The Tale of Yx and Ellan

T
he tale is told in the Scattered Worlds of the two Elder Gods Yx and Ellan, and of their meeting with the Gergathan.

This happened shortly after the Gergathan proclaimed Mertorthar, the first great Core Empire which toppled allo the good done by the Pylistroph (blessed be!) and set the Gergathan's power full forth on the Galaxy. Now Ellan is the Goddess of Life, and Yx the God of Fire -- but both supported the Gergathan, for both desired to see the Seven Races punished. Such was the decision of the High Court, of which is told in the Hemminale, and such was the desire of Ellan and Yx.

It came about now that the Gergathan was applying effort to find more power, and that it had located Den, the God of Destruction. And Den let the Gergathan know that Yx and Ellan were sympathetic to its aims, and it sent out a fleet that covered the Scattered Worlds to locate the two Elder Gods.

It came to pass that they were found on a lonely world near the borders of the Gathered Worlds, lamenting over the Flight of the Daamin and the Schism of the Hlutr. And here the Gergathan's emissary found them, and begged them come to Messilinia where they would be treated royally and could consult with the Gergathan.

Ellan, then, desired not to go, for it is said that she did not fully trust the Gergathan. So she went to sojourn with the Goddess of Snow, and together Life and Snow danced, touching briefly many worlds and bringing alive the great comets which circle the lost spaces of the Galaxy, forever cool and contemplative.

Yx, however, went to Messilinia. And there he stood before the Gergathan, and at last his heart was filled with dread. He looked to Den and his eyes pleaded, "Brother, how can you allow such a creature to exist, which would turn upon us? How can you allow it to spread its influence through these worlds, when it is our desire and the desire of the High Court that all be clensed of life and made as they were in the beginning?"

"Such will the Gergathan do," Den smiled, and took the hand of Yx. "Such will it do, and with your strength it will be able to do this thing much sooner."

Then the Gergathan's thoughts blossomed before Yx, showing him the settlement of Nephestal, the Singing Stones which had gone with the Daamin. "Those Stones are doom. Give your power, and they will melt in the flame of a supernova. Without them, the Gergathan will be free to destroy this Galaxy."

Yx shook his head. "Not for anything do I wish this galaxy destroyed. Merely do I want its life purified, so that we may start anew and build a worthwhile thing here. Den, we shall never again find the place which we left -- let us build one here that will be like it."

Den merely grinned, and in his eyes flashed the awful light of destruction, mindless and purposeless. The awful joy of breaking intricate things, for its own sake alone. And the Gergathan lashed out against Yx with a million tentacles, and wikth mental bonds that affected even the Elder God, that held Yx stupefied. And there on Messilinia began to burn the first traces of the flame that would sear the Singing Stones and seal the Galaxy's doom.

And Yx was sore afraid.

From far away, his fear was perceived by Ellan, and she leapt to save her beloved.

Geva Ganloohen, the Place of Despair, was aflame when Ellan arrived there. Yx's fires echoed off the mountaintops and made of the entire valley a dreadful inferno fit to char the flesh. Still the Goddess marched on, until she stood before the very door, then she was within that dread place. She saw Yx on his knees in the Gergathan's cruel grip; she saw Den standing in the midst of the flames, laughing.

Ellan threw back her head and called to the other Elder Gods: "Now Hesket, Naervara, Maranna; now I know that you were right and I was wrong. This is a dreadful thing that has been created, and we should never have allowed it to stand." Then she marched into the presence of the Gergathan, Life into Death, the spirit against the flame.

Somehow Ellan made her way to Yx, and she managed to tear the evil bonds from his body. He slumped in her cradling arms, while about her the heat grew so fierce that it began to consume Yx's very body.

"Enough!" Ellan threw up her arms, and all about the flames animated, became dancing plasmas which hurled themselves against their cruel Lord at the bequest of the terrible Lady who mastered them. And as the inferno burned on, consuming all that lay within the place and scarring the Gergathan to this day, Ellan leapt skyward and into the cool depths of space, bearing her love the unconscious Lord of Fire.

To the place of the dancing comets she came, and placed Yx before her sister Hesket. "Sister," she said, "I have done wrong and I know it. If he should die, I will not live myself, for he is all that is left me in this strange place." Yet Yx's pulse was weak, and already his body was becoming a mere shade of its original form.

Hesket bowed her head, and put her hands on Yx. And she called forth the ultimate power she possessed, and the chill of space itself descended upon the body, freezing it, preserving the spark of life and power that still remained.

Then Hesket raised her cool eyes, in which danced a frozen blue-green flame, and looked deep into the soul of Ellan. "One thing and one thing only can you do for him, Life. In our former place, they could save him. You must bear him there."

"I do not know the way."

"Nor do I. Yet it is said that others have found it. There is a place, Ellan, a place I know of where others have left in search of our far home. Let me take you there, and you may convey Yx to where they can save him. I watched Tha'p depart from this place, and I believe it is a way home."

"Then why have you not taken it yourself, Sister?"

The Goddess of Snow bowed her head once more. "I am afraid. But you have nothing to lose, Ellan. I counsel you to take this way."

"Take me there."

In due course, then, the Goddesses stood before the Nexus, which is a mystery even to the Elder Gods. And bidding her sister farewell, Ellan took the body of her beloved, the ice-preserved body of Fire, and she set forth on the path that leads to nightmare and beyond.

And so passed Yx and Ellan from the Grand Scheme.