What a great first line! Moloch
conjures images of the Moloch of the bible[?], a harbinger of death.
It’s clear from the first that this is going to be an epic tale.
The opening stages of the story set the stage for a story that
harkens back to the dark, yet sweeping, tales of [WHAT’S HIS
NAME’S] film Excalibur, or even the grittier sorts of swords
and sorcery fairy tales presented by Heavy Metal. The images
in my mind as I read this tale owed far more to a Ralph Bakshi
animated film than the cookie cutter sort of Disneyesque fantasy that
rules the box office today.
An initial confrontation with the King
of Death establishes that Molok is less a primary actor, than he is a
loyal servant summoned by the fates to do their bidding. The King’s
ignorance of Molok’s mission gives us a hint that even the King is
a pawn in a larger game. It’s a deft touch that tells the reader
not to judge too harshly, not to assume that the black knight
relishes the task ahead. That’s an important consideration when
asking the reader to spend time and perhaps even sympathize with a
destructive force of nature.
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The long journey Molok makes to meet
the white knight in battle shows Herstrom’s strengths as a writer
who can paint detailed landscapes with just a smattering of words.
In three short paragraphs, each just three sentences long, he crafts
a world that stretches past horizon after horizon. The fourth
paragraph eases the reader into the gentle rolling hills of the
pleasant land of Lobon, the champion Molok has been tasked with
slaying. Herstrom’s work in these short paragraphs so
impressionistic you almost wonder if he’s ever heard of the concept
of being paid on a per-word basis.
But the real trick of this story is the
way that Hernstrom provides the reader with two champions, both
appealing in their own way. The black knight is a relentless
champion of death that yet retains a touch of humanity. The white
knight is a fully human champion of life stained by an addiction to
death. This is a yin-yang fight that leaves the reader an observer
who is both fully neutral and fully invested in the outcome.
The fight scene is long and brutal and
just what you’d expect from two deathless champions who have slain
a thousand champions each. At the last, we are reminded once more of
both Molok’s lingering humanity and its contrast with Lobon’s
desire for both death and the continued dealing of death. In the
end, both warriors earn their just rewards – peace or continued
death – though perhaps not in the way they anticipated.
Of course, they both earned their
unexpected reward after following the advice of the trickster god,
and though subtle, that unpredictability may be the most predictable
part of the story.
