by YatesNZ, Jen
It would make no difference if there had been. She’d immobilize them with energy if they tried to stop her now. Entering the corridor lit with muted ilmenite lamps she tried to hush the children but knew it was hopeless. How could she ease their terror when she was so filled with terror herself?
Shards of precious stone, which had once been a full sized statue of Poseidon, littered the portico. The ascending clear quartz staircase was strewn with shattered ilmenite from the lamp niches. Each fragment gave off a tiny glow to cast a dim, eerie light up towards the Star Chamber. Aware of the need to hurry yet also to take care, Gynevra began climbing as fast as she dared, scraping debris aside with her feet to clear a safe place to tread on each step. Sobbing for breath, she came at last into the central holy sanctuary. Among the remains of crystal spheres, ilmenite lamps lay shattered on the red quartz floor. Though the light was dim the power of the place still impelled.
She could only pray that Merwin’s Crystal was intact.
From the moment she stepped through the triangular doorway she lost all sense of pain or fear. Even the children hushed their terrible crying.
Taur had been right to ban her from this place. Just as Cielcif had described for her, in the center of the symbol of life, an aquamarine statue of a mermaid held Merwin’s Crystal aloft. The mermaid and her priceless treasure were intact! The base of the sculpture was carefully fitted into a block of lapis lazuli carved to resemble an ocean wave. The lapis was deeply embedded in the mosaic of the floor.
Merwin’s Crystal was completely enclosed by the delicate fingers of the mermaid’s hands. The power of it emanated in strong undulating waves that enfolded her, uplifted her—and calmed. Despite the chill of the water streaming from her, a sense of warmth pervaded all her limbs and she knew it was transferred to the small, shivering bodies of the children also.
‘You have come,’ it seemed to be saying, ‘and not before time. Take me into your hands. Lift me out from the top.’
‘Can I—have it, Mobuon?’ Ugo asked, between gulping sobs.
Startled by the intrusion of the baby voice into the powerful moment of connection with the Crystal, Gynevra stared down at her son. Golden hair plastered to his scalp and tear-filled eyes large and luminous green, Ugo gazed wide-eyed at the tiny luminescent fire that danced in the crystal heart then reached out a hand.
Gynevra looked back at the crystal. Aware she was already in semi-trance she adjusted the children in their makeshift slings and approached the mermaid. Reaching into the cradling hands she took the crystal octahedron carefully into her own.
‘Give me unto the child. He will have need of my power on his journey.’
Startled by the clarity of the communication she did as bid and immediately Ugo calmed completely. Scarce aware of her actions, she settled into one of the hematite chairs and snuggled the children against her breast. Electra’s tiny thumb found its way into her mouth. Qerlim stood, as if guarding the entrance.
Ugo touched a chubby finger to the crystal point then snatched it back with a small gasp. Wondering what he’d felt Gynevra also tested the point with her finger and a sudden smile touched her lips at the prickle of energy.
‘I can help you.’
For the briefest of moments she’d forgotten where she was—and why. But the words from the Crystal brought all the terror rushing back into her heart.
‘How? Can you help me return to Qrazil to avert this disaster?’ she whispered.
‘The place you call Qrazil is no more. Already is the city of Fyr Poseidyr and much of the south country lost. Nothing can avert this disaster. The land known as Atlantis has come to the end of its existence. Henceforth it will only be spoken of in legend, myth, suspicion or dreams. This day Atlantis is lost to mankind and few will survive to nurture her memory. There is no time to tarry. Surrender yourself to the energy. The child has a journey to make but he cannot begin it alone. You must assist him to transmute into pure energy and rise up onto the astral plane. The crystal he holds will protect him. But your paths of destiny diverge here.’
Fyr Poseidyr gone! It was too late to return to Qurazil; too late to avert the disaster; too late to save the people of Atlantis. She had failed! And how could she leave her son to travel alone? Convulsively she clasped him against her breast.
‘Will the God’s forgive me? I should have been strong enough to go while there was still time!’
‘T’was never your burden to bear, Daughter of the Blood. The prophecy but spake the time of its occurring. The evil that has befallen Atlantis is of the making of those with greed and lust in their hearts. Bow not your head to guilt.’
It was even as Dogon and Taur had tried so often to convince her! Her presence in Qurazil to follow Ianthe as Archinus would have made no difference to that which had long been ordained. The ambivalence of her feelings troubled her. There was a lightness to be sure, as she felt the burden of responsibility lifted from her. But it was leavened with sorrow by the realization there was no hope for Atlantis, no hope for her people.
Copying his baby sister, Ugo was now sucking his thumb and had snuggled close beneath her chin. Tenderly she brushed the dripping hair from his brow. There was no time to tarry, the Spirit of the Crystal had said. She must assist Ugo to start his miraculous journey, a journey he must travel alone. He was not yet three summers old!
‘May Electra and I not go with him? He is too young to make such a journey alone!’
‘Calm yourself, Daughter of the Blood. T’is the child’s destiny. He will travel far from the time and place of his birth but he will not travel alone. One comes, one who requires a miracle that he may become King in a land that has great need of his strength and power. The child is that miracle. Surrender yourself to Destiny, for if you do not allow him to follow this path, he will die.’
This then was to be the ultimate test of her trust in the Gods; the ultimate sacrifice for herself; the ultimate gift for her son. Sacred Mother, fill me with your power, she silently prayed.
A great rolling rumble began under the ground and Ugo, with both hands clasped around Merwin’s Crystal, buried his face against her neck and began crying once more. Electra’s tiny body arched and kicked and she screamed with fright.
Where is Taur? Why is he not here to help me make this decision? Though the words were not voiced aloud they vibrated through her being with the power of despair.
He is not, murmured the voice of reason within her heart and if he were, he would choose life for his son. This you must be strong enough to do also. And you must do it now.
‘Let it be so,’ she murmured tremulously.
She had to gain some semblance of calm or she’d never be able to raise the energy to save her son. The Earth settled again. But for how long? Ibn Ist, lend me strength.
Qerlim huddling against her knee, nudged Gynevra’s elbow with her head. Feeling a great rending around her heart she reached down to clench her fingers in the sodden fur. The wolf never left her side but she couldn’t take the animal with her. Yet how could she leave her? What if—? No! She must not think that. Qerlim dead meant Taur dead. She could only commend them to the Goddess.
Focusing her mind on the wolf, she projected, ‘I must go, Qerlim. I must take Ugo into the Light. You understand that, don’t you? I can’t take you. I beg Sacred Mother Ist to take care of you—but I can’t take you. If it be the Will of the Gods I’ll come back for you. Thank you for your love and loyalty. Taur needs you. Go find Taur. Go find him, Qerlim, please!’
Sitting back on her haunches, Qerlim regarded her mistress from sad, loving eyes and it was then Gynevra noticed the broken crystal point she held in her mouth. With another gentle nudge of her nose Qerlim dropped it into Gynevra’s hands.
‘Oh Qerlim,’ Gynevra whispered on a sob, as she felt the soothing energy flowing from the truncated crystal point and she clutched it convulsively in her fingers. She thought she’d lost the ability to breathe at all when the animal rose and slunk from the pyramid with he
r head turned over her shoulder watching her mistress to the very last.
Like a child’s top spinning out of control Taur dashed in and out of any building that still stood, searching, calling, at a complete loss as to where they might be. He would not even let himself think they might have fallen with the royal apartments. He would know if his Golden One’s energy had ceased to pulse. He would know!
Something wet and soggy brushed against his leg as he backed out of Janod the Silversmith’s house. Qerlim! The animal was never far from his mistress. He dropped to his haunches and hugged the animal in desperation.
‘Where’s Gynevra?’ he whispered hoarsely against the wet fur. ‘Take me to Gynevra.’
As he came upright, the wolf wagged her tail and turned to trot down the hill.
In a blinding flash he knew. The Powerhouse was destroyed so it would no longer be creating the Energy Web. Racing after Qerlim, he caught up to her on the other side of a chasm that had opened right across the Street of Smiths, scarcely aware of leaping it. Gynevra was in the Star Path. She could not leave him now! Not now!
Gynevra closed her eyes tightly and fought to stem the agonizing tears and then gave up and let them flow. She could wait no longer and doubted now she’d ever get her emotions under control. She’d have to work through them. Somehow she had to get up onto the astral plane and beyond.
With Qerlim’s crystal clutched tightly in her left hand she lifted Ugo’s chubby fist, still tightly clasped about Merlin’s Crystal and held it to her third eye. With a sense of wonder she opened to the power of it, felt that power building the energy field about them. Combined with the power of the Star Path it was everything Taur had claimed for it. Even in her agitated state Gynevra could feel their physical forms dissolving into pure energy, floating and becoming one with the ether. Over and over in her mind she repeated the invocation to Ist to protect them—to protect her son.
In the Light far beyond them appeared a Being. As his presence strengthened she noted he wore a strange-white-gold crown and flowing robes of pure white such as Ugo had worn in her dream. Surrounded with an aura of golden light he glowed more brightly than any star. As he drew near she became aware of several greater, even more luminous beings beyond him. These stayed well back for their light would have been overpowering, while the robed one came right to where Gynevra waited. His light, compounded of violet and gold, told her his Being was highly spiritually evolved. This Being would be a worthy guardian and sage for her son.
‘Who are you?’ Gynevra projected.
‘Pandumon, King of Lanax in the land of Khemu. I seek a miracle. The Gods have directed me here. Who are you and what would you ask of me?’
‘I’m Gynevra, Queen of Nyalda in Atlantis. Our world is being destroyed and all will die. Yet the Goddess has promised a future for this child, my son. His name is Ugo. If you were to return with him from your spiritual journeying, would that not be a miracle?’
‘It would, Lady of Light. But not only is my country far removed from yours but so is my time. Atlantis exists only as the subject of mythical stories in ancient writings known to a few very learned scholars. In every one of those tales, Atlantis was a great and beautiful country destroyed completely by greed and lust for power and carnal living. If indeed the Gods have brought me to that time of destruction then you will die if you do not also remove yourself to a different time or place. Khemu would welcome you. Such golden beauty is rare in my land.’
The longing to acquiesce, to go where she could protect her child, watch him grow to manhood, was intense. Waves of soft rainbow colors radiated outward from the King and immediately the hovering Light beings moved forward, intensifying the light glowing around him to an almost unbearable brilliance. The light expanded to surround Gynevra also and suddenly King Pandumon was right before her, holding out his arms for her son. She could see the pearlescent sheen of his pure white robes, the copper-dark hue of his skin and the brilliant gleam of his ebony eyes.
She could not release her hold on her son. Clutching him to her breast, pressing him to his baby sister, she backed away, immediately compromising the energy. Where was Taur to help her in this instant of desperate decision? How could she pass her child to a complete stranger, no matter how brightly he glowed? How could she not go with him? Yet how could she leave Taur?
Ibn Ist, help me! From the brilliance beyond King Pandumon stepped One Gynevra recognized from Her many manifestations during Temple Ritual. Praise be to the Goddess who answered all prayers! Praise be to Ist.
Clutching the children to her breast, Gynevra dropped to her knees before the Goddess, knowing now beyond all doubt that Ugo at least would be safe. With a loving hand the Great One reached out to gently untie the banners binding Ugo to his mother. Wrapping them about the child so his arms were swaddled against his body with Merwin’s Crystal held safely in his hands, She lifted him and placed him in the arms of King Pandumon.
Turning back to Gynevra, she took her hand and raised her to her feet.
‘Be healed in your heart, Daughter of the Light. In the Book of Journeys his life-path is written. Each must follow his own destiny. From here your paths separate but fear not for this little one. His destiny is foretold. I, Ist, Goddess of All Life, shall be his Guardian.’
The light of the Goddess suffused her whole being and Gynevra slowly and reverently withdrew her clutching hands from Ugo.
Eyes wide open to etch every last memory of him on her consciousness, and every word on his heart, she said, ‘Ugo, my beloved son. Never forget us but grieve not for us. Live your life with love and integrity. Know that we, Taur and Gynevra of Nyalda, who gave you life, love you—always.’
He would travel his life in the Light of the Goddess. She could ask no more for him than that. Clasping her Goddess-blessed hands around her daughter, she bowed her head in veneration. When she lifted it again the energy of the King with her son secure in his arms was fading into the light beyond.
What had she done?
Ugo-o-o! Even now she could follow him, watch over her baby.
Ugo-o-o! Her scream was silent in the ether and yet it reverberated all around her. Or was it the terrified scream of her child, shredding the very core of her soul? What had she done? What would become of her son? Had she saved him? Or not? Desperately she tried to re-conjure the picture she’d seen in her dream but it wouldn’t form. Cronos, Ra, Asar, Ist and every other God in the Universe, she pleaded in her heart, keep Ugo safe!
Reactively she clutched her arms tightly about Electra and the crystal point in her hand dug into her palm, its energy sharply balancing, clearly focusing. Now she must concentrate on finding safety for her daughter. Suddenly Taur was in her heart and all concentration fled.
Just for a second she let all her energy flow towards him.
‘Taur, I love you!’
As if called by her projected thought, he burst through the triangular entrance to the Star Path chamber, Qerlim a grubby white blur at his heels. Hair in sodden ropes about his shoulders, water streaming from the once soft white leather of his gold-braided sheepskin jerkin, his chest heaved as if he’d run all the way from the city to be with her. Staring down at him through the dim light from the astral plane where she still hovered, she had a terrible longing to feel his arms round her one more time yet knew with an equally terrible certainty it was already too late. Even as she began the descent, drawn irrevocably to him, his beloved face distorted with pain and grief.
Staring at the faint vision of Gynevra fading into the intense energy at the apex of the pyramid, Taur knew he would never see her again, never hold her or love her again.
Never. Never. Never.
She had Electra in her arms. Where was Ugo? Pain and devastation were complete. His woman, his love, his son, his daughter, all gone! Nyalda a drowning, muddy rock-pile about him. Devastation erupted from his inner being in a great roar of rage and grief and as if this triggered the final act of destruction, the Star Path split asunder and the sea en
gulfed all—
Chapter 34
Auckland, NZ. Monday 16th November 1998 AD.
The blackness was suffocating her. The earth pressed down with a crushing weight. All was sinking, sinking beneath the sea. She'd failed! Holy Mother Ist, save my baby!
Taur! Taur! Terror and wrenching despair welled up from within her. As it reached her throat she opened her mouth to scream and the suffocating weight and blackness lifted abruptly from her. In the same instant she felt the emptiness of her arms. Grief ripped through her body with the savagery of an up-thrusting dagger. With a great wail of despair she began railing at the bitter fate that mocked her reluctant and belated effort to avert disaster and demanded the ultimate price in retribution.
Gone! All gone! Taur, their children, Qerlim, all, everyone she'd known and loved; gone, because she, selfishly and indulgently, had wanted to be with one man. Regardless of the assurance of the Goddess, the guilt would torment her through all eternity.
‘I don't believe it. That dog wouldn't give the crystal to anyone else and now it's in her hand she's come round! She's very distressed. Hold her. Talk to her.’
Hands gentled her. Voices, familiar and yet not, called to her, soothing and calming—in a foreign language which oddly she understood. Yet she only knew her grief.
‘Electra! Ugo! Taur! Qerlim!’ she cried, beginning to struggle and fight against the restraining hands.
‘Georgina! Stop it! You're all right! Just relax. You've been having a nightmare!’
Her mother! Ianthe was dead. But the childhood habit of obeying her mother’s voice was ingrained—even though somehow the words could not have been spoken by Ianthe. She dropped back against the pillows and with eyes tightly closed dragged great sobbing gulps of air into her lungs. The pain round her heart had crushed it all out.
