Here, over the portals of my fort, I shall cut in the stone the word which is to be my beacon and my banner. The word which will not die, should we all perish in battle. The word cannot die on this earth, for it is the heart of it and the meaning and the glory. The sacred word: EGO.

  The quote from Ayn Rand’s Anthem says it better than any long commentary could put it. In an age which has a deep distrust of the individual even while it seems to give him preeminence, it seems most appropriate to underline the fundamental difference between creative individualism and that sort of egoism which expresses nothing but a sick and bitter mind. Individualism may be humanity’s saving grace, but egotism is its blackest curse.

  So I think it useful and necessary in this The Book of Shai to take a stand opposed to Ayn Rand’s overwrought work, in which the author, under the pretext of advancing a kind of Stalinesque collectivism, sacrificed every meaningful aspect of social life and maintained that only solitary madmen, as champions of this liberal, progressive society, were capable of rescuing the world from a slide into stasis, into economic and psychological degradation of the human race.

  —Daniel Walther

  Tchou Pa-Kie (grinning): Well, so you’ve

  come stealing down the mountain and

  you’ve killed the Demons by using their

  own tricks, have you?

  Soulen Wou-Kong (nodding): Should

  one ever show mercy to Demons?

  —Won Tcheng-en,

  The Western Pilgrimage

  THE BOOK OF SHAI

  Daniel Walther

  Translated by C.J. Cherryh

  DAW BOOKS, INC.

  donald a. wollhiem, publisher

  1633 Broadway, New York, N.Y. 10019

  Contents:-

  Prologue

  CHAPTER 1 The Ordination

  CHAPTER 2 The Doctors of the Temple

  CHAPTER 3 Bearface

  CHAPTER 4 The Fall of the Citadel

  CHAPTER 5 Flight

  PARENTHESIS ONE Three Episodes In the Crystal War

  CHAPTER 6 The Dogs of Night

  CHAPTER 7 The Badlands: Locus Draconis (The Place of the Dragon)

  PARENTHESIS TWO Sad Dawn on Faraway

  CHAPTER 8 Ghosts of the Past

  CHAPTER 9 The Knives Are Drawn

  CHAPTER 10 Steppes Justice (A New Sun)

  A mon fils Julien, afin qu’il ne

  cesse jamais de se battre contre les moulins à vent.

  Copyright ©. 1984. by DAW Books. Inc.

  Original edition entitled Le Livre de Swa, copyright ©, 1982, by Editions Fleuve Noir. Paris, France. Published by arrangement with Editions Fleuve Noir and the Author.

  Translated by C.J. Cherryh.

  All Rights Reserved.

  Cover art by Richard Hescox.

  First Printing, January 1984

  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

  printed in the u.s.a.

  Prologue

  In a distant future…

  Which is very like the past…

  When the deserts of the world lie veiled in thick mists, when the precipices of reason have grown steeper and steeper, when the laws of science have been replaced by the teachings of a handful of fanatics…

  Science had slipped the hands of scientists. In the power of technological outlaws, it had become a slow-fused bomb, a loose cannon, a slow rot, a cancer. It had spread its ulcers over the whole planet, eating deep into the swollen flesh, its machines and levers biting into the crust with terrible persistence, shattering its bones, corrugating the skin of the earth itself.

  The Great Burning set every volcano on the planet to belching its guts out, even volcanoes long thought extinct, eruptions at every firehole under the sea. The earth’s crust was shaken with spasmodic tremors, groaning like a drunkard, heaving like the belly of a woman in labor, birthing monsters by the hundreds, thousands—millions.

  Great hurricanes scoured the planet.

  Cities sank into the earth.

  The earth’s axes tilted enough to change the configurations of the continents.

  And the face of the earth was changed.

  For long, long years.

  It took those long, long years, those interminable decades of chaos and red barbarism before it was possible to restore order.

  And once that New Order was in place, the world again fell into convulsions.

  When the brief but murderous Crystal War erupted, Civilization, already bled white, fell back into barbarism.

  A deeper one.

  The New Order coiled back on itself like that legendary serpent that bites its own tail in its sleep, steeped in its own venom and hatred.

  Past, present, future—became words without distinction.

  CHAPTER 1

  The Ordination

  Four white-robed youths neared the table. Tall silver candelabra lit the silences of the refectory. The hall was vast and any footfall would have echoed mournfully here. For that reason they always went barefoot, even when the autumn chill had fallen on that dusty way.

  The People of the Rod had no pity.

  Those who let that pavement echo under their feet were summarily condemned to the lash—not mentioning the other hardships they must suffer.

  Shai walked first of the four boys entrusted with laying the table. On his thin, white-robed chest the golden serpent shone in majesty, the serpent, symbol of wisdom.

  “Young Shai,” the Masters of Law had told him, “you have worked well. You can be pleased with yourself—but not proud; for pride is the first step beyond conscience.”

  Kwo walked directly after Shai and directly in front of Mru, who was two steps ahead of Lsi, all precisely according to the Ancient Protocol.

  In a few moments the seniormost servants would strike the metal door with their wooden mallets and the panel would resound like a great gong. That would be the signal for the fifty neophytes.

  They passed into the room in solemn slowness, making not the least sound, their bare feet whispering over the pavings.

  The stones were cold, sinister. They sent an icy chill creeping slowly up bare legs beneath the white skirts.

  Only when winter came stretching its white, creaking fingers over the trees of the forest, were the boys allowed to wear thick, thigh-high woolen leggings; and if they gained a little warmth from them, they paid for that luxury with terrible itchings, for the wool was coarse and uncomfortable.

  In spite of the honor Shai had attained, presiding over the laying of the tables, he experienced a tightness about his chest. Under the white robe with its golden serpent emblem, he felt his usually tranquil heart beating out of control.

  Shai was trembling with dread.

  He tried to hide nis sorrowful state, but he could not shake off the impression that his friends were watching him, that they were all too aware of his fevered anxiety.

  But he performed the required movements with great exactitude; and he did everything with the utmost care.

  When the perfumed vessels had been set at their regular intervals and the ritual flowers were arranged with impeccable correctness to adorn the comers, the four boys drew back, all the while chanting the “Hymn of the Famine.”

  “Serpent Father, let the devouring hunger be nothing before our unquenchable thirst for Wisdom and for Truth.”

  And Shai could not help adding: Serpent Father, holder of Wisdom, let the Truth not be stained by my lie.

  From outside, at the very edge of the wooded height, an observer might see only a small gathering of tall white buildings. Or gray ones. According to the season. The wild hordes who passed this way withdrew very quickly from the lofty walls, for their crude weapons could not prevail against the almighty

  Spirit—or against the firestorms the servants of the Golden Serpent unleashed on them.

  The Outsiders seethed with impotent rage. They would clench their fists and hurl invective, but that was like whispering into the wind or shouting in the face of the hurricane.

  The Masters of Law, OOO and YYY told the neophytes so.

  “When the Great Hurricane came,” they said, “the Golden Serpent who is the symbol of Law coiled seven times around the Land of Law. ‘When the Great Hurricane has passed,’ said the Serpent, ‘what is Inside must stay inside and what is Outside must stay outside.’

  “And the Serpent of Law, he who was Master of Law, added no word to the words he had spoken. His words became the Law.”

  But OOO, YYY, UUU, and the other Masters of Law had more to add.

  “Outside is the cold.”

  And the cold was punishment.

  The Cold was death.

  OOO, YYY, UUU and the other Masters had just taken their appointed seats.

  As for the fifty neophytes, they remained standing, awaiting the signal which would let them take their places.

  Shai, Kwo, Mru, and Lsi had straightway taken their seats among the Masters.

  This was a great honor, one reserved for the First Disciples of Law.

  Shai and Mru were male.

  Kwo and Lsi were female.

  But by the terms of the Law, all four were styled boys.

  Until the age of fullness.

  * * *

  From the moment the Doctors of the Temple had crossed the avenue and seated themselves in the stations of OOO, YYY, UUU, and the other Masters of Law, there at the height of the Grand Council Hall, the youths understood that they must be separate. The boys of male sex stood on this side; the boys of female sex stood on the other.


  And intricate songs rose skyward on this initiation night.

  OOO, YYY, UUU, and the other Masters had just taken their appointed seats.

  The signal was finally given and the neophytes; were able to sit down.

  After the prayers the ritual ordained had been raised, everyone began the meal in reverent silence.

  Shai, his eyes half-shut, forced down the spoonfuls of soup and bites of black bread. His stomach was churning and he wondered whether he was going to be able, when the moment came, to chew his helping of bloody meat and wild fruit.

  He was too upset to succeed in hiding his disturbance. His hands were trembling; more than once he almost overset his cup.

  His memory kept reeling back to the dark hours, to the strange dreams which had assailed him. In his nightmare ne had seen a company of riders, all masked, armed with spears and axes, galloping under a cold-eyed moon. These riders, Shai knew (as one always knows such things in dreams), these heavily armed riders were coming toward the Citadel of the Serpent. They were coming to destroy the Sanctuary, to turn these white and gray buildings to ash, to scatter the Brotherhood.

  The dream had spun on: the riders had brought with their train beasts of war—wolves and wildcats which ran with them in a howling, yowling pack. It was a vision of demons.

  When he had awakened at daybreak he was covered with sweat and his eyes were burning with it.

  His first act should have been to wake the Watch who was still sound asleep, and to tell him his dream. This had been his duty. He had been well aware of that. Instead, he had stayed beneath his blankets rehearsing all the details of his nightmare: the cruel, pointed lances, the frightful axes, the iron-muscled horses, the howling wolves, the spitting cats, miniature tigers drunk with rage. The riders, in their masks, with leather hands clenched on the reins.

  When the reveille bell had sounded, Shai had drifted back to sleep. The Watch had been obliged to shake him three times, and when he finally opened his eyes, the look he had found leaning over him was dark with reproach.

  OOO rose, the meal having ended. “Young Shai!” said OOO. “Tomorrow you will pass into the House of Apprentices.”

  Shai fell to the ground on one knee and dutifully bowed his head. The surprise had hit him hard. Few indeed were those who ever gained that entry into the House of Wisdom. He felt the deeper guilt, and tears began to trickle down his cheeks.

  “Young Shai!” Now it was YYY speaking. “You have astounded us all with your devotion and your fervor. The tests which the Doctors of the Temple have administered show that you have all the abilities requisite to pass tomorrow into the House of Apprentices.”

  Afterward, as they were leaving the hall, Shai caught jealous looks from Mru and Kwo. Only Lsi seemed to be smiling at him, this in spite of the fact that smiling was strictly forbidden in such solemn circumstances.

  Now, Shai thought, I have to tell them about my dream. If I don’t, I’ll become a traitor to the Law.

  Such traitors never lived long. Although they were not among those executed in the great Temple courtyard, they were driven from the Citadel in disgrace and came to wretched ends in the wilderness.

  The day dragged on.

  But Shai, without knowing the reason for his strange behavior, found himself helpless to do what he should have done. He left his Masters in ignorance of the terrible things he had dreamed.

  In the words of the Law: All that exists belongs to the Masters, all that you are belongs to the Masters, all that you know belongs to the Masters. It was that simple and it acknowledged no exception.

  It was Shai’s last night in his old dormitory. Tomorrow I shall be in another dormitory, with other friends. ‘In the House of Apprentices. Then I shall forget my evil thoughts. I shall forget my dreams. I shall think on nothing but being worthy of my rank, worthy of the knowledge offered me.

  He turned his face to the wall, for his was the last bed in the row of twelve. He courted sleep. But a voice came echoing in that silence.

  No sleep for you, Shai.

  He tried to hide under the rough blankets but the strange voice pursued him, vast and pitiless.

  Get up Shai and look outside. You will see a sign. And you will obey that sign.

  “I owe obedience only to the Law!”

  Get up. Don’t argue with me. You will see the Sign and you will obey.

  Only the snores of the young students broke the silence of the great, cold hall, but Shai hesitated yet a moment before yielding to the orders of this mysterious voice. He had no wish to draw the attention of his jealous fellow students to himself now.

  When he was sure that no one was awake, he slipped out of bed and went to the window which opened onto the exercise yard. The building which housed the dormitory was one of the highest buildings of the Citadel, and from this height Shai could see a good part of the curtain wall in the moonlight. The sentinels of the Holy Company paced at their leisure. Their weapons were fearsome. They could spit their deadly fire at prodigious distances.

  Beyond those ramparts lay the plateau and the forest. The world boded dangers, rife with ambushes and snares.

  Look well, young Shai, said the voice which rumbled through his skull. Look down there, beyond the wall.

  He looked. He saw. A pale glimmering began to grow. It seemed to come from the forest, out of the depths where wolves wandered, where lynx and wildcats prowled. Wolves, wildcats, lynxes. Riders with cruel masks. The light winked once, twice, then more and more rapidly. It could not be chance. It was the Sign.

  Shai closed his eyes and shivered, framed in the high window.

  He fell back into his dream. The armed riders with their lances and axes were galloping along the verge of the forest. At their head rode a young man dressed like them but masked in white. And Shai knew that this man had his face.

  Hssst!

  He spun about. Lsi stood behind him.

  But Lsi was smiling, showing no sign of denouncing him. Lsi looked frail and very gentle for a boy long inured to privations and trained in exercise ana warriors’ games.

  “Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone. I want to talk to you before you leave the dormitory. I’m not jealous of your success. Know that. You can’t sleep, can you?”

  “No.” Lsi’s question verged on stupidity. “I’m thinking…about a lot of things.”

  “I was thinking about you; and then you weren’t there. I prayed to the Great Serpent, I asked Him to let me into the House of Apprentices…to be near you.”

  Shai shivered, as he had shivered a moment ago when he had seen the Sign.

  Lsi was dressed in the shapeless nightgown students wore, but suddenly Lsi took on a fragile elegance that quickened Shai’s young heart.

  “If I could,” Shai said with culpable decision, “yes, I swear by the Law, if 1 could, I would take you with me, Lsi.”

  Shai detected a suspicious shimmering in Lsi’s eyes.

  “A boy doesn’t cry,” Shai said. But he said that to cover his own feeling. “Especially when he’s leaving a fellow disciple who’s been called to the House of Apprentices.”

  Then Lsi said something extraordinary, something which could cost Lsi very dear.

  “That’s because I’m not a boy.”

  “Hush, will you? What if someone heard you?”

  “Now we’re conspirators together,” Lsi said. “Remember me in the House of Apprentices.”