Rhuna- Black City

by Barbara Underwood

  “Only act in defence,” Aradin said firmly to Panapu. “Remember that the rule in the city is not to get involved, so if you see others fighting, leave them be!”

  “Only when we attacked,” Panapu repeated with a nod of his big head.

  “Then it shall be so,” Protector of Remembrance concluded, signalling everyone to disperse to their individual rooms.

  Rhuna and Aradin retired to their sleeping chamber, stepping quietly around Shandi who had chosen to sleep with her parents again for a while.

  “I’m nervous about Kiana going with them to the Black City tomorrow,” Rhuna whispered to Aradin as their heads lay on their pillows.

  Aradin reached across to hold Rhuna’s hand.

  “I’m nervous about those Black-Hats just being here at our inn,” he admitted.

  “Our inn,” Rhuna echoed sleepily, as she quickly fell asleep.

  A warm and gentle breeze wafted through the inn’s upper level windows as the sun ascended above the horizon, and Rhuna jumped to her feet as soon as the first rays touched her face. The beauty of the early morning across the wilderness outside her window quashed the anxiety she felt the previous evening, and she quickly washed and dressed herself. As Aradin slowly stirred, Rhuna walked briskly to her mother’s room to wake her, but found that Kiana was already dressed and ready to leave.

  “You look really nice!” Rhuna said, surprised to see her mother’s hair elegantly arranged.

  “I’m ready,” Kiana said eagerly. “Now to make some food for the morning,” she said brushing past Rhuna and down the stairs to the food preparation area.

  As Rhuna entered the main lower level rooms, she realized that Goll and Panapu had also awoken early and were already waiting with their small bags of personal belongings. Goll held a parchment out in front of him as he discussed with Damell the amount of food supplies and other goods that were needed.

  Before long, the others also entered the main rooms where the Atlan representatives cautiously peered across the terrace as they discussed their Black-Hat guests.

  “Here is the bag of Medium of Exchange,” Aradin said, handing the draw-string pouch to Goll. “Remember that one piece must be returned to the Mages or Black-Hats at the end of trade.”

  “Yes,” Goll said, taking the pouch and securing it around his thick leather belt. “Here is a list of items we require,” he said, holding out the parchment he had been discussing with Damell. Rhuna watched him fold the parchment and slip it into an inner layer of his garment.

  “You can take this as well,” Goram said as he approached Goll and handed him a small black leathery pouch. “It contains some precious stones for trade, should the Medium of Exchange not suffice.”

  Goll took the little pouch and secured it alongside the bigger pouch on his belt.

  Goram sighed loudly as he turned around to face the others. “It is excruciating for me to watch them go, when I am forbidden to enter the Black City.”

  Rhuna was relieved that Goram was so pre-occupied with the construction of the time portal underneath the pyramid that he had forgotten his idea to disguise himself as a non-Atlan to enter the Black City.

  “Yet I shall soon be in the Black City in a past time period!” Goram said confidently.

  “You are certain of your calculations to reach the same time period in which the Dark One now resides?” Protector of Remembrance asked.

  “As certain as possible,” Goram answered.

  “Shall your entry point in the past time period be in the Black City, or elsewhere?” Preserver of Faith asked.

  “Here, at the pyramid next to the inn, when it was first built,” Goram answered.

  “Yet you cannot return to this time period?” Protector of Remembrance asked.

  “It is presumed not possible to go from the past to the future, yet I shall endeavour to find a way” Goram said.

  “So, one must assume it is a journey without return,” Stillness of the Lake said softly.

  Rhuna turned around when she heard a muffled sob, and saw Lozira’s distressed face as she listened to the discussion. Before Rhuna could step towards her daughter, Lozira quickly turned away and busied herself with meal preparations. Instead, Rhuna walked into the smaller adjoining room where Shandi sat with Panapu.

  “Have you had more visions of Lozira crying?” she asked the small girl as she sat down next to her.

  Shandi nodded.

  “She cries a lot these days over Goram, but that’s not what you see, is it?” Rhuna asked.

  Shandi shook her head.

  “Do you see something different about Lozira’s tears in your vision?”

  “Yes,” Shandi said confidently. “Not like the crying she does now.”

  “We shouldn’t ask questions,” Aradin cautioned as he stepped up behind Rhuna. “Remember, the Time Dreamer in the Land at the Top of the World told us not to ask questions about her visions because it could confuse her.”

  Rhuna nodded and stood up.

  “She said something important,” she whispered to Aradin as they returned to the others. “Her vision of Lozira crying is different from the crying she has been doing so far,” she explained.

  The morning meal was shared with the Black-Hat guests who commented on the comfortable rooms in the lodging house.

  “It is a full day’s journey from here to the Black City,” Zal said as he finished chewing the dried figs and dates. “Another full day is required to obtain all the items on that list,” he added, gesturing at the parchment of needed supplies which Goll had shown them earlier. “Then another day’s travel back to the inn. We will provide the accommodation.”

  “Will you require something in exchange for the accommodation?” Aradin asked.

  “No,” answered Pari. “Ordinarily, traders sleep in a large common area in our city, but you three – especially the woman of advancing age – are not traders. You are welcomed as guests.”

  “That is very kind of you,” Goll said as they stood up and prepared to leave.

  Rhuna accompanied her mother, Goll and Panapu along the track towards the lodging house and the holding pen where the Black-Hats had kept their horses.

  “We have prepared the other horses with comfortable blankets so that two of you can ride,” Zal said.

  “I walk,” Panapu said as he strode energetically along the track leading to the trade route. Rhuna and Aradin watched until they were out of sight, and then turned their attention to daily chores.

  After cleaning the lodging house and getting water from the well, Rhuna felt slightly anxious again and looked for Aradin or her father. Before she entered the main building, she saw Damell walking towards the small room he had set aside for privacy and quickly followed him.

  “I’m a little anxious about Kiana,” she said, walking next to him.

  “We share the same concerns,” Damell answered as he led the way into the narrow corridor and then into the small and dark room. “Let us investigate,” he whispered.

  Rhuna and Damell sat opposite each other on the floor to practice certain breathing techniques first, letting each inhalation energize both body and mind while expelling negative thoughts with each exhalation.

  “Oh, I feel so much better already,” Rhuna remarked when they concluded the session. “I’d like to see the aura of the Black-Hats,” she added as she positioned some large cushions on which to recline. “Do you think auras can tell us about their intentions and inner motives?”

  “Most certainly,” Damell answered. “Did you not discern Goram’s anger in his aura?”

  “Yes, but I already knew that he has a lot of anger within.”

  “Let us view the auras of the Black-Hats in The Infinite, and then attempt to interpret them,” Damell suggested as he reclined on the cushions and closed his eyes.

  Rhuna closed her eyes and stilled her mind in preparation for the release of her Extended Consciousness. She pushed through the momentary disorientation as she felt herself rise up and out of her body,
and then calmed her thoughts until she could discern her new surroundings. The tops of the inn’s buildings were still a new and unaccustomed sight, and the vastness of the sandy wilderness beyond the inn’s green oasis surprised her.

  “I am here,” Damell’s mind said to hers, and she turned her attention to the source of the mental words that had entered her thoughts. She saw a bundle of moving and pulsating colours and lights, denser in some areas and almost transparent in other areas.

  “Let us follow the travellers,” Damell suggested.

  Rhuna willed her Extended Consciousness to find the Black-Hats who had left their inn earlier that day, and in an instant she was floating a short distance behind them. She paused to examine the superficial impressions she perceived with her Extended Consciousness, noting the wide and well-worn rocky track of the trade route which they followed. The Black-Hats led the way on two robust horses, leading by a long leather strap the other two horses ridden by Kiana and Goll. Panapu walked steadily behind them, his big feet crunching loudly on the gravelly road.

  As she focussed her attention on each individual, Rhuna saw that Goll had wrapped a thick shawl around his head and most of his face to protect his translucent skin from the bright sun. Kiana looked about, curious and enjoying the scenery which featured only scattered trees and small plants that flourish in dry conditions.

  “The auras,” Damell reminded Rhuna with a projection of thought energy.

  Rhuna concentrated her thoughts on seeing the auras, and as her perceptions of the people and their surroundings changed, she noticed that she could feel emotions and hear vibrations. Suddenly, Rhuna was able to discern the travellers in a completely new and different way, perceiving a vast range of impressions that quickly filled and then overwhelmed her mind.

  “Auras!” Damell’s mentally-projected thought dispelled the confusion of perceptions, helping Rhuna to focus only on the people’s aura. It required some effort to concentrate her mind on such a narrow frequency, but she was greatly rewarded when she succeeded.

  Walking below and just ahead of Rhuna’s floating Extended Consciousness were clusters of moving colours, rhythmically pulsating and flashing different hues. She focussed her attention on the Black-Hats in the front whose auras both emitted the same basic yellow colour with portions of red and blue in varying degrees. As Rhuna tried to examine their auras more closely, she began to experience emotions which she perceived were connected to the auras. She sensed that Zal was concerned about a disagreement he had had with a fellow Black-Hat member, while Pari suffered the silent pain of her unrequited love for Zal.

  These sudden intimate revelations surprised Rhuna, and she recoiled slightly before turning her attention to the auras of her mother, Goll and Panapu. She was surprised to see Kiana’s overall dark green aura with traces of brown. The colours reminded her of a dense forest, and suddenly the comparison seemed very appropriate.

  Rhuna shifted her attention to Goll’s light blue aura with a hint of an orange ball underneath, as if a glowing sun were about to emerge from an early morning horizon. Finally, she looked at Panapu’s aura of red, pink and blue which reminded her of a textile creation she had once made for a friend’s baby.

  Feeling satisfied that there was no immediate threat to her mother, Goll or Panapu, Rhuna willed her Extended Consciousness to return to her body. She breathed in deeply and opened her eyes, then looked to her side where Damell also breathed in slowly.

  “I really had to focus on seeing only their auras,” Rhuna remarked.

  “There are many impressions on the higher planes,” Damell agreed. “It is very stimulating, yet also challenging to discern the information one seeks.”

  “The auras I perceived gave me a good feeling,” Rhuna commented. “I got an emotional impression of the Black-Hats, and I don’t think they have any bad intentions towards us.”

  “That is my conclusion, also,” Damell said with a smile.

  Rhuna hurried to find Aradin and tell him about the impressions she and her father had gained through The Infinite, describing in detail the different colours of each person’s aura. She helped Aradin with the washing of clothes, and then found Lozira playing with Shandi near the pond. She sat down near the water’s edge and watched Shandi marvel at a dragonfly hovering over a flower.

  The gentle buzzing of insects and warm sun on her skin soothed and relaxed her, until the sound of loud and angry voices began to intrude upon her reverie.

  “It’s Goram,” Lozira said with some distress. “He has been so angry…”

  Rhuna stood up and walked briskly towards the pyramid as the quarrelling escalated. As she approached, Damell came from the adjoining building and Yarqi looked on from inside the goat’s pen.

  “Be reasonable!” Protector of Remembrance said forcefully. “We have only one common aim – to thwart the Dark One!”

  “And I shall accomplish this on my own!” Goram thundered as he slammed his shovel into the ground.

  “Get past your ego, man!” Greeter of Friends urged passionately. “Your very life is at stake!”

  “It is my life, and I shall do as I please!” Goram shot back.

  Rhuna was shocked to see Goram’s face turn a deep red, as if the colours she had seen in his aura had boiled to the surface.

  “Go away! Leave me be!” Goram bellowed, then closed his eyes tightly. In an instant Rhuna felt herself thrown off her feet and tumble backwards into the bushes of the garden. She struggled to stand up, flailing with her arms and legs as if caught in a giant wave of water. Finally, Rhuna caught her breath and called out as she struggled to stay upright on her hands and knees.

  “What is happening?” she cried.

  “Cease immediately!” demanded Protector of Remembrance. Rhuna managed to turn her head and look around for the Atlan representatives who had stood around the pyramid with Goram. They were kneeling or sitting in the garden, many strides away from where they had been standing a brief moment earlier.

  Goram opened his eyes and breathed in deeply, then glared at the Atlan representatives.

  “Stay away!” he roared, his face changing from red to purple.

  “What did he just do?” Rhuna asked as she crawled towards Damell who sat awkwardly on the ground with a bewildered expression.

  “He repelled us with the energy of his mind,” Damell answered unsteadily.

  “I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” Rhuna said as she stood up and brushed the dirt off her clothes.

  “The first and only time I was ever toppled by such a force was over forty solar cycles past…when I confronted the Dark Master himself,” Damell said grimly.

  Part Seven

  (The Pyramid)

  Rhuna stepped inside the main rooms of the inn where the Atlan representatives had gathered after they were swept off their feet by Goram’s repelling wave of mental force. None of them appeared shocked or shaken as she expected, and as she herself felt. Even Tozar sat among them with a serious frown on his gaunt face.

  “He attacked fellow Atlans,” Preserver of Faith said grimly. Her voice was so deep and grave that it sent a cold chill through Rhuna.

  “Such an attack would be unacceptable in the land of Atlán!” Stillness of the Lake said with outrage.

  “Such an attack has never occurred in the land of Atlán!” Greeter of Friends added, his voice echoing the outrage expressed by Stillness of the Lake.

  “It occurred once before, in the land of Atlán,” Tozar said quietly, and then looked up at Damell who had entered the room and stood next to Rhuna. “We remember, do we not?”

  “Yes,” Damell answered. “When you and I attempted to stop the Dark One.”

  “However,” Protector of Remembrance said in a loud voice. “We are not in the land of Atlán, and Beacon of the Night is not the Dark Master,” he said firmly. “We shall not enforce any Atlan rules, nor are we authorized to do so by the High Council of Atlán. Our assignment is specifically to abolish the Dark One, thwart
his destructive actions or limit the effects of his actions as much as possible.”

  “What does the High Council say about the new situation?” asked Damell.

  “Before any possibility of encountering the Dark One in the past time period was feasible, the High Council urged the containment of his destructive influence in the present time,” answered Protector of Remembrance.

  “That meant destroying the Black City, or at least curtailing its effects,” explained Stillness of the Lake. “Yet even this proved difficult when we learned of the Black City’s law to kill all Atlans who enter it.”

  “We were rendered impotent until Beacon of the Night revealed his plan to construct a time portal and follow the Dark One into his past time period,” Protector of Remembrance continued. “Now we are obligated to pursue this option as the only direct course of action to fulfil our mission.”

  “Were he not so irrationally insistent on accomplishing this dangerous mission alone!” Greeter of Friends spat with frustration. Rhuna saw the reddening of the young Atlan man’s cheeks in growing anger towards Goram and his thwarting of the Atlan representatives’ plan.

  “Now he threatens to construct a trap of some kind to prevent anyone else passing through the portal after him,” Preserver of Faith grumbled.

  Protector of Remembrance suddenly looked directly at Rhuna.

  “Do you know how to construct the time portal?” he asked, wide-eyed with sudden inspiration.

  “N-no, not precisely,” Rhuna stammered. “I am helping him transform the special blocks for the time portal chamber, and he has transferred some of the Great Secrets to me…”

  “Ah yes,” Protector of Remembrance said, still staring wide-eyed as he stroked his white beard. “Yes, yes. Should this portal prevent us from fulfilling our goal, then you still have the knowledge…”

  “But I don’t know how he figured it all out, despite the knowledge he already passed on to me,” Rhuna said, feeling daunted by the Atlan representative’s expectations of her.