‘Charichalum Orme … is that what you’re talking about?’ Viper hazarded a guess. ‘The substance they use to power the shield of the dead star, Anu?’
‘Don’t ask me,’ Mahaud advised. ‘I’m just passing on information I perceived from your prisoner.’
‘What?’ Viper turned to Cordella, his eyes ablaze with fury. ‘How does she know all this?’
The crone suppressed her amusement. ‘She is a he.’
‘What?’ Viper repeated, looking back to the witch, suspecting her of toying with him.
‘His name is Noah Purcell. He’s an historian and Sage of some repute in your age.’
‘I know who Noah Purcell is,’ Viper snapped, circling Noah now. ‘Reveal yourself, prophet.’ When nothing happened he gave his captive a whack in the jaw.
‘You forbade her to hear,’ Gazelle informed, suspecting that the witch might be lying.
‘He can hear all right. Every word,’ Mahaud assured.
‘Show yourself now,’ Viper threatened and when Noah complied, the Falcon leader was enraged beyond reason to see the famed historian whose chronicles he’d been studying. ‘How long have you been in her place?’ He belted the Sage when he did not reply. ‘Only the Logos knows how much he’s learned already!’ Viper began to pace, panicked beyond reason.
‘I know,’ Mahaud boasted. ‘He knows too much. But, it is no matter, as you will leave him here with me. His means of mobility through time is on board your ship, and once you take your ship out of this time zone, the prophet will be trapped in ancient Gwynedd.’
Viper didn’t know whether to be excited by her proposal or not. ‘But are you not coming back to the future with us?’ he queried the crone, confused. Was she now rejecting his aid?
‘And miss out on wreaking all the disaster you just described to me … not likely!’ Mahaud scoffed. ‘The device you thought was restraining your prisoner is no longer functioning. If we allow him to leave my circle, he will vanish to warn our enemy of our plans. He would have done so before now, but I am restraining him and can hold him here so long as I remain. You must travel to some future time, between now and my demise, when I am not active in the material world. Summon me forth to you and I shall accompany you back to your rightful place in time.’
Noah hung his head for shame, realising he’d practically willed this scenario upon himself. He had wanted to stay and explore ancient Gwynedd and now his wish had been granted.
Viper, however, was most gratified by the crone’s foresight and cunning. ‘And how do I summon you forth, great queen of darkness?’
The crone was tickled pink by his flattery and she motioned to an old chest by the cavern wall, which opened. An ancient scroll rose from within and floated into Viper’s possession. ‘All you need to know is contained therein.’
The young lord smiled broadly as he admired his means to fulfil his ambitions. ‘Well then, Mahaud, I shall be seeing you in the future.’
‘I greatly look forward to our association and shall devise our strategy while I await our next meeting.’ She pointed her crooked old finger in Noah’s direction. ‘Our little Sage has much he can teach me about our foe. I foresee a dark future ahead for us, Lord Viper.’
‘I’m much obliged to you.’ Viper took hold of his cowering sister’s hand and led her towards the stairs.
‘No, no … it is I who am obliged,’ Mahaud assured.
‘She means it,’ Noah warned Viper. ‘Mahaud will use you just as she has used every living thing she has ever come into contact with.’
‘Of course she will, and I shall use her.’ Viper shrugged. ‘For that is what we villains do … we use each other.’
‘Said like a true disciple of the Talas of Avichi.’
‘Talas?’ Noah had never heard the term before.
‘Your beloved planes of awareness are known as Lokas,’ Viper advised. ‘Each Loka has a corresponding dark realm in Density and these worlds are known as Talas. Avichi is the name given to this group of sub-planes that constitute the eighth level of awareness and those below it. I believe you refer to them as Density.’ Viper smiled at his own brilliance. ‘You really ought to get better informed. I’m sure Mahaud will be more than happy to instil a sound knowledge of the dark path in you.’ He waved Noah goodbye and bowed to the witch, before disappearing into the cave.
Noah summoned his strength as he turned back to the witch. I am a rock, he told himself. I hear nothing, see nothing, taste nothing, smell nothing, feel nothing … I know nothing. He wiped blank his mind and sat down to commence a deep meditation that he would stay submerged in until such time as he was freed from Mahaud’s restraint. The young Maelgwn Gwynedd would be along presently to put a stop to the crone’s mischief in Gwynedd.
The witch laughed heartily at Noah’s defence. ‘You cannot go five minutes without thinking of those you hold dear.’
Her words tempted Noah’s memory to conjure images of those he loved. Don’t listen to her, he commanded his mind to hold the images at bay. He had to find something else to concentrate on in order to block out her words. What would a spiritual master do in my place? He pondered the question but a second. Pray. But Noah didn’t know any prayers. Then it dawned on him to recite ‘The Great Invocation’ that had been the creed of the Theosophical Society of nineteenth century Gaia, whose writings he greatly respected.
‘From the point of Light
within the mind of God,
Let light stream forth
into the minds of men,
Let light descend on Earth.
From within the point of Love
within the heart of God,
Let love stream forth
into the hearts of men,
May Christ return to Earth.
From the centre
where the Will of God is known,
Let purpose guide the little wills of men,
the purpose which
the Masters know and serve.
From the centre
which we call the race of men,
Let the plan of Light and Love work out,
may it seal the door where evil dwells.
Let Light, Love and Power
restore the Plan
on Earth.’
The Sage felt empowered by the words and considered the piece he’d chosen as apt as any he could have thought of. But as he paused from his prayer to consider this, the witch’s frustrated garble began registering in his brain once more.
‘Listen to me, you pathetic excuse for —’
No, block her out. He ordered himself to concentrate on the Invocation, which he decided he would recite over and over until the Dragon arrived.
The events unfolding behind the scenes of Lahmu’s first senate meeting with his new council of young bloods, were far more curious than the issues that were openly discussed.
Tory had been invited, along with Maelgwn and several other guests, to attend the meeting in an advisory capacity.
Lirathea shocked everyone when she arrived in rather extraordinary attire to be sworn into the senate — all trace of the college girl look had left her. Today she was dressed as a priestess — reminiscent of those women of the high spiritual orders of ancient Atlantis. Her dress was made of glimmering silver and fell from her neck to her toes. It was completely shapeless and unflattering to her young figure, with large long sleeves like those of a monk’s habit.
What shocked Tory most was that Lirathea had shaved all her beautiful, long blonde hair off, and over her bald head her daughter wore a shimmering cowl that had a double layer of fabric so that Lirathea could veil her lovely face.
Needless to say Tory had a closed meeting with her daughter, just prior to the swearing-in ceremony.
‘I am to represent the spirit world in the senate,’ Lirathea began in her own defence, ‘and must dedicate myself entirely to its service. I have thus resigned from the position as Head of the Mind Sciences in order to focus on honing my own skills for now. Mine will be a l
ife of solitary study, mother. All the unnecessary distractions that a social life brings with it I must avoid at all costs.’
Tory had never understood the dedicated lives of priestesses and nuns, and had always thought the veiling of the face to be an extreme and sometimes detrimental practice. ‘Who is it that you must hide from, Lirathea? Does this have something to do with a man?’
‘No.’ Lirathea denied Tory’s assumption a little too quickly. ‘But if I wish to be a solitary soul, it is hardly fitting that I risk attracting men with the glamour of physical beauty, therefore I renounce it.’
‘And what of your Chosen other?’ her mother queried, having heard this story before. ‘He shall never be able to find you if you are hidden behind a veil all your life.’
‘There will be no Chosen male born destined to be my lifetime companion,’ she told her mother, seemingly at peace with the fact. ‘For my soul-mind has already ascended beyond the ring-pass-not of the causal plane of existence, where the male and female aspect is again reunited. We then chose to return to the earth plane to aid and further the cause of the Logos, and having to choose a sex for physical manifestation, we chose a female body to promote the intuitive side of our nature.’
Obviously Lirathea had consulted her higher self on the issue, as Tory had never heard her daughter speak with such certainty about her destiny before. Tory had always wondered how those soul-minds took the solitary spiritual path and made a go of it. ‘Is this the case with Avery, too?’
‘No.’ Lirathea was quite positive about this. ‘His soul is a very spiritually adept one, but his male half has yet to learn commitment and his female half has yet to learn how to avoid being seduced by her own glamour.’
‘You refer to Fallon,’ Tory probed, and Lirathea nodded in response.
‘They can each learn their life lesson from the other, but,’ Lirathea gave a heavy sigh, ‘I feel theirs will be a rocky road to romance.’
‘You know about Avery’s dark half then,’ Tory supposed. ‘The one known as Viper, who has attempted to seduce Fallon whilst masquerading as your brother.’
‘A Falcon-Nefilim half-caste?’ Lirathea raised both brows. ‘Yes, I have seen him in visions, but I did not know he had tried to get close to Fallon. That could be very destructive for her relationship with Avery.’
‘No kidding.’ Her mother leaned back in her seat, worried and perplexed.
‘All the Chosen have a dark half you know,’ Lirathea informed Tory to break the silence, ‘but few of these souls have had the opportunity to manifest into the physical world more than once.’
‘Like Mahaud?’ Tory posed and again her daughter nodded.
‘The Dark Lords aren’t permitted to reincarnate as we on the path of light do, but they can influence the actions and even steal the bodies of the darkly adept and the weak minded. They are especially powerful when they can gain control of one of their own soul-mind’s reincarnations, because they feel more at home as it were.’
Tory gasped with fright and covered her mouth in an unconscious attempt to stop her thought being voiced. ‘Could that be why Mahaud has focused her dark work around me? Could that horrid creature be the dark side of Maelgwn and myself?’
‘That kind of information lay beyond the realms and grasp of my informants,’ Lirathea stated. ‘But I can tell you that I have an incarnation in manifestation at present, who has the potential to become a devotee of the Dark Lodge. She is the sister of Viper and the Chosen soul-mate of Sparrowhawk.’
Tory’s jaw was dropping at this point, for this explained why Sparrowhawk and Lirathea had always been so close.
Lirathea knew what her mother was thinking. ‘I had to know why I was so attracted to my brother, despite my will and conscience,’ she confessed. ‘I decided to do some past-life regression to find out if I had loved Sparrowhawk in another life.’
‘And you discovered you actually loved him in every life including the present, but via another incarnation,’ Tory summed up, her heart going out to her daughter.
‘If not for my attraction to Sparrowhawk I now realise that I would never have been pushed to discover these hidden aspects behind the current conflict between the Lords of the Dark Lodge and the Great Brotherhood of Light. This knowledge inspired in me a revelation about my life and how I should lead it.’ Lirathea motioned to her appearance. ‘Being born perfect is a curse, En Noah told me on my last day at the Institute. He said that I must do what I must without regret, and never feel sorry for knowing my own mind and the will of the Logos. Now I know what he meant when he said I had to save my energy for grander pursuits. I was sent to advise this world, but not to be of it, for I have another Chosen incarnation that shall do all the physical living in this age for me. My decision will not be easy for Sparrowhawk. He will misread my motives for taking to the veil. Still, I shall endeavour to do all within my power to steer his affection away from me and on to the path that will lead him to his true soul-mate in this day and age.’
Tory nodded to agree with her daughter’s decision. This was not the first time one of her children had managed to amaze her with their enlightened reasoning and motivation. ‘I am very happy that you have discovered your calling, my sweet, and I am so proud of you.’ Her eyes suddenly welled with tears. ‘You’re all grown up.’
Lirathea embraced her mother and squeezed her tightly. ‘I know your relief must be great. I have found my path and you can depart knowing that all shall fare well with me in the future.’
Tory pulled back to hold Lirathea at arm’s length. ‘You know that your father and I plan to leave Kila?’
‘Why, of course,’ she smiled. ‘All the Masters are looking forward to the event with great anticipation. It is very important that you return to Gaia’s aid. Both father and yourself still have much to learn from her.’
‘Sorry, my girls,’ Maelgwn entered the office, ‘it’s time.’ He beckoned his wife and child to follow him to the senate chambers.
Although no one else in the room may have noticed how completely shattered Sparrowhawk was about Lirathea’s nun-like appearance and her decision to spend her time outside the senate in isolation, Tory saw her Falcon son’s pain and confusion.
Avery was in fine spirits, which almost mocked his younger brother’s bewildered state. His fine mood departed rather abruptly, however, when he learned of his Falcon-Nefilim double, Viper, and of his visits to see Fallon.
Tory had never seen a man so vexed and jealous, although Avery chose to hide his true feelings for the girl by pretending to be more concerned about the fate of the planetary alliance. Still, Tory knew what was truly fueling her son’s conviction to the cause of the senate this day.
An extensive search of the known galaxy had failed to turn up any sign of the craft frequented by Dumuzi’s children these last twenty years.
As the children of Dumuzi were mainly space-born children who’d never had a planet of their own, they were unskilled and unfamiliar with the ways of earthbound civilisation and preferred life on their huge spacecraft. This seemed to verify Cordella’s claim that all of Dumuzi’s children were involved in the theft of the Aten and were supporting Viper in his attempt to contact the evil crone, Mahaud.
‘I feel that a strong Chosen force must be sent to guard all the Orme Charichalum enterprises on Numan,’ Lirathea advised. ‘The spirit world is concerned by what could happen if the children of Dumuzi were to learn about the hidden applications of this substance. They must not be allowed to obtain Charichalum in its Orme state.’
Everyone present agreed.
‘Who does the spirit world suggest I send to head our defence on Numan?’ Lahmu queried his new spiritual advisor.
‘Send Bast and Sparrowhawk,’ Lirathea advised surely from behind her veil. ‘Thais and his people should also double the guard of the Orme operations on Karleashian.’
‘No!’ Avery stood up to protest. ‘I should go to Numan.’
‘You have other commitments to attend to at present.
’ Lirathea was reminding him of his vow to the master tutoring him.
‘I am hardly going to be able to concentrate on Otherworldly studies with so much adversity unfolding in the realm of matter,’ Avery reasoned.
‘You would defy the will of the Logos?’ Lirathea queried, which promptly put a stop to his protest. Avery lowered himself to a seat, heeding her point. Lirathea held out her hand to her twin, and clutching his hand tightly she bethought him. That which you wish to protect is still on Kila, anyway.
Avery reclaimed his hand from his sister, not liking that she could clearly see the feelings that he was doing his best to deny existed.
‘I need you stationed in the Otherworld, Avery,’ Brian supported Lirathea, ‘to report on any movement of the Aten through that realm.’
‘I understand.’ Avery tried not to sound annoyed about being stationed so far from the action.
‘I also need to speak with you on another matter when the senate is adjourned,’ Lahmu requested, with a smile that was not entirely inviting.
Avery knew he was about to be given the third degree about Fallon from her father, the most formidable warrior in the known universe. Something to look forward to. Avery nodded in assent to a drilling.
‘The spirit world also recommends that representatives of the council be sent to Gaia to advise our kindred there.’ Lirathea jumped to the next issue she saw to be a problem. ‘I believe my parents have already been alerted to this calling by the Logos.’
All eyes in the senate turned to the ex-Governor and -Governess of Kila.
‘It is true we have been made aware that a visit to Gaia is expected of us,’ Tory began. ‘Spiritually speaking, Gaia needs help. If our home planet remains alienated from the rest of our planetary alliance, we risk leaving her exposed to the dark influences that we are currently trying so hard to suppress.’
The Cosmic Logos Page 10
