Fire - Betrayal

by Amelia Grace

  I did not speak to him, I simply nodded in acknowledgement of the conversation, keeping my seething contempt for them in check.

  “Firstly I will read from The Book of Terreans, which predicts you as the Chosen One, and predicts exactly when you will appear, so that you can have absolutely no doubt that you are the Warrior of our people.”

  “The Warrior will return with seeds of opal of The Magnificent Tree. The Warrior is not unknown to Une Autre Terre, but was born of Terreans, leaving our world to enter the Earth at a very young age. He will return where he will learn of his heritage, and learn of the ways of Une Autre Terre, but then will go back to the Earth. It will not be long before he will return again.

  The return of the twenty-one opal seeds of The Magnificent Tree are the sign. The opal seeds that he will bring are from the only Magnificent Tree which grew and was nurtured upon the Earth soil. Evil men of the Earth will discover its unique qualities and greedily seek to own and exploit the tree. But the Warrior will save the identity of the tree, harvesting the remaining 21 opal seeds and then destroy every last trace of the Magnificent Tree as if it never existed upon the Earth.

  The Warrior has a vast knowledge of the Earth. He will save Une Autre Terre from invasion, by using his knowledge of Earth geography, and the ways of the Earth people. The Chosen One will be revered among the people. He will save Une Autre Terre from desecration and destruction so vile that it cannot be spoken of. The Warrior will have six Terreans to accompany him on the mission, who will be remembered for eternity.”

  The Highest Elder stopped reading from The Book Of Terreans, and looked at the wooden floor in contemplation and silence.

  I refused to speak first to the Council of Elders. I would wait until they broke the silence.

  I had listened carefully to the words from The Book. It had described me accurately. I was the Warrior – there was absolutely no doubt.

  “Ben, you are the Warrior that Une Autre Terre has been waiting for. Your life has unfolded as prophesized in The Book, do you agree?” asked the Highest Elder, pacing the floor.

  “Yes, it seems to describe my life so far. I am the Warrior,” I answered calmly, but defeated, but strong in statue, and emotion.

  “What is my mission? How am I to save our world from total destruction?” I asked annoyed.

  “We cannot answer your question Warrior. You, and only you know the answer. You are the Chosen One. You and you alone have the knowledge of the Earth and its people, who will come to destroy us out of greed, and hatred. You must stop the invasion to come!” insisted the Highest Elder, “our world is destined to become dust without you.”

  All eyes looked to me. The Twelve Councilors and the six Terreans looked at me with respect and awe. I was their Warrior, apparently. I drew a deep breath.

  “I will complete my mission, and I will not fail. My people are depending on me. I request that the meeting is ended. I must enter the rainforest to my place of solace to find answers to my questions,” I asserted.

  The Highest Elder watched me closely.

  “I am concerned with your emotional health after Cate leaving. It was a highly unpleasant, but necessary situation. We had to douse the fire of passion in you, and light the fire of steel determination, anger and pure concentration. It has worked. Ben, you are more than ready to accomplish the mission that awaits you.”

  The woman Elder declared the meeting closed, but watched me carefully as I left the Meeting Place. I was well aware of her interest in me.

  ***

  Entering the dense rainforest alone, I walked intently on the path that twisted and turned to my place of solace, hidden away deep within the forest near the deafening powerful waterfall.

  I had spent such a large amount of time here recently, that, it was almost as if it were a second home to me.

  I had built a tent-like structure out of the strong forest foliage, to protect myself from the mist of the waterfall. I had created a very comfortable bed out of the generous plant life. And it was here that I now sat reminiscing about my life, and what had led to me being here.

  I thought of Cate and clutched at my chest, my heart aching yet again.

  I visited the powerful waterfall, watching as the water plummeted heavily with a dissipating force, destroying every living thing in its path. I watched as the violent waterfall became a gentle and calming creek, giving life to all that surrounded it. From death to life…

  I looked at the forest of trees, tall and imposing, strong and shielding, old and wise, yet giving birth to new forest life, protecting all that resided in its wilderness.

  And then I thought of my own insignificant self compared to all that was around me. My life, as all human life was so fragile, and could be ended so easily, so quickly, so silently, alone.

  It was hard to believe that in my insignificance, I had to accomplish something truly significant for this world – a matter of life and death for the entire population of Une Autre Terre.

  I must not fail. The future of this world depended entirely on me. I was The Warrior. And I would, to the best of my ability, save this world from total destruction and non-existence. But, I must remain humble, lest I fall.

  I walked amongst the life forces in the rainforest, feeling empowered and determined. I walked to the ocean absorbing the beauty, the supremacy of the water that held the key to all life, after the sun. I stripped down to my nakedness, and dived into the water, feeling it soothe every part of my body.

  My mind was focused. I knew what he had to do. It was obvious to me now. I realized that I had been preparing for this all of my life. Only now I was aware of it. It all fell into place like a jigsaw puzzle.

  I returned to my place of solace. Plans filled my head. I would rest now, and wake at dawn, ready to begin the Warrior’s mission to save Une Autre Terre, and ready for my quest for freedom.

  Chapter 23

  The Abyss

  I was curled up in the fetal position, alone and empty.

  I was fighting for courage to continue my life without Ben, but I was losing. I was sure that this empty old farmhouse, out in the middle of nowhere, would be my final resting place. It didn’t matter anyway, my family believed that I had died in the house fire sometime ago.

  My life didn’t matter………

  I had no tears left, my tear ducts were exhausted and dry.

  I had no voice left. It had left my days ago from incessant screaming at the pain in my heart.

  I had no energy left. It had left me during the enduring, tough return to the Earth.

  My life didn’t matter ……….

  Sleep found me, and I didn’t want to wake up ….ever…...

  Chapter 24

  The Journey of the Portals

  Early morning solar rays filtered down through the canopy of the expansive rainforest. A beam of light radiated Ben’s face as though he were an angel.

  He awoke, rested and peaceful, empowered to start the process towards the ending of his bondage to Une Autre Terre. He arose glorifying his Maker, asking for assistance in his mission to save His creation, asking for His will to be done.

  Before returning to the village, Ben journeyed to The Magnificent Tree, and feasted on the lime green esprit fruit for his mind, the purple coeur fruit for his heart, the bright red coniance en soi fruit for his self-confidence, and the red and yellow santé fruit for optimum health.

  He was ready.

  Gathering the six Terreans, who were loyally waiting for him, Ben led them to the industrialized area of the parallel world. It was run efficiently and effectively using very little fossil fuel, and having very little refuse to pollute their beautiful world. Much thought had gone into protecting their world from the destructive forces of pollution, and they were succeeding with their technology. From the village, it appeared that the Une Autre Terreans were a very primitive race, but from an industrial view, they were an advanced civilization.

  Sitting at a round metal table in an open hanger, the Warrio
r spoke with authority to his six partisans, offering them the chance again to withdraw from the mission, if they felt that they could not meet the high expectations placed upon them. None left, their devotion to the cause and to the Great Warrior second to none.

  The six partisans listened adeptly as Ben spoke of the mission and the plan that had become blindingly obvious to him as he was on his self-imposed solitude.

  “It is written that Une Autre Terre is to be saved from invasion and devastation from Earth beings, and that I, as the Warrior will stop this event from occurring.

  It seems obvious, that the only way for Earth and our parallel world to meet is through the entry of the portals. I know of no other way for a collision of our worlds. With this in mind, the solution to the problem of invasion is simply closing the portals.

  But, as you are well aware, we have no control over the opening and closing of the gateways. Our challenge therefore, is to find a means of gaining control over the operation of the portals, so that no human may ever enter into our world again.

  We must discover the energy behind the portals, harness this energy in some way, and then devise a system of control. We also must discover how many portals there are leading to the Earth, so that every possible angle for Earth people to enter our world are dealt with precision, and perfection. Our methods must be a fail safe, secure defense for Une Autre Terre.

  Let us discuss everything that we know about the portals, trying to find patterns, similarities, and maybe differences, or even occurrences with our experiences with the portals.”

  The Great Warrior and his six partisans discussed in great detail everything that they knew about the portals, creating a very comprehensive list which they used to assess elements that they could hypothesis about and test.

  The portals behaved the same way in every circumstance, except one – the portal at the old Farmhouse. It had been free to enter and leave their world at their free will, until the very last time that Ben had entered it with them.

  They recalled how they could not enter the portal until Ben arrived, and that it was the opal seeds that were concealed in his backpack that had the ultimate effect on the portal. So they concurred that the opal seeds were a significant factor in the control of at least that portal. But would the opal seeds work for the other portals?

  They needed to start their investigations of one, where exactly all of the portals were located, and two, to take the opal seeds with them and test them out on all of the portals as we came across them.

  They must also keep a precise journal of their findings, not missing any information, no matter how insignificant it may seem, collating their documentations to design portal exit and re-entry control systems.

  The task was huge, and required attention to fine detail, and Ben was the perfect person for the mission.

  He planned scrupulously for the journey ahead, ensuring that he had the twenty-one opal seeds with hims, and his solar energy laptop computer to record every detail of the findings.

  The journey had begun. It was the beginning of a new chapter in Ben’s life. The chapter titled “The Warrior”.

  Ben stood in the middle of the village waiting for his six companions to meet him. He was early, he had to be. He was The Warrior, their fearless leader.

  He looked out over the teal lake that greeted the village. It was a horseshoe shaped bay. He absorbed its beauty through his eyes, and closed his eyes to internalize the vision. When he finally and peacefully opened his eyes, he discovered to his shock, that Jacinta was standing there in front of him, smiling widely and affectionately.

  “It’s so good to see you again Ben. I have missed your company desperately.” Jacinta placed her hand on his arm. Ben felt nothing from her touch.

  “I know that you are about to start on your mission for a few days, but when you return, I will be waiting for you. I have planned some good things for you. Good luck Ben,” Jacinta said genuinely, and then she stood on the tip of her toes and kissed Ben warmly on the cheek.

  Ben felt no inclination to kiss her back. The feel of her lips on his cheek had no effect on him. It was as if a friend were kissing him on departure. He knew that Jacinta’s feelings were more than a friend. She was hoping for love, and a life together with Ben. But, he did not want that, he wanted no part of her.

  Ben looked into her eyes and replied, “Perhaps I will be able to have some time with you when I return from this mission, but I give you no promises. It depends on what we discover out there.”

  Then he nodded his head to her. Jacinta nodded back, smiling. Then the six partisans arrived, ready to commence the beginning of the end of all threats of invasion from the earth people.

  Together, they walked off into the rainforest, opposite in the direction to the old farmhouse portal. They were following Ben, who was following the direction of a gut instinct.

  They followed the winding path through the thick rainforest to the deafening waterfall. Silently they stood and observed the water falling to its shatterdom on the rocks below. A rainbow appeared as the rays of the sun caught in the mist of the water. Ben bent over to touch the impossible rainbow, and saw something that he had never seen here before.

  Behind the waterfall was a cave, hidden obscurely by the megalitres of water which fell each second of each minute of each day.

  Pointing out his find to his companions, they started to search for a way to enter into the cave. After a considerable time spent searching, they found it. It was not easy. The cave was not meant to be easily found. They had to climb over some very large black boulders that led to a series of unstable stepping stones. Once they had finished the stepping stones there lay a fallen tree trunk that acted as a bridge to behind the waterfall.

  They each edged their way over the uneven tree trunk, careful to maintain their balance, as the ground below was a long way down, and they would be certain to meet their death if they fell. They were a team, and team members were responsible for each other’s lives. No one would lose their life on this mission – Ben would make sure of that.

  Gathering at the entrance to the cave, they made a plan. They must stay together at all costs. They had no idea what was in the cave, or where the cave led to. They had to keep their senses sharply alert to all that was around them.

  Ben entered first. It was dark. It smelled of wet dirt, but the ground felt hard and even underfoot. After a while, his eyes adjusted and he could see ahead, and around him. The cave was wide. The walls were solid rock, a light brown granite rock. The roof of the cave came to point, forming an arch, the strongest natural structure of any kind, a blessing for them.

  Suddenly, the cave came to an abrupt end. They found themselves in a large dome structure. They stopped near the centre, where a carved white marble table stood, that held a pure thick glass bowl of water. Strongly gleaming down on the marble table was a bright beam of light. They all looked up to discover a hole in the top of the dome shaped roof. A hole that was perfect in its circular shape, carved naturally by trillions of droplets of water over the millennia.

  The water, in its purest form, fell into the untainted thick glass bowl, which sat in the middle of the white marble table.

  Silently the Terreans eyes were drawn down from the dome roof, to the ornate walls of the domed room. This was not a natural structure, it was a carefully engineered piece of architecture, designed to withstand the most horrendous forces of destruction.

  The downward fall of the ceiling and walls became octagonal as they came to meet the sandstone floor. Each octagonal section had a pointed arched doorway, but with no door. All of the entrances to the doorways were abuzz with energy, each giving off their own distinct colour – the colours of the rainbow, except the doorway through which they had entered from the cave behind the waterfall.

  Ben walked near the blue doorway and closed his eyes, concentrating his energy to become one with the energy at the doorway.

  “It is a vortex, which means that all of these lead to portals. Let
us document our finding before we decide what course of action to take next.”

  Ben recorded the journey on his laptop computer, being very particular to write about absolutely everything including what originally led him to the waterfall in the first place. When he was confident that he had recorded all of the details possible, he packed away the piece of technology, and turned to his six companions.

  “Ben, without doubt, you were led here to find the portals. This means that we must enter the vortexes. But, do we each enter a different vortex, or do we enter the same vortex together? “Josiah suggested as an open discussion between the companions.

  “There is no question. We enter the same vortex. It is imperative. We must stay together. Perhaps, when we have figured out the finer details of the vortexes, we will be able to enter different vortexes at the same time. We must have patience,” Ben offered with his wisdom. “We will choose the red spectrum. I will cross the threshold of the vortex first, but attached to you by our hands. Pull me out after thirty seconds. I’m going in?” stated Ben.

  The six partisans supported each other as Ben crossed-over into the vortex. His entire body disappeared, leaving just his hand exposed outside of the vortex energy spectrum.

  Thirty seconds came quickly, and the six partisans pulled Ben back into the dome.

  Appearing perplexed, Ben reported what he had seen, felt and heard.

  “As I went through the vortex, I felt very light in body weight. The other side is solid ground, as in a tunnel, and very dark. The wind noise rushing through the tunnel is low and audibly bearable. I did not fear for my life. I did not feel endangered. We must enter each of the other six tunnels as we did this one, so that we can compare them, recording the data as we go.”