Shadows of Atlantis- Awakening

by Mara Powers

  “Just like Belial’s Kama is out of his reach. But this night is about them transcending their separation.” She ran her fingers over the vials and plucked a multi-faceted jeweled bottle sealed with a cork. The liquid inside glowed silver. “This is my special mix for the night. I call it Moonshadow. It will make you forget, among other things.” She smiled a half-cocked grin.

  The twins found their way into the midst of the fray, amplifying the din around them. D’Vinid leaned in closer to the mixologist, narrowing his eyes to slits. “Will it make me do anything stupid?”

  “It will allow you to step aside and allow the Fates to guide you.” She moved closer to him and breathed his aroma, ignited by his beguiling allure.

  He sat back, fighting a surge of fear. “I don’t wish to follow the Fates. I am trying to escape them.”

  She sputtered into wicked laughter. “My dear! You cannot escape the Fates! No matter where you turn, nothing short of taking your own life will free you from their plans, and even then, you are still in their hands. Now come a little closer. Perhaps we can find you something else, something less extreme.” She caressed his face, delicately scratching the stubble of his unshaven face with slender, painted fingers.

  He eyed the vial of silver liquid. His eyes flashed orange.

  She noticed the flash. “You are marked,” she gasped. “Then I have made this for you.” She grabbed his hand and pressed his fingers around the tiny bottle of the elixir she called Moonshadow. “Take this for later. Put it in your pocket.” She plucked a vial of smooth glass, filled with a purple liquid. “This is fendesia. I believe this is what you need this night. I think you need some euphoria to dull your mental anguish. But don’t worry, you will still be able to think clearly.”

  “What will it do?” He watched her carefully as he absently tucked the Moonshadow away, and grasped the vial of fendesia with more interest.

  “It may cause you to see with dreamsight. If anything else, the euphoria will linger a few hours. Your mind will be numbed enough for you not to care about whatever brings you guilt.”

  He nodded and opened the cork, took one last look at her painted face, and swallowed the purple liquid.

  The debauchery continued around them. Music pulsed in the distance. Colorful lights flashed. Jensyn and Kayden tag-teamed the story of Prince Bavendrick’s departure and their valiant hover-disc stunt.

  “What were you thinking, invoking the conclaves?” Someone called out. “You do know they’re secret, right?”

  Jensyn positioned himself closer to D’Vinid, dragging one of the women with him. She tumbled into his arms, giggling wildly. He looked into D’Vinid’s soul. “The conclaves must unite. This is possible under Bavendrick’s symbol. Long live Prince Bavendrick.” The creases of his face deepened as his smile spread, and he lifted an elixir to his lips.

  “Long live Prince Bavendrick!” The others mimicked. Jensyn kept his eyes fixed severely on D’Vinid as he swallowed the liquid.

  D’Vinid searched for an escape. He wanted no part in what was being said, and yet he had become the center of attention yet again. The fendesia began to take effect almost immediately. At first, D’Vinid felt light-headed, and then his heart seemed to burst into a million shards of unspeakable bliss. He scanned the garden and coiled back in astonishment. His vision swirled into dreamsight. The air seemed as if it had transformed into liquid. Bright waves of colors outlined the people.

  The mixologist began slithering toward him, her lips poised for a kiss. He reached out to embrace her slender body, his hands searched her curves. He skimmed the surface of her skin with his lips, succumbing to the beast of passion he tried to keep locked away. But then the vision shifted as a flash of light washed everything in orange.

  He looked around in horror. Shadows reached into the hearts of the writhing courtiers. He could see their emptiness. His hands released the mixologist. She landed in a heap of pillows, staring at him in disappointed astonishment. He quickly rolled to his feet, staggered out of the clearing, and ran down the garden path.

  COLORS SPUN IN spirals and light. Every living thing was outlined in glowing mist. Nothing seemed real in Dreamtime. Entering it consciously was an exercise only taught to those in dreamseer training. Lukias had been generous enough to secretly teach Brigitte what he learned as they grew up together.

  Walking in dreambody was her way of hiding from the world. As a result, no one except Lukias knew she possessed such skills, especially their father, who had always been strict in his expectations of her behavior. Brigitte didn’t like feeling confined, so she practiced dreamwalking for hours, sometimes days.

  Invisible, she drifted through Pan’s garden, heavy with dread. Everywhere, shadows were attached ominously to their unsuspecting hosts. Darkness seemed to penetrate everything, save for a small light at the far corner of the estate. Another lit up in the opposite corner, and suddenly a dome of violet dreamlight spread over the estate. Brigitte floated to each of the cloaked figures, who held the light in four directions. They were powerful magi. She watched them carefully as they sealed off the area and brought down columns of purple flames to sweep through the revelry. The shadows were immediately incinerated by the flames. Their screams were soul-shattering. But despite the drama of it all, no one seemed to see it.

  Amidst the blinding light, she caught sight of D’Vinid wandering the garden grounds. In dreamsight he was surrounded by an orange outline of light, as if he had a displaced dreambody around him. It beckoned and gazed at her through fiery eyes. She jolted in her physical body. Something ancient, fierce, and passionate sparked to life inside her heart. She was immediately trapped in it. All she could do was succumb to the fierce desire compelling her insatiably toward D’Vinid.

  “WHO’S THAT?” D’VINID spun around, trying to see who he sensed nearby. “Loressai? Is that you?”

  A figure appeared as an apparition in a mass of spiraling colors. D’Vinid stepped back in awe. “You really are a Watcher!” he breathed, recognizing Brigitte’s ghostly figure. His feet began to move. His body erupted into effervescence. His vision flashed orange. He grabbed his head and stumbled back. The light faded for a split second, and a profound chill of fear sent a shiver up his spine.

  The apparition began to fade. Her ethereal limbs wrapped around him, enticing him forward.

  His legs moved against his will. His hand reached into his pocket and produced the special silver elixir. He could not stop himself, as the bottle seemed to raise itself to his lips. Before he knew it, he had swallowed the contents. He stumbled toward the eastern bungalows. His human mind was unsure where she had been confined, but his body knew exactly where to go. The dome bungalows were framed by smooth, inky waters reflecting the starry sky. The feeling of the revelry had switched from fear to uncontained joy. The shadows were gone.

  Brigitte moved to the deck overlooking the cove. A sudden gust of wind sent her hair blowing wildly as she leaned against the railing. Dolphins gathered below, smiling up at her. D’Vinid’s eyes were drawn to the curves of her outline as she emerged. She was a sight to behold against the starry night. His heart raced as he approached the bungalow. Sensing his approach, she moved to open the door.

  ALLONDRISS STOOD NEARBY in the darkness. She took a few steps toward the door of the bungalow, unsure what to do. A heavy hand fell on her shoulder, and Lukias’s dark eyes regarded her with warning. His mess of hair caught the fading moonlight as the eclipse began to reach its height. He shook his head slowly, and put a finger to his lips. “This is meant to happen. Can’t you feel it, young dreamseer?” His thoughts became one with hers.

  “My master wanted me to check on you . . .”

  “We are fine,” he interrupted, then paused, gazing at her suspiciously. “Who are these magi who have tracked my sister?”

  “They came from Subterra. I believe they mean to help.”

  “I have cloaked her so no one can find her in Dreamtime. See to it your master knows I am aware of his spies. We
have no further needs for the night.”

  Allondriss nodded slowly, entranced. His face in the dim garden lighting seemed just as captivating as the sight of Brigitte and D’Vinid in the entrance of the bungalow. In dreamsight they were illuminated by a golden beam, as they united under the eclipse of the moon. It was the height of Ka-Ma-Sharri. The world pulsed with life. She blinked in a state of perplexity as flowers and vines began to visibly bloom around them.

  A crystal pendant flashed on Lukias’s chest like the light of a star. She could not help but stare at it. Her blue eyes glowed in the crystal’s light. Lukias raised her face to look at his, and shook his head.

  “A soul-crystal.” She wondered at its brilliance.

  “You should go now, little dreamseer. I shall make sure my sister is unharmed.”

  Without argument, she turned and wandered into the garden, stopping only to look back at Lukias’s outline in the eerie garden lighting under the eclipse of the Ka-Ma-Sharri.

  AS BRIGITTE CLOSED the door, D’Vinid pinned her against it, placing a hand above her head. He looked her solidly in the eye. The world swirled in his vision. He was entirely himself, and yet entirely unbridled. His hands shook. The same otherworldly force seemed to take over his movements again. Tears poured from his eyes, and he pulled her into his arms. All time seemed to stop. A wave of passion erupted, sweeping them into a tender, ravenous kiss.

  Golden light saturated the room. Brigitte pulled away, panting. His eyes burned with a fiery glow, holding her suddenly motionless. Though she tried to resist, the presence within the room seized her in a state of euphoric tension. The air warped. She wanted desperately to move. Every limb ached to be in his embrace.

  Finally she recognized her situation and capitulated, allowing her mind to surrender to the hopeless web in which she had become entangled. An ethereal orange light illuminated the whites of his eyes as a smile crept onto his face, a smile Brigitte somehow recognized. “My love . . .” His words echoed through her mind, triggering distant, faded remnants of memories, leftover dreams lying dormant in her subconscious.

  She felt Dreamtime close in around her, encasing her in an invisible chamber of serenity. “Belial,” she breathed.

  D’Vinid’s voice laughed. “I am he whom the Watchers fear and protect. I am he who brings knowledge from the stars and gives it to humanity. I am he who walks through Dreamtime. The traveler of worlds. The fallen star. Protector of that which you all hold dear. I am darkness within the light . . . the lightness within the dark . . .” His words trailed off in an ethereal echo. “I have watched, too, my love. And I await the end times with great anticipation, when we can be reunited at last. On this night, the eve when these fine people celebrate our reunion, let us be one again.”

  And in Brigitte’s mind a memory appeared, and she realized she indeed loved this creature with her entire being. He was her eternal love, and yet an apparition looking from the eyes of D’Vinid. His true form had since transmuted completely into Dreamtime, ascended into the spaciousness of a Watcher.

  “Why am I here?” she whispered, sadly. “Why did I come here?” The sight of him blurred as tears welled in her eyes. “Why can’t I stay with you in Dreamtime?”

  He lifted his hand to touch her, and another memory flooded her consciousness . . .

  A king and queen sat enthroned together, both part of the same soul, which had separated itself into male and female, where once they had been one androgynous being. A sense of emptiness and separation consumed them as they watched one another longingly across a vast expanse of time and space. The symbol of the Archives Nexes floated before her in dreamsight; two inverted pyramids within a perfect orb, forming the shape of a star. Up the center, two snakes coiled around each other, reaching infinitely in either direction. They each extended their hands around the orb. The symbol began to spin and grow until it encompassed all of Atlantis in a dome of light.

  The vision faded.

  “You agreed to enter the cycle of human reincarnation. You are Kama, my soul twin, and protector of Nexes. You are my connection to this material world so I may continue to fix what has been broken on this planet from Dreamtime.”

  She lowered her head. A feeling of intense loneliness and separation clutched at her throat.

  “As above, so below. As within, so without.” His voice dripped like honey in her thoughts. “You are the light in the darkest night of all, my love.” He sank to his knees, clutched at her hand, and kissed it as if it were the source of nourishment to a hungry man. “Banish the fear from your heart, my Kama. You are the strongest of us all.” He pulled her closer, running his hand through her hair, and squeezing her scalp with his fingertips. She leaned her head into his touch. Her mindlight ignited.

  His burning hand reached to touch the skin on her side. She erupted into blue ethereal flames. Passing a hand before her eyes, she breathed with apprehensive fascination, watching the flames incredulously.

  Their movement together was as natural as two streams of water uniting. Their limbs intertwined, and a connection was made like that between atoms. As two primordial beings, passionate for one another and parted for centuries, they combined into a burning pillar of rapturous bliss.

  Priestess makes thy hand to stay

  the promise of the warrior’s way.

  He who seeks to take her heart

  is forced with love to sorely part.

  His is just the way of thieves practicing their craft.

  Their way is merely wandering,

  without their souls intact.

  FRACTURED SUNRAYS SPILLED through prismatic windows, casting gold into a mirror of marble floors. Breaking the morning’s lazy stillness, faint pattering echoed among foliage lining the temple’s open-air corridor. Robed figures marched in silent formation, passing through elegant archways and fragrant, hanging bouquets. They approached a group of temple clergy standing watch at a set of double doors.

  The sentinels straightened as the procession appeared, preparing to challenge their entry, but relaxed as they recognized the leader. He was a priest with long, sandy-colored hair, tied back in a ponytail. His face had the wizened lines of an old one, and yet his blue eyes were young and fierce. A Nexes medallion fashioned in amethyst fell to the indentation of his throat.

  They dared not object as he reached to push open the frosted glass door, its smooth contours etched with the same star symbol. His entourage waited outside.

  Inside stood a statuesque woman, her alabaster skin like a beam of moonlight that would vanish in the harsh light of day. She wore a white robe embellished with gold, and embroidered with the symbol of the highest priesthood, known as the Alta. Her eyes focused out the window on a view of Poseidia from its highest point, but her thoughts were turned inward. She fidgeted with a staff of cylindrical quartz, its clear, fragile body wrapped in sinuous silver snakes. At its top rested a perfect ball of lustrous rose quartz.

  “High Priestess,” the man spoke gently.

  She turned to face him. Her eyes were clouded. “Ah, Ilorian Thoth,” she said, addressing the High Keeper of the Archives Nexes. “Is there still no news from the king’s betrothed?” Her voice sounded distant.

  “The dreamseers sensed her arrival. However, the temple escorts sent to greet her were attacked last night. They were cut down by something savage, some kind of beast. But it is said the Queen Impending was not with them when it happened.”

  The priestess fixed her eyes out the window again. “I believe she is alive.”

  “Of this we have no doubt. A convergence has been sensed, and her arrival is part of it.”

  “I have felt this, as well. What sort of convergence would you say it is?” She asked.

  “A merging of energies powerful enough to magnify one another into a crux. The Alta believe it is being wielded by a Watcher to open a doorway from the Dreamvale. The touch of Belial has been felt across the Grid. Perhaps it is his return.”

  A slight smile appeared on her face, which s
eemed as if it would break at the disturbance of her porcelain features. “Then the dreamseers have been correct all along,” she mused. “Belial’s hand shall touch our fair Atlantis once more. Is it possible this attack is of this crux?”

  He sighed. “Blood sacrifice could have formed an event powerful enough. Black magic. It’s possible more than one entity is using this great magnification for different purposes, both light and dark. Though I hate to say it, I have read it as the work of Belial’s brother. There are those in my order who oppose me on this theory, however.”

  “The Oppressor of Humanity,” she quivered. “I felt the attack through the Grid last night. I presume it was felt by all.”

  Ilorian Thoth scowled. “It was. But the king has denied an explanation to be sent over viewer-crystal waves, as to not strike fear into the people.”

  Her ocean-blue eyes stabbed him through. “The king is not in charge of the VC Network. The people will not know where this fear comes from. They will think it’s from their own hearts. A very dangerous choice for the king to make, forcing them to suffer in ignorance. It is not up to him or anyone else to edit current events. The people must be informed. It seems I must bring this up among the Alta. Koraxx’s son will need a tighter leash.” She gazed out the window again. “I would like to know the source of this crux. Who is in charge of the investigation?”

  “Since the Queen Impending is involved, the king wishes to closely monitor the search, so he appointed Maydrian Jamarish Ka. The warriors have been activated, and operatives have been sent out from the dreamseers and the Grid-tuners.”

  She smiled again. “This is why we have Temple Sect in the royal courts. Have Jamarish Ka report to me in person.” She seemed to come to a decision. “Send out another team to track down the specifics of the crux. Have them check with the Luminari of Subterra and the Order of Nexes.”