Levels of Ascension BoxSet

by Amy Proebstel

  Frasnia nodded calmly even as she grew more curious. She already planned on tracking the telepod beacon to see what her boss was up to. It was not like him to make sudden plans and she was intrigued.

  Amanda and Bryon left the office together. They walked across the shipping yard to where the telepods were stored and entered number twenty. Bryon obviously sat in the pilot’s seat and Amanda sat beside him. They buckled up and Bryon performed all of the procedures to get them to their location.

  Amanda was staring at all of the controls on the panel. This looked just like she remembered from her dream, which meant it was nothing like what she had trained on to get her here. She was glad Bryon had taken the lead since she was sure she would not have gotten them to the cave.

  Bryon asked, “Are you ready?”

  “Yes. Let’s go.”

  Everything went black and Amanda counted three seconds before they arrived back into the bright sunshine at a different location. Amanda looked out the window and saw the cave she remembered exiting when she had returned to Tuala in her dream. This next part was what had her most anxious because in her dream, the crystal no longer sat in the niche near the gate.

  They exited the telepod and walked to the cave entrance. Amanda’s nerves were calmed as she could feel the energy of the samara projecting from darkness within. She smiled over at Bryon and said, “Do you want to take the lead, or shall I?”

  Bryon desperately wanted to tell her to go first, but the man in him said, “I can go first.” He stepped forward while at the same time he created a sphere of elemy to light their way. Immediately, he felt the same sense of strange energy which he assumed was the gate. Just like when he was a teenager, he felt so nervous he could feel sweat starting to form in his armpits and his mouth was getting dry.

  Amanda nudged him to continue walking. When they neared the gate, Amanda could clearly see the samara nestled in a niche of the wall. She stared at the skull to check the color of its aura. Swiftly, she determined it to be a dark shade of orange. She turned to Bryon and asked, “What color is your birth crystal?”

  Again, Bryon was surprised at Amanda’s question, but answered, “It is dark orange. Why does it matter?”

  Instead of answering, Amanda created her own sphere of light and said, “Let go of your elemy and go get your samara from the niche.”

  “My what?”

  “That’s what the crystal skull is called. It’s a samara and this one is yours, Bryon. Go and claim it. I’ll wait right here.” She could fully understand his confusion and his reluctance to get near the object which projected so much power. She also knew he had been scared of it for a couple of declans which would make this even harder. “Don’t be afraid of it, Bryon. I promise you everything will turn out just as it should.”

  Bryon had said he would do whatever was asked of him, but he had never expected this to be his task. He was scared out of his mind. His feet felt rooted to the floor of the cave and his mind could not convince them to move toward the object of many terrifying dreams since he was a teenager.

  Amanda could see this was going to be more difficult than she had anticipated. She said, “Use your birth crystal, Bryon, and feel the energy from the samara and how it interacts with your own crystals.”

  Even as she was telling him to move forward, Amanda recalled several things at once. First, when her two girls had initially held their samaras they had been held in thrall for quite some time. Second, when she found the skull at the asylum, she had been pulled into several visions of her own. Third, the unsanctioned gate next to where the samara was tucked away may have an unpredictable energy of its own. And fourth, the second time the girls had used their crystals, they had carried them in towels until they were ready to touch them.

  “Wait!” Amanda cried out as Bryon took his first step toward the niche.

  Bryon whirled around with wide eyes and asked, “What? Has something happened?”

  “I’m sorry to scare you, Bryon. I just had an idea. Do you have a large towel at home which you can get right now?”

  “You want me to create it right now?”

  “If you could, it’d be very helpful.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  GLAD FOR ANY excuse to delay the inevitable, Bryon concentrated for a second before he was holding his bath towel from home. “Will this work?”

  “Perfectly,” Amanda answered as she appraised its thickness. She nodded even as she walked forward. “Can you create a sphere of light for us?”

  Bryon did as she asked and followed her closely.

  Together, they walked forward. She directed him to use the towel to pick up the samara from where it had sat for more than twenty anons. She smiled as he turned back to her, allowing him to walk past her to leave the cave. She stayed close to Bryon since he controlled the light around her as they left the cave. The towel completely covered the small skull and Bryon had it tucked under his arm to prevent anything from happening to it.

  They got back into the telepod and sat down again.

  Bryon asked, “What do we do with it now?”

  “Can you take me to your house? I think we should be somewhere safe and private for what comes next.”

  Bryon did not like the sound of this. He had a bit of a harder time concentrating on the coordinates to his home. Passing the bundle to her, he finally inhaled deeply to calm himself before issuing the command to send them between locations. Bryon kept his mind focused until they arrived at his driveway. He parked the telepod and performed all of the shutdown procedures.

  Amanda noticed the house was exactly as she remembered. She still held the samara under her arm as she exited the vehicle. Bryon led the way as they went into the house.

  “Alena! Are you home?” Bryon called out as they walked through the living room. There was no reply.

  Since they were going to need uninterrupted privacy, Amanda said, “We should go into your office, Bryon. We need to make sure we aren’t disturbed for a while.”

  By now, Bryon’s shirt had become soaked with nervous sweat. He could not believe he could be so afraid of something. If anyone would have asked him before today, he could have honestly said he was scared of nothing. Now he knew this to be patently untrue. Without any excuse to refuse, he led Amanda into his office.

  “Sit down, Bryon. Get comfortable.” Amanda watched him go to his desk chair and sit with his hands clutching the armrests. She set down the towel containing the samara onto the desk. She left it covered and picked a chair for herself. “Let me tell you what I know so far. I don’t want you to be so afraid.”

  “I’m listening,” Bryon said. He hoped she could keep talking long enough for her to change her mind about him having anything to do with the thing perched so closely to him on the desk.

  “There are thirteen of these samaras in existence. Riccan and I have found and possess three of them. This is the fourth one which has now been located. Thousands of anons ago twelve of the samaras, as they are called, were originally given out to the descendants of the Watchers. They were commissioned to keep them in their family line until the time came for them to once again be reunited for their intended purpose. Over time, families have died out and some of the samaras have been misplaced.

  “However, each one has a unique aura and so far, each aura has matched the color of the birth stone of the proper owner. I checked the aura of this samara and it happens to match your own birth crystal. I am further convinced that this samara belongs to you, Bryon. If you would trust my intuition in this matter, I’d like to ask you to put your hands on the samara. You will know immediately if I’m right.”

  “What happens if you’re wrong?” Bryon asked nervously. He had been fascinated by her story, but it was not enough proof to convince him he should take such a risk. He had a wife and three kids to consider.

  Amanda could see Bryon’s hesitation and answered, “I’ve handled two of the samaras with my bare hands. While I can’t say nothing happened, I can say nothing bad h
appened. I’m living proof that it won’t kill.”

  Bryon swallowed and nodded agreement. The sooner he got this over with, the sooner he could get away from the thing.

  Amanda pulled the cloth off of each side and left the crystal exposed in the center. She sat back and waited for Bryon to make the next move.

  Bryon leaned forward and stared at the design for several seconds. From his dreams, he recalled it being much fiercer. Clearly he had let his imagination get the better of him. He rested his elbows on the tabletop and let his hands drop down onto the top of the skull.

  Immediately, he felt massive amounts of energy course through his hands, up his arms, and through his birth crystal. Visions of people he knew and strangers passed through his mind faster than he could comprehend. A sense of calm and completeness came over him. He sighed with relief and took his hands away from his samara.

  He looked up at Amanda with bright eyes and said, “It really is mine, isn’t it?”

  Amanda grinned as she said, “It would appear so!” She began to laugh.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You have no idea how long you were communing with your samara, do you?”

  “What are you talking about? I only touched it for a couple of seconds.” He looked down at his timepiece and gasped. It was almost noon. “Are you saying I was touching my samara for nearly three hours?”

  Amanda nodded. She was glad they had been left alone so he could have a good first experience with the power of the stone. She was also thankful he had been sitting down. If he had first held it in the cave, he could have fallen down into the ascension gate and ended up who knows where. This was the best possible outcome.

  They heard a commotion out in the living room and Bryon looked at her with a panicked expression. “What are we going to do with my samara?”

  “I suggest you find a safe place to hide it for now,” Amanda said calmly. She wondered who had come home and hoped it was Alena. She had no idea what she’d say to her if it were her, but she hoped it nonetheless.

  Bryon carefully pulled the towel up around the crystal and picked it up from the desktop. He opened a drawer and placed it inside and moved several items over the top of it to keep it from being terribly obvious. “Let’s go find out who is home.” He walked out of the office, down the hall, and into the living room.

  Alena and their next-door-neighbor, Tana, were walking toward them. They saw Bryon and smiled and then they spotted Amanda and raised their eyebrows in question. Alena said, “I saw your work telepod outside and wondered what could possibly have happened for you to come home with it. What’s going on? Who is your friend?”

  “Alena, I’d like for you to meet Amanda Stel,” he said with a mischievous grin. He watched his wife’s face carefully until he could see recognition of the name sink into her mind.

  She smiled brightly and moved forward to greet her. “Amanda, I’m so pleased to meet you. Has Bryon been helping you? Oh, sorry! How rude of me, let me introduce our neighbor…”

  “Tana,” Amanda said quietly. She held out her hand and smiled at the neighbor.

  “How did you know my name?” she asked with a confused expression. She looked from Alena to Bryon and wondered what was going on. Suddenly she felt as though she were intruding on something important. “I should probably get going home. I’ll talk to you later, Alena. It was nice to meet you, Amanda.”

  They remained silent until the front door closed. Alena spoke first by saying, “I guess it’s true about you knowing details about our lives. I’d hate to think what you know about me!” She chuckled nervously.

  “Everything I know about you is good. Don’t worry, Alena.”

  Alena smiled and turned to her husband as she asked, “Have you offered Amanda any refreshments?” Without waiting for a reply she turned to Amanda and asked, “May I get you something to eat or drink?”

  “You wouldn’t happen to have any fruit salad, would you? I have it on good authority that yours is the best!”

  Alena grinned and said, “You do know the good things, don’t you! Come into the kitchen and you can tell us what help you need.”

  Bryon was bursting to tell his good news, but he knew from experience that he had to let Alena play hostess before he would be heard. He followed them into the kitchen and looked forward to eating some of the fruit salad as well.

  They sat at the kitchen table and the salad appeared on the table between them. Next to appear were the plates, forks, napkins, and glasses of chilled steena tea. Alena filled each plate by hand and sat back down in her chair to eat.

  The food was as amazing as Amanda remembered. “That was marvelous, Alena. Thank you so much.”

  Bryon knew he would be able to finally share his news. He leaned forward as he set his fork down on the empty plate. “Amanda came to my work first thing this morning.”

  “Really?” She looked from her husband over to Amanda. Bryon looked like a child with a secret and she wondered what could have happened.

  “We went on a little trip down memory lane. Do you remember me telling you about my adventure with Linden when I was a teenager?”

  Alena remembered the story well. She could not imagine why this would be important right now and raised her eyebrows in question even as she nodded affirmation.

  “Amanda and I went to the cave and retrieved the skull!”

  “What? Why?” Alena raised her voice in alarm. This was definitely not making sense.

  Amanda answered, “They are important for the fulfillment of a new prophecy which has come to light.”

  Alena remained silent as she reviewed the words of the prophecy as it had been written down for her to keep. “I don’t understand what it has to do with it.”

  “So you know about the prophecy?” Amanda could not help but be surprised about them knowing it. She wondered who else knew it and asked, “How did you find out about it?”

  “Jehoban called a meeting and everyone present was told the prophecy and that we were to help you when you asked for anything.”

  “Who was at the meeting?”

  “Let’s see: Bryon and myself, Ahn, Barla, and Rasa, Elder Daven and Nena, and Elder Debbon and Chelesa.”

  Amanda listened intently to the names and then she realized an important detail. Each of the people present at the meeting were going to have their own samaras. It was so obvious she had to laugh about it. Bryon had received his today. She wondered who would be next.

  “What’s so funny, Amanda?” Bryon asked.

  “I think I just figured out Jehoban’s plan. I don’t want to say anything about my suspicion just in case I’m wrong. I do need something from you if possible?”

  “Whatever you ask, we will do our best to do.”

  “Can you find out the birth crystal colors of each of the people at the meeting?”

  Alena looked at her husband with a puzzled expression. This was the last thing she had expected Amanda to ask for.

  Bryon began to laugh as he put the pieces together just as Amanda had. “We’ll get it done, Amanda. Is there some way we can get the information to you?”

  “You can send any messages to me through my husband, Riccan, or Elder Daven. Do you have their account names?”

  “We can get them, don’t worry,” Bryon answered even as he continued to chuckle.

  “I’d like to stay longer, but I really should get going,” Amanda said.

  “Really? I wish I could have spent more time getting to know you,” Alena said sadly.

  “Don’t worry. I’m sure there will be plenty of time for it. Maybe even tomorrow. I’m working on something right now which may require some advice.”

  “Please tell me about it. If I have more time to think on it, I may be able to help you better,” Alena insisted.

  Amanda realized Alena was right. She could not possibly get Neal out without many people helping her put together a plan. “You’re so right, Alena. I need to find out if a friend of mine is being held captive by El
der Vargen at his Old Soul Engineering Facility. If he is there, then I’m going to rescue him and take him back home to his family on Earth.”

  “Wow! That’s a huge task, Amanda. What’s his name?”

  “Nealand. I always called him Neal, but I think he’s going by Nealan here.”

  “That would make sense,” Bryon said.

  “When do you propose to get him and how are you going to find him?” Alena asked.

  Amanda had to concentrate to remember the date as it was called in Tuala and answered, “On Selasa, Adar 1st. The Elders are all being called to a meeting on that day so it’ll at least get him out of the way. I also already know the address of someone named Nealan. If it’s my friend, then I’ll teleport him back home with me.”

  “What makes you think he’d want to go home?” Alena asked.

  “I hope he’ll want to. Jehoban told me he’s being drugged with resh and his parents have been mourning his loss for the last seven anons.”

  Alena hissed at the statement about the resh. She knew how addictive the drug could be to some people. If it were taken long enough, any person addicted to resh would eventually die a slow wasting death. This was more serious than she had first believed. If it were just a mission to bring someone back to Earth then she would have a harder time getting involved. The resh made this a rescue mission indeed.

  She nodded her understanding of Amanda’s plight. “I’ll put some serious thought into this problem and let you know if I come up with anything which might help.”

  Another thought came to Amanda and she asked, “Do either of you know a wise-woman named Copa?”

  Bryon and Alena looked at one another in amazement and turned back to Amanda and nodded. Bryon said, “She helped one of my employees after he was attacked and hurt badly.”

  Now it was Amanda’s turn to be surprised when she asked, “Was he named Ninan?”

  “Yes. Do you know him?” Alena asked as she leaned forward.

  “No. I had a dream about him,” Amanda replied quietly.