Nikolai sat down across from him so they were eye to eye. The tension in the room had lessened the longer they spoke. The need for theatrics and posturing was gone. The parry and thrust, feint and blocking of barbs and insults. At the end of the day, archenemies though they were, they were both men. Both had accomplished astonishing feats. Both would go on to still greater things. Because of each other. It was a powerful reminder.
There is no teacher but the enemy. No one but the enemy will tell you what the enemy is going to do. No one but the enemy will ever teach you how to destroy and conquer. Only the enemy shows you where you are weak. Only the enemy tells you where he is strong. The words floated in the air, shining brightly, as if a beacon.
This enemy was the whet stone by which he was sharpened.
And in that more relaxed moment, at Nikolai's words, Armande found himself laughing- really laughing, even as he shook his head rolling his eyes. "My god, Patricus! What a trial he has been." He snorted. "That man couldn't motivate a person on fire to jump in a lake." His laugh subsided, though it had strangely felt good. Cathartic. "I'm sure you have had the same experience with him. He is no believer. He is a politician. His appointment to the Papacy was made on mountains of promises and concessions to the Cardinals."
The quiet loomed as he studied the man that called himself a god. Human, for all of that, with weaknesses and fears. Armande had glimpsed them. The pathological need to overawe. To be recognized. Very likely that had much to do with the death of his father- and the previous losses his family had suffered. A sense that something had been taken from him. That the universe owed him.
"No, I was never a man of faith. I am a man of logic and science." He paused before going on. "But much has happened in the past year. Far too much to ignore. Someone or something has been guiding this. Bringing us- you and I- to this moment." The Eye of God loomed in his mind. "Discoveries. Treasures. Revelations."
He smiled, perhaps with a hint of malice, Sun Tzu's words providing the path. All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem hindered; when using our forces, we must appear to do nothing; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.
"The Ijiraq is but a small part of what I control. Things you have never heard of," he said quietly.
His blue eyes fixed onto Nikolai's. "You understand, of course. The god-wars happened, mankind reduced to slaves. Slaves to exploit. Cannon fodder. Endless death and carnage as we were ground to dust. A mouse trying to avoid the trampling feet of elephants."
He swallowed. Acknowledging the truth was not easy. But it was a tool as any other. "One god could be tolerated. One, even such as yourself. I am not blind to the order and prosperity you have brought. But with you have come the others. Your 'Ascendants'!" he said with scorn.
"You are one man, despite your power. And you are not immortal or safe from attack. Ambition is bred from power. And you have gathered men and women of near limitless power to you. Do you think none of them covet your position? Do you think infighting will not occur? And that is not counting China or the US or any other place these 'gods' spring up. Your enemies."
He sighed, suddenly weary. He could see it all so clearly. "The cold war all over again. Only instead of nuclear proliferation, it will be channelers. No one person or small group to control and prevent the use of these weapons. Each will be one unto himself."
It was all so simple. Black and white colored his words. "For mankind, I cannot allow that. It cannot happen again."
There is no teacher but the enemy. No one but the enemy will tell you what the enemy is going to do. No one but the enemy will ever teach you how to destroy and conquer. Only the enemy shows you where you are weak. Only the enemy tells you where he is strong. The words floated in the air, shining brightly, as if a beacon.
This enemy was the whet stone by which he was sharpened.
And in that more relaxed moment, at Nikolai's words, Armande found himself laughing- really laughing, even as he shook his head rolling his eyes. "My god, Patricus! What a trial he has been." He snorted. "That man couldn't motivate a person on fire to jump in a lake." His laugh subsided, though it had strangely felt good. Cathartic. "I'm sure you have had the same experience with him. He is no believer. He is a politician. His appointment to the Papacy was made on mountains of promises and concessions to the Cardinals."
The quiet loomed as he studied the man that called himself a god. Human, for all of that, with weaknesses and fears. Armande had glimpsed them. The pathological need to overawe. To be recognized. Very likely that had much to do with the death of his father- and the previous losses his family had suffered. A sense that something had been taken from him. That the universe owed him.
"No, I was never a man of faith. I am a man of logic and science." He paused before going on. "But much has happened in the past year. Far too much to ignore. Someone or something has been guiding this. Bringing us- you and I- to this moment." The Eye of God loomed in his mind. "Discoveries. Treasures. Revelations."
He smiled, perhaps with a hint of malice, Sun Tzu's words providing the path. All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem hindered; when using our forces, we must appear to do nothing; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.
"The Ijiraq is but a small part of what I control. Things you have never heard of," he said quietly.
His blue eyes fixed onto Nikolai's. "You understand, of course. The god-wars happened, mankind reduced to slaves. Slaves to exploit. Cannon fodder. Endless death and carnage as we were ground to dust. A mouse trying to avoid the trampling feet of elephants."
He swallowed. Acknowledging the truth was not easy. But it was a tool as any other. "One god could be tolerated. One, even such as yourself. I am not blind to the order and prosperity you have brought. But with you have come the others. Your 'Ascendants'!" he said with scorn.
"You are one man, despite your power. And you are not immortal or safe from attack. Ambition is bred from power. And you have gathered men and women of near limitless power to you. Do you think none of them covet your position? Do you think infighting will not occur? And that is not counting China or the US or any other place these 'gods' spring up. Your enemies."
He sighed, suddenly weary. He could see it all so clearly. "The cold war all over again. Only instead of nuclear proliferation, it will be channelers. No one person or small group to control and prevent the use of these weapons. Each will be one unto himself."
It was all so simple. Black and white colored his words. "For mankind, I cannot allow that. It cannot happen again."