Die Rettung
Die Rettung: Buch Eins
In a Holy Roman Empire that did
Not end. When the Red Knight breathes his last, a great
Three-year winter sets in, no summers between.
An axe-age, sword-age, wind-age, and a wolf-age.
They call this the Fimbulwinter, Dead Season.
A time of war: brothers slay each other, and
No man spares another. In a small forest,
A shepherd, Eggter, plays his harp. His roosters,
Fjalar, Gullinkambi, and Sotraud, crow in
Panic. He looks up. In the purple heavens,
Skoll and Hati, sons of the god Loge, chase
The Sun and Moon across the skies, in the forms
Of wolves. They catch the deities that preside
Over these heavenly bodies, and eat them.
The Greater Light and Lesser Light lose their glow.
Hrim, the god of ice, readies Nagelfar, his
Ship made of dead men's fingernails. He steers from
The east, on his way to battle. Surt, lord of
Fire, from the south comes with flickering flame,
His sword shining brighter than the radiance
Of a thousand suns. They join Loge as he
Prepares for war, coming from the north.
In Himinbjorg, the fatherless and gold-toothed
God, Heimdall, son of nine mothers, daughters of
Aegir, heeds a great commotion. The pale lord
Can hear grass sprouting, wool growing on sheep, and
Anything louder. War's ringing in his ears.
In a cave called Gnipaheller, a beast has
Risen. Child of Tuphoeus and Echidne,
Monstrous Garm opens his eyes and emerges:
The Alumium Lord has cold silver fur,
Nine-thousand one hundred and forty-three legs,
Three-thousand seven hundred and one black eyes,
One-thousand six hundred and eighty-one mouths.
He runs with the speed of ten thousand horses,
Fights with the strength of six hundred thousand men,
And his metal hide is impenetrable,
Never by a god's or human's blade broken.
He is three hundred and fifty metres tall
And eight hundred and seventy-five in length,
And his mouths spew cold flames minus two hundred
And seventy-three degrees Celsius. He
Turns heavens into underworlds and suns to
Darkness. Yet to have faced a worthy hero,
He's waited for the beginning of the end
To make mountain ranges out of fresh corpses
And new rivers from the tears of frozen souls.
Heimdall raises his horn, Gjallar, and sounds an
Alarm to the gods in Goettergart. Dwarrows
Led by their Dwarf-Kings ready blades for conflict.
Their lords are the undying sons of Blain,
Their name for Imer, born of his blood and bones
After the riese was killed by Wotan and
His two brothers. Here be the king-dwarrows' names:
Dehaviel, Kaschriel, Gehoriel,
Bazatiel, Tufiel, Dahariel,
Matakiel, Schoel, and great Schiviel,
Tagriel, Matpiel, and Sarahiel,
Arfiel, Schahareriel, Satriel,
Ragaiel, Sehiviel, Schevuriel,
Retzutziel, Schalmiel, and Savliel,
Zahazahiel, Hadriel, Bazriel,
Pachdiel, Gevurtiel, and Kazuiel,
Schechiniel, Schatkiel, and Arviel,
Kafiel, Anfiel, and strong Techiel,
Uziel, Gatiel, and Gatahiel,
Safriel, Garfiel, and brave Geriel,
Deriel, Paltriel, and wise Rumiel,
Katzmiel, and adamant Gahagiel,
Arsavrasviel, and swift Agrumiel,
Partziel, Machkiel, and kind Tufriel,
Then lofty Chorpaniel Zehaftriai,
Avirzahiai Kavpel, Atargiel,
Chatrogiel Bangel, and Sastitiel,
Katzpiel, and Dumiel, also known as
Avir Gahidariham. Some dwarrows fight
For Loge, some for one-eyed grey-cloaked Wotan.
They pray to their dwarfish gods, Nordri, Sudri,
Austri, and Westri, that their kingdoms, Durin
And Motsogner, will be kept safe. Loge's son,
Lotan, also arises from the ocean:
A brasen serpent with a hundred heads, he
Sprinkles the air and waters with venom. His
Brother, Fenrer, a massive grey wolf, breaks free
Of his shackles underground. For years afore,
He had roamed the world of gods as a free soul,
Friend of Tir, until he grew too large and strong.
Then the gods conspired and tied Fenrer with
Chains, claiming it a game. The wolf, suspicious,
Agreed to the binding, on the condition
That a god stuck their hand into his jaw. If
He were tricked, the god would lose their limb. Brave Tir,
Peaceful war-god, offered his right arm. When he
Realized the chains could not be broken, he
Bit off his once-friend's arm. Their friendship sundered,
And feeling betrayed, the beast has been brooding
Under earth, waiting for his revenge. Now his
Chains have weakened, he shatters the bonds and flees.
They had been forged by a wise dwarf, but after
Many epochs the wolf rides once more, his nose
Tracking the scent of his enemy, Wotan.
Parsifal stands in Angharad. Heinrich rests
In their bed, reading a book about zauber;
He'll need to know some spells and incantations.
In sunlight Parsifal stands. Dazzling, ruddy.
Heinrich in his mind muses about his friend:
'He's a raised banner among ten-thousand. His
Head purest gold, his locks bushy, black as a
Raven. His eyes like doves by the rivers of
Waters, washed in milk, set properly in place.
His cheeks like a bed of balsam, towers of
Scented herbs. His lips lilies, dripping flowing
Myrrh. His hands rings of gold set with beryl. His
Abdomen bright ivory overlaid with
Sapphires. His legs pillars of marble set
On sockets of fine gold. His appearance as
Lebanon, excellent as tall cedar trees.
His mouth sweet. Yes, he's altogether lovely.'
'How's your reading?' 'Going well. I know some rough
Spells to help us. Zauber is the science and
Art of causing change to occur in line with
Will. And any sufficiently advanced tech
Would be indistinguishable from zauber.'
'Zauber's also a cosmic force, power in
Action.' Heinrich nods. 'I found an old book that
Details its origin. In time afore the
Dreifaltigkeit, the Highest Power, made the
Malachim, nine orders of six-thousand six
Hundred and sixty-six legions, six-thousand
Six-hundred and sixty-six in each legion.
Then the thirty Schedim were made, what we call
Aeons, fifteen pairs of divine beings, in a
Series of emanations. They lived in the
Seven Psychical Realms: Vilon, Rakia,
Schechakim, Zevul, Maon, Machon, and high
Aravot. The lowest Aeon, Sophia
Prounikos, wanted to directly access
The Dreifaltigkeit, and so attempted to
Create life without her partner, Theletos
Aberamentho, also called Abrasax.
Chachmut self-begat a being, Jaldabahut,
A red twelve-winged lion-faced cobra, with eyes
Flashing lightning bolts, tungsten skin, and seven
Heads and ten horns, four horns on the centre head.
Taking one third of the malachim with him,
Jaldabaoth created six other beings,
And these Archons made monsters, deities, and
The great Imer, whose children were the riesen,
And from whom came some other divine races.
The Archons also made the World-Tree and the
Eternally recurring circles of time.
They dwell in the planets: Levanah, Kokav,
Nogah, Schemesch, Maadim, Tzedek, Schabtai.'
'And from the Archons we get zauber.' He nods.
'Of course beings beyond the Nine Worlds have come here,
Like Ofaniel and Galgaliel, the
Malachim of the Moon and Sun. But these beings
Have a choice to leave. We can't. The Tree is the
Only reality we will ever know.'
They're called in for the council. War is brimming.
The year is Anno Domini four-hundred
Twenty-eight thousand and eight-hundred ninety
Nine. February sixteenth. 'What will happen?'
'I don't know, Heinrich. All I know is that War
Is a game with no winners. Still, we must play.'
The knight and his noble squire, both nineteen,
Enter the room, scared but trying not to be.
The round table has been set. The meeting starts.
Die Rettung: Buch Zwei
Gurnemanz has brought in neighbouring lords,
Friends from distant kingdoms; knights, zauberers, kings.
Arthur son of Uther and Igraine is there
Among them. Uther was the son of Brickus,
Son of Mazadan, son of Schimon. Schimon
Had his son at thirty-six years of age,
Three years after his step-brother was killed,
Anno Domini thirty-three, April third,
Three in the afternoon at dread Gulgalta.
Mazadan at thirty-three was taken by
A fay woman to her land, and granted life
Eternal. After thousands of years on their
Honeymoon, they consummated their union
And twins were born to them: Lazaliez, Brickus.
They had sons of their own, all mortal. From the
Line of Lazaliez comes Parsifal. At the
Table stand King Arthur's elite knightly group:
The twenty-four Marchogion y Ford Gron,
Ector, Dagonet, Urien, and Brunor,
Gingalain, Alynore, Mordred, Galahad,
Lancelot, Gawain, Peredur, Lionel,
Tristan, Gareth, Bedivere, Bleoberis,
Brunor Lacottemaltaillee, mighty Lucan,
Palamedes, Lamorak, Bors, and Safir,
Pelleas, and Sir Kay. It was after Sir
Peredur that Parsifal got his nickname.
Myrddin, or Merlin as they call him, is here
Too. His mother was a fay, hence his powers.
Merlin has been explaining zauber to Kay:
'Pure Zauber first stems from the Dreifaltigkeit,
Revealed through Their ten aspects: Keter, Chochmah,
Binah, Chesed, Gevurah, and Tiferet,
Netzach, Hod, Jesod, and Malkut. These Sfirot,
Singular 'Sfirah', combine or divide as
Partzufim, singular Partzuf: the Keter
Into Atik Jomin and Arich Anpin,
Chochmah into Aba, Binah to Ima,
Chesed, Gevurah, Tiferet, Netzach, Hod,
And Jesod form Zeir Anpin, and Malkut
Becomes Nukvah. Zauber was used by lower
Powers, and so became corrupted, weakened.
The Archons developed their form of zauber,
And it is the form we have and use. But there
Is a deeper zauber from the Endless One,
Which we have no access to, for it's with Them.'
They begin deliberations. The battle
Lines have been drawn. They will move out tomorrow.
Parsifal's family, including Johannes
Presbuteros, will participate in this.
That night Parsifal calls the Dreifaltigkeit:
'Herr Gott, gib mir die gelassenheit dinge
Hinzunehmen die ich nicht aendern kann, den
Mut dinge zu aendern die ich aendern kann,
Und die weisheit das eine vom anderen
Zu unterscheiden.' He hopes for victory.
The next day they set off, he and Heinrich on
Grey steeds, of the eight-legged Spinnepferd breed.
Zauber has aided in technological
Advancements, like Mierzwiak Machines, which
Can erase memories, and various beasts
Genetically modified. Parsifal's
Red armour glistens in the early dawnlight.
'I still feel this is unethical.' 'Heinrich,
We're going to fight the gods. It's not like we've
Bitten off more than we could chew.' He winks. 'There's
A saying popular among the Juden:
'Lefichach nivra adam jechidi,
Lelamedcha, schekol hameabed
Neschamah achat, maaleh alav
Hakatuv ke-ilu ibed olam
Malei. Vekol hamekajem nefesch
Achat, maaleh alav hakatuv
Ke-ilu kijem olam malei. Ken.'
'I know that proverb. Whoever destroys one
Soul destroys a world, and whoever saves one
Life saves the world entire. But we must fight
The good fight. Just warfare. Darmajudda, as
Our friends in Baarata would say.' Heinrich sighs.
Kondwiramurs, Parsifal's childhood crush, rides
With the camp. An akschauhinee is composed
Of twenty-one thousand and eight-hundred and
Seventy chariots, twenty-one thousand
Eight-hundred and seventy elephants,
Sixty-five thousand six-hundred and ten steeds,
And one-hundred and nine-thousand three-hundred
And fifty infantry units. Parsifal's
Side, Loge's, has seven akschauhinees, and
Wotan's side has eleven. They're meeting at
A field a hundred leagues in each direction,
Wigrid. In his dark halls, Wotan is brooding,
Conversing with wise Mimer, a talking skull.
For in the beginning there had been chaos,
Until the Archons made the Nine Worlds. Firstly
A fiery world was formed, called Feuer-Heim.
Nebel-Heim was also made, cold and foggy.
Rivers flowed from Nebel, and the further they
Went, the colder they got, till they formed ice sheets.
This realm of darkness was the Ginnungagap.
Vapour from the ice formed rime, which gathered in
The north of the Ginnungagap, while the south
Remained clear. When the rime of Nebel and the
Heat of Feuer-Heim met, the rime melted and
This mixture gave rise to the sleeping Imer:
A large humanoid creature composed of a
Male and female body joined at the hip. A
Thousand heads, eyes, limbs. The female on the left,
The male on the right. Imer begat three beings:
Trudgelmir, Audumbla, and Fornjot. Great Trud
Had Bergelmir; he had Boltorn; and he had
Bestla. Audumbla was the spouse of Trud and
Boltorn. Audumbla, cosmic cow, was licking
The ice salt till she discovered Buri, and
They had Bor. Bor and Bestla had Wotan and
His brothers Wili and Wih. Fornjot begat
Aegir of his own essence, then goddess Ran.
Wotan and his siblings killed Imer, and with
His body, by command of the Archons, they
Made various locations, creatures, and things.
The riesen are the children of Imer. With
His body parts were made twelve Rieslords: from his
Intestines, gullet, left kidney, left foot, gall,
Spleen, right hand, stomach, left hand, right foot, liver,
And right kidney were made lofty lords, rulers
Who had children of their own, and so their kind
Spread across the worlds. The seven Archons made
Various gods and goddesses from Imer,
Whom they call Brimer. Great Mimer is Bestla's
Brother, uncle of Wotan. Some gods cut off
His head, and his nephew kept it alive for
Counsel. Right now Mimer is offering some
Advice on the battle to come. 'What must be
Done?' 'Follow the Rules of Menis, you'll be fine.'
'What rules are those?' 'The eight spokes of the great wheel.
Fighting should start no earlier than sunrise,
Ending by sunset. Multiple fighters must
Not attack a single warrior. Two may
Fight only if they carry the same weapons,
And they are on the same mount. No fighter may
Kill or injure one who has surrendered. One
Who surrenders is a prisoner of war
And subject to protection. No fighter may
Kill or injure an unarmed or unconscious
Fighter, or a person or animal not
Taking part in the war. No fighter may kill
Or injure a warrior whose back is turned.
No warrior may fight an animal not
Considered a direct threat. This is just war.'
Sol and Mani, sun-goddess and moon-god, are
Dead. But Sol gave birth to a daughter before
She was slain by one of Loge's many sons.
'Easier said than done.' He gets ready, his
Spear at his side. On his steed Sleipnir he speeds
To the battlefield, Heimdall following on
His horse Gulltopp. Their army has already
Congregated. On the other side, Heinrich
And Parsifal rally their troops. The former
Is Peredur's charioteer. Allies from
The rest of the earth's globe have arrived. From the
East: Dschalaladdin and Asadullah, great
Bedouin generals from the tribe of Kedar.
Caribou Anne and her partner Joachim,
Cowboys from Amerika. The ship Nagel
Has arrived. Surt and Hrim's forces with Loge
Leading the charge. In the distance, howls can be
Heard. Parsifal never thought he would be in
Battle, but here he is. Kondwiramurs is
In a nearby forest, watching the event.
And so the battle of gods and men begins.
Die Rettung: Buch Drei
Min, the goddess of war, is pleased. Born Menis,
She has always desired conflict. Sitting
On a nearby hill, she watches intently
With her gold-rimmed scissors-glasses. Below fight
Beasts, gods, men, dwarrows, and some other races.
The first god to fall is Wotan. The great wolf,
Fenrer, wrestles with him, before killing the
Lord of Frenzy with a single bite. Wrathful,
Wotan's son Widar responds by striking
The wolf, digging his foot into its maw and
Ripping his jaws apart. He drives a sword through
The beast's throat, and so Loge's child dies, at peace
After taking revenge on his tormentor.
The einherjar, undead warriors serving
Fricka, are fighting in this battle, led by
The valkyries, daughters of Tir Himerssohn:
Brunnhilde, Gerhilde, swan-white Grimgerde,
Helmwige, Ortlinde, misty Rossweisse,
Siegrune, Schwertleite, stormy Waltraute.
Wotan failed to follow the principles his
Uncle told him to, and so perishes. In
War, dignity is necessary, lest you
Slowly become the monsters you are fighting.
Lotan and Donner fight, and the red-bearded
God is victorious. However, he has
Suffered a hundred and eight bites from the snake,
And the poison seeps into his blood. He walks
Nine steps from the beast's body before falling.
Froh son of Wotan fences Surt, fire-god,
And they flog the planet with their parries, but
Ingwi is without his best sword, having passed
It to his messenger Skirner for the fight.
He's soon defeated. Johannes Presbyter
Is a majestic fighter. The son of the
Great Feirefiz through zaubical means, he has
The strength of two-hundred and seven million
Three-hundred and sixty thousand men. He needs
No blade or shield, fighting scores of soldiers all
At once. The elephants were brought from mighty
Libya, with some from Asia, and all the
Horses bred in Europa. Men on foot use
Spears, swords, arrows, and guns. Prester Johan was
Born with beautiful skin like a magpie; white
And black like the night sky with the Moon therein,
Just like his father. Many gods are here, some
Quite obscure: Orimut, Munichunafor,
Tarpetanuf, Chosi, Chonbal, Aglovain,
Tschetschobabalan, to name a few. Hellish
Garm and Tir fight, and in the struggle they are
Equals. Both slay each other at the same time,
The dog's vitriolic blood drowning the ground.
Loge and Heimdall, sworn enemies, lock blades,
And soon the White God and sly Laufijarson
Run each other through, ending their old quarrel.
Parsifal's sword, Chamuel, has a great trick:
When activated, it has to be thrown by
Its wielder's foot: when it strikes a target, it
Enters the body with a single wound like
A spear, then sprouts thirty foot-long barbs. The
Flesh must be cut away to retrieve the blade.
After killing a few hundred people, young
Parsifal soon realizes War's futile,
And heavy casualties are felt on both sides.
He decides to take a break. You can't blame him.
He's young and gentle at heart, and has no taste
For senseless bloodshed. He decides to head for
The nearby forest, Hoddmimis-Holt, and come
Back in a bit. It's February eighteenth.
On his way there, a large group of einherjar
Start pursuing him. He readies his sword, but
Suddenly suffers a muscle spasm in
His leg. He limps away frantically, the dead
In pursuit. Heinrich sees the situation
And rushes in to guard his friend. They make it
To the forest's edge. To their dismay, hundreds
Of einherjar are approaching them. Knowing
Parsifal is incapacitated, his
Friend offers to cover him. 'You go. I can
Take them.' 'Are you nuts? There's hundreds of wraiths!'
They
Argue back and forth till finally Heinrich
Shushes his friend with a shout, grabbing his arms:
'Listen to me, Parsifal!!!' All goes silent.
The battle rages on, but he takes a breath.
Slow, at peace. 'I was born and raised at a time
Where people like me were shunned. You'd be declared
Mentally ill, or you'd be beaten up or
Killed. So like a lot of folks did back then, I
Hid. I hid so well that happiness couldn't
Find me. And then I met you. You changed my life.
Opened my eyes. You were the spotless mind to
My vestal, and our sunshine was eternal.'
He embraces him, his arms scared of release.
Reluctantly he pulls away, blade ready.
He knows he won't see him again. Life's so short.
'Farewell, lovely.' With that, he rushes back. No
More will he hide. He feels hope, not pain. The crowd
Swallows him. Parsifal, shaken, breaks within.
Fleeing into the forest, he finds Konny,
Invoking the Dreifaltigkeit for comfort:
'Heilig, heilig, heilig, Jahveh Allmaechtig,
Der Da War und Der Da Ist und Der Da Kommt.'
They find water at a stream close by. He has
Not accepted that Heinrich might not return.
The four Riders on the Storm come to pick up
The dead souls. Servants of malach Azarel:
Nikos on a white horse, Polemos a red,
Limos a black horse, Thanatos a pale horse.
The field burns with the flames of freshly shed blood.
Having rested, he gets up to return. But
To his shock, Parsifal hears a voice in his
Head, telling him to stay back. It's a voice he
Feels compelled to heed. 'Dein wille geschehe.'
He and Kondwiramurs are instructed by
The voice to hide in a large nearby tree. They
Enter the ash, and a forcefield surrounds them.
Meanwhile, Surt assumes his glorified form, the
Morgensonne Die Aus Dunklen Bergen Kommt.
He's so large he extends out of Mitgart. Like
Omophoros and Splenditenens, gods who
Hold the earth and heavens, he spreads out, hairless
Except for his beard. Surt's god-form is scaled in
Parsangs, eighteen-thousand two-hundred and two
Feet one parsang. Omnia renovantur.
The length of his soles: thirty-million parsangs.
From feet to ankles: ten-million five-hundred.
Ankles to knees: one-hundred ninety million
Five-thousand two-hundred parsangs in length. Knees
To thighs: one-hundred and twenty million. Thighs
To neck: two-hundred and forty-million. Neck:
Hundred and thirty-million eight-hundred in
Length. The head circumference: three billion and
Thirty-three and one third parsangs. His small beard:
Eleven-thousand five-hundred. Forehead width:
Hundred and thirty million eight hundred. Black
Of each eye: eleven-thousand five-hundred
In diameter. White of each eye: twenty
Thousand. Right to left shoulder: one hundred and
Sixty million. Right to left arm: one-hundred
Twenty million. Each finger is one hundred million.
The palms of his hands: forty million. Each toe:
One-hundred million. The lips: seven-hundred
And seventy thousand. Cheeks: twenty-million.
Nose long as fingers, ears long as his forehead.
Surt burns up the Nine Worlds. The World-Tree shrivels.
The earth melts, then is swallowed by fervent floods.
Time passes, and the Worlds reemerge, renewed.
Alskir, daughter of the sun-goddess, rises,
Deity of the new Sun and Moon. Wali
And his brother Widar emerge, survivors.
They're joined by Magni and Modi, sons of Sif
And Donner, wielding their father's hammer, Mjolner. The
Spear of Wotan, Gungner, is with Wal and Wid.
Balder and Hoder also arrive from the
Depths of Hades. Resurrected, they hold no
Grudge against each other. The gods make their way
To Idavoll, a great plain. The earth will bear
Life soon enough. They build houses and forge tools,
Discussing their old lives. Two humans show up,
Also spared of the destruction: Konny and
Parsifal. In time they will have two sons and
Many daughters, who will repopulate the
Earth. Their descendants will know them as Lif and
Liftraser. But for now, Parsifal must grieve.
The thirtieth remaking of the worlds. A
New age, with only nine beings alive on Earth.
They must rebuild in honour of those they lost.
Parsifal will miss his friend. But Life calls him,
And he must answer. At some point we all must.
A series of poems written by Captain Richard, started on the day his planet was destroyed and finished years later.
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