19. DESTRUCTION OF ATLANTIS
A tottering old Priest came up and touched me on the shoulder.
"Well?" I said sharply, having small taste for interruption just now.
"News has been carried to the Three, my King, of what is threatened."
"Then they will know that I stand here now, brother, to enjoy the finestfight of my life. When it is finished I shall go to the Gods, and bethere standing behind the stars to welcome them when presently they alsoarrive. They have my regrets that they are too old and too feeble to dieand look upon a fine killing themselves."
"I have commands from them, my King, to lay upon you, which I fear youwill like but slenderly. You are forbidden to find your death here inthe fighting. They have a further use for you yet."
I turned on the old man angrily enough. "I shall take no such order,my brother. I am not going to believe it was ever given. You must havemisunderstood. If I am a man, if I am a Priest, if I am a soldier, ifI am a King, then it stands to my honour that no enemy should pass thisgate whilst yet I live. And you may go back and throw that message attheir teeth."
The old man smiled enviously. He, too, had been a keen soldier in hisday. "I told them you would not easily believe such a message, and askedthem for a sign, and they bore with me, and gave me one. I was to giveyou this jewel, my King."
"How came they by that? It is a bracelet from the elbow of Nais."
"They must have stripped her of it. I did not know it came from Nais.The word I was to bring you said that the owner of the jewel was insidethe Ark of the Mysteries, and waited you there. The use which the Threehave for you further concerns her also."
Even when I heard that, I will freely confess that my obedience wassorely tried, and I have the less shame in setting it down on thesesheets, because I know that all true soldiers will feel a sympathy formy plight. Indeed, the promise of the battle was very tempting. But inthe end my love for Nais prevailed, and I gave the salutation that wasneedful in token that I heard the order and obeyed it.
To the knot of Priests who were left for the defence, I turned and mademy farewells. "You will have what I shall miss, my brothers," I said. "Ienvy you that fight. But, though I am King of Atlantis, still I am onlyone of the Seven, and so am the servant of the Three and must obey theirorder. They speak in words the will of the most High Gods, and we mustdo as they command. You will stand behind the stars before I come, andI ask of you that you will commend me to Those you meet there. It is notmy own will that I shall not appear there by your side."
They heard my words with smiles, and very courteously saluted me withtheir weapons, and there we parted. I did not see the fight, but I knowit was good, from the time which passed before Phorenice's hordes brokeout on to the crest of the Mountain. They died hard, that last remnantof the lesser Priests of Atlantis.
With a sour enough feeling I went up to the head of the pass, and thenthrough the groves, and between the temples and colleges and houseswhich stood on the upper slopes of the Sacred Mountain, till I reachedthat boundary, beyond which in milder days it was death for any but theprivileged few to pass. But the time, it appeared to me, was past forconventions, and, moreover, my own temper was hot; and it is likelythat I should have strode on with little scruple if I had not beeninterrupted. But in the temple which marked the boundary, there was oldZaemon waiting; and he, with due solemnity of words, and with the wholeof some ancient ritual ordained for that purpose, sought dispensationfrom the High Gods for my trespass, and would not give me way till hewas through with his ceremony.
Already Phorenice's tower and bridge were in position, for the clash andyelling of a fight told that the small handful of Priests on the rampartof the last gate were bartering their lives for the highest return indead that they could earn. They were trained fighting men all, but oldand feeble, and the odds against them were too enormous to be stemmedfor over long. In a very short time the place would be put to the storm,and the roof of the Sacred Mountain would be at the open mercy of theinvader. If there was any further thing to be done, it was well that itshould be set about quickly whilst peace remained. It seemed to methat the moment for prompt action, and the time for lengthy pompousceremonial was done for good.
But Zaemon was minded otherwise. He led me up to the Ark of theMysteries, and chided my impatience, and waited till I had given it myreverential kiss, and then he called aloud, and another old man cameout of the opening which is in the top of the Ark, and climbed painfullydown by the battens which are fixed on its sides. He was a man I hadnever seen before, hoary, frail, and emaciated, and he and Zaemon werethen the only two remaining Priests who had been raised to the highestdegree known to our Clan, and who alone had knowledge of the highestsecrets and powers and mysteries.
"Look!" cried Zaemon, in his shrill old voice, and swept a tremblingfinger over the shattered city, and the great spread of sea and countrywhich lay in view of us below. I followed his pointing and looked, and achill began to crawl through me. All was plainly shown. Our Lord the Sunburned high overhead in a sky of cloudless blue, and day shimmered inHis heat. All below seemed from that distance peaceful and warm andstill, save only that the mountains smoked more than ordinary, and somespouted fires, and that the sea boiled with some strange disorder.
But it was the significance of the sea that troubled me most. Far out onthe distant coast it surged against the rocks in enormous rolls of surf;and up the great estuary, at the head of which the city of Atlantisstands, it gushed in successive waves of enormous height which neverreturned. Already the lower lands on either side were blotted outbeneath tumultuous waters, the harbour walls were drowned out of sight,and the flood was creeping up into the lower wards of the great cityitself.
"You have seen?" asked Zaemon.
"I have seen."
"You understand?"
"In part."
"Then let me tell you all. This is the beginning, and the end willfollow swiftly. The most High Gods, that sit behind the stars, have alimit to even Their sublime patience; and that has been passed. The cityof Atlantis, the great continent that is beyond, and all that are inthem are doomed to unutterable destruction. Of old it was foreseen thatthis great wiping-out would happen through the sins of men, and to thisend the Ark of the Mysteries was built under the direction of the Gods.No mortal implements can so much as scratch its surface, no waves orrocks wreck it. Inside is stored on sheets of the ancient writing allthat is known in the world of learning that is not shared by thecommon people, also there is grain in a store, and sweet water in tankssufficient for two persons for the space of four years, together withseeds, weapons, and all such other matters as were deemed fit.
"Out of all this vast country it has been decreed by the High Gods thattwo shall not perish. Two shall be chosen, a man and a woman, who arefit and proper persons to carry away with them the ancient learning todispose of it as they see best, and afterwards to rear up a race whoshall in time build another kingdom and do honour to our Lord theSun and the other Gods in another place. The woman is within the Arkalready, and seated in the place appointed for her, and though she is adaughter of mine, the burden of her choosing is with you. For the man,the choice has fallen upon yourself."
I was half numb with the shock of what was befalling. "I do not knowthat I care to be a survivor."
"You are not asked for your wishes," said the old man. "You are given anorder from the High Gods, who know you to be Their faithful servant."
Habit rode strong upon me. I made salutation in the required form, andsaid that I heard and would obey.
"Then it remains to raise you to the sublime degree of the Three, and ifyour learning is so small that you will not understand the keys to manyof the Powers, and the highest of the Mysteries, when they are handed toyou, that fault cannot be remedied now."
Certainly the time remaining was short enough. The fight still rageddown at the gate in the pass, though it was a wonder how the handful ofPriests had held their ground so long. But the ocean rolled in upon
theland in an ever-increasing flood, and the mountains smoked and belchedforth more volleys of rock as the weight increased on their lower parts,and presently those that besieged the Mountain could not fail to seethe fate that threatened them. Then there would be no withholding theirrush. In their mad fury and panic they would sweep all obstructionresistlessly before them, and those who stood in their path might lookto themselves.
But there was no hurrying Zaemon and his fellow sage. They were withouttemple for the ceremony, without sacrifice or incense to decorate it.They had but the sky for a roof to make their echoes, and the Godsthemselves for witnesses. But they went through the work of raisingme to their own degree, with all the grand and majestic form which hasgathered dignity from the ages, and by no one sentence did they curtailit. A burning mountain burst with a bellowing roar as the incomingwaters met its fires, but gravely they went on, in turn reciting theirsentences. Phorenice's troops broke down the last resistance, and pouredin a frenzied stream amongst the groves and temples, but still theyquavered never in the ritual.
It had been said that this ceremony is the grandest and the mostimpressive of all those connected with our holy religion; and certainlyI found it so; and I speak as one intimate with all the others. Even thetremendous circumstances which hemmed them in could do nothing to makethese frail old men forget the deference which was due to the highestorder of the Clan.
For myself, I will freely own I was less rapt. I stood there bareheadedin the heat, a man trying to concentrate himself, and yet torn the whileby a thousand foreign emotions. The awful thing that was happening allaround compelled some of my attention. A continent was in the very actand article of meeting with complete destruction, and if Zaemon andthe other Priest were strong enough to give their minds wholly up to amatter parochial to the priesthood, I was not so stoical. And moreover,I was filled with other anxieties and thoughts concerning Nais. Yet Imanaged to preserve a decent show of attention to the ceremony; makingall those responses which were required of me; and trying as well asmight be to preserve in my mind those sentences which were the keys topower and learning, and not mere phrasings of grandeur and devotion.
But it became clear that if the ceremony of my raising did not soonarrive at its natural end, it would be cut short presently withsomething of suddenness. Phorenice's conquering legions swarmed outon to the crest of the Mountain, and now carried full knowledge of thedreadful thing that was come upon the country. They were out of allcontrol, and ran about like men distracted; but knowing full well thatthe Priests would have brought this terrible wreck to pass by virtue ofthe powers which were stored within the Ark of the Mysteries, it wouldbe their natural impulse to pour out a final vengeance upon any of thesesame Priests they could come across before it was too late.
It began to come to my mind that if the ceremony did not very shortlyterminate, the further part of the plan would stand very small chanceof completion, and I should come by my death after all by fighting to afinish, as I had pictured to myself before. My flickering attention sawthe soldiers coming always nearer in their frantic wanderings, and sawalso the sea below rolling deeper and deeper in upon the land.
The fires, too, which ringed in half the mountain, spurted up todouble their old height, and burned with an unceasing roar. But for alldistraction these things gave to the two old Priests who were raisingme, we might have been in the quietness of some ancient temple, with noso much as a fly to buzz an interruption.
But at last an end came to the ceremony. "Kneel," cried Zaemon, "andmake obeisance to your mother the Earth, and swear by the High Gods thatyou will never make improper use of the powers over Her which this dayyou have been granted."
When I had done that, he bade me rise as a fully installed and dulyinitiated member of the Three. "You will have no opportunity to practisethe workings of this degree with either of us, my brother," said he,"for presently our other brother and I go to stand before the Gods todeliver to Them an account of our trust, and of how we have carried itout. But what items you remember here and there may turn of use to youhereafter. And now we two give you our farewells, and promise to commendyou highly to the Gods when soon we meet Them in Their place behindthe stars. Climb now into the Ark, and be ready to shut the door whichguards it, if there is any attempt by these raging people to invade thatalso. Remember, my brother, it is the Gods' direct will that you and thewoman Nais go from this place living and sound, and you are expresslyforbidden to accept challenge or provocation to fight on any pretextwhatever. But as long as may be done in safety, you may look out uponAtlantis in her death-throes. It is very fitting that one of the onlytwo who are sent hence alive, should carry the full tale of what hasbefallen."
I went to the top of the Ark of Mysteries then, climbing there by thebattens which are fastened to the sides, and then descended by the stairwhich is inside and found Nais in a little chamber waiting for me.
"I was bidden stay here by Zaemon," she said, "who forced me to thisplace by threats and also by promises that my lord would follow. He isvery ungentle, that father of mine, but I think he has a kindness for usboth, and any way he is my father and I cannot help loving him. Is thereno chance to save him from what is going to happen?"
"He will not come into this Ark, for I asked him. It has been ordainedfrom the ancient time when first the Ark was built, that when the dayfor its purpose came, one woman and one man should be its only tenants,and they are here already. Zaemon's will in the matter is not to betwisted by you or by me. He has a message to be delivered to the Gods,and (if I know him at all), he grudges every minute that is lost incarrying it to them."
I left her then, and went out again up the stair, and stood once more onthe roof of the Ark. On the Mountain top men still ran about distracted,but gradually they were coming to where the Ark rested on the highestpoint. For the moment, however, I passed them lightly. The drowning ofthe great continent that had been spread out below filled the eye. Oceanroared in upon it with still more furious waves. The plains and thelevel lands were foaming lakes. The great city of Atlantis had vanishedeternally. The mountains alone kept their heads above the flood, andspewed out rocks, and steam, and boiling stone, or burst when the watersreached them and created great whirlpools of surging sea, and twistedtrees, and bubbling mud.
In the space of a few breaths every living creature that dwelt in thelower grounds had been smothered by the waters, save for a few whohuddled in a pair of galleys that were driven oarless inland, over whathad once been black forest and hunting land for the beasts. And even asI watched, these also were swallowed up by the horrid turmoil of sea,and nothing but the sea beasts, and those of the greater lizards whichcan live in such outrageous waters, could have survived even thatstate of the destruction. Indeed, none but those men who had now foundstanding-ground on the upper slopes of the Sacred Mountain survived,and it was plain that their span was short, for the great mass of thecontinent sank deeper and more deep every minute before our aching eyes,beneath the boiling inrush of the seas.
But though the great mass of the soldiery were dazed and maddened at theprospect of the overwhelming which threatened them, there were some witha strength of mind too valiant to give any outward show of discomposure.Presently a compact little body of people came from out the houses andthe temples, and headed directly across the open ground towards the Ark.On the outside marched Phorenice's personal guards with their weaponsnew blooded. They had been forced to fight a way through their ownfellow soldiers. The poor demented creatures had thought it was everyone for himself now, till these guards (by their mistress's order)proved to them that Phorenice still came first.
And in the middle of them, borne in a litter of gold and ivory by hergrotesque European slaves, rode the Empress, still calm, still lovely,and seemingly divided in her sentiments between contempt and amusement.Her two children lay in the litter at her feet. On her right handmarched Tatho gorgeously apparelled, and with a beard curled and plaitedinto a thousand ringlets. On the other side, plying her industry w
ithunruffled defence, walked Ylga, once again fan-girl, and so still secondlady in this dwindling kingdom.
The party of them halted half a score of paces from the Ark byPhorenice's order. "Do not go nearer to those unclean old men. Theycarry a rank odour with them, and for the moment we are short ofessences to sweeten the air of their neighbourhood." She lifted hereyebrows and looked up at me. "Truly a quiet little gathering of oldacquaintances. Why, there is Deucalion, that once I took the flavour ofand threw aside when he cloyed me."
"I have Nais here," I said, "and presently we two will be all that areleft alive of this nation."
"Nais is quite welcome to my leavings," she laughed. "I will look downupon your country cooings when presently I go back to the Place behindthe stars from which I came. You are a very rustic person, Deucalion.They tell me too that three or four of these smelling old men uphere have named you King. Did you swell much with dignity? Or didyou remember that there was a pretty Empress left that would still beEmpress so long as there was an Atlantis to govern? Come, sir, find yourtongue. By my face! you must have hungered for me very madly these yearswe have been parted, if new-grown ruggedness of feature is an evidence."
"Have your gibe. I do not gibe back at a woman who presently will die."
"Bah! Deucalion, you will live behind the times. Have they not told youthat I know the Great Secret and am indeed a Goddess now? My arts canmake life run on eternally."
"Then the waters will presently test them hard," I said, but there thetalk was taken into other lips. Zaemon went forward to the front ofthe litter with the Symbol of our Lord the Sun glowing in his hand, andburst into a flow of cursing. It was hard for me to hear his words. Theroar of the waters which poured up over the land, and beat in vast wavesagainst the Sacred Mountain itself, grew nearer and more loud. But theold man had his say.
Phorenice gave orders to her guards for his killing; yes, tried even torise from the litter and do the work herself; but Zaemon held the Symbolto his front, and its power in that supreme moment mastered all the artsthat could be brought against it. The majesty of the most High Godswas vindicated, and that splendid Empress knew it and lay back sullenlyamongst the cushions of her litter, a beaten woman.
Only one person in that rigid knot of people found power to leave therest, and that was Ylga. She came out to the side of the Ark, and leanedup, and cried me a farewell through the gathering roar of the flood.
"I would I might save you and take you with us," I said.
"As for that," she said, with a gesture, "I would not come if you askedme. I am not a woman that will take anything less than all. But I shallmeet what comes presently with the memory that you will have me alwayssomewhere in your recollection. I know somewhat of men, even men of yourstamp, Deucalion, and you will never forget that you came very near toloving me once."
I think, too, she said something further, concerning Nais, but thebellowing rush of the waters drowned all other words. A great mist madefrom the stream sent up by the swamped burning mountains stopped allaccurate view, though the blaze from the fires lit it like gold. ButI had a last sight of a horde of soldiery rushing up the slopes of theMountain, with a scum of surge billowing at their heels, and lickingmany of them back in its clutch. And then my eye fell on old Zaemonwaving to me with the Symbol to shut down the door in the roof of theArk.
I obeyed his last command, and went down the stair, and closed allingress behind me. There were bolts placed ready, and I shot these intotheir sockets, and there were Nais and I alone, and cut off from all therest of our world that remained.
I went to the place where she lay, and put my arms tightly around her.Without, we heard men beating desperately on the Ark with their weapons,and some even climbed by the battens to the top and wrenched to try andmove the door from its fastenings. The end was coming very nearly tothem now, and the great crowd of them were mad with terror.
I would have given much to have known how Phorenice fared in that finaltumult, and how she faced it. I could see her, with her lovely face, andher wondrous eyes, and her ruddy hair curling about her neck, and byall the Gods! I thought more of her at that last moment than of thepoor land she had conquered, and misgoverned, and brought to this horriddestruction. There is no denying the fascination which Phorenice carriedwith her.
But the end did not dally long with its coming. There was a little surgethat lifted the Ark a hand's breadth or so in its cradle, and set itback again with a jar and a quiver. The blows from axes and weaponsceased on its lower part, but redoubled into frenzied batterings on itsrounded roof. There were some screams and cries also which came tous but dully through the thickness of its ponderous sheathing, thoughlikely enough they were sent forth at the full pitch of human lungsoutside. And when another surge came, roaring and thundering, whichpicked up the great vessel as though it had been a feather, and spun itgiddily; and after that we touched earth or rock no more.
We tossed about on the crest and troughs of delirious seas, a sport forthe greedy Gods of the ocean. The lamp had fallen, and we crouched therein darkness, dully weighed with the burden of knowledge that we alonewere saved out of what was yesterday a mighty nation.