I was in darkness, standing alone outside on a low hill. Stars glittered overhead and a cool wind stirred my mane and tail. I felt expectant, waiting for something to happen.A golden light appeared on the horizon, moving swiftly toward me. In just seconds it was close enough for me to discern details; it was a running jaguar. Its coat seemed to burn with golden fire, and its spots were as dark as the sky above me. The jaguar stopped before me, green-gold eyes blinking slowly as it sat and wrapped its tail around and over its paws."I am heshatani Warado," the great cat rumbled, "I bear a message to you, priestess of Malahim, as one whose people are closely allied with your own. My shaman has been captured by The Defiler on a quest I have set him, and I ask your aid in freeing him. Oba Eshu Idan Chokwe Nokode was imprisoned in the Endless House attempting to gain the means to free the White One. Aid me by rescuing him, and I shall aid you in turn when you are in peril. Will you do this?"I told him I would."Good," he rumbled approvingly. "This much can I tell you. You must gather the vines, adjust the time, play the song and invoke the imagination if you would free the captured." He blinked once. "And always trust a cat." Then, with the sound of roaring laughter, the jaguar vanished in a burst of golden flame, and I woke up.
I saw Warado again when the shade Erebus killed me. I was trapped in a body of shadows and ice, passing from despair to hope to despair again. Then I heard something rustle.Turning swiftly, I prepared to be attacked - but what I saw instead was an old friend, the jaguar with emerald eyes and a coat of golden fire and night-black spots."Come, priestess of Malahim," the jaguar-spirit Warado said kindly, "it is time for me to repay my debt to you; two debts, in fact, for you saw to it that my shaman was well-buried, and his journey to the next world was made faster by the concern of his friends."If you want to return to your friends, you must travel with me through the planes to the tower of Eclipse in the shadowed Adumbra. There the creature called Eclipse will test you - although its tests are subtle, and sometimes you will not even know you are being tested. Reality and falsehood are difficult to tell apart in the Adumbra, and I am only permitted to guide you and inform you; I will not be able to help you pass your tests."If you pass to Eclipse's satisfaction, it will ask you what you want. There is very little Eclipse cannot grant that deals with matters of the planes; Eclipse is no deity, but it is master of the Adumbra and twin to Halo, master of the Illume."Warado led me through a bone-chilling darkness that was lit only by his fiery coat and brilliant eyes. After some time we stopped. I seemed to feel a breeze on my shadowed flesh as I looked around.It was as if I stood upon a high mountain at night overlooking the Rharihu Plains and seeing hundreds of campfires glittering like jewels on black velvet. As far as I could see, in all directions, were pinpoints of lights."This is the Crux," Warado said softly, his voice a low rumble. "To me, it is always a great, night-covered mountain. If you were guided by someone else - or came here by yourself - it would look different. It shapes itself to your mind, like all realities."The Crux stands at the center of the four planes, Attrahent, Adumbra, Illume, and Attrament. The powers dwell here, but we won't see them; the powers ..." the jaguar hesitated, as though searching for a word. "What the aseku call the Elder Gods. I do not think the Rharihini have a word for them."After another second of looking around, Warado stepped out into the void. Startled, I reached out to catch him, but as my shadow-fingers touched the flame of his fur the universe shifted, and we both stood on a shadowy landscape, where everything was grey and black, and the sky was a dull gray-steel color."Adumbra, the shadows," Warado explained. "We must walk a long time to reach the tower of Eclipse."And walk we did; past crumbling cities where the shadows howled like wild beasts; past labyrinths of dark iron that cut across vast plains, walls towering hundreds of feet high and wind whistling through the winding corridors in a tortured wail; past a silver lake that reflected images of my parents and past adventures as I walked along its shores; past a bustling city of stone and steel inhabited by creatures of all shapes and shadowforms that gazed enviously as me as Warado and I passed; past a dark forest where shadow-wolves eyed us and licked teeth of glittering black glass; and past the coils of a huge dragon that stirred slightly as we passed and opened one huge eye to look at Warado. A beam of light radiated from the eye, cutting the gloom, and engulfed us in piercing white brilliance."Is it time?" the dragon asked, in a voice that echoed through my bones. It took me a moment to realize that it was speaking a language I had never heard before - but that was as familiar to me as though I'd spoken it since childhood. Arnim has since told me that the dragon was probably speaking in the truetongue."Not yet, Mendrion," Warado replied respectfully. The shadow dragon turned its concentration on me, then closed its eye again. The sudden darkness was oppressive."You were noticed by a dragon, priestess of Malahim," Warado said, green eyes gazing curiously at me. "I wonder what significance that will have? Well, it is of no matter now - come, there is still a long way to travel."So we travelled on, past many more strange lands and objects, until at last I spotted, far ahead, a tall, needle-like tower looming darkly against the steelgloom sky."That is the tower of Eclipse," Warado informed me.
I stood in darkness, outside, on a low hill. Stars were scattered across the sky overhead, and a cool breeze whispered through my mane and tail. I turned, waiting.A dark shape stood nearby, beside a low fire. Curious, I walked closer, and the figure turned. The flickering firelight revealed it to be another Rharihini, a stallion with the markings of an appaloosa. He was larger than any other stallion I had ever seen, with a proud stance and a steady, piercing gaze that fixed upon me. Dark blood slowly welled from wounds around his wrists and hooves, and dark red jewels and beads glittered in his mane and tail like crystallized drops of blood. With a shiver of awe, I reconized this figure to be Malahim the Ropebreaker."Priestess," he began, as though carrying on a conversation that had been going on for some time, "I am disappointed. Why did you not investigate the Card that Epadunim led you to? Did you not think that the Oceanrider had a purpose in showing you that doorway? The evil being that dwells in the caverns of that Card has enslaved generations of beings, and darkens the waves of her Ocean with its unclean magic. It is acceptable to pause before acting in order to gain futher information, but eventually one must act even if all information isn't known. My clerics must not remain passive in a world where injustice exists."I am disappointed. Why did you not ask Slavetaken more about his slavemarks? No Rharihini should be enslaved forever, and the permanent marking of a slave is an abuse. Calavin Slavetaken might have said much to enlighten you, had you pressed through his silence. There is a time for diplomacy, and a time for directness. My clerics must investigate any hint that the defenceless are being abused."I am disappointed. Why did you not suggest to Duke Shokar the evils of slavery while you dined with him and discussed philosophy? The ways of the desert are abhorrent to me, for their slaves are not treated with respect and freed once their use as a status marker is over; they are enslaved for generations, and abused. You may not be able to change a culture, but you cannot let injustice exist unquestioned. My clerics must raise their voices when and where they can against injustice, slavery, and abuse."I am disappointed. Why do you persist in allowing your travelling companion to beat those he captures for information, instead of demanding that once and forever he stop? A person who is spellbound or ropebound cannot raise a hand to defend himself, and there is magic enough among your companions to glean information from the silent without need for torture. The prisoner who stays silent to protect a cause or companion acts out of honor, and should be respected rather than reviled for such loyalty. My clerics must act swiftly to end injustice and the abuse of the helpless."There are people who must be enslaved or imprisoned for the good of the Herd, and there are people who must be killed for the good of the Herd. Sometimes, very rarely, there are people who must be harmed until they reveal what they know for the good of the Herd, though this I will not tolerate should any other means of gaining the information be available. I do not demand that all slaves and prisoners be freed, but only that the cause of justice be served in both the taking and the treatment of those whose liberty must be circumscribed. My clerics must work to ensure that no person's freedom is limited without good cause, and that no person is harmed who has no form of defense."Now, go and aid your companions; you may learn something among the desert assassins that will aid your quest to free the one who has been imprisoned far too long and with far too little cause. My clerics must sometimes deal with those whom they do not approve of in order to serve a greater cause. But do not forget that you serve me before all else, and that I will not tolerate a cleric who does not actively work to further my cause at all times."And then I awoke.
