The Days of the Deer by Liliana Bodoc Page B

sacred books. Testimonies written in a holy tongue. Tales of a war as yet unfinished, that cast its shadow over the present.
    Many years earlier, the ages of seven grandfathers, the Astronomers of the Remote Realm had asked the Northmen the same question that Dulkancellin did of Cucub.
    And when we, the Astronomers, asked about Misáianes, the Northmen replied in the way we have transcribed here. We took down the words exactly as they spoke them, without adding or
omitting anything. These are sacred books that we will keep safe until the new arrival of the ships.
    The Northmen named Misáianes. They called him the Ferocious One, the one who should never have been born. That is what the Northmen said. We fear Misáianes, the one who saw the
light of this world because his mother went against the Great Laws: that is what they told us.
    Death, condemned not to give birth to mortal or immortal creature, wandered through eternity demanding progeny. She sobbed and begged, but the prohibition was absolute. A refusal that would
never be reversed. So Death rebelled. She moulded an egg from her own saliva, then produced it from her mouth. She secreted juices and fertilized it with them. And so from this revolting substance
her son was born, protected by the solitude of a forgotten mountain in the Ancient Lands.
    This being, born from Disobedience, brought horror with him; and horror was not merely a part of him, but his essence. The son brought with him evil such as not even his mother could imagine.
That is what the Northmen told us. This happened because the Great Laws were broken – that is what they said.
    When this happened, a wound was opened. And Eternal Hatred, lurking beyond the edges of the world, found this opening. Eternal Hatred found its way in through this wound of Disobedience. It was
formed inside the egg, and came into being. Thanks to the son of Death, Eternal Hatred took shape and found its voice in this world. This is what the Northmen told us. Its lizard soul came crawling
out. The Evil One.
    Then Death saw what she had done. She saw her progeny was the flesh of Eternal Hatred, and sought to rip it to pieces with her teeth. The first day, she did not succeed. Nor could she destroy it
the following day. On the third day she felt proud of the beast, and called him Misáianes. On that third day a new era began, an era of mourning. But nobody knew.
    Misáianes grew. He became master over a multitude of Creatures and extended his empire. You should know that the son of Death will never show his face. So the Northmen told us. It is
written that his features will be concealed until the last days. So they said.
    What Misáianes, the son of Death, says is like the truth, and confuses anyone who stops to listen. He knows how to praise the powerful and seduce the weak; he knows how to whisper and set
brother against brother. The danger is great. He can seem to us like a glorious master, our new teacher. He can seem like the counsellor of the sun. So the Northmen told us. The danger is great;
this they said. Many will run in whichever direction he points. Many in this world will worship him.
    Hear this and remember. Misáianes came to destroy the time of mankind, of animals, of water, of living green and of the moon, the time of Time. Many will be intoxicated by his poison;
many more will fall in battle. Better to fall in battle. So spoke the Northmen. Do not forget this, they warned us.
    Misáianes, the Ferocious One, is the end of all light. Misáianes is the beginning of inbred pain. If we are defeated in this war, Life will fall with us. If we are defeated, light
will be condemned to drag itself over ashes. And Eternal Hatred will stride through the twilight of Creation.
    This much we have written of what the Northmen told us. We will keep the sacred books as they asked us to. The day will come when someone speaks the name of Misáianes once more. They will
name Misáianes and ask where he comes from. And