In this climate of disgust
I am searching for the vacant music
As songs are without fathers
Revived only in the folk-memory

The History of the Duel

There was almost nobody left who could remember the duel. After extended negotiations I was permitted to speak to the blind adventurer who had in his youth heard the duel

The History of the Duel

As I walked towards the sea a woman of many years approached me. She was naked save for a worn loin cloth

“ my breasts have never favoured children”

A Gunard was suckling at her breast. I watched this fish feed for over an hour until it was full. The woman then handed me the bloated fish and walked away.

The Gunard was still, I supposed it dead, killed by a mothers milk but as I approached the tide line it opened its eyes.

“ The blind adventurer lied to you. He did not hear the duel on the day he spoke of as there was a solar storm”

I then placed the fish in the mid water. It stared at me for a moment and disappeared under the next wave

I looked at the porous rope puzzles which led towards the circus poster. Like many in the vicinity this display had been vandalised.

Fading Crane’s

As the year progressed, the warm air had begun to cover the country. Crane’s were beginning to fade in flight. As I walked along the seashore I was aware that I was not alone. A few paces behind me there was the youngest daughter of a King.

Vandalism of Signage

The youngest daughter did not speak to me but as we passed the vandalised signage became agitated. She picked up the pole which lay half covered in the sand and forced it into the dune and after clearing the debris from the display itself she attached it to the pole securing it with a small piece of her maroon robe

“ Will you attend the circus” ? 

“ I will attend the circus with you and will be seated next to you and your sister and your brother of exile. I will not attend if your parents attend “.

History of the Duel

The youngest daughter of the King knew nothing of the duel

History of the Duel 

As we progressed away from the sea we found the grave of the woman who had never favoured children. The funeral procession had just left but the sand although disturbed was cold to the touch.

Cancellation of the Circus

Due to the widespread vandalism of the signage, the circus had been cancelled. Its performers were given a small sailing boat and ordered to find new worlds where vandalism did not exist.

War Crimes

I set up home with the youngest daughter of the King although she knew nothing of the duel. She always remained a short pace behind me. We never touched

Simplicity

Our home was made of sand

Preparation for Battle

We swam each morning and drew up our plans of conflict in the waves. She was a better swimmer than me but this was of no consequence.

The Maroon Robe

Due to the excessive use in the repair of signage this robe was soon used. We kept a small amount for our standard. The youngest daughter of the King clothed herself in knitted sand. It was during the creation of this covering that she became aware of the history of the duel.

“ there is no history as the duel never took place”

The History of the Duel

I knew her to be wrong as the stars did not lie.

The Blind Adventurer

The blind adventurer had been slaughtered and his skin was being used as their standard. Whether he had lied to me was of no matter. Their armies were approaching us.

The Woman who had Never Favoured Children

The woman who had never favoured children was exhumed and sent towards the approaching army to sue for peace. She was slaughtered again and cut into pieces. The youngest daughter of the King filled her empty grave and swore revenge.

Battle

The battle was short yet bloody. I fought many duels and although scarred won each. The most serious injury I suffered was the penetration of a sharpened shell into my lower lip mouth. Recovering I drank sea water and for a moment saw the Gurnard in the waves. It too was bleeding with a wound in its side.

Duellist 

I fought one more duel that day with the bearer of standard of the blind adventurer. It was more vicious than my previous duels. After death I pierced his eyes with a Crane’s beak. This was against the rules of duelling, but he would be blind for eternity, a fate he would share with the blind adventurer. Theirs was an infinite duel.

The Return of the Crane’s

The youngest daughter of the King had been captured. As I recovered from my wound in the house built of sand I noted that the Crane’s no longer faded in flight. A large number surrounded my home. They always remained a short pace behind me but saw to my every need.

Preparation of Signage

For the next year I constructed from the debris of battle the signage required for my return. These displays were no longer vandalised.

Folk-Memory  

It was whilst in conversation with one of these signs on the outer edge of my kingdom that I learned that the youngest daughter of the King was still alive. She had been imprisoned by her sister and her exiled brother. Their father was dead and they had signed a treaty with their enemy.

Duels 

When intruders arrived in my kingdom I always duelled with them. This was a dangerous practice as they might have been superior duellists. I was not immortal but I was always superior.

Death of the Gurnard  

As I completed my preparations for the rescue of the youngest daughter of the King, news was brought to me that the Gurnard had been found dead on the beach. Its battle wound had proved fatal. The Crane’s had removed the milk of the old woman who had never favoured children. They had immersed themselves in it and had flown away. They would never fade in flight again . I ordered the signage in advance and was left alone with the dead fish.

“ Not one person except yourself will have remembered the duel, you need not ask others as only you remember” Go forward and rescue my sister duellist ”

A Book of  Emperors

The white children sat on the emerald thrones in the emerald city

They remained pale as they were exiled from the sun

Entombed in the room of thrones

Conspirators

In the Library of Arithmetic, the books hidden in the hatched light were conspiring. The doors were locked. This was a quiet rebellion.

The Stammering Battlefields 

I was captured near the Wood of Nightingales and chained to a caravan. There were no other prisoners. The advance party was reported slaughtered but I was not aware of this.

A Clipper made of Glass 

In the bay away from my capture was moored a clipper made entirely of glass. I knew of its visit. My next duel would be my final duel.

Celebration

As I entered the emerald city I noted that in every square a circus was being held. There was much celebration. In one square no circus was being held. It was here that I made my escape. I slaughtered my sole captor with his sword. I was no longer a duellist but a warrior.

Luxury

In the fields outside of the city, Chevils searched the arid ground for grubs. They found only empty graves. Alarmed by this sight they tried to fly away but found that they could no longer fly. Within the day each died in the heat and their parched corpses occasioned fire which built a cloud. This dark cloud soon descended on the emerald city

Regatta 

The pale children could no longer see the stained thrones and escaped the guards who inhibited them.

Rebellion

The Library of Arithmetic was ablaze, this was a spontaneous act

Blindness

The cloud covered everything, I was no longer fighting battles. Only pygmies populated the streets and they were harmless. As I turned into the Square of Virtue I noted a fire burning more fiercely than others. My army was ablaze. The signage of celebration had turned to wood ash.

Requiescat

From this dust crawled a pygmy. It was darker than its race although covered in the debris of my army’s destruction     

“ They were always imagined, you never possessed an army. You are a solitary creature like me “

And with this he thrust his claw into his chest and ripped his heart out and lay it on the ground at my feet. In an instant the creature departed.

Dense Air  

I looked at the bloody organ, it was still beating. I noticed that it had began to imitate human features. A recognisable face had began to appear. Soon its emerald eyes opened. We remained wordless until this creature looked towards a nearby wall.

“ The youngest daughter of the king is dead, she was strangled on the steps of the temple”

This creature then died in my hand

Burial

I covered the creature in the wood ash as I was drowning in my despair. I needed reflection and lay next to its small damp mound for the next hour.

Graffiti

On the wall was written

This Kingdom lives in Peace
The Pale Children are Free

The Warrior

I did not believe what I was reading and began to remove the graffiti with the blood of the creature. I had nearly completed my task when a soldier approached me with his sword drawn. I thrust a Crane’s beak into his eyes and pinned him to the wall with my sword. Others soon arrived and met the same fate. I was wounded  by a sword which  had penetrated my ribs but I was alive. As I left the bloody square I noticed that the graffiti had turned emerald green as had the blood of my fallen opponents. My blood was however red and running in plenty.

A Stranded Blindness 

I was supported by a pygmy as I struggled towards the temple. My eternity was signalled. The number of pygmies increased until there were more than twenty. I considered myself near death but these ravaged creatures treated me as an emperor

The Tenderness of Brutus

They left me on the steps of the temple and departed. My blood now free ran down the steps and had began to turn an emerald green. On a platform between two sets of steps there was a woman. As the smokes cleared I could see that it was the youngest daughter of the King. As before she wore a maroon robe but she had bruising around her neck. She came towards me and began to bathe my wounds.

“ You are dying duellist, but you will not fade until you have completed your final duel ”

The History of the Duel

I looked up and through her raven hair saw crowds of Crane’s flying. I was helped to my feet, the birds were getting lower but were not landing. As we arrived on the platform between the steps the youngest daughter of the King turned her back on me and began to remove her robe. As the garment fell I was left facing a harp made out of the most beautiful wood and with the finest strings.

“ Play until you are the victor my duellist. You have never seen me as I am. I only ever lived and died in your dreams and you are aware of that . Your road is at an end.”

“ In your climate of disgust you have only ever searched for the vacant music as your songs are without fathers. Revived only in folk-memory. “

Gunard Floating

I placed my bloodied sword at my feet and began to touch the delicate strings. The blood from my fingers ran down the strings but it did not inhibit the music which had begun to emerge. The cloud and smoke which had enveloped the city had vanished and from my high vantage point I was able to see the true music of the emerald city. Around me people organised their everyday,  but only I could hear the magnificence.

“ You are the victor duellist” 

was whispered from the depths of the instrument. It was then that the Crane’s began to land beside me in their numbers. With their wings they made a cradle. I died as they became airborne and was transported to the clipper made of glass.

The Clipper made of Glass

After ceremony I was left alone on this ship made of glass. I lay on my emerald robe and wondered at the afterlife, I greeted every wave and watched its life time as it travelled under the ship. An imaginary wind gave my journey pace and soon I was distant from any land. It was then that I noted a solitary Gunard near the bow of my ship. Soon it was joined by others until a multitude was celebrated. I no longer could see the sands of embrace or the lifetimes of  the waves. The ship was lifted from this sea by these brave fish and we travelled upwards into the sky which was now an emerald green