04 - Lucifer in the Stone

So I grew up and grew older, and I cannot say, on the whole, that my childhood was an unhappy one, for my mother took great care of me and protected me from evil voices within the small community of the solitary ones, and even if most of our housemates now shunned me and rarely spoke to me, my wise teacher Placidus was always there for me and quenched my immense thirst for knowledge. Soon I was able to read and write, and not only Latin and Britannic, but also Greek I quickly learned and began to speak the language of the Hebrews as if it had always been my own and in a short time surpassed even my teacher Placidus. Also my uncle Colonnus often visited us, taught me to sing, to play the six-sided crotta and told me the history and legends of our ancestors. In those days my teacher Placidus' thoughts were often far from us, in his old homeland of Northern Suambria, which was then ruled by Anmedocius, a Britannic king whose family was related by marriage to the Saxones, and many of that tribe then settled there, bringing their native gods with them. It burned in Placidus' soul to preach there and to bring the Christian message to the people, and so one day I spoke to him to go and take me with him, for I felt that I was becoming a burden to my poor mother and would not have a safe and happy life in Moridunum for a long time. Fortunately, after a conversation with my mother, he was convinced and so we started the journey.

Also in northern Suambria, where we settled in Portus Felix, I did not make friends, but I soon learned to restrain myself and not to frighten people unnecessarily with words unusual for a child.Placidus began to build up a small community and I read the few writings that the poor pious people possessed as far as Placidus was able to intercede for me and especially the sacred Scriptures of the Hebrews. Above all, the story of the creation of man enchanted me so much that one day I took a lump of clay and formed it into a human-like figure, I kneaded ground bones of two whales with it and human fingernails, then I took material from the figure and formed a second figure, made the first male, and the second female and then fused both into a new one which I carved the words of creation on the forehead and indeed. . the little creature moved and looked at me and I hoped for the first time in my life to have created a new friend of my own, which I christened Cavarcantos. When I did this, for the first time my father spoke to me openly and understandably, first in a low whisper, then in a voice, clearly understandable, but I was still unclear about his intentions and I did not know who was calling me when I was sitting alone in our barren room in the parish hall. At that time my teacher Placidus also became seriously ill and rolled around in a fever, he had gotten into a serious quarrel with a Saxon named Osmund, for he was a powerful man, a pagan priest and sorcerer and one of the king's advisors at that time, and the enmity and his reenactments weighed heavily on his heart. One night I came to his bedside and thought I saw a tall, wild-looking, hairy man who was scourging Placidus in his sleep, but was himself in chains. I took his hand from Placidus' chest with a sure heart, looked him in the eye and asked him why he was harming my dear friend, when the wild man began to shed gentle tears and I loosened his chains with a mere thought, whereupon he took the form of a hart and fled from our house. Often after that a white stag came back near our lodging, became tame and I followed him into the nearby woods where we romped and played with Cavarcantos and amused ourselves with stories and riddles. One of those stories that my new companion, who called himself Biliodelvos, told me was about an old king, a mighty one among the gods, who had condemned himself for a grave crime and sold himself into slavery, becoming a lowly ghost and servant and in the end a maltreated servant of power-hungry mortal men. I knew that this was the true story of the origin of Bioliodelvos, which he told me, and now he also spoke of my father, with whom he was acquainted from ancient times, and warned me that he was adeceitful, cruel and jealous spirit, but that I could not deny my father forever. So it came about that I gave in to Lucifer's calls and ran away from home, following his voice which always led me safely through the whole country, and which told me which road or path was free of danger and where I could easily find food. The call brought me to a deserted plain where a great circle of stones had been erected, the legendary Giant's Dance of Sorbiodunum, where my father first appeared in form, taking on many shapes and faces, then appearing as a powerful commander or emperor, then as persons I knew, also as a traveling minstrel, and then imitating the features of my uncle Colonnus. He began to tell of the history of our people and of me as I had once lived, ages ago, as a chieftain and mighty builder, it had been I myself who had built the Giant's Dance to heal those who were gravely wounded after mighty battles between Old Gods and earth-born giants. My memory returned, a mighty one among the first people who had lived on this island of ours, I had been, and the Giant's Dance, giants themselves, members of our people, sons of Mother Earth, whom my father had snatched from her lap, soon the giants awoke and danced again, an ancient circle-dance , and my father and I in their midst. My father had wanted to make my task clear to me, and before my eyes I saw my future, a great king and priest, lord of men and the world.But in my mind I began to form other images and our giant cousins became stones again.The circle became a house, and my friend Cavarcantos connected its stone pillars to walls of wood, covered its roof with thatch, and provided the great house with a mighty gate. I went outside, locked it with a copper key that I had made, and let mine father behind.
Now the giant dance was just a circle of stones again, my father was trapped and beside me sat my friends Biliodelvos and Cavarcantos. I took Cavarcantos back into my small leather pouch, put the key on my walking staff, then transformed the staff into the antlers of one mighty stag, merged with Biliodelvos for the first time and ran free as a pale white hart on the vast plain of Sorbiodunum.