Looking around the pitch black enclosure, Alec sensed a dimmer darkness in one direction, and slowly he shuffled through the water towards the area where something was different.
In no little time he grew convinced that his eyes were not deceiving him, and that there was some source of light deep down in this subterranean grotto. The floor of the pool began to incline upward, and Alec stepped out of the water onto a solid shelf of land.
A stone on the ground at the foot of a wall was softly glowing. It was the light Alec had followed. He stepped across the dark floor to the stone, and knelt to look closely at it. His right hand still held the sodden torch, he realized as he released it. The stone had no discernable features, and so he reached down and picked it up.
As he grabbed it, a doorway opened in the wall behind the stone, and Alec stumbled forward.
Alec entered the chamber and looked around. Th only light came from the torch beside the doorway he had entered. He removed the torch from the wall and stepped forward into the eerie atmosphere of the empty room, where the jagged stone walls were clothed in shadows that wavered as his flame danced in the air. As he walked and examined the space, he could find no evidence of another entry along the walls, causing Alec to think he had reached a dead end.
“Welcome Alec,” a voice said in a kindly tone as Alec stood near the center of the chamber.
He turned quickly, and saw the saintly John Mark sitting on a stony seat near the center of the room. “Your grace,” Alec addressed him in astonishment, not sure what to call him.
“You should just use my name,” the ghostly presence answered. “I’m glad you’ve made it here.”
“You’re very close to finishing your assigned duty, and you’re carrying out many good acts along the way,” John Mark told him. The saint motioned for Alec to sit next to him on the stone bench that had appeared.
“Will I find a way to heal Noranda? Am I almost there?” Alec asked with anticipation.
“You’re very close. Unless you deliberately try not to, I think you will see your friend sit up very soon as a result of your abilities,” John Mark answered.
“And then I’ll have all my powers back, and I can go back to Oyster Bay or Goldenfields, or someplace else?” Alec followed.
“You will not have your powers back in the sense you hope, Alec,” John Mark said gently, causing Alec to catch his breath in fear.
“You’re a unique person in so many ways, Alec,” John Mark observed. “And you’re proving to be surprising even to me, who foolishly thought I could understand the unknowable plans of God.
“You have greater power than I believe has ever been seen in the Dominion. You wield your energies with greater ability than virtually all other ingenairii. And with both healer and warrior powers, you have virtual control over life and death,” the ghost explained. “But now, you are about to enter a strange time, when your powers are not going to always be available for your use.
“You must give something up,” he explained slowly. “To be fair about it, we will let you pick what you surrender.”
“It will not be an easy choice. You must surrender one of your strongest ingenaire powers. Your strength has grown too great, and that strength, because of the potential future that you may experience, must be curbed. You must face certain challenges that will teach you humility. And ay potentially be subject to experiences that will naturally diminish your abilities at times as well.
“Alec, you may retain your limited powers in the Time and Spiritual fields, because you do not knowingly use them to your advantage.
“But as for your Healing and Warrior skills, one must be shorn away for the time being as if you were a prized lamb giving up your precious wool,” he continued. “You have more control over life and death than any mortal should have, and not yet enough experience in life to understand the best exercise of those abilities. When you chose which power to surrender, and mean your choice with all your heart, the balance between what you should be able to do and what you are able to do will be restored and you will be able to go on with your life until the balance shifts again.”
Alec’s knees wobbled at the implications of what he had just been told. He was going to have to give up one of his powers. Which one? His skills as a warrior? They had proven to be very effective; useful at almost all times in almost all places; since he had first felt them burst from their somnolence, when he had fought for Ellen and Leah, those powers had served him well, although he had managed to make the journey all the way from Bondell to Stronghold without them.
How could he give them up? But if he didn’t, then a terrible alternative existed. His medical skills too were now being considered for the sacrificial table.
“I know this must seem unfair to you, Alec,” John Mark interrupted his thoughts. “But your presence here is proof that this is meant to be.”
“What do you mean?” Alec spoke aloud for the first time in a long time.
“This is a Holy Place, a place of miracles, of piety, of reverence. You have found your way here, without a calling or any signs. There was no expectation on my part that you would arrive today,” John Mark answered. “You are now in an ancient place where the earliest Christians of this land held secret worship services. Few have visited this site in the millennium since my passing.
“No one else has visited three of the holy sites, as you have Alec,” John Mark said with a tone that Alec thought seemed wistful. “I want to tell you something critical that you should know and consider before you make your choice.
“Many days have passed in the world since you arrived here. There are people who realize who you are, and the general population of the Locksfort compound now realizes that you were the healer who froze Noranda, and that you are the warrior ingenaire who killed many of their allies, and that you are declared to be the protector of the crown of the Dominion,” John Mark explained.
“You should also remember that you have been told that Noranda is not meant for you.”
Alec felt his knees shake as the implications of his predicament blossomed. Again, time had passed inexplicably and unpredictably. And he was about to release one of his powers. When he returned to the Locksfort compound, he would come into a hostile world, where his only clear hope of survival would be if he cd retain his warrior ingenaire abilities to fight his way out, and back to Oyster Bay. Without his warrior powers, he would not be able to try to reunify the Dominion, or help his friends in Goldenfields fight the lacertii.
His only hope of saving Noranda would be if he had his healer powers. And he would be able to do many more worthy things if he retained his healing powers. Of course, being a healer would do him little good if he was dead or imprisoned by the Locksforts.
“I am afraid, Teacher,” Alec spoke at last, falling to his knees.
“Alec, fear is a powerful tool of the enemy. You must have faith in Jesus, your Savior,” John Mark softly answered. “Do as you believe he would want you to. Let not your will, but His, be done.”
He could not imagine surviving without his warrior skills. He could not imagine living without his healer skills.
“I, I will, I will surrender my Warrior powers,” Alec stuttered. He felt a pricking, and looked down at his right arm; he raised the sleeve and saw that the warrior ingenaire mark was dull and lifeless.
“Step over here Alec,” John Mark said.
“What about my powers? Will you take them away?”
“They are already gone. When you spoke from your heart, the Lord’s will was accomplished,” John Mark answered as Alec stepped backed onto the solid stone. John Mark stepped over and held his arms open wide. Alec hesitated for a moment, still feeling anguish, then took a full stride into the embrace of the shorter man, whose arms felt strong and warm as they wrapped around him, promising protection and comfort.
“Alec, your decision was brave, and right, and pleasing in the eyes of God,” John Mark told him. “For that reason, you will not be completely shorn of th
e power you agreed to surrender. Each month, when a new full moon arises, you will be given three opportunities to exercise your Warrior abilities,” John Mark explained, as Alec felt a small sense of joy ringing in his heart.
“One opportunity will be for you to use your powers to protect yourself. One will be to use your powers to protect someone else. And the third time will be to use your powers to protect some greater good, your community, your friends, the Dominion itself perhaps,” John Mark explained, as Alec tried to puzzle out the applicability of such intricate rules. “Be at peace, my special son,” John Mark’s voice spoke in his ear. “You will find peace at the end of your great adventure, and you will know that giving up your powers was a small sacrifice to pay.”
Chapter 11 – The Great Awakening
Alec awoke from slumbering on the stony floor. The dark chamber was illuminated by a single torch that was set in a wall ring. No one was visible, and John Mark was gone. Only two features stood out: a stone altar, sitting approximately where Alec had sat with John Mark, and a doorway.
Alec walked over to the torch on the wall, and then took it and opened the doorway. There was a narrow stairway of tall steps, leading up into the darkness. Alec stepped through the doorway and began climbing the stairs. He heard a thud, and turned to see a blank wall below him where the doorway had closed and disappeared.
Alec turned and resumed climbing. Innumerable steps led up, and twisted in all directions as Alec seemed to climb for hours. The steps came to an end in a narrow room and Alec walked forward. The roof began to lower as he progressed, and soon Alec was on his knees, crawling awkwardly as he held the torch. The small tunnel felt like a naturally made cave. Alec felt cobwebs on his face, and brushed his hand rapidly across his skull to hurriedly wipe away the nasty strands. His hand stopped and lingered on top of his skull; his recently-shorn hair was growing back, much longer now, perhaps back to the length he had once regularly kept it. A great deal of time had indeed passed by.
The passage came to an abrupt end in a small tight box, with only a blank stone wall in front of him. Alec paused to look at the stone in front of him, and then placed a hand against it. It felt rough and cold, and it seemed to move slightly as he exerted pressure against it. Alec placed the torch carefully on the floor behind him, then pushed with both hands against the wall. The stone resisted for a moment, then fell forward, flat on the ground before him, revealing another dark cramped chamber.
With his guttering torch in hand, Alec advanced into the chamber, and restored the stone he had pushed over. The new space was slightly higher, but most of the space was taken up by a block in the center. Alec squeezed along one side of the block. It was ornate, and wobbled slightly from the pressure of his passage.
Another blank wall, clearly a door with dim light visible around the edges, was at the other end, almost within reach.
Alec looked at the bier that took up most of the room. Intricate engravings were etched on its top, which was highly burnished metal. As Alec paused to study the writing, he drew a sharp intake of breath. This was Noranda’s tomb! His intuition told him that he was next to the undead body of the woman he had come to save.
Alec placed the torch down again, and pushed with all his might on the lid of the coffin. He felt it give in spots, but realized it was nailed around the edge. With difficulty, Alec pulled his sword from its scabbard and maneuvered it to pry around the clasps, forcing the lid open, so that it slid to the floor on the far side of the coffin, making a loud clatter. Alec held his breath and waited, but no sound came to indicate that he had roused anyone yet.
Inside was a shrouded figure. Alec pulled and cut the material until he saw Noranda’s hands folded on her chest, then he removed more of the cotton to reveal the full girl.
Noranda looked peaceful, her muscles relaxed to the point of almost appearing flaccid. She did not have the glow of the blue time suspension Alec had imposed on her in his emotional burst of unexpected power so long ago back in Oyster Bay.
Alec looked at her in the dark shadows of the tomb, and used his healing powers to examine her. She still remained severely injured, but not subject to any frozen time constraints, yet still not quite dead. Somehow, the time spell he had cast must be expiring, but not yet completely expired. Alec had planned how he would heal the severe injuries she suffered, but he had none of the remedy items with him under these unexpected circumstances.
He would have to attempt to heal her only with his own energies, a desperate ploy that would challenge him. He considered the different elements of healing she needed as he placed his hands on her and bent even lower over her, beginning to exert all his powers into the cold body beneath him.
He felt Noranda’s body beginning to change as he poured every fiber of his being into the forces that flowed through his hands. A slight glow began to emanate from her, and Alec felt her heart pulse once, then again, then pause, before a slow, regular beat began to throb. Her breathing started with a low, ragged intake of air, while her body grew warm as Alec continued to reach deeper within himself to find more power to give to her. It was a combination of healing powers and spiritual powers that he was using, and it reminded him of his experience on the beach with Cassie.
Now came the part that was most difficult. With Noranda’s body no longer petrified, he was going to have to put forth more than energy to heal her; he would have to make a personal sacrifice to save the girl from the poison and wounds and loss of blood that she suffered. Alec removed the belt from his pants, then drew his sword and carefully sliced an ‘X’ into Noranda’s arm, opening a vein that pulsed with the weak flow of blood the girl was left with.
Taking a deep breath, Alec sliced his own forearm as well, feeling the searing pain of the blade cutting into his flesh. He immediately slapped his arm against Noranda’s and used his right hand and his teeth to bind his belt around the two arms to hold them tight. He focused his energy on making the two veins graft to one another, so that their two bodies became one, and he began using his own body to pump clean blood into her tainted flesh.
He felt his energies traveling with his blood through her body. Her blood pressure was rising with the strength he pushed into her, while his was dropping. He searched her organs for the damage that the poison had caused, and prayed for it to heal, allowing his blood to carry the power of the prayers throughout Noranda’s body.
His free hand ranged over her torso, touching and healing the stab wounds she had suffered in the attack by her assassin. Alec felt her body strength improving, as his energy continually worked to match his blood to hers. He also began to feel himself growing weak as his own body’s supply of blood diminished, and his own body began to receive some of the poisonous taint he was washing from Noranda into himself. He waited several more minutes until he sensed that the crisis for Noranda was over, then he undid the belt binding and carefully used the sword blade to sever the connection between their arms. He placed his free hand on each arm and prayed for healing, causing the wounds to draw closed, but leaving a long, thin scar that looked like a cross.
Noranda took a audible inhalation of breath. Alec ran his hand up and down her body, infusing her with the last push of healing power he could muster. Her face’s pale color was replaced with a healthy flush, and Alec sensed that she was healed and restored, and also sensed that he had no more energy or blood to give.
He removed his hands from her and placed them over his own face, taking a deep breath of relief and saying a quiet prayer of thanksgiving. “Thank you Jesus, for preserving this girl, for loving her, and for giving me your gift to do your will,” he softly said.
A quiet moan came from Noranda, and Alec removed his hands from his face to look at her. Her muscles were strong again, although relaxed, and her head turned slightly for a moment. Her eyelids fluttered, then opened. Alec watched as her irises adjusted to the dim light, and then consciousness arose in them.
“Brandeis?” she said softly. “Alec?” she said loudly. “Wh
at are you doing here? Where are we? Oh, oh, oh,” her voice modulated to a moan.
“I, I thought I was being attacked by Elgin,” she said with a shudder. Her hands went to her torso, feeling for the wounds she had felt. “It was a dream. But what am I wearing? Why are you here?” she repeated.
“Dreams. I dreamed so many things. I dreamed, something about you. You were in a dark place, a pool in a cave, and there was a man with you. And another time, I was with you…in a bed…” her voice grew silent.
“You are fine. Those were dreams, but they happened! And they are over, and you are safe here now,” Alec told her with a choked voice. She reached her arms up and hugged him tightly, seeking comfort in her confusion and fear, and Alec felt his heart almost break.
“Let me try to get us out of here,” he told her. He moved over to the end of the chamber where the light entered around the door way, and began to push. Exhausted as he felt from donating his blood to her and using his healing powers so deeply, Alec was unable to open the vault entrance.
He sat back for a moment to rest. “Can I help you?” Noranda asked.
“Yes, in a moment. Let me rest a little bit. Come sit here next to me; there’s a lot you need to know before we open this anyway,” he said. Noranda climbed out and sat next to Alec, who pulled her shroud out of the coffin and draped it over them both, as the girl sat against his side.
The Lifesaving Power: Goldenfields and Stronghold Page 11
