The Nature of the Beast

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 10860

Fred didn't like the way Astra had been acting since he had mentioned the Cardassii. She was acting angry, bitter, and superior all at once. Probably, that was because of the mental scars of what she had been through with the Cardassii.

"You see," Astra began, "the legends of my people say that the Elementals fought a war with the Cardassii at the beginning of time. No one knows just what the Cardassii are, except that they're evil, powerful, and dangerous. They are servants of a mysterious dark power. No mortal has seen one face to face and lived.

"Anyway, the Elementals drove the Cardassii away from the newly created world, and built a great wall that kept them out. When the first man and the first woman were created, the Elementals cautioned them that they could venture anywhere they wished in this newly created world, but they could not go past the wall.

"The woman was content with this, and lived her life in harmony. But the man was filled with a burning curiosity and a desire to see what was beyond the wall.

"So one day, when the Elementals were at rest, he snuck quietly to the wall to see what was on the other side. The wall could not be climbed over, as it stretched on into infinity. But there was a small crack in the wall, and through that crack the man looked.

"There, he saw a horrifying sight. A black void, which had no end, inhabited by the dark spirits of the Cardassii.

The Cardassii came through the crack, coming into the world. It was the end of the Golden Age of innocence. Where once, the elements were at harmony, now they were at war. Fire sought to destroy Water, Air sought to blow Earth away from its foundations. The Earth had become an inhospitable place. The hearts of the first man and the first woman were filled with greed and strife.

"In the end, the Elementals came to an uneasy peace, and they stopped the Cardassii. The Cardassii had come through the crack, to the land which is now the, although it was then a temperate jungle. So the Air Elemental stopped the Cardassii in their tracks with strong winds. The Earth Elemental caused a great mountain to rise up from the Earth around the Cardassii, imprisoning them inside. The Water Elemental caused a great sea to form around the mountain, preventing their escape. And the Fire Elemental filled the mountain with boiling lava, to prevent their escape and to prevent anyone from entering their place of imprisonment. And that is how the island Volcano of Karator, in the south of Aqualaria, came to be. And it is because of the man's sin of trespassing through the wall that women have power over men in the land of Aqualaria."< p>"Well, that's interesting," said Fred. "Let me guess. The myth also says that, just as a man once freed the Cardassii, a man pure and noble in heart shall destroy them. Or something like that. That would explain why the letter was addressed to me rather than you."

Astra frowned. "Yes, it does, and yes, it would. But the texts that include that part are considered apocryphal. And I never believed that part myself. I've never met a man pure in heart and noble in spirit." She smiled bitterly. Fred remembered what she had been through with Sir John.

"Well," said Fred, "the Cardassii are free now. Why? And what does all this have to do with you personally?"

  1. "You see," Astra began...
  2. "No, I won't tell you. You don't want to know."
  3. Astra challenged Fred's assumption

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7/5/2000 9:24:22 AM

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