The Mantooth | Page 5

him, floating gently amid the vastness of heaven, he
looked direct and unhindered into the glowing white-light majesty of a living dwarf star.
And whether the true source of the transmission or not, the image itself was real.
Steady and unwavering, the Voice continued. 'Long ago, when my heart was younger, the
being that became my flesh gave birth also to many orbiting spheres. Most were stillborn,
as is often the way of heaven. But three lived on. These have been called by men Venus,
Mars and the Earth. Each in its own way and in its own time was capable of bearing and
supporting new life. But of the three, the one called Earth was fairest. Like a fertile womb
it lay sleeping, a perfect cloud-veiled globe of wide red lands and mighty oceans. Already
the throbbings of life could be seen, as tiny colonies of cells swam restlessly among
themselves, waiting only for direction. It was here then I chose to sow my seed, that life
should come from life, and my spirit be continued.
'So it was that after a time very long and yet very short, creatures of flesh came to swim
in Earth's oceans, later to walk upon the land. But still I perceived a great void: there
were none to look back and wonder, as I did, at the mystery of Universe which had
spawned them. And so, as if it were always meant to be, Man came forward, in truth
more of himself than by any action of mine. He was by far the most gifted of Earth's
children, with hands freed to toil and mind free to think. He was a wonder of perception
and dexterity.
'But man possessed a terrible flaw, a fault unforeseen in any of my eager, nuptial thought.
Because of his greater intelligence, man perceived that he would one day grow old and
die, a certainty unknown to his animal brothers, only guessed at by the wisest. Realizing
this, he could also foresee the inevitable sorrows of sickness and despair, along with a
host of imagined terrors his mind could not even give names to. It was from this
knowledge that the Demon was born: the Demon of Fear.
'And this fear eventually destroyed man. Through all his generations he could not
overcome it. Great men rose up, and some who were more than men, to challenge the
demon and cast it aside. Victories were won, but they were not lasting. Always the fear
would change shape and rise again, equally hideous, and often more powerful than
before.
'It was in its way a glorious struggle, and at times it seemed that Eternity held its very

breath, as ten thousand eyes from above looked down to see the forces of good and evil
do battle in such broad and sweeping strokes. But the cost in human suffering was
enormous, and after so many years I knew in my heart that an end was drawing nigh upon
it. For Nature carries its own purposes, and will not be denied in the exercising of its
sharp and merciful will.
'So it was that on a day whose horror I shall never be able to block from my thoughts, the
evil that had grown in Man finally and decisively overcame the good. The mind that was
given to create, used its cunning instead to devise weapons so powerful and heedless that
nothing on Earth could stop them. And when fear took the hearts and minds of the
multitudes they were unleashed, thoughtlessly, one in answer to the other, until all
reasons for the conflict were lost among the fury and panic of destruction.
'Only a handful survived. Six billion voices cried out to me, to save them from the
onslaught. But I haven't the power, young ones..... I haven't the power.' The air grew
thick and heavy around them.
'The seed of Man was all but destroyed, left to sleep for centuries in the blackened voids
of Time. It slept, and even had I wished to I could not of my own will revive it. Only
Nature heals the wounds of time.' The Voice paused, as if gathering itself for a final
effort.
'But now the flame is alive once more, cradled in your young and willing hearts. I
implore you both, for the sake of those who struggled so long and hard before you, spread
that flame anew. Feel the one passion that can yet save us, the one emotion that moves
even the coldest distant star: the perfect glory of human love.
'Indeed, it is the one gift I have left to give you. Even now my time grows short, for this
place is no longer mine to command. Kalus, I would ask that you take to your heart the