Melanie Nilles

Welcome back, readers! What a week I had last trying to arrange that interview! I apologize, again, that it didn’t happen. But this week we have Tahronen, whom you heard much about in previous interviews. Today we hear directly from her.

Thank you for joining us. What form of address do you prefer? We’ve heard a few already.

To some I am Goddess, others Creator, but most often I am High Priestess of the Lumathir. *grins* I prefer Tahronen, the name I chose when I gained separate consciousness.

Tahronen, you are considered the mother of the magi. Can you tell us how that came to be?

I interfered in a way that I should not have. My mistake has caused much pain and suffering. We never intended the Second Race to use magic. We cut them off.

I gave that back when I decided to bear the first of seven children. I felt sorry for the warrior. Because of me they captured him and tortured him. I could not let that happen, so I rescued him, healed him, and gave him what he most desired. I took him into me and created a child part Majera–a being of Light–and part mortal with all the qualities of that life. Nafea was the first. Makleor was the last.

The descendants of those children did great good and far more harm with their powers. Worse still, it gave the Darklord a reason to break off pieces of himself to torment men. I broke the greatest rule not to interfere, giving him the opportunity to use his power on the creatures of the world.

Then you regret that the magi came to be?

No. As a mother, I would love every child through their faults. Every creature of the world came by our design. In that respect, they are all the children of Haiberuk and I. I cannot regret that.

I am sorry for the suffering any have caused, but can blame that as much on the Darklord for tainting our creations. The emotions twisted by him to destroy the Second Race of men and the desire for power could turn any of them. With corruption at their core and the power of life at their command, the magi could and have done terrible deeds.

I see a purpose now in their design that I did not see then. Separate, we are not omniscient. I know not which force guided it, but I know now that the magi were intended for a greater purpose. I have done what I could to lead them to a nobler achievement than power and control.

No regrets?

Not of my actions.

Do you remember what it was like to be whole?

I have thought so long as a separate being but I remember what I cannot describe. I long for that time when the Majera are one again.

What future do you foresee for Gairdra?

This world has seen power of a kind far beyond what current men can imagine rise and crash. In the past the machines of the First Race were adapted by the Second, who abused them and nearly destroyed the world. They’ve come far since then and forgotten the past. All the machines of death have been lost.

I doubt not that they will rise again and start the cycle anew. I fear for that day.

When you say “machines”, what do you mean?

The world reclaimed them with the help of Haiberuk and I. Horrible, smoking, destructive machines used first for good and later to destroy. Such is the nature of the Second Race.

The First Race has sworn to simplicity to avoid repeating history.

Technology?

You would call it that. It is not part of the known history but for the immortals. It is the shadow past, the dark ages. Men of science and learning tried to understand this world as we do, but greed was the downfall. The Darklord nearly had his day, yet he did as Lusiradrol caused much of that grief.

But the world recovered and civilization returned?

Yes. We made this world and its creatures to adapt. They have.

Interesting. I wish we had more time. Thank you, Tahronen.

Thank you, readers, for your patience and loyalty. Join us next week when we sit with the man so many people despise, the one they call Tyrkam, from the Legend of the White Dragon series.

(If you are joining us for the first time, all the interviews can be found under the “My Books” category or in a PDF file you can download here.)