Prologue -Jude is Born

Calliope flew amongst the stars, speed immeasurable. She loved the feel of time standing still as she cruised across the universe she had helped create.  She felt at ease surpassing the speed of light on her way to a tiny world she last visited some millennia or so ago.  It was time to make another visit and maybe have a little fun while she was there.

The planets blew past as she sped along. She could have just thought of herself on the planet by putting her mind to it, but she enjoyed the solitude and time to think and plan for her next odyssey.  Her mind drifted to thoughts of the races she had created on this tiny speck of rock in a far corner of the universe.  The nearest habited planet to it was a brief thirty light year journey, although for her it would not seem nearly as long.  When you were immortal what do you have but spare time on your hands?

After a period of time (she could not be sure how long), she could see a tiny speck of light far in the distance.  As it grew she could recognize the familiar land masses and teeming oceans.  Two distant moons rolled past her on her way to the planet she had known by many names.  Kher, Medor, Kehora, and its current name as she recalled was Rhyer.  She always felt naming a planet was a bit of a farce; as one power gave way to another and one history replaced by another, places and people surely would change name and title just as the force in power will change policy.

She entered the outer atmosphere and slowed her speed considerably.  She flew slowly through the low lingering clouds and could see a large village at the base of a mountain.  She didn’t remember any villages in this part of Rhyer on her last visit, but a lot can change in a thousand years.

It was late at night as she flew over the village, her eyes scanning the hillside and finding what she had hoped to see.  A small cave had a fire burning inside, shadows flickering inside the entrance.  She came to ground a short ways from the entrance so that she could peer inside to make sure she would not startle anyone inside the cave.

When she looked into the cave she saw a decrepit old man rocking back and forth before the fire.  Cooking utensils were strewn about in front of him as if he could not be bothered to pick up after himself.  Her true form would scare the old man to death, so she thought of a kindly old woman, and her appearance became thus. She sat next to the man and studied his weathered and wrinkled face.  He was near his end she realized and felt pity.  Immortality made some of her sisters jaded and cynical towards the mortal races they helped create but Calliope had always felt sorry for the plight of some of these creatures she had borne across the universe.

The man looked her way and she realized he was blind as well as old and dying.  His eyes looked as though they were swimming in a thick, milky substance.

“It is good of you to come visit an old hermit, m’lady,” his voice scratched out the sounds that she was barely able to discern.  “I am not long for this world.”

She knew this was an exaggeration, he probably told everyone who visited him that he would pass soon, so that they might take pity and feed him. She rested her hand on his arm and could tell he enjoyed the warm sensation she sent through his limbs.  He laid down to rest and in a moment was sleeping peacefully.

“May your last days on this world bring you peace,” she whispered.

Before long, the sun peered through the clouds and decided it was time to rise.  She had no need for sleep but had been in a trance for a short while thinking about nothing in particular.  Her mind could wander for a century or more recalling past events she had seen or been responsible for.  She never really felt lonely, being what she was, but never stopped moving around the universe long enough to become attached to any one planet or race of people.

The fire had died and a wisp of smoke was all that remained.  She imagined a new fire and in a blink it was there, warming the old man as he muttered himself awake.  She imagined a filling meal for him, and it was created in front of him as he rose.

He thanked her and began to eat.  She rose and walked to the cave entrance.  A young man, tall and strong was making his way up the hillside. He was very handsome for this race of man, and she vaguely remembered creating this particular group of hill dwellers. She could see the trace of a light scar running along his cheek bone and a vision flashed before her eyes of the young man defending the old hermit from some ruffian. The ruffian ended up the worse for the encounter. He was carrying a small pack and appeared to be heading towards the cave. As he neared, but had not noticed her yet, she imagined her appearance to be that of a young woman of roughly his age, as appealing to a man of this world as she could summon to her mind.

As he approached, he stumbled upon seeing her.  Her long dark hair cascaded down her shoulders and bright green eyes shone from beneath an inquisitive brow.  The curves of her body glowed in the early morning light; she had imagined beauty this young man could only dream of, but did not feel the need to imagine clothing to cover it.  He was short of breath as he bade her a good morning, nearly stumbling over a fallen tree as he could not take his eyes from her.  She smiled at him, took his hand, and they entered the cave together to visit the old man.  She would bed this man this day and then retire to a higher place in the mountain once the baby was conceived.  In nine months time she would be free of her task and able to leave this world again for a millennium or more.  She wondered how different it would be upon her next visit.

She smiled at the young man again as he sat and helped himself to some of the food she had created. She could already feel the excitement in his eyes upon her.  She decided it made her feel good, his gaze traveling over her as though he had never seen a woman before. It had been a long time since she had last mingled amongst humans, and she reprimanded herself silently for enjoying it a little too much.

When he finished his meal, she rose and held her hand out to him. He took it, and she led him further into the cave. She helped him remove his clothing, and smiled at him kindly. They lay down and before too long she could feel the seed of man entering her. She sped it along it’s way and knew the moment the son was conceived. They lay together for a short while before the young man rose, dressed, and left. Promises of further visits, flowers, anything she might desire, were made and Calliope was sure he would have kept. When he was gone, she gave the old hermit a small kiss on the cheek and left the cave. She climbed the mountain, looking for a nesting place that she could rest and wait for the child to come. She took her true form as she climbed. Trying to climb a mountain while in the form of a young woman was much more difficult than it was as a Dragon.

Months passed and the young man was exasperated by the disappearance of his true love.  She had been the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on and in a span of a day she had loved him like no other and then disappeared.  He was beside himself with grief when finally word came to him from the old hermit that a baby would soon be born high up in the mountain.  It had been nearly nine months since he had seen her.  He went to the old man who told him that he should make a pilgrimage to the rock cluster that looked down upon their village and there he would find his son.  Those were the old man’s last words as he expired after uttering them.

He began immediately to make his ascent up the mountain.  It took him the span of a day to reach the summit the hermit had indicated.  There, wrapped in swaddling clothes and held by the goddess-like beauty the young man had loved, was his son.  A strong looking hand played with his mother’s long, dark hair as he enjoyed a drink from his mother’s bosom.

The young man wept as he took the child in his arms and before he could reach out to his love, she had kissed him on the check, bade him farewell, and disappeared.  As he wept for his love, tears streaming down his cheeks, he was struck on the head.  His last memory was of the child being pried from his hands as he lost consciousness.