The Theron Residency (Brides of Theron Book 4)

by Anthony Lorino, Rebecca

  “You are here because origins dictate it,” Zion said cryptically.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Have you ever wondered why your grandparents settled in a community so far away from civilization? Your grandparents were a part of a great experiment. They were trying to see if they could jump start the evolution of your people. This has been done on other planets, you see. The problem was that they could not live a life completely on their own. You know this because it is one of the reasons that you left the compound. You see, there was talk of you by the Oracle. One of Animsin’s line would be born aware, and that was you.” Zion paused and examined his fingernails, “You had to know that you were different.”

  “I have never heard of Animsin. You must be mistaken. While it is true that I am able to master subjects and topics with minimal effort, I really don’t think that sets me that far apart from any of my fellow Theron people.” Ceran ran a hand over his face and shook his head trying to understand.

  “Animsin was your Great-Grandfather. He was a highly ranked commander in our fleet that has spent eons policing the universe. His son Iain Moor, your grandfather, found me on Eldoret. He taught me the knowledge of the ancients so that it may be passed on to others. You are descended from a very ancient line of noble and wise people. Although your blood has been diluted by those of the Theron race, it has had no ill effects. I can smell it on you. You are in the ranks of those wise beings in your ancestry. If I can teach you and you succeed, I will reunite you with those of your family that remain. I will help you fulfill the prophecy.”

  “My family is dead,” Ceran said harshly as if to end the topic. “How long will we be here?”

  “I tell you that there is a prophecy that might pertain to you, and the only question you ask is, how long you will be here? Is that what you really want to know?” Zion looked over to Ceran who nodded, “You will be here as long as it takes. On this planet, we know how to bend time so I will return you to the time that is shortly after you left your ship.” Zion shook his head in disbelief.

  “I just wanted to be sure that I will be back in time…in time for…”

  “You want to back in time for your mate. I know Anora and have worked with her many times. She is in good hands. She is in the hands of her family. Anora wouldn’t do anything to hurt her daughter.”

  Her daughter? Ceran thought back to the stories told to him by Laura. Not once did she mention anyone named Anora. He let that thought bide for a moment, “Back to my grandparents and this experiment. What were they supposed to achieve by participating in it?” Ceran asked.

  “They set up a colony and were supposed to live off the land. It is a bit harder to do this on Theron because all the people were used to the conveniences of modern technology. They couldn’t completely break the ties. But, we found out that maybe the effort to keep you isolated weren’t necessary. That enlightened child would need information to help develop the bridge to the collective consciousness. That is why we sent your Uncle Samael back to you.”

  “Did my father know about this?” Ceran wondered. If his father had known about this, he wouldn’t have been so angry with him for leaving, right?

  “Your father had no idea. Your mother didn’t either. Only a select few had knowledge of the experiment. Your grandparents were scientist with the Federation. They wanted to set up an experiment to test the adaptability non-native beings to new environments. A team of 8 scientists were sent down to the surface to interbreed with the native populations. After several generations were born, the offspring would be visited and collected. After the attacks, you are the only one of the direct descendants of that experiment that remains.”

  “It was time to come and get you anyway. To understand more fully, you should know that I am a transplant as well. I was given the opportunity to find the bastards that possessed my sister and took her away from us. The Galactic Federation of Free Worlds scouts out planets that are advanced enough to participate in trade with other planets in the universe. That is how they found my planet, Eldoret. Eldoret wasn’t advanced enough at the time, but Iain Moor found me and saw potential in me. The fact of the matter is that, our goals are aligned. I was sent to collect you and train you to reach your full potential in order to bring an end to Gatton.”

  “What will you be training me to do?” Ceran asked earnestly.

  “I am going to train you to fight using abilities outside of your grasp. When I am finished with you, you will be able to read your opponent to know his next move. You will also be faster than you have ever been. I only hope that you will exceed my expectations as they believe you will. In all honesty, if you ask my opinion, one thing is for sure. With the many questions as you have been asking me, this is going to take a long time.”

  

  They ate mostly in silence. Ceran was trying to grasp what Zion was talking about. He looked inside of himself for the answer while he sampled the various offerings on his plate. The hot tea that Zion ordered was quite restorative and helped him find his focus. When he gulped the remaining contents of the mug, Zion asked, “Are you ready to train?”

  Ceran knew only one thing. The faster he grasped what Zion taught him, the faster he would return home to Laura. “Sure, I’m ready.”

  Zion fingered the various crystal squares from the box and selected a green one. He slid it into the slot on the right side of the door. “I am not sure that you are familiar with a room like this. Once you step into this room, everything you come in contact with seems real to your mind. The food you eat, the physical things that you hold in your hands are real. Once the program is deactivated those things dissipate and you leave only with the knowledge you learned inside. Do you understand?”

  “No, but I am sure that I will grasp this concept when I have actually experienced it,” Ceran said as he rubbed his palms together in anticipation. “Shall we?”

  Zion nodded and closed the door and a faint red glow that emanated from the top and bottom of the walls dimly lit the room. “Activate program 2-3-4-4-5,” he said. The room was instantly taken over by a dense forest similar to the forest that existed near Grendalia. He surveyed the plants around him and saw many similar species. It made him more comfortable. “While in this hologram, I can hear everything you say, just as you can hear me. It doesn’t matter how far you are away from me. I will also know exactly where you are. The goal of this exercise is that you must learn how to conjure what you need from pure thought. Time doesn’t exist in here. While it may seem like we have been in here for hours or days, but it will only be as if we had closed the door and reopened it. I will give you one hint. In this construct, you can conjure anything that you can imagine in order to survive.”

  Zion stalked off into the woods and when he turned around, he held a crossbow and a long sword that he slid into the scabbard on his back as he walked. Ceran thought about what kind of weapon he would like. He immediately thought of a CG3 pulsar gun, but no matter how hard he concentrated, it wouldn’t materialize into his hands. “Okay,” he thought, “This is why I am in here. I need to learn how to conjure up what I am thinking.” After walking for what seemed like hours following Zion around like a pet, he got thirsty. A mug of that tea I had a couple of hours ago would be nice. He put his hands together and instantly a cup of tea had materialized. “Zion, I think I did it!” he shouted excitedly.

  Zion abruptly stopped and looked back at him and murmured, “Tea isn’t going to help you defend yourself against an enemy. Be more aware of your surroundings. We’re being followed.” Zion crouched down into a behind a bush and drew his sword.

  Ceran stopped abruptly and looked into the trees and brush behind them and noticed the movement to the left. “I see them,” he whispered.

  “You better figure out how to conjure a weapon or we may die in here,” Zion said in a commanding voice. At that moment, two black shadows came toward them with unprecedented speed and agility. “Come on, man. Conjure the weapon or we will die.”
Zion looked to both opponents as if to measure their skill and added, “You might find it useful to know that if we die in here, we die in real life!” Zion started fighting one of the two shadows, drawing him away from Ceran.

  Ceran instantly became scared and started to run in the opposite direction. He was fast, but the black shadow was faster. He reached out for a stick or anything he could use as a weapon.

  “Hurry Ceran! He’s right behind you.” He heard Zion shout.

  Ceran stopped in reflex and reached for a branch on the ground. He tugged at it with all his strength. Once it broke free, he looked up and the black shadow stopped to face him. It was just a shadow of a body with no nose or mouth or ears. The only thing that set it apart from the background was its glowing red eyes. In the shadow’s hand was a short hunting dagger. Ceran swung the stick and hit him. It reverberated in his hands causing the stick to vibrate with such intensity that he dropped the stick and closed his fists. He instantly came to the realization that this shadow figure was a solid, real thing hunting him. He kept trying to imagine the CG3 gun in his hand just like he did the tea. It wasn’t working so he decided he would fight with what he had, two tightly closed fists. The shadow threw a punch and he felt the breeze of the motion just over his ear as he ducked. He came up quick, and caught the wrist of the knife wielding hand with his left hand and threw a punch at the shadows jaw with his right.

  The shadow did a double take as he fell backward into the grass. Ceran started yelling as he backed away, “CG3! CG3, damn it!” The shadow figure lunged at him and the knife made contact with his arm. His blood dripped red from the blade as he threw another punch and knocked his shadowy opponent down again. The shadow started to get up and Ceran thought he would be damned if he let this thing kill him. How would they explain his death to Laura? He closed his eyes despite the danger and envisioned the gun in his hand. He imagined that he could feel the many ridge lines engraved into the grip and the cold metal of the trigger just under his index finger. When he opened his eyes, it was there. The cool metal in his fist and the relief in his heart as he fired again and again until the shadow moved no more.

  Zion came up behind him with blood on his hands. “About time man!” Ceran looked at his arm. The cut would probably need stitches because it was rather deep. He wiped at it with his other sleeve as Zion said, “End program.” The forest faded away and Ceran looked again at his arm. The cut and the rent in his sleeve were no longer there.

  “I thought that you said that if we die in there we die in real life?”

  Zion chuckled, “I figured that you needed some motivation. Besides, I was ready to leave. We’ve been walking in that jungle for much longer than I thought we would be for you to figure it out. Once you made the tea appear, I thought it would be easier for you to conjure up a weapon if you had a reason to have one.”

  “I figured that you needed motivation?” Ceran mocked as he pushed Zion away, but Zion was more substantial than he seemed and didn’t budge. “Figured I needed motivation!” He stalked over to the door and swung it wide open.

  “Look Ceran, don’t get so bent out of shape.” Zion turned to remove the green crystal from the slot and carefully put it back in its place inside of the box.

  Ceran pinched the bridge of his nose. “What exactly was that supposed to prove? What was I expected to get from that?”

  Zion cleared his throat and made a noise out of his mouth in frustration. It came out as an angry squawk. He got face to face with his student and looked him over critically. Ceran took a step back, dropping his hands to his sides as Zion spoke with his mind, “Are you questioning my methods?”

  “No, I just don’t get the point of the exercise. Traipsing about in the woods for several hours doesn’t make sense to me? Why not just get to the point and have the guys in morph suits come at us soon after entering?” Ceran said sternly forming two fists at his side.

  Zion shook his head staring intently into Ceran’s eyes. “That’s all you got out of this?”

  “Yeah, what else was I supposed to get from it?” Ceran shouted.

  “Walking around in the woods was to help you adapt to the environment you were placed in. You were supposed to get into a comfort zone, and when you least expected it, be challenged out of it. Once you were able to conjure the tea, I knew that you were ready. The objective was to learn that your mind is the only thing that will cause you to be defeated. If you go into a battle with the mindset that you will lose, you will, every time. It wasn’t until you believed that you would die that you stretched your mind to the desire to win. I am sure it was because you wanted to get back to your woman. I just thought you should know this though. Before you came out here yelling at me, I was going to tell you that your hand to hand combat skills are exemplary. At least that is one less thing that we will have to focus on.”

  “What good is trying to conjure a weapon when we can’t even do that in real life?” Ceran countered.

  “Conjuring the weapon speaks of intent. In this case, your intent was to win the fight. It is really a subjective concept. When you intend to win, you will.” He walked over to his hammock and started to prepare it for his entry. “It’s been a long day. Get a couple hours of sleep and I will wake you when it is time to begin the next test.”

  Ceran walked over to the edge of the small bed and took off his pants, straightening them out and hanging them over the end of the bed. He sat down on the hard mattress and removed his shoes and pushed them just underneath. He didn’t know what to think about what just happened. Intent is quite a broad concept. Defined, it means to do something with intention or purpose or that you are resolved to carry out a course of action. He had many intentions, the most important was to get back to Laura and continue their lives together. He slipped under the blanket and lay on the bed looking up at the ceiling for several minutes in thought. He saw her pretty blue eyes and her blond hair blowing around in the breeze as she ran in front of him. He missed her immensely at this moment.

  Chapter 19

  Anora had Laura fully engaged in her story. They passed over land and trees for quite a distance. There was a misty warm light coming from the planet’s core. Her surroundings were so beautiful, the trees, seas, and grassy plains. However, she was so caught up in Anora’s story that she hadn’t even paid attention any of it. “Did you ever run into the boy that was hunting that day?” she asked.

  “I did. I married him. As you can imagine, my father was livid. It isn’t a good idea for a fifth-dimensional being to marry someone from the physical realm. It is hard for me to stay in this physical form. I have to contain my energy a great deal just to do it for you, and I can tell you that it’s exhausting. In every case known to us, when a higher being moves to the surface, they begin to fade away from existence. This eventually leads to them being reborn and renewed. When you are reborn, you forget everything you have ever done or learned and are forced to start all over again. This begins a vicious circle of mortality until you find your way to awareness and spiritual awakening in order to ascend up into the higher vibrational consciousness. Once you have done this, you gain entry to the higher dimensions of existence. That process takes more time when you fade away because you can’t negotiate the terms of your soul contract. You have to take what you get. It is virtually the same for those that choose suicide to end their own lives before their time is up.”

  “That’s so sad,” Laura said.

  “Well, it turns out that I would be saved from that fate. They needed me in Agartha before long.” She looked off into the distance and resumed her story, “I saw my husband, William Dubh MacLeod, for the first time in a field hunting when he was fifteen in the year 1430 AD. I wouldn’t see him again until he was thirty-eight. Eventually, I would run into him in the same field when my guard rotation came round again. He was so tall and handsome with dark hair and beautiful green-blue eyes. When I look at your eyes, I see the shape of them. We lived together blissfully for two years. He told everyone that I
was his cousin in for a visit and shortly after, we were married. You know according to Scottish custom, marriages have to be posted in the church banns for three weeks prior before a marriage can be officiated. I could hardly wait. I abandoned my post immediately and moved into a guest room in Dunvegan Castle.”

  “We did everything together. I went with him hunting and collecting rents. It was quite a good time. Not long after we were wed, I found myself with child. It wasn’t long before my father tracked me down. I was with child. Otherwise, he would have dragged me home with him immediately. It was difficult enough for me to live on the surface before I became pregnant, but now that the child was growing inside of me, it became increasingly harder to stay in a physical form. My father spoke to my husband and explained what was happening to me after I had some scary health problems surface just a month before delivering my son. It was then that my husband and my father agreed that I would have one year’s time on the surface and I then would have to return to inner Earth.”

  “My son was so beautiful when he was born. He had my bright blue eyes. His hair was black and curly just like his father. Even now as I think back to him, I remember what it felt like to touch his baby fine hair in ringlets. He smelled of cedar, rosemary, and sour milk. He had chubby legs and big feet that spoke the promise of the large and able man he would become. He had an appetite that was beyond measure. Always hungry was that boy.” She held her hands in front of her chest as if she were at that moment cradling the babe.

  “We named him Alistair Crotach MacLeod. I prayed that maybe I would return to full health when he no longer lived inside of my womb, but I continued to fade. The elementals were sent to check on me often to see if I was alright and to bolster me with their energy so that I would survive the year. When their strength began to weaken, William sent Windy and Emberli to my father without my knowledge when I looked my worst and they confided to him that they were unable to help me any further. My father came soon after demanding my return home. I didn’t want to go. I would’ve rather died than to leave my husband and beautiful baby behind. However, William insisted I go. He was an honorable man and remained true to his word. He made a promise to my Father and he would keep it. Even as much as I wanted to, I knew that I could not take the heir of MacLeod away from him. The castle at Dunvegan was where Alistair belonged. Before I left, I made sure that I had several elementals assigned to stay with them at all times to take care of my beloved and my son. I left with a heavy heart, and I was heartbroken for some time after.”