Spring Showers Box-set

by Avell Kro

  “Such deep frustration at not being able to defend yourself and explain because you had to

  protect our secret as The Observers because other Dark Ones operating outside the Council of

  Safu were still watching and actively working against us,” she added softly.

  “So are you saying…” Rhuna suddenly had to stop and swallow hard. “…that these eventshave

  caused me to hallucinate and imagine…my father?”

  “Is he not a continual source of comfort and support to you?” Roses of the Field asked.

  “He has been teaching me new techniques of Inside Focussing to calm my mind, to find

  balance, harmony and restore my …”

  “Is it not also possible that your subconscious mind is doing these things automatically to

  heal you, but an avatar is necessary for your mind to do this?’

  “I can’t believe this!” Rhuna blurted, moving to stand up.

  Aradin motioned for silence and shook his head vehemently. “No, I am convinced this is not

  the way it is,” he began, springing up to follow Rhuna to the door.

  “I’m going to see my father, right now!” Rhuna stormed out of the room as tears began to

  stream down her cheeks.

  “I’m coming with you!”Aradin said firmly as he jumped up to follow her to the doorway.

  As she stepped out onto the wet stone path, Rhuna realized she had forgotten to put on

  footwear or take a portable rain shelter, but her agitation was so strong that she could not stop her

  determined fast strides. Heavy raindrops drummed on her forehead, but the odd sensation had a

  calming effect on her, and she soon slowed her pace to a normal brisk walk.

  Rhuna felt the steam of the hot morning rise from the drenched paving stones, and as she

  looked down at her feet, she realized that she was not properly dressed to visit The Reigning One’s

  residence. She felt self-conscious in her plain tunic which she wore at home, and felt under-

  dressed even for the street she was walking on. The houses around her had wel -kept gardens,

  some with fences or low stone walls, and the road beneath her feet was perfectly flat, straight and

  smooth, like every production of the Atlan Masters.

  “Roses of the Field is wrong,” Aradin said, keeping pace with Rhuna and wiping raindrops

  from his brow. “She doesn’t know you as well as I do.”

  “What do you think then?” Rhuna asked him in a shaky voice as she continued her steady

  brisk pace down the street.

  “I have had misgivings…fears…that perhaps your father is…like the Dark Master,” he said

  hesitantly.

  Rhuna stopped and turned sharply towards her husband. “Like the Dark Master? How can

  you think such a thing?”

  “Simply the way he is able to hide himself from the Gazing of the Waters, exactly as the Dark

  One did,” he said, taking a deep breath.

  “But he has been helping me, and there’s nothing wrong with him…”

  “Don’t you remember that the Dark Master also appeared good, friendly and even helpful,

  just to mislead people?’’

  “I can’t believe that my father could deceive or mislead anyone, especially me!” Rhuna spat,

  then turned to resume walking, this time more slowly as she thought about Aradin’s words and felt

  a disturbing doubt rise within her.

  Before she could ponder over Aradin’s words at length, they had approached the gates of the

  imposing building, its smooth polished stone walls glistening in the rain. The grand palatial

  complex was built by Atlan Masters of the past, and now it was the residence of the leader of the

  Benshi people who lived peacefully alongside the small Atlan population of Safu.

  The Reigning One’s Primary Attendant was at his usual post, ready to welcome any visitors,

  and as Rhuna entered through the gates, the ageing Benshi man opened the main doorway. His

  welcoming smile faded when he observed Rhuna’s appearance, and then glanced at Aradin, whose

  hair and clothes were also drenched by the increasingly heavy rainfall.

  Abu-Malech had become like a trusted old friend to her now, and he reacted to Rhuna’s

  agitated stride by quickly motioning to junior attendants carrying towels and comfortable indoor

  footwear.

  “Avenger of Justice awaits you in his chambers,” Abu-Malech announced with his usual

  courteous bow.

  “You know Avenger of Justice?” Aradin asked the older man sharply. “And he is awaiting us?

  How did he know we were coming?” Rhuna heard the unease and suspicion in her husband’s

  voice.

  “Most certainly, I know Avenger of Justice, the special personal guest of The Reigning One,”

  the Primary Attendant said confidently. “He told me of your arrival only a moment past,” he added,

  and then directed the young attendants to hand them some towels and attend to their feet. Rhuna

  took the soft cloth thankfully and hid her face in it for a moment before looking at Aradin. He returned her look with a worried frown as he dabbed the excess moisture from his face and arms.

  Still uneasy about her casual dress, but more comfortable in dry footwear, Rhuna walked

  through the familiar grand hallway towards the staircase which led to the guests’ chambers. A

  glint of bright yellow light caught Rhuna’s eye and she turned to look at an alcove where several

  men were fussing over new decorations. They appeared to be discussingthe placement of some

  small vases with flowers at the base of a new statue. The Reigning One had amassed a wondrous

  collection of artifacts, sculptures, wall-hangings, furniture and other items of the highest quality

  workmanship from around the known world, all of them adorned with precious gemstones and

  pure gold.

  Rhuna stopped in her tracks as she realized that the latest addition to The Reigning One’s

  extensive statue collection was an elegant gold cat. ‘ Yellow cat’ in her little daughter’s bright voice resonated in her head. Rhuna took note that this was not the first time Shandi had seemed to

  foresee the near future.

  Abu-Malech escorted them up the wide and opulent stairs to the upper level where Rhuna

  had lived as The Reigning One’s guest when she first arrived in Safu on an assignment

  representing the High Council of Atlán.

  Rhuna could hardly stop herself from running the last few strides to reach the wood paneled

  door of her former chambers. Inside, she saw her father sitting on the window ledge, looking

  expectantly at the door. Rhuna noticed that he wore his usual attire of a grey and beige loose tunic

  with a plain belt, and his feet were bare.

  “Damell!” Rhuna called out, louder and more desperately than she expected.She flung her

  arms around his neck and squeezed hard for a moment, grateful to be in his comforting embrace.

  “I have to ask you some things,” she said at last.

  “Yes, My Daughter, I am aware of your predicament,” he said softly in her ear. Rhuna pulled

  away and looked into his sparkling blue eyes.

  “You are?”

  “Indeed I am! Your discussions with your friends concerning the visions in which I am

  absent, and the conclusions the long-haired Healer has reached. All is known to me,” he said

  simply.

  “What? But how? No one is supposed to…” Rhuna spluttered and then spun around to

  look at Aradin, whose face still expressed deep misgivings.

  “Keeper of Justice!” Damell said warmly as he heartily shook Aradin’s hand in t
he usual

  manner of greeting. “Although this is our first meeting, you are as my own son!”

  Aradin seemed surprised for a moment, and then reciprocated the heartfelt words. “My

  personal name is Aradin,” he told Rhuna’s father, whose clear blue eyes sparkled with delight.

  “And I am Damell!” he said, smiling with genuine feeling.

  “Let us be seated close together,” he instructed. “In this close proximity our words cannot

  be summoned, and therefore I shall answer all your questions today,” he said with an assuring

  smile.

  “Did you really know that we were coming?” Aradin asked,

  “How did you know what we were discussing in the special room? And what do you mean

  our words cannot be summoned?” Rhuna asked alarmed.

  “Permit me to explain,” Damell said, leading her and Aradinto the comfortable seating

  cushions where some drinks had already been set down.

  “My special skills allow me to change the frequency of my personal vibrations, thereby

  eluding any summons of me by means of the Gazing of the Waters,” he explained casually.

  Rhuna shook her head briefly to indicate that she did not understand. She looked at Aradin,

  whose dark look of misgiving had returned.

  Damell carefully began his explanation. “Perhaps you have heard some older ones refer to

  vibrations. You hear them when you transform elements…”

  “I’ve never heard of Atlan Masters hearing…” interrupted Aradin, but stopped when Rhuna

  began to nod.

  “Yes, it has been louder these past few solar cycles since I’ve been in Safu,” she said

  excitedly, eager to hear her father’s explanation for this worrying condition.

  “Everything has its own vibration, and the frequency is what makes one vibration different

  from the other. When we transform elements, we change the frequency of an element with the

  vibrations of our mind,” he explained.

  “Oh, I think I see now,” said Rhuna, excited about these revelations.She looked at Aradin

  and saw the frown still deeply set on his face.

  “During my time of exile in distant lands, I was able to develop my inherent powers further,

  and discovered that by gaining full control of my personal vibrational qualities, I am able to

  influence and affect many more elements than merely stone, water and fire,”

  “That’s amazing!” enthused Rhuna, and turned to look at Aradin again, who merely

  returned her gaze with the same expression.

  “The vibrations you sense when focussing your concentration to summon or transform are

  merely a small part of The Infinite, which binds everything together,” Damell continued. “Certain

  frequencies cannot be detected by visions, hence my absence in the visions summoned by your

  friends.”

  “You learned these things on your travels to distant lands?” Aradin asked with a strong tone of suspicion.

  “Exactly so,” nodded Damell with a smile. “At times these places are referred to as the Land

  on Top of the World,” he explained.

  Rhuna suddenly remembered the visions she had summoned of Gamu-Bet, the strange old

  woman the Benshi people consulted for all manner of advice.

  “Gamu-Bet!” Rhuna exclaimed, turning to Aradin. “Remember when Gamu-Bet told me

  things that no one else should have known, and I summoned visions to learn more about her

  knowledge of those secrets? In one vision I saw Gamu-Bet as a child, talking to a man who looked

  transparent, like a reflection, and there was snow and ice, rocks and strange buildings.”

  “No doubt you saw theLand at the Top of the World,” Damell said in his usual calm manner.

  “There are others who have mastered this skill, and in fact, it is practiced in these remote parts of

  the world,” he said.

  “But why stay hidden from everyone all this time?” challenged Aradin. “Why a disguise? Why

  evade everyone, even family, for nearly forty solar cycles since it was believed you died?”

  “Yes, Father,” added Rhuna quickly. “All my life, until a few solar cycles ago, I thought you

  were dead!”

  “Certain people are intensely scrutinizing you, My Daughter, and it is imperative that those

  ones do not become aware of my existence,” he said somberly.

  “But why not?”asked Aradin, still agitated.“Why is it imperative? To whom? To you? What

  have you to hide?” Aradin charged at Damell.

  “The Dark Master, of course!” answered Rhuna defensively. “He was almost killed by him,

  and Damell has stayed in hiding so that the Dark Master – or his followers – don’t know that he

  didn’t die after all.”

  “Is this truly so?” demanded Aradin of Rhuna’s father.

  “Of course!” Damell answered.

  “But the Dark Master has been dead for many solar cycles – why haven’t you revealed

  yourself since then?” asked Aradin, still suspicious.

  “What does it matter?” Rhuna interjected defensively.

  “I don’t understand why your father is still hiding from everyone,” Aradin said to Rhuna.

  “These are important questions worthy of thorough answers,” Damell replied with a nod of

  agreement. “First of all, I was in a faraway land, preoccupied with other serious matters at the time

  of the Dark One’s demise,” Damell began to explain. “Yet when I finally came to know ofhis death,

  other circumstances prevailed uponme to continue my exile fromAtlán as well as change my

  identity.”

  “Change your identity?” asked Rhuna puzzled.

  “Yes, My Daughter. I am known by various other names in the faraway lands I have visited,”

  he answered.

  “Furthermore, I have grown accustomed to this way of life, to using my mental powers in

  certain ways, preventing detection by summoned visions.”

  “But why?” asked Aradin again with heightened agitation.

  “It serves a purpose to be as I am,” Damell said with sudden seriousness as he looked sharply

  at Aradin. “As you must keep your identity as one of The Observers a secret, so must I, for similar

  reasons, also keep my identity hidden.”

  “Hmm,” said Aradin, and Rhuna knew that he was still not ful y satisfied with her father’s

  answers. “Then I shall return home to our friends while Father and Daughter continue

  conversing,” Aradin leaned over to kiss Rhuna’s cheek and turned to leave.

  Rhuna watched her husband leave the room, and then turned to her father who handed her a

  cup of fruit nectar with spices. She savoured the sweet drink and let its tantalizing flavours refresh

  her mind.

  “I was getting so confused!” Rhuna said with a laugh of relief. “Faleesh couldn’t remember

  you, but I’m sure she must have seen you many times!”

  “Indeed she has, and I am certainly well known to her,” responded Damell with a playful sly

  smile.

  “But then why couldn’t she remember you when I asked?”

  “The vibrations,” he answered with the same playful smile.

  “The vibrations?” Rhuna repeated. “You mean, like not appearing in visions – something like

  that?

  “Something like that,” he answered with a twinkle in his eye. “My vibrational powers extend

  to other people’s thoughts, influencing their memory, thought process and perception of a matter,”

  he explained.

  Rhuna’s head was spinning with questions, and she tried to sort them in o
rder of

  importance. She took another quick sip of the fruit drink and then asked Damell to tell her more

  about the vibrations and what he learned in the Land at the Top of the World.

  “But first tell me, do you have visions like I do?” Rhuna needed to know with sudden urgency.

  “How could you penetrate the energized magnetic field in our special room?”

  “Visions as you experience, My Daughter, developed in my early childhood,” answered

  Damell. “However, as I became older and more skilled, this ability elevated me to higher levels of

  knowledge, revealing ever greater possibilities.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Rhuna. “What higher levels, and what knowledge?”

  “I have been preparing you for this,” Damell replied with unusual gravity. “Detaching my

  Consciousness from my physical body, I am able to be present in other locations without being

  sensed by anyone.”

  “Detach your Consciousness from your body?” gasped Rhuna with disbelief. Damell

  smiled and nodded.

  “You are ready to take this step now,” he told Rhuna. “Attainment of this higher level is the

  reason I have been preparing you, My Child.”

  “Why? Why didn’t you tell me? I thought it was just to relax, improve my Inner Focussing

  skills and heal from the past traumas…”

  “Yes, and it has accomplished all these goals, has it not? Yet this is only the first step.”

  “But why?” asked Rhuna, suddenly aware that she sounded like Aradin, and was probably

  feeling the same exasperation.

  “You will need these special skills,” Damel said with gravity.

  “How do you know? Can you also see future visions like Gamu-Bet. .and like my daughter,

  Shandi – your granddaughter?”

  “Accessing The Infinite puts all manner of knowledge at one’s disposal,” Damell said with

  caution, and Rhuna sensed that he was not going to elaborate on this subject. She thought about

  her father’s words, realizing that the things she was hearing would completely change her life.

  “So your Consciousness has been in the room with us, when The Observers meet?” she

  asked, still incredulous.

  “Exactly so,” he answered.

  “And no one can see you? Hear you?”Rhuna asked breathlessly. Damell nodded, still

  smiling.“And…you can spy on the Dark Ones too?” she gasped, the weight of her question suddenly