by Michael Berg
“It is much more Mister Bobby. I have spoken already. Alertness to anything helping us is key. It may come at any time.”
“How do you come to these conclusions Miss Candice? I cannot recall such cognitions during our conversations in Jonstown”
“Mister Weston, it is my place as your friend and as part of the rocket crew under the command of Mister Bobby.”
“I accept your explanation from experience Miss Candice. It is with great heed to your words I have always paid as we find our course of destiny since our earliest times of meeting in Jonstown.”
“Forget not which is pertinent for attention where one must endeavor to place their energy Mister Weston. I witnessed you do this very thing in applying yourself to the construction of the time device with Mister Bobby.”
“What does this mean for us all then Miss Candice? I know you have a particular relationship with Mister Weston and Bobby, but I feel a little on the outside, not privy to this inner sanctum of…”
“What rubbish Mister Livingston! There is no outside at all. We simply have the bonds established nature has seen fit to bestow upon us…as too have you and I. I put it to you Mister Livingston, to trust the guidance for which Mister Bobby has entrusted you to seek during our space mission. There you will find the place to relate.”
Jonathon struggled with this for a moment. He had spent a lot of time alone in his life and sometimes found it difficult to make deep connections with people. He knew this was the course he was set upon seeing these instances of dialogue and experience as catalysts for learning. Of course he had an adept instinct for duty on board their electric rocket – he was just not so used to analyzing them through feeling and encompassing this into his thoughts on how to act, behave, or what action to decide, hence learn.
“For now I am open to the suggestions guidance may provide us Miss Candice. I think I will look a little further to you as we go in order I may constitute my own genuine approach to these matters.”
“Then your very mindful words already show you and us where you are set to arrive.”
“And then continue.”
“Of course Mister Livingston.”
An old woman appearing to be well over eighty years of age had quietly approached them during their conversations and surprised them all when she spoke on a low voice to Mister Livingston. She was dressed in colorful loose garments befitting the occasion for many in the least.
“Listen to her words space man. She speaks from experience well beyond your time. Allow your heart to see her and to listen. Don’t use your silly head laden with whiskey as it can be. There is much more to learn than a feeble mind can induce.”
“Not as feeble as you might say old woman.”
“Don’t call me old woman. You know nothing drunkard.”
“I’m no drunkard.”
“Aren’t you? Maybe you should examine the real meaning of such a question of your time. Your mission…yes I can see who you all are, even you Steward of Earth Defenses. You all will immerse in deep waters and from there you will find your gold. Do be wary for one can easily drown and be swept away by the temptations of the flow. Watch your every move and keep an eye for those who also will seek what you seek. And remember to never want it, but to see it, for to want will bring your destruction and quite likely ours. With them you will venture and they will masquerade as your friends and your enemies. Take heed from the very few, don your thinking hats, and find the waters. You stand by this stone as it directs you. Look beyond, across, and within.”
“What will we seek? What gold?”
“You space commander. You of all know the rumor and you will be taken to its source.”
“How do you know about us?”
“My knowledge of you is the least of your concerns. Just listen to her.” She pointed at Miss Candice and gave her a quick smile before leaving them standing there at the heel stone.
“I knew something would happen by this stone on this day Mister Bobby.”
“It appears you have a distinctive knack for finding us the right moments Miss Candice.”
“Knack? Ah, yes I see. A special way to somehow do something or find something without so much as trying.”
“What of her words Mister Regal? She was very serious and somewhat accurate. Do you think there is a network of spies watching us?”
“One can never be sure Mister Weston, but I cannot see the old woman as a spy.”
“She must know something to be so forthright and correct.”
“Therein is the mystery, along with the words she chose. What does your mind do with this Jonathon?”
“The gold for one. And find the waters for another. Somehow there must be a connection there.”
“Do you think she was literal? You know how it can be especially in places like this. People can speak in metaphors and use words to indicate otherwise, and then you can have a mix of both.”
“I would consider the last option Mister Bobby. She spoke in both tongues.”
“Then I must revise my entire knowledge and find what she meant by the rumor and being taken to its source.”
“There cannot be so many rumors can there Mister Bobby?”
“When it comes to space, Vindor, other beings, there are many rumors Miss Candice. Being out amongst the stars for long periods of time can set the mind into wandering and looking for intrigue. Many rumors begin this way and many are passed. Some are truth I dare say whilst others are not.”
“It must one of gold then.”
“There are many surrounding Vindor, especially when it comes to sources of gold both real and mythical.”
“Myth has been said to originally come from events bearing an element of truth.”
“I know Miss Candice and it concerns me for there are myths of legend and myths of murk and mire, rumored to be long lost vestiges of Vindor culture awaiting revival.”
Chapter 10
Valeena saw Arthren as a man of measure who could hold his own and stand against those who would become a threat to the destiny unfolding for her and Beth. As she quietly admired him, thoughts of Bobby came to her. He too was of stature in character like Arthren – they were men in parallel, separated by the expanse of deep space.
She pondered the presence of Bobby with them as they searched for the legendary place where Beth was to come into her reckoning, thinking he would be as reliable as she hoped Arthren would be for her, or perhaps even more reliable. Valeena admired Bobby for his strength and tenacious application of thought, and his manner of intimacy was eloquent to her in the least. Arthren was a friend, never to be intimate in the ways she had been with Bobby, yet he meant something to her reassuring in the least.
“What are you dreaming about?”
“Oh nothing really Arthren. I am just going over everything.”
“I suggest we concentrate on the map and our connection in the forest with Brador.”
“You’re right. I did think of the energy and how it is probably a key element to our understanding, but not so much the type as the feeling it invoked. It was a tingling as if some part of me previously unknown was activated.”
“I felt similar. Beth said she felt the same way but I would anticipate her experience was more amplified than ours.”
“Is she still sleeping?”
“Yes. The whole day on the road yesterday took it out of her considering the transient place she is emerging into.”
“It will grow stronger the more we discover from the map and the closer we travel.” Valeena looked to the distance for a moment as she contemplated her own fate within all of this.
“A destiny unfolding. We are going to need some food though. The demands on her create a ravenous hunger.”
“The closest town will take almost half a day walking. Will she be up to it?”
“She’ll need to be. There is no other way.”
They had journeyed towards the mountains away from Masquerdon with a small bag of supplies each – enough to last a fe
w days. Arthren knew better than to run out of stocks before seeking replenishment in these regions of Vindor. One could end up starving to death simply because nobody was around or was willing to assist any strange traveler they saw no reason to trust.
“I’ll go alone. Beth’s energy will cause suspicion. These outer areas far from the populations are home to those empathic to the sensitivities most Vindors have lost through their overt sense of pride.”
“A lacking in you I admire Arthren.” Valeena didn’t quite look his way, instead flashing her eyes before turning away to look into the distance towards the mineral rich orange snow covered mountains of green and purple. Her mind was still mostly elsewhere, incapable of seeing past the main thought prevailing as her motivation to deliver Beth to the spring. Arthren didn’t notice as he too was distantly thinking of how he would approach the town to find supplies.
“There is no time like the present,” he said as he stood brushing off his trousers. He was suddenly convinced of how he would negotiate enough food for three yet present as lone traveler. “I’ll go now and be back before it is dark. Stay out of sight in this old farm shed. If anyone comes, you will have to work out a strategy, but I am sure you will manage.”
“Don’t worry about us Arthren. Go and come back. By then Beth will be awake and…”
“Struggling to ride through the changes she is experiencing. Yes, I will be as quick as I can.”
“She will be urgent. It makes me wonder how we will cope for the rest of this journey. We don’t even know our destination yet aside from the first feeling to make for the Pass of the Eclipse.”
“It is still three days from here until we reach the pass.”
Beth woke not long after Arthren had left. Immediately she began to make demands of Valeena, demonstrating more impatience tinged with anger.
“Be calm baby. Arthren has gone to find some supplies. We will leave when he gets back.”
“He’ll turn on us Valeena. Watch him.”
“I trust him Beth. Maybe you could try to allow yourself to relax with his presence.”
“How can I relax? Do you know what is happening to me? I feel it Valeena and I can’t stop it. I’m scared.”
“Here hush now. I am always here for you. We will see this out together and soon enough your smile will return. I do love your smile Beth.”
“It seems to be very far away at the moment.”
“It will come and then we can be close again.”
“I don’t like this distance between us. It feels as if I am being torn away from you without my choosing.”
“I know. I can feel your pain. Just think of how opposite your life will be once this is all over.”
“I cannot see it and you cannot see it either. We both know I am heading into the unknown.”
“Perhaps if we think of the legends of the place we seek, then we…”
“How do we seek it? Arthren cannot even tell us where it is. He could be leading us into a trap. Have you thought about our connections…Froend, he would be worth something to Arthren.”
“Froend is beyond Arthren’s reach honey. The supreme Vindor council see to their own protection. Froend would have many people to protect him…”
“But he knows we know about the time scope technology. If Arthren wanted to obtain more than we know, Froend would be assailable.”
“Command would not let it happen. The weapon we used on Earth is new, so they maintain tight security. Froend would prove to be of no use to us anyway. Command officers are not engineers. They only know enough to make plans and strategies. It is the science teams who discovered time scoping.”
“Just watch him Valeena. I trust him like you but I am wary.”
“It is expected of you at this time Beth as you transcend. Soon your suspicions will subside as your knowingness begins.”
“Knowingness is knowing there is still a lot to be known.”
“Sit baby. I will make us some hot drinks.”
They had consumed several rounds of hot drinks, both Vindor varieties of tea and coffee, before Arthren returned when the triple moons of Vindor were almost at perihelion in their daily orbit around the mother planet. They were all at crescent phase when Valeena looked up before setting off the journey further into the mountains under the myriad of cosmic bodies in the Vindor night sky. Galaxies, brilliant jewel like constellations, and gaseous clouds were all visible. She glanced back to them a number of times as she caught up with Beth and Arthren who had begun at pace.
“The moons show good omens for our passage Arthren. The legends say those who set out to find the spring under three crescent moons will find their destiny.”
“Only to those who seek a destiny with the legends.”
“As we are doing Arthren. Valeena and I know what awaits us at the end of our peril.”
“Be confident you have an idea Beth, for to know is a false claim. Nobody ever knows until they reach the spring and have found their place and reason of their presence by its waters. You must…”
A distant howl startled them all into silence. Arthren knew it was a Vindor Mountain Wolf calling to a pack. Prey was close and the pray was them. The wolves stood as tall as he, taller than both women, and were menacing in the extreme featuring large canine teeth able to penetrate their chest. It was their favourite killing method – go for the heart and finish off with a quick kill. Soon the pack would gather and when the three of them were surrounded, a member designated to kill would move in and strike.
Arthren drew his small crossbow from his back, holding it at the ready. He turned to Valeena and Beth who had taken to embracing each other, telling them keep quiet and not to panic as they walked on maintaining themselves as a moving target and making it harder for the pack to close in them.
With bare slithers of moon overhead, the journey proceeded in darkness, illuminated only briefly by the stars as each moon was a mere remnant of their full face brightness. As they gradually walked uphill continuing on towards the Pass of the Eclipse still two days away, the terrain changed from heavily wooded forest to a sparse disbursement of trees amongst piles of large and small boulders. When Arthren saw their cover disappear in front of them, he urged Valeena and Beth to stop and wait for the remainder of the night.
“The stand of trees circled by stones to the right over there should be good enough cover. The wolves can only come at us from one side I can cover with my crossbow.”
Dawn’s first light cast orange and purple ribbons into the far sky as Valeena and Beth crouched low with a pile of stones as weapons whilst Arthren stood at the ready for the approaching wolf pack. His crossbow was armed and in the safety position with his finger on the trigger. A quiver of arrows behind his left shoulder numbered fifty – they would need almost all such armament to stave off the hungry predators. It had taken some time waiting for the pack to close in for their inevitable facing of this foe as a test of their stamina in both mind and body.
When he saw a wolf circling, Arthren took aim and fired true, shooting it in the heart. One less foe would face them now, but five still remained. Beth sent a volley of stones at the dying animal, only to have Valeena urge her to hold back and save the stones for the time they would be needed. Amidst her angst and growing urge to find the legendary spring, Beth had grown ever more impatient, reflected now in her rash behavior.
Then it came. The wolf designated by the others to make the kill, moved in with a headlong rush straight at Arthren whilst the other beasts followed. He let fly with arrow after arrow seeking the place within each animal to strike a death blow without using too many of his arsenal. Valeena was quite taken at his deft movements firing off each arrow and re-loading before she could really see. Arthren was a seasoned archer and his skill was unsurpassed anywhere on Vindor.
The first wolf went down howling and squealing as it struggled to remove the arrow embedded in its chest. Seeing their leader taken down, spurred the remaining four animals further into action as they then came at
him with all their frenzied might. Arrow after arrow flew at them and gradually the numbers evened out. When three beasts lay at his feet, there were only two remaining now forming an attack from either side. Their hunger for flesh would not see them retreat – nothing would stop them trying to reach their prey.
In the melee following their two pronged attack, one wolf made it through taking Arthren by the leg in a vice grip. He yelled at the pain but retained his composure managing to fire two arrows directly into its brain at near point blank range. When it finally let go, his leg was bleeding from a savage bite. The blood’s scent was tasted by the last remaining wolf, sending it into a frenzied out of control attack as it sought its prize. This was its undoing as Beth and Valeena were finally able to make use of their stone stock, bombarding it with a rain of stones to send it scurrying away yelping in pain. Both women took stead as Arthren had been forced to see to his wound and stem the flow of blood now staining his entire left leg.
“The wolf will come back, maybe with others. We have to leave this place.”
“Your blood will be the scent they follow. Let me help you Arthren.”
Beth’s offer took him by surprise as he assumed Valeena would be the one who would come to his aid. It was even more surprising when Beth applied pressure to the wound, stopping the flow of blood, and lessening the pain significantly. Both Arthren and Valeena looked at her understanding why and how she was able to show healing powers never previously indicated. She was already living the destiny to unfold for her at the spring and this incident was the first catalyst for her first realization of potential. It calmed her in a way defying the presence of anger and impatience she had demonstrated. Displaying a commanding wisdom in her eyes, Beth then turned with a look of calm resolution in her eyes showing them she was becoming who they knew would emerge at the spring.
“At the pass we will find our place. Can you walk Arthren?”
“Pain doesn’t stop me.”
With supplies and a growing strength from Beth seemingly adding to the agility of Valeena and Arthren whose injury was already healing miraculously, they reached for The Pass of the Eclipse. When they stood at the beginning of the last incline to reach the snow strewn milestone, the wolf had returned and now lay dead from Arthren’s arrow – its hunger never satiated.
