Narican- the Cloaked Deception

by D M Robbins

  He shows people on couches watching television like zombies.

  “Slaves to their own invention. If I was a betting man—” he smiles wryly—“I would bet against them.”

  “There are good people, Tanz. My friend Caesar for one.”

  “This sentence is an opportunity. Their chance to evolve and ascend. Either they will learn or perish.” Tanz is harsh and cold. “With the poisoning of their environment, they are the only species to ever destroy their own habitat.” He shakes his head in disbelief. “They are helping their extinction along.”

  My head’s hurting from information overload. After a few seconds I ask, “How did you learn to ride like that, anyway?”

  He brightens up at the subject. “Well, motocross on CBS Sundays, of course.”

  “Of course,” I say. “Well, I’m glad you didn’t watch those crazy monster truck rallies.”

  He nods, falling silent to work on a small equation.

  “We are missing pieces.” The words “70% Complete” hover over an equation that he wipes away. “In conclusion, the cleansing was so successful with humans they attempted it recently on Narican, but they did not factor in the DNA of the Sun Clan with better immune system and pure blood. Thus, the cleansing of Naricanians only worked to a point…” He slows his words… “And could only work to a point, temporarily.” This idea vexes him. “They would have known this…” He adds quietly to himself and adds this information to his equation like dropping keys into a drawer.

  “73% Complete.”

  NARICAN AND THE SUN CLAN

  “Tell me about Narican and the battle.”

  “We were not prepared. It was a surprise attack, yet I see nothing leading up to…” Tanz looks at the imagery again. The dark forces coming into the castle through vents, windows, up through the flooring like smoke. Everywhere. It’s dark. He’s running among others with a pregnant woman at his side. “I cannot see what I should have seen.”

  “It’s not your fault.”

  “I am the accountant to the Sun Clan. We are the gate keepers.”

  “Gate keepers to what?” I ask.

  “The gods of light that illuminate this entire universe. We protect a path from Earth to Narican for souls to evolve. And the gods of light illuminate that path.

  “The cleansing was also a cleansing of us from our planet, our positions, abilities, and connections to the gods, who are now equally disconnected, growing blind. Even the spirit of our planet is cloaked. I fear Narican will grow dark as the beacon of universal light and we will all go blind. Hope will dissolve into chaos as if there is no lighthouse during a dark night at sea. As it now stands, we are homeless and godless… There is more to this attack and more at stake than meets the eye…”

  “Do you think that’s connected to what’s going on here with the dark forces?”

  “There could very well be this connection you speak of.”

  He brings up images of the battle scenes and runs through them again.

  “We’re still trying to figure out where they came from and how. They murdered who they could then grew impatient here, spraying their toxin and leaving. But the real question is how did they get there and what was their entry point?”

  “Is anything happening… universally?” I ask trying to sound smarter than I feel.

  “The universe is expanding. What will take humans millions of years to overcome will take us months, years, depending upon the amount of toxin absorbed into our cells and the iron crystals we can consume. They would have known this too. All of this. There is something or someone very menacing behind these events.

  “Here is a known fact: water, no matter how diluted it becomes, or chemicals it is blended with, through natural processes of evaporation, will always return to being pure water. It is the only substance in the universe that has this trait. That and the blood of the Sun Clan.”

  He stops the image of a toxic blade and walks up to it. “These blades disintegrate life forms,” he says, stoking the fire, “like burned wood to ash.”

  “Well, why is this now happening on Earth? A strange coincidence?”

  “There are parallels, intersections, actions and reactions, never coincidence. All is interwoven. Not even the gods can avoid this fact… There’s more I must tell you in case I am struck down… You must protect the innocent light of hope… It is the human’s only chance of finding their way out of this darkness. Within hope there is an idea, a belief to move forward and live better. Without hope and morals to guide them humanity will be lost in eternal darkness. That is what the dark forces seek out and prey upon.”

  “Didn’t you say something similar about eternal darkness if Narican is lost?”

  He nods with a pensive expression. “You are Narican Sun Clan, the highest honor a soul can have. A warrior soul, it is our oath and duty.”

  I nod, taking this in. “Like what happened with the purse snatcher? My legs started moving and pumping like a wind pulled me.”

  “We cannot refuse this impulse any more than a salmon can ignore its instincts to return home. You must now train.”

  “Train? It’s pitch black out here,” I say, looking around.

  “It will not be for long, or where you are going. The opportunity is now.”

  I nod, not knowing what I’ve gotten myself into.

  He pulls up the first training module. Tanz and the campfire fade away. My body flexes and muscles tighten like a root growing stronger. I am focused. Zeroing in. Standing ready.

  TRAINING

  A master from ancient Narican appears. I recognize him from the war council. He’s muscular with brown eyes and a yellow third eye in his forehead that moves independently of the others. He’s short with a silver flowing robe.

  “My name is Syol,” he says and begins pacing in a room with no windows, yellow walls. “A warrior must be strong yet flexible. We must fully know ourselves and our opponents to be victorious one hundred percent of the time. Knowing only ourselves victory will result in winning half the battles. Yet knowing ourselves and our opponent, we will win every fight.

  “First, we must meditate. Connect with yourself and the energies of the universe. Eyes closed. Feel your breath and blood flow through your body. You are your thoughts. Actions stem from thought and impulse. Feel your heart pumping within your chest. Stand within your blood, connect with your cells, know your truth.”

  I am instantly shrunk and transported within myself. My hearts thumps and capillaries dangle, organs process. I am sucked into my heart as if a ride at the fair while on a blood flume. Swooping out of my heart into the aorta, I ride a drop of blood into blood rapids along my chest, meeting up with smaller streams. These streams create waves. I hold on tight like a canoe. “Whoaaaa,” I shout up to the cellular wall as I drop into my belly like a bowl, swirling around my navel and dantian I feel great power and see a light band of red, blue, and green, knowing that is my connection to the universe. I bounce through my hips like rapids down into the shoot of my leg. “Ahhhhh!” I shout, gaining speed rising up against the walls.

  Past the knee and ankle, I enter my foot, knocking past small bones, horseshoe turns. The blood level lowers. Seeing the inside walls of my foot and dead end of my five toes and translucent skin. Full speed I head into the big toe like a surfer. Entering the shoot of the toe peninsula a wall of flesh stands a thousand feet high from my small cellular perspective. Bracing for impact I close my eyes, about to ram into it, “Ahhh,” then I’m back in my body standing in front of the master on wobbly legs. Then I fall down.

  Syol continues, “When need be, your cells hold the key to all strengths and defenses. Some you will only learn when called upon.”

  Woozy, I nod, laying on the floor.

  “We will now begin with your most natural gift, speed. Please stand.”

  I stumble to my feet. He moves in zigzag blurring lines. I’m seeing where he was not where he is. Though he looks as old as the moon he’s faster than my eyes can follow.
r />   “Watch with your being, eyes too slow.” He taps my shoulder, standing next to me, smiles, then stands where he was at the beginning. His robe unruffled, hands in front of him at rest, eyes closed.

  “You’re not even breathing hard.”

  “Do you breathe hard when walking? Align with truth, you can move as fast as you can feel. As fast as light moves. We are Sun Clan after all.”

  “Impossible. I can’t move as fast as light.”

  “The only impossibility is one’s belief. The mind complicates. Do not let it. Energy is in motion, always. You cannot see that tree behind you moving, yet it vibrates with life. You must see the universe with new eyes. New understanding. Not the reality your mind conveys. Mind too slow. Quiet your mind. Allow your spiritual intelligence to see.”

  I close my eyes trying to clear my thoughts, not focus on any one thing, just let ideas and questions float by.

  “Allow. Allow. Yes. Expand.”

  I open them and we are on the streets of Big City in a seedy area with rundown buildings. Four thugs surround him. Their attacks appear predictable to him. He strikes and jumps as if in slow motion. As if he knew their moves before they did. Walks through slapping them in the back of their heads. After outmaneuvering with throws, sweeps, and takedowns, he creates rings of light imprisoning all four with the slightest of motion and effort.

  Wiping the scene away he moves around me like a shooting star then stops, balancing on one toe. “You shall become as I. Flawless. Perceive with your essence and all doors will open.”

  I nod, not exactly sure what he’s talking about.

  “No roadblocks, in essence.”

  “How do you create the rings of light? I’ve tried.”

  “I do not create rings of light. The sun does. I am but a conduit.”

  Placing the second foot down, he bows, and we are transported to a nebula hovering above a recently formed protostar. I grab for my throat. Can’t breathe. It’s sealed shut.

  “You do not need to breathe.” He floats, head down, eyes and mouth closed. His forehead pulsates a yellow light from his closed third eye. I hear his voice, but his mouth does not move. “You are no longer in the third dimension and therefore the same laws do not apply.”

  I try to respond, clutching my mouth, yet cannot open it. Gasping for air, trying to breathe through my nose, but my nose is also sealed. Oh no. I start to panic.

  “Use your higher self,” he says in my head as I pass out, falling over, floating in suspended animation.

  When I come to he’s in the same spot, floating. Flares of light and brilliant colors surround us.

  “Telepathy is taxing for the weak in any dimension. There is no air to breathe. Use your thoughts to communicate, not your mouth.”

  I nod and focus really hard, close my eyes, then pass out again.

  When I come to he’s standing over me as a forest comes into view. I feel the hard-packed dirt under my prostrate body.

  “Enough for today. Meditate on yourself and find the universe within.” He bows then disappears.

  I stand in the darkness of night and hear Tanz snoring from across the campsite. The campfire coals glow dimly.

  In the tent my eyelids collapse with the weight of a new world opening within me.

  MONSTER TRUCKS

  I awaken with the rising sun, inside the tent, getting hot. Tanz sleeps as I crawl out, zipping up the tent. Breathing deep, I fill my lungs with sweet woodland air and start to jog. I head out along the campsite loop at a warm-up pace then take it up a notch, moving faster and faster, legs thickening as my mind calms and breathing remains moderate. The loop is empty on this weekday and I observe myself, my abilities. Ten loops around, timing myself. Each loop faster. The last one was 1.2 seconds.

  Back at the campsite I sit in meditation, connecting to my blood, sitting inside myself, feeling the dantian and cord that binds me to the universe and light gods. I feel my awareness growing. I am Claremone of the Sun Clan. I breathe deeply, listening to the air, feeling its gift of life when my eyes open once again.

  Tanz stands outside the tent now. “There you are…” he says.

  I stand and step closer, feeling power running through me. “Why are we here when the dark forces are growing stronger? We must fight them.” I do a few strikes and kicks in front of him.

  He smirks. “We’re buying time and keeping you safe. Clearly the fresh air has done you good.” He smiles, walks over to the picnic table, grabs a broccoli crown, and gnaws on it.

  “There is more I must tell you. Sit.”

  I breathe in my essence and sit upon a log.

  “There is one thing and one thing only in the human’s favor: the soul. An incorruptible soul is placed inside every sentient being. In a very real sense the soul is a beacon of truth to one’s larger self. It is similar in design to that of a lighthouse creating a lit path to port bringing in a ship during a storm. No matter how confused or clouded a mind becomes that beacon can always bring them home.”

  “Like Narican is to the dimensions?”

  He nods. “That is a wise observation.” He pulls up the equation and sprinkles this in. “77% Complete.” It calculates then is wiped away.

  A pick-up truck rumbles into the campground kicking up gravel and dirt. Rifles hang from the rear window as the truck skids to a laughing stop three campsites over. Music blasts from open windows though the morning is still early. Beer cans fall out when doors crack open.

  “Hunters.” Alarmed, Tanz stands, studying them, stepping closer. “We must leave,” he says and turns to pack up food on the picnic table.

  “Why? They’re just hunters.”

  He looks at me. “Have you learned nothing? If they see my eyes they may become startled and shoot. They are easy prey for dark force scouts.”

  We pack up the food, roll the tent and sleeping bags, and squeeze them into the motorcycle cases. The key is turned and the 1200 cc engine comes alive. Startled, the hunters look over. Tanz throttles it as a smirk grows on his face. We nod to each other, hop on, rolling out the opposite way of the loop heading onto State Road north.

  Opening the gears, Tanz hits a hundred and ten in the early morning air, with no cars around, blues skies and rusty sun overhead. I have a crazy idea and stand up on the foot pegs.

  “Whooo hoo!” I shout, when an idea comes to me.

  “Can I run this fast?”

  I think about it. Hmm, could die.

  Then I jump off the bike with legs pumping. My feet catch the ground. The bike moves like it’s taking a leisurely jog around the block. Tanz looks over and revs it out, dropping it into the next gear, and pulls ahead. I move a little quicker and pass him. After a few seconds I spring back on. Tanz gives me a thumbs up as we roar off on the bike.

  After another hour riding, we see signs for Jebadon Motor Speedway. He points to the sign throttling the motorcycle engine faster. It screams, approaching the red line, and the speedometer bounces at 137.

  The vast parking lot is empty. We ride to the far side of the track and ditch the bike in a bush. Peeking over the racing wall a slew of hot rods and race cars sit dormant.

  His blue eyes grow wide as we jump over the wall. At a jog we pass the cars.

  Looking back, I ask, “Aren’t we stopping?”

  He shakes his head past the souped-up sports cars with wing-like spoilers. Past a large metal building I now see where we’re going as monster trucks come into sight lined up like giant steel beasts, resting in silence, because no one has yet woken them up. Our pace slows as we approach the six trucks.

  “You knew these trucks were here?” I ask.

  He nods, smiling, inspecting each one.

  “I thought you didn’t watch monster trucks?”

  “I never said anything of the sort.”

  I stare back at the race cars. My longing to drive one is dashed.

  With blue waves, he pulls up diagnostics of the truck Bucking Bronco.

  “Oh, I enjoyed watching them very
much,” he says, climbing aboard and strapping himself in with the door open at my eye level.

  “Get in.”

  “Are you sure this is a necessary means, Tanz?”

  “Oh yes. Quite necessary.”

  The engine fires up like an explosion coming alive. This feels like a bad idea. I climb up the other side and strap in. He nods, staring straight ahead, muscling it into gear.

  We bounce along slowly in first gear then out into the open arena of the speedway. Tanz runs out the engine, popping it into second gear then third. The truck lurches forward, growling louder, bouncing. We move past the cars. At the far end of the track is a jump field. He seems to be aiming for that, dropping it into fourth gear. We bounce and jostle and pick up speed. I hold on for dear life. He pumps the accelerator, pegging it to the floor.

  “Hold on.”

  Bracing against the dash I ask, “What are you doing?” I say, studying the jump, wall, and fast approaching trees. Ascending the ramp full speed. Lifting off my stomach drops as we soar high over the speedway wall then slam down onto the hard earth in the heavy machine. We bounce and sway on the shocks. I’m terrified while a smile is glued to his face.

  “I didn’t realize Earth could be so pleasing,” he says, ramming it into low gear as we bounce up the hillside through brush to tucked-away power lines.

  We trounce and bounce and eat up the trail, blowing by a dog walker. After a few miles of whip lashing bumps, the power lines come to an end, and nestled houses disappear. We roll through bushes that scrape the doors and undercarriage of the truck like fingernails on a chalkboard.

  A swamp rests ahead within a deep watery forest. Muck flies off the giant paddlewheel like tires as we enter the vast swamp, leaving solid earth behind along with my stomach. I don’t like the eerie feeling and growing fear of getting stuck dying in the mud.

  Tanz studies the terrain. The mud sucks to the truck tires like an octopus. The windows are half-caked.

  I swear I just saw an alligator then another scrambling behind a bush. We continue at a slow pace. Up ahead rests a grassy rise and swamp’s end. I swallow and lean forward. A pool of shallow water holds about fifty gators who fight, hunt, and bathe. They snap as the truck passes slowly by. My heart stops. Don’t let them puncture a tire. Don’t let them puncture a tire, I pray. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”