At the end of the passage, which veered around to the right, I entered a much larger hall, also constructed of limestone, with many other halls branching off it. As I moved down the main thoroughfare of this labyrinth I glanced into the halls to either side of me, all of which hosted many other doors and passages. I was not distracted from my course, however. I had been here before; the memory was like a dream, and yet I knew that the chamber I sought lay dead ahead. As I neared my destination, I heard the sound of running water. The limestone hall ended, although the pathway underfoot did not—it extended into a bridge across a vast cavernous chamber that had no bottom, or at least not one that could be perceived from my vantage point. High above, the ceiling of the chamber was composed of huge, glowing crystal clusters—quartz in the main, but also others of varying colours—set into the stone like stars scattered across the fabric of space. Water ran down the chamber’s inner walls and down into the black void below.
The bridge led me to a large, round mound, and awaiting my arrival on this central platform was a solitary robed figure who lowered his hood upon my approach. ‘Welcome back, Solarian.’
I gasped upon recognising my company and my heart leapt for joy and lodged in my throat. ‘Devere?’ I quickened my approach across the bridge, eager to be near him.
‘I was once,’ he admitted, and I detected a Scottish accent.
I slowed to a stop as he swung his robe back over his shoulders to reveal the attire of a pirate. ‘Sinclair,’ I realised.
‘My key incarnation is known by that name,’ he confirmed, seeming a little disappointed by my sudden reserve. ‘Still, you have known me by many different names in many different lifetimes, not all of which have been upon this Earth.’
He certainly was as charming as my husband, and his broad accent was delightful on the ear. I resumed my approach, noting the subtle differences in his appearance, which were too minor to deny that Sinclair and Devere were one and the same soul-mind. Of course! That was the name he wanted me to remember. ‘Polaris,’ I ventured, whereupon he smiled broadly, delighted by my recognition of his spiritual identity.
‘That is my goal,’ he said.
‘I have had a few fleeting visions since entering this complex,’ I explained, not wanting him to think I was more knowledgeable than I actually was. ‘None of which made any sense to me.’
‘Allow me to help you correct that.’
His dazzling smile and friendly demeanour encouraged me to relax, and as I stepped off the limestone bridge and onto the central platform, the pathway behind me vanished. There was a large golden disk in the centre of the island we were now stranded upon, and it appeared to be divided into six segments. ‘Please.’ Sinclair invited me to stand upon the segmented circle.
I stepped onto the plate, whereby each segment of the disk lit up in turn. When all the golden segments were glowing brightly, my guide’s smile broadened. ‘Do not be alarmed,’ he said and stepped onto the plate with me.
‘Why should I be alarmed?’ I asked, then looked down to see the golden disk beneath our feet vanish. We dropped into the void. I felt a surge of panic until I realised that I was spirit and therefore in no physical danger. As my fear lessened so did my speed, and after a long period of a pleasant floating descent, I touched down beside Captain Sinclair.
Shockwaves of recognition pulsed through me as we entered the Amenti chamber. It contained six perfectly rounded doorways, each crafted from a different shade of gold. ‘I know this place,’ I was stunned to claim.
‘You ought to,’ Sinclair laughed. ‘You helped design and build it.’ Then he smiled at me in my beloved’s endearing way. ‘And now you are going to remember everything.’
‘You have traversed Amenti’s halls already?’ I asked, and he nodded to confirm. ‘And you remember our life together?’ Hope made tears well in my eyes, for I felt distanced from my love as I addressed this other incarnation of him.
‘Aye,’ Sinclair said, observing me fondly. ‘But you speak as if our time together is done, when it is only just beginning.’
He was so very like my dear Devere when first I had met him, and his view encouraged me to complete the quest at hand. I turned to examine the six doorways.
The first porthole, directly beside the archway through which we had entered, had a frame of redgold. Beside it was one framed in orange-gold; the next was yellow-gold, then pink-gold; blue-gold; and the last was a stunning and rare violet-gold. Each passage beyond appeared filled with liquid-light that reflected the colour of its doorway.
‘Should there not be seven doors?’ I asked, for the seventh porthole of the Amenti system was the one that would lead to the Sphere of Amenti and home to Tara.
‘Only once you have traversed the first six halls will the seventh door be revealed to you,’ my guide clarified. He escorted me past the pool inset into the middle of the floor of the circular chamber, to the closest of the portholes. ‘Would you like me to explain the mechanics of the portholes before you begin your travels?’
‘I would be much obliged,’ I replied, fascinated by the advanced appearance of the Amenti system.
‘There is a pair of electromagnetic spirals inside each of these portholes, which counter-rotate and merge to form a passage where time continua pass through each other—’
‘On second thoughts,’ I interrupted, ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’
I stepped up to the red-gold porthole, assuming that as this colour was at the lowest end of the spectrum it would relate to my root chakra and connect to the very earliest root races of mankind.
‘Know that you will not relive all your lives, past, present or future,’ Sinclair warned, ‘only those pivotal events that activated the frequency keys that allow you access through Amenti.’
‘I understand.’ I felt a rush of excitement and trepidation.
As I faced the liquid-light porthole, I took a moment to calm the expectation welling within my being, then I made my first step into a much larger world. As I stood upon the red-gold disk, I felt a great explosion of calmness and certainty welling within my lowest chakra. My root chakra began to vibrate with a sonic tone, and as this amplified the sound resonated up through my light centres and caught in my throat, where my larynx echoed the mighty note. I felt a deep shift take place within my subtle body as the oscillation of my atomic consciousness altered to match that of the porthole before me.
The red waterfall that cascaded down over the opening of the porthole began to swirl clockwise into the centre, like water rushing down a plughole. Then another spiral of water, this one rushing counter-clockwise, joined with the first and the centre of the swirling torrents opened wide. A great rush of red light erupted from within the vortex and my conscious being was sucked forth to return to the very beginning of my human evolution on this Earth.
FROM THE JOURNAL OF CHARLOTTE GRANVILLE-DEVERE
Before I had even parted my eyes from slumber, I knew Mathu was in my room; I sensed his exalted, otherworldly presence. ‘How long have you been returned from Amenti?’ I asked.
‘Many hours,’ he replied.
I rolled onto my back to see my Fey friend standing at the end of my bed, wearing his physical outer layer. I smiled and stretched, relishing the mutual attraction I felt between this being and myself. Since first meeting Mathu I had been infatuated with him, but as the Fey showed so little emotion I had imagined that my romantic fantasies about him were in vain. Yet in light of what the angelic warrior had told my mother about me, I had been given fresh hope.
‘You have watched me sleeping all that time?’
‘Yes, my lady.’ His tone implied this was a pleasure, not an obligation.
I was amused by his incorrect, formal address. ‘My name is Charlotte, for unless I marry a lord, the title of Lady is not for me.’
‘My mistake,’ Mathu granted winningly, ‘your Highness is far more fitting.’
I had to restrain myself from laughing out loud. ‘So you truly think I am
a Mother Goddess of the Anunnaki?’
‘I would recognise your soul-mind anywhere,’ he assured, ‘for it is unique…like you.’ He seemed awkward, which I thought strange for a being supposedly lacking in emotion.
‘Why am I the only Anunnaki able to incarnate into human form?’ I asked, for this part of Mathu’s explanation to my mother baffled me.
‘In truth, I too have the ability to incarnate into human form, but I have not proved as adept as you at integration,’ he said. ‘Before I learned compassion from you as an Anunnaki, I was egotistical and self-absorbed, and after enlightenment I was too selfless and, due to my great intellect, had something of a god complex. The object of being human is to master emotion; instead, I became so engrossed in teaching humans that my true mission here was overlooked. I considered any relationship that was not a teacher–student interaction beneath me.’
‘I do not agree,’ I said and sat upright to argue. ‘I am no different from you. Humans have never interested me in a marital sense, and due to my extrasensory abilities, how could I fail to feel like an advanced alien intelligence amid herds of mindless cattle? But…’ I paused to gather my nerve ‘…I see how you look at me and I know that your true mission here has not been entirely overlooked.’
‘Lust is not one of the higher emotions,’ he said weakly, clearly relieved to have our emotional predicament out in the open.
‘Lust?’ I queried gently. ‘Mere lust could never inspire such devotion as you hold for me.’
He frowned, perplexed, as he came to sit rather heavily on the bed beside me—with no sense of feeling in his physical form, he could not gauge his own force and weight. ‘So you think love is my motivation?’
‘Generally speaking, if all you feel for someone is lust, a sexual union with your desired will often make that attraction disappear…but love lingers on.’ As I stated my view I felt an intense magnetic energy building between us.
He stared at me with his lilac eyes, appearing baffled by my comment. ‘But we have had no physical union that I am aware of.’
I smiled at my own folly; he had no understanding of emotion, so I could hardly expect him to know I was flirting. ‘That was an invitation, not an observation,’ I said. My anticipation welled as I leaned forward and kissed him—but of course only I really experienced the event.
‘I cannot lay claim to you as I am,’ he said regretfully, and gently urged me back. ‘I can feel nothing, which would be most unpleasant for you.’
‘Then shed your physical form and enter mine,’ I suggested brazenly.
‘I…I would not know what to do. I have never…’ He shied away from saying more.
This only ignited my desire for our union, but I did not want to force myself upon him. ‘As I have had no interest in a human relationship, I am well aware of how to pleasure myself,’ I said, hardly believing my own impudence. ‘Join with me and my pleasure shall become your pleasure and you will know human love.’ I felt that if he was still hesitant I would die of humiliation for being so wanton.
Mathu’s physical form faded to reveal his beautiful semi-transparent Fey being. ‘I am honoured by your gracious invitation and I humbly commit myself into your capable hands,’ he said softly.
He reached out to me, and although I could no longer feel his physical touch, I felt a warm tingling sensation that excited my senses more than the caress of any human hand. His presence moved further into alignment with my own and the tingling intensified, heightening my sexual arousal. My nightdress was quickly dispensed with, and under the warmth of my bedcovers we explored the hidden depths of our passion. I was so consumed by him that it was hard to determine just who was guiding my hands. My body shuddered in delighted climax too frequently to define one orgasm from the next. The intense emotional and physical stimulation sent my consciousness into a euphoric dream of faraway worlds. I could hear Mathu whispering to me in my mind, his groans of pleasure and release making me all the more aware of my delight. I had never before had cause to consider how truly sacred the male and female union was, but somewhere in the midst of our delirium Mathu and I discovered love.
When Mathu’s soul-mind departed my body, he was as giddy as a schoolboy and grinning from ear to ear. ‘Happiness,’ he said, and pointed to himself to indicate another higher emotion that he was experiencing for the first time as a result of our union.
I rolled on my side to face him as he lay on the bed beside me. He was still dressed in his green Anu attire—belted pants, shirt, vest and boots—which seemed either too old-fashioned or too modern for this age. ‘You have never experienced happiness?’ I asked.
He shook his head, his new and thrilling emotions made plain in the way his eyes adored me. ‘You have again set me on the em-bed-path. Long ago, you taught me what it was to be compassionate, and now you have taught me what it is to feel love.’
I was flattered by his adoration, but I could not accept it. ‘You made the choice to feel.’
‘Because you inspire me,’ he argued as I rose to dress. I wanted to remain shut away in my room with my new lover, but I had to relieve Lady Susan from her shift recording my mother’s experiences in the Halls of Amenti.
‘You inspire me too,’ I said, pulling on a warm dress over my nightshirt, as had been the fashion decades before Victoria’s rule. ‘What is the em-bed-path?’
My mother’s ghostly knight unexpectedly appeared in my room before Mathu could answer, discovering me still buttoning up my dress. His glance flew to Mathu, still floating on my bed.
Why are you here? Albray demanded of my lover.
‘He is here at my invitation,’ I answered. ‘Why are you here?’
I promised your mother I would protect you. The knight’s displeased expression was still aimed at Mathu.
‘Mama may have allowed you to meddle in her private affairs, but I would rather you did not meddle in mine,’ I stated bluntly, finally gaining the knight’s full attention. ‘You are not my father.’
Not yet, Mathu uttered in amusement.
‘I gather my aunt is ready for a break?’ I asked, attempting to ease the tension.
If you would be so kind. Albray backed off and vanished through the wall of my room.
‘My reprimand might have been a little harsh,’ I considered in retrospect. ‘Still, what right has he to judge me, having lusted after my mother all those years?’
‘He was only recognising a kindred spirit in her, and in you,’ Mathu said.
I thought back to Mathu’s jovial comment. ‘He’s not my father yet…are you implying that Albray will be my father in a future life?’
When Mathu nodded I did not believe him. ‘But the knight’s soul is trapped in the afterlife by a vow he made to the Ladies of the Elohim.’
‘Your next mother will release him from that obligation,’ Mathu assured me. ‘Half of your perfected human incarnation lies within him.’
‘I had best start being a little nicer to him then,’ I grinned.
‘Me too,’ joked Mathu, ‘if our love is to be realised in this life and the next.’
The suggestion was so romantic that I shed a tear. I had been waiting so long for love to come my way that the idea that not even death would separate us was deeply comforting.
‘So even once I’ve died and been reborn again, with no memory of you, you will still be watching over me?’ I said.
‘Yes, I will,’ Mathu vowed, and then grinned at the irony. ‘And so will he.’ He nodded towards the spot on the wall where Albray had taken his leave.
REVELATION 19
ARCHITECTS OF EVOLUTION
SUSAN DEVERE JOURNALISING ON BEHALF OF LADY ASHLEE GRANVILLE-DEVERE
ROOT RACE ONE—ETHERIC (NO TIME)
I am compressed in utter darkness—motionless, powerless, formless—and yet semi-conscious and without fear. This is only a state of transition, an etheric membrane between my angelic existence and the lowest etheric world of the lowest dimensional universe, where all life must endure
and adapt to the primordial elements that compose a physical existence. I am now to become a participant in my own experiment, but I am not alone. All eleven of my collaborators on the Amenti Project believe as strongly as I do that we can protect the lost souls of Tara and show them the way home.
I have yet to pass fully through the membrane between dimensions for I still remember that I am one of the Ceres, a race evolving on Tara’s astral globe, who have progressed through physical evolution to become spirit beings and guardians to the human beings still living on Tara. The Ceres existed long before the cataclysm on Tara that now occupies all our time and effort.
In the wake of the planetary disaster my people selected a council of technologists and scientists to work in conjunction with the Elohim’s Interdimensional Association of Free Worlds to create the technological and biological means to salvage the missing part of Tara’s morphogenetic blueprint and rescue our lost soul-minds from the lower-dimensional universe into which they had been cast during the cataclysm.
Up until recently the members of the Amenti Council were overseeing the salvage mission from Tara. We were able to execute the construction of the Amenti system by will alone, so our personal presence in the lower harmonic universe was not required, nor even considered. There were many complications involved in the descent of a being from the second harmonic universe into the denser, primal universe below ours—as Tara’s lost soulminds had discovered. It had been a mistake on our part to trust the lower harmonic manifestations of our Anunnaki adversaries, the Anu, with the task of perfecting the physical bodies for our kindred, but the Elohim senate had demanded this cooperation, believing it was integral to avoiding a repeat of the war between the humans under our guidance on Tara and the Anunnaki settlers on our planet that had led to Tara’s partial destruction.
The twelve members of the Amenti Council, six male, six female, decided to take matters into our own hands. I, Solarian, made a pact with my partner, Polaris, and our fellow council members, Dexter and Vespera, Arcturus and Meridon, Levi and Thana, Castor and Talori, Zalman and Denera, that we would commit our souls to the Sphere of Amenti in order to incarnate on Earth and lead our people home.
The Dragon Queens (The Mystique Trilogy) Page 32
