5.

The first task of Lord Tanu's clan was to restore or rebuild the surface structures of Eridu that had been riven or tumbled or pushed askew by the workings of ice during the dream time. When they first reached the surface ice fields still covered much of the land, and the melt-water running from them in raging torrents was reshaping the rest. But before they finished their work of restoral the rivers would become tame and the broad valleys would produce their first harvest. Soon mills would be grinding meal for bread and looms would be weaving fresh linens. The people would be able to shed the tattered remnants of clothing they wore from the last cycle, and supplement their sea-food diet with fresh provender distributed by the clan of Lord Rama.

As he watched over his people at work, Tanu's mind was busy with the puzzle of the energy flows that were once again rising from the heart of the planet and making this revival possible. He read and re-read the notes he had made at the end of the last cycle, about the seams of mineral-rich crystal that ran close to the warmest chambers, and he pondered the possible significance of this along with the faded dream-memories that he could still summon. He was dwelling on this in his mind as he watched one of his clansmen select a crystalline tool from his belt, casually lay it against a granite block, run it back and forth until he located the desired seam, and then cause the rock to split, leaving a fresh unblemished face. Such a common-place act, repeated countless times by this man and others as they worked to restore the ruined surface structures the people of Eridu would soon re-inhabit. Perhaps there was the glint of one of the still-brightening auroral streamers from a facet of the crystal that struck Tanu at exactly that moment. But it caused a glimmer of insight to rise among Tanu's reflections, and a sense of heightened awareness suddenly pervaded his mind, accompanied by a rising excitement.

The crystals! They were taken from similar veins in the rock! His people had used them as tools to cleave and shape the rock since the earliest days of the clan. And the knowledge of their use had to be even older than that! Lord Tanu himself was naturally adept in their use; it was among the native talents that had secured him his birthright and position. But how did they work? As he watched his own people casually doing things he himself had long since mastered he felt like a babe witnessing some adult marvel for the first time. He drew out one of the crystal tools he carried more as a badge of his clan than for use and fingered it for some moments, then on impulse he knelt and laid it against a discarded stone shard. He felt the old sense of deep awareness flood his mind as he drew the tool across the stone's surface, envisioned the way he wanted the shard to split, and located the precise point and angle at which to hold the crystal. He sensed a familiar surge of energy as the stone literally sprang apart, leaving two pieces lying at his feet. Where had that energy come from? Where had it gone? He realized he had always assumed somehow that it came from the crystal, or possibly from himself. Now he began to sense that he and the crystal merely served as conduits for some greater source.

As these new thoughts whirled in his mind Lord Tanu looked up at the auroral light streaming overhead, that ever-present sign of the return of life to his world. What other energies accompanied that visible glow, he wondered. He noticed afresh the confluence of patterns above the area where his clansmen were at work. He had not failed to notice this before, but had always assumed that it was a by-product of the activity below, a sort of reflection of the energies being released by the stone-workers. Now with his new insight he could almost feel the auroral energies themselves being drawn down and focused by the actions of the workers with their crystalline tools, flowing into the rock, releasing the bonds that held them to their shapes, allowing them to separate into new forms as willed and guided by the workers.

Tanu picked up the shards and held them together where they had split apart. He began willing them to join, and felt a small surge of energy swell within him. Once more he applied his tool to the stone, running it along the seam where the mated pieces fit together. He felt a glow of that energy flood through the crystal from his hand, and felt the stone warm to his touch. As he continued to focus his intention, he sensed a link from himself to the tremendous energy network that streamed invisibly out of the earth and gave rise to the auroral glow above. He felt the vibrating tendrils of energy permeate every facet of the mating halves, creating new linkages between them. The rock halves bonded themselves together, and the stone shard he held in his hand was once more a seamless whole. After holding the shard for some moments, with a new sense of awe verging on reverence for the mystery it represented, Tanu stood and casually tossed it aside. Then he signaled to his nephew Dannu to formally take over supervision of the work crews, a job Dannu had been doing informally anyway despite Lord Tanu's presence, and headed toward the entrance to the caverns.