By Christopher Leeson
FROM DYAN'S JOURNAL
"How long does your family have?" Elekta had asked me during our flight north.
"Until the eve of Cernunog's feast day, Lady," I answered gloomily.
"Cernunnog's Eve? Are you certain?"
"All I know is rumor. May the gods grant that that we have at least that much time."
She was frowning off into the distance. "It is strange. People call Cernunog's Eve the 'Dark of the Demons.'"
"It's an unlucky night," I agreed.
She nodded. "The god allows the spirits of the Netherworld to roam free on that date. Wise people keep to their homes from dusk to dawn."
I knew that to be true. I sometimes wondered why a deity so honored by men would choose to plague the human race once each year.
Cawdour had once explained it this way: Cernunnog is the warden who keeps the evil of the Netherworld at bay. But because mankind is forgetful of its blessings whenever he deceives himself that these blessings are just the natural order of things, the god withholds his protection in order to teach them otherwise. In that way, Men were informed that the gods are real and their role as Man's protectors is pivotal. Wretched would be mankind’s lot if the gods ever forsook them.
Lady Elekta was speaking again. "You’re saying that Harouck has marked hundreds -- men, women, and children alike -- to die upon the most evil night of the year?"
"That is so, my lady. It does seem ominous."
"I have talked to priests and sorcerers. "Some have suspected that Harouck's sorcery is of the vilest kind. If his real intention is to turn a political execution into a holocaust to the Ancient Gods, the Fumorau, the world is far more out of order than we have supposed. With such a sacrifice, a dark wizard might even strike a bargain with Brys, the Dark-Robed Man, or another demon of his ilk."
I looked askance. "Are you serious, Lady?"
"Very serious, Sir Knight. If that man is truly courting the favor of the greater demons, our civilization might not survive to his downfall! His true war might be aimed at the gods themselves."
*****
The Standing Stones
