Shadow and Sage
Smashwords Edition.
Copyright 2011 Elaina J Davidson
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
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Sages’ sayings and sage suggestion from the shadows of souls
Dedicated to those who see a tale in an excerpt
Excerpts from
Gathering of Rain, House of Valla, Shades of Shadow, The Sunless One and Glittering Darkness
Downloads available here:
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/elainajdavidson
Find more here:
Tattle’s Blunt Adventures
‘This is creepy, boy; it’s about to tumble into the whirly-swirl.’
It’s new and shiny! How extraordinary!
‘Froth and waves, this is the citadel of knaves!’
‘Octavi removed her earrings and when she threw them to earth, great fissures formed in the land between Harri’s Harpies and Honorus’ Hounds. Women, boy, are very clever, very clever indeed.’
Play the fiddle, wolf! Stamp your hooves, goat! Swish your tail, monkey! Flicker those whiskers, master rat! Make music and dance!
No, master rat! That would be fool’s gold...
Drop, drip, plop, every sky tear eventually a puddle forms.
Squiggles and squares, wiggles and wares, who cares if a thing is skew or fair?
Oh, dear, oh, dear, there are shadows in the darkness!
Oh, beware, new friends! Puzzles are not for the fainthearted! Ask brother beaver, he’ll tell you...
Oooh, the rats have abandoned ship! What do they know?
What century do you live in, traveller? There are no wild places left, except in tales.
The green-eyed monster isn’t Envy! NO! It’s a creature tiny and malicious and real...
You are not a knave! You are not a saviour! You are something else entirely...if only my gift for language would now aid me in finding the perfect epitaph! Oh, my.
‘Froth and waves, this is the citadel of knaves!’
Everything is not what it seems. Folk say this with sly winks and knowing nudges. Shoot them!
She is a vision; may I be entranced into eternity!
Holy moly! It’s shiny!
Magic is illusion. How wonderful.
Hello, me lovelies! Come closer, draw near...yes, near...
Lift the temple knocker softly, friend; you never know which god will answer your summons.
Oh, oh, cockles and shells! Very sharp!
‘I have my beady eye on you! How dare you question magic?’
Men should possess five fingers and five toes, boy. Anything more, and you must know it is alien and probably from another universe. Anything less, and you must realise something went missing during the stages of evolution. And, no, I don’t care to discuss prehensile tails!
Tattle, in ‘discussion’ with his scribe
Hallelujah, kings of old! May your past have bearing still in this present.
Raise your torch to shine in dark places, friend! Drive the darkness out!
The dog shivers with hunger. Shame on you, friend.
Rattle the bars and shout out your ire! How dare they enclose innocence in a cage!
Hot blooded does as hot blooded will. Cold blooded follows the same edict. But, friend, hot and cold cannot ever sit in the same hole together.
My heart, my heart! This is too much!
Sing us a song, jester! We have need of diversion!
Feeling numb isn’t quite the same as being dead, friend.
Gather your chickens together now!
Small and mighty have stout hearts!
Oh, pretty, you must be from the stars!
Oh, dear, kings are at the feasting table once more! How many quails does it take to satisfy the hunger of showmanship?
I am because I think.
No, you are because you listen.
Festoon the mundane! Transform it for the feast! Be gaudy, be base!
Play with keys long enough and you might just be a locksmith.
Book of Sages
Air desiccates, earth degrades, water saturates. Which graveyard do you prefer, Your Majesty?
When in doubt, act. Action frequently leads to decision.
Beware the honeyed tongue of rulers too long in power. Listen to the words behind words and choose then your own path. Beware, however, of sedition...hold your tongue.
Everyone believes themselves a mastermind.
Fortitude is the most terrible of all virtues.
Tell the truth, traveller, or you create issues hard to overcome later.
Words of power should never be underestimated.
What is fair? Answer that, and you solve the riddle of universes.
Kallanon Scroll of Wisdom
The more gem-like the egg, the greater will be intelligence.
Eat fastidiously, pray judiciously and be seen to have manners and faith.
We are created to be understood. We are also created to remain forever mysterious.
We rely on each other to function. This is called symbiosis.
Do not rely on the future to solve problems. Look to this day.
Shadof Book of Wisdom
Trees tell tales.
Every aspect contains fire. Always there is a factor of instability.
There are those who labour for the greater good, and then there are those who take only for themselves.
A charm is both gift and curse.
Shadof are nimble, fast; flame-wrights take their time.
Your universal magic is structured with cold energy; it is objective, therefore effective. Unluckily, Pendulim relies of the energy of fires and forges; this is unstable.
Arli to Torrullin
A fire-creature is of myth, Enchanter. Can anyone say with certainty such a thing exists or has existed? I say that thing you carry has origin in a realm other than this.
Arli of Shyala
The trees tell tales. All you need do is listen.
Efur, on Shyala’s forests
Blood is fire. Blood is flame. Blood burns.
No one is idiot enough to call fire sentient, but, hell, sometimes it can feel like it is. Fire has a life separate once unleashed. Frightening, and strangely satisfying.
Arli
Fire lies in a man’s words also, Enchanter.
Arli
Magic is in all around us. Beauty, nature, climate...and words. Read words with care, therefore, as carefully as you regard a sunset’s magic.
Awl
When the fire steadies, you are entranced.
Efur
Darak Or
‘The cycles of the moon are marked by Valarians. From New Moon through Full and into Dark. Superstition abounds. This is a backward civilisation...we can use that to effect...’
Infinity, dara-witch, to Margus, Darak Or
I am the Fire That Burns. I am the Ice That Freezes.
Darak Or Oran, on Menianis
The beast inside unleashes...
Darak Or Oran
I am your worst nightmare.
Favourite words of every Darak Or
Other Sages
‘Can you hear the silence, friend? Do you see the echoes of silver?’
Dreams are real; dreams exert influence
Anonymous Valarian sage
Into the black falls the light, into the abyss tumbles life, into the citadel stumbles his soul, and there hope is seared.
Calvin’s Dark Epic, Kinsail 19th Cycle
‘Enlightenment? Very subjective!
The time has come to call on the gods once more.
A heart is able to beat more than blood.
Shaman saying, Echolone
Shadow is shade within clear boundaries, an unilluminated area, something existing in perception only, a premonition of something adverse...
This day is one of reckoning. Tomorrow will be another.
The time is now.
Glint, of the Sagorin
‘I have dreamed a sorrow I cannot recall yet know it be real. There was a battle of light and dark, even if only in my mind, and neither side was wholly light or wholly dark. Is that the state of the universe? Will we ever really know with certainty, being so removed from all things? Or will the battle to end all still be, even if only in another’s mind? Mark me well; it is no less real than that we can see and touch. I dream for knowledge of truth, for light real, and know the sorrow may be the greater because of it.’
Malin Drew – Founding Father of Valaris
Guilt can be a realm. Guilt destroys. Guilt is a monster. Redeem yourself.
Drinic Parable
No man should judge another. And snap judgements heralds regret. Think, friend.
Author Awl
Words and actions and choices have nuance. Hard to establish, if you’re an outsider.
The innocent are aware
‘A life is a series of chapters. Open your book, friend- even a blank page has a tale to tell.’
Rosenroth – Ymirian mind analyst
Add nuance, friend, where before it was overlooked, and you may find yourself with a weapon called change.
Yltri sage
There is a time to act...and there is a time to halt.
Yltri sage
A dreamer is a visionary.
A dreamer is an escapist.
A dreamer is an inventor.
A dreamer is a romantic.
A dreamer is a prophet.
Unknown
The bane for Immortals is...life.
Unknown
A shiver occurs, whether in the blood or of foreboding, I cannot say. This shiver is marked when an aristocrat, previously unacknowledged, is called ‘My Lord’ for the first time.
Henanmo, Historian
Anger is not nuance
Awl
Dark night, grey dawn, mirror day
Kinsail saying
‘Brotherhood is fellowship. A brother need not share blood.’
Kinsail Sage
Hide in the shadows, friend and foe, for now it begins in earnest.
Yltri sage
Time is relative, a measurement all feel as something unique, sometimes heavy, occasionally feather-light. Strive for lightness, because time is never ours to measure.
Earth sage
Men build cities, never quite understanding the potential for destruction contained within a press of dependent people. What a shame the lesson will not be learned.
Awl
Forgiveness? How is it measured?
Awl
When is a good time to die, friend. Now or tomorrow? When the sun shines or rain falls? When you have said farewell or unexpectedly? After illness or accidentally? Can anyone answer truthfully? Do you even take the time to contemplate death? Dare we?
Yltri sage
We are formed in our present, actively and emotionally. And we are formed of our pasts, personal and historical.
Malin Drew
Scratch a few lines on parchment and you have before you a map. Insert words at random points and you have before you a destination. How you read it and how you make it fit, is your fantasy.
Awl
Sometimes they come in pairs...
Son, hasten to your father with the news. Tell him to sharpen his sword. Tell him to barricade the doors.
Excerpt from The War Within
Do varied personalities make a team worth working with? Is it not a truth that clashes within ranks is able to weaken acumen?
Awl
We have built a nation from gold and greed.
Senlu truth
When it goes awry, look to the circles.
Senlu saying
Redemption is something truly ephemeral. How dare you measure efficacy?
Nature
Oh raptor, oh hawk, oh little birdie, take me aloft on your wings!
Listen to the whispers in the wind!
Hatubrath. A month of fire. Stay in the shade.
Sail the Great Western Sea, sailor, if you really seek to know yourself.
Pirate saying
Beware the sting in the sky scorpion’s tale!
Pirate saying
‘Go to the mountains, son, and sing songs of praise. Majesty is in timelessness.’
Father Rees
A little girl crushes a flower in her tiny fist as she stares at the horror unfolding around her. The gods need take note and act. If they cannot, they are not gods.
Anonymous
How dare you denigrate the power of nature?
There are blossoms and blooms and each possesses a smell so sweet, the heart is restored.
Anonymous
The wind whispers, the sea shouts, mountains are motionless. Oh, for the natural clamour, ever soothing. For people, people prowl with words.
Anonymous
Dragon slayers don’t exist, but lion tamers do
Shadow: refuge from danger or observation
One of many definitions
The calm before the storm; I feel this in ancient bones.
Jack, of Beacon, his memoir
What is the definition of fire? Heat, fuel, spark, flame, light, transformation? Magic? Life, or death?
Space travellers frequently equate the great expanses of oceans with journeys more dangerous...
Fire and ice, a guaranteed contradiction to fill one with dread.
Unknown
Alien moonlight is a sight few forget. Nothing marks position as clearly as the cold light from heaven.
Q’lin’la truth
General
Games teach skills of co-ordination and strategy, true, and yet are seen as wasteful pursuit. One wonders if this reasoning is due to the fear of underlying lessons...such as premonition, the ability to think beyond the present.
Think first, mortal.
And you, long-lived.
Excerpt from a recording of Guardian and Peacekeeper on Xen III
‘Son, daughter, to understand yourself, you need understand others. But, hark, my children, it isn’t enough to watch your neighbour- think far, listen to nations of other worlds...’
The Journals of Humanity, Beacon Library of Exploration
North, South, East, West. NEWS.
It is said life is a game. One is born into it and one must strategise every step. If one has this ability, the game isn’t strenuous, but if one has issues with other players on the great board, the game can swallow one. The trick, reader, is to follow the gut. Do not get snared by detail; trust the gut. And do not attempt to understand the grand design- that is a path to madness.
Father Rees’ Diary
Tink, tink, the goldsmith’s hammer works diligently for the king...
Don’t shoot the messenger! Ill tidings have warning! Listen!
Awl, author of Tattle’s Blunt Adventures
Crowds are a nation in microcosm. Study the phenomenon without becoming involved.
A Beaconite political tenet
Why should happiness be forced into recesses? A moment treasured is worth the heartache surrounding us.
Father Rees
Show me perfection and I shall show you a lie. Perfection does not exist. We all are imperfect. The real rightness lies in the ability to acknowledge it...and to set to rights what is wrong.
Father Rees
...and sometimes a second chance is also atonement...
Father Rees
Boy, cease pandering to your emotions! The time has already passed for returning to the real world. Insanity, lad!
Awl, after interviewing Tattle’s scribe
Blade of darkness, blade of light, blade of shadow. Black blade, yellow blade, silver blade. Folded blade, sorcerous blade, moulded blade. Choose.
Anonymous
Whoa there, sailor! Folk will start calling you pirate!
Humanity is about eating
Anonymous
Immortality is about life
You’re not listening! Watch that damn shadow you throw over there!
Unknown
This is a cliché, but one most will immediately understand. You know the saying ‘I cannot see the wood for the trees’? Then you know what I mean. You are now at the point you require an objective opinion.
Beacon’s President, year 14456
Ha! All is not what it seems!
Time to rebuild...when?
Humans adore days that mark occasion. Very unproductive.
Hassan IV, President of Beacon, 11th Record
‘I caught a glimpse of it only, Shannon was most reluctant to share, and what I saw convinced me there was something to his tall tale…’
Excerpt from Ugarth’s letter to his daughter
Dated after Drasso
‘Who are the Mysor and what is this strange map? A star chart? A treasure map? Ley-lines?’
Father Rees
Worlds shudder over the injustice.
Excerpt from the account of Alari’s genocide
I had never seen eyes so blue.
First line from Beacon’s Star, a popular novel
What was out there? Scary, gigantic, awesome and lonely space!
Taranis
‘What a variety of worlds, so unspoilt. What glorious ruins…which race could build such as this? Are we the usurpers?’
The Siric upon settling briefly in the Zone
‘We are not the first to discover this range of hurtling galaxies, but we will be the ones who will map it for future settlement. The entire human race could thrive here, in peace. We are here to stay.’
Human pathfinder logs
We are brothers.
Siric to Murs, before the war meant to end all wars
Magical
Herald, lift your bugle! The gods have come!
Many are the numbers of counting. More are the numbers of distance and of learning. Find them in art and mineral, because numbers are universal music. Simple, however, are the numbers of magic, for then they are become markers of the path.
The Steps of the Magical Condition
Awl
It is as simple as a crystal having 14 layers. It is as complicated as the time taken to build something pure. 14, therefore, is the governing symbol of magic. It is also ONE and FOUR spoken together, a truly powerful combination, one for being ‘first’ (foundation) and four for the guiding directions of actual journey...and the compass of the mind.
The Steps of the Magical Condition
‘Why, master wizard, do we count our fingers?’
‘We would all count different otherwise.’
‘We don’t all have ten fingers, master!’
‘That’s not the point, son.’
‘I don't understand’
‘Few do, son, few can.’
Herald, lift your horn! Your king is arrived!
Manifold are the talents of the sorcerer. We tend to list the majors, one to 14, in a dictionary of terms such as this, because the authors attempt to instil the principle of the ruling number. But, reader, manifold are the talents of a sorcerer.
The Steps of the Magical Condition
The Sight – seeing over distance
The Sight – employing visions
Mind Reading and Speaking
Retrieval of objects from afar, both from the physical plane and the ether
Transport of Mind and Body across Space (foundation)
Transport of Mind and Body across Time (mastery)
The Shield of Defence
The Steps of the Magical Condition
Control of the Elements (foundation)
Manipulation of the Elements (mastery)
Physical Flight
Invisibility Cloaking
Extension of Life-expectancy (foundation)
Immortality Ritual (mastery)
Creation: Light, heat, sustenance, weaponry...and also thought and emotion
The Steps of the Magical Condition
Herald, lift your trumpet! The magicians gather!
Don’t surrender, pretty child. The gods are with you now and forevermore.
Excerpt from a fairytale
Dear, you must try. It’s not enough that the herald sings of magicians, trust me. Naming a condition doesn’t prove a condition. Go on, try.
To create: the task or duty or wish that is will, whereby thought that is concept or imagination becomes real, tangible, wonderful, ordinary…or grotesque.
To destroy: the task or duty or wish that is will, whereby thought that is concept or imagination becomes real, tangible, necessary, accidental…or vengeful...
‘An Enchanter creates, boy, while a Darak Or destroys. Have you learned nothing? Do you not know that yet? Granted, the line is a fine one…’
Master to apprentice, magical studies
Stick with me, children, and I shall show you true magic.
Unknown
Forsooth, man, everything and everyone possesses an aura. Colours! And each tells a tale. Admittedly, only adepts are able to read the colours, but only a fool denies existence.
Anna of Beacon, pagan
Technology is a form of magic, the power lying in invention and creation, conceived in the mind and made real.
Inauguration of Yltri’s new university
Valleur and the Ancient Oracles
‘There is a darkness coming, but I cannot yet see in what form…’
Vannis, last Vallorin
There is an obstacle in the mind known as denial. It is able to prevent knowledge entering, But it can also force the mind to move sideways onto a divergent path.
Beware the divergent path.
The Ancient Oracles
The Valleur are nomadic; it is time to set down enduring roots.
Ancient Oracles
What did our nomadic existence teach us? Only that we are restless by nature.
Ancient Oracles
It is the mind that wins battles, not bodies.
Ancient Oracles
When all else fails, deny the enemy entry. Erect walls, impenetrable barriers.
Ancient Oracles
If the barriers crumble, blind them.
Ancient Oracles
Know your place, children of the universe. This does not mean you stand in the shadows without contributing to the grand design; it means know yourself and what it is you are able to contribute...
Ancient Oracles
‘Ah, my son, your eyes will be your greatest grief, and yet, also your greatest joy…may you find only the latter…’
Father to son, long ago
‘Build a structure that is able to stand the test of time upon a natural energy node, and you will build with magic and essence also. It is a great gift to future generations, but it is also a grand gesture that creates balance in the world. A true geomancer knows where to locate a site that will be sacred forever.’
Ancient Oracles
‘We’ll call them man heaps! Small and bowed like an ignorant human!’
Valleur youths, laughing, on finding hills in the dryness of Valaris
Every experience builds your character, defines your strengths and weaknesses.
Ancient Oracles
Every point in life, that moment of decision, forms a web of connections.
Ancient Oracles
When Valleur youth raise the question about the Dragon’s presence amid the Valleur, the Elders are ever hard-pressed to give an answer that makes sense. Until the day Ranthor formalised it. ‘The Dragon is part of the Vallas; ours is not the right to question.’ Thereafter that single reply was spoken every time.
Ancient Oracles
‘There are no absolutes. Some might tell you change is the only absolute. I tell you change by nature is too volatile. There are no absolutes.’
Nemisin – First Oracle
Stone star. Blank wall. Blind is evil.
Ancient Oracles
One such as I will come ages hence; He will be reborn many times with power untold. His the burden which saves or destroys Mother Universe. He will be the One. From the rock of the Ancient World he will travel across time to receive his final legacy.
Nemisin, First Vallorin
‘Valleur blood is music.’
Nemisin
‘They say one is moulded for greatness in the crucible of suffering…I assume that means I have a star-studded future…’
Torrullin
How sweet an untrammelled future is!
How soul destroying!
Nemisin
‘I see you, Torrullin. Mark your path in this realm.’
A whisper in a dream
He will be dogged by prophecy, but will not know before he negates them. This is the mark of truth, and the Siric will bow.
Llettynn to Bartholamu, upon discussing the future of their universe
He will need understanding, for he is not like to normal people.
Llettynn to Bartholamu, on the subject of Torrullin
Valleur are born with race memories. We remember everything. This is regarded by some as a curse. It should be seen as a great blessing. We ever have hindsight at our command, and thus we have foresight also.
Ancient Oracles, Volume IV
‘I have made my choice.’
Augin
I have only one regret: not seeing my son born.
Vannis
Declan, the duty will fall to you one day. You will be the Siric guiding light the Enchanter will look to. My advice? Do not make the mistake I did: I doubted him. Be his friend first, his guide second.
Llettynn, again on the subject of Torrullin, in a private place
‘We’ll win short-term, guaranteed. Long-term? Gentleman, there will come a day humankind will bow to the Valleur.’
The Missile, Hamon
Mind is physical (and strange); heart is an organ; spirit is the concept self (and strange); soul is the great intangible (and the most real)
Ancient Oracles
Valleur do not surrender. Valleur fight.
Ancient Oracles
‘We have lost our hold on the worlds travelling swiftly through our Mother’s bosom. It is time to move on…’
The Valleur upon leaving the Forbidden Zone
Always watch the sky!
Brother Al, Academia of Truth
The ruins are ancient.
Atreidian truth
Behold the warrior priest!
The wall was there when we came, and remains steadfast to this day.
Academia Scrolls
Time’s timekeeper is awake
‘...that would be a great burden, I think...’
Caltian
They remain indivisible.
Torrullin’s belief
Truths
Now begins ultimate change.
Secrets unlocked secrets.
The time is upon you. How do you choose, friend?
‘…to be all that you can be…’
The first enigma
To be all that you can be
The first truth
Beauty is subjective.
Universal truth
Turn your back on truth and it will return to haunt you.
Father Rees
Cold burns, too, friend.
Anonymous
Smile through your tears. Soon you will feel better.
A platitude no one likes to hear
Silence is friend...and foe.
Pray, soldier, for courage.
‘There are only two absolute truths, one being that nothing stays unchanged, two being that no power in the universe can stop it.’
Father Reed – The Good Book
‘There is no greater gift in all spaces than the gift of love.’
Universal truth
Music, only music.
Truth hurts, didn’t you know?
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
A truth that is now cliché due to overuse
If you need hide something from even one soul, it is something you should consider destroying.
‘I am here now.’
‘And who are you, stranger?’
True beauty lies in the moments we treasure.
Father Rees
Speak only truth. It pays in the end.
Anonymous
Hark to the warning: when it seems too good to be true, it often is. Beauty, too, can fool.
Anonymous
A terrorist has zero conscience
Know your heart to know yourself
Father Rees
‘I am not whole.’
Words only those who know themselves are able to voice
A path is a way especially designed for a particular use...it is also a course of conduct.
Beware strangers bearing gifts
Innocence lost cannot be restored.
To unmask a friend is hard, but to strip pretence from a close relative hurts.
A whisper in the dark is as loud as a scream in daylight.
Father Rees
‘Why are you sad, little boy?
‘No one wants to play with me.’
Sleep with devils and you will get burned.
Ancient wisdom
Logistics, the bane of planners in every field...
Standards cannot be measured- sentience is based on difference, after all.
Awl
The trappings of wealth cannot capture happiness.
Quality of life is a standard all sentience can understand.
Stairs? Where? We must find another way!
Old man to his son
Three’s a crowd...
The only absolute is change
Hark to instincts
An hour has minutes and seconds...an hour is also imbued with emotion.
Anonymous
Friends are never parted.
‘...and now we lay him to sleep...’
Lament
About the Author
Elaina is a galactic and universal traveller and dreamer. When writing she attempts to put into words her travels and dreams, because she believes there are lessons in even the most outrageous tale...but hopes you’ll not worry about lessons and that kind of stuff. She wants you to come with her and share a vision. Come and get lost with her!
Thank you for reading Shadow and Sage. Look out for Shadow and Sage II, as well as the twelve Tales from the Path of Shades.
Elaina