pale, like a death-mask, and again his lips moved and this time Daneri heard him say quietly yet distinctly, âThe seventh shelf. It appears on the seventh shelf â¦â
The young man saw it at once: on the seventh shelf of the cedarwood book-case behind Dagon ben Shem Tovâs chair: a small glowing sphere, the radiance coming from within, floating clear of the shelf as though held suspended by some mysterious force. It was of no earthly colour â none that Daneri could put a name to â and yet shone with an intense luminescence that seemed to draw the eye inwards, ever deeper into the depths as if pulled irresistibly towards the true and perfect centre of all things.
âYou do see it,â said the Master Adept, his eyes now open, expressionless. âYou see the Aleph before you: the one sustaining source of energy and life in the universe. Now do you believe?â
âYes,â said Daneri, quietly and with great respect. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced. If it was a trick it was one that would be worthy of the greatest magician of all time. But this wasnât a trick, he knew absolutely; the presence of the Aleph was enough to sweep all doubt aside.
âWatch closely,â said the Master Adept, and as he obeyed Daneri saw the inner brilliance fade away to be replaced by dense and utter blackness, as if a hole had been made in the fabric of reality. It was deep and fathomless and in it he saw a multitude of visions, a million disparate entities as though space and time had been drawn together to meet at a certain point, the absolute cosmic centre. He saw visions of the present and the past and the future: all the ages of mankind contained in the tiny sphere which floated above the seventh shelf.
âNow you see and now you understand,â said Dagon ben Shem Tov.
âI understand and I believe. Everything is as you said it would be.â
âAnd do you see how the Aleph, existing outside of time, has the power to change the past? The events of long ago are not dead, not frozen in eternity; they are waiting to be written. We shall write them, you and I, we shallââ
He rose swiftly to his feet, his eyes wide and vivid, as the tall crooked man with the misshapen head entered the room and came for him. An enormous hand reached out and grasped Dagpn ben Shem Tov around the throat, the thumb and curved fingers encircling his neck in a death grip and raising him bodily off the floor. Daneri, unable to move, watched as the deformed giant tightened his hold and the head of the Master Adept filled up with blood, his face darkening and his empty open mouth gaping soundlessly. In a sudden flurry of panic Daneri leapt out of his chair and struck Angel repeatedly on the half-raised âwingâ which protuded from his back; it was like a child scolding a kitten; with his other hand Angel swung round and hit him once so that he went spinning and took the chair with him and ended up tangled with it in a corner.
The Master Adeptâs eyes were cracking under the pressure. The whites were turning crimson, and Daneri, still shaken, the room spinning, saw him raise his right fist and press it gently into Angelâs left shoulder, just below the collarbone; though he couldnât comprehend what happened next for the man loosened his grip as if branded with a hot iron and uttered a mangled cry of pain. There was the smell of seared flesh â sweetly cloying to the nostrils â and the man with the deformed wing fell to his knees, weeping and trying to comfort himself.
Daneri said (was about to say), âHow â¦?â but Dagon ben Shem Tov shook his head wearily, his left hand massaging the marks on his throat. His right hand, Daneri noticed, was spread out on the table, the ring which adorned it glowing molten white as if it had that instant been cast in the mould.
6
Diverse Mytho-logical Speculation
Dagon swivelled his head so
The young man saw it at once: on the seventh shelf of the cedarwood book-case behind Dagon ben Shem Tovâs chair: a small glowing sphere, the radiance coming from within, floating clear of the shelf as though held suspended by some mysterious force. It was of no earthly colour â none that Daneri could put a name to â and yet shone with an intense luminescence that seemed to draw the eye inwards, ever deeper into the depths as if pulled irresistibly towards the true and perfect centre of all things.
âYou do see it,â said the Master Adept, his eyes now open, expressionless. âYou see the Aleph before you: the one sustaining source of energy and life in the universe. Now do you believe?â
âYes,â said Daneri, quietly and with great respect. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced. If it was a trick it was one that would be worthy of the greatest magician of all time. But this wasnât a trick, he knew absolutely; the presence of the Aleph was enough to sweep all doubt aside.
âWatch closely,â said the Master Adept, and as he obeyed Daneri saw the inner brilliance fade away to be replaced by dense and utter blackness, as if a hole had been made in the fabric of reality. It was deep and fathomless and in it he saw a multitude of visions, a million disparate entities as though space and time had been drawn together to meet at a certain point, the absolute cosmic centre. He saw visions of the present and the past and the future: all the ages of mankind contained in the tiny sphere which floated above the seventh shelf.
âNow you see and now you understand,â said Dagon ben Shem Tov.
âI understand and I believe. Everything is as you said it would be.â
âAnd do you see how the Aleph, existing outside of time, has the power to change the past? The events of long ago are not dead, not frozen in eternity; they are waiting to be written. We shall write them, you and I, we shallââ
He rose swiftly to his feet, his eyes wide and vivid, as the tall crooked man with the misshapen head entered the room and came for him. An enormous hand reached out and grasped Dagpn ben Shem Tov around the throat, the thumb and curved fingers encircling his neck in a death grip and raising him bodily off the floor. Daneri, unable to move, watched as the deformed giant tightened his hold and the head of the Master Adept filled up with blood, his face darkening and his empty open mouth gaping soundlessly. In a sudden flurry of panic Daneri leapt out of his chair and struck Angel repeatedly on the half-raised âwingâ which protuded from his back; it was like a child scolding a kitten; with his other hand Angel swung round and hit him once so that he went spinning and took the chair with him and ended up tangled with it in a corner.
The Master Adeptâs eyes were cracking under the pressure. The whites were turning crimson, and Daneri, still shaken, the room spinning, saw him raise his right fist and press it gently into Angelâs left shoulder, just below the collarbone; though he couldnât comprehend what happened next for the man loosened his grip as if branded with a hot iron and uttered a mangled cry of pain. There was the smell of seared flesh â sweetly cloying to the nostrils â and the man with the deformed wing fell to his knees, weeping and trying to comfort himself.
Daneri said (was about to say), âHow â¦?â but Dagon ben Shem Tov shook his head wearily, his left hand massaging the marks on his throat. His right hand, Daneri noticed, was spread out on the table, the ring which adorned it glowing molten white as if it had that instant been cast in the mould.
6
Diverse Mytho-logical Speculation
Dagon swivelled his head so
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