Chapter 13
Calivera sat atop the valley's southern ridge and gazed down at the sela cairn flickering like a distant star. It had been hours since the last Guardian arrived and joined the saltation around the Forging Tree. Wrapped in caped garments, their cadent sway bent the gourd's teal rays and captivated the mind. Weltered in regret since parting with Steffor, the longer she studied the faint glimmer the more it became the end of a long tunnel. A destination that beckoned her presence but a place she feared would never be reached.
"Will you join us in meditation this hallowed evening Healer," the soothing voice inquired, respectful in its insistence.
Without turning to face the voice, Calivera's flat reply startled her more than it did the Mystic, "Thank you, but no, I will not be joining you in tonight's vigil."
The deliberate silence that ensued was painful as the reality of her words edged deeper. After an impossibly long pause, the Mystic finally replied. "The unity of all Citizens is required if the Provider is to choose a new Teuton."
Despite the comforting tone, Calivera detected fear in the voice. She could no longer live with the thought of hurting another. The look in Steffor's eyes after she drove her vindictive "It is why I fear you" spike through his exposed heart was enough pain to inflict on another for a lifetime.
So she sat, determined to wait for her love to return. All that mattered was reuniting with Steffor in hopes it was not too late to mend the damage she had done. To do otherwise was to lose her already tentative grip on sanity. Until the Mystic approached, she gave no thought to participating in the meditation services.
She wiped tears off her raw cheek with a damp cloak sleeve and turned to face the woman. "My spirit is not pure Mother Mystic. I fear my presence will only disrupt the ceremony, or worse."
Disposed to empathy beyond measure, the Mystic simply spread her arms and beckoned Calivera's embrace. True to her race, the Mystic's presence was spellbinding. Pearl white robes radiated soft hues of green, blue and pink. Embroidered with varying flora along her hood, sleeves and hem, the designs shifted with her fluid movement. She embodied the Source and nourished the psyche. Solace from the sight rushed a current of hope through Calivera and drew her toward the Mystic with such force she bloodied her lip on the stout shoulder. Protected now by the Mystic's therapeutic aura, her body convulsed with a cleansing effusion.
The Mystic rubbed her back and spoke in a soothing voice. "Our deepest need is the need to overcome our separateness. Share your burden with me child and the Provider will destroy your aloneness."
Still locked in the loving embrace, Calivera pulled up to face the Mystic. "I cannot. For the betterment of the whole, I must carry this alone until my love returns. He is the only one who can truly understand..." She knew her plea for privacy would fall short. The moment she yielded to the emotional healing, she had committed to sharing her experience.
In the end, all truth is revealed to our Mystics.
The Mystic removed her hood and probed Calivera's face. Shrouded by auburn tresses highlighted by the occasional gray, her face was handsome. Her smile conveyed love but Calivera sensed deep concern creased in its corners. She tried to avoid looking into the clairvoyant eyes; absent of pupils, the pools of liquid light contained in each orb summoned her deepest secrets to the surface. It did not matter anymore. For selfish reasons alone, Calivera had to share her story with someone. Anyone to make it real, not some depraved side of her imagination unleashed to terrorize her mind.
The Mystic placed her hands on the side of Calivera’s head and gently pressed their foreheads together. "Show me child. Show me what grips your heart and mind in darkness." The Mystic assumed control of Calivera's mind and shoved her ego aside. Calivera panicked as she realized her capitulation to the Mystic also revealed her unique powers and how she had used them to save Steffor.
"Wait...you should not...it is not safe..."
"Relax child. The Provider will protect you. We must become nothing to become everything."
A passenger within her own mind, Calivera tensed in anticipation. She was now helpless to hold back the super conscious state veiling the spiritual passageways known to her alone, that which she had fought her entire life to keep hidden.
"What have we here," the Mystic said within her mind. She gravitated toward the moment three days prior when Calivera awoke lying on top of the table with her forehead, nose and lips pressed to Steffor's. The Mystic shifted the Source and zeroed in on the memory. In doing so, Calivera recalled, with vivid detail, the steady pattern of Steffor's breath caressing her upper lip. Of how quickly her Healer's impulse to heal flesh and bone brushed aside the already rapidly fading memories of what had just transpired between the two of them.
"Let us learn from what you have experienced." Like a deft locksmith, the Mystic snatched those suppressed memories and forced them to the forefront of Calivera's consciousness. In doing so, she unwittingly unlocked a portal to an alien dimension. Beyond the virtual doorway sprawled an astral plane immeasurable by the physical mind. The transcendent vortex of raw energy sucked them in, ripping them away from the Provider's placid cove.
"This cannot be!" the Mystic screamed, her terror raw and exposed. "Life is eternal. The Provider is eternal. Where are you Father?"
Calivera empathized, knowing she had shouted similar cries of despair to no avail. Then, when neither believed they would survive the smothering existence, a brilliant whiteness appeared; a euphoric freedom that came from everywhere, contained only by the limits of understanding.
The Mystic jerked her head back from Calivera. They had returned. Relieved by the immediate and palpable reconnection to the Provider, an inner peace, absent before, washed over and calmed her senses. Overwhelmed with gratitude, she turned to praise the Mystic.
The light in the Mystic's eyes, vibrant and full of the Source moments before, were dim with only the faintest spark of life. Her body sagged, and she swayed as if about to faint. Calivera grabbed hold of her arms to support and instinctually probed with her power. The Mystic's soul was cold and distant.
"Help me child," the Mystic cried from the depths of her mind. "I am lost...your light is fading...." The words trailed off as if sinking down a deep well. "Hurry! We must reach Steffor before he syncs back to the whole. Without you, there can be no salvation."
"I am coming mother Mystic!" The purpose of her unique powers now revealed, Calivera propelled forward into the unknown with the freedom of one who has no choice to do otherwise.
Known Afterlife (The Provider Trilogy: Volume I) Page 25