Kellan pondered that for a moment. “So, am I now the Sentinel?”
“You are.”
“What about you? You seem the same. You brought form to this place so what are you, if I’m the Sentinel?”
“Well, for this moment of frozen time, we share that role. When we leave this place, you alone will be the Sentinel. Our time here is the final gift I can give you, assuming you want it.”
Kellan stared at the old man as he sat in the big leather chair and shook his head smiling, “Ok Morpheus, are you going to ask me if I want to take the blue pill or the red pill and see how far the down the rabbit hole goes?”
Micah cocked his head questioningly.
“Sorry,” said Kellan, “One of the more annoying downsides to my super powered memory is the vast amount of obscure references that pop out.”
“Ahh, well, that’s not the best reference given that the Morpheus I knew was a winged demon who tortured people in their sleep.”
“I almost hesitate to ask, but what happened to your Morpheus.”
“I killed him; well, not killed exactly, more exiled him back to where he belonged by destroying his earthly vessel and then barring his spiritual form from returning.”
“How did you—”
Micah, held up a hand. “Let’s start with something a bit more basic, shall we?”
Kellan shrugged and Micah continued.
“All of creation is based on certain principles, laws, or rules. The principles of creation provide guide posts, the laws are inviolate, and rules, well, some rules can be bent.”
“—And some rules can be broken,” intoned Kellan and then winced slightly.
“You did it again, didn’t you.”
“Yeah, sorry. I’ll try to control myself. Seems we are both annoying. So, what’s an example of an inviolate law?”
“While we have the ability to materially alter creation and bend the rules of creation, we cannot create ourselves. We cannot, for example, create life. Look around. There are mountains, streams, hills, rocks, wind, and clouds. But no grass, trees, birds, or animals. Everything you see here I formed from the creative energy in this place and everything you see here you can manipulate in the real world, but you can never create even the smallest spark of life nor reignite life’s flame if it is ever extinguished.
“Let me give you a simple example from one of the three elements I use most often which are Fire, Ice, and Lightning.”
“Those aren’t elements.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Fire, Ice, and Lightning aren’t elements. You mentioned that creation is based on principles, rules, and laws, so I figured it would be important to know the foundation too. I mean fire is really just the exothermic chemical reaction of combustion. Hydrogen is an element, which happens to be combustable, and thus is a great candidate for being on fire.”
Micah stared at Kellan flatly. “Do you want me to show you how to control fire or not?”
Kellan gave him a sheepish look and nodded.
Micah’s eyes blazed green as he held his hand out and a moment later flames danced upon his upturned palm. Kellan watched the old man furrow his brow with concentration and the flames began to circle his palm, slowly at first and then gaining speed until they were just a blur of light giving off gentle waves of heat until Micah closed his palm into a fist and they vanished.
“That,” he began, “might seem small and trivial, but it took years to master. It is more impressive and, ironically, easier to do something like this.”
In a fluid motion, Micah stood, stretched out both hands and gestured as if forming a bowl with his hands and a gout of flame erupted from the ground several feet ahead of him. The heat buffeted them for a moment and then vanished as Micah lowered his hands, eyes returning to their nature color.
He turned to Kellan, “Now you do it.”
“What? How? You just did it. You didn’t show me how to do it.”
Micah frowned. “Weren’t you watching?”
“Yes, I was watching. I was watching you wave your hands around. Look, I can do that too.” Kellan made the same cupped hand gesture to no effect. “See, nada.”
Micah sighed. “You were not watching, Kellan.” His eyes flashed brightly as he tapped near his right temple. “You have to see through different eyes to truly see. Now watch again.”
“No, wait. Micah, you are trying to get me to do Thermo Dynamics and I don’t even know how to add and subtract.” He tapped his own right temple. “Dude, I don’t even know how to turn on my—whatever they are—eye-lights.”
Micah opened his mouth to respond and then just shook his head. “You are completely right. We need to start at the beginning. Let me think a moment.”
“Alright, let’s start with this. Close your eyes and try to clear your mind.”
Kellan did.
“Now, just try to kind of feel for something that seems different than before. I wish I could be more specific, but it is so much a part of me, that I don’t know what else to say.”
Kellan grimaced but started taking a mental inventory of both his physical and mental attributes. He was just about to give up in frustration when he, again, sensed The Something.
“There!” he said opening his eyes. “I found it, well, almost found it. It’s like something you see out of the corner of your eye but when you turn, it’s gone.”
Micah smiled, “Yes! That’s it exactly. I don’t know how I could have forgotten that. Now, Kellan, you can’t chase it. You have to let it come to you and you must welcome it, not force it.”
“Huh? What is it exactly; you make it seem like it’s alive and sentient.”
“Even after all these years I’m not exactly sure what it is. Call it a sliver of raw creation, a fragment of God, who knows. But I can assure you that by any definition that matters it most certainly is alive and sentient. Try again.”
Kellan took a deep breath and let it out slowly while closing his eyes and opening his mind to the entity he has sensed before. Immediately he felt its presence and he urged it closer. It came, hesitantly pulsing close only to then back away. Finally, in frustration, Kellan mentally grappled for the power when it next drew close only to feel it buffet him and vanish.
“Arghh. This is not working, Micah. I cannot get it to come close enough to grab.”
The old man shook his head. “No, Kellan, not grab, that’s your problem. Force, control, domination are not things of the light. The power will be repelled by such things. Worse, that approach might attract its opposite toward you.”
“What? Its…opposite? I swear, this is feeling more and more like Star Wars, Episode 0, birth of a Jedi.”
“Never mind about the opposing force; I’m sorry I even brought it it up. You need to focus on what’s in front of you.”
“Micah, you didn’t just call it “the force,” did you? And you can’t just bring something up like that and expect me to—”
“Yes. Yes I can. Stop dwelling on all the stories in your head. Storytellers are creative, some immensely so. Is it so hard to imagine that their inspirations might come from somewhere true even though that inspiration is a mere fragment of the truth. Now clear that library you call a mind and try again. Sit calmly and close you eyes.”
“Forget this,” said Kellan standing up. “That whole Zen Buddhist approach might work for you but it’s not happening for me.” Kellan bounced up and down a few times on the balls of his feet, shaking his arms and hands down by his side. He saw Micah looking at him quizzically. “I’m loosening up.”
“It’s not a wrestling match, Kellan. That’s just not going to work.”
Kellan ignored him and closed his eyes, questing out with his senses for the energy. Again, it immediately appeared in the periphery of his senses but kept its distance. Kellan smiled and slowly inhaled until he felt he might burst, then slowly opened his arms and eyes, breathing out while imagining his entire body become an empty vessel, less than empty, a vacuum desperately ne
eding to be filled lest it collapse in on itself. As he held this image of his entire being, empty of all things, Kellan sensed alarm from the entity as it drew closer. He made no mental moves toward the energy, but rather increased the sense of distress and collapse he had created and flung his arms outward in a gesture of total openness and vulnerability.
Kellan felt the power rush into him, filling every fiber of his being coursing through him like fire and light. He felt it roaring though him, felt his eyes blazing with the power of it. He saw himself, standing in an empty room in which green bolts of energy continually flashed and felt as if he were watching himself from the corner of an unseen ceiling.
In what seemed like the far distance, Kellan thought he could hear Micah calling to him. No, yelling at him. Some kind of warning. Kellan didn’t care. Whatever Micah had to say could wait. He relished the heat coursing though him and nothing else mattered.
Then he heard it. He heard her coming from the energy flashing throughout the room.
“You are not like he.”
“What are you?” Kellan asked.
“This is creation given form and thought,” came the response. “Your body is about to die, Kellan Thorne. You must release this energy. You must release it!”
Kellan’s mind laughed. “Release you? I’m not holding you; I am doing the exact opposite of holding you. I am merely open to you—all of you. It is wonderful. You are so beautiful.”
“You are this energy’s vessel, young Sentinel. It is the purpose of this energy to fill you, by opening yourself to it as you have done; this energy has no other purpose and can do nothing else. But all vessels have their limit; yours overflows and begins to crack. Send this energy forth to do your will, or you will surely die.”
“I don’t want you to go. I want you to stay with me always. I have never felt this complete.”
“This energy will always be here. You need but call and it will come, always and forever. Release it now, Kellan, or all will be lost”
“I don’t know how.”
“Listen to Micah, quickly!”
Kellan vaguely became aware that he was being shaken about the shoulders.
Micah was screaming at him. Saying something about letting the power go and turning it to fire. It didn’t seem important.
“Nurisha, why does Micah want me to turn you to fire?”
Kellan sensed confusion and hesitation from the energy field but it replied, “As has been explained to you, my vessel, if you do not release this energy, your body will die and with it, the power of the Sentinel.”
There was the briefest of pauses and the voice continued, “What is Nurisha?”
Kellan laughed, “Why, you are, silly. You are Nurisha.”
“This energy has no name; it is but a sliver of creation.”
“No, Nurisha. You are more than that. I need you to be more than that. You are Nurisha and we will walk this path together.”
“Kellan, your body is already failing. Your mind is not clear. This energy is not—”
“You are Nurisha!” Kellan yelled with force but not anger. As he spoke the words, Kellan felt the world warp for the barest of moments and snap back.
Some portion of his awareness saw Micah being thrown backward by a wave of raw power that pulsed from Kellan’s outstretched arms. Kellan felt his words and will fuse with the power that raged within him and take form. The bolts of energy ceased their endless pulsing and coalesced. In the darkness of his mind’s eye she stood there, vague at first, but then sharpening into a perfect human shape.
Her body was made of living molten green light with trailers of energy playing about her form. Running along her limbs were runic symbols that continually appeared, then faded, then reappeared in a slow, lazy, fashion. She looked startled, holding up one hand before her face, watching the energy pulse through translucent green skin, then turned her blazing eyes on Kellan.
“This energy…” She paused, looking again at her hands as the ribbons of light played about the fingers, then spoke haltingly as if doing so for the first time, “I…I need you to release me—before you die.
“But I don’t want to,” replied Kellan. “I just found you.”
Nurisha walked to Kellan, took his hands in hers and shook her head. “You did more than find me, young Sentinel. You gave me individuality and a sense of self. You gave a true form to what was only a purposeful force. I do not understand how you did this nor the implications. I can tell you that what you have just done is unique in all of creation. It is just remarkable. But, Kellan, this miracle you have wrought will likely not survive you, so you must listen to me. You are holding the entirety of my essence within; even Micah could not safely do so and he has had millennia to learn how to control and form this power. Release it now before it is too late. I will be here when next you call to me.”
She released his hands and took a step back. “Release me now!”
Kellan’s vision blurred and he was again staring across the barren landscape. Micah had just regained his feet.
Kellan could barely speak through the pain. “How do I release this energy, Micah. It’s burning me to cinders from the inside out.”
“Fire, Kellan. Fire is the easiest.” Micah pointed to a rough stone outcropping in the near distance. “Direct it there just as you saw me do. Convert the raw energy to fire and have it well up beneath the outcropping.”
Kellan followed Micah’s outstretched hand and saw the rock formation. He reached out with both hands as he saw Micah do earlier and could feel the energy begin to flow down his arms. As it did so, four runes appeared on each arm glowing so brightly that he had to avert his eyes. Kellan’s mind raced through an endless stream of facts he had read about all forms of combustion. With the image of a plasma fire and a complete understanding of its characteristics fixed firmly in his mind, Kellan breathed out, willing all the energy within him to be converted to that form.
He felt a vast emptying as the power he held rushed out and was converted to plasmatic fire. In the distance, a white pillar of incandescent heat rose up from the ground and engulfed the stone outcropping. Kellan continued to hold his hands outstretched as the power flowed for what seemed like an eternity. Micah stared in wonder, shielding his eyes from the blinding light. When the last of the power had been expelled, Kellan lowered his arms as the runes faded and slumped into his chair, exhausted.
Micah continued to stare. The outcropping was gone with nothing to mark its passing but dust and a charred landscape immediately around where it had stood. A moment later he regained his wits and rounded on Kellan.
“What in hell did you think you were doing?” Micah yelled, grabbing Kellan by the shoulders and lifting him up like he was a doll. He shook the younger man. “You were seconds from self immolation! What possessed you to take all that power in at once?”
Kellan pushed off from Micah and sat down once again with a sigh. “I don’t know, Micah. I felt the energy and it was so good and strong that I wanted more of it. Then, I noticed it had intelligence, of a sort, and, well, you know how my mind works. I needed to know more. I needed to understand it completely, so I brought more into myself. Finally, I had the whole of it within me and I could see the potential that was there. Her potential, so I unlocked it. I couldn’t have done so without the whole of her within me. I wouldn’t have understood enough.”
“Her? Her who, Kellan? I swear I think you burned something out inside your head.”
“Nurisha,” he replied with tired contentment.
“What’s a Nurisha?”
“Not what, my friend. Who. Nurisha is the personification of our power.”
Micah stepped back and stared at Kellan, clearly distressed. “Power is power, Kellan, it doesn’t have a name and it certainly doesn’t have a personality.”
Kellan watched as Micah’s eyes blazed to life and he felt the older man call for their shared power. “Kellan, watch, it is just power, raw energy. It does not have—”
The
old man trailed off and stumbled back several steps, his eyes not fixed on anything.
Kellan smiled. “She in there? Tell her I said ‘Hi.’”
Micah didn’t answer and just continued to stare off but Kellan could see his lips moving almost imperceptibly and knew he was getting acquainted with Nurisha.
With an effort of will the young Sentinel called to his power, but just sought a trickle rather than the raging torrent he had previously gathered. The room formed around him and he saw Micah facing away from him and toward the glowing female form of Nurisha. Kellan watched as Micah hesitantly reached out a finger and placed it on Nurisha’s lips. She kissed it lightly and opened her arms. The old Sentinel only hesitated a moment before he stepped forward and melted into her embrace. She held him tightly and looked over at Kellan smiling.
When at last they parted, Kellan walked up beside Micah and said, “So, I see you’ve met Nurisha.”
The old man’s eyes were moist. “Kellan, I met her over two thousand years ago and have walked throughout the millennia with her, but never knew she was there.”
Nurisha smiled. “I didn’t know I was there, Micah. In fact, I am quite sure I wasn’t there until Kellan made me be there.”
“No, you were there, Nurisha. I could feel you there. There’s a reason why so many cultures have the concept of the sacred masculine and the sacred feminine. I suspect the creator of this place and, well, everything represents the masculine, but you, Nurisha, animate those acts of creation. Anyway, all those centuries being formed with Micah led you to this place where our ability to affect reality is at its strongest. I just made the scales fall away from your eyes so you could finally see yourself.”
She laughed and startled herself at the sound, then recovered saying, “I’ll say it again. I think you did a bit more than that.”
The three stood there for a few moments in silence.
Sentinels of Creation: A Power Renewed Page 10