by S. B Terra
Bella stared at Alice as if she was inspecting her.
“I heard what happened yesterday, I came when I heard. Are you okay?” she asked curiously.
“Yeah, I’m fine now, I was a little shocked yesterday” replied Alice, she hadn’t even thought of the incident since Blue’s arrival as she was up most of the night playing with him.
A short moment of silence went by.
“Did Red tell you?”
“Red?” asked Bella, her face looked confused and puzzled.
“Yeah, when we were about to leave Brajula, I saw Red, he was up in a tree watching.”
Bella’s face changed from a look of confusion to a big, happy smile.
“Really?”
“Yeah, it was strange.”
“What do you mean, strange?” asked Bella.
“When I saw him, it was like I became locked into his eyes for a while, I don’t know, the whole day was strange.”
Bella stared back at Alice curiously for a moment.
“That’s a long way away for him to be, he must have sensed something” said Bella, looking touched.
Bella then walked over and sat down on one of the couches.
“So, it’s true, you really did disarm Farbius Doraz?” Bella asked, looking slightly shocked.
“Is that his name? Yeah.”
“What happened? And what were you doing in Brajula?”
“Well, I met one of the neighbors and her friend and they invited me to go and try the Selora plant with them, Claire needed to get some for her studies, she’s doing Natural Medicine. We got some Selora pizza and then on the way back, when Katie and Claire went into one of the houses to get the Selora, I noticed three people come out of the forest. I recognized the woman, it was the guard who spoke to you when we were in the restricted area of the Magic Council coming back from the Wild Lands.”
“And then? What happened?” asked Bella attentively.
“I don’t know if it had something to do with the Selora or not, but when they walked around the side of one of the houses, I walked over to see what was going on. The woman and the other guy walked into the house through a side door and the other one stayed outside, he was distracted and then I saw the man behind him through the forest. As the man got closer, I just felt something was wrong, and it was as if I just felt myself walk out and disarm him, I don’t even really know how it happened.”
Bella gave Alice a curious stare.
“Interesting, maybe the Selora helped you get in touch with your deeper instincts, maybe you have been here before after all” said Bella, smiling.
“What do you mean?” asked Alice, slightly confused.
“Your instincts are developed from experience in past lives. So, are you sure that everything is all good?”
“Yeah, really, I’m fine.”
“Okay, good. Todd Gill has asked for you to receive a letter of honor for saving his life and helping to apprehend a murderer, the news has spread and people in the forces are now talking about it, they think you are some sort of mini-me” said Bella.
Alice and Bella both laughed.
“That’s great, Alice, you’ve had a very good start” said Bella with a proud look.
“Also, something amazing happened yesterday, I have to show you something” said Alice excitedly.
Alice led Bella out onto the balcony, Blue was still jumping around the branches restlessly.
“I saw him in the hills, he flew down and landed off the trail not far from me, so I walked down to see, he stared at me for a while and then flew off, so I didn’t think anything of it. When I got home yesterday, he tapped on the window. After my strange moment with Red yesterday I decided to call him Blue.”
Bella’s face lit up as Blue flew over and landed on the balcony railing to investigate her.
“Hello, Blue. Aren’t you handsome?” said Bella in a funny voice as she stroked his wing.
“That’s so exciting, you got him young too, he’s perfect for you” she said excitedly.
“I need to give him food, what do ravens eat?”
“Ravens can go without eating for over two weeks, you can feed them seeds and dead worms, you should leave food out for them, they will only eat what they need, they have a very good survival instinct, there’s an animal store in the city where you can get everything” said Bella, she was now playing with Blue and letting him bite her finger. “It sounds like you had a ravenful day yesterday.”
Alice laughed.
“Well, I’m glad you’re okay, you just need to make sure you’re careful. I better get going to help prepare for the parade, if you need anything just come and find me. Bye, Blue” said Bella as she walked back inside.
“Okay, I’ll see you later” said Alice, walking back inside and opening the door for Bella.
Alice paused for a moment as Bella walked outside.
“Bella.”
Bella stopped outside the doorway and turned to face Alice, looking at her curiously.
“What’s up?”
Alice paused for a moment, garnering the courage to ask.
“I’m sorry to ask, but is it true that you killed Lars Medelle?”
Bella froze, staring back at Alice.
“I knew you were going to find out sooner or later. Yes, it’s true.”
A short moment of silence went by.
“He was an evil man, he killed my father and did things that were a lot worse, it was the only way. Don’t let that make you think any different of me.”
“I know. I heard about what he did, and no, I’m used to you now.”
Bella laughed.
“Have fun tonight” she said, smiling and then walking off down the corridor.
Alice walked back inside and into the bedroom, getting back into bed and then falling asleep.
Alice woke up just before midday and opened her program outline book to the page of her first assessment.
Assessment – Way of Souls
In your own words, describe and explain your understanding of the differences between that of a soul that develops intuitively and that of a soul that develops analytically.
Explain and provide examples of each path of development and its effects on the soul.
This assessment should be no less than five hundred words and no more than two thousand words.
Relevant materials:
BOOK: Way of Souls
LECTURE: Way of Souls I (Hologram Device)
LECTURE: Way of Souls II (Hologram Device)
LECTURE: Way of Souls III (Hologram Device)
Please return your completed assessment to the Terra Education Department for marking.
Alice then realized that she hadn’t used her hologram device yet, so she curiously walked over and picked it up off the desk and placed it on the bed. She then tapped the small, black pyramid with her wand and instantly, what looked like a fine, light energy shot out of its tip and created a menu that hovered perfectly in the air.
Please select one of the following lectures with your wand.
Introduction to Magic
General History I
General History II
General History III
Geography of the Higher, Natural World of Magic I
Geography of the Higher, Natural World of Magic II
Will power, Intuition & Imagination I
Will power, Intuition & Imagination II
Power & Magic
The Magic Council, People’s Forces & System of Governance
Way of Souls I
Way of Souls II
Way of Souls III
The Natural Laws of Karma I
The Natural Laws of Karma II
Introduction to Meditation
Creatures of the Higher, Natural World of Magic I
Creatures of the Higher, Natural World of Magic II
Alice walked over and tried to touch Way of Souls I with her wand, but nothing happened, she then moved back a few steps and pointed her wand at the hologr
am.
“Way of Souls one” she said, and then suddenly the menu transformed to a woman standing in the presenting area of one of the lecture halls, as if it were being recorded from one of the front rows.
Alice laid back down on the bed and began watching the lecture.
“Good afternoon, thank you all for coming. My name is Rebecca and I will be your lecturer for today. I hope that you are all settling in well to your new world. I’m sure that most of you have already read a little and have heard about the intuitive and analytical paths and the development of souls throughout their incarnations and journeys. Today we are going to explore this deeper, and we will go through in great depth the different stages of the development of souls on both pathways. Throughout this series of lectures, we will cover various topics such as what it really means to develop intuitively or analytically, how the soul evolves and grows over its countless incarnations throughout its existence, why a soul can only karmically grow and purify itself during its incarnations, the differences between the spiritual realm and the material realm, why an analytically developed soul becomes bound to the material and is unable to connect to the higher, intuitive worlds of spirit, why intuitive souls sometimes get stuck in material worlds and the incarnation process itself among others.”
Alice found the woman extremely interesting and ended up watching all three of the Way of Souls lectures, snacking, meditating and reading parts of the book in between.
After she had finished Way of Souls III, she walked out into the living room and realized that time had flown by, it was 6.30pm.
Alice showered and got ready for the festival and then made her way down to the Student Plaza to meet Brian.
Alice walked into the café and saw Brian sitting in the corner with a girl who had long, curly blonde hair, glasses and was wearing a long, hooded black dress, she was quite thin and looked a couple of years older than Alice.
“Hi” said Alice as she walked over.
“Hey, Alice, this is Lisa, Lisa, Alice” said Brian, introducing her to the girl.
“Hi, Alice, lovely to meet you” said Lisa, her voice was rather high pitched.
“Nice to meet you too, Lisa” said Alice as she sat down on the couch.
“Brian tells me that this is your first Night of the Dead festival?”
“Yep, I’m excited for it, what time does it usually start?”
“It kicks off around six, but people usually start flooding in around eight or nine” replied Brian, he was also seemingly excited for the festival.
“Cool. What have you guys been up to?” asked Alice.
“Not much really, just studying and working a little” said Brian.
“Me too pretty much, lectures and assessments” replied Lisa.
“Where do you work, Brian?” asked Alice.
“At the forestry department, I work a few days a week.”
“Nice. What are you studying, Lisa?”
“I’m doing childhood education, I love kids.”
“Nice, that’s great.”
“Thanks. Brian also told me that you crossed, that’s amazing, you’re the first in so long” said Lisa kindly.
“Yeah, it’s still all very surreal.”
“What about you, what have you been up to?” Brian asked Alice.
“Well, I went to Brajula yesterday and tried the Selora, I also got a raven.”
“Wow, nice, how was the Selora? I still haven’t tried it yet” asked Lisa excitedly.
“Yeah, it’s uh, very interesting, it was great though, those mountains are beautiful too.”
“Yeah, Alora is really nice, I want to go back soon” said Lisa.
“What are the other cafes like in the plaza?” asked Alice, realizing that she had only been into the one café since moving into the Student Village.
“Not as good as this one, they are all loud and get busy and the food isn’t as good” answered Brian.
“Yeah, we prefer this one, cheap veggie burgers and I like the chilled vibe” said Lisa, smiling.
“Well, what do you guys think, should we head in?” asked Brian, he was clearly anxious to get to the festival.
“Sounds good, let’s go” replied Alice excitedly.
Alice, Lisa and Brian then made their way over to the T.P and transported through to the Magic Council.
Alice walked out of the T.P and looked around, the Magic Council was full of people, it was the busiest she had seen it so far. There were lots of bright, colorful outfits and people had their faces painted as skeletons, ghosts and monsters, it was very noisy and there was a vibrant energy throughout the room.
“What time is the parade?” asked Alice loudly as they walked through the crowds of people.
“At nine, let’s go have a walk around the markets until it starts” replied Brian.
“Wow” said Alice in awe as they walked through the entrance wall and onto the square outside.
There was a giant stage setup in the middle of the square with huge screens behind and tall seat stands along the street below, there were colors everywhere and there were thousands of people bustling around the city.
“Welcome to the Night of the Dead” said Lisa as they made their way through the crowds on the square.
They walked down from the square and onto the street below, there were small market stands setup on the street that stretched as far as Alice could see in both directions and small fireworks were going off in the sky.
“The snake fight starts at eight” said Brian as they made their way through the market.
“You really want to see that?” asked Claire with a grossed out look on her face.
“Yeah, I won last year, those things are beasts” said Brian in a funny tone.
“So, there’s a tribe from the Mesatoria desert region that does a snake fight every year for the festival. The snakes are cypondra snakes, usually they are hunted and killed because they are so dangerous and aggressive, they are the only snakes that actively hunt and prey on other snakes, humans too. The tribe captures a bunch of them, and instead of killing them, they do the snake fight which people can bet on to raise money to help preserve their land and the plants that grow there” explained Lisa.
“I see, are they in a cage or something?” asked Alice, also kind of grossed out by the idea.
“They get put into a large, glass cube, as soon as they are dropped in the fight begins, they have the same undefeated snake from last year, they kept it alive” replied Brian.
“Sounds pretty crazy” said Alice sarcastically.
“That’s exactly what it is, crazy” said Lisa.
“Come on, Alice has to see it at least once” pleaded Brian.
Alice and Lisa laughed.
“We can go to the snake fight, but if me and Alice think it’s too disgusting, we’re leaving you there.”
Brian laughed.
“That’s fair, I’m sure you guys will like it, they call the snake from last year ‘Ghor’, he’s ruthless.”
“Great, can’t wait to see Ghor in action” replied Lisa sarcastically.
Alice and Lisa both laughed.
As they made their way up the street to the snake fight, Alice stopped in front of one of the market stands, there were containers filled with insects and bugs and strange, moving plants and weeds.
“What are they?” asked Alice with a disgusted look on her face, walking over and looking at the containers.
“I know these ones are larchitas, you put them in water and drink them, they feed off parasites and bacteria’s in the body, they’re supposed to clean you out and die after about a day of being in your system” replied Lisa, pointing to one of the containers that had tiny insects swimming around inside.
“I think I’ll pass” said Alice, the thought of ingesting insects made her feel nauseous.
“Very healthy, young one. We also have the Greenvane cockroach, very tasty, yes, very tasty” said the small, plump looking, indigenous woman standing behind the table of the st
and, pointing to a container full of slimy cockroaches that had thin, green, vane like streaks running down their backs.
Alice nodded and forced a smile not be rude before slowly moving away from the stand.
“Well, that was weird” said Alice as they continued up the street.
“Yeah, she was a little strange” said Brian with an exaggerated look on his face.
“Well, here we are, I don’t see Ghor” said Lisa as they approached the large, see through glass cube that was placed in the middle of the street intersection.
There were six black steel boxes placed in front of the cube and there was a large screen setup with betting odds displayed and a long, circular table surrounding the cube with people sitting behind, taking bets from the crowds of people.
“Will you guys just give it a chance?” said Brian, slightly agitated.
Alice and Lisa both laughed, clearly both getting enjoyment from stirring Brian about Ghor.
“Ghor’s odds are 1.45 for his first fight, that’s not bad, it stars in five minutes, I’ll be back in a minute” said Brian, walking over to the table to place a bet.
“Watching the snake fight, Alice?”
Alice turned around and saw Darius Bane standing next to her.
“Hi, Darius. I guess I am, how are you?”
“Very well, thank you. I just wanted to thank you for what happened yesterday. It seems as though the work with Bella is paying off” said Darius, smiling.
Alice smiled.
“Well, I better get back to it, have a great night” said Darius before walking off into the crowd.
“You know Darius Bane?” asked Lisa with a surprised look on her face.
“Yeah, sort of.”
“What happened yesterday?” asked Lisa curiously.
“I disarmed someone.”
Before Lisa could ask anymore questions, a man started talking into the microphone.
“LADIES AND GENTLEMENT, WELCOME TO THE ANNUAL NIGHT OF THE DEAD SNAKE FIGHT!” said the native looking man loudly to the cheering crowd, he had a long pony tail and large, bone piercings through his ears.
There were now three other native looking men standing around the steel boxes with their wands raised.
“WE ARE GOING TO GET STRAIGHT INTO IT TONIGHT, AND WITHOUT FURTHER ADO - WE BRING TO YOU THE TWO DEADLY COMPETITORS OF THE FIRST BATTLE FOR THE NIGHT.
