Guardians of the Akasha

by Celia Stander

  The hut was soon filled with a sweet aroma, so overpowering that it threatened to send Keira’s head spinning.

  “Cassandra?” she asked again, feeling confused and disoriented, her own voice coming as from a great distance away.

  “Hold my hand, Keira,” Cassandra replied. From outside herself, Keira watched her arm stretch out of its own accord and their hands link.

  Surya Modjadji Kukulkan

  Surya Modjadji Kukulkan

  SuryaModjadjiKukulkan SuryaModjadjiKukulkan

  Cassandra chanted, first soft and low, then her voice became louder with each repetition, until it rolled off the sides of the hut. Keira could almost see the sound waves as they crashed over her head.

  Surya Modjadji Kukulkan

  Surya Modjadji Kukulkan

  SuryaModjadjiKukulkan SuryaModjadjiKukulkan

  On and on it went. At one point Keira heard herself chanting the words with Cassandra…over and over….

  To Keira’s left, the air above the blue blanket shifted. She slowly tipped her head in that direction and concentrated very hard to make her eyes focus on the vague outlines of a shape that turned into a statuesque black woman who settled down next to her. The woman’s beauty and regal bearing were overwhelming. Keira was stunned, even through the layer of cotton-wool wrapped around her mind.

  “Welcome, Modjadji,” Cassandra spoke and graciously inclined her head to the Rain Queen.

  Modjadji nodded back and then to Keira. “We are honoured to help the Akasha,” her brown eyes were warm and Keira smelled that wonderful fresh scent of grass and earth after a rain storm.

  Then the fire crackled demandingly and, as Keira looked into the flames, a figure leapt forth, startling her into dropping Cassandra’s hand and scrambling back to the wall of the hut.

  “Welcome, Surya,” Cassandra said drily.

  “A pleasure, as always,” a voice crackled back.

  The figure took his place on the red blanket, on the other side of the fire. Keira tried to bring him into focus, but failed. His image rippled the way a mirage does. She only registered a sense of immense power and heat pouring from the two fiery eyes fixed on her.

  A rustle of wind whirled around the hut, stirring Keira’s hair and a small, slight figure alit on the green blanket between Modjadji and Surya. It wore a coat made of a multitude of emerald, ruby, and gold feathers. The feathers stirred and a yellow serpent stuck its head out, tasting the air with its tongue and disappearing again.

  “Welcome, Kukulkan,” Cassandra nodded her head toward the feathers.

  “Thank you, Wise One,” a voice warbled in reply. The figure was an old man, so thin it seemed the wind could carry him away at the slightest sigh.

  “Now,” Cassandra continued. “Let the Dreaming begin.” She beckoned Keira, who was still sitting with her back pressed against the hut’s grass wall, forward.

  Keira cautiously returned to her rainbow blanket. On either side of her, Cassandra and Modjadji were holding out their hands to her. She put her own in theirs, closing the chain, and was blasted with a power so overwhelming, her head was thrown back and her eyes stared wide open at the roof above her. She was lost in a great, unending space.

  The sound of her blood rushing through her veins thundered in Keira’s ears while colours swirled in a mad, rushing kaleidoscope in her mind. Then she was racing across the African landscape, Modjadji by her side. She flew over wildebeest and elephants and crossed the air with a fish eagle, all the while seeing face after face in a long line of Rain Queens, their voices mingling into one as they shared with her the memory of water and of life.

  Then Keira was surrounded by a multitude of birds of every shape, size, and colour. Their singing and chirping filled her ears until she wanted to clamp her hands to her head; but she couldn’t. She was holding on to the neck of the feathered serpent, riding through the sky towards the sun.

  She screamed as they flew closer and the sun’s brilliance seared through her eyes and into her mind. They dove into the centre of the fireball, but instead of burning, there was only welcome warmth and an understanding of the power of fire and air.

  Time slowed down and carried Keira on an entwined ribbon of crimson, cobalt, silver and bronze. She was lulled by its gentle undulations, floating along with it, until a soft voice called her name from very far away.

  “Keira…come child, it is time to go,” it murmured.

  Loss and sadness filled Keira as she turned towards the voice. She was reluctant to leave this place, but the voice insisted, pulling her away.

  “Thank you,” she whispered into the ocean of time and was rewarded with an embrace of shared love wrapping around her like a soft blanket.

  As Keira left that place behind, following the voice calling her name, she became aware of a shining figure in the distance. She drifted closer and closer, until she came to a stop before it. Keira could only stare. The female figure was composed entirely of light—warm, golden light that rippled and moved with an internal energy and power. Entire constellations revolved around little suns in and around the Being in front of her.

  “Oh—Cassandra….” Keira’s voice broke with emotion at the beauty in front of her.

  “You have done well child.” The words resonated through Keira’s mind. A hand brush her cheek and then there was a slight weight as the Being clasped something around her neck. She looked down and saw a brilliant, oval crystal hanging on her breast.

  “Cassandra…what will I do without you?”

  “Dear child, you will find your own wisdom. Go and live your destiny.”

  The white horse appeared and gave her a soft, greeting nicker. A great tiredness swept through Keira and she struggled to keep her eyes open. She felt herself being lifted and she twisted her fingers automatically in the horse’s silky mane.

  Once again, like that first trip she took on his back, she leaned forward onto his neck. He moved forward, and she barely felt the gentle rocking as she drifted off into unconsciousness.

  Chapter 24

  Dusk settled over the Argentine highlands in shades of rose and tangerine. Sharp mountain peaks and dramatic cliffs, glaringly bright during the day, softened and lost their harshness.

  Justin usually loved this twilight time. He would go outside every evening to enjoy those few moments before darkness fell over the Santana ranch. Yet today, even Mother Nature’s spectacular show failed to lighten his mood.

  With his scuffed, dust-caked shoes, he kicked at a pebble in the red sand and swore under his breath, careful not to say the word too loud. Uncle Marco didn’t take kindly to children swearing.

  Two months had passed since Marco returned to the ranch and Justin was worried. Not a word had come from Keira. Zina said there had been a Dreaming, but that was all they knew. Even though the Old Woman had told his uncle to wait, Justin was afraid that Marco was at the point where he’d go back to Europe to look for her.

  Justin didn’t know exactly what a Dreaming was, but judging by the adults’ jittery tension, he was glad he wasn’t a part of it. It made him worry more for his friend, Keira. She was kind to him and Amber at the castle.

  A treacherous tear found its way over the boy’s cheek and he angrily wiped it away. He was not going to cry, even when scenes of the battle at the castle haunted his sleep every single night. Even when he couldn’t stop worrying about Amber, trapped by that—that evil…. Justin tried to think of a word that wouldn’t violate Marco’s no-swearing rule, and failed. He vowed that he would kill Daemon himself, if Marco didn’t do it first.

  Marco and the others tried to hide their tension from him, but he picked up enough from the whispered conversations to realise that the Guardians were in a bad position. More people had arrived at the ranch and they tried to stay busy with training and strategizing, but everyone was on edge. Some people wanted to go and storm the castle, while others urged caution.

  Marco had his hands full managing the situation and had no time to spend with Justin. Th
e young boy felt neglected and tried hard not to show it. There were times when he missed his parents so much it was like an ache in the pit of his stomach, but he didn’t want Marco and Rafael to see when he got upset, so he spent a lot of time outside, or with the horses. Zina continued his Healer training when she could, but the lessons were random and haphazard as she also had her hands full; some of the new arrivals were injured in fights with Daemon’s Watchers as they struggled to reach the ranch and needed Zina’s care. There were thirty-three people at the ranch now, and only eight of them were Draaken.

  The ten year old boy believed he was more than capable of being initiated as a fully-fledged Guardian, but the adults always urged patience.

  “Patience!” Justin kicked at another pebble in the sand.

  A gentle nudge from behind nearly pushed him over onto his knees. He whirled around and let out a small cry of surprise as he stared up into the eyes of a big white horse. The horse snorted softly and nodded his head up and down as if laughing at the boy.

  It was the person on the horse’s back however, who did laugh softly.

  “Hallo, Justin.”

  “Keira—” he could only whisper and continue to stare as she lightly jumped down off the horse’s back.

  “Well? Aren’t you going to say hallo?” she asked with a smile and held her arms open. Justin stumbled forward and hung onto her with all his might. He squeezed his eyes shut and wished fervently that this wasn’t a dream.

  “This is—amazing!” He let go, stood back, and gaped at her. “I was just thinking about you, how I missed you, wishing you were here and—and here you are!” Justin threw his head back and let out a loud whoop, punching his fist in the air. “This is freaking amazing! You’re back!”

  “I wasn’t gone that long, only two weeks,” Keira laughed again.

  “What do you mean ‘two weeks?’ It’s been two months!”

  “Oh! Well—you’ll have to fill me in on everything that’s happened. But first, where are we?” she asked and looked around with a puzzled frown.

  “We’re at Marco’s ranch. In Argentina! How could you not know that, how did you get here?” The questions tumbled out of Justin’s mouth in a torrent. “Marco and everyone are in the house. They’ll be so happy to see you! Come, let’s go tell them!”

  Keira stopped him with a quick “Shh,” stopping him in his tracks.

  “Please, Justin. Wait a minute. First tell me who is here and what has been happening.”

  “Well,” the boy said, suddenly serious. “Things have been a bit tense around here. Nobody knew where you were or when you’d be back. They’ve been trying to decide what to do, but everyone has their own ideas. Marco is really losing his patience, and they are not telling me anything!”

  Keira lay a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. “Who are they, Justin?” she asked.

  “There is Marco, Rafael and Chloe. And Zina and her fiancé Kamau. Well, he calls himself her fiancé but she doesn’t seem so sure about it and he can do this really cool thing with the rain….” And Justin rambled on about rain clouds and water until Keira had to stop him again and remind him of her question.

  “Then there’s Adam, but you know him from the cave. Man but he is strong! And his two sisters….” Here Justin stopped and cleared his throat. A slight blush tinged his ears and Keira raised her eyebrows.

  “Well,” he continued hastily. “Simone is also here and Chetan. He’s super cool. You met him at the castle, didn’t you? Keira, he’s a firewalker! He’s already taught me so much. And you know Mr Harigaya from Japan, but I don’t know what he does ‘cause he says he’s only here to observe. What does that mean Keira?”

  Justin didn’t wait for an answer and continued talking. “And there are a lot of other people here who needed a place to hide, but not all of them can fight, and Rafael has tried to teach them but it’s not really working. And everyone thinks I’m too young to know what’s going on, but I’m not stupid!” and he kicked at another pebble in the sand.

  “You are definitely not stupid Justin. Maybe they just want to protect you,” Keira tried to soothe his hurt feelings.

  “Yeah, well, they can go protect themselves. I can take care of myself!” Justin grumbled.

  “Okay, so why don’t you tell me what they’ve been discussing?” Keira asked.

  “Daemon sent a message that the Council members are all dead, he murdered them all. The Draaken wanted to leave immediately and go get Daemon, but Marco said that’s exactly what he wants and it would be a trap and that we would fight him on our terms. So everyone’s been training and trying to prepare. Oh Keira! I’m so happy you are here! Marco wanted to leave and go get you and Simone said he must stay here and Adam wants to fight Daemon by himself and Chloe hasn’t been able to See anything since the cave. It sucks! At least Amber’s dad got word to us that they’re safe, but they’re being held in the castle and are forced to cook and clean,” and Justin threw his arms around Keira once again.

  She stood silently, trying to take in all the information. So many new developments to be considered, weighed, and acted upon. Did this change the course she knew she had to take?

  No, she decided. It didn’t.

  “Justin!” a concerned voice called from the house’s open back door.

  “Over here!” Justin called back and tugged at Keira’s hand. “Come inside, everyone will be so happy you’re here.”

  Keira let herself be led to the house, glancing over her shoulder to make sure the horse was following. She dragged her feet, wishing her heart would not beat quite so loudly in the quiet of the early evening.

  Justin stopped in front of Marco. “Look who is here! Keira came! I don’t know how, but she’s got this big horse, wow he’s beautiful—can I ride him Keira?” and they let the boy babble on while they stood in silence and just looked at each other.

  After a long moment, Marco tore his eyes away from her and asked the boy, “Justin, please take him to the stable. Make sure there’s enough water and hay.”

  “Okay, sure Marco,” and Justin led the horse away, talking to him all the while.

  Marco and Keira were left in the bubble of silence.

  “So you….”

  “How long have….”

  Embarrassed laughter.

  “You go first,” Keira smiled.

  Marco drank in the sight of her. He noticed her clear, determined eyes and relaxed posture. A short, black riding jacket over a white shirt, black breeches and knee-high boots hugged her body tightly. A clear crystal winked from her throat.

  “You are looking well,” he said.

  “Thank you. Nothing like a week or so in the country,” she teased.

  He laughed softly. It sounded like it was the first real laugh he’d had in a long time.

  “How are you?” she asked in return.

  A slight shrug of his wide shoulders. “The ranch is shielded but the entrances are being watched all the time, so progress is slow. News is coming through, though: our network is still up, but it’s not looking good.”

  She nodded. “Cassandra told me the Council members have been murdered. Who is making decisions for the good of the Akasha?”

  “Right now, the Families still out there are just trying to survive. So they are not concerned with the ‘greater good.’ This means we, the Draaken, are making the decisions.” Marco gave a frustrated sigh. “And that has not been easy, as you’ll soon see.”

  “Dissention in the ranks?” she asked.

  “To put it mildly,” he agreed.

  Silence fell over them again, but this time it was companionable, almost comfortable.

  Standing so close to him, she noticed the tired circles under his eyes, the drawn corners of his mouth and she wanted to wrap her arms around him and soothe his cares away. Let me take care of you, now, she wanted to say. But of course, she didn’t.

  The mood was broken when a loud shouting match erupted inside the house. The frown was back between Marco’s eyes. />
  “Let’s go in,” Keira said and unselfconsciously put her hand in his. This time it was she that led the way as they walked through the door.

  Chaos reigned in the big sitting room. A merry fire crackled in the stone fireplace, but that was the only happy sound in the room. People stood face to red face, arms gesturing and veins bulging.

  Keira couldn’t immediately make out what they were arguing about, but it was serious. Marco wanted to step forward and interrupt, but she held him back. They stood and watched.

  Then she said, “What does a girl have to do to get noticed around here?” and her voice carried like silver gossamer strands through the room, leaving stunned silence in its wake.

  “Keira!” Adam shouted and rushed over, grabbing her in his arms and swung her around and around. She was quickly surrounded by clamouring voices. Everyone wanted to know where she’d been and what had happened. After a while, her friends had a chance to step closer and welcome her back.

  Adam brought his sisters over and introduced them as Jemma and Nikki, both identically blonde and beautiful. “Hiya!” they sang in unison. “We’re so happy to meet you!” Keira immediately liked the happy pair.

  “So, go on then, tell her what you do!” Adam prodded them.

  “We sing!” one of the girls replied—Keira wasn’t sure which one it was—and they spontaneously started to sing their own version of “Waltzing Matilda”. Keira suddenly felt her foot tapping to the rhythm of their hypnotic harmony.

  “That’s enough,” Marco interrupted firmly. “Next time, give us time to put up our shields,” he said to the girls. “They are sirens,” he told Keira, as if that explained everything.

  Next came Chetan, and he and Keira shared a long look. “You do Surya proud,” Keira said softly.

  His mouth twitched in surprised emotion. “My life is yours,” he rumbled, nodded, and stepped back.

  Zina was waiting with a very tall man by her side. His skin was as glowingly dark as her own, but where her eyes were the deep brown of the Zambezi River, his eyes were the soft grey of rain clouds over Kenya’s plains.