The Black Madonna (The Mystique Trilogy)

by Traci Harding

  ‘What is it?’ Levi asked curiously, for only the person touching the ball could hear the voice; a precaution that prevented these damned creatures being driven insane by the purity of her song.

  ‘It’s a recording of Tamar—’ I began.

  ‘No, no,’ Killian corrected, ‘it’s not a recording of Tamar’s singing voice, it is Tamar’s singing voice. She gave it up to pay a toll to enter Irkalla, where she is now, sedated, naked and quite subdued.’ He smiled, convinced that he now had the upper hand.

  Contrary to his expectation, I didn’t attack him. Instead, I felt deeply sorry for him and the emotion showed on my face.

  ‘What?’ he asked, wanting an explanation for my sad look.

  ‘How much pain must you have endured to be able to knowingly betray your greatest ally in such a manner,’ I sympathised.

  He revelled in what he’d done. ‘Beautiful, isn’t it?’

  ‘Does she know the truth about you?’ I asked, and the query took a little of the wind from his sails.

  ‘I suspect she will soon,’ he responded, ‘now that you know. You Dragon Queens have your own communication network, don’t you?’

  He obviously knew of our telepathic connection. He also knew that my link with Tamar was strained at present, and indeed her detainment in Irkalla explained the interference during her last attempt to contact me.

  ‘So the next time you ladies chat,’ Killian continued, ‘you can tell Kali that Ill and I greatly look forward to wedding our most powerful rival. And in return for her complete cooperation, we won’t summon her love’s alter ego from the darkest depths of hell for another rematch of wills.’

  I had expected a death threat, but Ill knew of Mathu’s existence, and where he was, which was far worse. I refused to be intimidated by them, however, and continued to pity their naivety.

  ‘You and Ill are insane if you think you’ll be able to control my daughter,’ I said.

  ‘Kali is under our control!’ He pointed to the table. ‘How much more proof do you need?’

  Erragal came forward, his dark presence towering over us. ‘And that means you’re going to retrieve the Rod of Power for us.’

  ‘Only I am genetically capable of wielding the rod,’ I pointed out, hoping to discover what they planned to do with the item.

  ‘Until…’ Killian raised a finger to stress his point, ‘…you reunite the rod with the Ring of Power to form the key to Amenti. Which you will then hand to Kali, my intended, and she and I will have the honour of opening the doors of Amenti.’

  I was perplexed. ‘The doors will not open for you.’

  ‘Nor for any thereafter,’ he concluded with a smile. ‘Not for another twenty-five thousand years anyway. Plenty of time for us to utilise your stargate system to conquer every guardian race connected to this pathetic little backwater planet!’

  This was no longer Killian speaking; for a moment he was possessed by a darker, much more sinister presence. Psychically, Killian did not seem to have any malign entities attached to him, but perhaps his own psychic skills allowed him to connect with the dark presence he was allied with.

  ‘And to ensure you don’t supply us with another fake,’ Erragal said, still annoyed by the memory of our last meeting, ‘Killian will accompany you back to the battle of Badon Hill, where he can see you retrieve the Rod of Power from the hand of Arthur himself!’

  ‘What?’ I could hardly believe my ears. ‘That plan is beyond foolish, it’s pure insanity! The battle of Badon Hill was a significant event in history—’

  ‘Which no one can really pinpoint in terms of location or date,’ Killian cut in. ‘Hell, historians can’t even prove Arthur existed! Ever wonder why that is?’

  I opened my mouth to reply but Killian was on a roll.

  ‘Because the battle of Badon Hill is such a significant event in the inter-time war that its outcome is ever-changing.’

  ‘There is no wormhole back to the battle of Badon Hill,’ Levi said, being fairly knowledgeable on the matter.

  ‘Not a direct one,’ Killian granted. ‘But a brief changeover with the Illuminati sects of pre-Nazi Germany will see us all the way back to our destination.’ Tamar had warned me about all of this and I’d still ended up becoming embroiled in it.

  ‘If you’re talking about Project Phisummum, that wormhole was highly unstable due to the dark powers that were summoned to create it,’ said Levi. ‘It will never be able to withstand the traffic of a permanent wormhole interchange; you’ll be lucky if it stays open long enough for you to get back through it—that is, if the Illuminati don’t kill you for crashing their inter-time party in the first place.’

  ‘Once the Black Madonna holds the Rod of Power, she will be able to cut a path to anywhere in history.’ Killian was more certain of this fact than I was.

  ‘And should you deviate from our orders,’ Erragal warned me, ‘we’ll know of it, and I’ll see to it that your daughter is raped by every demon in Irkalla, before Nergal’s sixty diseases go to work on her.’

  He certainly painted a vivid picture and I felt sure he meant every word he said.

  ‘Your technological friend will stay here with us, as insurance,’ the Nefilim added, but I didn’t find the terms acceptable.

  All Amenti staff were psychically gifted to a certain degree, but I didn’t know enough about Levi and his skills to be confident he could defend himself alone against the dark forces assembled here at Montauk. True, he had done it before undercover, but now he was exposed as a threat, and I had a good idea of how the Nefilim would deal with such a potential menace. I began to protest but Levi quashed my objection.

  ‘Forget about me,’ he said, ‘your primary concern must be Tamar.’

  The way he spoke, with such insistence, led me to believe he was inferring more than he could say.

  ‘Understand?’ he insisted.

  Only semi-sure that I knew what he was asking of me, I nodded.

  ‘I want him where I can see him,’ I insisted, ‘before I leave and when I arrive back.’

  ‘If you arrive back,’ Levi chided Killian, doing nothing to boost my confidence. But then I realised what he was saying: he didn’t want me to return to Montauk, not even for him.

  Forget about me; your primary concern must be Tamar.

  Once I had the Rod of Power in my hands, Levi was suggesting I head straight back to 2017 to Tamar’s aid. But what about our other stranded Amenti team members—they were sitting ducks here in 2003 with the Klieo out of commission.

  ‘Take him to the general observation deck,’ Erragal instructed his guards, and Levi was removed from the room.

  ‘You won’t succeed,’ I told Killian and Erragal, but they just smiled.

  ‘We knew you’d say that.’ The Nefilim motioned to Killian, who pulled a copy of the third book in my trilogy from a backpack sitting on the same table where Tamar’s tolls lay. He slung the pack over his shoulder.

  ‘I’ve already read the book, you see,’ he told me.

  ‘Then you know my prediction is correct.’ After all, if I wasn’t victorious, then I’d never get to write the book in the first place.

  Erragal gave a hearty laugh. ‘You’re in for a few nasty surprises.’

  I wanted to grab the book from Killian and read it myself. ‘You’re bluffing,’ I said.

  ‘Am I?’ He shoved me towards the door. ‘We’ll see about that, won’t we?’

  I was escorted, under guard, back to the Montauk Chair chamber. One floor below the timewalkers platform, Erragal and his Dracon guards exited the elevator, and Killian and I were left alone to wait for our cue.

  ‘Once Ill takes you over, nothing will remain of you at all,’ I said, wanting to see what reaction I’d get.

  ‘I hold all the true power,’ Killian assured me. ‘Ill has no power over me that I do not allow.’

  ‘That might be the case now, but—’

  ‘You think they control me?’ he snarled, obviously threatened by my lack of belie
f in him.

  ‘Of course they control you,’ I said frankly, ‘or else you’d be on the side of humanity and not in cahoots with the fallen!’

  He scoffed. ‘Where was humanity when I needed it? You overvalue our species. For the most part, they’re all fucked!’

  ‘So you go and join forces with the beings who corrupted our evolution in the first place?’ I tried to fathom his reasoning.

  ‘I am on my side!’ Killian emphasised, as the lift began its ascent towards the timewalkers platform. ‘Whatever works!’

  The calm smile on his face was so odd, and in such contrast to the situation unfolding, that I suspected his mental programming allowed him to completely detach from his emotions, which made him very difficult to read.

  On the platform, the first thing that struck me was the wind sweeping around the circular chamber. The air was alive with electromagnetic energy, which was being drawn from the Earth’s natural energy grid via the huge inverted antenna extending into the void beneath the chamber. The Montauk Chair sat suspended in the null field at the centre of the disturbance.

  I glanced over to the observation deck and spied Levi, under guard. He waved me goodbye and I returned the gesture.

  ‘Come on, we haven’t got all day!’ Killian swung me around to face the huge inward-swirling porthole. It extended so far out ahead of us that it was impossible to perceive where it ended. ‘To Camelot, my lady,’ he said, making light of our situation.

  ‘Via a bloodbath orchestrated by your friends,’ I chided. ‘What fun.’

  ‘You’re Aryan-looking—you’ve got nothing to worry about.’

  Killian pushed me ahead of him, and I was drawn into the vortex of light and energy and transported another huge leap away from my home time in 2017. As I felt myself swept up in the quantum flux of the time phenomenon, I closed my eyes and focused all my will on contacting my Dragon sisters.

  CHAPTER 21

  POINTS OF INTERFACE

  As I projected my thoughts across time and space to my fellow Dragon Queens, something amazing occurred: my spirit separated from my physical form in transit and soared beyond the phenomenon that held me captive. I had experimented with astral projection in the past, but it usually required great concentration and willpower. It hadn’t even occurred to me that I might use this talent to my advantage in this instance.

  Beyond the light and turbulence of the wormhole, I was drawn through darkness until I found myself in a grand and ancient chamber. It did not appear to be of the physical world, yet the architecture borrowed from many of the different cultures throughout human history. The room was round, with pale yellow ethereal walls, and a floor and ceiling that glowed like sunshine. Huge pillars of jade green were carved with different dragons representing the varied civilisations across the globe. The dragons were not stationary depictions, however; they clung to their pillars, tails swishing, heads cocked, guarding the chamber below. In the centre of the room was a round table of emerald surrounded by seven tall-backed chairs cushioned with deep green velvet.

  Meridan.

  I looked around and was relieved to see Denera. Praise the universe! I embraced her spirit with my own. Where are we?

  This is the true Dragon Court, she said. It is a place of telepathic interface for the Dragon Queens, a conclave that only we may enter.

  As I recovered from my awe, my thoughts turned to why I had sought out my sisters; and in the next instant I was sitting at the table addressing them—bar one, for Kali’s seat remained empty.

  I advised of what had befallen Levi at Montauk, what I knew of our enemy’s plans and the sad news of Tamar’s imprisonment in Irkalla after finally finding Mathu.

  I am sure Levi does not wish me to return to Montauk with the Rod of Power, so what should I do? I finished.

  Killian has Tamar’s invisible ring, you said? Solarian queried.

  When I nodded, she, Thana and Vespera looked very concerned.

  Then they already have the Ring of Power, Thana stated.

  No, I objected, that can’t be, it’s still safe inside Mount Serabit.

  But when Solarian filled me in on what had happened at Mount Shasta, I realised their claim was completely justified.

  Oh my… I said as everything around me swirled into a blur and then back into focus. I feel giddy.

  Meridan, listen, your transmission’s breaking up, Denera said urgently.

  What about Tamar and Levi? I protested as the dizziness washed over me again.

  Leave them to us, Denera said. Only you can unbeach the Klieo. You must use her…to…

  My perception blurred completely and I was drawn away from the warm glow of the sunny chamber, through the darkness and into the vacuum of the wormhole back to the past.

  ASHLEE GRANVILLE-DEVERE—SOLARIAN

  After we lost Meridan, my consciousness lingered in the Dragon Court long enough to hear Denera’s advice on what she felt to be our best course of action.

  As soon as the Klieo’s conference room doors opened, Arcturus was upon me, demanding news.

  ‘Denera confirms that your plan is sound,’ I said. ‘We must use the Inner Earth transit system and the already activated Signet stations to reach and open the remaining stations.’

  ‘And to get to Montauk,’ Arcturus added.

  ‘Montauk is no longer your destination,’ I replied.

  He objected, wanting to go to his wife’s rescue.

  ‘Arcturus,’ I took hold of his hands to calm him, ‘Meridan is no longer there, nor anywhere you can reach her. Your daughter, however, is being held prisoner in Irkalla and is being used to blackmail Meridan into doing the bidding of the fallen.’

  Arcturus was floored by the news. Before he could voice the many questions he had, I relayed all Meridan had told us.

  ‘So the Nefilim have the Ring of Power,’ Arcturus said, glancing at Polaris who had insisted on giving the ring to Tamar. For once my husband was humbled.

  ‘She wasn’t to know what she was giving away,’ I defended her.

  ‘Great goddess!’ Castor was looking pale too. ‘They’re going to attempt to take the rod right out of my hand!’

  ‘Meridan won’t relinquish the treasure to anyone, but she is relying on us to free Tamar so she won’t suffer for her,’ I explained.

  Arcturus’s mind boggled at his task, desperate as he was to take action. ‘How the hell do I get into Irkalla?’ he said.

  Dexter held his hand up. ‘I can get you there. It’s a fairly dark time on Earth at present, so my Signet station should take us directly in the back door.’

  Arcturus was confused. ‘But your station leads to Parallel Earth in the future. How will that help Tamar now?’

  ‘Parallel Earth and Irkalla exist outside of time,’ Dexter pointed out. ‘If Tamar is being held there, then we’ll find her.’

  ‘I’m up for an adventure,’ Castor piped up.

  I forced a grin of apology. ‘You have to stay with the Klieo.’

  ‘Why?’ he demanded, frustrated to be left behind again.

  ‘Because Meridan is currently screwing with the events of your past, which means your reliability will be in question until she returns.’

  Castor didn’t like it but he couldn’t refute the reasoning.

  ‘Tell Meridan to deliver the Klieo back to my station, and we’ll meet you in Nova Scotia after we’ve retrieved Levi,’ Polaris instructed.

  Castor nodded.

  ‘Not to worry, my love.’ Talori moved to console her partner. ‘There’s plenty of action awaiting you in 2017.’

  ‘Keep in touch,’ Castor said to his male colleagues, tapping his finger against his temple. They had a telepathic interface, just as we Dragon sisters shared our own communication network.

  ‘Fingers crossed we’ll hear from Levi soon,’ Polaris said, heading towards the door. ‘Every hour counts,’ he reminded us. ‘The longer we’re here the more we’re prone to change the future.’

  ‘Beat you back here then,’
Arcturus challenged.

  ‘My friend,’ Polaris said with a grin, ‘in your dreams.’

  MIA DEVERE—MERIDAN

  As the draw of the wormhole lessened, its already ominous frequency increased dramatically, warning me that the most nefarious energy I had ever felt lay dead ahead. With every ounce of my being I wished to flee in the opposite direction; not because I feared confronting the source, but because the extremely low vibratory frequency made me feel physically ill and weak.

  When my consciousness rejoined my physical body I was standing in the midst of a horror that completely shattered my hope in humanity; for although there were reptilians and Nefilim present, disguised as human beings, most of the willing participants were human. This evil gathering was taking place in a huge underground grotto, its walls hung with the symbols of the Third Reich. There was a deep pit in the centre of the space, piled high with tiny human skeletal remains, rotting corpses and the mutilated bodies of the dead from this day’s activities. Around me, an orgy involving the rape and torture of young children was in full swing, along with several blood sacrifices including the murder and consumption of newborn babies. I have no desire to describe this horrendous scene any further; suffice to say that only the most debased human acts have the power to attract and excite demons to such a level that they will cooperate in creating a tunnel through time for their conjurors.

  The master of ceremonies overseeing the proceedings had the darkest aura of any human being I had ever seen. He was focused on channelling the empowered demons, which were feeding off the fear being generated by the mass victimisation, into a whirlwind over the pit of death in the centre.

  I looked at Killian, who appeared impassive. ‘Feel pride in your associations now, do you?’ I asked.

  ‘I don’t feel,’ he replied.

  The master of ceremonies remained focused on his evil creation, but all other eyes diverted with awe to Killian and me as we made our dramatic appearance. The porthole we had come through had rocked the chamber on arrival and again on departure.