Taita remained silent, so Kashyap went on: 'I have resolved to make the exchange with Samana. She is also of good mind. Once I am gone she will impart to you that which she has garnered from me. I am sorry I have upset you.'

'The truth may be painful, but you have not been. I will do whatever you need of me.'

'Then stay with us while I pass everything I possess, the learning and wisdom of all my long life, to Samana. Later she will share it with you, and you will be armed for the sacred endeavour that is your destiny.'

Taita bowed his head in acquiescence.

Samana clapped her hands sharply and two strange apsaras came up the stairs, both young and lovely, one brunette, the other honey blonde.

They followed Samana to the small brazier against the far wall and assisted her in brewing a bowl of sharply scented herbs over the coals.

When the potion was prepared, they brought it to Kashyap. While one

7

steadied his shaking head, the other held the bowl to his lips. He drank the potion noisily, a little dribbling down his chin, then sagged back wearily upon the mattress.

The two apsaras undressed him tenderly and respectfully, then poured aromatic balm from an alabaster bottle over his groin. They massaged his withered manroot gently but persistently. Kashyap groaned, muttered and rolled his head from side to side, but in the skilful hands of the apsaras, and under the influence of the drug, his sex swelled and engorged.

When it was fully tumescent Samana came to his mattress. She lifted the skirt of her saffron robe as high as her waist, to reveal finely sculpted legs and buttocks that were round and strong. She straddled Kashyap, then reached down to take his manroot in her hand and guide it into herself. Once they were joined in congress she let the saffron skirts drop to screen them and began to rock gently over him, whispering softly to him: 'Master, 1 am prepared to receive all you have to give me.'

'Willingly do 1 entrust it to you.' Kashyap's voice was thin and reedy.

'Use it wisely and well.' Again he rolled his head from side to side, his ancient features puckered in a dreadful rictus. Then he stiffened and groaned, his body locked in a convulsion. Neither moved again for almost an hour. Then the breath rattled out of Kashyap's throat and he collapsed on to the mattress.

Samana stifled a scream. 'He is dead,' she said, with the greatest sorrow and compassion. Gently she uncoupled from Kashyap's corpse. Kneeling beside him, she closed the lids over his pale staring eyes. Then she looked across at Taita.

'At sunset this evening we will cremate his husk. Kashyap was my patron and guide throughout my life. He was more than any father to me. Now his essence lives on within me. It has become one with my spirit soul. Forgive me, Magus, but it may be some time before I am recovered sufficiently from this harrowing experience to be of any use to you. Then I will come to you.'

That evening Taita stood, with Tansid at his side, on the small darkened balcony outside his chamber and watched the funeral pyre of the Abbot Kashyap burning in the garden of the temple below. He felt a deep sense of loss that he had not come to know the man sooner. Even during their brief acquaintance he had been aware of the affinity that had existed between them.

A soft voice spoke in the darkness, startling him out of his reverie. He turned and saw that Samana had come up to them quietly.

'Kashyap was also aware of the bond between you.' She stood at Taita's other hand. 'You, too, are a servant of the Truth. That is why he summoned you so urgently. He would have come to you if his body had been able to carry him that far. During the carnal exchange you witnessed, the last great sacrifice he made to the Truth, Kashyap passed a message to me to deliver to you. Before I do so he required me to test your faith. Tell me, Taita of Gallala, what is your creed?'

Taita thought for a while, and then he replied: 'I believe that the universe is the battleground of two mighty hosts. The first of these is the host of the gods of the Truth. The second is the host of the demons of the Lie.'

'What role can we feeble mortals play in this cataclysmic struggle?'

Samana asked.

'We can devote ourselves to the Truth, or allow ourselves to be swallowed by the Lie.'

'If we choose the right-hand path of the Truth, how may we resist the dark power of the Lie?'

'By climbing the Eternal Mountain until we can see clearly the face of the Truth. Once we have achieved that we will be assimilated into the ranks of the Benevolent Immortals, who are the warriors for the Truth.'

'Is this the destiny of all men?'

'Nay! Only very few, the most worthy, will achieve that rank.'

'At the end of time will the Truth triumph over the Lie?'

'Nay! The Lie will persist, but so will the Truth. The battle rages back and forth but it is eternal.'

'Is the Truth not God?'

'Call him Ra or Ahura Maasda, Vishnu or Zeus, Woden or whatever name rings holiest in your ears, God is God, the one and alone.' Taita had made his confession of faith.

'I see from your aura that there is no vestige of the Lie in what you

affirm,' Samana said quietly, and she knelt before him. 'The spirit soul of Kashyap within me is satisfied that you are indeed of the Truth. There is no check and impediment to our enterprise. Now we may proceed.'

'Explain to me what is our “enterprise”, Samana.'

'In these dire times, the Lie is once more in the ascendancy. A new and menacing force has arisen that threatens all of mankind, but especially your very Egypt. The reason you have been summoned here is to be armed for your struggle against this terrible thing. I will open your Inner Eye so that you may see clearly the path you must follow.'

Samana stood up and embraced him. Then she went on, 'There is little time to spare. We will begin on the morrow. But before that I must select a helper.'

'Who is there to choose from?' Taita asked.

'Your apsara, Tansid, has assisted me before. She knows what is required.'

'Then choose her,' Taita agreed. Samana nodded and held out a hand to Tansid. The two women embraced, then looked again to Taita.

'You must choose your own helper,' Samana said.

'Tell me what is required of him.'

'He must have the strength to stand firm, and compassion for you.

You must have trust in him.'

Taita did not hesitate. 'Meren!'

'Of course,' Samana acceded.

A dawn the four ascended the foothills of the mountains, taking the path through the jungle and climbing until they reached the bamboo forest. Samana examined many of the swaying yellow bamboos before she selected a mature branch, then had Meren cut out a supple segment. He carried it back to the temple.

From the branch Samana and Tansid carefully fashioned a selection of long bamboo needles. They polished them until they were not much thicker than a human hair, but sharper and more resilient than the finest bronze.

An air of tension and expectation pervaded the serenity of the temple community. The laughter and high spirits of the apsaras were muted.

Whenever Tansid looked at Taita it was with awe tinged with something close to pity. Samana spent most of the waiting days with him, fortifying

him for the ordeal that lay ahead. They discussed many things, and Samana spoke with the voice and the wisdom of Kashyap.

At one point Taita broached a subject that had long occupied him: 'I perceive that you are a Long Liver, Samana.'

'As are you, Taita.'

'How is it that so few of us survive to an age far in excess of the rest of humanity?' he asked. 'It is beyond nature.'

'For myself, and others such as the Abbot Kashyap, it may be the manner of our existence, what we eat and drink, what we think and believe. Or perhaps that we have a purpose, a reason to continue, a spur to goad us on.'