The Keys To The Kingdom
"Am I missing something?"
"Be very, very quiet." That was all he had to say.
There had been too many crooks and too many bastards and a roadway pocked with too many idiots. Oh fowl breath, oh demon warrior.
This was, then, of a magnitude rarely seen. Not never, just rarely.
"They will build a temple here." He already knew the thought was true.
While the vault of all that would carry them echoed in the surrounding cliffs, and the falcons launched in their wheeling cries, and the intelligences beyond their realm, the ones who had bewildered him for so very, very long; for how could it possibly be true?
"You are protected."
Why the quasi-religious language? Well, it came with awesome power, it came with evolution in an infinite space, it came with the reason for us being here and the nights for which he had driven himself into blackout.
He felt he should apologise but in the end it mattered not.
There had been other visitations.
The sound that could be heard around the world.
An almighty roar.
There had been other times of blessing and tumult; a calling, a beseeching, none of it mattered. Not one thing he did from this point on would make the slightest difference to what was to unfold.
We were outside time. We were a blessing and a curse to man. You were our children and our children's children. Yes, it was obvious they all hang together in a single frame.
And they said the same thing they had been saying for months: We come at turning points.
It was no secret that one history was beginning and another ending; that the derangement which had overtaken the country was the result of a war zone, that there was no single path, that none of it lay in a single, simple path to understanding, that this planet, of all the planets, was a rare jewel in the cosmos, that those drawn to beauty and subjugation both fought for dominance on this distant plain, that one history of humans was ending, and another would be born. Was being born.
He reached up to touch the hem of a charioteer, as a peasant child, he saw through different lens, he demanded respect, he assumed an honoured role, he waiting for the blessing but was already blessed, he felt them embrace him and remained utterly motionless; and the wheeling birds in a foreign sky, the whispered symbols of embrace, the willowing of the dissolute and the dishonest, the treacherous and deceitful, all of it, here on the palace grounds, there in their place outside time, and they demanded one thing: kindness to those whose history was about to be replaced.
And the smashing of the infidels who, having unlocked the fringes of the secrets, attempted to monetise and weaponise a talent, only to find themselves booby trapped and lost.
Good riddance.
NEWS
Victoria Covid roadmap: premier declares ‘we are opening up’ with lockdown to end in late October
Melbourne curfew will be scrapped once vaccinations reach 70% double dose with more substantial freedoms to follow at 80% milestone
Melbourne’s lockdown will be lifted – with reasons to leave home and the curfew ditched, people allowed to travel 25km and a return to outdoor dining and drinking – once 70% of Victorian adults are fully vaccinated against Covid, expected about 26 October.
Further substantial changes to the state’s restrictions, however, won’t be made until 80% of over-16s are immunised, forecast to occur about 5 November.
By Christmas, it is expected family members will be able to gather at home in groups of up to 30 people, an increase from 10 house guests that will be permitted when the 80% vaccination target is met.
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, on Sunday unveiled Victoria’s “cautious” roadmap out of lockdown, as the state reported 507 new local cases and one death, bringing the toll from the latest outbreak to 11.
Andrews said it would be a difficult time for the state’s health system but there was “no turning back” and Victoria had to “pass through and beyond”. The premier said restrictions would be eased in a staggered and measured way “but we are opening up – be in no doubt about that”.
“There will be no turning back,” he said. “It is absolutely possible that 2,000 to 3,000-plus patients are in hospital and we have to fundamentally change the way we deliver health services. We only have so many nurses and doctors … so that stress will be there. We’ve got to do everything we can so they’re not overwhelmed.”
Victoria on Sunday declared 66 local government areas in NSW, plus Jervis Bay, would move from an extreme risk zone to a red zone under the travel permit system. That will allow Victorians stranded in those areas to come home where they must then isolate for 14 days and get tested regularly.
ALP leads Coalition 53-47 in latest Newspoll as minor parties gain ground
Labor has retained a 53-47 lead in the latest Newspoll, as minor parties continue to make gains with prospective voters.The exclusive survey conducted for The Australian newspaper found Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese losing ground in personal approval ratings.Approval for Mr Morrison dropped to its lowest level since the 2020 bushfire, while Mr Albanese has slipped to his lowest net satisfaction since becoming Opposition Leader more than two years ago.
The survey was conducted before and after Thursday morning’s announcement of the nuclear submarine deal and the AUKUS alliance.
#BREAKING: Labor’s primary vote has fallen but the Opposition leads the Coalition in the two-party-preferred contest 53 per cent to 47 per cent #Newspoll #ausvotes https://t.co/EG5BVGwU82 pic.twitter.com/jlfrq0LWhR
— The Australian (@australian) September 19, 2021
There was no movement in support for the Greens (10 per cent) and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (3 per cent), but support for other parties lifted a point to 12 per cent, which is similar to the last election.
This equates to a four-percentage-point increase since the beginning of August.