“THEY WERE FINE STUDENTS, EAGER TO LEARN OF THE SUN AND THE LIFE ITS LIGHT BRINGS. DID YOU COME TO ASK ME TO FOLLOW IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS? IT HAS BEEN LONG SINCE I HAVE HAD HUMAN STUDENTS...”
They all literally trembled in shock. The chance to learn Light Magic from the very being who had taught the mother and father of the Kabbalist tribes was a chance that none of them could pass up!
“Great Mother, Your Imperial Majesty, there are none among us Humans present who would not sing for joy at the chance to learn of the old magic from Your Majesty,” Judge Abraham got out hoarsely. “But that is not why we have come today.”
“SPEAK, THEN, JUDGE ABRAHAM HUMAN. HEALER FAE TOLD ME THIS MATTER CONCERNED TRUTH, A TRUTH BURIED BY THE LIES OF GREAT POWERS, AND ONLY A GREAT BEAST COULD SET MATTERS TO RIGHT.”
A very specific Great Beast, to be exact!, I smiled to myself at Radiant Holy Auspicious Butterfly Emperor’s words. The Butterfly Emperor was anything but ignorant of the nature of Humans.
Judge Abraham turned an eye on me, I just raised an eyebrow back at him, and he took another deep breath. I calmly proposed, “Your Imperial Majesty, this one would like to venture that those matters of truth are intimately involved with the magic of the Light You once bestowed upon the ancestors of this tribe of us Humans. If it pleases You, this one recommends that they display the learning of Light that they have inherited... and You will see how it has been changed from what You taught their ancestors.”
Wings that could cover a football field each fluttered with almost weightless ease. They created a gentle breeze, but there was a sudden sharpness in the air. “THE OUTSIDERS...” She murmured, and the rabbis and rabbas swallowed at Her words. “YES, THAT IS WISE. SHOW ME WHAT HAS BECOME OF WHAT I TAUGHT YOUR FOREBEARS. JUDGE ABRAHAM HUMAN, RISE AND SHOW ME YOUR LIGHT!”
It was an Imperial order. He was rising to his feet and pulling on the Light Mana before he could stop himself. “At Your Imperial Majesty’s command!” he managed to gasp out. Slowly and carefully, he started with the very simplest of spells, as a mere Novice might Cast, and began to bring the Mana to him.
---
The Elders were all Archmages at the least, and while they all shared spells of the Kabbalist Tradition, they also all had individual spells of their own in the Element of Light, something especially true for the Sages.
None of them held back as they demonstrated all of the spells they knew, those of the Tradition and those of their own. If an outsider like me was still kneeling there and watching it all, well, it didn’t matter in the face of the Butterfly Emperor’s authority and power.
All of them also had the Six Spells from my Lighthouse, of course, and demonstrated those as well. I noted the antennae bob in my direction as She recognized the magic and its source.
A glorious spell of offering an unclean soul up for purification, a Sage Light spell of incredibly lethal power, finished up the demonstration of magics as Elder Sage Jediah demonstrated his magic.
Her antennae glimmered and gleamed in the wind, the hypnotic beauty of Her wings waving slowly and smoothly, somewhere between leather and crystal, and heads stayed down to avoid being mesmerized by the sight.
“YOUR LIGHT HAS STRAYED FAR FROM WHAT I TAUGHT HUMANS ADAYAM AND LILLITHA. MUCH OF IT BEARS THE MARK OF THE OUTSIDERS, THOSE WHO EMPOWER AND COMMAND THAT WHICH IS CALLED THE CHURCH OF LIGHT AMONG YOUR TRIBE.”
Her judgement was absolute, there was no contesting it whatsoever. None of them could manage the slightest peep of doubt. That she considered them all part of the Human Tribe was not lost on them, either.
“Your Imperial Majesty,” Sage Ruth spoke up fearfully. “Do you know of Evai? And Abyl, and Cayne?”
“EVAI? THAT WAS THE COWARDLY FEMALE HUMAN WHO COULD NOT LOOK UPON ME WITHOUT HATE IN HER HEART. SHE WAS NOT MY STUDENT.” I distinctly heard every single one of the Kabbalists swallow at that totally heretical news. “ABYL AND CAYNE. I REMEMBER THEM AS THE ELDEST MALE CHILDREN OF HUMANS ADAYAM AND LILLITHI.”
I was pretty sure that right there tossed all their doctrine right out the window. I’d naturally read the Talamud and as many books on the Kabbalist Traditions as possible, and Evai was portrayed in them as the wife of Adayam, while Lillithi was mentioned only as a demon and a temptress. Furthermore, the famous story of Abyl and Cayne and their sad fates was also the only place the names of the descendants of Adayam were mentioned!
The Butterfly Emperor had just inferred they were the eldest male children, which meant there were other children, and other male children, of Adayam and Lillithi!
Judge Abraham slowly raised his head as high as he dared. “Your Imperial Majesty, the histories that our tribe has, that we wrote down, and passed down... seem to be in great error. We... it would be a great mercy of Your Imperial Majesty if You would correct those errors for us, and restore us to the true path!”
Stolen story; please report.
Scintillating wings beat slowly as the Butterfly Emperor considered the request. “HEALER FAE.”
“This one listens, Your Imperial Majesty!”
“SET UP A FORMATION TO CATCH THE DAWN NECTAR FOR ME. THE DESCENDANTS OF MY STUDENTS NEED INSTRUCTION.”
“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty!” I rose to my feet, and turned to the east. For a moment I looked down at all the Elders in their black robes, heads bowed, expressions pale with the knowledge that their people had been slowly manipulated over the ages into forgetting their true past and true history... but now they had the chance to set things right!
I waved my hand twice, and sets of polarized spectacles settled in front of all of their eyes, permitting them to look upon Radiant Holy Auspicious Butterfly Emperor without being mesmerized. The second wave flicked up a whole lot of silvery force Disks for them to sit their old bones upon more comfortably so they could listen to Her.
With them set up to receive the Butterfly Emperor’s teachings, I headed out to between the Wolf and Eagle standing honor guard, needing to build a simple ten-step Pyramid that could condense the sun-, moon-, and starlight to make an acceptable repast for Her Imperial Majesty out of Heavy Light Mana.
Neither of the Noble Beasts on guard duty betrayed any undue interest as I obeyed the order of a True Emperor and began making Her food dispenser. A ten-stacker was something I could get done in eight hours of work. I just had to reach down far enough to bring the stone up, and get to work...
--------
I had Coralost call the Temple and inform the escorts and the aides that the Conclave of Elders was now out in the Great Plains being instructed in the Old Ways of Light that the First Prophet Adayam had been, which stopped their panic at the disappearances and replaced it with wonder and a sense that something momentous was going to happen.
I also had to arrange supplies of kosher foods to be delivered to them, but that wasn’t that difficult, all things considered. Some phone calls to a Kabbalist deli happy for the business and delivering some food and drink wasn’t an issue. They were all powerful mages and didn’t need to eat and drink that much if they had need, and none of them wanted to take much of a break from hearing and listening to the Butterfly Emperor.
The news that Evai was irrelevant to the first tribe, and the defamed Lillithi was actually the mother of the whole Kabbalist Tradition, was going to rock the Kabbalist tribes across the world. Of course, that would only lead to who had suborned Her name, and why, because she was honored as the First Woman of Light in the Church of the Synod...
The Butterfly Emperor didn’t know, but the Outsiders had introduced their famous Contracts of Light not long after the first Prophets had been taught, and there was little doubt the smearing of Lillithi and her eldest sons was related to that matter.
Still, learning the names of all the children of the Father and Mother of the Kabbalist tribes was a blessed moment for the whole Conclave, especially so when the Butterfly Emperor could sense those bloodlines running through all of them.
The Butterfly Emperor had watched their tribes from afar, and could recite effortlessly the movement of the Kabbalists over the centuries, putting accurate years to every single event in the Torah, if not the exact names of all the participants and peoples. She was not a historian for Humans, after all, moreso after the Last Prophet had come and the Church of Light had risen, inciting fear and hate of all the Great Beasts, regardless of type or source. She and hers had pulled back to K’un-Lun, not of a mind to browbeat or force Humans into servitude, and there She had stayed for most of the last two thousand years.
-----------
Time passes...
It had been a week, and the Butterfly Emperor had indicated that she would be departing. She had final words for the Council of Kabbalist Elders, and then I drew up a Gate for her to the other side of the world. The glorious beauty of the greatest of all Butterflies dissolved into prismatic sparkles of Light and streamed through the Gate to K’un-Lun, and I closed it smoothly behind her.
Something shone on Noble. I glanced at it, and saw a new prismatic crystalline sliver hanging there, which had not been there before. I recognized it, as it was a smaller twin of the Token hanging in the Council of the Emperors.
They all saw it materialize there on Noble, too. They had some very complicated and careful gazes upon me when they realized what it meant for that Token of Her Will to be given to me, and not to one of them.
Judge Abraham was not the most powerful among them, but he had been the most disciplined and polite of them, with sharp questions that nevertheless conveyed great respect. It had been plain that the Butterfly Emperor had enjoyed his keen mind and manner of thinking. He had taken over a de facto leadership position, despite not being a Sage.
But they had all learned things about Light that practically guaranteed they could all reach Sage in Light if they had the Will and qualified to do so. Emperor Beasts were frightfully good at the whole Inspiration and motivational thing.
“Lady Fae, if we may ask... what is your relationship with the Butterfly Emperor?” Judge Abraham asked cautiously.
I inclined my head slightly at the question. “We... do not have a formal relationship? I merely give Her the respect and consideration She is due as a True Emperor of benevolent nature and great wisdom.”
“Yet She came here to answer our questions and instruct us at your request...” he began, and I raised a hand to stop him.
“I conveyed your message to Her. She came because of the message, not the messenger.” That softened their expressions, and their doubts. “Your ancestors made a very positive impression on Her. She was pleased to see you honor and respect them and the relationship your tribe had of old with Her.” My eyes flickered to my Staff, and the new Token hanging from it among all the others, things some Archmages would give their souls to have for their own. “You refer to Her gifting of this Token. While Her reasons are Her own, perhaps She was somewhat impressed with me. When I delivered your request to her, She did ask me to stay and speak with Her for a time on Light, White Magic, and several other sensitive subjects.
“We had a long and diverse conversation, and I demonstrated magicks for Her that She had never seen before. As She is a True Emperor, I remain at Her disposal if She has need of me, but of course Thunderbird Emperor is my direct superior as the Emperor of North America, and She will not command me without His leave to do so.”
Half of them were from Europe and the Middle East, while the North Americans shuffled uneasily at the idea they were presumed to be subordinates of Thunderbird Emperor. “Would... we be considered servants of the Butterfly Emperor?” Judge Abraham asked quietly, his voice neutral at the idea.