The Priestess

by Amethyst Gray

  “Sit.” commanded her aunt as she and Néma went off to collect some beakers of warm berry tea.

  The meal was a very thoughtful affair. Messima stayed quiet as her uncle recounted tales of his adventures above and below ground in ‘Minor. The wild tomatoes and grains were delicious, and she gave silent thanks to the Sun deity and the Earth goddess for their bounty. Néma had unwisely decided to try to match Joslin’s and Marnon’s wild chilli eating contest. After the third variety, Néma had run to the kitchen to quench her burning throat while the men had descended into raucous laughter. That was one party trick that Messima had given up on a long time ago.

  Néma returned a few minutes later looking particularly flushed - some of it with embarrassment. Fresh melons and exotic berry varieties from Europe finished the meal. As darkness fell, they all retired into the sitting room around Joslin’s chair.

  Joslin checked about him, noting all of those around him, as if for the first time. “Néma, welcome. Any friend of Messima’s is a friend of ours.”

  Marnon briefly glowered at his father before relaxing his features and sighing. “Yes, we must stick together, accept the past and look to safeguarding the future of us all. You, Mes, as a member of The Priesthood, are most in danger. Are the skulls safe?” Messima gulped and said “Yes, of course, in the temple and healing centres. The mind matrix keeps them safe.” Joslin spoke now. “The mind matrix will fail - I’ve seen it. Do not rely upon it. Make provisions.”

  The Priestess had never for a moment thought of a threat against the crystal skulls. They had been in Atlantis since the start of the Golden Age. They had started the Golden Age with their arrival with the keepers. All thirteen skulls had been retrieved and brought to Atlantis by benevolent aliens centuries ago, carried in procession by exotic looking beings they had been placed in the Great Temple of the Light on the Island of Poseidon. Now the skulls and their replicas resided in the great temple and elsewhere in Atlantis. She was now the keeper of the blue skull known as The Waterman.

  When in her possession, the skull or its replica would be placed in the centre of the healing caves to help deepen meditation and aid in different and difficult healing. The assistance of immense knowledge gave the Priesthood, through the skulls, the means to aid Atlantis and its citizens.

  The administrative council of the 12 would ask counsel of the 13 Priests of the Cloth – those who wore the aquamarine robes – including Messima. The youngest trainee Priests aided the 13 and tended to the skulls when the main priests were away. Orlin, Messima’s senior trainee, was at this moment looking after The Waterman. The skull’s true name was only revealed to the Keeper and not spoken outside of the Great Temple. Orlin still didn’t know which skull was the replica and which one was the real skull. Very few outside of the 13 even knew that replicas existed. Today the true skull was deep under Medina with her trainee, and the replica skull was in the Great Temple with the others. Messima never travelled when the true skull was utterly alone.

  “Are you saying that The Watchers are after the skulls?” asked Messima.

  “Yes.” Replied Joslin. “They differ from the races described as the Keepers. They may appear to have access to vast knowledge, but their jealousy is just simmering below the surface. They desire knowledge that has been forbidden to them. It is only a matter of time before they act.”

  “What can we do - if you are correct. The Priests cannot act against the council of the 12.” Responded Messima.

  “Don’t act. Do not let The Watchers suspect. But make plans to safeguard the skulls. If necessary, bring them here to ‘Minor. The deep crystal seams that dad and I know of will mask the skulls forever if necessary.” Marnon interjected.

  “I can’t act alone, but I can speak to the others.” Messima’s tone was firm but calm.

  “Please do, Mes,” said Marnon.

  Joslin changed the topic and spoke of the tales of old passed down to him by the bards he knew in his youth.

  Marnon sang and played his lyre. He mainly played soothing Earth songs and melodies. As midnight fell, Joslin took his leave of the others. Marnon showed Messima and Néma to their rooms. Néma shook her head and joined Messima in her room. It would be small but cosy tonight.

  Marnon sighed, shook his head and went into his room to sleep. There would be little sleep for the Priestess as she pondered on the conversations from earlier. Néma cuddled her back as quiet fell over the settlement.

  X – The Return

  Dawn broke over Atlantis Minor. Shortly afterwards, Messima awoke from her shallow sleep and got up. She prepared a peppermint tea and sat down in the lounge next to Joslin’s chair. The cold, blue light of early morning together with the onset of autumn made her shiver. She gathered her cloak and cupped her hands around the beaker of tea. As she was staring blankly ahead of her, Marnon appeared.

  “Morning Mes.”

  “Morning” she replied.

  “You look tired,” remarked Marnon.

  “Hardly surprising,” she replied. “Let’s meditate on the options.”

  “OK.”

  The two Cousins sat back to back, bow-legged on the floor holding hands. Breathing deeply, they hummed together until they reached a harmonic resonance. All kinds of images and sounds raced through their minds. Shared memories of those happy childhoods, the accident where Marnon fell out of a tree onto Messima, the joy of her finding an orphaned baby deer in the woods, the campfires around which the extended family would sing. More recent memories surfaced too. The funeral pyre for her father, the encounter with The Watchers, Joslin’s revelations, images of the blue crystal skull.

  The skull spoke to them both. “I am safe for now. The darkness is not yet strong enough to breach our defences. But the time will come when I will have to leave you. No ages are eternal. For every light, being is a being of darkness. Those that you call The Watchers - The Annunaki – we know as The Wanderers. Cast adrift from their star system alone with their flight it is hardly surprising that they covert your shining world at its pinnacle of enlightenment. Darkness will fall. But a new light will dawn just as things seem at their darkest. You will both return at that time as will I. I look forward to a long rest beneath the Earth. At a point on the physical realm that you occupy, I will lie deep beneath the ground until I call again. Hidden must my brothers and sisters become also. The Priesthood must also hide - when the time is right. The portents will tell you when.”

  Images of a comet in the sky and the brightest Aurora filled the cousins’ minds. Glimpses of lava flows, vast oceans of water and deep ice sheets were seen as Messima and Marnon returned from her deep meditation. The cousins stood up, and with tears in their eyes, they hugged.

  “I must return – The Waterman can not be left alone with my trainee." Said Messima.

  “He is safe for now. Why not stay a day or two so that we can plan for his safe passage here when the time is right.”

  Messima nodded. She felt strangely relaxed now. The way was more certain even if it held much sorrow. She followed Marnon into the kitchen. The two Cousins divided a ripe watermelon into pieces using a razor-sharp obsidian knife and placed them on to glass plates alongside nuts and berries gathered from the woods nearby.

  The fresh fruity aromas gave the Priestess a more optimistic outlook on recent events. When Marnon and Messima returned to the lounge, the others were up.

  Messima greeted her concubine before smiling at her aunt and uncle.

  The breakfast was carried outside into the courtyard. Fresh berries, nuts and a warming vegetable soup along with hummus provided sustenance for the Priestess, her extended family and her companion.

  After taking their fill of the fruits on offer Messima and Néma helped to clear up the breakfast things. The porcelain plates were separated from the wooden spoons, forks and obsidian knives before being washed under the cool spring fountain and its perfectly clear and crystal cleaned water.

  When all was clean, Marnon started speaking again.

&n
bsp; “We should show you the place in the mine with the blue seam. It is at some distance from here. We should go straight away. But you two should travel incognito. I suggested you dress up as a local artisan Mes and you Néma with your short hair dress as a boy. That way they won’t be looking out for you.”

  “What, who?” Asked Messima.

  “The Watchers,” Marnon replied.

  “How many of them are there?”

  “Two or maybe more. But they are particularly interested in The Priesthood. And a priestess visiting Minor in early autumn is too tempting for them to ignore. We need to be on our guard.” Said Marnon excitedly.

  “OK, can we borrow some clothes?”

  “Sure., Come this way.”

  Before long Messima was dressed like a younger version of her Aunt while Néma was disguised in Marnon’s old clothes. Néma’s hair still needed tying back, so she wore a scarf around her neck to hide it. Messima’s hair was braided into a lengthy pigtail then wound around on to her head before being fastened by a hairpin made from local ivory. Elephants we used to aid with heavy tasks in the mines as well as living in herds on ‘Minor.

  The elephants on ‘Minor were closely related to the woolly mammoths that were later found in the arctic regions after the climate changed. These elephant/mammoths had little hair apart from on their heads. They had huge ears and an excellent set of tusks. Many tusks were found quite naturally in the wilderness and were turned in to exquisite items by local artisans. It was appropriate that Messima appeared like a local lady.

  “You two look great,” said Marnon. “Let’s head off in separate groups and take different paths to the mine.”

  The Priestess nodded.

  “Dad will go with you Mes, and I’ll take this lad with me. Ow!”

  Néma had given Marnon a sharp rap to his ankle. She had a fiery temperament and did not take too kindly to wearing male clothing. The lad jibe was more than she was happy to accept.

  “I’m not enjoying this charade, you know. I hope this is necessary.” She said brusquely.

  “Oh, Ne we need to play along. It’s for The Waterman after all.” Messima interjected.

  Néma sighed and nodded in agreement.

  Néma and Marnon left first heading out to the west before doubling back towards the north. Messima and her uncle left a few minutes later taking a more direct route to the east then north. The Watchers did pass Néma’s group but showed no interest in them.

  Skirting the northern outskirts of town Joslin and the Priestess or rather the artisan passed the wooden shacks of sheep and goat herders and the piles of fleeces being washed before being spun into thread. Acting the part, she stopped at one shack to examine the dyed natural wool as well as the woven carpets produced by a woman of great age sporting one tooth. She beamed a toothless grin at Messima, who smiled back before moving on.

  Once outside the settlement fully the rocky escarpment loomed ahead with the entrance to the mine at its base. The road leading up was surrounded by walls encrusted with crystal fragments of all different colours and hues. Messima could feel the energy within the crystal seams and it made her feel breathless.

  A large crystal block was being levitated across the road by a man with a copper wand. He lifted his other hand with a happy hello gesture to her Uncle, who had been unusually quiet.

  Joslin held his hand up in acknowledgement. The man waved his wand rightwards and down, bringing the amethyst crystal bolder to rest on a pile of others near to a small herd of elephants grazing in the mine’s pastures. He came over to join Joslin and Messima.

  “Hello, Joslin. Are you bringing us, visitors? Pretty ones at that?”

  “Yes. This is my niece – Me….Meldora. She’s visiting from the south. She’s not seen a crystal mine and is wanting to see the deep blue crystal seams. She’s an artist and uses crystals in her work.”

  “Nice to meet you.” Replied the man. He was Dorak, the mine foreman.

  “Your son and his mate have just gone in. Small lad. Hope he’s old enough.”

  Joslin looked puzzled then remembered that Néma was dressed as a boy. “He’ll be okay. Older than he looks.”

  Messima chuckled at her uncle’s comment.

  “I’ll take you down myself. The lift responds best to me. The wand is tuned to myself.”

  Inside the mine, Néma and Marnon were waiting for them. Dorak gestured for them to go to the right and climb on a sturdy wooden platform resting on a ledge above a bottomless pit (or so it appeared).

  “Mind your step!”

  Once on the platform of the elevator Dorak lifted out a small copper rod from a fastening on an upright piece of wood in the corner. Lifting it, he said several swift incantations in the old Atlantean language. The rod glowed, and as he lifted it, the platform started to rise into the air. Gently gesturing the rod downwards, the lift slowly hovered above the pit before beginning its descent.

  The pit now lit up with an impressive show of multiple crystal layers all glowing dimly in their base colours of purple, white and a small amount of blue. Messima found herself gasping at the site as she looked down through a crystal glass window below her feet. She had to dig Néma in the ribs as she had let out a shrill, feminine, note of surprise which had noticeably puzzled Dorak.

  They were descending more rapidly now and the air chilled as the lift went more deeply. After what seemed an age, Dorak lifted his arm to slow their descent once more. He gestured a sideways action, and the whole lift platform moved to the side, skimming along amongst the bright blue-turquoise seam of crystals glinting with a subtle glow in their subterranean home.

  Bringing them to a stop, Dorak again uttered a short, sharp guttural incantation before placing the rod back in its fastening.

  “Here we are, the finest seam of light blue obsidian in the realms of Atlantis. Or it was as it is just about mined out. It’s rumoured that Poseidon’s sceptre is encrusted with crystals from this seam. Some say the Keepers took blocks of crystal from here to craft the blue Skulls – The Waterman for example. I’ve never laid eyes on him myself, but I hear he appears crafted to perfection in the finest crystal.”

  Messima smiled. As she was The Waterman’s current keeper, she was familiar with his contours and perfections. She also knew that indeed the replica did have its origin in this very spot. As for the original – well - she was sure that his source was actually far distant as his knowledge was also from much further away. But as for a match that would mask The Waterman’s presence, this seam undoubtedly provided the answer if such a solution was required.

  “Here. Have this sample to take back with you.” The foreman had placed a small crystal chip the size of a little finger into Messima’s hand. She took a close look at its colour and clarity before mouthing a quiet “Thank you.”

  After a brief tour around in which she and Marnon had noted skull-sized ledges and cubby holes in amongst the worked-out seam, it was time to return to the surface. Néma had asked Dorak questions in her best male voice to which Dorak and occasionally Joslin had replied.

  On the ascent, Dorak had stepped off the lift platform amongst a quartz seam to load a large crystal boulder.

  Skilfully guiding the rock into the centre of the group its multi-tonne weight glistened with energy as it came to rest in the middle of the platform. Dorak again skilfully guided them up on their ascent with his rod and magical chants.

  Once safely back on the surface Joslin and the others thanked Dorak for his tour of the mine before taking their leave. Again, the parties separated before heading back.

  On the return journey, the afternoon sunshine shone brightly with a little bit of drizzle appearing over the distant mountains. The far-off fishing boats in the bay contrasted against the shining sea.

  A crystal cutter made its silent exit from the port, its crystal mast and flag brightly catching the low autumnal sunlight.

  A sudden feeling of dread filled Messima but realizing there could be Watchers nearby; she hardened her t
houghts to shut out the negative emotions.

  Sure enough, around the next corner, she saw the same two Watchers walking along the street on the opposite side.

  Messima spied some very bright fabrics in front of a local artisan’s stall so stopped to pick up a golden robe.

  The Watchers passed by apparently without noticing her presence. After they passed, Messima shook her head and handed back the gown to the artisan. The artisan shrugged his shoulders.

  Carrying on more quickly now, Joslin and his niece were soon back at the house. Shortly afterwards, Néma and Marnon returned.

  Messima’s Aunt brought out some large beakers of jasmine tea for each of the travellers and gestured for them to go out into the courtyard garden. Laid out on a table was a variety of the brightest fresh berries, fruits and locally grown melons.

  Taking the opportunity to visit a nearby fisherman Messima’s Aunt had spit-roasted a succulent trout and placed it on the table amongst the vegetables and pulses. She had performed the Atlantean death and release prayer over the fish to purify its flesh to be eaten.

  Messima helped herself. She usually avoided meat but sensed that the fish was a special treat laid out for them by her Aunt with the appropriate blessing, so she ensured she had a small portion. It tasted delicious. ‘Minor was renowned for its varieties of fish, and the rainbow trout was a particularly fine specimen.

  When everybody was seated around the table, Marnon spoke. “I think we have a possible place to take The Waterman if the necessity arrives. Dad and I can both levitate the lift up and down the pit to reach the blue seam. Several possible ledges could be used to hide the skull. If we take some lime render or clay down with as we can wall him in behind some of the loose crystals. As crystal miners, we can make the joins appear almost invisible.”

  “Agreed. But as Keeper, I should take The Waterman down”. Replied the Priestess.

  “It may be too risky when the time arises if you know exactly where it’s hidden, you may reveal this to The Watchers. Better to trust us. “ said Marnon.