Tablet of Destinies

by Traci Harding

  When all debts have been repaid.

  The tamer of the Lahmuian will rule …

  ‘Swan?’ Hawk was concerned for Tory, as she suddenly clammed up mid-sentence and became entranced by her own thoughts. Nobody else at the royal banquet had noticed.

  ‘I recognise that voice,’ she uttered under her breath, her eyes closing with the deep relief she felt. Adapa, she called in her mind across time to the Sage who had stayed behind in Edin to record the secrets of the ages. The memory of her life in ancient times came flooding back to her with perfect clarity — if only she could have remembered her current life as clearly.

  All men being equal, the universe will seed,

  A chosen one of every breed.

  To rule alongside the Serpent’s clan,

  and end the plight of mortal man.

  A Dragon will seek the fallen souls

  for whom the judgement bell will toll.

  From his ultimatum there is no escape,

  those he confronts to decide their own fate.

  Maelgwn’s vessel had requested and been granted permission to land on Kila. As his ship touched down on the landing pad, the vision being projected into Maelgwn’s mind came to match the vision on the screen before him. The screen showed the external world outside the spaceship.

  Many of Nergal’s army of Falcon guards were formed along both sides of a path that led from the Dragon’s vessel and all the way across the three island rings that surrounded the central island of Chailida.

  Through right action, thought and deed,

  the universe supports our every need.

  For mankind’s fated day has come,

  to seize control from the Nefilim.

  Maelgwn’s eyes opened wide as he emerged from his trance. ‘Message received loud and clear,’ he smiled, realising Noah had found the Creation Station and been made privy to the lost knowledge of the Sage of Eridu.

  The exit hatchway opened, and Maelgwn descended the ramp onto the thoroughfare that had been arranged to lead him straight to Nergal. The two Devas floated along behind the Dragon, and their presence mystified the guards that lined the way to Nergal.

  Tory gasped, her eyes wide open although she saw nothing of the banquet hall in which she sat. ‘I know where he is.’

  ‘Who, Swan?’ Hawk lowered his voice as Ningal was starting to take an interest in Tory’s odd behaviour.

  ‘The Dragon,’ she replied, tears streaming down her face as the image of Maelgwn bravely striding down the pathway lined with armed guards, faded. ‘I should be there with him.’ She felt it in her bones and she buried her face in her hands to hide her tears of shame and guilt.

  Why should you be there? Ningal queried the white Falcon woman. Odd? Ningal commented to Hawk, when there came no answer from Tory. Those of the Falcon kind aren’t usually psychic.

  Hawk wanted to curse the fact that he had no comeback. Now that the truth was known, he would surely be excluded from the ex-Governess’ company before long.

  Tory could not have cared less that her cover was blown. ‘Would you help me find this place I see?’ Tory raised her teary eyes to Hawk, fearing she was asking too much of him.

  But Hawk only gazed at her, speechless a moment. ‘The whites of your eyes are … glowing!’

  Show me. Ningal directed her sobbing guest to look her way and when the Goddess saw that Hawk spoke the truth, she was taken aback, but relieved. Ningal leant closer to her husband, whose interest had been struck and uttered aside to him. The Sage has opened the channel … it won’t be long now.

  ‘Channel?’ Tory was immediately intrigued. ‘What channel? It won’t be long until what?’

  Where is the Dragon? Ningal inquired, ignoring Tory’s pleas for information. Was he on Kila?

  Tory hesitated, not knowing if she could trust the alien woman — she was completely unaware they had aided each other to victory once before.

  Answer me woman. It is most important, the dark-haired Goddess insisted.

  ‘Important to whom?’ Tory thought to ask.

  To all creation, Ningal replied seriously, before falling quiet to receive her answer.

  ‘It was an island city, encompassed by several ringed islands and canals —’

  Kila, Ningal concluded, looking to Narnar. He’s delivering the ultimatum to Nergal.

  Nergal will not accept the terms, Narnar feared. This war has a way to go yet.

  ‘I must get to him.’ Tory resumed her true form, as everyone seemed to be ignoring her, and thus managed to secure the attention of her hosts and that of the entire assembly.

  All you need do is think of your husband and you can will yourself to his side, Ningal advised.

  ‘No, Grandmother!’ Asher came charging forth. He now had a young dark-haired lass with him, who was roughly the same age. Unbeknownst to Tory this was her daughter’s daughter, Ragan.

  ‘Not even we Chosen can project ourselves beyond the radius of any given star system and Kila is light-years away from here,’ Ragan advised, eyeing the Nefilim Goddess with contempt and suspicion.

  And who taught you Chosen this? Ningal challenged the girl. We Nefilim. True, most of the Chosen cannot employ such skill, but then most of your kind don’t have a direct link with your soul-source. That light exuding from your grandmother’s eyes is the life force of the cosmos saturating her subtle bodies, filling them with the vital essence of creation.

  ‘Through right action, thought and deed, the universe supports our every …’ Tory mumbled, recalling the claim of the prophet.

  You know the truth, Ningal surmised. The question is not how much you trust me, but how much you trust the Sage?

  Tory looked at Hawk. She had never seen him so bewildered. Still, as he was the one being she did trust, she needed to know his view on all this.

  ‘I know nothing of cosmology.’ Hawk was finding it hard to speak with the great emotional lump that was forming in his throat. ‘However …’ He had to think about whether he wanted to give an encouraging response, as he wasn’t ready to let his Goddess go yet. ‘Being that you were born in an asteroid field, a bit of space curvature certainly shouldn’t pose too much of a threat.’ He attempted humour and then shrugged. ‘For what it’s worth, I believe that you are capable of achieving anything you put your mind to, Tory Alexander.’

  Tory knew how hard it was for Hawk to be positive, in this instance, and she wished she could drag him off to a quiet corner somewhere to talk out their dilemma, or at least say goodbye. ‘I cannot simply plead ignorance of my responsibilities any more.’ She took a stab at an explanation. ‘And, as much as I desire to, I cannot keep running from myself.’

  Hawk nodded, for he could not verbalise his feelings without making his hurt plain to all.

  ‘No fear,’ said the dark-haired girl. ‘That’s what you always say, Grandmother. Fear is the killer of will, and will is the tool with which we carve our dreams on the face of reality.’

  Tory stared at the girl a second, amazed at the insight into her own self. ‘Thank you for the reminder …’ Tory fished for a name.

  ‘Ragan,’ advised the girl. ‘Don’t you remember?’

  ‘No,’ said Tory regretfully, ‘but I intend to.’

  ‘Maelgwn is here,’ Candace, still mesmerised by Noah, informed Cadwallon, who immediately got his people scanning their hidden surveillance cameras to get a visual.

  ‘He has landed,’ Cadwallon announced. ‘What on earth is he doing? Surely, he’s not planning to confront Nergal and half the Pantheon alone!’

  ‘He’s not alone,’ Candace advised. ‘The Devas are with him.’

  ‘Forget about my father,’ Rhiannon demanded on the com-link soft-light screen. ‘What about those bloody tankers? We have to ambush them before they land!’

  ‘They’re not going to land,’ Candace reported, feeling the Dragon’s intent as if it were her own. ‘The Dragon has come to claim back Kila.’

  ‘How could he possibly?’ Cadwallon frowned, thin
king the fact unlikely without a substantial show of force. ‘And how could you know his intention, any more than I could? We have had no communication from the ex-Governor.’

  ‘It is not only the Dragon’s intent I perceive.’ Candace’s voice began to waver with relief and awe as the realisation hit her.

  She looked Cadwallon’s way, and he was shocked into backing up a step, for the Governess’ eyes were glowing like those of a God or an Ascendant Master.

  ‘Brian,’ Candace gasped, as she inwardly discerned his success. ‘He has managed to take Nugia. And Tory,’ she paused to be sure her instinct was correct, ‘she is alive!’

  ‘Is that what you were envisioning just now?’ Cadwallon could only assume this was the case, for the Governess sounded very sure about her statements.

  ‘No,’ uttered the Governess, unable to explain how she knew what she did.

  ‘I can second your claims,’ Floyd assured his perplexed Governess as he emerged from his daze, his eyes aglow like hers were. ‘Noah must have sparked some deeper awareness in all of us.’

  Candace’s attention shot straight to Floyd, and he stared at her, appearing every bit as sure about his theory, and as wonderstruck as she felt.

  ‘Then why have only some of you been made aware?’ Cadwallon, like his wife, felt rather insulted by being shut out.

  Candace and Floyd were baffled by the question.

  ‘It is just we of the Dragon’s circle of twelve that have been affected. The same twelve souls that were first booted out of Edin.’ Ethan, the new Head of Defence, voiced his understanding of the situation, and consistent with Candace and Floyd, his eyes beamed with newfound enlightenment.

  ‘He’s right,’ Floyd realised, given a second to access those souls with whom he felt a direct mental link. ‘And Noah stated as much in his prophecy.’

  ‘Since when has En Noah been a prophet?’ Cadwallon became annoyed, trying to follow the conversation.

  ‘Since the dawn of human consciousness,’ Candace replied, although she knew the response was bound to frustrate the Chief Justice all the more.

  Cadwallon didn’t even bother pursuing his line of questioning. ‘So what action are we to take in this instance?’

  ‘We do nothing,’ Candace stated surely. ‘That is the Dragon’s wish.’

  ‘Damn it all,’ Rhiannon snarled in response. ‘Jenny, Bo and Robin have all suggested restraint too. What the hell is going on with you people? Would someone kindly let me in on this little conspiracy you’re all having?’

  ‘They can’t all be wrong,’ Cadwallon argued with his wife. His eyes were fixed on the image of her father striding over the final island bridge that gave access to the innermost island of state.

  ‘I am praying they’re not.’ Rhiannon, clearly ill at ease with being forced to trust in blind faith, resigned herself to wait all the same.

  As Maelgwn stepped onto the central island, he was inwardly accessing the whereabouts of those souls to whom he was now psychically linked. In a very timely fashion, Brian had crippled mining on Nugia; Maelgwn suspected the planet had been one of the Nefilim’s primary gold mining operations. Through his mental link with those on Nugia, Maelgwn understood that Thais was on his way to Karleashian. If the famous Shaman managed to pull off the same coup there as on Nugia, then that would be two major Orme sources out of action. This knowledge strengthened Maelgwn’s position, for he intended to prevent any Nefilim who were still not faithful to their soul-source from having access to any Orme.

  ‘Tory!’ Maelgwn stopped in his tracks, as he sensed her living presence. ‘Nergal does not have her at all.’ He perceived that she was on Tarazean and turned to confront the Devas about the fact.

  Now is not the time to discuss this, Sacha advised sternly, already knowing the Dragon’s grievance.

  Praise the universe for her wellbeing, Psyche added.

  We both know that mother is not the main issue for discussion this day, and never was. The young male Deva gave a nod of encouragement to get his human father back on track.

  Although Maelgwn felt compelled to launch into a ‘not even enlightened beings should lie to their parents’ lecture, the doorstep of Government House was not the place for it. With a severe look of displeasure, Maelgwn turned and resumed his course, liberated by the knowledge that Tory hadn’t been taken prisoner by his enemies.

  Nergal had transformed the grand ballroom of Government House into a throne room and most of the God’s favourite kin were present: his daughter, Aya, his heir, Nabu, and Nabu’s wife, Tashmet. These four were the core of the slave problem; the only other Nefilim of concern was Nergal’s wife, Ereshkigal, who was no doubt at home on Karleashian and would soon come to loggerheads with Thais, the Centaur.

  As Maelgwn entered through the large double doors with his celestial bodyguards trailing behind him, the Nefilim he approached appeared to be wary of those in his company.

  So … finally you are gracing us with your presence, Dragon. Nergal spoke up before Maelgwn had even made his way halfway down the room. All this unpleasantness might have been avoided if you’d only bothered to show up to the Pantheon meeting as requested.

  ‘All this unpleasantness is neither here nor there, Nergal,’ Maelgwn informed, as he came to a standstill. ‘It is, however, at an end.’

  Nergal couldn’t suppress his smile. You have come to surrender, I take it.

  Although Nergal’s response was typically arrogant, Maelgwn refrained from rolling his eyes; even with two angelic beings confronting them, the Nefilim still fancied themselves as superior. ‘I have come before you today at the request of Anu.’

  This statement drew a gasp from all Nefilim present, bar Nergal, who was sceptical. And these apparitions are his messengers, I suppose?

  ‘The Devas are your way back to your Logos,’ Maelgwn advised. ‘And they will do all within their power to ensure your souls are safely returned to their source.’

  Nergal laughed heartily, although his kin seemed not so jovial. Are you threatening me, Dragon? The God could hardly believe a human would have such gall, even an immortal.

  ‘I am trying to help you,’ Maelgwn appealed, which only served to amuse the Nefilim Lord all the more. ‘Do you still claim to serve the Almighty, Anu?’ the Dragon roared over Nergal’s mocking laughter. ‘That is the only question we need answered this day.’

  Suddenly Nergal was not so amused. I am the head of the Pantheon. Anu speaks through me! He stood, insulted by the Dragon’s inference. Do not assume to tell me the wishes of our great Logos!

  ‘You have no true contact with your Logos any more.’ Maelgwn called the Lord’s bluff. ‘If you did, then you would know of Anu’s imminent departure from this physical world and you would have ingested enough Orme to lighten your being to enable you to join your soul-source, and move on in the evolutionary scheme. Just as you should have done some time ago.’

  At that statement, even Nergal gasped. Orme was the best-guarded secret the Pantheon had. Who has told you of this? Nergal demanded to know. I shall personally see them dead!

  ‘The Sage of Eridu told me,’ Maelgwn stated, to Nergal’s further annoyance.

  No. He can’t have. Nergal was fearful. The Sage died before I was even born.

  ‘But, due to the human evolutionary process of reincarnation, you knew he would return.’ Maelgwn sensed the Lord’s apprehension and exploited what he guessed was the source of his dismay. ‘And that his return would mark the demise of Anu, and the downfall of the Nefilim, just as you knew Lahmu’s emergence would. You see the signs, Nergal, and still you do not heed them.’

  Nergal appeared lost for words, although he shook his head to reject Maelgwn’s implication.

  ‘A Dragon will seek the fallen souls, for whom the judgement bell will toll.’ Maelgwn recited part of the Sage’s prophecy to see if he couldn’t help Nergal’s memory along. ‘From his ultimatum there is no escape, those he confronts to decide their own fate.’

  Nergal mouthed the
last line of the verse in accord with the human confronting him. He knew the prophecy well enough.

  ‘You know what you must do in order to make your peace with this world and move on to the next,’ Maelgwn concluded. ‘The quality of your life eternal now rests entirely on your own behaviour.’

  Father … Aya ventured to speak. What does he mean?

  He means … we are leaving. Nergal stood to vacate the Dragon’s presence as quickly as possible. He felt stifled by the power of Maelgwn’s presence and was afraid of the beings accompanying him.

  What? Aya couldn’t believe it. Surely you don’t mean to retreat!

  Nergal stared his daughter down. That is exactly what I mean, and you will do so as quickly and as quietly as possible, if you know what is good for you.

  The Dragon did not grant you leave! His question has not been answered. The voices of the Devas resounded inside the huge chamber, not the beautiful, dulcet tones they had been using to address their Chosen associates, but a gruff and sinister voice.

  Maelgwn turned slowly to view his celestial bodyguards. Their angelic manifestations had transformed into the vile green creatures who had consumed his twin babies. The event was a worry. Perhaps the young adult Devas were still not mature enough to endure contact with souls so spiritually ignorant as those Nefilim before them. Or perhaps the Devas were just attempting to beat the Nefilim at their own game — Nergal and his kin were certainly looking alarmed.

  To what question do you refer? Nergal attempted to plead dumb, which was another way of challenging the beings before him.

  Sacha and Psyche reared up and began snarling, their tails thrashing about in an agitated motion. If you are all superior beyond compare, try mortality and see how you fare.

  Both the Devas went charging at the Nefilim, who stood rooted to the spot with fear for the first time in their long emotionless lives.

  Nergal and Aya cowered as the creatures came upon them. Charging through their bodies, the Devas extracted the immortal essence from their souls, along with all the psychic talents that accompanied that state of being. Upon release from the attack, Nergal and Aya fell to their knees, crying out in agony, for gravity and the elements weighed heavily on their now weak, mortal forms. Their beauty faded, along with the light that had illuminated their bodies and shone from their eyes.