As she stood there, her knees slightly softened, hands at her sides, a warmth embraced her. The sense of motion ceased.
Open your eyes, Shelly.
The mental command startled her and she opened her eyes. There was a white gauze everywhere she looked. She heard the command but saw no one.
I’ve come for the emerald sphere. Do you have it? she asked telepathically as she turned around to glance behind her. The whitish filaments reminded her of the high cirrus clouds in the sky. They would rotate clockwise at a slow pace and then turn in the other direction.
She began to see someone materialize about six feet away from her. It was a woman with slightly tilted green eyes. Shelly didn’t recognize her. She was tall, with seaweed surrounding her lithe form. Her feet were encased in brightly colored coral. Her hair seemed composed of fine, thin seaweed flowing in an unseen channel of energy. This was not a human being. Luckily, Shelly had come across any number of alien beings, gods and goddesses in other portals she’d explored over the years. It was the female’s large green, slanted eyes, however, that calmed her. Love and nurturing radiated from this being.
I am Niru, daughter of the Ocean.
Bowing her head in deference to the being, Shelly said, I am honored by your presence. Are you from the oceans of our Mother? Shelly felt rather than saw the goddess’s smile. It sent radiant tingles of joy through her.
My true home is on a beach in a place you call the South Island of New Zealand. I was born there many millions of your years ago. My work is to keep the water of this planet clean and alive. My workers are the dolphins and whale people who maintain a peaceful harmony so that Mother Earth may survive the onslaught from human beings. When you see a rainbow, that is a sign I am nearby.
Shelly felt as if she were standing in the flow of the ocean although she could not see it. Thank you for being who you are. Humans have fouled the water on this Earth and I know there are many of us who are trying to stop this. A tremendous sense of water flowed in vast, slow currents all around Shelly. Was this a portal into Niru’s watery oceanic kingdom?
Yes, you are within a chamber of my home near New Zealand, Niru signaled. Do not be fearful, for you will not drown. This chamber is a door to those who want to work with me. I have any number of vortex portals around the world for humans who care about the health of our oceans. You will always find these doors near ponds, lakes, streams, oceans or rivers. Anyone who wants to work with me simply gives a gift to the water, calls my name, and I will come.
Shelly smiled. This is a wonderful way to work with you, my lady. Are you the caretaker of the emerald sphere we seek?
Niru lifted her arms, which were draped in kelp. A long time ago an Incan priestess came to the South Island of New Zealand. She found the cave where I was born. Praying, she asked me to come to her and keep the emerald sphere. I said I would. One day, the priestess told me, a woman would appear, a woman born to touch the sphere and help it to its next destination. I promised I would do all I could so I sent you and Colt the same dream. You both came here to connect with me.
Shelly was amazed by this revelation. How could that Incan priestess have known she would even exist or follow through? Dear Niru, if you feel I am the right woman, may I have the sphere now? We are ready to receive it for we want nothing but peace upon this planet.
It is with great pleasure and anticipation that I gift you with the sphere. Be aware, my daughter, that this sphere symbolizes courage.
Shelly saw the seaweed arms flow together in front of her. Emerald-green and turquoise water flowed around Niru to give her a long, lithe shape. Shelly’s gaze narrowed upon the kelp hands of the sea goddess. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the sphere appeared in the cupped leaves of the seaweed. Within moments, it became more and more solid. As it formed, she saw within the depths of the emerald gold emanations shooting out from all around it like rays from a blazing, glorious sun. Gasping, Shelly felt the energy of the sphere as it fully materialized within Niru’s hands.
My daughter, Niru warned, as I place this sphere in your hands, you will be taken back to your time and place. Be warned that danger awaits you. Only love can save you. Remember that….
Thank you, my lady. I appreciate your care of this sphere for all of our relations on this planet we love so much. She reached out with her left hand. Her heart pounded with excitement, as the sphere left the cupped hands of kelp leaves and drifted toward her. The sphere settled into her palm. It was heavy, much more so than she had expected. Curling her fingers around it, she said, Thank you, dear Niru. She touched her heart with her right hand and bowed her head in deference to the ancient sea goddess.
Go in peace and light, my daughter, Niru signaled.
In moments, Niru dissolved and only the white, slow-moving filaments of light floated around Shelly once more. With the incredible power and love throbbing through her body, Shelly realized for the first time the sphere’s strength. No wonder the sorcerers wanted it!
She closed her eyes and shifted back to her world, to where she was standing on those two boulders on the bank of Moraine Lake. Niru’s warning haunted her: they were in danger. They could die….
COLT ANXIOUSLY WATCHED as Shelly materialized. Her booted feet were solidly placed on the two boulders. In her left hand was an incredibly beautiful and powerful emerald sphere. She had found it!
Before Colt had time to celebrate, he heard the roar of a huge animal behind him. As he turned abruptly, his eyes widened. There was a mother silver-tipped grizzly bear charging toward him with two cubs at her heels! Colt tensed. On the Navajo reservation he’d never had an encounter with bears of any kind. More than his own life, he had to protect Shelly. But how? The grizzly bear lumbered toward him at frightening speed. Her mouth was open, saliva dripping from the sides, her teeth bared.
There!
Colt leaned down. A soggy limb lay off the bank of the lake, about six feet long and as thick as a man’s wrist. Gripping it, Colt wrenched it out of the water. The grizzly shifted course from him to where Shelly materialized.
No! Colt whirled around and shouted at the bear to get her attention. Scrambling up from the smooth, slippery rocks, limb between his hands, he ran to interdict the raging, angry mother bear. His mind spun as he went to confront the nine-hundred-pound grizzly. Of all things, he’d never expected to be attacked by a bear!
Digging into the slope of the bank with the toes of his boots, Colt leaped up to the grassy earth above. The two cubs were running hard to keep up with their mother. They, too, were ferocious. How could he keep all three of them from attacking Shelly?
Taking a stand, Colt stood between the charging grizzlies and Shelly down at the lakeshore. Breathing hard, air exploding from his mouth, Colt anchored himself. Less than fifty feet lay between him and the enormous angry mother bear. Colt felt like a fly next to an out-of-control truck hurtling down the slope at him.
As the bear charged, her mouth open, the roar vibrating through Colt, he lifted the limb. When he was a child, he used to herd sheep through the mesas where coyotes would stalk the animals. There, he would pick up a long limb and charge the coyotes. His father had always said that a whack on the nose would make the animal run away. The nose of any wild animal was their weak point, the most sensitive spot on the body.
Lifting the branch over his head, Colt swung down hard just as the bear made a flying lunge directly at him. His arms took the brunt of the solid hit. He’d aimed the limb right at the mother bear’s sensitive nose. The clash of hurtling animal against the power and force of his strike snapped the limb in half with a powerful cracking sound.
The bear slammed hard to the ground, roaring in pain. With her huge, long claws, she pawed again and again at her badly bleeding nose.
Colt gasped and leaped to the side as the bear fell only three feet away from him. He didn’t have time to watch what the mother would do. Two cubs, easily weighing four hundred pounds each, charged him instead.
Whirling aro
und, the limb half the length it was before, Colt struck out at the first cub. He hit it hard in the head. The animal bawled and tumbled backward.
The second cub growled and charged. Both hands gripping the club, Colt struck out again. With deadly accuracy, he managed to direct the broken tip of the limb to the cub’s nose. It, too, screamed in pain, tumbled backward over and over again, pawing wildly at its bleeding nose.
Breathing hard, Colt risked a look over his shoulder. Shelly was completely back! She’d just stepped off the boulders and turned to look up the slope at him. Her eyes were wide with disbelief.
He jerked his attention back to the bears, noticing that the mother’s nose bled heavily. She had backed off, swiping repeatedly at her wounded snout. The two cubs had scampered back behind her. He stood, panting and waiting for their next charge. The more he looked into the bear’s small eyes, the more he saw the flat blackness. Something was wrong, but Colt couldn’t understand what was going on.
“Colt, come here!” Shelly cried out.
Keeping the club in hand, Colt turned and ran down the slope. He skidded on the stones as he came to a halt in front of her. “Are you all right?” he demanded, out of breath.
“Yes, yes. Are you okay?” She reached out, terrified.
“I’m fine, but we’re in trouble. Those bears could charge again. We can’t outrun them, Shelly. And we don’t have a canoe to escape to the lake.” He turned, gazing up the slope. The mother bear was shaking her head, still nursing her injured muzzle.
“Oh, God,” Shelly cried, pointing at the bear.
Colt’s eyes became slits. He saw a huge black cloud come shooting out of the top of the mother bear’s head. In seconds, the animal turned around and started lumbering off at a trot toward the tree line with her cubs in tow.
“The sorcerer!” Shelly screamed. What she did next was without thought, only a survival reflex. Something drove her to throw her right arm around Colt. In her left hand Shelly held the flashing golden and emerald sphere between them, at heart level. A huge sonic boom occurred, as if a military jet had broken the sound barrier right over their heads. The ground and air trembled violently in the wake of the earsplitting sound.
Colt hauled Shelly into his arms. She kept the emerald against his chest where his heart lay. Colt felt an incredible seismic shift of energy around him. He had already thrown up a protective barrier against their attacker. The sorcerer in the black, roiling cloud was nearly upon them. Colt knew the sorcerer was hidden somewhere in that thunderstorm cloud moving swiftly toward them. The sorcerer would do anything to get the sphere from Shelly.
Colt held her tightly against himself and turned his back toward the sorcerer who was diving down at them.
As soon as he’d done that, another powerful shift occurred. To Colt, it sounded like a second military jet had just broken the sound barrier right on top of them. The earth quivered violently beneath his feet, and he felt the vibration through every cell of his body. Shelly clung to him. Colt automatically closed his eyes. He gritted his teeth and waited for the malevolent attack.
When it didn’t happen, Colt jerked his head up and looked above them. His eyes widened as a huge green bubble surrounded them. What was going on? Jerking his gaze upward, he watched as the angry sorcerer kept charging down at them with full weight and fury. And then, something happened that Colt hadn’t anticipated.
He heard a keening shriek. A long, wailing cry of a man in utter shock. The thunderous, roiling black cloud that hid the sorcerer halted a few feet above them. He held Shelly hard against him. If anyone was going to die, it would be him. Shelly had to survive! He loved her with his life.
And then, he felt Shelly lift her head.
“The sphere is protecting us!” she cried.
No wonder everything looked greenish to Colt. He couldn’t figure out what had happened until Shelly had cried out. Indeed, a warm sensation pulsed between them where the emerald rested. The precious sphere had saved them from the sorcerer’s attack.
Within seconds, Colt saw two smaller black clouds join the larger one above the green bubble. All three sorcerers had possessed the bears. They moved around the bubble seeking entry.
“They can’t reach us!” Colt rasped, grateful for the protection.
Just when he felt sure of their safety, Yellow Teeth came from the sky toward them like a rocket. Instantly, he went on internal guard and girded himself for the coming attack. The Skin Walker’s mouth opened, lifting away from teeth as he pounced.
Again, there was a loud cracking sound, a tooth-jarring reverberation as the Skin Walker struck the bubble with full force. Colt watched in amazement as the witch slammed into the green energy, causing a blinding explosion of light. Suddenly, the Skin Walker disappeared in a flash. He had been killed by touching the light of the emerald sphere. Finally, his nemesis was dead.
But Colt couldn’t let himself gloat or cheer. The other three thunderstorms of terrifying black clouds continued to hover inches above the green energy. They seemed to realize the energy, if touched, would kill them, too. Colt pulled Shelly closer, hoping his deepest fears could now be put to rest.
VICTOR GUERRA HOWLED in frustration. If he touched that greenish bubble of protection, it would turn him from Tupay into a Taqe. While Lothar knew this, too, Jeff, no doubt curious and new to the world of the Tupay, touched the energy of the bubble.
“No!” Victor screamed. “Don’t let it touch you!”
Too late! Jeff bounced off the bubble’s shimmering gold-and-green surface like a golf ball ricocheting off a wall.
Angry, Victor snarled to Lothar, “Go get him! See if it’s changed him!”
Glaring at the bubble and the two Taqe within it, who were clearly frightened, Victor cursed once more. For whatever reason, this damned sphere was going to protect these two. There was no way to get to them. No matter what he did now, the sphere was clearly on the side of the Taqe. Victor knew he had to leave.
Turning, he noticed Lothar kneeling over Jeff.
“How is he?” Victor demanded. In the fourth dimension they were in human form once more. To someone in the third dimension, they appeared as dark and massive thunderstorms.
“I’m okay. Really I am…” Jeff muttered, shaking his head.
Lothar crouched at Jeff’s shoulder. The younger spirit held his head in his hands, bent over and clearly stunned.
“You stupid fool!” Victor barked at Jeff. “You don’t ever touch anything around a Taqe. It’s deadly to us. Didn’t you see that Skin Walker get zapped? His soul is dead!”
Jeff nodded and felt shaken to his core. “Y-yes, my lord. I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” he mumbled, his insides feeling like so much jelly. Odd emotions circuited through him. “I feel like I touched an electric line and got zapped.”
Lothar patted his shoulder. “It’s okay. Don’t worry.”
Victor glared at the fleeing grizzly bears up on the slope. They had trotted away to the safety of the forest, no worse for wear. Animals did not suffer the fate of humans. Their silver cords did not get severed and they always lived after being possessed. When Colt had struck the nose of the mother bear, Victor had felt pain directly as never before. Who knew the Taqe would pick up a limb and hit his nose with it? The resourcefulness of the Warriors for the Light never ceased to amaze him.
“Let’s go,” he said. “There’s no sense in staying around here. Jeff, get over to the energy hospital. You will need care to heal from your injuries.”
Victor watched Lothar help Jeff to his feet, his arm around his waist to help the young Tupay stand. With a flourish of his hand, he sent all three of them back to the fortress.
“THEY’RE GONE!” Colt growled, relief tunneling through him. He scanned the area to be certain. He was still holding Shelly, and the green bubble of protection continued to shimmer around them.
“Are you sure?” she asked.
“I don’t see them,” Colt told her. “And I don’t sense them hanging around here. No
, they’re gone.” Gazing down at Shelly, he asked in an urgent voice, “Are you okay? You aren’t hurt, are you?”
Just the concern in Colt’s voice helped ground her. She clutched the sphere in her left hand between them so tightly her fingers ached. “I’m fine. Truly, I’m fine. Thank you for protecting me, Colt. I came out of that portal and I saw the bears charging you. I was never so scared….” She choked and her eyes filled with tears and his face blurred.
Just then, Colt sensed someone materializing behind them up on the bank. With Shelly still protected in his arms, Colt looked up to see a very old man and woman in white robes.
“Who are they?” Shelly asked, her voice hoarse with fear.
Colt was aware that the green bubble of protection had disappeared. And just as suddenly, the green sphere flew from Shelly’s grasp and into the hands of the woman with the silver hair. What was going on?
The bearded old man, a crooked wooden staff in his right hand, called, “Be at peace. We are your friends. I am called Adaire. This is my wife, Alaria. We are going to take you to a place of safety. It is time you knew more about the emerald sphere.”
Before Colt could open his mouth, the man, whose eyes blazed blue, lifted his staff and pointed it at them. There was a loud boom and a flash of bright, blinding light. Without thinking, Colt gripped Shelly to him. He heard her scream. And then he closed his eyes and held her tightly as he felt swift movement around them.
Chapter 17
Colt opened his eyes as soon as their surroundings seemed to have stilled. They were standing on a red-tiled balcony overlooking a tropical jungle. Either from bewilderment or uneasiness, they broke apart and Shelly went to look around. As they took stock of their new environment, the old woman with white braids materialized before them.
The Adversary Page 17
