In one window, and I called it that, for what else could I call a vision of a past that was inscribing itself on the present as I watched, a ship swathed in light burst over the eastern horizon and streaked on a downward course toward Quest.
From the central Square rose the Tower that glittered with the muted light of a thousand suns, soaring out of the perfect lawns and walks, out of the rows of scarlet fireflowers.
Before that first ship reached the city, the cool green air of that instant-past Query was wrenched apart with the sounds of a second ship. That one, tubular and black, somehow shrouded in darkness in full sunlight, dived at the city from out of the west, barely clearing the distant Bardwalls as it plunged toward Quest.
I looked again at Freyda. She was motionless, staring at the City of Immortals, waiting to see the results of the mighty cataclysm she felt, but had no sight to watch, for the windows of time were closed to her.
She did not see, for all her looking, for all her feeling. She did not see as the ship of light unleashed lightnings at suddenly deserted streets.
That vision did not happen in the now, was only a picture of what had transpired in a past we never knew, but it was the past from henceforth.
Under the light of the golden sun as it emerged from the clouds that never were, I was cold, not just from the chill of the change winds that swept over Query, for they had passed into the future, twisting and shaping it into new patterns.
No … I was cold … and not just from the winds of change.
I gazed, and beneath us on the plain that was suddenly filled with the rubble of old buildings still rose the Tower of Immortals. The remainder
of Quest, a city raised around it, was jumbled humps and lumps.
Yet around that wreckage the ways and walks of a wide park wound, and fireflowers bloomed. There was order, and there was power without the arrogance of the old Guard. Query still challenged time, but not to subdue others for the mere sake of preservation and conquest.
The Tower stood, as a memorial, as did the rubble, both as a reminder of a past that had needed change—and that had been changed.
And while the dead, such as Heimdall, Eranas, and Kranos, were still dead, the others, perhaps among them Loragerd, Verdis, Narcissus, or Brendan, or others like them, would chart the new destiny of Query. They deserved that honor, and that challenge, without my heavy hand.
All that I knew, and, though I could not say how, I accepted that knowledge, for I was of Query, and would always be so, in whatever corner of the universe I found myself.
A question remained.
Freyda and I stood on her balcony, a balcony changed slightly, but the same, and with the world changed around us, we were yet the same—except that there was no star upon Freyda’s collar.
“Us?” I asked.
Freyda understood.
“Because you made this present, this ‘now,’ you cannot be changed. If you were, it would not be. I suppose I am unchanged because you have willed it so, young god, or because of some other quirk of time, about which we know so little. That is both a gift and a curse.”
She smiled faintly, and her smile said “Goodbye.”
“What will you do in your new universe?”
I did not know, only understanding what I would not do. Understanding that I would not play god without accepting the responsibilities and burdens that went with it. Understanding, too, with bittersweet certainty, that I would fail at times to meet that commitment, and that even those with the power of gods can fail.
I made a jump, a final slide across the skies of Query, to the Aerie, which remained untouched. A thin layer of dust blanketed the glowstones, the empty rooms as though I had left them long ago.
Under Seneschal I let the afternoon wane, the twilight rise around me for my last goodbye before I ventured forth into the galaxy I had remade, out from Quest, out from Query. Out following all those who had left without the trumpets of fire I had summoned, out after Baldur and his Terrans, out after Ayren Bly, out after my parents, out … the
list was longer than I knew, with no real need to go on.
The first star of night, the night before the dawn, appeared.
Greetings, Baldur.
Greetings, Wryan … wherever you are.
Tor Books by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
Note: Within series, books are best read in listed order.
-----
THE IMAGER PORTFOLIO
The continent of Solidar—once Lydar—is home to a strange and rare breed of magic user. Imagers can bring into being almost anything they can imagine…but their power is dangerous to themselves as well as to others, and their life expectancy is short. Because they are both feared and vulnerable, Imagers must live separately from the rest of society. Some are exploited by ordinary people with political and economic power…while others are wise enough to build a future when their powers may put to the service of the common good.
THE COREAN CHRONICLES
Corus today is a world of contending countries, of struggling humans, strange animals, and elusive supernatural creatures. It is still a place of magical powers, but only a few people are Talented enough to use them. Alucius is one of those people. With Corus changing again, Alucius and his Talent will have a central role to play.
THE SAGA OF RECLUCE
L. E. Modesitt, Jr.'s bestselling fantasy novels set in the magical world of Recluce are among the most popular in contemporary fantasy. Each tells an independent story that nevertheless reverberates though all the other Recluce novels to deepen and enrich the reading experience.
THE SPELLSONG CYCLE
When Anna Marshall is transported from her boring and frustrating life in Ames, Iowa, to the very different world of Erde, she finds out that for the first time in her life she’s uniquely powerful. In Iowa Anna was a music instructor and small-time opera singer, but on Erde her musical ability makes her a big-time sorceress.
THE ECOLITAN MATTER
Follow the conflict between the corrupt interstellar Empire and the Ecolitan Institute of the planet Accord. The Institute must fight—first for their independence, and then to prevent the worst disaster in human history.
THE FOREVER HERO TRILOGY
Modesitt’s first major work. In the future, Earth is a desolate ruin, until its degenerate human outcasts kidnap a boy of immense native intelligence and determination—who grows up to become the force behind a plan to make Earth flower again.
The Forever Hero
(comprising
Dawn for a Distant Earth
,
The Silent Warrior
, and
In Endless Twilight
)
In this alternate history world, the United States never came into existence, Russia is still ruled by the Romanovs, and ghosts are not mere superstition but have a literal physical reality—and political implications. Your crimes can haunt you, and the ghosts of your crimes are visible to others.
OTHER NOVELS
-----
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PRAISE FOR THE SCIENCE FICTION OF L. E. MODESITT, JR.
“Modesitt provides the very best in science fiction—thrilling adventure viewed through the crucible of the human spirit.”
—
Romantic Times
GRAVITY DREAMS
A Barnes & Noble Best SF Book of 1999
“L. E. Modesitt, Jr., is a writer deeply concerned for the impact of humanity on the world. This concern shows clearly in fantasies such as
The Order War
and science fiction such as
The Ecologic Envoy
series and
The Ghost of the Revelator.
It is thus no surprise to see it again in his latest,
Gravity Dreams … .
The space adventure side of the tale will be all that many readers want, and they will be thoroughly satisfied. Modesitt never fails on that level. But he is more than an adventure writer; he is also quite a thoughtful fellow, and I found his musings on the need for responsibility in a high-tech society the more fascinating aspect of this novel.”
—
Analog
“Modesitt does a fine job creating a believable world where citizens are exhorted to accept complete responsibility for their actions and genetically ‘rehabilitated’ if they do not … . The novel is loaded with enough hard science and space opera elements to please the author’s large and avid body of fans.”
—Publishers Weekly
ADIAMANTE
“Because he dares to be explicit about first principles, the narrative assumes the shape of an intellectual suspense story: How can the manifestly decent people of Old Earth defend themselves against aggression without violating their deeply held beliefs? The answer is both morally persuasive and emotionally wrenching.”
—
The New York Times
“The book has strong military action, slick social maneuvering, and a good deal of psychological tension.”
—San Diego Union-Tribune
THE PARAFAITH WAR
“L. E. Modesitt, Jr., has a knack for getting to the heart of the matter. His world is complex and believable, and his characters crackle with life.
The Parafaith War
is a well-crafted study of society and personality.”
—Affaire de Coeur
“With echoes of both Joe Haldeman’s
The Forever War
and Robert A. Heinlein’s
Starship Troopers:
dense, gritty, strong on technical detail.”
—
Kirkus Reviews
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in these novels are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.
TIMEGODS’ WORLD
This book comprises the novels
Timediver’s Dawn
, copyright © 1992 by L. E. Modesitt, Jr., and
The Timegod
, copyright © 1993 by L. E. Modesitt, Jr.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
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®
is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
Design by Jane Adele Regina
eISBN 9781429963619
First eBook Edition : December 2011
First Omnibus Edition: August 2000