Spring Showers Box-set

by Avell Kro

  the soldiers were seeing many mirrored reflections of themselves in every direction they looked,

  and those who recognized repeated images of themselves were screeching with fear. Others

  fumbled and kept turning around, like trapped animals in a cage with no way out. They began to

  run into each other until eventually they found the narrow funnel opening where no mirrors

  entrapped them. Running as fast as possible through this opening, arms and legs flailing in panic,

  they headed directly back to Safu.

  Goram slapped his thighs loudly and roared with laughter. Lozira flung her arms around

  him, and he turned his head to give her a long, hard kiss. Around them, the Guardians of

  Knowledge began to cheer, clap, sing and dance, while some New Arrivals and other Atlans joined

  the celebratory uproar. Others muttered uncertainly, whispering to each other and looking at

  Goram with suspicion.

  Rhuna saw her daughter’s glowing face, full of pride and adoration for Goram’s great feat and

  thrilled to be standing at his side as people approached to congratulate him. Even as some clapped

  their hands on his back and cheered praises, Rhuna overheard the murmurs behind her.

  “What have we witnessed here?”

  “Was this not Dark Powers even more sinister than the Dark Master himself wielded?”

  “The High Council of Atlán would never condone this manner of Power!”

  “We are in grave danger as long as they are in our midst!” said an Atlan Master with grave

  determination.

  “We shall remain here for the time being,” Rain of Refreshment called out to the Atlan

  community as she stood on a wooden crate with Damel and other Atlan Masters nearby. “We

  shall wait until the Ubanti Army returns and reports to its leaders, and then await the outcome.

  We expect the soldiers to be too frightened to pursue us again – at least for a period of time. This

  gives us time to plan our next steps and indeed, our entire future.”

  As the sun continued to rise, a rift emerged in the Atlan encampment as many Atlans

  distanced themselves from Goram and his fellow Guardians of Knowledge. Rhuna returned from

  washing in the nearby small lake and approached Goram and Lozira.

  “Still happy about this morning’s success?” she asked as she looked into their

  bright,glowing faces.

  “Lozira has agreed to become my wife!” said Goram beaming.

  “Oh,” was all that Rhuna could manage after a moment of surprise. She looked at Lozira

  and thought that she had never seen her daughter so happy. Lozira looked at her

  motherexpectantly, and after a moment of silence, Rhuna leaned over to kiss her forehead. “It’s

  time for the morning meal,” she said absently, and turned towards the food dispensing area.

  As they ate their morning meal, Rhuna noticed that Possessor of Discernment had been

  quiet and appeared to be pre-occupied.

  “A weighty responsibility rests upon me,” he answered. “The secret knowledge of the

  Pyramid has been handed down to each generation of my ancestry. I received it from my father,

  and he from his father – now I must pass it on before I expire,” he said with a deep sigh.

  “But you have no children,” Rhuna said, concerned.

  “This is irrelevant,” he answered. “It shall be passed on to the right person with the

  wisdom and ability to utilize and disperse it correctly.”

  Rhuna felt unable to give a satisfactory response, so instead she offered the ageing Atlan

  Master some extra food and water, and then turned her attention to Shandi who had been sitting

  between them.

  “Dead man,” Shandi said suddenly.

  “What did you say, Honey Cake?” asked Rhuna startled.

  “Dead man,” she repeated, then looked at her mother with large, round eyes.

  “What does this mean?” asked Possessor of Discernment looking down at the small child

  with deep fondness.

  “She can foresee things,” Rhuna answered, and then told him about the instances where her

  words had come to pass a short time later.

  “It would not be unreasonable to expect a few deaths among us,” Possessor of Discernment

  said gravely. “Merely the stress of being forced from one’s home would crush a fragile

  constitution.”

  Rhuna said that she also expected some serious ailments and even deaths, and then

  expressed her concern that a young child like Shandi should already be confronted with such

  harsh events.

  When the morning meal had been consumed and Rhuna cleared the small area that was

  her personal encampment, Goram approached her, intent to speak his mind.

  “You barely revealed a reaction when I told you that Lozira had agreed to become my wife,”

  he said.

  “Does it matter to you what I think?” she retorted gruffly.

  “Of course it does,” Goram answered. “Furthermore, I wish to express my desire that we

  remain in close proximity to you…wherever that shall be,” he trailed off as his thoughts wandered

  for a moment. “Lozira is so young, and still has emotional need of her mother’s love and

  guidance,” he said, looking directly at Rhuna.

  Rhuna felt a rush of relief, followed by gratitude that she would not lose the daughter with

  whom she had only recently been re-united.

  Before she could savour this small comfort among so much turmoil and upheaval, Rhuna’s

  attention was drawn to some commotion at the far side of the encampment, and she knew

  instinctively by the tone of the voices that something serious had occurred.

  Rhuna rushed towards the sound of the commotion, expecting that her skills as a Healer

  might be needed. When she saw the distraught face of a woman in the midst of the growing crowd,

  she asked what was wrong.

  “The youth named Peace of the Valley has been found dead!”

  Rhuna felt stabbed in her heart with sadness and loss. Stunned, she stood still for a while as

  she listened to the woman speak.

  “He was lying in the tall grass,” she said as she shook her head in dismay. “Otherwise we

  would have seen him earlier, but the tall grass obscured our view.”

  “Therefore you believe he had been lying there for some time already?” asked one of the

  men who had been assisting Damell and Rain of Refreshment. “A Healer should examine the body

  to determine the cause, and also time of death,” he said with authority, and then glanced across at

  Rhuna.

  “Oh, but I knew the boy…”

  “Understandable,” the man in the Master’s Robe answered briskly, and looked around until

  he recognized Roses of the Field approaching them quickly.

  “Has someone succumbed?” asked the woman with the long pale hair who was one of The

  Observers. Rhuna watched the group follow the woman who had reported the death, reluctant to

  join them to see the lifeless body of the young man.

  “Most likely a bite from a venomous snake,” said a man looking fearfully at the expanse of

  tall grass nearby.

  “Someone competent in gathering information by means of the Gazing of the Waters

  should summon the cause of death, or at least the last moments of his life,” said the man in charge

  as they walked towards one of the large ponds surrounded by tall grass.

  Rhuna meandered through the Atlan encampment which was now abuzz with the latest

  announcements, messages and tragic news.
Her vision blurred as tears began to fill her eyes, and

  she hurried back to find the comfort of her small family.

  “What happened?” asked both Aradin and Possessor of Discernment together as they saw

  Rhuna approach their site. As she reluctantly told them, shock and deep sadness showed in their

  faces, and Rhuna looked at Lozira with special concern.

  “How?” she stammered, looking fragile. Rhuna explained that a Healer was attending to

  Peace of the Valley, and that we should soon know what happened.

  Possessor of Discernment caught Rhuna’s eye, and she saw him look down at Shandi, who

  was playing with her long-eared toy, oblivious to the conversation.

  “She has a remarkable gift,” said the old Atlan quietly.

  “This is unbearable!” shrieked Lozira suddenly. “We are all going to die in this horrible

  place!”

  “No, no, My Cherished One,” said Goram soothingly, as he took her in his arms. “This

  tragedy has merely shaken you temporarily. Things are not as bad as they seem at this moment.”

  Rhuna watched with amazement how Goram’s words and comforting touch rapidly eased Lozira’s

  anxious state, and soon she appeared balanced again.

  After more expressions of sorrow for the young man, several of The Observers approached

  Rhuna’s family wearing grim expressions.

  “Divider of Fortunes has summoned the event of his death by means of the Gazing of the

  Waters,” said Revealer of Truths. “He approached the water with a distinct limp and general

  lethargy, and then simply collapsed and expired.”

  “The Healer found no wounds or abnormalities on the body,” Divider of Fortunes added.

  “We have been informed that the boy was afflicted with an undiagnosed ailment.”

  Rhuna said that she also knew of his illness, and agreed with everyone that this must have

  been the cause of his death. Deeply saddened, she walked away slowly towards the perimeter of

  the encampment to find an isolated, quiet place among the shrubs and sparse trees. Finding some

  soft grass at the base of a tree, Rhuna sat down and moved into the Inside Focussing position so

  that she could summon a mental vision of Peace of the Valley’s tragic demise.

  It took longer than usual for Rhuna to find the dark and quiet inner place of her mind, and

  she knew that this was due to the stressful environment and circumstances of the past days.

  Concentrating hard, she focused on what caused the boy’s death, and her misgivings were

  immediately confirmed when an image of Goram appeared in her mind.

  Goram was seated motionless and apparently in a trance, and Rhuna recognized the scene

  as the moonlit night of his great feat to confuse and frighten the Ubanti Army. In the second

  vision, Peace of the Valley suddenly began to stagger as he walked, falling into the tall grass where

  he was later found.

  Anger and anguish surged within her as Rhuna jumped to her feet and strode determinedly

  back to the encampment. Locating Lozira with Goram near the water, she approached them with

  the pretense of checking Goram’s wound and changing the bandages.

  “You can go bathe and wash your hair now,” Goram said to Lozira. She left reluctantly at first,

  but was reassured when she saw that Rhuna would be tending to Goram’s health.

  “She is afraid to leave my side,” Goram said quietly. “She lives in constant dread that death

  or some other calamity may befall me. Only your presence puts her enough at ease to leave my

  side for a short time.”

  “I didn’t know it was so bad – it will take time…” Rhuna said gloomily.

  As Goram lifted his garment to expose the bandage across his abdomen, Rhuna leaned

  overto carefully remove it.

  “Did you do something to that poor boy?” she whispered forcefully.

  “I?” Goram responded incredulously.

  “You!” Rhuna hissed back. “I saw how you looked at him with such hatred when he was

  talking to Lozira!”

  “You ask me whether I caused his death?” Goram whispered back with outrage.

  “What did you do?” she demanded to know as she roughly pulled away the bandage.

  “Nothing! Nothing that would have caused his death!” he answered angrily.

  “What did you do?” she asked again firmly in a low tone, looking around to make sure no

  one was within hearing range.

  “It was only a brief attempt at a curse, and as I had not prepared for it, I did not expect it to

  work.”

  Rhuna breathed in sharply. “You had been in the confluence of energy currents at a ful

  moon, and your powers were probably heightened tenfold for some time that night,” Rhuna said

  growling.

  “Yet I firmly believe that my actions would not have caused death!” he stated firmly.

  “He had been in poor health for some time,” Rhuna said as she recalled what the young

  man had told her about his incurable ailment.

  “I am grieved by his death, and remorseful that I had such anger,” Goram said quietly. “It

  was an overpowering emotion unknown to me until then,” he went on to explain. “Such

  unbearable jealousy!” he spluttered as he clenched his fist. “A feeling I would never have imagined could exist!” he said almost desperately,shaking his head in disbelief.

  “Does Lozira know what you’ve done?” Rhuna asked.

  “Do not tell her!” he said grasping her arm, his eyes glaring. Rhuna pulled her arm away

  angrily.

  “She should know of what her intended husband is capable,” she said firmly.

  Goram grabbed her arm again and jerked it.

  “You shall not reproach me from your imagined self-righteous superior elevation!”

  he spat venomously. “Such sanctimonious hypocrisy sickens me! Did not you yourself cause the

  death of Shelter in the Storm without any such intention?”

  “That was different! The energy came out of me in a moment of intense emotion, and since

  then I’ve learned to control my feelings,” she retorted angrily. “But you…you intentionally and

  deliberately caused a curse, for no reason other than immature jealousy!”

  Goram shot her a hateful look, and then vacillated before he spoke again in a low tone.

  “It is correct to say that I am as a child in matters of true love,” he said nodding slowly.

  “Allow me to tell Lozira what I have done,” he added quietly.

  “I was beginning to trust you with my daughter…” Rhuna began.

  “You can trust me completely with her happiness and well-being!” Goram shot back.

  “We’ll see. Your wound has completely healed already. You don’t need my attention as a

  Healer any longer,” Rhuna said gruffly and thenwalked away.

  A short time later, the now-familiar clang signalling the midday meal prompted everyoneto

  gather at the fire where food was being cooked and served. As Rhuna stood waiting, a group of

  Atlan Masters approached her.

  “You must surely be aware that your daughter has chosen a man of considerable ill-repute,”

  said one of the older women. “It can be prevented,” she added, and then introduced herself and her

  companions. Although Rhuna did not recognize any of the individual faces, she remembered

  meeting people in Atlán who were neither Masters nor members of a Council, yet desired to

  dispense advice and counsel where the need was apparent.

  “Although he has done a great deed for the Atlan people by confusing the Ubanti Army, there
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  is already speculation that it was by the use of Dark Powers. His past shall continue to mar his

  reputation, and your daughter would suffer the consequences,” he said.

  “There’s nothing I can do to prevent it,” Rhuna responded, feeling slightly threatened by the

  group of eager assistants. “She would not respond positively to anything you or I could say,” Rhuna

  told them.

  “We have already tried everything we can think of,” added Aradin.

  “It would be best if you did not interfere,” Rhuna said politely, and thanked them for their

  concern and offer of assistance. She watched them leave, and then turned to Aradin at her side

  and sighed deeply. “I just have to trust him with my daughter.”

  “That’s a giant leap across a chasm,” Aradin said, but nodded understandingly.

  Rhuna continued to summon mental visions while sitting in the Inside Focussing

  positionduring the day, when there was enough peace and quiet in the crowded Atlan

  encampment. As well as summoning the more important events in Safu, she also observed her

  home and neighbourhood, curious to see what had transpired there.

  One of the mental visions of her Safu home revealed Faleesh cleaning the food preparation

  area, her face downcast and her body movements sluggish. Another vision showed Faleesh in one

  of the rooms sitting with her daughter, who also worked as a maid for The Reigning One. Rhuna

  surmised that Faleesh had asked her daughter to move in with her for company, and she was

  delighted with this development. She was deeply fond of Faleesh and hated seeing her unhappy

  and lonely.

  On another occasion when Rhuna summoned mental visions of her home, she saw the

  Benshi colleague Aradin had asked to carry on his business, and watched him discussing trade

  matters with a client. She told Aradin that their home was in good hands, and that his clients were

  being attended by his colleague. Then she summoned mental visions of the neighbourhood, and

  was taken aback at first to see Ubanti families already settled into some of the houses vacated by

  Atlans. She focused on Goram’s house, and saw a family of at least three generations already

  happily sharing a meal in one of the rooms.

  As she wondered whether she should tell Goram about the new residents of his house, she

  decided to summon a mental vision to ascertain whether he had confessed to Lozira what he had