I shouldn’t have shared the memory with Avery. To him nothing is sacred, she scolded herself, regarding Avery as the criminal in this affair. He knew he hadn’t seduced me and yet he let me believe he had. The man’s ego is immeasurable! She was silently fuming now, and nearly ripped the pages out of the book as she turned them. But as her thoughts turned to her mystery man, her anger dissipated. What had been his motive for the seduction? She was hard pressed to imagine what Avery would look like as a Nefilim-Falcon half-caste, but she amused herself for some time trying to form an image. She began to fancy that the pirate cum master thief, who was leading her father’s council on a merry dance at present, had fallen madly in love with her and at the risk of being caught and arrested, he was pursuing her anyway.
‘Hello, Fallon.’
The girl was startled from her daydreaming and was doubly floored when she looked over to find Avery seated beside her. But was it her old friend, or the impostor?
‘I’m not talking to you,’ she told him, looking back to her reading, as if her heart wasn’t beating in her throat from the exhilaration of not knowing whether to flee, hit or kiss him.
‘What have I done that is so awful?’ he asked, gently brushing a hand against her cheek.
It was the impostor. Fallon’s heart started doing gymnastics. Her father had practically ordered her to tell him at once if the fraud tried to make contact with her again — or even if Avery did for that matter. The council weren’t taking any chances.
‘It is not wise for us to be seen together.’ Fallon slid down the bench away from him. ‘Our parents know about our misadventure the night of graduation, and they’re not very happy about it.’ She knew she shouldn’t be trying to warn him, but the way he looked at her and spoke to her so sweetly, she couldn’t help but feel well disposed towards him.
‘You told them?’ he speculated, as if sensing she knew that he was not who he appeared to be.
‘Avery told them,’ she explained gently, afraid of scaring him off. ‘I confronted him about the encounter. And, as Avery was otherwise detained with some wood nymph at the time, they figured out that I had been entertaining someone else.’
Viper raised both eyebrows as he quietly accepted that he’d been exposed, but was calm and unperturbed by the obstacle.
‘I have known Avery all my life,’ Fallon told him, ‘and, although I have desired it, he has never regarded me the way you did that night.’
He bowed his head, a smile on his lips. ‘He is a fool.’
Fallon shook her head and looked around to make sure they weren’t being watched. ‘I feel I am the one who is foolish … advising my father’s enemy.’
He appeared genuinely shocked that she knew who he was, but he did not ask her how she knew. ‘And why would you ward me away from danger?’
Fallon’s roving eyes came back to rest on her mystery man. ‘To find out your motive.’
He sighed at the question; half amused, half bemused. ‘You wouldn’t believe me.’
‘You sell me short.’ She insisted upon a response.
‘No, I don’t,’ he responded, rather adamant about that. ‘I would never sell you short, for I know what you are capable of.’
He said this with such devotion that Fallon’s desire to discover the man behind the mask doubled. ‘Then tell me. I promise I shall listen with an open mind.’ She suddenly felt that she might be doing her father a service in befriending their foe and gaining a little insight.
He took a moment or two to pluck up his courage. ‘The truth is, Fallon, I first met you in a dream.’ He paused to assess her reaction — she did not appear doubtful, or convinced. ‘It felt like no dream I have ever had before and it was recurring. It cast a spell over me that would last for days, and each time I had the dream, I was more and more compelled to seek you out.’
Fallon was following his wondrous tale with interest. ‘But surely in the dream I was of your own breed? A Falcon incarnation of my soul-mind.’ She pushed her esoteric understanding. It was only after she’d asked the question that she realised that it might be offensive to him. ‘What I meant —’
Viper held up a hand to assure her an explanation was not necessary. ‘You appeared just as you are.’ His beautiful mauve eyes admired her intently and she wondered what colour his eyes truly were. ‘I know that the fact that I am of different breeding to yourself must repulse you, but please believe that I meant you no offence that night. I did not intend to take such liberties with your body. You just looked so beautiful and I knew I’d … never get the chance to be so close to you again.’ His voiced trailed off and he stood as if preparing to depart.
‘The memory of that night does not repulse me, even now that I know the truth. I feel it was either a miracle of emotion, or a very masterful act.’ Her accusation cum confession gained her his full attention once more.
‘I know you think I’m the bad guy, Fallon,’ he appealed. ‘But I can prove that that isn’t true.’ He turned away suddenly, overwhelmed by the task of making her see his side of the story. ‘But that would require much trust on your behalf, trust I have not yet earned and have no time to earn.’
‘You want me to accompany you somewhere, I take it?’ Fallon enjoyed delighting him with her direct approach.
‘It would be foolish of you to do that,’ he cautioned. ‘Perhaps we could go somewhere less public, to talk.’
Fallon took a moment to think about it. ‘To our mountain top then.’
5
THE MASTER PLAN
Their small reconnaissance vessel spent days hovering over the ancient world of Gaia, cloaked from the sight of the planet’s inhabitants, who went about their business oblivious to the space-age vessel observing them from above. Viper had his crew systematically scanning a large mountain range for human life forms. The pirate was searching for someone in particular.
Gazelle, the pilot, had been routinely complaining every couple of hours that their search was like trying to find a habitable planet in a galaxy, whereupon Viper would flatten her pessimism by reminding her that they had all the time in the world to find their target.
‘I think I’ve got something.’ The pilot startled her crewmates, all rather drowsy from lack of sleep — except Viper.
Their leader seemed never to tire, and Noah began to suspect that Viper had activated his immortality gene with gold Orme. Dark Orme would have cast a very distinct shadow over the pirate captain’s person; Light Orme usually gave one a distinct glow, which was not apparent with Viper either. Noah suspected that his foe’s malign intent was preventing the light of the gold Orme from empowering Viper to its full effect.
‘What have you got?’ Viper approached to view his sister’s soft-light screen over her shoulder.
‘A small warrior band, which includes one member approaching puberty, camped outside a cave,’ she outlined, whereby her brother ruffled the soft plumage of the long quills on her head.
‘This looks very promising. Zoom in the visual and pump up the volume. Let’s hear what they’re saying,’ Viper instructed, more excited than Noah had ever seen him.
Noah couldn’t see the screen from where he was sitting and was thankful that he would at least be able to hear.
‘The translator doesn’t recognise the language.’ Gazelle was most perturbed.
‘Shh!’ Viper hissed, as his eyes glazed over to listen. ‘I comprehend it.’
And so did Noah. It was the tongue of the ancient Britons, Brythanic.
‘So, little prince, tell us what Cadfer be doing in there.’ One of the larger warriors had taken hold of the youngest member of the party, hoping to scare some information out of the lad.
‘Ask him thyself,’ spat the boy. ‘And remove thy hands from my person, or I shall have them severed from thy body.’
The warrior laughed at the young prince’s threat, but became alarmed when the laughter of his colleagues tapered off abruptly. He turned to find Cadfer with his sword raised high. The warrior dropped t
he lad and withdrew his hands, barely fast enough to avoid the blade of his superior as he brought it down.
‘Never touch my heir,’ Cadfer threatened.
‘Goddess, thee nearly took both my arms off.’ The soldier drew his sword, in case he needed to defend himself further. ‘There have been some fantastic stories flying around that claim thou art consorting with a witch.’
‘And?’ Cadfer prompted, as if this claim was not serious enough to warrant an explanation on its own.
‘Thou dost not deny it then?’ the warrior gasped, horrified.
‘The dark path frightens thee, Mahon?’ Cadfer queried, nonchalant.
‘Such association be an unnatural sin against the Goddess.’ The warrior looked to the rest of the men, noting they were spooked by his words.
‘What dost thou think stealing the throne of Gwynedd from her appointed King will be, if not an offence?’ Cadfer inquired, as his young heir edged his way around behind the defiant warrior.
‘To defeat an opponent fairly be one thing, but to involve dark forces,’ the man was horrified, ‘will curse us all —’
The adolescent prince thrust his sword through Mahon and the huge warrior dropped to his knees, shocked by the blade protruding through his gullet and seeing his own blood spilling forth. ‘Thee damned thyself by questioning my father’s means,’ the boy informed him, abruptly withdrawing his sword from the warrior’s body whereupon Mahon dropped to the ground. ‘Dost anyone else have any questions for my father?’ The lad cast his eyes around at the astounded troops, who shook their heads in the negative, unable to believe such bloodlust in one so young.
‘Caradoc certainly was a feisty little fellow,’ mumbled Viper, ‘a prince after my own heart.’
Noah had been racking his brains to recall who Cadfer had been, but as soon as Viper mentioned Caradoc, Maelgwn’s bastard brother, it all came flooding back to him. The Sage knew precisely where they were — the Snowdon Ranges of Gwynedd in about 505 AD.
‘This is the place,’ Viper confirmed, much to his sister’s relief. ‘We’ll wait for the soldiers to depart and then we’ll go in.’
Noah had been fearing that Viper intended to slay Maelgwn in his youth and throw history into chaos, but an even greater dread beset the Sage when he realised Viper was here to seek Mahaud.
The sun was rising over the mountain peak on the far side of Kila, where Fallon and her mystery man had retreated to speak alone.
‘Why did you steal the Aten and kidnap Cordella?’ Fallon didn’t beat around the bush once they arrived. She refused to be blinded by her heart’s desire before she assessed this man more closely.
‘The only place I can hide from the Chosen is in time. Once Lahmu’s more adept supporters, like Tory Alexander and her Dragon husband, are aware of my appearance, probably not even history will prevent them from finding me.’
‘That’s why you choose to appear as Avery,’ Fallon realised, and this meant he was still as wary of her as she was of him. ‘So I can never see you as you truly are.’ She tried not to sound as disappointed as she felt.
Immediately his appearance began to transform. He sprouted quills covered in honey coloured plumage in place of Avery’s platinum blond hair, and huge wings of the same colour unfolded from between his shoulder blades. His Nefilim ancestry was vaguely apparent in his features, as they were slightly more pixie-like than your average Falcon. His eyes were larger and more striking than Avery’s, as they turned from violet to a vibrant shade of fiery amber.
He shrugged as she gazed at him, puzzled by his resolve and the risk he was taking.
‘’Tis the only way I shall ever know if I can trust you,’ he stated calmly.
Fallon had never really considered being attracted to any other man but Avery, let alone a man of another breed. But find this pirate attractive Fallon did. He was more ruggedly handsome than his Homo sapiens counterpart and sported more of a warrior form. ‘You appear just as Avery would if he were an angel.’ She smiled to reassure him that she was pleased by the transformation and not repulsed, as he’d feared. ‘And does my angel have a name?’
He smiled, set at ease by her flirtatious tone. ‘My name isn’t very angelic, I’m afraid … I’m known as Viper.’
‘Viper … hmm!’ She liked it. ‘More of a fiery angel then, by the sound of it.’
‘Definitely,’ he confirmed with a nod.
‘Do you want to tell me why you are so fired up against my father?’ Fallon’s tone softened as she became more serious.
‘If you love your father, what I have to say will not be easy to hear,’ he forewarned. ‘My opinion of Lahmu is not very high.’
Although Fallon frowned, sure that Viper must have misunderstood her father somehow, she merely nodded for him to proceed.
He took Fallon back to the year of her birth, the same year the Nefilim had retreated from the physical world. He told of how Lahmu had been at a loss as to what to do with the children of Dumuzi, for, unbeknownst to Viper’s kindred, the Chosen possessed the know-how to activate the dormant immortality gene passed into Viper’s people by Dumuzi.
‘Cordella was how I figured out the deception. I kidnapped her to question her. She told me about gold Orme and I found, in my grandfather’s old chambers on board our vessel, Dumuzi’s secret stash of the substance. But there was only enough left to free me from mortality.’
‘But we met the night before Cordella and the Aten were kidnapped.’ Fallon frowned, unsure if she wasn’t following the story or if Viper was making up a fabrication and getting his details in a jumble.
‘The Aten’s time hopping ability has come in very useful,’ he smiled.
‘So it was you I met in the library at the Institute that day, and not Avery,’ she concluded, feeling she was starting to piece the puzzle together.
‘I’ve never been in a library in all my born days.’ Viper chuckled at the notion. ‘I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Oh,’ Fallon found herself frowning again, ‘that’s odd.’
‘The only thing I seek,’ Viper jumped back to the subject of his cause, ‘is justice for all of my kindred, which will be enough Orme to raise them all to their full immortal potential.’
‘Well, I feel sure my father would not object to the advancement of your kind when it is your birthright, after all,’ Fallon appealed, but Viper appeared far from convinced.
‘Then why did he not tell us the truth in the first place?’ he argued. ‘Lahmu may as well have slaughtered us all twenty years ago, as not telling us is practically the same as murder, in that we suffer a mortal life until our death which in reality never has to be.’
‘The last thing my father wants is another war.’ Fallon knew that much. ‘Let me plead your case to him. If I am wrong about Lahmu’s resolve, and I’m not, then do what you must and I shall aid you. But if I am right, we’ll both have all eternity to celebrate a peaceful resolution.’
‘Well …’ Viper was actually considering it. ‘You are his daughter. I suppose he might listen to an appeal from you.’
‘I feel sure he will.’ Fallon had grabbed both Viper’s hands and before she’d realised it, she was kissing him to seal their deal.
Due to the seriousness of the developments of the past few days, Lahmu had decided to move the first meeting of his allied council forward. He wanted all the new members sworn in and functioning as a unit in order to combat the latest threat to the peace.
Tory decided to postpone her visit to Gaia until she saw her children assume their place in the council. Once this was done, her last commitment to the physical world was fulfilled.
Life’s great purpose had been playing on her mind ever since Tory had resolved to return to the planet of her birth, for she had the most overwhelming premonition that she would not be returning to Kila for some time, if at all. Tory loved her adopted planet and was reluctant to return to Gaia, knowing how trashed the planet would seem by comparison with Kila. Perhaps the guil
t of her neglect of her once home planet is what would persuade her to stay there? But whatever the reason turned out to be, Tory knew this premonition was her notice from the Logos to settle up her old life, as it was now time for Maelgwn and herself to move on. Raising their youngest three children in Chailida had been such an idyllic lifestyle these past twenty years, that, for the first time in their long lives, parenting and married life had almost seemed like an indulgence and for that Tory was most grateful to the Logos. But lately, she’d felt the divine at work upon her heart, urging her to pursue work of a higher and less self-indulgent nature. They’d had their time in the sun and now Maelgwn and herself were ready for a new challenge.
Maelgwn returned to their home at Central Park, having fetched Avery from the Otherworld to attend the meeting of Lahmu’s council. Lahmu had arranged to have all his council members brought forth immediately to Government House in Chailida by members of the fourteen appointed guardians of the Logoi, who had the ability to teleport between star systems. Avery, who was the only exception to the rule, had sped himself forth to Government House and Tory was surprised to see her husband back at home, as he’d intended to meet her at the ceremony.
‘You were right about not coming back to Kila, my love,’ Maelgwn informed as he joined her in their bedroom, where Tory was dressing.
Although he’d startled her with his sudden appearance, Tory forgave him instantly, as Maelgwn was in such fine spirits, she didn’t want to dampen his mood. ‘Why so sure?’
‘Because I’ve just been talking to the Master of our Soul Ray, who is tutoring Avery at present, and he told me our time here is at an end.’ Maelgwn embraced his wonderstruck wife briefly and then let her go to pace out his excitement. ‘Our personalities, mental bodies, astral bodies and physical bodies are all governed by different Rays, which is how you and I can differ in opinion although we are one soul-mind.’ He ceased his excited pacing to emphasise: ‘All the knowledge that the Sensor-sphere was trying to instill in me is beginning to make sense. At long last we’ve earned ourselves a promotion and are to evolve in the great scheme!’
The Cosmic Logos Page 8
