Alliance

by Andrew Stride

  “Like we’ve got time for this!” Boroc raised his voice.

  “They were quite insistent.”

  “More trickery,” said Boroc.

  “We’re talking about the Hidden Ones,” said Sha. “Not the Formless Ones.”

  “Sha’s right,” said Mica.

  “Don’t you start,” Boroc glared at Mica.

  “What does Boroc have to do?” asked Sha.

  “They didn’t go into any great detail. They said that he needs to travel to the crystal field.”

  “The crystal field,” repeated Mica. “I know of only one such place. It is where our collective consciousness resides, but it is only accessible to our race and our race alone.”

  “Clearly this human isn’t talking sense, so let’s just ignore it,” said Boroc.

  “They’re here,” said David. “I can hear them. It’s up to you Boroc, but we’re not going anywhere unless you cooperate.”

  David was gazing out across the fire and they all turned to see what he was looking at, but couldn’t see anything.

  “There’s something else, Boroc. Your weapons must remain here.”

  “Over my dead body.”

  “If you refuse, it will be over all of our dead bodies,” said David.

  Nicely put, thought Mica.

  “I am being asked to guide you,” said David. “Lay down your weapons and we’re ready to go.”

  “Never,” and Boroc stood up in protest.

  “Please Boroc. If this goes badly I’ll let you blow my head off.”

  Mica shuddered at the thought.

  Boroc pulled his dagger from its sheath and the blade glinted in the firelight, making the metal appear as if it was on fire. The same fire danced in Boroc’s eyes and David swallowed hard.

  The dagger slipped from Boroc’s grasp and the blade sparked when it made contact with the hard rocky ground. Then without a word, Boroc strode around the fire and stopped in front of David, before pushing the Zolt-Arc into his chest.

  “Take it and if this goes badly I’ll be back to watch you blow your own damn head off.”

  David nodded and took hold of the Zolt-Arc and reluctantly Boroc let go. Relieved of his weapons, Boroc was ready and together they walked off into the cavern. Sha and Mica watched them go and about twenty minutes later, David returned alone with a vacant look on his face. They spoke to him, but he did not respond. It was like he was sleepwalking and it was only when he sat down at the fireside that he snapped out of it.

  “Well?” asked Sha.

  “He’s on his way,” and with that, David rested on his side and closed his eyes.

  They were like nothing he had seen before and despite David’s assurances, he was resisting their advances. Boroc feared these things were the Formless Ones in another guise, except he couldn’t deny the way he was feeling. He felt surprisingly calm but hadn’t expected to, since he had been all fired up after the fight with the Squalvolvans.

  Boroc may have been feeling calm, but he was still resisting and it took a few minutes before he finally let go. Their hands guided him and he wasn’t sure he liked it, but without them, he would have been truly lost. The cavern had been dark, but it was nothing compared to this place and Boroc struggled to make sense of his new surroundings.

  “Give yourself a moment to adjust.” He hears them say and the seemingly dark and empty void around him begins to ignite with points of light. If this is the vacuum of space then these lights have to be stars, although Boroc isn’t convinced.

  He gravitates to one of these points of light and it quickly becomes a small cluster. Then right before his eyes, the cluster floods with colour and takes the appearance of a nebula, so maybe he is in space after all.

  Boroc is captivated by its beauty, although he was trying hard not to be. Resistance is futile and the feeling of wonder penetrates his being and his negative thoughts are neutralised.

  He drifts into the nebula and its colourful dust clouds transform into a landscape and he is left to wander alone. There is no urgency and he eventually comes to a pool of water that reflects its surroundings like a mirror. At first, he wonders how he will cross it and then notices some stepping stones.

  Boroc steps onto the first stone and the way ahead becomes clear, right up to where the stepping stones disappear into a waterfall.

  Boroc started mumbling, he couldn’t help himself, but the sudden appearance of two Ammarla children focused his attention. Where had they come from? The only logical explanation was that they had walked through the waterfall, using the stepping stones. They stood there looking at him and he gave them one of his serious stares, but this just made them giggle.

  “What are you doing here?” shouted Boroc.

  The sound of his voice would have normally shattered the serenity and chased away all but the foolhardy, but instead, his voice was lost, neutralised by the sound of the waterfall. This wasn’t getting him anywhere and his aggressive hand gestures were only making the children laugh. He pointed to the ground in front of him, in the hope they would get the message, but they weren’t getting it and Boroc’s patience was wearing thin.

  Then to his surprise, the children took a few steps forward and he got an even bigger surprise when they stopped and pointed to the ground in front of them and giggled.

  Cheeky buggers, thought Boroc and he could feel his anger rising, but he also felt oddly drawn to them and he guessed they were using their persuasive magic on him. Magic! What was he thinking? Only children believe in magic. Then to his astonishment, an involuntary reflex set his body in motion and he found himself walking towards them.

  He towered over the children and as intimidating as he must have looked, they were undeterred.

  “Hello, Mr Shamozolt.” They spoke in unison and their eyes seemed to grow even larger and Boroc was sure he could see his reflection in them.

  It was like he was seeing double. The two children looked identical and too cute for their own good, but Boroc wasn’t going to be taken in by them. “Move aside.”

  Boroc’s gruff voice sent ripples of vibration through their sensitive bodies, which caused them to raise their arms. The palms of their small hands faced him as if to deflect some of the energy.

  “What are you doing?” his tone was one of mild annoyance and escalating rapidly.

  “We’d like to help you.”

  “Help me! Stop fooling around and let me pass.”

  “Oh please, Mr Shamozolt.”

  He had begun to notice an odd tingling sensation on the sides of his mouth and he felt an irresistible urge to smile. In fact, it was taking a great deal of effort not to and what happened next really shocked him. He heard himself say, okay. Okay! Had he lost his grip on reality? Taking him at his word, the children reached up and took hold of a finger on each of Boroc’s huge hands and led him towards the waterfall.

  Since they were so close to this torrent of water, Boroc expected to be drenched in no time, but up close, the water looked less like water and more like cascading light.

  Boroc looked down at the two children still holding onto him and they smiled and together they guided him into the waterfall. Boroc braced himself because he imagined the water would be cold, but instead, he felt an intense vibration course through his body, like a mild electric shock, accompanied by a bright flash of light.

  In the blink of an eye, he had been transported to a landscape made of pure crystal.

  The voices of the two children came into his mind. “This is the crystal field.”

  Boroc only had one word for what he was seeing. “Beautiful.” Not that word again and as he scorned himself, he actually found his anger amusing.

  They were still walking and yet it felt more like gliding and if the children had let him go, there was a strong possibility that he would have left the ground and floated away. Boroc also felt something different about his face. He hadn’t stopped smiling and he didn’t want to.

  The crystals around them pointed up into the clear
blue sky, their bases, opaque, while their tips were well defined and completely transparent. Some held rainbow structures within them, while others were filled with shimmering flakes of reflective material. It was a real feast for the eyes.

  He felt more alive than he ever had and ready to ask a question. “Why am I here?”

  “We frequent this place to learn and from that learning, we can help others.”

  “I’m here to help someone?”

  “Yes, and by coming here you are also helping yourself. You lost your way and the energy of this place will guide you. We can feel that you have opened up to this energy and by doing so you are experiencing feelings, which normally you do not.”

  Boroc certainly felt different and looking over the tops of the crystals, he noticed a light moving towards them. The light influenced every crystal it passed, igniting them with its golden spark.

  Soon, other lights began to appear and after converging in one place, they formed a spiralling cluster, which made the surrounding crystals chime and sing.

  These crystals were communicating on so many levels and the experience touched him deeply.

  “We’re nearly there.”

  Where exactly? thought Boroc.

  Drawing closer, Boroc saw a clearing with a patch of rainbow at its centre. The lights circled overhead and the singing crystals were getting louder and that wasn’t all. The crystals also looked as if they were changing shape. At first, Boroc put this down to an optical illusion, but what he was witnessing was really happening. The structure of each crystal was changing as the lights interacted with them, turning perfectly straight crystals into spiralling columns.

  Boroc felt a little nervous and sensing this, the children responded. “You have nothing to fear.”

  Together they walked to the edge of the clearing. “You must do the next bit on your own,” and the children released Boroc’s hands.

  Boroc looked down at them and they reassured him with a smile. “Step into the clearing. You will know what to do.”

  Boroc wasn’t so sure, but he had come this far, so he stepped forward. The air within the clearing was warmer and his focus was on the patch of rainbow, which hovered about ten feet off the ground. This patch of colours was a refraction of light passing through the surrounding crystals and it wavered as if affected by a current of air. This intensified its colours and it became a perfect circle and instead of a refraction of light, it now looked like a floating globule of water. Vibrations on its surface caused the colours to blend, transforming it into a glowing white sphere.

  Boroc didn’t know what to make of this sphere, but quickly realised it was a life form and recalled seeing something like it before. A few colours were reintroduced and they swirled around the sphere and a word came into Boroc’s mind. Joe. The sphere had a name?

  Boroc had a feeling that the light sphere wanted to take him to another part of the crystal field and in a blinding flash, they were transported there. Boroc wasn’t the most sensitive of individuals, but even he could feel the energy being generated in this place and was immediately struck by the impressively large crystals that stood like monoliths.

  Together they approached a large turquoise cluster and Boroc was astonished by what he saw. Within one of the turquoise crystals was a child. It was like looking into a womb, at an unborn. These crystals were incubators for life and something told Boroc that he was going to help bring this child into the world.

  He began by reaching forward and placing both hands on the crystal. The crystal was warm to the touch and his hands felt magnetically attracted to its surface.

  A connection is made and Boroc watches as light enters the crystal through his fingertips, igniting the life within.

  A low drumming sound can be heard that quickly escalates to a finer, high-pitch sound and Boroc is now able to draw back his hands and witness an emergence. The emergence of life and hovering above the tip of the crystal is the glowing spirit form of an Ammarla.

  At some point, they must have left the crystal field, but Boroc had no recollection of doing so, because he was back, walking with the two Ammarla children, with the light sphere at his side.

  He had been on some trips in his time, but this was up there with the strangest.

  The light sphere moved out ahead of them and they were following it and if that wasn’t strange enough, the ground had turned white and fluffy. It felt solid enough, although Boroc couldn’t see his feet and rather than accept the idea that he was walking on a cloud, he held onto the notion that it was merely a thick layer of fog.

  The two children were looking up at him, smiling. “Don’t worry, Mr Shamozolt, we’ve got you.”

  There was a lot of sky today thought Boroc, the horizon went on forever and the landscape was full of white rolling hills. They were making their way to the top of one of these hills, with the sun just peeking over its summit.

  The view is breathtaking, but Boroc’s attention is being drawn to three objects, roughly diamond in shape that appear to be floating on the breeze.

  As they close in on their position, Boroc is still trying to figure out what they are, but the bright sunlight is making it near impossible.

  Without warning, Joe flies on ahead and vanishes into the glare, which coincides with a shift in vibration and although Boroc feels this shift, he is still trying hard not to acknowledge such things.

  The sun’s light softens to a level where he no longer has to shield his eyes and Boroc’s mouth falls open when he finally pieces the jigsaw together and sees these objects for what they are.

  He is looking at three floating entities and they have the longest, slenderest arms and legs he has ever seen. They hold open, tissue paper thin wings and their long slender tails almost touch the ground.

  Hovering beside them is the glowing spirit form of the Ammarla. The one he saw emerge from the crystal and Boroc has a feeling that this is why he is here.

  The entities drift down to within a few metres of where Boroc is standing and he takes half a step back in response.

  Silvery strands move around the three entities and Boroc can feel them looking deep into his soul, which makes him uneasy because he knows what is in there.

  Their faces are in shadow, so he can’t see their expressions, although the two children are still smiling, so he would take that as a good sign.

  Finally, one of the entities spoke. It was like its voice was carried on the wind, no more than a whisper.

  “Welcome.”

  There followed a long silence and Boroc thought he’d better say something.

  “What do you want with me?” His voice sounded a lot calmer than he felt.

  “There is someone here that needs your help.”

  “My help?”

  “Indeed. Please, allow us to show you.”

  A little reluctantly, Boroc agrees and the three entities move apart and the full glare of the sun hits him and he is suddenly reliving a memory. He is back in Omzimza and he has his trusted dagger in one hand and that crystal, the one that caused him so much grief and cost him his life, in the other. Not this again, thought Boroc.

  There are five humans and one Ammarla and in the confusion he gets blindsided and the Ammarla whacks the hand that is holding the crystal and it goes flying. The Ammarla loses its footing and bumps into Boroc, just as the blade with his name on it comes into view. Boroc remembered it well but clearly not that well because his next move comes as a complete surprise. Boroc grabs the Ammarla, but instead of using its body as a shield, he pushes it away and by doing so is open to the attack. Boroc winces as he sees the long blade penetrate his chest

  The scene fades and he is back on the white hill with the three entities and the Ammarla, which has now taken its physical form. It is the same Ammarla from that day in Omzimza.

  “What’s this about?” asked Boroc.

  “It would seem that your actions have done more to help us than we realised,” said Robin.

  “You sure about that?”


  “Yes. That day could have ended very differently for both of us and I didn’t know that until now.”

  “That’s why I’m in this strange place?”

  “One of the reasons, yes. This realm few will ever see.”

  The glowing light sphere hovered over.

  “You should return and continue the fight against the Formless Ones.”

  “Aren’t you coming?”

  “I have some work to do myself. Please tell Mica that I will see her again soon.”

  And with that, Robin evaporated, before drifting as a wisp of vapour, which was absorbed by the light sphere.

  That wasn’t something you see every day and as Boroc tried to get his head around it, the scene faded and he was back at the waterfall with his entourage, the two Ammarla children. They guided him across the stepping stones and at some point they vanished and he was alone again. Only he didn’t feel alone, he felt complete.

  A rush of air caught him and in an instant, he was returned to the cavern and the light of the fire guided him back to where the others were waiting.

  The three of them had fallen asleep and stirred as he approached. Without saying anything, they watched him pick his dagger up off the ground where he’d dropped it. The blades reflection was like a mirror and for a split second, he wondered who it was looking back at him. Returning the blade to where it belonged, on his belt, he looked across at David.

  “You can keep your head a bit longer.”

  Somewhat relieved, David handed Boroc his Zolt-Arc and for a brief moment, Boroc’s attention was lost to the flickering flames of the fire and then he turned to Mica.

  “Robin will be back soon.”

  Mica was physically shaking and her eyes filled with tears. “Thank you.”

  They were about to settle down by the fire when David brought to their attention the distant sound of whale song.

  “It sounds just like it did in my dream.”

  Boroc was looking at him as if he’d gone completely mad.

  “Don’t tell me I’m the only one who can hear it?”

  Sha listened. “He’s right,” and she stood up.