The Way of Edan (The Edan Trilogy, #1)

by Philip Chase

“When the Kingdom of the Eternal takes hold over Eormenlond, only those who follow Edan, only the righteous, will dwell with Him in bliss! All others, believers in false gods and worshippers of demons, will gnash their teeth and wail in torment. Abandon your false gods, and embrace the truth. The time is nigh! So says the Supreme Priest Bledla, Edan’s chosen.”

His martyrdom accomplished, he had fulfilled the supreme priest’s bidding and Edan’s will, and his reward would be in accordance with his suffering.

“We must all play the part Edan has ordained for us, for a far greater outcome than our individual lives is at stake.”

In truth, one of his chief pleasures was telling Ebba stories, and not only for the admiration. The tales brought them closer, as if they were entering a world he summoned only for them.

The old tales take us to faraway times and places, but they’re also where we come from. They tell us how we got here.

Memories were all little lies strung together to confer the impression that a life had a story with its own meaning, that it existed apart from the energy whence it came and whither it would return.

Bolthar wrestling the bull, Sithfar hidden in his cloak and holding his staff, Syn and Logan striving with ice and fire, Halmar riding the whale, Dyna with a sheaf of wheat, lovely Glora with her flower garland, and Regnor and Hruga seated over all.

Alas! The lone one longs for the land of his kin, In his breast he buries the burden of his loss As he fares among the foreign, far are his dear ones. Though he sails over seas, his sorrow follows, Cold is such company, his cares never fade . . .

“My child, something happened this day that never happened before: Your spirit survived a meeting with an elf. I don’t know how, though I’ve always known you have the gift. Anyone with an understanding of the gift could have seen it even before today. You’d have made a fine wizard with proper training.”

“When the world learns of you, many will seek to use you. I will seek to use you, my boy. Yes. You should know it, and I hope you’ll trust me. And some will want to kill you. Bagsac will find out the truth soon enough, and when he does, he’ll come for you — and not alone. That priest is a fool, but his master is not. When the Supreme Priest Bledla finds out about you, he’ll want you either dead or in Torrlond to use you for his own ends. We must let him have neither.”

“There are those who, in their ignorance, will see us as cruel. They do not understand that, in doing Edan’s will, we are doing the greatest possible kindness this world has ever known. ‘Oft does cruelty to the flesh yield salvation of the spirit.’ In the world to come, all who embrace Edan will be healed and whole. This wretched, fleeting world of polluted flesh will become a place of unending beauty and bliss. Thus, in firmness we show mercy. Through war in this realm, we bring peace in the eternal realm to come.” His voice quivered with a hint of emotion. “This too is our sacrifice, and we make it with unshakeable resolve.” “It is the Way, my lord. Edan commands and sanctifies all we do.”