by Lucia Ashta
Eventually, enough qi built up through Marian’s movements that a visible force field formed around her. It looked as if a bubble made of continuous ripples was swelling out from her. Marian focused that surge of power, pulling the energy of the bubble that had formed around her into the staff. Then her eyes popped open with a fierce determination that surprised Elena, and Marian pointed the staff at a shed at the edge of the gardens. In a single burst, the staff emitted enough energy to hit the shed with a force that Elena had never witnessed before. It was as if a bomb had met its target. The little shed and everything in it were on fire, succumbing rapidly to combustion.
Marian had no worry about the shed and its fate. Instead, Marian appeared to be at perfect peace. She stood still; not a muscle seemed to move. Not even Marian’s heart beat rapidly. Elena and Marco, however, could feel each other’s hearts pounding furiously; they stood rooted to the spot, Elena’s chest against Marco’s side. What they had seen was an astounding display of martial artistry. It was what, until then, Elena had only seen in her visions. It was what Marco had only felt in his heart.
Now, Marian had shown them that it was concrete reality. The twins could not deny what they had just witnessed; they could only choose to become a part of it. Marian’s demonstration propelled Elena and Marco into further acceptance of what they were to do on this planet. It showed them that all the knowledge from the parallel time when Elena was Ashta and Marco was Anak was available to them in the now, and it compelled them to bring this knowing into their bodies immediately.
They were the twins of Arnaka, on earth for another turn at destiny. With Marian’s display of power, the twins’ capability increased a hundred fold. Believing in the magic with every cell of their beings was most of the battle. Marian looked up at Elena, and a flicker of mischief crossed her face. Marian had known exactly what she was doing and the full range of effect that her actions would have. And in that instant, Elena saw the flash of Master Kaanra pass through Marian’s eyes.
42 The Greater Plan
As Ashta slept that night, Archangel Michael came to reveal her angel wings. Even within the dream state, Ashta could feel them and knew they were real. They glistened and floated around her like the lightest of gossamers yet, incongruously, were strong and powerful enough to carry her. Though she had not connected with her wings before in this human lifetime, they were comfortable to her. Her wings felt like a seamless part of her. After all, she had used them for a very long time in her angel body.
Archangel Michael, bright and powerful in Ashta’s dream state just as he was in actuality, handed Ashta the etheric sword that she could beckon at any time. Ashta’s etheric sword, the sword of Ashta, the sword of awakening, the sword of reckoning, glowed with the same blue light that she and Anak produced together in the pyramids. Ashta reached out to receive the sword from Archangel Michael’s extended hand. She felt its familiar comfort. Again, she noticed how its hilt fit her hand perfectly, as it had been fashioned for her ages ago in the heavenly forges.
As Ashta began to rouse from that deep dream state, she felt her angel sword, almost forgotten in her hand. She felt the naturalness, too, of her wings and knew that one day she would be able to use them in flight while still in the shell of this human body.
Ashta stirred against Anak and woke from her dream. She kissed him on the forehead then stepped outside of the cabin in the still of night. The light of the moon shone bright and bathed the entire camp in a shimmering, pale light. Ashta dug her bare feet into the ground, connecting firmly to Mother Earth. She visualized her feet growing roots into the ground so that she could reach into the ethers without losing her footing.
Ashta stood there, in the silver of moonlight, fully grounded, with dirt between her toes. She had stolen outside to unfurl her wings, to get accustomed to using them again. Ashta felt her angel wings attached around her shoulder blades. She felt them resting in balance with her body which provided the necessary counterweight.
She began to move her wings, hesitantly and slowly at first. She stretched them knowing they had not been extended to their full length in the twenty-two years of her human life. She pushed them to their fullest extension, and a shocked expression crossed her face. Her wings spanned almost twice her height!
They were a brilliant white and covered in feathers, but they were not the feathers of birds. They were diaphanous, as if they consisted of a base material originating in light. Just like the thin, almost transparent filaments of a spider’s web, her wings, though delicate in appearance, were strong and eminently capable of doing their job. They were of divine design.
Ashta pulsed her wings, getting a sense of what it felt like to move with them. At first, she beat them slowly, then, as she grew more used to the motion, stronger and faster. She rose up into the air steadily. First, she hovered just a few feet off the ground. Then, as she grew comfortable with flight, she rose above the cabin where Anak slept.
Ashta wanted to keep exploring. There was no sense in stopping yet. Besides, her adventurous spirit would not allow it. She rose up higher until she burst through the bubble of light that protected the campsite. A tremulous ripple of energy ran through her body as she broke through the safeguard. Immediately, her wings began to falter. She forgot to move them. Ashta was stunned.
From her high vantage point, Ashta could make out a raging battle in the distance. Explosions rocked the streets; orange fires punctuated the night. Shock waves of light burst in the sky, overshadowing the stars. The conflict was engaged on two levels: one below, inside a city, and a second above the city fought by flying creatures of both light and dark.
Ashta wondered how it was that she had not heard the sounds of battle, and then she remembered the protective bubble that Area and Arien had placed around the campsite. Its purpose was to keep out the dark. It seemed that it also muted the sounds of war, something that could dampen the glowing embers of a human heart.
Ashta forcibly brought her attention back to her floundering wings and turned her thoughts quickly toward flying. With her wits about her again, Ashta flew up higher to get a better look. It was no accident that she was witnessing this combat. Ashta knew there were no coincidences in life but that everything was a carefully balanced interweaving of people and events. Especially then, when Ashta’s life was completely devoted to the guidance of spirit, the conclusion that she was seeing what she was supposed to see was inescapable.
Ashta identified angels flying over the wracked city. They were too far away to make out their faces, but she could see their great white wings, identical to the ones she had so recently discovered on herself. The angels moved expertly. They flew speedily, darting here and there, battling their opposites in this etheric battle of light and dark. The angels hovered, suspended by an invisible force, as there was a minimal flapping of wings. Then, in the flash of an instant, they pumped their wings and ended up on the other side of their opponents, poised for attack.
The flying dark creatures were at a disadvantage. They had only small, stunted wings; their inelegance could not easily match the graceful movements of the angels. The dark winged creatures could not hover steadily, but rather jerked up and down with the beating of their wings. Still, despite the angels’ advantage, the battle was fierce. The dark creatures were resilient like the pests that ravaged humanity throughout its history.
Ashta watched a figure drop from the sky. The body hurtled toward the ground, picking up speed as it descended toward earth. Ashta was relieved to see that the figure was as dark as the midnight sky. The body was so dark that it was difficult to see, except for the reflections of the moon against its darkness.
The demon hit a watchtower in its downward tumble. It hit the stone building hard, its body contorting and bouncing in unnatural ways. In relation to the watchtower, Ashta was able to appreciate the true scale of the dark figure. Its body was much larger than that of a human, almost twice as large. Ashta shuddered.
Suddenly, Ashta knew she was about
to be spotted. She did not know what had alerted her, but wherever the warning came from, Ashta heeded it immediately. She concealed herself before there was a chance that her actions could endanger their group. She dropped back down into the bubble of light that Area and Arien had placed around them. Within it, Ashta was safe from the dark forces. In there, they would not be able to see or sense her. Already more skilled in the use of her wings, Ashta dropped all the way to the ground, landing gently. She returned her wings to their natural resting position, folded against her back, while she reviewed what she had seen.
How could they, beings in a human body, assist the forces of light in a battle such as the one she had just witnessed? What could they possibly do to help in a battle against creatures that were twice their size that the angels could not already do? Ashta did not know the answer to these questions or to the many other questions clamoring for answers in her mind. But Archangel Michael had called them into service, so none of it could matter.
Archangel Michael would not have called on them unless they could contribute in some significant way. They would be able to defend themselves when faced with these intimidating dark giants. Ashta had faith that Archangel Michael would not send them into battle with no purpose. Creator had placed Ashta and Anak, and the rest of their group of light warriors, on the planet for a much greater purpose than slaughter. Ashta affirmed her trust in Creator’s greater plan.
She wriggled her toes in the earth to make sure she was connected to the mother and not pulling out of her body. Although it was tempting to Ashta to float above herself feeling the lightness and joy of spirit, Kaanra had long ago instilled within her the importance of grounding herself. He had taught her that the point of incarnating in a human body was to be in that body, to accomplish those things that she had come to accomplish on the earth plane. It made sense to Ashta so she worked to counter her natural tendency to leave her body. She felt the rich soil slide and move around and between her toes, only mildly cool since it had absorbed so much heat from the day’s sun.
Ashta thanked the mother that offered support of her worldly needs and turned to enter the cabin. Anak had not stirred since she left. Ashta moved her sword within arm’s reach and crawled back into bed with him. She pressed up against his warm body, wanting to feel the comfort of him. Eventually, slumber took hold of her, and she drifted off once again into the land of dreams, unsure whether the use of her angel wings in this body and the battle she had seen were real or the trick of a groggy mind.
* * *
Over the next several days, Marian led the twins through the making and use of a bow. She was as skilled with the bow as she was with the staff. Although she held and aimed the bow in a traditional style, the speed and precision of her arrows were uncanny. The arrows arrived at the intended target with seeming effortlessness and unerring accuracy.
Under the spell of unwavering belief that Marian’s display with the staff had left them, Elena and Marco were able to replicate Marian’s archery skills without understanding her methods. Repeatedly, Elena and Marco drew back their hands and released arrows to bull’s eyes. Neither Elena nor Marco had ever touched a bow and arrow before that day, yet they could not miss their target. They had become masters of illusion in their own right. Things in the three-dimensional world would occur if they held them steadfast in their minds. The twins had moved into a world that could only be seen by knowing minds.
Marian had anticipated several days of training Elena and Marco with the bow, but by the end of the day, she told them they had learned everything about archery that she could teach them. On the following day, Victor would teach them how to use their swords to their greatest potential.
Marian kissed them in a way that left Elena with an odd sensation that it was one of the last times they would see her. Elena didn’t know exactly what made her feel this. She tried to shrug it off but the intuition lingered. Elena trusted herself enough after the last months of incontrovertible supernatural activity to know that what she saw and felt was important.
Elena knew then that their teacher would soon be leaving them. She hoped it would be after the battle that was drawing nearer to them with every waking minute. Elena sensed enough about this impending battle of light and dark to know that they would need as much help as possible. As Elena’s angel guides kept telling her in recurring messages, The time is now. The time would soon be upon them.
That night, Elena and Marco made love with an ardor that could only be shared by those who had known each other many lives before and who had longed for each other for decades in this lifetime.
While they looked in each other’s eyes, Elena saw Marco change and take on the face of Anak again. And this time, Marco also saw Elena’s face shift, and the essence of Elena’s eyes revealed Ashta. As soon as they both saw the transformation, the lights in the bedroom flickered out. The power of the energy they shared had caused an electromagnetic surge, plunging them into sudden darkness.
But they could still see. They saw what was of true importance, and they would be able to see it even with their eyes closed, or in total darkness. They had passed through the veils of other worlds and now only the magic they could sense with or without lights remained. Elena and Marco were alive with the tingling sensations of life. It was true life at last.
43 No Going Back
Anak roused early the next morning. Ashta felt him move and woke up too. Memories of the night before came flooding back to her. When she looked into his eyes, she realized that he also knew of the battle that was raging less than a day’s walk from them. The twins shared a tender kiss before embarking on the day’s uncertainty. They got out of bed and dressed, strapping their swords to their sides, but leaving behind their satchels. They grabbed only their canteens.
Before leaving the cabin, they turned toward each other once more. Neither knew what the day would bring. They held each other, unmoving, for a very long time. They breathed together through many breaths of comfort and through many breaths of love in the warmth of their embrace.
When they finally exited the cabin, they found everyone else sitting around the dying embers of the night’s fire, cradling cups of hot water infused with herbs that the cousins had gathered. On first impression, everyone seemed relaxed, but an underlying readiness in everyone’s eyes revealed otherwise. They all knew they would be engaged in battle later that day. Even within the protection of the bubble, everyone’s sword, staff, bow, or club was within arm’s reach. The energy had shifted. Nevertheless, despite the knowledge of impending battle, when the others saw Ashta and Anak, they flashed them warm smiles.
Baldub brought out leftover deer meat and added the venison to their breakfasts. They all knew where they were going, and ate in silence, mentally preparing for what they might have to face. Assuming they would be returning to the campsite, the warriors left everything set up as it was. They left all extraneous items behind as they secured and fastened weapons. Without further ado, they were ready and began walking toward the perimeter of the campsite.
As the light warriors passed through the protective bubble, they realized that Area and Arien remained behind. Area and Arien stood, side by side, with their eyes closed. Their hands were raised, palms facing their departing companions. As Ashta understood that Area and Arien were placing protection around them, she, too, set the intention that they be concealed from the prying eyes of the dark forces until they chose to engage in battle. Ashta hoped to be within plain view of the angels before any interaction with darkness of that magnitude occurred.
Ashta sensed something take shape around her and could see that a faint blur now encircled her, as if she were standing in a bubble of water. Her surroundings were still clear to her, yet something had formed, something intangible. Ashta telepathically thanked Area and Arien and, without turning around, knew they were bowing to her in response. She could see it in her mind.
As Ashta walked, she grew curious about the specific skills their new friends might possess. No
w that she had begun to see some of them in action, she was intrigued. Ashta knew they were approaching an intense battle that could bring light and dark back into balance and decide the well-being of the planet at large, but still, it was exhilarating. She smiled. They were embarking upon an adventure. She had no attachment to the outcome. Their lives were in the hands of their Creator.
They walked, leaving the comfort of the forest clearing behind. They advanced at a steady pace over the grasses, in silence, until Marn and Dahn, the two young men, began singing marching songs. At first, they offered the songs in jest, as they were a far cry from a group of marching soldiers. But it roused everyone to sing, and each of them took turns with their own native songs.
The more they sang, the more beautiful their songs became. The jocular mood dissipated as their songs became increasingly more meaningful and heartfelt. By the time they tired, they had raised their frequency to a very high vibration. They marched toward battle in uplifted union.
It took them more than half the day to reach the battle scene. The sun was strong overhead by the time they drew near, but they remained in high spirits. Before they got too close to the city, Ashta pulled light down into her body. She was getting ready. She held that connection to Creator firmly; the bond was strong, and it would support her through anything they would have to face that day. Anak was preparing in a similar way and Ashta, connected to him as she was, could feel his inner light increasing without even turning to look at him.
Ashta and Anak pulled more celestial light in, directing it to their heart centers. Then they sent the golden light that was streaming in to fill their cores straight through the central channels of their bodies. From there, they directed the light to expand out to every part of their beings—even the smallest—to every single strand of hair.