by Lucia Ashta
Hair slicked back, bodies cool and refreshed after the long walk through the heat of the desert, they pressed together. Her breasts flattened against his chest. They stilled. This one kiss contained within it all that ever was and all that ever would be, all in shared breath and twisted tongues. She felt as if even her heart stilled; she was aware only of the opposing sensations of outer coolness and inner heat, of destiny discovered and fulfilled in this one moment in time.
Their eyes remained closed, shutting out everything other than this wet kiss. And when it was time to allow the outside world in again, the twins detected the presence of another, waiting for them. It was the one they were looking for.
The twins turned toward Thom, who stood by their discarded clothes, contentedly waiting for them. Anak smiled brilliantly at the sight of his soul brother. Asara, bare breasts floating on the water’s surface as a beautiful example of the feminine aspect of creation, smiled an equally brilliant smile.
Lena thought Sitting Bear’s name described him well. He sat, stoic and resolute, with the dignity and underlying strength of a bear, his eyes on the pyramid.
“Do you know why you’re here?” Sitting Bear asked Lena and Paolo.
That was a multifaceted question, and many possible responses swirled through Lena’s mind. Was Sitting Bear asking the obvious: Did they know why they were standing before him right now, with the pyramid across the way? Or did he mean, did they know why they were on the earth at this time in the planet’s history?
Did she believe in destiny now? Yes, she did, absolutely. Did she trust in the destiny that was unfolding for her? Did she accept that she was an angel incarnated as Lena, who also took the form of Asara and perhaps others? Did she believe she and Paolo, and she as Asara and he as Anak, were meant to change the world somehow? Did they have a divine destiny?
Her answers to these questions surprised her. Yes, she believed in her destiny—fully. She accepted she was the same soul as was within Asara’s body, and that it was the soul of an angel. She knew she and Paolo, in whichever of their incarnations, would find a way to transform the world.
She was amazed. She genuinely believed these truths now; she’d evolved through many stages of disbelief until arriving at full acceptance. The former architect and attorney, the previous white-sheep daughter and wife, now believed in the outlandish and outrageous—because these truths were, in reality, none of those things.
Her measured reply came out slowly, with a mild tone of surprise. Accepting what she was meant to be was both incredible and very, very exciting. Now that she believed this at the core of her being, magic could really begin to unfold.
“We’re here to fulfill our earthly destinies to help transform the world. This pyramid plays a part somehow, just as I’m certain you likely do as well.” There was no point to giving an answer of empty platitudes to a man as concise and aware as this one.
Paolo had also been lost in thought at Sitting Bear’s question and all its possible answers. Now, he nodded to affirm Lena’s reply. He would have said something similar.
Sitting Bear was impressed. He’d grown weary of the superficiality that plagued most of humanity. He found it difficult to understand how people took trivialities so seriously. Why did people not realize they were souls having a human experience, and that only the well-being and evolution of their souls mattered?
But Lena and Paolo seemed different. They piqued Sitting Bear’s interest. Since his father died, he’d been wandering these lands alone. Very few people gave him reason to interact with them, so that anything they said or did held no importance for Sitting Bear. Now, a long-forgotten enthusiasm ran through him. Perhaps these were people deserving of his energy.
Lena had given time and consideration to his question. That had also been the way with his people, but now very few living members of his tribe still practiced the ways of their elders and ancestors. That was why, when Sitting Bear was a young boy, his father left the reservation to raise his son on the land, just as his own father had done before.
On the reservation, Sitting Bear’s father met his wife, and that was a good thing. But on the reservation Sitting Bear’s father had watched his people’s traditions distorted, corrupted, and lost, and he knew them to be too powerful to allow them to fade into oblivion. And so he chose to give his son the great gift of teaching and tradition, even when his wife refused to abandon the comforts of indoor plumbing and electricity.
His father meant everything to Sitting Bear, and he was grateful for his father’s difficult choice. Because of him, Sitting Bear was leading a life of connection to Spirit that would have been impossible had he grown up on the reservation. His tribe couldn’t lead a pure life there. The intrinsic sense of respect and dignity his people had held so strongly was fading into memory.
Sitting Bear appreciated his life under the wild skies of Mother Nature. He was grateful to experience her warmth and her cold, her rains and her droughts, and he was grateful for all his relations, his brother and sister creatures that swam, flew, and walked the earth with him. He appreciated the courage to see life for what it really was and the honesty the two people sitting on either side of him embodied. Life had just taken an interesting turn. He wondered what part he would play in events as they unfolded.
“The pyramid has been around as long as my people have history, and that’s a very long time. We don’t know who built it. It was already here when my people began walking these lands.
“But there was one person in our history who learned to use it. He was one of my ancestors, long before my father’s time. His name was Thunder Gods because he worked with the pyramid to send lightning into the skies.”
Lena and Paolo exchanged meaningful glances. Using the pyramid to send lightning into the skies could very well be the same thing they saw in their visions. A people that associated everything with the natural processes of Mother Earth and the mystical elements of Great Spirit could interpret bright golden light shooting out of the cusp of the pyramid as lightning.
“I like to look at it,” Sitting Bear continued. “It reminds me of the power and magic of my people.”
Lena and Paolo exchanged looks again, and then Paolo said, “We’ve had visions of something like what you describe Thunder Gods did. We see ourselves, in other bodies, coming together inside the pyramid. A golden light emits from our chests and shoots out of the top of the pyramid, filling the world with light.
“We’ve wondered if we are still able to do this. That’s why we are here.”
Sitting Bear’s eyes grew wide. This was incredible. He was ready for the time of magic and power to return. He’d waited his entire life for it, always growing and learning. Sitting Bear stood to face the pyramid. The grin on his face transformed him, making him look congenial. A slight breeze picked up the long braid at his back, and it hovered, suspended for a few eternal seconds.
“Then I’ll be your steward. What you speak of is very important. The Mother needs it.”
Lena and Paolo sat looking at him, and then they looked at each other. They smiled. This man believed in them and what they were here to do, and he brought with him a wisdom the twins didn’t possess.
“What are you waiting for?” Sitting Bear asked them over his shoulder.
“We’re going to the pyramid?” Lena’s voice faltered a bit. “Now?”
“Is there ever a better time than now?”
Lena and Paolo stood and moved just behind Sitting Bear. Three warriors looked across at an ancient pyramid, bridging the gap between then and now.
Chapter 14
My brother! How good it is to see you! Anak said within the echoing waves of his mind. He stepped out of the river, water rolling down his body, and walked straight into Thom’s open arms. The two men held each other in a long embrace, Anak almost a head taller than the petite Thom. In a world where anything could happen in any given moment, the two men were elated to see each other, even if it had been days since they last met.
They pulled back to look into each other’s eyes. Their smiles grew wider, and they hugged again. The day was hot, and Anak was unconcerned by the moisture his wet body left on Thom’s shirt; it would dry quickly.
Asara waited behind Anak for her turn to greet the gentle Thom, and when Thom finished with Anak, she stepped forward. Like Anak, she was unconcerned with her nakedness, and she pulled Thom into her arms. For these light warriors who appreciated the beauty in everything, the human body was perfectly created and nothing to hide. They dressed in accord with the conventions of their people, but they saw no need to interrupt the joyful moment of reunion to clothe.
After embracing, the twins stepped away to dress. Asara pulled on knee-length pants and a loose shirt that tied around her waist, both chosen for their freedom of movement over the more restrictive robes they wore at the temple.
Must we leave right away? asked Anak. Asara looked up. Thom stood, leaning on his wooden staff, ready to continue walking.
He nodded, wishing it weren’t the case, but knowing better than to lament. He profoundly believed that when he was aligned with the universe’s ebbs and flows, everything was always perfect, whether it initially felt that way or not.
We must hurry. We aren’t the only ones looking for the doman. The darkness is searching for it as well, and we must find it first, Thom said.
Do you know what the doman is? Because we don’t.
No, my guides have only told me that I’ll know it when I see it. That’s all.
Do you know where the doman is?
No.
Anak locked eyes with Asara. So Thom didn’t know much about the doman either. But just like them, he knew it was important without knowing what it was.
The temple master who raised us left Arnaka to search for the doman. He knows what the doman is, and he told us it’s part of a lost prophecy made by a great prophet. It would also be good to find the master, Asara said.
The twins relayed the events of the past few days while they walked. Even though Thom had never been to Arnaka, the attacks that had infiltrated the normally peaceful setting of temple life surprised him. When the twins finished their story, the light warriors walked on in silence so they could hear the call of the doman.
The twins let Thom lead the way, and they followed in complete trust in the direction he set. Thom had one of those rare human hearts that was incorruptible. The twins would follow him anywhere without question, and now they did.
The three warriors had substantially closed the distance between Sitting Bear’s cave dwelling and the pyramid when Paolo started feeling ill. Embarrassed without reason, Paolo kept quiet for some time, convinced he could urge his body to push the sickness away. But before long, he couldn’t continue.
His feet weighed heavily, like lead, plodding back to the ground every time he lifted them to step. He felt too hot and too cold at once, drenched in sweat that chilled him whenever a breeze blew. He leaned against a tree for a moment to catch his breath, and he prepared to call to Lena, who continued ahead.
But he didn’t get a chance; Lena sensed him reaching out to her and turned. When she saw him, she shouted to Sitting Bear to stop, and then she ran to Paolo. She didn’t need to ask what was going on. She understood perhaps better than Paolo did. It was more challenging for him than her to identify what afflicted him; she had the advantage of greater objectivity.
She helped him to sit under the tree, propping him against its trunk, and then held water to his lips, encouraging him to drink. She unlaced his sneakers, removed them and his socks, and placed his bare feet on the earth.
Lena turned her gaze to Sitting Bear with the intention of explaining what was wrong with Paolo. But Sitting Bear’s father had taught him to address a person directly, instead of discussing him with another. Before Lena could begin, Sitting Bear spoke to Paolo.
“You resist your destiny.”
Lena had been rubbing Paolo’s back. Her hand froze, waiting for Paolo’s reaction. It was what she’d concluded herself, but it wasn’t in the ways of her family to speak so directly. She’d been taught to consider the other person’s feelings before. Lena thought she liked Sitting Bear’s way of doing things much better. There was less wasted time and energy and less potential for misunderstanding.
Lena still watched and waited, and then Paolo threw up.
“You reject what I say now, but you already recognize the truth of it.”
Paolo vomited again.
“This is good,” Sitting Bear said and smiled. “You are releasing that which no longer serves you. Release it all to the earth. She’ll take it and transform it. And you’ll become free to step into your destiny and send light up through the pyramid.”
Paolo heaved. Lena rubbed his back and held his hair away from his face.
“Good, good. You are already becoming stronger,” Then Sitting Bear ambled off to the nearest sage bush, said a quiet prayer of gratitude, and plucked a small branch. He pulled a refillable lighter from the leather pouch he wore at his waist and lit the sage. Once the sage was smoking vigorously, he walked over to where Paolo, exhausted and spent, lay on his side. Sitting Bear encircled Paolo with the smoke, saying prayers in his native language. Lena didn’t understand the words of the prayer, but she felt their power, and she bowed her head in respect.
Sitting Bear and Lena waited patiently until Paolo was able to walk, and then Sitting Bear helped them to their car. They could advance no more that day, but Sitting Bear said he wanted them to return tomorrow. He asked them to bring camping gear and provisions for several days and to meet him at his cave dwelling mid-morning.
“You’re strong. Rest now so that tomorrow you feel that strength,” Sitting Bear said to Paolo as Lena helped him into the passenger seat in a replay of the day before. “I’m happy the time of the thunder gods has returned,” he said to no one in particular and turned toward his home.
Lena sat in the driver’s seat and turned toward Paolo. Neither one of them looked like thunder gods, especially not now. But as she started the car and pointed it toward their campsite, the enthusiasm of Sitting Bear’s final words touched her. If life had taught her anything over the last several months, it was that anything and everything was possible. Paolo was strong; he’d claim that strength and release his fears. And so would she.
Lena put the car into cruise control and her unfocused gaze took in the vast unknown that stretched before her, lined in corn and alfalfa.
When they arrived at the campsite, the sun was strong overhead, and she decided to set up makeshift camp in the shade instead of the tent. Paolo would rest uneasily in the baking heat of an enclosure. She smiled at the ripple that roiled through her as they walked into Kel’s protective bubble of light—she enjoyed the crossover reminder of her other life. They made their way to the shade of a large juniper tree. Paolo leaned on her heavily as they walked until she lowered him carefully to the ground.
After Lena set Paolo up on blankets and sleeping bags, she also sat on the ground, leaning her back against the trunk of the juniper. She faced away from Paolo’s resting form and closed her eyes, and within moments she felt the visions come to life within her.
The colors were vivid and the scenes as genuine as her own reality, just as they always were when she saw herself as Asara. But this time, what she saw was different. Everything was different. This was the first instance when she would want to send information in the other direction and reach into Asara’s world. And it was all because of the doman.
Chapter 15
They slept fitfully, but they slept, and Lena woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed, though she still carried the haziness of the dream world with her. She looked around their campsite in the predawn light and sensed a change. She was certain.
“Something is different,” Lena said over her shoulder when she heard Paolo walk up behind her. “The veils between the dimensions are very thin right now. I can see all sorts of beings and energies from other planes—more than usual.”
“How long have you been up?”
“For a while.” Lena brushed away his question quickly. There were more important things to discuss. “Something is going on. I feel strange, like something has shifted. I can feel it. And I can see all sorts of things.”
“What kinds of things?”
“I see flickers of beings from other dimensions. They show up as either a shadow or as a shimmer of light.”
“Are they threatening?”
She was already shaking her head before he finished his question. “No, they don’t seem threatening. I think they’re from another dimension, and that’s why I don’t see them clearly. Something is going on, I’m telling you. I’ve seen stuff before, but not every day, and certainly not multiple times a day. Now it’s been like this for the last several days, since we arrived in Utah actually.”
“Why did you wait to mention it?”
She shrugged. “I’m not sure. I guess I was trying to understand what was going on first.” She paused. “And it was intense when we first got here, remember?”
Paolo did remember. They’d arrived on the very day of their mentors’ deaths, grieving, shocked, and overwhelmed.
“And then you got sick. Twice. Are you feeling okay this morning?” she asked. Already last night before they went to sleep, he was well but weak.
“Sì, amore. I’m fine. Thank you.”
The sun was beginning its ascent, announcing a new day. It was a stunning spectacle. Paolo breathed in a deep inhale of fresh air and gratitude. “What do you think it all means?”
“I’m not sure. I think it shows us the veils between the worlds are such that beings from other worlds can reach into ours with ease. It can’t be a coincidence that this all intensified once we arrived in Utah, in search of the pyramid, can it? I think we’ve seen enough to know that coincidences are hardly ever just that.”
