Ember Rising Light (Book One)

by C.K. Mullinax

  Chapter Thirty Two

  I spent the next few hours learning more about my spirit light than I ever dreamed was possible. I would call it forward, very carefully. Then I would either pull it back inside or give it away to something. As long as I absorbed it, it obeyed my command. When I tried to channel it to something though, it would obstinately refuse to go.

  We spent the next two days at the Jansens’ and Celeste taught me about the power of music. Both the Ay’sha and the Vaydem lineage incorporate music and dancing into their rituals. Although Celeste didn’t offer to teach me any ritual dances, she did agree to teach me how to channel. Spiritual channels do various things depending on how they are called forward and blended. She compared them to volatile recipes, so it would be easier for me to understand the concept. Before teaching me any type of channel, she said I needed to be able to command my spirit light. It was being very temperamental.

  In my quest for more knowledge, she shared additional information about the Vaydem with me. The Vaydem lineage uses a variety of skills that include unbelievably powerful ritual dances. They can also call on the ‘essence’ of all naturally occurring elements to assist their channels or dance rituals.

  Rave is a descendant of the shaman bloodline – the most powerful of his lineage. My curiosity overwhelmed me. I want to learn about Rave’s people, but I also want to respect their privacy. It turns out my unquenchable thirst for knowledge outweighs my privacy obsession. I finally couldn’t tolerate it anymore and asked Celeste a question about the Vaydem ritual dances.

  She revealed that her husband can channel unbelievably potent rituals through dance. But he rarely performs them anymore. I had to literally bite my tongue to keep myself quiet. Celeste didn’t offer any explanation for his no longer performing those types of rituals. So I assumed the reason was personal.

  They both believed the combination of music and the wind was the catalyst that had drawn my spirit light from me originally. This fact both captivated and perplexed them. To their knowledge, only the Vaydem bloodlines are given the gifts of commanding the “nature elements” of earth, wind, fire and water.

  Tray said he had no clue what our mother’s lineage was. He offered that she had blue eyes like mine and black hair like his, but those attributes are very generic. So, they didn’t help Rave or Celeste decipher her lineage. Then, they all agreed that it was unlikely either of our parents were Vaydem because they would have at least tried to exploit it for monetary gain. Although Celeste did reveal that Vaydem people have little need for money in our initial conversation, she didn’t elaborate on the subject anymore and neither did Rave.

  “Well, I love music and everything in nature seems to call out to me. The two cultures are so much alike anyway…” I stated because they truly seemed that way to me.

  “No, Ember. Our cultures do share a tribal history and use dance rituals to celebrate passage of rites and channel our powers. However, that is where the similarities end. Vaydem tribes use powerful herbs, that include strong hallucinogens, in their spiritual rituals. Drugs or any mind-altering substances are strictly forbidden in the Ay’sha culture. They can alter our spiritual gifts and can be highly destructive.

  “You have been given the gift of a spirit light. Just like the story, it is the blending of spiritual essences. Those essences are extraordinarily powerful when channeled alone. I cannot begin to describe how much force can be generated when they are channeled collectively. It is critical that you always maintain clarity of thought, lucid focus and purity of intent. Failure to maintain this precision in relation to channeling your spirit light, can and will be catastrophic,” Celeste told me.

  “That’s not a good thing to hear because I have the faultiest memory on this planet. I’ve been experiencing these “memory lapses”…” I replied and made the quote marks in the air.

  “Wait, we need to explore them before we go any further,” Celeste told me with an urgent tone.

  “Um, okay…no wait…I’m confused. You want to explore my memory lapses?? Exactly how do we explore something that can’t be remembered?” I questioned her incredulously.

  Although I tried not to sound sarcastic, I’m sure the question came out that way. The idea seemed ridiculous to me.

  “We explore them around the edges and we work our way to the middle, in a manner of speaking. You start by telling me about something you can remember – a story about tapping into your abilities. Tell me about using your gifts – what those instances felt like – what you saw when you used them – what you wanted to hold onto – those are the things I want you to tell me about…” Celeste asked me and then reclined on the sofa to listen to my stories.

  “Well, you saw what happened at the creek…” I started to explain.

  “No, no. Tell me a story about using or experiencing your spiritual gifts – one that I have never witnessed.”

  I searched through my defective memory and chose the forest flight story. As much as I wanted to trust her, I couldn’t bring myself to share the silver mist with anyone else other than Tray. The temperamental burning still lapped underneath my heart. Although she might be able to actually explain how I can retrieve that wandering piece of my soul, it didn’t feel right to tell her about the silver mist.

  More details surfaced as I recounted the wonderful flight through the forest. She continued to ask me questions and extra details emerged.

  “I don’t remember what happened at the end, right before the window shattering incident occurred…” I stated curiously.

  My mind refused to cooperate with me. Those last few minutes near my journey’s end stayed clouded in mystery.

  “Don’t try to force it into your memory. Let’s focus on what we know so far. We have established that it was your spirit that took flight that evening and not your actual body. You recall how your tears were spilling and how upset you were while you were flying back home. You can also remember your rooftop and looking down on it from above.

  “Now, do you remember seeing your physical body standing inside the bedroom? It would have been very still, waiting for the return of your spirit…” Celeste guided me.

  Suddenly, the mental fog lifted and my mind formed the image. The memory came back into focus.

  “I was sorta hovering around and I wanted to keep flying. My spirit wanted to return to its rightful place so that’s precisely where it was headed. I was descending, but I wasn’t happy about it. I tried to protest because I desperately wanted to return to my tree. But, it did what it wanted to do.

  “Oh, by the way, I realize it was totally ridiculous to argue with my spirit. In my defense though, I didn’t comprehend it was my soul I was trying to convince. Well, I didn’t know it was my spirit flying around because it felt just like me, maybe only a little lighter. But it was my thoughts for sure, because I know me and how I argue. So even though it wasn’t my body or my brain doing the talking, it was definitely me, being me because I was there for the debate. Wait, none of that came out right,” I stated and started laughing.

  Tray was inside when I said it. He was trying his best to keep from joining in my laughter.

  “I understand what you are saying. Please continue…” Celeste said.

  “I wanted to keep on flying and I’m not one to give up easily if I want something. So, I started to protest the decision loudly. But it didn’t do one bit of good because I was almost touching the ground. Then, I got stunned into momentary silence because I saw my body standing inside the window. It was as still as a statue, my eyes were wide open and my palms were pressed firmly against the glass pane.

  “My body didn’t react at all, but I sure did. It’s very unsettling when you realize you’re floating around outside of yourself. In my outright fear, I ordered my body to come to me right that instant. I didn’t take into account that I was hovering off the ground and that my body can’t fly without some type of wings, right?

 
“Well, my spirit must’ve forgotten that law of science and my body didn’t seem to care either. It was going to answer my call.

  “Then something even more bizarre happened. The glass turned into a heated liquid and my palms pressed through it. The liquid kinda ‘gave way’ like two rippling pools of gooey water or something. I was terrified as I watched my forearms slip through the melted glass. My spirit reacted to my panic and floated toward my body. My hands reached out in an effort to touch my spirit. I was overwhelmed by emotion and started to choke.

  “Terror consumed me and my spirit responded by diving towards my outstretched hands. Then, my spirit touched my fingers and it was violently yanked back inside of my physical body. The glass reacted to this crazy spirit/body merging incident by turning back into a solidified state. I had no idea how I turned the glass into liquid in the first place, so I couldn’t make it change into a puddle again. My arms were still half inside and half outside when the glass turned back into solid matter. I was suddenly standing on the inside, looking out.

  “When I ‘merged with myself,’ I felt this tremendous amount of strength. It freaked me out and I reflexively pulled my arms back through the glass pane because they couldn’t stay outside when I was inside. But yanking them like that would turn out to be an epically gimonsterous mistake because the glass pane shattered when I did it. The shards ripped through my skin…” I explained what happened to everyone in the room as the memories returned to me.

  Everything made perfect sense now, but I was still upset over the loss of my flawless skin. I traced the scars on my forearm. It would never be the same…

  “Ember, do you understand now why you must only use your gifts with clarity of thought?” Celeste asked me.

  “I think so, but what could I have done differently? No, strike that, why did the liquid glass turn back into solid glass?” I wondered aloud.

  “Your spirit turned the glass into its original state – liquid, sand and heat. When your spirit ordered your body to come to it, your body had no choice, but to comply. However, your fear compelled your soul to reunite before it was fully outside. Once reunited, the energy between them fractured the fragile spiritual stream. The glass returned to its original state and your arms were caught in the middle.

  “Fortunately, it was only a pane of glass that you had your arms through. When your spirit reunites with your body it produces a brief burst of inhuman strength, as you felt. Your body could have just as easily slipped through wood or concrete because nothing will prevent it from moving if the spirit commands it.

  “That means that you could have been caught between the 2x4’s that support your house’s structure. Your body would have been forced to go either inside or out because it cannot stay encased inside solid matter. Given the extraordinary strength you possess when this joining transpires, you would have demolished the house as you moved to an unoccupied space. You would have died instantly,” Celeste added gravely.

  I heard Tray gasp in horror before he rushed out the door and disappeared into the wintery evening rain.