As they left Man-Den’s house, Mark turned down the road that led the short way to the main hall and the Kivs. Len-Wei was the last to leave the chamber and made her way through the Elders until she was at Mark’s side. She put her hand on her son’s forehead.
“His heart has stopped Len-Wei, and we have not much time before his life-thought will leave him.”
“But…” she didn’t know what to say. The small piece of light that had begun to glow in her life a minute before darkened just as quickly. She could only follow like a child. The touch of her hand on the chilling skin of her son was the only thing that connected her to the world. If she no longer felt him, she knew she would melt away into the blackness that surrounded her. “What will you do?”
Mark had just spotted Tei-La in the crowd that was beginning to gather and follow them to the Kivs. “I must take him to the Kivs.”
As his eyes reached Tei-La’s, he could see her bewilderment as to what was going on and his mind spoke to her. “Find To-Bay and quickly bring him to the Kivs.”
The startled look on her face, as her mind heard his words, was just as quickly replaced with an expression that told him that she would do as he asked. He also saw the connections that would keep them together forever as his father and mother were. In a flash, she melted into the crowd and Mark turned the corner and walked towards the steps to the hall. The crowd parted for him and the procession as they approached the entrance.
At the top of the stairs, a wall between the top-most columns parted as Mark stepped to it. He entered and hesitated as the Elders and Len-Wei gathered near him.
“Ja-Lil!”
He turned to see Tei-La and To-Bay make their way through the last group of people then to the front of the crowd to start up the stairs.
“Both of you come with us.” Mark was walking again as he spoke. He made his way into the open courtyard where only a short time ago he had sat with his mother before becoming the city’s king. Now he carried the lifeless body of his best friend across the same floor, with no conscious idea of what he was going to do. He only knew that he knew. But what he knew was somewhere in the depths of his life and leading him on.
He crossed the floor and behind him the Elders, Roi-Den’s mother, Tei-La, and To-Bay trailed up the steps. They strode up the second set of stairs and on to the Kivs. This time the Dome opened the wall long before Mark and the group approached. They all stepped into the royal chamber and stood in front of the transparent wall of the Kivs. Mark only hesitated for a moment and then moved to the steps that led to the king’s Kiv above the others. “All of you must go to your Kivs.” With a nod of his head, Mark indicated the Kivs at the farthest end of the line. “To-Bay, you will enter there.”
This last statement stopped the Elders in mid-stride as they stepped to the slightly glowing wall. Before the first could speak and without looking back at them, Mark said, “To-Bay will replace Man-Den. Not just here, this one time, but all through the city as well.”
There was no response necessary and, in fact, they all knew their king had spoken and what he said was right. They immediately turned back to their Kivs and raised their hands and placed them on the wall. Only To-Bay continued to stare at Mark. “Ja-Lil, forgive me, but I don’t know what…”
“It is all right, To-Bay. Just stand in front and do as the others. Trust me in what I do.” Mark was now directly in front of the king’s Kiv. He turned slightly so he could look down at Tei-La and his aunt. Words were not needed. Tei-La looked up at him, and he saw in her everything he knew his father had seen in his mother. She was part of him. She knew his every thought and need and was there to support him in every way. They both smiled slightly at each other, and Tei-La drew Len-Wei to her side and placed an arm over her shoulder.
Mark turned the palms of his hands toward the wall as he held the lifeless form in his arms.
To-Bay had, by then, followed the example of the Elders and was still before the wall with his hands resting on the warm surface. As Mark touched the soft texture of the wall, it immediately softened and began to close around his hands and arms as he stepped forward. A split second later the Dome admitted the others to their Kivs, and in two steps all had entered the fluid-filled chambers.
Tei-La and Len-Wei stood staring at what no one, other than the king and the Elders, had ever witnessed before. All the Elders slowly turned, floating inside the Dome’s compartments. The women could see them clearly through the transparent skin of the Kivs. The Elders did not return their gaze but seemed to be looking far into the distance. It looked as though they were seeing beyond the outer walls of the Dome itself.
The women then looked to the topmost Kiv, which held Mark and his burden. They hung there, suspended in their chamber like a living Pieta.
To-Bay had moved into the Kiv in one smooth motion. From the time his hand’s penetrated the soft wall, it felt to him as if the Dome had drawn him in as much as he had stepped forward. The liquid inside was not seawater but also not like it. The sensation was one of supreme comfort. To-Bay felt completely secure. Not really knowing he was moving, he slowly turned and faced the direction he had entered. The liquid held him in suspension. It was warm. It felt exactly the same as his body temperature. He was thinking all these thoughts and, at the same time, he could feel himself drifting into a half-sleep, half-awake condition. He could no longer feel where his skin ended and the fluid began. In fact, trying to make logical sense of it, he realized he could not tell the difference between himself and the whole Kiv. This awareness broadened as the focus of his mind narrowed, and he soon was the entire city. The Dome. The people. Everything.
The myriad of every-day things that had made up his life had softened into an indefinable grayness, and he felt himself relax as he had never done before. Ja-Lil was in his mind. He could not hear the king’s voice as he had in the city when Mark’s father spoke to him. He could not see him, neither through the Kiv’s walls nor in his mental vision. But Ja-Lil was there. It was so easy to let himself go to where he was being called. He now felt the others and knew the Elders, too, were directing their lives to the king’s Kiv.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Mark felt the weight of Roi-Den lift from his arms as he entered
the Kiv. The body remained in its somewhat horizontal position as Mark’s hand drifted down to his sides. His father! He felt him everywhere. And he felt his father’s father. He knew they were not actually here, but it was their history. For thousands of years only the direct line of the kings had been in the Kiv. The history was alive and now Mark was living it.
He could tell the others were all in the Kivs and in a state of readiness. The Elders he had only known in his youth as mysterious friends of his father were now a part of him. He knew their lives and their histories. To-Bay was comfortable and with the others and now part of the whole.
Mark felt a power he had never experienced before. The Dome itself was a part of him and it was clear that his mind and life-thought were guiding that power. His hands came slowly up again to the lifeless form in front of him, and he gently turned the body until it was parallel and slightly above him. Mark moved now without thought, guided by information and instinct that was coded in his very blood. Roi-Den must live.
With Mark and Roi-Den the last to enter the Kiv, Tei-La and Len-Wei stood watching as all the Elders slowly turned and became motionless. Everything was still. Their gaze roamed from Kiv to Kiv. Soon even the robes of the Elders settled. From the moment they had entered, Tei-La noticed an increase in the greenish glow of the walls. Now the entire floor pulsated with the changing color. The walls and ceiling began to join in the same regular rhythm. Tei-La recognized it immediately as a heartbeat. It was the life of the city itself.
Both women’s heads tilted back slightly and their eyes came to the king’s Kiv. The outer walls were transparent enough that they could clearly see everything inside. They watched as
Mark moved Roi-Den into an upright position. They could see Mark place his hands on each side of his friend’s chest. The light in the room around them grew brighter and the rate of pulsation picked up. Mark’s head tipped back a little, and Tei-La became aware of nothing else but Roi-Den. She sensed her mind focusing not on the person in the chamber whom she knew so well, but on his very life. Beside her, Roi-Den’s mother was going through the very same process.
In an instant, Tei-La knew everyone in the city was doing the same thing. Mark was directing the entire living entity that was the city towards the life of Roi-Den. Tei-La and Len-Wei walked forward and placed their hands on the portion of wall that separated two of the Kivs and concentrated.
Mark was not aware of the light or the increasing rate of its pulses. He only had a feeling like something was about to happen. It was approaching like a sound from a distance or the feeling in your feet when a train is coming. He was gathering everything and making it happen. The Dome was connecting all and it was being directed to Mark.
All through the city there was not a sound and nothing moved. Everyone, in a matter of moments, had ceased whatever they were doing. Wherever they were, they went to the nearest portion of the living Dome and gently placed their hands on the surface. Everyone could sense the focus of their efforts and willed their support toward their king and his mission.
In the Kiv, Mark’s hand pressed tighter against the sides of Roi-Den’s chest. He could feel the rib bones through his skin. He was aware now of how sensitive his hands and fingers were. From there, he knew that his entire body was now one with the elements of the Kiv—its fluids, its walls, and beyond. He was, in fact, becoming the Dome and its environs. Even the sea life around the exterior of the Dome wall began to slow their activities. The fish and sea life on the ocean floor were drawn to the Dome’s outer walls. Mark could see all of this as if it were being played out before him on a screen. It was as though he had turned himself inside out and all that was outside of him had become an integral part of his life, his being.
The energy in all the things that were now Mark began to gather. To focus. It was the sound he thought he heard and the train he could feel coming. This energy, given by all the lives in the city, was traveling to him now through the living tissue of the Dome. It raced toward him in a gentle inexorable torrent.
Tei-La opened her eyes and lifted her head. The light in the chamber of the Kivs was brilliant now—almost constant rather than pulsating. From where she stood, she looked up at Mark and at Len-Wei’s son. Under her feet and through her body, she felt the energy intensify. One moment there was almost nothing; the next moment practically knocked both women off their feet. The floor and the walls in the chamber seemed to flex and bend with the force traveling through them. The glow that was reflected on her face from the Elder’s Kiv grew to a brilliant blue-green. The walls carried that energy up the floor to the second level and it gathered under the king’s Kiv.
Inside, Tei-La could still see Mark holding Roi-Den at arm’s length. There was a pause when the light under Mark stopped moving but continued to get brighter. Just when she thought she could no longer stare into the sun that was forming in front of her, she saw Mark’s head drop slightly back. At that moment, the light entered his Kiv. Mark’s body seemed to absorb everything as it entered the chamber. His arms, legs, and torso radiated with the energy he was gathering. In the next instant, there was a sound. She couldn’t tell if it came from the energy, the Dome, or herself. But with the sound, the brilliant glow in Mark’s body raced from his legs and torso, down his arms, and to his hands. Every muscle and sinew contracted to where it looked like they would snap and tear with the force being exerted upon them. Mark raised the body of Roi-Den when the force shot down his arms. It stayed in his hands for a long moment and filled the space between them. She watched as the eye-aching glow faded into Roi-Den’s torso. Then, with a near explosion, light and energy erupted from his body. It pushed through the chamber and into the walls and floor. Suddenly, with a shudder from the Dome, it was gone. All was still. Tei-La blinked and looked around. Len-Wei’s hands had dropped from the wall, and she stood there motionless with her head hanging as if she were about to fall asleep. Slowly, looking back at the king’s Kiv, they could see Mark lowering Roi-Den’s body. Tei-La left Len-Wei’s side and raced up the steps, stopping in front of the entrance wall. Through the membrane, she watched Mark release his hold on his friend and place the palm of his hand on the young man’s forehead.
Mark’s mouth was moving slightly, but there was no way for her to know what he was saying. When he took his hand away, she stared in wonder as Roi-Den’s eyes flickered open and a small smile formed on his lips. Mark placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder for a moment, and then turned to leave.
Tei-La stepped back a little as Mark exited the Kiv—his hands first and then his body came through.
He looked at Tei-La and wanted so much to be able to explain what he had just experienced, but no words came. He could tell her what he knew. “He will be well.” He put his arms around her and held her tightly before pulling away and looking deep into her eyes again.
She turned and they walked down the steps.
Len-Wei had seen her son open his eyes, but she understood nothing of what had just happened. When the couple appeared before her, she looked immediately to the Kiv above. There was her son with his eyes open and one hand rubbing his left shoulder. It was not a dream. She had not imagined it. “Ja-Lil, will he be…” Words failed her.
“He will need more time in the Kiv.” Mark helped his aunt to the bench near the wall and she sat. “His body has much to repair, and the Dome will help him. You may return to your home. The Elders will know when he emerges.”
“May I stay here for awhile, please?”
“Of course. I must leave the city for awhile, but when I return we will all meet.” Mark could see the pain in her eyes because of all that had happened. “Everything will be all right.”
“Ja-Lil, I will stay with her awhile here.” Tei-La looked at him as she sat next to Len-Wei. “I will be at your house when you come back.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Many conflicting thoughts alternated in Mark’s mind as he
traveled northward from the city to meet with the Nari-Tanta. The biggest questions were about Man-Den. Why had he harbored such hatred for Mark’s father for so long? How could the king have never suspected Man-Den’s true desires? His other thoughts gave him great joy. Within him, he carried the life-thought of his father and soon it would be united with his mother’s in the Nari-Tanta. The knowledge of the line of kings would now continue unbroken. It was important to Mark (or Ja-Lil as he now thought himself), but somewhere deep in his life he knew it was important for much greater reasons.
As always, the sea gave him the limitless space to think. Everything that had happened since he was attacked on his dock so long ago had been a roadmap to some great event in the future. Mark felt that only he could move circumstances from day to day now in the direction of the event. His family. The treasures, the city itself and the other Ones Who Know of the Air and Land. Somehow, all of what he had learned of that history would act itself out within his lifetime. These were the true questions, and their answers would come with the transfer he was about to do.
As he drew in the seawater, felt the shifting nuances of the tides and pull of the earth, he kept adjusting his direction, a direction that he knew would lead to the same large area where he had sat before. As soon as he had left the city, he began to send out his song and was confident that many creatures of the ocean had caught it and were relaying it to the Tanta. Small brown squids, with their large eyes, calmly tacked out of his path as he approached. Their brownish skin color reddened a little, which Mark knew was a sign that they were happy to see him. He passed over thousands of starfish of various colors. Surface names appeared in his mind. Sunstar. Feather star. Blood Hen
ry. As the ocean floor rose and the water depth became shallow, sea life became more abundant. Breadcrumb sponges clung to the rock in big blobs of green and orange and brown. Urchins of all sizes and colors dotted the sea floor and coral ridges where countless small fish and crustaceans darted in and out in their endless search for food.
The terrain was familiar, and he swam with his vision as his guide. He had not come upon any sea mammal yet, as he had the first time, that could inform the Nari-Tanta of his presence, but he knew the message had been delivered. He soon dropped over the gentle ledge that surrounded the large open area with small circles of stones. Swimming slowly to the center, he saw a large manta ray boil out of his resting place, just under the sand, and glide out and away from the field, with the small feeder fish catching up to hitch a ride with him. Two beautiful nautiluses, a large female and the smaller male, also pulsed away as he approached. The rays of sunlight that pierced down through the water touched their brown and white shells and seemed to turn their surfaces to soft fabric.
By the time Mark settled into a sitting position in the center of the stone circle, the creatures that had been in the area had made a respectful exit from the field. Some continued over the ledge and out into the sea while others came to rest outside the field on the upslope and settled into a waiting position as Mark had done.
Mark continued to sing the calling song of his family, the string of notes and sounds easing him into a deepening meditative state. Knowing what to expect this time, it was easy for him to let his mind expand out into the ocean. The song had many voices for him now. He wanted the Nari-Tanta to hear his father singing and calling for Myo-O. They had always been united in love and now needed to be one in being. In the depths of his life, as conscious thought started to evaporate and he became one with the sea, he was aware that he was calling to his destiny.
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