by D. N. Carter
“Oh no…,” Ayleth said quietly, concern written across her face.
“Eventually a truce was brokered by Saladin in late 1180 after an eventful few months and the death of the Byzantine emperor Manuel the First Comnenus on the twenty-fourth of September and Jerusalem’s Patriarch Amalric who had died on the sixth of October. Saladin had already managed to get Sultan Kilij Arslan II to side with him and made a peace treaty with the new Byzantine Emperor Alexius the Second Comnenus who was not so pro-Franc as his father before him. Kilij had taken full advantage of the instability in the Byzantine Empire after Manuel’s death to secure most of the southern coast of Anatolia, and had sent his vizier Ikhtiyar al-Din to conclude an alliance with Saladin directly. On September 18th King Louis the Seventh of France had also died, as many of you here will already know, and rumours of great changes were everywhere. There were also many rumours circulating after the death of the Patriarch Amalric, that due to disputes between rival factions within the kingdom, it had affected the election of a new Patriarch with the two most obvious choices for his successor being William of Tyre and Heraclius of Caesarea. They were fairly evenly matched in background and education, but politically they were allied with opposite parties, as Heraclius was one of Agnes of Courtenay’s supporters. The canons of the Holy Sepulchre asked the king for advice, and Heraclius had been chosen through Agnes’s influence. Rumours were already rife in Cairo that Agnes and Heraclius were lovers, but there was no real evidence to substantiate such a claim. When Paul heard these rumours, he could still see Amalric in his mind when he had met him in Jerusalem. He laughed to himself as he recalled that long meeting along with Brother Jakelin and Count Henry. He recalled Theodoric explaining to Percival that statistically major changes occur during leap years…1180 just happened to be one and it had started on a Tuesday. Not a good omen according to one of Theodoric’s many charts,” the old man explained.
Cairo, Egypt, October 1180
Paul lay awake, his mind alight with ideas. Arri had been unsettled all day and Alisha was exhausted so Paul had placed Arri’s crib next to his side of the bed. He was clearly teething. Paul reached out his hand to gently stroke Arri’s little shoulders when his little fingers wrapped around Paul’s finger tightly. Paul rolled onto his side and just looked at him as he slept still holding his finger. The following day was going to be a busy one as Ernoul, Balian’s personal squire, was coming to stay accompanying Conrad again, as well as be given a tour of Husam’s ship building docks. Paul watched Arri closely as moonlight shone through the netted windows letting in a cool breeze. He felt blessed that he was doing a job he loved, had the woman he loved, had a beautiful son and a standard of living most people would be envious of. ‘Thank you, Father…and you Firgany wherever you are’ he thought and looked upwards. Turansha’s last words to him seemed to gently wash away all other thoughts as he heard him, as if to remind him about Percival. He placed his left hand upon Alisha’s hip as she slept. These times were still without doubt the best, he thought and closed his eyes.
Paul woke with a jolt and sat up fast sweating heavily. He rubbed his eyes and as he went to open them, he placed his hands back down, but felt sand and grit, not his bed sheets. He blinked and tried to focus his eyes. Suddenly a blinding light glared intensely forcing him to instantly shield his eyes.
“Fear not, Paul…you are simply travelling,” a calm and soft male voice spoke.
Slowly Paul lowered his hands from his eyes, the light no longer hurting. He quickly realised that he was sitting inside a small stone room, the walls made of a pinkish coloured marble, the floor covered in patches of sand and grit. Five tall figures dressed in white flowing robes stood before him but they appeared to float above the floor by a couple of feet. All of their robes seemed to be weightless and they looked more like people floating in water, he thought, as his mind struggled to comprehend if this was real or yet another lucid dream. The five beings had elongated heads, something he had never seen before, but their faces appeared normal, but with pure white skin and blue eyes. Light danced from behind them giving the impression they had wings but he knew it was light. Suddenly a young girl of teenage years stepped into view from behind them. She looked down at Paul and studied him intently. She smiled then looked up at the figure stood in the middle of the five and nodded enthusiastically. He nodded back as if in agreement with her. She smiled again and approached Paul and knelt down directly in front of him, her eyes looking into his. Her smile was captivating. She placed her hand upon his left shoulder, then gently kissed the side of his cheek before standing up and quickly walking back to the other five. A little confused, Paul tried to stand up but found he could not move his legs. Puzzled he looked at the five again just as the girl waved and walked away out of sight.
“Do not be alarmed, Paul. You are quite safe here,” the man in the middle said.
“And where exactly is here?” Paul asked and looked around the small room.
“Just a chamber within a device system…one you deliberately keep away from…though it is not what you agreed…is it?” the man asked with a smile.
“Pyramids!” Paul responded and frowned even more puzzled.
“See…you remember. You just need to remember the rest.”
“The rest of what?”
“Why you are here,” a female voice said softly, though Paul did not see from whom it came.
“Armed Orders are not the way to carry the secrets forwards. The time has come when you must start what you agreed to do…find a way to communicate to the future,” another voice said.
“I truly do not understand what you are saying. Unlike Alisha, Kratos has not removed even a part of the veil that hides my past…,” Paul explained, perplexed.
“Paul,” the man in the centre said as he moved closer toward him. “There is no veil upon you…you simply need to open the doors of your mind and travel the plains of what you call the heavens,” he said and lowered himself until he knelt opposite Paul, looking at him eye to eye. His eyes were almost identical to those of Kratos, but seemed to almost shine. “Look around you. You helped design these devices…look and remember.”
Paul rubbed his head confused. ‘Devices…how are pyramids devices?’ he thought.
“They are multipurpose and multifunctional. But their message will be lost unless you find a way to guarantee its continuation…for that is something we cannot do from our position,” a female voice spoke again.
“Where is your position exactly?” Paul asked, trying to establish which of the other four was speaking as he still wondered who the young woman was.
“Paul…our position is beyond the realms of humankind, but from which we were once a part of…but you, in your present mortal form can influence a new way. Lay the foundations and plant the seeds of a new understanding. Then it will be down to humankind to decide whether or not to listen and take heed and act accordingly. That is their free will and choice,” the man in the centre explained quietly.
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A female from the group stepped forwards and offered her right hand for Paul to take. Quizzically Paul reached up and grasped her hand. Instantly he felt a warm tingling sensation surge down his arm and envelope his entire body. She smiled at him and he felt almost aroused in her presence, her eyes looking deeply into his. She sensed his emotions and smiled even more. Her skin was flawless and delicate, her eyes seemed to be highlighted with a gold eye liner, her top eyelids appearing to have a gold strip set upon them. Truly angelic he thought as she raised him to his feet. Surprised he looked down at his legs. As Paul steadied himself, the other four encircled him and joined their hands together. They all closed their eyes and looked upward. Paul felt his own eyelids become heavy and he closed them.
“Look…see and remember,” the female said in his mind as images, clear as if he was seeing them for real, started to flash across his vision.
Paul could see people with elongated heads stood around a clear glass-like table discussing plans tha
t seemed to be highlighted in lines of light set within it. Their clothing was unrecognisable as anything he had ever seen before. The walls were made of a white and sand coloured marble looking material with beautiful columns that looked out over a clear turquoise sea just a short distance away. Instantly he recognised several ships identical to the vessel Kratos had left upon. He tried to focus upon them before his gaze was drawn back to the room. Three taller people entered the room, two with pure white hair whilst the other had red hair. Their heads were not elongated like the others but were facially identical. Suddenly Paul was looking down at the clear glass like table as moving images of many plans in light flashed across its surface stopping every now and then upon certain images that were perfectly clear and visible, looking real. One of the taller beings looked directly at Paul as if he was in the room himself. Without any words being spoken, Paul understood that he was being told about a great shield that was now set in place around the world to protect it in the future. There would not be a repeat of the last time. ‘What happened last time?’ Paul asked himself, puzzled. No sooner had he asked that than images flashed before him showing a shower of ice meteorites and other objects crashing through the sky and exploding in brilliant flashes. Immediately he recalled all the previous dreams he had experienced seeing the same images. ‘It will not be allowed to happen again,’ a voice said. Paul looked at the tall man opposite him and followed his gaze as he again looked back at the glass table. Paul could now see plans of the entire Giza plateau showing a large canal leading from the Nile River and surrounding the Great Pyramid which was gleaming in white nummulitic stone. He could see the Sphinx, but with a lion’s head, not the familiar human head he had seen so often. In the distance, where there was now just desert, he saw oak trees and a large forest that stretched off as far as the eye could see with a city of what looked like glass towers shimmering on the distant horizon. Images of happy looking builders somehow pushing large stones on air, it seemed, showed how they positioned the stones as they constructed the Great Pyramid, along with even larger stones being formed by some kind of liquid stone, that once poured, set very quickly as hard as marble. Paul sensed himself being led up an internal ramp way that followed up the outer wall area of the pyramid, like a coiled internal pathway that led to the apex. The pathway was a passage used to ferry stone and material upwards as they built the structure from the inside out and upwards. The passageway was then back filled with lighter stones as they sealed it. Once complete, Paul saw images of the planets of Mercury, Venus and Earth overlaid upon the pyramids matching perfectly. Then the image changed to one of the three belt stars of Orion being overlaid upon them. As the image drew further back, other stars began to overlay on other pyramids further out. On the bottom left of his vision he began to make out the very bright and blue light of what he knew was the star Sirius. But where it was projected on the ground, there was no pyramid at all. Suddenly, he felt a jolt as if he was being thrust downwards and beneath the ground where Sirius was projected. In an instant he found himself standing within a circular chamber, the walls made of polished black marble. Images of the circular formation surrounded by a further twelve circles flashed across his vision so clear he reached out his hand to touch them. He knew this was identical to the New Jerusalem images and as represented at Glastonbury and Stonehenge and other sites. Amazed and smiling he turned to look at the tall man now stood beside him.
“The Pharaoh you know of as Khufu, who is attributed to having built the Great Pyramid, as you can see, is not correct. He simply claimed it as his own and restored much damage that had been done upon it. He even states that simple fact upon the Stella he erected between the Sphinx’s paws. That is all…and man will again learn this truth,” the tall man explained.
“Many people argue that war has always been the path of man, but that is not so,” one of the females said softly. “You can help remind them of that fact.”
“And this is not some very lucid dream?” Paul asked.
“Is not life but a dream from another position of understanding and experience? For as I am sure you have heard before, in your realm of existence, you are all spiritual beings having a physical experience,” a female voice explained.
“Man will again learn this when he discovers how sound and light activate pyramids…and the secrets you must send across time within your stories, your teachings and in whatever manner you best find, will guide him to those rediscoveries. But it must not be done through means of violence and force,” the man in the middle explained.
“There was once a time when others sought the end of the age of man. They set down rulers to subjugate men, they introduced money to enslave all, they created different forms of religion on purpose to divide man, but those times are to pass. It was recognised that approach was all wrong on many levels. That is why the very earth you all live upon is protected and the true message of who man is will be revealed. But the sacred sites that keep that protection in place must be maintained…or it shall fail,” another female explained.
“And just how exactly do we do that?” Paul asked, confused.
“Simply by remembering and believing. The power of positive thought… that is why you are all masters of your own destiny and more powerful than you realise,” the man said and smiled and raised his eyebrows slightly.
“I do not understand,” Paul replied.
“You will, for it is simple enough. Now sleep,” a female voice said softly.
Paul had a thousand questions he wanted to ask. He raised his hand to say something but all went black before he had time to say anything.
Paul woke up feeling totally relaxed. As his eyes adjusted to the daylight streaming in through his chamber’s window, he immediately saw Arri sat up, still holding his finger and smiling. Arri leaned nearer as if to check Paul. His large eyes were wide and full of happiness, Paul thought, as he moved to prop himself up. Alisha was standing near the window leaning over brushing her long hair down.
“Morning sleepy head. You were talking much in your sleep,” she said, her face hidden beneath her hair.
“Sorry…I hope I did not wake you?” Paul replied as he sat up fully and held Arri’s little hands as he looked up from his crib still smiling. “I shall go and prepare some food and seek Theo out.”
“I think you will find Sister Lucy has sorted that out already with Nyla.”
“What…did Nyla stay the night?”
“What do you think?” Alisha laughed and stood up straight throwing her hair back over her shoulders. “Ishmael let them stay in his room alone.”
“Oh dear. Her parents will kill him,” Paul remarked as he stood up and lifted Arri out of his crib and held him.
“I think you’ll find her parents like Percival a lot. I am not so sure what tale she told them to stay here last night so I would ask you to find out discreetly.”
Paul kissed Arri on the top of his head as he rested his face against his chest and outstretched his arms as if to hug him. Alisha looked at them, her heart filled with pride and more love than she could ever have imagined. She smiled and felt quite emotional all of a sudden as she watched them. Paul slowly turned around to face her. Arri looked at her, smiling, his eyes wide and looking contented despite not having been fed yet. Paul immediately saw the look in Alisha’s eyes and he smiled too. He went to move when she raised her hand for him to stay there. She tilted her head slightly as she looked at them.
“You okay?” Paul asked seeing how she looked emotional, her eyes glistening with tears.
Alisha waved her hand and then placed her finger to her lips.
“Ssssh. I just want to keep that image in my mind,” she explained and stepped closer. She cupped her hand on Paul’s face then looked down at Arri, who by now was looking up at them both.
Paul went to kiss Arri on his head again just as Alisha went to and they bumped their heads together. Alisha rubbed her forehead and laughed, kissed Paul quickly then Arri as he also laughed. Paul seeing Arri lau
gh properly for the first time laughed himself. He placed his arm around Alisha and pulled her close and hugged them both. ‘I am truly blessed,’ he thought.
Paul entered the long corridor that had several doors leading off to the rooms that Thomas and his men used. Outside he could hear their horses and someone was already up and outside. Theodoric had taken the largest room at the far end of the corridor which had an adjoining door that led into the main house directly. Ishmael had stayed in Percival’s bed sharing the room with Luke. Each room slept two people but Tenno and Ishmael each had one to themselves. Paul looked into the separate adjoining cooking area. He expected to see a complete mess but was pleasantly surprised when he saw it was immaculate and Ishmael setting the table having already started to prepare food.
“Ishmael…morning,” Paul said as he entered the cooking area.
“Morning, Master,” Ishmael replied and bowed his head.
“Ishmael, please. You know it makes me feel uncomfortable when you call me Master. Just Paul is fine, please.”
“If you insist…Master Just Paul,” Ishmael replied joking.
“I take it all are not up yet and I hear you let Percival and Nyla have your room.”
“Yes. I hope that was acceptable…but as it was both their first time, and was going to happen regardless, I thought I would help make things a little easier. Besides, Thomas and his men would have somehow turned their special moment into some kind of contest and spectacle…you know what they are like.”
“Ahem!” Thomas coughed as he entered the cooking area from the side door fully dressed in his chain mail armour and surcoat already.
“I do not wish to sound rude…just saying,” Ishmael said and placed wooden plates around the table.
“Ish…fear not, my good friend, for I agree with you. They make light of everything I am afraid. Where do you think I have been all night? Making sure Percy and Nyla did not have an audience,” Thomas explained and looked at Paul, who was looking around the cooking room. “’Tis a clean cooking galley, yes?” Thomas stated.