Chapter 1089 — Memories of the Mythic Age
Blade of Dawn · Page 3 of 5
"Which shows it was wise of you to extricate yourself in time. Within the domain of magic's authority, mortals have produced something that astonishes even you, the 'Goddess of Magic.' That is no small risk—and such risks, once accumulated, turn into a genuine crisis," Amorn said mildly. "That is how the God of War went mad."
Miremina shook her head at once. "His mind is no good. I am not like him."
Amorn thought it over. "...Then go back?"
Miremina seemed to freeze for a moment, then changed the subject with great stiffness: "...Ah, let's just watch the show, watch the show... This empress's summoning spell is impressive; I have never seen its like. Is this from that druidic system of yours..."
The giant-stag god beside her made no reply. Miremina felt a flicker of puzzlement, turned her head—and saw Amorn staring fixedly at the image in the hologram, faint light flickering in his crystal-forged eyes.
"Amorn? What is it?"
Above the magic-net terminal not far off, the archaic and magnificent Ring of the Oathstone had entered the material world, moss and vines of ages covering pillar after pillar, the water in the pool at the ring's center glinting, and the sky reflected on its surface clearly mirrored in Amorn's eyes. The Goddess of Magic's voice sounded twice more before the giant stag Amorn softly broke the silence: "This place... I remember it. I never thought they would remember it too..."
"You mean this 'Ring of the Oathstone'?" Miremina caught on quickly; she glanced back at the hologram in midair, then fixed her gaze on Amorn again. "This has something to do with you?"
"In the primeval age, when I first came to self-awareness, it was among those stone pillars..." Amorn's voice seemed to drift as if crossing immeasurable time. "That was the first sacrificial ground of the Senming sect."
"You remember things from that far back?" Miremina said in surprise. "I only remember that everything was blurry when I first came to self-awareness... I have no impression of it at all."
"We are each different. You do not remember your own first awakening, but I remember mine fairly clearly," Amorn said slowly. "I remember that at the time they had not yet found firm footing in their new homeland, and many elves had nowhere to settle, living a primitive life in the forests. I do not know how they got through their earliest days. When I awoke, they had already built such a sacrificial ground deep in the forest, celebrating the first harvest and praying for favorable weather in the year to come...
"I remember they lit many bonfires and laid out many offerings, and a girl in outlandish, bizarre finery stood to one side, repeating over and over that the gods had favored them, reversed disastrous weather, and brought harvest and safety..."
"Ah, then you remember a great many details," Miremina could not help saying. "You even remember the rites of that time."
"But I have no impression at all of what they said. I only felt very confused," Amorn said, his voice deep and pleasing. "I did not understand why those little creatures were so fervent, nor why they suddenly began to kneel and bow toward where I was. Fortunately, many voices soon came to me, and I came to understand the situation...
"I was their god, protector of the forest, and I was also the guide of life and death—at least that is what they believed... They also believed it was I who brought the harvest. In those days the authority of harvest and the authority of nature had no clear boundary; that portion of authority only evolved into the three gods of abundance ten thousand years later, as humankind slowly developed."
"Yes, many things changed very slowly in those days," Miremina said with a sigh. "Afterward they gradually sped up."