessed amongst the gods. Aye, you did not think the gods had any life apart from what your ancestors gave them. I pity your race for its disbelief and departure from the old ways. You have forsaken the one true path and gone your own way, neither knowing from whence you came, or to where you are going. Since I have risen from the sleep that is called death, I have walked amongst your people here on Kirshwin. You humans, are they the ones they call ‘the colonists?’ I have observed your petty jealousies and bigotry. You call us barbarians and treat us like errant children, because of what you have judged from the outside. Was it not one of your gods who told you to judge not and you would not be judged? How is it that you have the right to cast us to hell? The hell you yourselves live in is far worse than anything I have yet seen in this world.

But we have traveled so far across the cosmic deserts, how can we be so pitiful?

It is for this reason that I pity your people; you have the technology to travel to the ends of the universe, but you have not the power to love one another. It is this that will extinguish your noble race for I have seen your world lying in ruins. Aye, and I saw you when your bones were not yet formed in your mother’s womb.

Does my mother still live?

Listen to me child of Earth. You who has admired the simple ways of the Kirshwinians, who has revelled in the glory of the hunt... learn from our history that you may save not only your own people but ours also.

It is too late to change now all is lost!

Heed my words, oh daughter of Earth. It is to you that I speak these words. You are the giver of life. It was by your hand that I was raised from death. You pierced my heart with the sword of Aysha, my sword, as I lay entombed beneath the ice. And yet you say that the dead cannot rise. Oh daughter of Earth, who has the power to bring forth life from within her own body, can you not listen to my voice?

I am listening, though as yet I do not understand.

I do not condemn your noble race lightly, we were once as you but we fell from grace, and we are as you see us now... barbarians and savages. It was not always so.

I am Aysha the Jenowan, born of the holy union of Krann, the Vanak god of war and Yaindee, a Jenowan princess. It is said that my father looked upon my mother and was so struck by her beauty, that he laid down his holy sword at her feet. It was then that I was conceived, he planted his seed within her that the Kirshwinians might praise the gods and so be saved.

The Vanaks were a mighty nation before that time. A noble people who were feared in war and respected in peace, they were the guardians of the realm and no invader, whether from foreign lands or starry heavens, would dare defile the shores of Kirsha whilst they reigned.

But when I was born all that came to an end.

Did they quarrel amongst themselves?

Ah, so you know the story! Aye, they did fall out amongst themselves. The royal household of the Vanaks was split in three, between the houses of, Valkania, Varghannia and Vannazzia. All wanted to wear the crown after the death of Gahntaki the Great. They warred mightily against one another and laid waste to the nations around about them. The nations cried out for a saviour to help them but none was to be found.

We know of saviours on Earth.

Aye, that you do my daughter. And in much the same way my father, Krann, called me. It was only I who could lead the least of the Vanaks, the Jenowans in revolt. The Vanaks would not listen to the gods or to their peers, so it was deemed that a lesser class would revolt against them.

I refused at first for I was not worthy of the call. I was ignorant of my royal birth, till Krann took me to the heights of heaven and revealed my birthright to me. My mother was once a Valkanian princess whose family had been deposed by the House of Dannywhore. She was sent as a child to Jenowa, the least of the Vanak kingdoms, lest she suffer the same fate as her siblings. It was she who was to wear the throne of the Vanaks. My father showed me many things in the vision, the beginnings of time and the end of the Ages. I saw your birth, aye, and the dawn of your world, which was not yet come.

You saw the beginning of life on Earth?

I saw all my child, but hush, heed my words. I accepted the calling and led the House of Jenowa in revolt against the Vanaks. It was a terrible war with no respite for either side. We were twice defeated on the ice deserts of Helkewa and would have perished, but for the Ice Lords who came to our aid. Half man and half beast, they drove the Varghannians and Vannazzians from our flanks. With the aid of the Valkanians, who saw the justice of our cause and made peace with Jenowa, we were able to survive the winter in Valkania. That was when the tide, which had ebbed against the Jenowans for so long, turned in our favour, for the Kings of Valkania allied themselves to Jenowa.

‘Twas in the summer of the following year that I led my armies to the Plains of Gannyweir, there we defeated the armies of Varghannia and Vannazzia. It was a terrible battle, so many died that the valleys ran deep with blood, and the spirits of the air fed on the flesh of the dying. I wept for those who had died that day though we were bitter enemies. I rent my garments in sorrow and seeing my distress, the great armies sued for peace.

We too have fought great battles and filled the valleys with blood.

Aye, I have seen your wars you are a bloodthirsty race, quick to tread the path to war and slow to make peace.

I was crowned Queen of all Vanakia in the capital at Orshwinna and we entered into an age of peace; such as had not been seen even under Quewere the Beautiful, who was the greatest of the Vanaks to rule over us.

But it was all to end.

Madnir, the bastard son of Zantaki, Lord of Dannywhore, sought the black wisdom of Baltaki, the Black god of the underworld. It was he who knew my weakness, I was born with a fatal flaw and it was my only weakness. No weapon could pierce me save for one fashioned from Klingite. It was only I who wielded the Klingite sword. Madnir raided the mines of Jenowa and hammered out the blade under the instruction of Baltaki. Evil curses uttered at the beginning of time were etched into its shining blade. The spells so horrible, that not even my father Krann could stand against them, the gods trembled with fear when the blade came forth. It was the only weapon capable of killing the gods, and were it not for their terror I would have been warned of Madnir’s intent.

So you were taken unawares?

That I was, oh daughter of Earth. He surprised me in the night and slaughtered my hounds, the same beasts you see resurrected along with my twelve warrior maidens. It was a terrible fight but I was overcome in the end, I was bound hand and foot and brought me to Orshwinna.

Were you also subjected to the mockery of a false trial?

That I was, the trial was held in the dead of night, when Baltaki’s power is at its greatest. I was condemned to death; the sentence was to be carried out at dawn as the sun rose. Madnir wanted me to see my last sunrise before my life was taken from me.

And so I was led to the battlements that next morning to witness my last sunrise, ‘ere the sun set on my life forever. The gods gathered in force before the gates of Orshwinna and would have stormed the walls; had I but held out my hand. For though they were afraid of Baltaki’s power, they could not bear to see a child of their flesh so cruelly treated, and so unjustly condemned. At any moment in that fateful hour I could have called down heavens’ entire wrath but I refused. The inhabitants of this world would not have been spared, and as much as I desired life, I could not bear to see this world destroyed on my behalf.

That is what we call noble, but why did you not bring down fire from heaven?

Noble? Hah! That is not what we call nobility. I was in possession of a far greater secret, a magic deeper than even that of Baltaki’s. Not even Tanda, the High god whose power can not be measured, knew of the magic from before the dawn of time. The one, who we know as, ‘He, who was and is and is to come,’ had uttered the magic when I received my calling. It was what Baltaki desired from my lips that night, ‘ere he could rise from his depths and usurp the throne of the ‘Most High.’ But I remained silent though he promised to make me Queen at his side.

And so I was hanged from the heights of Orshwinna.

Hanged?

Aye, I spoke the magic and uttered the prophecy. ‘That one not yet born and not of this world will come to awaken me from sleep. Then shall the grand design be unveiled for all to see. The hope of all the ages, death’s bonds cannot hold me forever.’

And so you were entombed.

You speak the truth my daughter. I lay cold and alone though my spirit lived and moved through this world and worlds yet unborn, but I could not enter into life. Many tried to awaken me from sleep. For the ancient incantation called them forth to seek the prize that was mine, and mine alone to give, that he who pierced my heart would raise me to life. Many tried but my heart was hidden from them and they were burned in the fires of Aysha. Countless brave warriors throughout this universe traveled to take me from my bed, but one by one they were all destroyed.

Until I came along.

Aye, you were the first of the female kind to walk through the fires of Aysha and live. You alone discerned that the heart of the woman is the womb, the place from where all life begins its journey from the womb to the tomb.

What am I to do now?

You are to take this message to the people of this world and of your world, that life has come to this world; it is life such as they have never known. They are to seek out the legends of the Old Ones, the gods, goddesses and spirits they once scorned in the name of what you call ‘science.’ They must return to the land ‘ere it turns against them and give to the gods the fruit of the fields. Only then will the ancient curse be lifted and your people and mine will know a new peace and harmony.

They will turn against you and bring armies to your throat, but do not fear you will not suffer the same fate as I. The valleys will be filled with blood and you will weep for the destruction you have wrought upon this world. Your tears must also flow, for it is only in mourning that joy and peace are born. The fruit of your loins will be the beginning of the end of this age, and the dawn of the new age. Your children are your hope, as they are our hope. It is in the renewal of life brought forth from the womb, that we advance to the place of eternal bliss.

Hear my words, oh daughter of Earth and keep them close to your heart, set a guard with a thousand eyes to watch over your womb; for just as it is your heart, so also it is mine...

Written by Alastair Rosie © . September. 1997.

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