Visions of Power

by Jeffrey Quyle

  Alec confirmed what he had seen.

  “Don’t do anything for the moment. Let me go get Merle. I’ll be right back,” Fayette said, and left Alec.

  Minutes later he returned with a curious Merle in tow. “Alec, Fayette thinks that you may be farther along than he expects you to be in your training. If you’re able to do what he describes, then I need to help you next.”

  “Tell me,” Merle said, slowly bending to sit down on the floor next to where Alec lay, “exactly what you are doing.”

  “I look at the barriers, and they always have some small holes in them. Sometimes I can just squeeze through a place I find, and sometimes I manage to force a spot to become larger so I can get through, to where there are empty spaces. Doing that let me find the space with the bright tunnel that I told Fayette about, and I’ve gone back there more than once to make sure I knew where it was.

  “I did something like this back when I was in the river camp and I couldn’t awaken because I couldn’t get up through the barriers of the power from those other ingenairii, when I absorbed some of their energy. I saw the holes in their energy barriers, and went through. Back then, the third barrier was too strong for me to get through it and maintain myself above it for more than a few seconds,” Alec finished explaining matter-of-factly.

  Fayette looked from Alec to Merle to Alec again.

  “Alec, most ingenairii can’t find the holes in the barriers as easily as you do. The rest of us have to carefully search and feel our way and try to find those openings by going over every surface we bump into.

  “And I don’t even know of any record of someone who is able to force their way through another ingenaire’s energy,” Merle said. “So I believe you are where you are, and I want you to be careful, and remember that just because you see something you think you can do, don’t do it on your own until you have more experience.

  “Would you like to work today on going into the light?” he asked.

  Alec felt greater desire for his ingenaire training now than he had felt anytime before. Seeing that beckoning light had entranced him, and he wanted to go there and see what was waiting.

  “Yes, I want to go,” he replied simply.

  “Very well,” Merle said. “Hold my hand and listen to me before we do anything. Let’s talk about what you do; let’s make sure you understand it, and then we’ll try it.”

  Alec clasped the dry hand that came against his palm.

  “You are going to go as a warrior ingenaire. You need to construct an image of yourself as a warrior. Remember the symbol you saw in the globe?” Merle referred to Alec’s sword. “Start with that. It shows how you identify your connection to the energy that awaits you.”

  “Develop the image. Let it become you; inhabit that image. When you travel in these spaces and through these barriers, travel as the image. Once you have the image, then you will relax and form your barriers. I am going to take this journey with you. When you have your barriers complete, remain where you are until you sense I am with you. We won’t be able to communicate, but we will be able to maintain contact.

  “When you breach the barrier, you will have to take me with you, and then I will take you through my own barrier. Again, maintain the contact. Take me then to your source of light and we will stop on this side of it.

  “When we are together at the beginning of the power, then you will enter. You will feel a jolt of energy that will inhabit you. The symbolic image you have of yourself will be enhanced, and that will make the image control you, instead of you controlling the image. That is the basic first step in the process. You as your image will pass through the energy portal, you will become the lesser of the two, you will be the image instead of Alec, but Alec must maintain control over the image. You must be the brain that determines what happens, although the energy will try to let that image take its elemental course.

  “You will be distracted at this point not only by the power you feel in the living image, but then you will be tempted by the many promises that become options. It’s as if the power and the image together are telling you, ‘See, we can do this or that or this. Look at what is now possible.’”

  Merle stopped for several seconds, and his eyes forced Alec to look at him. “Alec, do not fall to that temptation. The results are catastrophic. This is where you must assert and maintain control over the ingenaire power image construct you will inhabit.

  “The temptations will fade as your strength subdues them, and over time as you do this more often, there no longer will be such temptations. Drop the image and leave the power if you feel the temptations overwhelm you.

  “Once you have mastered the image, then you must grab hold of it so tightly, bend it to your will so tightly, that it cannot do anything at all without your approval. When you do that, then you must force it to travel backwards, out of the tunnel with you. You are going to take this power, let it inhabit your image, and then control the image and the power and take it back away from the realm of light. You are going to bring the image back through the barrier, and to the world of consciousness, where we are right now.

  “There will be terrible resistance for you. Do you understand?” Merle asked. “The power does not want to come to our plane. You are going to force it to follow your will, so that your power-driven image will be dragging a pipe around behind it, connecting it to the ingenaire energy realm. That is how ingenairii bring their power from that world to this one.

  “It will be exhausting. You will probably not succeed this time. You will find it a struggle all the way, as the energy tries to snap back into its own realm. When you feel you are losing, and you know the power is going to leave your image and rush back through the tunnel, you have to let it win. Don’t let the power take you back to the energy realm under its control.

  “Let me repeat that. If the power is going to return to its realm, just let it go. Disengage from the image you have, no matter how successful you’ve been up until that point. Let the image dissolve. Then the power will have no grasp on you. Dissolve the image. Separate it from yourself. Let the power go this time, because you can just start over and go back to win the next time.

  “I will be with you until you have control over your power image. Once that happens, you will have severed the connection to me and you will be on your own.

  “Now,” Merle said, “Alec, tell me what you are going to do.”

  Alec repeated the steps, receiving corrections and embellishments from Merle as he recited the plan.

  “Alright, I think you’ve got it. Any questions?” Merle asked.

  “What do I do when I have the power and the image under control and bring them back through the barrier?” Alec asked.

  Fayette sniggered briefly.

  “Alec, that’s not going to happen this time, I’m sure,” Merle replied. “But for the sake of your curiosity, I will tell you.”

  “When you have the construct under your control, and you come back through the barrier so that you are back between the barriers, you have brought the power back to our world. You need to know that your body will perform the actions that are inherent in the ingenaire powers you have brought among us.

  “For a water ingenaire, there can be some creativity, in how they manipulate water for instance, or create it, or tap into it, or call it or dismiss it, whatever they are able to do, and depending on how much of the power they are able to bring back with them. A rookie might drench themselves in a torrential downpour inside a hallway, for instance.

  “That pipe back to the energy realm is different for different people among us. Some cannot use much of the energy, some can transport a great deal. But no one has much control over it the first time they return to our realm with the power.

  “You will wear out from controlling it. The more action that you take to bring the energy into our world, the more tired you will grow. There comes that point where you have to cease your ingenaire activity, let your image dissolve, and let the power return to its own realm,�
�� Merle said patiently. “Then you will be exhausted and will need to rest.

  “Alright, repeat everything you’ve heard,” Merle requested again.

  When Alec did so, without correction this time, Merle told him it was time to begin.

  Chapter 37 – Grasping the Energy

  Alec tried to find his calm place between the barriers. He was eager to go and find the source of his ingenaire powers. For the first time he felt excitement from his training, and interest in the contest of trying to grapple with the energy of another realm and bring it back to this one. Now, unlike anytime before, he felt the desire to be an ingenaire, to win the challenge of mastering these powers.

  Alec tried to force all that excitement down, so that he could grow calm enough to find his way into the space between the barriers. He took a deep breath, forced himself to think about Jesus instead of the powers, and gained the serenity he sought.

  He went into the area between the barriers and found Merle already waiting there. As they made contact he felt Merle squeeze his hand. He went quickly through a hole in the barrier, and felt Merle come through and rejoin him. He traveled to the opening of light that he knew was waiting for him. He stopped outside, poised on the threshold of trying to gain control over his own ingenaire’s power.

  Alec grasped for the image of the Guard sword, the symbol he had perceived that denoted him as a warrior ingenaire. He held the image firmly in place, and saw himself holding it. He found leather and steel mail around his torso, and saw a knife on one hip. He wore the pants and the cap of the Guard, but a looser white shirt beneath his armor. He felt ready to go, and dropped into the light.

  He fell slowly in, feeling the light grow in intensity. He could feel the light against the skin of his imaginary body, something that seemed unworldly. Suddenly, as though a curtain had dropped, the light penetrated the skin and rushed into every inch of the warrior image. It was astonishing. The weapons felt light and lethal, the armor felt impenetrable. The uniform glowed and inspired. He felt the muscles that could effortlessly accomplish any battle action. His vision seemed able to see any detail of what might happen around him, and his ears heard sounds before they could reach him. He could anticipate what an adversary was going to do before they even began the sequence. He swung the sword experimentally, knowing that his thrust would pierce any armor another warrior wore.

  Alec no longer sensed Merle with him. He remembered that he had to gain control of the image, despite all the wonderful abilities it seemed to be demonstrating for him. But he also knew that there must be more it could show him, incredible feats it would make possible for him. Promises of great things beckoned him to test his abilities.

  Alec began to try to control those visions of power. He forced the warrior image to stand straight and erect, raising it from its battle crouch. He forced the sword arm to return the weapon to its scabbard. Alec made the body stand tall and at attention, under his control. He was certain beads of sweat stood on his forehead from the difficultly of the battle for control.

  He made the image begin to march back towards the entrance to the area between the realms. He no longer felt Merle with him, but he had control of the image and made it march with military precision towards his goal. He reached the threshold and willed the body to step through, only to feel tremendous resistance.

  Suddenly the feet were encased in thick mud, difficult to move. He took another step forward, and the mud became like concrete. He imagined how much easier it would be to step back, and then the thrill to return to the full warrior status, ready to enter battle and test new capabilities.

  Alec started to step back, and felt the body eager to move further back, starting to move back on its own. He suddenly recollected that he had to regain control and drive the image through that portal and back to the empty region, then into his own realm.

  The body was refusing to answer; Alec understood that he had failed this time. With great reluctance he dissolved the bond between his soul and the warrior body, and saw it eagerly return towards the light, dissolving and disintegrating into nothingness as it moved away from him.

  Alec felt a strong squeeze of his palm, and abruptly was fully conscious of the world around his body. He turned his head, still slightly dazed from the immediate experience he had felt, and saw Merle and Fayette looking at him with concern.

  “I couldn’t get the image to come out of its realm. It came all the way up to the boundary, but wouldn’t cross over. I had to let go,” he told them.

  “Good,” Merle said, and he sat back slightly relaxed. “It’s as simple as that. You just have to let go, but sometimes a novice doesn’t realize what’s happening until its too late. That’s what we assume anyway. A small number of our students never arise from their first experience. Their spirits enter the power, and we don’t know what happens to them. Their empty bodies remain here until they grow weak from lack of sustenance, and die.”

  “I sensed that you had an image with a formidable amount of power. If you brought it to the boundary, you did very well. Alec, you are going to be a natural, a phenomenon at this I believe, but we must take it slowly, step by step, with patience.

  “Do you want to try one more time this morning?” he asked.

  “I’d like to try ten more times this morning, but I expect we all need to move on to other things,” Alec eagerly answered.

  “This time, try to make your image as simple as possible. Try to provide an image that will draw less energy in, and maybe that will be easier to bring across the threshold. You can build the image stronger as you become more adept in the future,” Merle advised.

  They began the process again. Alec easily slipped into the space between the boundaries this time, without jitters to distract him. He felt Merle immediately join him, and they once again went through the barrier. Alec moved to the threshold of light, and recreated his image of his sword. He held it in his hand, and donned a pair of sandals, a brief tunic, and nothing else. He entered the light then and felt it infiltrate him, and then more quickly this time, it was within him, suffusing him with its great power.

  Alec sensed the inability of the power to wildly inflate this simpler image. He took control of the body more quickly this time, before the exhibitions and fantasies could begin. Merle’s contact disappeared, and Alec turned the image in the direction of the entrance, moving it in small, resistant motions, taking the body up to the climactic moment that waited at the threshold. He again felt his feet standing still, resistant to leaving the power-realm.

  With a determined thrust, Alec propelled the body through the opening, into the gray unknown outside the barriers. He sensed energy emanating from him, as though his body-image was a lantern throwing out beams. The effort to move the image required a great effort, as though he were dragging Merle’s heavy pipe from the energy world behind him, creating more friction with every step.

  Alec continued on, coming to the threshold of the barrier. The opening he used seemed too small to pass through while in this engorged image. He touched his sword to the opening and felt it melt open further where he touched it, allowing him to step through. He had made it back! He was back in his own body now, and still connected to the energy of the other place as well. He only needed to open his eyes and have his own natural ingenaire power with him in the world.

  He stopped and felt his body. Everything in his physical world seemed as normal as when he left it. Alec redoubled his effort to hold on to the energy that was flowing into him, and then opened his eyes.

  Chapter 38 – A Night on the Town

  Above him, Alec saw the ceiling of the room he had lain in when he ventured to experiment with ingenaire’s power. Turning his head, he looked at Merle and Fayette, sitting by and watching him without apparent concern. He smiled at them.

  “I have it! I brought the power with me back into our world,” he told them. He felt himself poised to go into action. He felt as though he could take up a blade and defeat four opponents at once. Even in
looking at Merle and Fayette he realized the power had caused him to size them up as opponents, determine what their strengths and weaknesses were, and inventoried what was in the room and available and likely to be used as weapons in the event of a fight. He knew that his body was ready to spring to action in an instance.

  Merle and Fayette looked at one another, Merle turning his head to see the young ingenaire-in-training. “Help me up, boy,” he asked Fayette.

  “Alec, I’ve seen a young warrior ingenaire when he was summoning the power early in his career. His body did things he couldn’t anticipate. That actually happens to most of us, but it can be rather disturbing for innocent bystanders in the case of a warrior. Wait until we move away, then stand up,” Merle told Alec.

  In a moment they were against the other wall of the room. “Go ahead and try to get up,” Merle told him.

  Alec found to his astonishment that he already was up, standing on the toes of his feet, ready to move in any direction instantly. He forced his body to grow calm, his heels coming to rest on the floor.

  “My heavens,” Fayette said.

  “You’ve just seen what a warrior ingenaire can do,” Merle told him.

  “Alec, did you reduce your image? Is this a lesser amount of the energy force that you’ve brought back with you?” he next asked the other young man in the room.

  Alec told him how far he had pared down his image.

  “My heavens,” Merle agreed. “Alright, now walk over here to us. Fayette, don’t move unexpectedly. Alec how do you feel, is it wearing you out to maintain the energy?”

  Alec walked across the room to them. “Yes, it creates a strain to do this. It feels like the energy both wants to withdraw back into its own realm and at the same time it wants to burst out through me in all directions.”

  “Practice will teach you to suppress the latter problem, so that you’re not at all concerned with keeping it in you. Sometimes early on you may have unexpected discharges of power, but you will outgrow that quickly,” Merle counseled.