by Lynn Mann
I felt immense sadness. I saw Justin bend his head towards Feryl and Feryl nodded and stepped to the middle of the circle so that he could see Justin’s students as well as his own. Justin headed over to where we sat. ‘You and I are going to have to find a way to shield one another if we’re ever going to be able to concentrate in each other’s presence,’ he said. ‘What’s up?’
I whispered what Salom had just told me and I felt his concern.
‘We can’t let them leave, they’ll destroy themselves and cause a great deal of harm,’ he said. ‘Salom, you didn’t just hear that, okay?’
‘You know I can’t withhold information,’ she said, ‘but I feel a headache coming on.’ She removed her bandanna, folded it carefully and pushed it into her back pocket. ‘I’m going to my room to lie down and won’t be available for the rest of the day. Pete will bring a dinner tray to my room, won’t you Pete?’
Justin gave a brief nod. ‘Thanks, Salom.’
She nodded back and then left. Pete raised his hand in a wave of goodbye and trailed off after her, mumbling about having to see to the donkeys.
‘I’d better get back, we’ve nearly finished. We’ll have a chat with the others back at the field shelter where we won’t be overheard,’ Justin said, and jogged back to join Feryl.
Marvel was thunderous. ‘This cannot happen. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. They’ll use Healing Skills to cause harm over my dead body.’
‘Stop being so melodramatic Marvel,’ said Rowena. ‘There can’t be that many of them left and with those who’ve had the sense to join us, we far outnumber them. We can physically stop them leaving if we have to.’
‘I’m not comfortable with that, Rowena,’ said Quinta and Justin, Mason and I all voiced our agreement. ‘Spider’s not being much help, anyone else’s horses got anything to say about it?’
‘Infinity’s in agreement that we should stop them from leaving, but she thinks I know what to do,’ I said, and then realised that she was right. I outlined my thoughts to the others and Justin and Adam concurred immediately, with Quinta and Mason close behind.
Marvel said, ‘well I’ve seen it work once before, and I don’t think we’ll come up with anything better. Okay, I’m in.’
Rowena shrugged. ‘I haven’t done it before, but I guess I’ll give it a go. We’ll grab an early dinner and be back here an hour before dusk, shall we?’ There were nods all round.
We will help. Infinity’s thought was welcome. I knew exactly to whom she was referring. I smiled and saw that Justin wore a smile that matched my own. We knew we couldn’t fail.
My friends and I all arrived in the dining hall well before the bell rang for dinner, with the intention of grabbing a quick bite to eat before heading up to fetch our horses before dusk. Adam, however, picked up a bread roll and headed back towards the door. ‘I’ll see you all up by the river,’ he said over his shoulder. ‘Spider and I have something we need to do.’
‘What was that about?’ said Rowena. ‘Quinta? Do you know?’
‘Yes, I have a feeling I do,’ smiled Quinta. ‘Don’t worry, it’s all good.’
I knew too and I gathered all the positive energy I could and willed it Adam’s way. Justin sensed what I was doing and raised an eyebrow, before understanding dawned and he added his energy to mine. I knew Adam wouldn’t need it, but I was pretty sure he’d sense it and know who was sending it to him.
We all ate lightly, eager to be on our way so as to be in place in plenty of time. As we were leaving, everyone else began to arrive for dinner, Feryl among them. He took one look at us all and left his friends to come over. ‘What gives? Is everything alright?’ he asked.
Justin said under his breath, ‘They’re leaving to hunt the Woeful tonight. We’re going to stop them.’
Feryl sighed. ‘What can I do to help?’
Justin outlined our plan. ‘It would be a massive help if you can keep everyone from coming after us. I don’t know how much their horses will tell them about what’s going to happen and the last thing we need is for everyone to come tearing up to the river bank and then getting in the way.’
Feryl nodded. ‘I’ll do my best. Good luck.’
We tacked up and mounted our horses in their paddock. Three horses waited for us on the path and I felt a calm sense of purpose from them all. They, along with Liberal, fell in behind us as we headed toward the river and it wasn’t long before another five came trotting up behind them. There was some squealing and scuffling as they organised themselves into a formation with which they were all comfortable and then there were a few seconds of quiet, before more horses arrived at the rear and the same procedure was repeated.
By the time we got to the riverbank, we were part of a massive herd. The same calm sense of purpose emanated from each and every horse as they fanned out along the river bank and then turned to face back towards The Gathering. My friends and I rode towards the section of river bank that was directly in front of where the path opened out onto the bank. We were met with the sight of Adam and Spider, waiting patiently.
Even in the failing light, we could see what they had achieved. The being that was Spider/He Who Is Spider stood tall and powerful and radiated peace, strength and oneness. I was thrilled as I felt their complete and utter joy. Quinta went over to stand at Spider’s shoulder and the rest of us fell in on either side of them to wait.
It wasn’t long before we heard voices coming towards us from the direction of the path. We wouldn’t be able to see those who approached until they were near the end of the path due to a curve that took them around a small hillock, but we could hear that they were close.
‘Okay everyone, prepare yourselves,’ whispered Adam. ‘And please remember, however challenging their behaviour may become, that these people are not enemies of ours, or of anyone else. They are frightened beyond reason and their fear is masking their true selves. It is our job to help them remember who they are.’
I nodded and gathered as much light as I could within myself, holding it there until I could see those who approached.
‘Right, four of you stand guard at the end of the path to stop anyone following us, while we find the rafts,’ said a male voice that I recognised, as the group rounded the bend and came into sight. They stopped short at the sight of us lined up along the river bank. I sent my light towards them and let it settle down among the group. I concentrated on maintaining my flow of light towards them and was aware of it being joined by my friends’ efforts.
Mason’s light was strong but he kept losing it and having to refocus to generate it again. Marvel and Quinta were producing a weaker flow of light than Mason but were managing to keep their light streams steady. Rowena surprised me with the consistent strength of light she was able to send to the group. The strength of Justin’s light matched my own and Adam’s was like a roaring bonfire.
Then the horses joined in. I felt the air steady itself with the calm, assured love of ages. The horses’ energy was directed at no one in particular, they merely emanated their own sense of themselves for anyone to use as needed. I felt Mason’s light steady itself and become consistent. Marvel and Quinta’s light became stronger and Rowena put more positive feeling into hers. Justin, Adam and I found the energy to magnify our light streams to the point where it felt as if that was all we were.
None of the hunting group moved. A white haze of light had settled around them and they were looking around themselves in confusion. I saw that it was Jack at the front of the group, with Vickery immediately behind him. I became aware of their feelings and my light faltered slightly as shock reverberated through my being. Their fear of the Woeful, of loss, death and injury had combined with their overwhelming fear that they were somehow not good enough. The result was a highly toxic need to cause harm to others — to somehow prove to themselves that they could feel safe if they could only eliminate anything that they perceived as a threat to their physical bodies, or to their view of themselves.
&nbs
p; Infinity gave me a burst of energy that I used to steady myself and refocus, until my light stream was back up to strength.
Jack spoke. ‘What is this? You can’t stop us leaving you know. I don’t care how you talked all these horses into joining you in your little display, it doesn’t impress me in the slightest, now get out of our way.’
None of us replied. We all continued to send them as much positive, loving energy as we could.
Vickery tried next, her voice full of venom as she said, ‘who in the darkest levels of hell do you think you are? You lord it around here as if you’re something special and you can’t see everyone laughing behind your backs, I mean look at you all! Wimpy little Amarilla who can’t say boo to a goose, Mason, who rides that lice-ridden carthorse as if she’s training for the high class in the next Friendlies, Quinta and Marvel who just tag along with the rest of you for no apparent reason that anyone can fathom, Adam who can’t seem to realise that he’s past it, has nothing to offer anyone and should never have come back, Justin who can’t keep his mind on anything for longer than two seconds and is a total waste of space, and then we have Rowena, who should be avenging Shann but is too cowardly to come with us.’
Everyone remained steady except for Rowena. Her light stream faltered and then stopped completely as anger flooded her. I felt Oak focus his energy towards her and was aware of her anger warring with her desire to stick to the plan, to help. A flicker of light sparked within her and then became stronger. I felt her make her decision, and as her light and positivity flared back even stronger than before, she directed it straight towards Vickery.
I noticed that some of the hunting group were now looking uncertain and I could feel that the fear level of the group as a whole had decreased slightly. It was working! I took Rowena’s lead and focused my own light stream on Jack and Vickery.
Jack tried again. ‘Why are these horses here anyway? Do you plan to use them to stop us getting to our rafts? They won’t harm us, so you can’t stop us!’ He began to walk towards us, although as he got closer, his air of certainty wavered. He turned and marched to his left, further along the line from where we sat our horses. As he neared the horses who waited there, they shuffled closer together, barring his way.
He waved his arms around. ‘MOVE!’ he shouted. ‘I’M NOT BONDED TO YOU, YOU HAVE NO SWAY OVER ME. GET OUT OF MY WAY YOU FILTHY NAGS!’
I felt Marvel’s light waver slightly before he regained control of himself. I leaned forward and saw that the horses at whom Jack was yelling stood firm and one put her ears flat back and shook her head at him, baring her teeth. He took an involuntary step backwards and said in a shaky voice, ‘you can’t do this, you’re not my horse. Candour isn’t even here.’ He took another step back so that he could see all of us astride our horses. ‘You see, Candour isn’t here, he hasn’t seen fit to join you all against me, so they haven’t all taken your side!’
None of us spoke. Adam was now directing the majority of his light towards Jack, whilst Rowena and I focused on Vickery and the others combined the strength of their positive energy to form a cloud that continued to permeate the main group, some of whom were now standing off to one side.
Infinity pricked her ears and I felt her muscles tense as I shared her awareness that there were more horses approaching. The hunting group turned at the sound of galloping hooves and a herd of pitifully thin horses rounded the bend. The horses flew past them without pausing and came to a halt in front of us, blowing and snorting. To a horse, they turned to face their Bond-Partners.
Twenty-Eight
Culmination
My personality wanted to be angry. More than angry, actually. A bitter rage urged me to stand in my stirrups and shout with red hot fury at each and every one of the hunting group who had allowed their horses to get into such a state. The chestnut mare who had placed herself in front of Infinity and me had a dull, staring coat that failed to hide her protruding ribs and I was intensely aware that she was cold, despite the run from her paddock. I felt her love for her Bond-Partner and her sorrow that she had been unable to penetrate his fear to help him. But as I felt her add her energy to that of the other horses, I released the anger that had been trying to take hold within me and gave prevalence to my awareness of truth. My light stream was strong and steady.
I felt each of my friends except Justin and Adam falter as their own anger took hold.
‘Remember!’ called Adam.
‘Remember,’ I echoed him and felt Quinta’s light rejoin ours.
Rowena was struggling with herself again, but I felt her remember the grief and fear she had suffered so recently. Understanding settled within her and her light was soon back up to strength.
Marvel and Mason struggled on, both trying to put their anger and disappointment at their fellow Bonded to one side and refocus, but finding it desperately hard despite energy and support from their horses.
‘Remember,’ said Adam again and I felt a flicker of light in both men, which grew steadily stronger.
It was all too much for seven members of the hunting group, each of whom came at a run, sobbing, to where their horses stood quietly opposing their actions. Immediately, the horses directed their energy solely to their returned partners. I felt their Bond-Partners’ fear dissipate and be replaced with relief, love and sorrow for their horses. My heart leapt.
‘Candour? Are you here?’ Jack stepped back in order to have a better view of the horses standing in line in front of us. There was no whinny, no whicker of greeting in response to his question. ‘There you are, you silly old fool, what are you doing here? Candour?’ He moved to stand in front of his horse and reached out the back of his hand. No response. ‘What have you done to him? Why is he like this?’ Jack challenged Adam, who didn’t answer but continued to send intense light towards Jack, battering at the barrier of fear he had subconsciously erected around himself. The barrier was significantly weaker now, I noticed.
‘Verve? Are you there my boy?’ Vickery called out uncertainly and I was aware of movement to my left as a big, pure white horse stepped forward and tossed his head. ‘Verve, come here, I know you don’t want to go with us, but you don’t need to join them. We’re only doing it to keep you safe, please try and understand.’
Verve didn’t respond. He had given up trying to communicate with his partner.
Vickery walked towards her horse, but stopped well short of where he stood with us. ‘Verve, please go back to your shelter and eat, look at you, I’ve given you your wormer but you still look awful, please eat more? Or at least go back so you can be inside and out of the chill?’ She was obviously as aware as I, that her horse was feeling the cold far more than he should for the time of year.
Again, Verve gave her no response.
Her voice shook. ‘Verve? Please?’
Rowena and I continued to direct our light streams towards Vickery, and as her fear barrier began to flicker uncertainly, our love, combined with that of her horse, breached it and reached her. She ran towards Verve and flung her arms around his neck. ‘Oh, my boy, forgive me, can you forgive me? Never mind about the Woeful, we need to get you better, don’t we? Come on my beautiful boy, let’s get you back to your shelter.’
‘Vickery, I left Oak’s rug hanging over the fence of his paddock. You can take it on your way past and borrow it for Verve, it’s thicker than his,’ called out Rowena. Vickery hesitated and then nodded briefly, before walking away, her horse at her shoulder.
‘Vic, where are you going? You can’t leave us, we need you!’ Jack called to her.
‘Verve needs me more and I need him. That’s more important than anything and I can’t imagine how I ever thought otherwise. I’m sorry Jack.’
The remainder of the hunting group watched her as she and Verve passed them, and then all but two of them ran to their own horses. As more horses began to leave with their Bond-Partners, our light got through to the final two, both of whom released their fear and also ran to their horses.
&nbs
p; ‘You can’t do this!’ Jack’s voice was little more than a squeak as he ran up to those leaving with their horses, waving his arms frantically. ‘We had plans, we were going to rid this world of the Woeful once and for all, we were going to make it a safer place, we were going to show the villages that they need not live in fear anymore, that we have the strength and the power to protect them! And what about all your stuff? The weapons you spent so long working on? Are you just going to leave it all here?’ He gestured wildly at the litters that the hunting group had been dragging behind them, dark mounds that now eerily resembled freshly covered graves as they lay abandoned in the twilight.
Soon there was no one left at whom he could rail, apart from us. The air was thick with supportive energy from the horses. My friends and I were now all directing our light streams at the fear that Jack was still managing to maintain around himself. I was amazed at how tough his barriers were, how thick his fear, for it to take us all so long to reach him, but we persevered.
Three times, one of the horses had to warn him physically not to escalate his behaviour; once when he tried to push through their line, another time when he ran at Adam boasting that he had learnt to multiskill and that he could use his abilities to tear us all to shreds if he chose to, and finally when he picked up a stone and threw it at me, missing me only narrowly. On this occasion it was his own Candour who left the line, nudged him to the ground and then stood over him, refusing to let him stand back up.
Finally, when he’d completely exhausted himself and could no longer maintain his fear barrier against the love that pummelled against it, we got through to him.
He sat on the floor, sobbing, as his horse stood over him, blowing peacefully on the top of his blond head and infusing him with love. I felt acutely Jack’s lack of confidence in himself, his anxiety about showing his real, sensitive self to the world and my heart went out to him. His sensitivity, combined with his newfound ability to multiskill, could make him invaluable in helping others to open up to multiskilling and he needed to hear that, I decided.