Chapter Ninety Two
Celeste moved most of my trainings to the Arboretum classrooms and grounds. Willow, Celeste, Tray and Rave had collectively decided that most of my channels were getting too powerful to continue my practice sessions at Sunridge. This was evidenced by the swelling of the moon that took place the night of my birthday.
The Vaydem sacred ritual grounds were surrounded by special runes. These runes provide channeling containment for when the power reaches critical levels. The runes absorb the additional energy and redirect it to whichever element can withstand the punishment. These runes were vital on the night of my birthday party. My spirit light had enough built up power from being contained inside me that night to destroy our entire county. The Vaydem spiritual power ring at Sunridge couldn’t have withstood that extreme release of energy. I would’ve literally destroyed Sunridge and everything around it if I’d tried to release the contained spirit light without the runes to help absorb it.
“Ember, can you separate the essences from your spirit light?” Celeste inquired during one of my practice sessions.
I was channeling through an Ay’sha dance that required a continual stream of my spirit light. When she asked me the question I redirected the light stream, so it was fully arced above my head.
“What do you mean?” I asked curiously and looked upward.
“Do you see the colors that flow through the central light? Well, those are remote essences and we can discover what they are capable of channeling once you learn to stream them separately. They each hold an individual ability. But, that ability can’t be accessed while they are being channeled together, as you’re doing now…”
“That’s crazy because I’ve never noticed how the colors thread through the light…” I offered her in absolute amazement.
“The colors were not actually visible when you first started to channel. You can see them now because of the influence of the moon. You exchanged energy with the moon the night of your birthday – it’s a divine union of sorts…” Celeste explained.
“Not many people of your Ay’sha culture can successfully perform that celestial exchange – especially with the full moon. It seems you’re always full of surprises and questions for us Ember Skyy,” Rave announced as he walked into the Arboretum to join us.
“Yep, that’s me…a living, breathing challenge if ever I did see one…” I replied comically.
I tried to separate the essence from the light, but I couldn’t seem to do it. It was like the harder I tried to force them apart the more determined they were to stay joined. The essences seemed to flow with my emotional climate. Once my frustration reached the stratosphere, the colors would immediately collapse back inside of my spirit light. It was like the streams of essence were trying to hide from my internal temper tantrum. Celeste and Rave both noticed the fact that I was perturbed and preparing to throw a fit.
“The essences can’t be forced into separating – especially, on this sacred ground…” Rave reminded me to be patient.
“My patience sadly knows a limit – especially when it comes to seeing what they can each do. Now that I’ve seen them, I wanna channel them alone. It would be different if I could read about them or study them, somehow. I’ve never seen anything written on the essences that make up a spirit light. They refuse to obey my command and separate so I can check them out. It’s extremely irritating…” I stated.
“They’ll sing in parts when they’re ready. This is something we can’t teach you. Nothing’s been written about it, yet because your spirit light is very rare. Your ability to channel in unison with the moon is highly uncommon as well. We’re sorta writing history as we go along. You’re unique to this world and to us…” Rave commented on my skills and abilities.
“So I’m a challenging mutant child – that should make for excellent future reading…”
“Ember, would you mind showing Rave which vestment you selected to wear right after your party was over. Well, if you can remember which one you chose that is…” Celeste inquired.
I was excited because I did remember for a change. That fact was amazing since I’d recently discovered that the Vaydem chambers held 333 separate and unique vestments. The vestment I wore that night still called out to me – like it was mine through some divine declaration.
We walked into the “Ritual Chamber of Fire and Ice”. I stroked the vestment that was made of blue silk with fiery red ribbons and the pearls that dangled from it. My memory of the butterflies washed over me like a gentle spring rain. I enjoyed another minute of my personal paradise before I handed the vestment to Rave.
“I’m positive that was the vestment I wore, but I still have no idea how I put it on my body. I was so exhausted that I couldn’t even keep my eyes open…” I wondered out loud.
Rave and Celeste exchanged an unknowable look, but didn’t say anything else to me. We walked back inside the sacred forest and I continued to practice. The essences still refused to separate from my spirit light. I spent at least an hour a day trying to stream them separately and no matter how hard I tried they stayed stubbornly linked together.
The weeks flew by as Willow distracted Tray so I could remove money from the bank account. I chose a dark blue, fully loaded Chevy Avalanche with an incredible stereo system to buy. But, that’s where my selections ended. I don’t know anything about vehicles period. Walter at Nature’s Winding Path made various suggestions, but all that netted him was a blank expression from me. It was painfully obvious after several days and a few thousand indecisions later that I was over my head in regards to ordering a truck.
I finally had to ask Rave to assist me with all the other details because at the rate I was going I would still be stuck on the order form on my brother’s birthday. Rave was pleased with my model choice. He said the Chevy I had selected was big enough for Tray, but compact enough to fit in between the small spaces. He didn’t elaborate on it, so I assumed he was referring to parking spaces.
Willow continued to subtly remind me that I shouldn’t invite anyone over on Tray’s birthday. She didn’t need to worry about me slipping up in this instance though. This insane boy-dating-issue was still overwhelming me. My brother was forced to shadow me everywhere. So I didn’t want to be social outside of school with anyone other than Krista and my family. I certainly didn’t want him having to spend his birthday channeling obliterations to anyone.
I truly thought the floodgates I had accidently opened would have been slightly repaired by April. After all, I had yanked them open back in February. I had misjudged the situation as usual. It seemed like more boys were interested in asking me out on a date now than when the situation first started.
Willow was so right about the boys hearing ‘maybe later’ from my emphatic ‘no thanks’ that I issued to them. Tray had to use his skill more frequently. This meant he would end up with a headache although he tried to tell me that he was perfectly fine. I finally asked Willow and Tray if I could wear the cunning ribbon from time to time because it amplified my brother’s obliterations. They both readily agreed.
I was very selective when I used it though, needing to keep my thoughts away from spoiling his birthday surprise. My brother looked healthier when I used the ribbon and more relaxed too. Although I had no idea how running around inside my chaotic mind helped him to chill out, I could visibly see him relax when I wore the cunning ribbon.
The week of Tray’s birthday surprise had finally arrived and I only had to wait two days until the big reveal. I was already wiggling from excitement and could barely contain my enthusiasm. Patience has become my enemy and it’s currently winning the battle.
Willow pulled me aside and told me to go to bed early. She explained that my excitement kind of looks like anxiety. So I could easily alert my brother to the fact that something was up because he could read me. If he flipped out then I would have to tell him what’s up. Then I’d be forced to reveal my surpr
ise early after spending weeks on planning its creation.
I knew I was never going to make it through another full day without blowing the surprise. Avoiding my brother’s scrutiny, I stayed in the shower for almost two hours. The water was icy and although that was still comfortable for me, I couldn’t remain in the bathroom all night long. Eventually someone else would have to use it.
Then suddenly, I had an inspired idea…
I made a few quiet phone calls before I stepped out onto the porch to say goodnight to them. Since it was only 8:03 p.m. my brother looked at me like I had been abducted by some kind of alien. I just smiled and shrugged in reply. Then, I ran back inside the house before he could ask me anything else about it…
Ember Rising Light (Book One) Page 96
