Mad Gods - Predatory Ethics: Book I by Athanasios Read Free Book Online

right. Why should we let
them win? Those upstarts didn’t deserve our place.” He smiled bitterly. Both
stood silently now, watching the Evrota Valley, completely shrouded in the dark of
night. Stars, Sparti and Neo Mystra’s lights, shone without horizon, enveloping them in a black
starry cover.
    Under his breath, Kosta asked what Plethon wanted him
to do. He was breathless, fearing the reply.
    “We take things so literally,” Plathon said. “There
is no task like the one in Kostadinoupoli . There are no souls to be given
peace. I only wanted to tell you where to go to satiate your thirst for
knowledge. Find Ptolemy’s Library of Alexandria. It’s a wonder beyond any
description.” He went on, “Nothing’s been lost; it’s all still there!”
    “ Kostadino said that you wanted to unite all
churches. This is what you waited centuries to say?” Kosta was perplexed.
    “Yes. It is what you wouldn’t hear from anyone else.
You were led to this moment - to this place.”
    “The Truth’s duties will be complete when the
emperor’s released. Then, I can embark on whatever life I choose.”
    “Yes.” He answered instantly, watching intently,
because he was sure that Kosta understood.
    “I had to find you to understand what I should do
next,” Kosta said incredulously, “More than obligations to family, friends,
more than anything, you think I’ll go of my own accord, because it’s what you
would do?”
    “Precisely,” he exclaimed, overjoyed. “I spent all my
adult life pondering life - the why of it. When I found out that the Library
was still intact, I was too old to attempt the trip.”
    The old man’s excitement was infectious. “Once I get
there, where do I begin?” Kosta asked. “For what should I look?”
    “Look for a volume called Idammah-Gan Codex .” He
stared at him pointedly. “Once you’ve found it, you’ll know what to do.”
    “Are you still…” Kosta asked suspiciously. “Is this
still part of what Kostadino said you wanted?”
    “You had the choice to come here,” he answered. “You
also chose to leave your ancestor alone, walking in his empty city. We wanted
to show you a path you didn’t know you wanted. You can still have a normal,
uneventful life. You don’t have to go to the Library, walk amidst shelves and
stacks which have been undisturbed since Marc Anthony gave them to Cleopatra.”
He was blunt. “You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want.”
    Kosta listened and knew that he wanted to see those
pristine shelves. Books and scrolls filled with thoughts and beliefs, which had
been unseen for millennia. He wanted to read the works of ancient masters, unadulterated
by translation or duplication. “How do I find it?” Plethon smiled at Kosta’s
question.
    “It’s by the ancient harbor.” Plethon spoke softly,
even though there was nobody around to hear what he said. “The real treasures
are in the catacombs. Only copies were kept in the grand halls and reading
rooms. The originals were off-limits to any but the initiated.”
    “Why now? Why me?” Neither of them expected these
queries. Kosta was more surprised than Plethon.
    “I traveled extensively before I settled and taught
high-born students. I covered the world, from Andalusia, in Spain, to the Delhi
lands. I spoke to devotees of Mohammed, Buddha and Christ.” He stopped,
surprised at his own words. “After so much time, it didn’t matter to whom I
spoke, instead, I just listened.”
    “What did you hear?” Kosta was intent on his reply,
forgetting his earlier questions.
    “I heard no reason for distinction. They’re all the
same. They are but different interpretations of the unexplained. I can’t tell
you what this is, because the only understanding I have is my own and you have
to come to yours.”
    “Why now? Why me?” Kosta repeated his questions,
though, slowly, he started to understand, even without explanation. His
questions ended up being rhetorical.
    “Any path, or way