by Mara Powers
He looked into the sack and cracked a smile. As she stepped toward the animata, he blocked her path. “One more thing,” he grinned, revealing a golden tooth. “I would ask for a kiss to seal the deal.”
Ofira balled up her fists. “Jonda Dex. I would not kiss you even if the Watchers threatened to take my ship. You disgust me. Get out of my way.”
He reached his giant hand around her waist. “You are so lovely when you’re angry.”
She twisted nimbly past his reach and made contact with the warrior. She focused into its eyes to bond with the imprinter-crystal in its brain. The warrior suddenly animated, and stepped between them.
“D’Vinid,” she barked. “You’d better hurry.”
“D’Vinid!” Jonda declared. “The Prophet Singer? You lied to me!”
“The liar has been fooled, and he’s upset about it,” she snorted to D’Vinid.
“Now I’m hurt, Little Captain,” he pouted. “I told you the truth earlier about the animata! Don’t you think you owe me something?”
“I owe you a kick in the head.” Ofira looked past him nervously. “But I will tell you the truth. We are all in grave danger right now. We need to get out of here.” She tossed the hover-disc to the dock and hopped on.
D’Vinid swallowed the blue elixir. A buzzing sensation began to rearrange his molecules. He looked at his hands. They were still hands. Suddenly he could see into an unusual pocket of Dreamtime. His movement seemed to manipulate a subtle, blue-translucent mist. He waved his hand around, watching the paths his hands created in the dense misty layer his eyes could suddenly perceive. As he scanned the area, he noticed a blue apparition hovering beside him. Startled, he jumped. “You!” he gasped.
Brigitte’s ghostly appendages reached out to encompass him. Her almond eyes took shape in her misty form, watching him urgently. “You must leave here now, my love.” She touched his head with her ghostly appendage, and he could suddenly see what she wanted him to see. The profound love that had ignited in his heart quickly turned to terror, as another being materialized over them both. Its pitch-blackness blended into the fog. Its eerie red eyes watched him. Bone-chilling cold oozed into him.
Another creature just like it hovered over Loressai, its shadowy appendages reaching into her body. Guilt seized his heart. Somehow he felt as though this was his fault. A rush of adrenalin boosted his movements. “I have to help her somehow!” He looked pleadingly at the apparition of Brigitte. “Whatever you are, if you are a Watcher, have pity on Loressai. Don’t let them take her!”
Ofira grabbed him by the arm. “We need to get out of here now.”
He wavered and his breath trembled as he watched the black figure reach further into Loressai’s body. Her lips fluttered into a wicked grin.
“Run, D’Vinid.” Brigitte’s voice appeared in his head. “Don’t look back.”
Without a word, he sprung his hover-disc open with a flick of the wrist, tossed it, and hopped on in one fluid motion. He was relieved to discover he was slowly regaining his trickster skills.
Together, D’Vinid and Ofira bounced through the docks, trying to avoid the many people who had become obscured in the fog. The hair on D’Vinid’s neck stood on end. He knew the creature was in pursuit. He widened his stance, leaning over to pick up speed. The fog had to end somewhere.
“What about your warrior?” D’Vinid called out to Ofira as she sprung off the side of a crate to avoid hitting some frightened shoppers.
“Don’t worry about that. I am bonded with it. It will come to me when I command.”
They cleared the cartel docks, but the fog remained.
Loressai emerged from the docks, sprinting at unnatural speed. The blackness was attached to her as if it had become her shadow. D’Vinid wanted to continue, but somehow he remained engrossed, as Loressai stopped and turned her attention to the apparition of Brigitte, who very purposefully shifted her body from the blue-dream into the shallows of Dreamtime. Like an animal, she began sniffing the air. The shadow creature consumed her like a puppet master, and dug its dark claws deeper into her body. The other shadow entity followed D’Vinid. It did not have the same hold on him. Yet the more guilt he felt at seeing Loressai, the more he could feel its icy touch.
“What are you doing, D’Vinid?” Ofira called back, while making a wide loop on her disc. D’Vinid’s heart clenched as he realized where Loressai was heading. In a parking alcove, surrounded by four fury warriors, rested the same carriage in which Brigitte and her brother had departed from Pan’s estate.
Brigitte realized her ploy to lead the creatures to the nodeyard had failed. They were too smart. They understood she was walking in dreambody, which meant somewhere she was lying completely vulnerable. She had no choice but to re-enter her body.
She opened her eyes to the concerned look of Allondriss. Lukias’s eyes fluttered open a heartbeat later.
“We have to lead her there on foot,” Lukias whispered harshly. “Are you ready?” He turned his eyes to Allondriss. “You’d better wait here. It will follow us, and if I’m right, you will be safe once we leave.”
Without hesitation, Loressai sprang into action and jumped onto the back of a fury warrior, sinking her teeth into his neck.
Brigitte and Lukias dove from the carriage and made a break for the nodeyard.
Seeing this, D’Vinid sped back on the hover-disc, ignoring Ofira’s warning to keep going.
Brigitte and Lukias ran with surprising agility.
Loressai disengaged the fury, leaving him to bleed.
The other three furies pounced on her.
“Stixxus!” Brigitte called back. “With us!”
The fury leader left the other two to fight, and ran to catch up with his charges. When they reached the nodeyard, they turned back to see Loressai in hot pursuit, somehow disengaged from her attackers.
Just before she reached the nodeyard, D’Vinid hovered between them and dismounted the disc.
He reached a hand out to Loressai. “Don’t hurt these people!” he demanded. “Whatever you want from me, you can have it.”
Loressai stopped in her tracks, but remained outside the perimeter of the nodeyard.
Brigitte and the others cringed, hoping they would take a few steps into the waiting blue web created by Fa-nariel and her conclave companions.
“Very well. We will take you, then.” The entity above him closed in on D’Vinid, reaching into him like the one who had taken Loressai.
D’Vinid reached out his arms and surrendered. “Leave this place!” he called back to Brigitte. The black tentacles wrapped him up, sinking into his dreambody. He began trembling. Tears rolled down his cheeks. “I am sorry, Loressai,” he moaned in pain. “I am sorry for what I did to you and Kyliron. I have always regretted what I did.” He sank to a knee, trying to fight the pain.
The rage in Loressai’s eyes faded for a moment. A tear rolled down her cheek.
“You are a fool!” the shadow screeched as it dug into his body. “There’s no giving yourself to us. You are already taken. You gave yourself to us cycles ago when you surrendered to your guilt.” Laughter ripped through the nodeyard as the creature burrowed deeper into D’Vinid’s flesh. “I will take you, and then your friends will die.”
Like a flash, Ofira tackled him into the nodeyard, hurling herself at full speed on the disc, and throwing herself bodily through the air. They landed close to the crystal-node.
Loressai took a few steps toward them, placing her at last in the waiting trap. The Children of One were ready for her. The node began to resonate. The sound maintained its oscillation between dissonance and harmony. Everyone in earshot recoiled.
D’Vinid’s eyes flashed orange, and the entity retracted from his body, retreating into the fog. Its shrieking, pain-filled screech sailed through the air.
Loressai collapsed on the ground and a sudden sunbeam broke through the clouds, rapidly dissolving the fog.
Brigitte uncovered her ears and rushed to D’Vinid’s
side. He pulled her into a hug.
Lukias reached his hand out to Ofira and yanked her up.
“Didn’t think I would see you two again so soon,” Ofira smiled at the dreamseer, and then to Brigitte.
D’Vinid pointed back and forth between them. “You brought them here?”
“Dreamclans. Dreamshiiiip,” Ofira sang with her clever smile.
Movement all around them revealed the Children of One had taken their solid forms. They moved toward Loressai’s unconscious body.
“We will take her,” one of the men spoke as another scooped her up. Their leader had a powerful presence. A hooded wrap covered what seemed like the courtly wear of a kallista. Her feet were adorned with sandals, her toenails painted gold. The cords of the sandals wrapped up her calves and merged with snake tattoos. She took a prolonged look at D’Vinid. Her catlike eyes then slipped to Brigitte with a nod.
“You are taking her? You will see she is brought to a healing center, I assume?” D’Vinid spoke, stepping toward them with concern.
The sound of a horn blurted through the area. The group faded back into Dreamtime, taking Loressai with them.
“All hail, King Kyliron!” a blaring voice followed.
D’Vinid froze. He looked at Brigitte, breathless. “Come with me.” His expression sank in deflated regret. He began inching away.
“I can’t.” Brigitte’s triumph collapsed.
Ofira wrapped her arm around his shoulders and guided him in the other direction. Together they casually strolled from the nodeyard. Brigitte watched helplessly as he left, debating whether to follow. But how could she? Her moment had arrived. She watched D’Vinid, who threw her one last pained expression then quickly faded into the gathering crowd. Hesitantly, Brigitte turned to meet King Kyliron, the man to whom she had always been betrothed.
A TUNNEL STRETCHED impossibly in both directions, making it seem as though one could walk forever. The underground passage was made of smoothly-hewn granite. The way was lit by luminescent moss growing from the walls. The High Priestess of the Temple Sect walked alone, adorned with the flowing white and gold robe of the Alta. The ball of rose quartz atop her crystal-staff glowed dimly. The air was deathly still.
Eventually the walls gave way to a voluminous cavern. On the far end, a wall of water fell smoothly into a deep, blue lake. Dancing lights played off the tumbling waterfall, projecting its shimmering chaos on the walls of the cave. These were fresh waters flowing from the heart of the mountain. An underground channel connected the lake to the ocean. It was said to be a sacred place where oceanid royalty held court with the most privileged of Atlantean temple nobility.
In the center of the lake was a small island upon which a fire raged in a massive cauldron. Above it was suspended a throne where a woman sat, her golden hair flowing over the edges. Her eyes were closed. The high priestess tapped her staff on the ground. A singing resonance echoed through the cavern, and its light brightened. The woman on the throne opened her eyes.
“I bring greetings to the Oracle of the Six Realms!” the priestess called out. Her voice ricocheted through the cave.
“High Priestess of Atlantis. I welcome you.” The woman’s voice cracked as if it had not been used in ages.
“I have come for your wise guidance, Oracle.”
“Your questions have been brought to me by the elementals. You have chosen to activate Nexes Lockdown Protocol.”
“Yes.” The priestess had regret in her voice.
“Your caution is indeed necessary. The Dark Triad have descended on this land. The three sorcerer kings of the fire nations have been released from their icy prison with more hatred in their hearts than ever they once possessed. Their dreambodies are twisted into vengeance. They seek to dominate Atlantis. But Belial has returned, using his cunning. They do not know of his presence. There is another who works from within to bring back the Dark Triad. Seek out the shadow who hides in the faces of many. He has deceived even you, Your Grace. If they take over the Grid, they will have more power than they must.”
The priestess nodded. “So, I am correct in disconnecting Nexes.”
“You possess the secret key, do you not?”
The priestess lowered her eyes. “It is hidden, even from me.”
“If the key returns, then you will know your path is correct. The Grid of Atlantis must not fall into the hands of those who would misuse it. The Watchers will do what they can to assist you, and so will the elements . . . You have another question.”
The priestess produced the summoner-crystal given to her by the kallista in Kyliron’s chambers. “At the beginning of the third age, a genetic project was initiated among the temples. It is named Project Indigo. This is the generation they are supposed to take form. I have searched my whole life for signs of their awakening. I believe I have met one of them at last.”
The Oracle’s eyes rolled back in her head. After some prolonged moments in convulsive thought, she opened her eyes again. “As you seek to isolate the Archives Nexes, your actions will initiate the shutdown of the Atlantis Project. These lost temple children you created will be the ones destined to disassemble the Grid. And they will bind themselves to Sophaiya until the Grid is ready to be assembled again. Even if it takes millions of cycles, they will return and destroy what is in the way of unity, so the human project may continue.
“They operate in secret, and yet they are more advanced than even they understand. They are wild, and if you do not nurture your creations, they will accelerate this destruction. They wish to understand the reason for their existence. You must help them understand.”
“How do I find them?”
“Seek out the conclaves who stay hidden in the blue essence of Dreamtime. They call themselves the Children of One. King Koraxx knew of them. He tried to eliminate their practices. Beware of his son, the one who has taken on Koraxx’s folly. The other son is destined for greatness. His fate has been activated. He will find his way soon and take his place among the lost temple children.
“The elements are your allies, High Priestess. Take care to recognize the signs they leave. The oceanids are on the rise. They have taken notice of the change in vibration emanating from the powerful Grid of Atlantis. They will destroy the Grid before you if you are not careful. Look to them as you initiate your lockdown of Nexes. You will know the way. All is in your capable hands now.”
AS A GIRL GROWING up, Brigitte would catch glimpses of his face in her dreams, the boy named Prince Kyliron. His eyes burned into her memory. She always thought she loved him. But often he visited her nightmares. She closed her eyes to send a prayer to Poseidon. The time had arrived when she would once again meet the owner of the face who had always inhabited her visions.
She lifted her eyes, and tried to swallow the lump in her throat. Brigitte could not bring herself to look at his face at first. Trembling with anguished apprehension, she forced herself to face him. He scanned the group with a predatory spark in his dark, shining eyes. A jeweled crown rested on top of jet-black hair, cropped close to his head. His long neck was adorned with an ornate necklace of orichalcum, and a large aqua pendant rested on his throat.
He glimpsed Brigitte with calm intelligence, just as her eyes lifted from the pendant to look at him. Their gazes locked, and Brigitte knew him at once. The boy had grown, his face shaped into the rugged, masculine angles of manhood. All surrounding sounds faded into the background as Brigitte and Kyliron renewed their psychic link. It was as if no time had passed since their first meeting as children.
In a moment of seeming endlessness they became one. Her body refused to move. She felt if she stood there holding her breath, she would wake up from a dream, and be back home in her own bed. The moment continued nonetheless.
One thought brushed her mind, disturbing her above all: D’Vinid. At the thought of his touch, her entire body lit up. The Watchers had played a trick on her heart. In the moment she had prepared for all her life, the face of another man was the motivation
guiding her toward her designated mate. The danger was staggering. She wanted to hope she would never see the musician again, but desired to see him above all things. She attempted to bury him deep in her heart instead.
A light blue-robed priest approached the node. He was one of the record-keepers of the Temple Sect. They dealt with the transfer of information and knowledge, and among those duties was the function of VC waves. The priest took out a small crystal, presumably a programmer, and ran it over the crystal-node.
Kyliron waited for the record-keeper to program the crystal-node so it would record this moment to be featured on viewer-crystals around Atlantis. Those citizens who hurried to the scene immediately recognized they were involved in a VC transmission being recorded for all time. The word spread as quickly as the hush that followed.
The priest nodded, and Kyliron began. “I am pleased to see you have made it to Poseidia, Brigitte of the Oceanus Dreamclan.” Kyliron’s voice rang through a dreamlike silence. He guided her tenderly to face him. His pose was lofty. His copper beauty shone in the sunlight. To those who were fleeing the cartel docks, it looked as though the king had dispersed the fog, and felt as though the fear, which had been gripping them was banished.
Brigitte met his gaze, spellbound by his resplendence, reluctant to speak, for fear she had lost her voice in the panic of her heart.
“You are more beautiful than I imagined.” He assessed her from head to toe. His movements were like a pantomime, staged not only for her, but for everyone who assembled. To those who watched, their meeting was the romance anyone could ever hope to experience. But his eyes said something only she could see.
He gently rearranged her wild auburn locks to spill down her back, watching the way her hair fell, and lifted her hand to his lips. But he closed his eyes. Though his actions were a show of gallantry, he seemed only interested in her outer appearance. She searched for his eyes, trying to mimic the way she had become lost in D’Vinid’s. He avoided her gaze, and looked around at the gathering crowd, holding up her hand to show her off.
