by D. N. Carter
Confused and bewildered Paul followed after him quickly. At the rock face Kratos pulled what looked like a hanging sheet of cloth aside and beckoned Paul to enter. As he stepped inside, he was met with immediate warmth from a small fire, the inside of the stone shelter covered with thick animal furs. A funnel of sorts took away the smoke up through a sealed hole in the roof. Several small candles illuminated the cave like room. Paul shivered again, his body still cold.
“Where are we?” Paul asked as he sat down near the fire upon a small wooden x frame seat, the leather creaking as it took his weight. “And how long have you been here?”
“We have time for many questions, and whilst you are here, I shall challenge you to search and look within yourself to find answers and guidance,” Kratos replied, took off the thick robe he had worn and hung it up. He sat down opposite Paul and smiled at him as he removed his fur hat. “Here, you will need this when we are done.”
“Can you not just tell me what I must do?” Paul asked as he caught the hat.
“Absolutely not. Now there, take some of that wine. ’Tis heated and will warm you,” Kratos instructed and nodded at a small pot positioned on a stone plate half over the small fire.
“Wine is strong, women are stronger!” Paul heard himself say as his mind immediately recalled Stewart’s Templar initiation all those years ago and the unknown rule when he had to drink a bitter tasting wine. He sighed, the memories now a long distant echo of times past and now lost.
“Nothing is ever lost,” Kratos remarked as if reading his mind.
“Really?” Paul asked and looked at him. “Then please tell me where we are for I most certainly feel lost in every sense of the word and way.”
“We are where some people might say is a location as detailed within 1 Enoch…13.7 to be precise,” Kratos answered and smiled again. “If you had listened to your father better you would know it is also the location where a secret and sacred pact was made of the Fallen Angels…the watchers.” Paul frowned at him, puzzled. “We are upon a mountain plateau, the highest point in this part of Arabia known to some as Jabal al Lawz, but to others Jabal al Musa, the mountain of Moses.”
“But from what my father and Theodoric taught me, that mountain of Moses is the Great Pyramid…where the laws were taken from,” Paul replied, even more puzzled.
“That is true in itself also. But after all Moses, as understood by many and as described in the Bible, was but another enactment to create a lasting memory and for the followers of him to have a tangible and believable experience that they could recognise and relate to. But as you have learnt, and experienced, his time upon the mountain was short, but to those left behind, it was far longer,” Kratos explained and gestured by moving his staff, for Paul to pour some wine. There was only one small wooden bowl cup.
“How far are we from Alisha and Ailia then?” Paul asked as he poured the heated wine into the cup.
“Oh, about 170 miles in a straight line. Not far at all.”
“Not far! Pray tell how did I get here so quickly…and how do I get back?”
“Do you wish to return?”
“Of course.”
“Then why did you leave?”
“Because I had to. I remind Alisha too much of Arri and it pains her greatly…plus,” Paul hesitated.
“She betrayed you with another,” Kratos said softly and raised his eyebrows as he looked intently at Paul.
“Of course…you would know wouldn’t you,” Paul sighed and held the cup with both hands, the warmth a welcome sensation on his cold fingers.
“I see much, but I did not see the same love from Alisha to Nicholas as she has for you.”
“Do we have to discuss this?”
“No not at all…but we shall discuss your intention to find Turansha and kill him.”
“You cannot talk me out of that…for as long as that man lives, Alisha and Ailia are in danger.”
“With the passing over of Arri I can understand your reasoning…but it is a wrong and faulty reasoning that will only get you killed, and Alisha and Ailia will still be in the same position but without you.”
“Then what in the Lord’s name am I supposed to do?” Paul pleaded and shook his head, even more confused.
“Family is not just about blood, it is also about those who are prepared to stand with you and hold your hand when you need it the most. ‘I am’ are the two most powerful words you can speak, for what you place after them becomes your destiny. Death truly is nothing at all when you know and believe that it is like passing into another room. You know you have known Alisha before…and you will know Arri again. The sin she committed…was it such a truly great sin when all things are considered? You yourself are guilty of having the physical feelings toward Stephanie no? And the old hag,” he laughed. “Let Arri’s name be spoken without effort or pain, but with fondness and memories of his laughter and his smile. Do not push him out of mind simply because he is out of sight and you pain and long for him. For he is but waiting, just a brief interlude until you meet again…but do not let the poison of revenge make all that is good and still sweet in your life be tainted by its bitterness. You still have a marriage worth fighting for.”
“And what of marriage for it certainly does not feel that way any more?”
“Most make the mistake of thinking and believing the myth of marriage. That it is some kind of magical box full of beautiful things, of companionship, intimacy, friendship, stability and exclusive loyalty…but calm waters do not test a marriage. Marriage starts as an empty box which you must put things, feelings and experiences into. Only then can you take from it. There is no love in marriage, ’tis just a word. Love is in people and it is they who put love into marriage. There is no constant romance in marriage either because you have to infuse it into your marriage constantly to keep that box full. You must learn the gentle art of giving, loving, serving, praising, and unconditionally, to keep that box full. If you take out more than you put in, the box will become empty.”
“But this path we have chosen, even though we were warned against it, ’tis too hard,” Paul sighed and sipped the warm wine.
“The more difficult your path, the higher your calling. And correct me if I am wrong but was it not your father who told you to stand by what you believe in, even if it means you stand alone?”
“He did…and now look at me…I am stood alone.”
“My friend, you are far from alone. At this very moment there are those out there looking for you this very hour, despite the cold and hardship they will endure.”
“And Alisha…she will be with Nicholas right now I am sure.”
“You have so little faith in her love for you? If you believe that then you are truly lost…and blind…But ask yourself this. If you were to know you would die this day, could you not think of a better man to love and protect both Alisha and Ailia than Nicholas?”
As his words ran through his mind with a thousand images of Alisha and Ailia, he gulped hard and his heart thumped.
“So that is where her destiny lay,” he remarked sadly.
“You are listening to me but you are not hearing what I say are you?”
Paul looked at Kratos and shook his head, unsure what he meant.
“I do not know how to live without her…or Ailia.”
“Nicholas may have held her physically, but her heart and soul are connected to yours.”
“But Turansha?”
“As I said, do not let the poison of that man enter your soul. Revenge is like drinking poison yourself and expecting him to drop dead. It will only be you who suffers. You have to have faith that he will get due unto him what is befitting.”
“Faith…blind acceptance of old writings and a belief in a god we cannot see.”
“Do you think I take the literal word of the Bible or Qur’an and Vedic verses as absolute? No. But they contain truths, wisdom and the codes…”
“Yes, the codes,” Paul sighed. “How, when my world is torn apart ca
n I begin to find a way that will guarantee those codes continue…I cannot even think about tomorrow let alone all that and the commission of starting some joint Christian, Muslim Templar unit. ’Tis all too much for one person to bear.”
“Paul, listen to me. There are many veils that separate us from what really is whilst we exist and experience life in this so-called ‘real’ world. But sometimes those veils can wear thin, like clouds vanishing, and the starry eternities show through in beautiful momentary flashes or in tranquil beauty. All other realms are just as real and just as essential an element of this world of rocky shores, the seas, and the sky. Most only see with their outer eyes with just a very few with the inner eye where nothing is invisible. There are many realms, some known as the Tir-Nan-Oge, Paradise, Heaven or the Elysian fields, where the soul lives when its physical energies and desires have been subdued and brought under the control of light; It is a real region which has been described by poets and sages who, at all times, have endeavoured to express something of the higher realities and where love is imperishable. All around us always, within that mystic light that covers our hills and valleys and where the deeds of our ancestors still linger to touch us with their memories to inspire us. The gods of old have not deserted us for they hear our call and they will return. A new cycle is dawning and the sweetness of a new dawn of humankind is in the air. You can breathe it and if we all do, it will but awaken all from their slumber of ignorance. And they hear your call as you know. What has happened to you so far, your history, does not define your future for that is yours to decide and make.”
4 - 18
“But what of Alisha?” Paul sighed heavily and shook his head looking down.
“You fell in love with her soul, not just her outer beauty, for chemistry and physicality will age and fade, but real love never does. To love without condition and expectation is the highest truest love…and you possess that for her already. Sometimes the best and worst times of your life can coincide. It is a talent of the soul to discover the joy in pain, thinking of moments you long for, and knowing you’ll never have them again. The beautiful ghosts of our past haunt us, and yet we still can’t decide if the pain they caused us outweighs the tender moments when they touched our soul. This is the irony of love.”
“And what of the comment I heard at my brother’s initiation and as my father often hinted at…that wine is strong, but women are stronger for Alisha is certainly stronger than I?”
“I sense you are trying to change the subject somewhat,” Kratos remarked. Paul shook his head no, but in truth he was. “Forte est vinum, fortior est rex, fortiores sunt mulieres: super omnia vincit veritas,” Kratos said aloud in an exaggerated manner. “Wine is strong, a king is stronger, women are stronger, but truth conquers all. That is what you are referring to. ’Tis a symbolic and esoteric sentence. It was handed down from a time long before the Jews took it up without understanding its significance. The story is found only in the First Edras, and begins in Chapter 3, which are Jewish apocryphal scripts in case you did not know. In it, King Darius gave a banquet for his entire kingdom and, after he had gone to bed, three young men of the bodyguard held a contest to determine what one thing is the strongest. The person giving the wisest answer was to be richly rewarded by the king. Each contestant wrote a statement, sealed it and placed it under the pillow of the king, who, along with three nobles of Persia, would judge which the wisest statement was. The first answer is wine: the second is the king; and the third answer is women are the strongest but, above all things, truth is victor. When the king awoke, he read the statements and summoned a company of judges and called the three young men in to explain their answers. The first young man explained that wine leads the mind astray, causes changes in behaviour, neutralises intelligence, diminishes capacity, and causes loss of memory. The second man believed the king is stronger for he rules over others, sends them to war or work, and takes what they win or earn. They watch over him when he sleeps and obey him in all matters. The third man, Zerubbabel, explained how women give birth to kings and to those who plant the vineyards that produce the wine. Men cannot exist without women and they are willing to give all they possess to be with a beautiful woman. They will risk their lives for the love of a woman, leave their parents and hold to the wives with whom they wish to spend the remainder of their days on earth. Many men have lost their minds because of women and have become slaves because of them. Many have perished or stumbled or sinned because of women. A woman can take the crown from the head of a king but, strong as they are, they cannot compete with truth. Truth is great and stronger than all things. The whole earth calls upon truth and heaven blesses her. All of God’s creation quakes and trembles and with him there is nothing unrighteous. Wine is unrighteous, the king is unrighteous, women are unrighteous and all such things. There is no truth in them and in their unrighteousness they will perish. But truth endures and is strong forever and ever.”
“I am sorry for I do not see or understand any esoteric meanings in this tale.”
“When Zerubbabel had finished speaking, everyone said ‘Great is truth and strongest of all’. Zerubbabel is declared the winner and is promised whatever he asks of the king. Zerubbabel asks the king to honour his vow to build Jerusalem, return the holy vessels, and rebuild the temple. King Darius grants him and all who would go to build Jerusalem a safe passage and assistance in building. They will not have to pay tribute and offerings will be given to the temple. He provides land and wages for those who guard the city and sends back the holy vessels. Zerubbabel leaves praising God and thanking the Lord for providing him with the wisdom and they got to build the city, feasting and rejoicing for seven days. ’Tis your father who, as we sit here now, toils as he plans and designs a new chapel to contain the secrets and codes…a New Jerusalem church, to one day be built in the sacred land of Alba. It shall be named after the true location the holy family, that Crimson Thread blood line so woven as a vine, landed in France, at Roussillon. It shall have, as a marker in its chapel, the figures of King Darius asleep and two of the young bodyguards on an architrave which runs at right angles to the lintel on which the quotation will be engraved for all who follow to one day rediscover and understand, for in truth you are all building it for yourselves for when you again walk upon the bounds of this realm in flesh.”
“But what happened to the third bodyguard?”
“Your father designs a chapel where at the opposite corbel the figure of Melchizadek holding a chalice, the Grail, will be seen. The third missing bodyguard is symbolic of the line that shall remain separate and hidden, until it can be revealed again. But even then that can only happen if the codes and symbols of the rose, the lily, bees and apples are carried forward. It shall also have carved blocks showing all the sounds required to open a window into other realms but also awaken that which lies dormant within all of mankind. The chapel will be made whereby every aspect of its design will have been done so for a purpose with every carving having a meaning. It shall be a message for posterity that will finally be understood by those initiates who follow the path of learning and service to others until they are brought to its doors. But the answers will be given to those with the courage to explore, the vision to see and the humility to thank God for Mother Earth from which all bounty flows. The chapel will proclaim that God and nature are ONE, that every green shoot is a word of God; that, if there is any sacrilege, it is what man has done and is doing to Mother Earth. By then, with every passing day, there will be less and less of the surface of the earth capable of sustaining life. The great oceans, both water and forest, shall become almost destroyed. People’s minds will become as deserts for in his arrogance man will have set himself above other living things and, in so doing, will divorce himself from reality and from the truth. Alas, the truth is a world which few people have the courage to explore or even to voice in this age of religious restriction and dogma. If you try to reveal this truth now, you will without doubt be charged with heresy. This is why your fa
ther and other masons like him build that very truth, the codes within the very buildings of the church hidden but in plain view for an initiate,” Kratos said and winked.
“An order of builders like my father had discussed with me. A brotherhood of masons. Free to believe and question all,” Paul said, shook his head and recalled his shared experience with Alisha when they saw a ruined cathedral rebuilt as new before their very eyes. “But what of the hidden line, the Crimson Thread. How in the future can any surviving line be established?”
“You are aware of the mystery of why Templars have their hair shaved during their initiation ceremony and sealed away?” Kratos asked. Paul nodded yes. “Then understand that just like the art of flight, man will again also learn the very deepest secrets of how we are made. Not only being able to distinguish the different bloods, but also the very building materials of our flesh and bone. Like the entwined serpents represent, ’tis a knowledge of how and why we grow. The one you know as Akhenaton as your father and Theodoric explained, his very physical body was altered and his code, you call it the code of life, ’twas changed. ’Tis why he and his descendants looked and acted differently. Through our hair we can match from what lines our forefathers came…and those that were mixed with the lines of the watchers, or angels, whichever way you choose to perceive it, then through understanding that code will the Crimson Thread once again be revealed. But I warn you, never assume those that carry the code are any better than the next person, for in truth, a soul can inhabit any line. ’Tis just the physical ability to use and access higher learnings and tools that is enabled…for the advancement and betterment of all peoples.”
“And religions carry these details?”
“Yes as religion was known to be a powerful tool guaranteed to carry its message across the millennia of time. However, religion as we have it now, and for years ahead, has been used and usurped by power hungry preachers who, instead of preaching peace as their respective religions require instead rant against each other and engage in holy wars under the euphemistic titles of Crusades or Jihad. ’Tis why the initiates of the Knights Templar wish to establish a rapport with Islam, a need which is just as great as ever before. There is nothing in the Qur’an which is contrary to Christian teaching except they draw a line at accepting Jesus as being the son of God. So do many others who are not of the Islamic faith. All boundaries, whether national or religious, are manmade and they make little sense because, whether we are Caucasian, Mongoloid or Negroid, we are all at one with each other in our primitive mortal needs. That and the law of nature, which is eternal and unchanging, is the truth…a truth which we must embrace. If done in time, it will bring about the recovery of Mother Earth from the depredations of man. But as for religions per se, if there has to be religion, then the best kind is one that will show you where to look, but not what to see!”