The Whirlwind in the Thorn Tree by S. A. Hunt Read Free Book Online

He was made of darkness and hours, and was everywhere at once, infinite and absolute, without measure.
    “Oramoz was deeply familiar with the workings of the universe. Her soul was intertwined with the basic structure of nature as it matured and developed. She was there to witness the creation of the rules, and She knew how to manipulate them. The Dragon Angr’manu—Her husband since birth—knew nothing of this important structure around Him. He was a belligerent glutton answerable to no one. Thus the wolf-god Oramoz felt that it was Her inherent duty to maintain order in the cosmos.
    “Every morning, the dragon-god Angr’manu devoured Himself tail-first, second by minute swallowed whole, turning the Present into the Past, Now into Then, and while Oramoz slept in the evening, She dreamt of the coming Future, thus ensuring the survival of Her husband.
    “To allow Time to devour itself entirely would be folly. To allow Angr’manu to swallow himself meant the end of time.
    “The Wolf gazed into the darkness in which She drifted, and became restless. Her dreams had gone awry, and She had seen herself dozing in deep valleys of lush green forests under the rays of a warm golden sun, supping Her fill of oceans sparkling blue.
    “The beauty of the place She saw in Her dreams was so endearing next to the cold and unforgiving abyss, She decided to form it out of the very fabric of the Universe.
    “And so, taking a part of Herself and a part of Her husband, Oramoz crafted the elements—Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind—from darkness and light, and used them to build Her paradise while Angr’manu slumbered. It took a long time, long even for gods.
    “She made Her mistakes in the process, churning out worlds of barren rock and freezing winds, poisonous air and boiling water. These Oramoz set aside as raw material.
    “Finally, Oramoz succeeded in devising a habitable world.
    “She shaped it into a perfect orb and named it Behest. With Her claws the Wolf dug the valleys out of the land, and the piles of earth She put aside became majestic peaks. A nearby point of light kept it warm as She worked, Her sweat seeping into the stone underfoot, glowing red and flowing hot.
    “Almost done, the Wolf looked over what She had made and appreciated it. Then, inspired, She formed the creatures of the world out of the four elements in the forge of Her love, for it was as strong as the hardest metal, as bright as the hottest star.
    “Man sprang from Her heart and populated Behest in multitudes, praising their creator in scripture and song. The years were like days to the immortal people of Behest, untouched by the oblivious Time.
    “When Oramoz finished, She rested.
    “By and by the Dragon awoke, noticed what the Wolf had made, and came to see. He saw the hope and delight in ageless mankind, and wept in His anger at what She had done behind His back. While the Wolf slept sparkling in the night sky, Angr’manu forgot to consume Himself and instead began to devour the world.
    “Men withered and died. Mountains crumbled, oceans evaporated, and Angr’manu grew and grew as Oramoz unwittingly dreamt Him anew. Eons passed while the Wolf slept. Civilization developed, nations rose and fell. Oceans swelled and sank. The world slipped into the eager jaws of entropy.
    “This was the end of the first age.
    “Angr’manu had grown hoary and long by the time Oramoz awoke, and fat on the meal He had made of the corroded iron-and-glass world of Behest.
    “The Wolf, incensed by Her husband’s mischief, flew into a rage and cut Him in twain in a battle that shook every universe. The world of Behest, lodged in the gullet of the Time Dragon, split as well—into two separate worlds divided by a gulf of time and space: Zam and Destin. It was a great, ferocious duel that raged across the sky for half an age, and in their fury the bloodshed of the Dragon and of the Wolf mixed.
    “After the great sundering, Oramoz lay on the the shore, covered in blood,