The Seed of Sarothen - Chapter 1

THE SEED OF SAROTHEN

THE BIRTH

Babylon, 562 B.C. - The Hanging Gardens

The rain lashed the parched, dusty kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar II as he
sat by his wife Amytis, looking out at the splendid gardens through a
small window in the palace.

"Tonight is the night, my dear!" he whispered and then left the
room.

Out in the distance, Sarothen gleamed white.

A maid slipped out of the room and caught hold of Razaish-one of the
kitchen servants-and whispered "Tell the others. The priests will
gather tonight. Sarothen shall bloom!"

Razaish hurried out of the palace and scuttled towards the stables.
When Mirazzudar saw him, he called out "Have you heard?"

"Yes! Yes! After 125 years!"

Within moments the palace was buzzing with excitement and by the time
the sun sent out its last desperate rays of light, the entire city knew
that it was the night of Sarothen.

The full moon bathed the most famous gardens in all the known world in
a milky white as King Nebuchadnezzar II followed the priests solemnly
marching towards Sarothen. Upwards they climbed till they had reached
the highest platform of the gardens; and they gazed in awe at the
magnificent tree that stood before them.

Its trunk was as smooth as marble and exuded a soft white glow. Its
leaves were ivory white and they rustled quietly in the cool breeze.
And topmost, bathing in the moonlight, was a single snow-white
bud.

The priests started a deep prayer which reverberated through Babylon as
each peasant, each fruit-seller, each beggar offered his respect to
Sarothen - the Bearer of Life.

The prayers over, the chief priest brought out a tablet.He read
out:
"Every 125 years, Sarothen shall bloom. The seed it bears carries the
Force of Life. Beware-those who try to make it their own."

At the stroke of midnight, with the moon straight above the tree, the
priests watched as the bud burst into life and threw out five brilliant
petals and a glittering cloud of pollen which hovered in the air before
starting to fall back into the flower.

The last grain of pollen drifted slowly into the flower. There was a
moment's pause and then the petals cringed outwards, turning jet black
before bursting into flames!

The dazed priests watched as Sarothen's Child blazed before their very
eyes. Slowly, the fire engulfed the entire flower till it burnt itself
out.
And there was the Seed of Sarothen.

***

"I'm going to do it" he muttered.

"Don't! You can't - you're a priest Arrazesh!"

"So what! Do you know what power I can yeild with Sarothen's Seed?
Nebuchadnezzar will kneel before me! Can you even grasp the idea of
such power?"

"Remember the inscription Arrazesh - 'Beware - those who try to make it
their own"

"You have not read the Scripts, my friend. Centuries back Sarothen was
planted at the spot which now is the very centre of the king's gardens.
Sarothen forms the core around which these gardens were constructed.
But that is beside the point. When Sarothen was planted, a prophecy was
made which was eventually lost in the annals of time - by a man who was
ostracized from society for his words. But those words were not lost to
me!"

"A prophecy!"

"Yes - a prophecy: The sands of time shall shift till eternity but
Sarothen shall stand immortal. After 1500 moons have blessed the land
Sarothen shall offer a seed - key to the Force of Life. It shall stay
with Sarothen for 7 days and then fall as ashes, blessing the ground it
touches.

But if it is plucked and the Force is called upon, Sarothen shall
whither - and with its death, kill the land to which it belongs.
The Force however can be saved. The Bearer must immediately escape if
his life is to be spared. He shall not know it, for they will not
exist, perhaps not even in his lifetime but??"

Arrazesh stopped abruptly, then- "Tell me friend, why should I tell you
all of this?"

"Perhaps because you call me a friend or am I not trustworthy enough?
But tell me - what is it that will not exist?"

"Later" -and Arrazesh left.

***

The moon was the only witness to what happened that night. As it
floated silently above the clouds, its light fell on the worried priest
hurriedly shuffling as silently as possible towards the gardens.

The beads of perspiration clinging to Arrazesh's face gleamed in
Sarothen's soft glow.
The leaves seemed to laugh as he brushed them away, climbing upwards.
He reached the top where the Seed of Sarothen sat beautifully, white
and tempting.

Arrazesh stretched out his arm. The leaves fell dead silent. The breeze
stopped. The moon hid behind the clouds.

Then, Arrazesh plucked it.

Sacrilege!

***

The small tea-shop in Hilla was already packed but its gossiping
inmates welcomed in the stranger drenched in sweat, clinging to a small
brown bag and panting as though he were about to collapse.

"Friend, have you been running all night! Sit down, sit here. Some tea
will do you good!"

"Have you heard" said another "what's happened to Babylon?"

The stranger whirled around with terrified eyes, managing to shake his
head.

"They say it's ruined! The desert just opened up and swallowed the
entire city!"

"The gardens? The people-they escaped?" the stranger whispered in a
hoarse voice.

"Gone, all gone. There's nothing there but the sand."

Arrazesh ran out screaming.

***

By the next day, Arrazesh had composed himself. He had known that this
would happen and it had. He had to get on with the prophecy or else the
Seed would remain unharnessed.
He brought out a yellowed and torn parchment and started reading:
"??perhaps not even in his lifetime; but Destiny shall create 6 places
for the Seed's power to be unlocked.

The first shall be a temple
The sacrilege, to forgive
Blessings of a Goddess
And the lives of those who live
The Seed shall have their power
Roused from its dormant bliss
So Bearer hurry and take it fast
To the abode of Artemis.

Arrazesh rolled back the parchment and put it back into the bag. He
cursed for he knew not of any temple dedicated to Artemis grand enough
to be fit for the Seed of Sarothen.

"Not even in my lifetime!" he repeated and cursed again. "But Babylon
will not have gone in vain! The Seed must be harnessed!"

***

The tea-shop was more frenzied than was usual in normal times. News
had spread that a stranger was in town and there were rumours going
around that he was insane. But the excitement centred around the fact
that the 'insane stranger in town' had made an announcement seeking two
young men whose services he would buy for a handsome amount if they
were prepared to renounce all contact with family, friends and people
in general. They would have to dedicate their lives to him and him
alone.

The money had attracted quite a few men but the stranger's manic
emphasis on the latter part of his announcement discouraged most of
them.
Finally only one man was found to be fit for the job and the
tea-sippers were beside themselves with curiosity as to what 19-year
old Saralledh - poor orphan that he was- had got himself into.

They never got to know. Cloaked in the darkness of the night Arrazesh
left the city with a stunned Saralledh - still unable to grasp the
information presented to him, amazed to hear the clink of the gold
pieces given to him which bound him to Arrazesh and knowing fully well
that he would die before the task was over.

***