by Avell Kro
some sedative herbs…”
“No, I feel much better already,” Lozira said, and Rhuna noticed that Damell’s hand slowly
released her shoulder. They returned to their shelters and beds in silence, but Rhuna lay awake a
long time, worrying about her daughter’s emotional condition.
The following morning, Rhuna followed Lozira to the creek of fresh flowing water, and filled
her drinking vessels while Lozira prepared to bathe and wash her hair. She turned to see Goram
approach her, and sensed his distress over the previous night’s incident.
“Are you not able to do more for her?” he asked in a whisper so that Lozira could not hear.
Rhuna nodded, explaining that she had healed many emotional wounds with Solar Light Healing.
“Until we can make the necessary coloured glass and equipment, we have to use other
healing methods,” she told him. Goram nodded and then spoke in a hushed whisper.
“Even I experience disturbing dreams of being killed,” he admitted. “She must not know of
it!” he added with urgency.
Rhuna nodded and then reassured him that this was normal under the circumstances.
“Nevertheless, Lozira should not know about it,” Goram repeated. “Her condition is too
fragile, and she relies on me entirely for comfort and strength.” Rhuna nodded her understanding
and then slowly walked back to the shelter she shared with Aradin. Along the way, she noticed
that some of the Guardians of Knowledge sat huddled together in a small clearing in the forest.
“They are attempting communication with the Master,” said a voice behind her. Rhuna
spun around to see Seeker of Knowledge standing nearby.
“I didn’t see you there,” Rhuna said, still feeling startled by the sudden appearance of the
strange woman.
“The Master has already answered them about Varappa,” Seeker of Knowledge continued,
ignoring Rhuna’s comment.
“He answered them? How?”
“The Master has approved of their decision to journey to Varappa,” the woman simply
stated, and then turned to walk away. Rhuna stood for a while watching her as she disappeared
into the thickets which covered part of the hillside.
Later that day, when Rhuna found Damell practicing Inside Focussing under the shelter of a
shady tree, she sat down beside him.
“Did you calm Lozira last night with the touch of your hand?” she asked him after a while.
“Indeed, I did,” he said smiling. “It is the healing power you, My Daughter, also possess.”
“My healing power only comes when I’m very distressed,” she answered.
“In time, with more discipline, you shall have complete control over all your powers,” he
said, and then began a few unusual breathing exercises. Rhuna also practiced some relaxation
exercises for a while.
“Father, I tried to summon mental visions of Varappa, but nothing happened! Is it still the
exhaustion from the journey?” she asked him when they had completed their relaxation
techniques.
“The only way is with your Extended Consciousness,” Damel said.
“So…is this why you wanted me to learn?”
He nodded, giving Rhuna a strangely grim look. He looked away into the distance and
inhaled before speaking.
“The land of Varappa is extremely vast, and encompasses many settlements of various
sizes,” Damell stated matter-of-factly. “The main city is calledJudharo. It is a very pleasant city,
highly advanced in every aspect, yet…” Damell hesitated. “Yet, what one perceives with mere eyes
is an illusion. It is not as it appears to be,” he said frowning, and then looked at Rhuna.
“The other settlements differ greatly,” he said, suddenly cheerful. “We shall choose the
settlement which most appeals to us!”
When Rhuna had become calmer and more settled, she was able to access The Infinite
again, and following Damell’s advice to regain skills slowly at first, she made only short ventures in
close proximity.After some days, Rhuna felt ready to explore further afield, and told Damell of her
intention.
“Prepare yourself for new experiences when observing Varappa,” he said.
Rhuna wondered what he meant as she reclined and prepared to release her Extended
Consciousness. Her first experience on this new venture to Varappa by means of The Infinite was
a sensation of soaringthrough fluffy white clouds before entering a jumble of flashing colours. She
floated and then tumbled around in the flashes of colour for a very long time until she began to feel
disoriented. Becoming uneasy, Rhuna made another concerted effort to find Varappa, and this
time focused on just the center of the Varappan community, namely the central city of Judharo.
Before long, she was floating upside-down in the sky above a city, and no matter how much
she tried to turn herself upright, she could not take hold of anything to become oriented.When she
thought she was seeing rooftops below her, strange waves of a sickening humming sound
swooped back and forth around her, making her dizzy and disoriented again.She willed her
Extended Consciousness to descend down onto a street, and in an instant she was hovering over a stone-pavedroad between houses unlike any she had ever seen before.
Rhuna thought she had never seen such a solid, thick wall all around a city, and she
wondered why it had been built. The massive structure towered over the flat river plains, and only
a few narrow gates allowed access to the many buildings within the enclosed city. She examined
the houses as her Extended Consciousness hovered slightly above the rooftops, and although she
could not see them, she sensed that the walls were made of many small hand-made blocks.Almost
all the houses had several levels, which Rhuna found unusual, and as she directed her attention to
one of the very long, straight streets, she saw many large and elaborate buildings with spacious
courtyards or forecourts.
Rhuna observed many people walkingaround, going about their daily business, but
something felt wrong. She noticed that the people either appeared transparent or were like dark
blobs. Before she could examine the people more closely, she was distracted by an unpleasant
vibrating sensation. She looked up to find the source of the loud and irritating humming sound,
and saw two giant birds in the sky above. The noises were grating on her nerves and making it
difficult to concentrate, so she willed herself back into her body.
“Oh!” she gasped as she sat upright.
“What was it?” Aradin asked.
“Everything feels wrong in Varappa!” she exclaimed.
“Maybe it’s because you are out of practice,” suggested Aradin.
Rhuna shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. There were giant birds in the sky making a
strange humming sound,” she said as she described what she sensed through her Extended
Consciousness.
“They were not birds,” said Aradin with a quick chuckle. “They are Rapid Travel
Enclosures. People are inside, going from one place to another.”
Rhuna was speechless for a moment and then asked Aradin to repeat and explain.
“It’s one of the unique Varappan inventions,” Aradin answered with a hint of pride in his
voice. “People can travel through the air, in a straight line, to their destination within a very short
time.”
“I’ve never hear
d of such things!” Rhuna exclaimed, struggling to imagine the Rapid Travel
Enclosures. “How is it possible to move in the air like a bird?”
“The same principle used by Atlans to make heavy stone blocks weightless,” Aradin
answered. “In fact, they assume that the energies needed to make the enclosuresdefy gravity and
propel forwards have disrupted the natural vibrations all around,” he said, gesturing with his
hands. “That’s why it’s no longer possible to summon visions by means of the Gazing of the
Waters in Varappa, nor can anyone summon visions of Varappa anymore.”
“Because the Rapid Travel Enclosures disrupt the earth energy frequencies?” Rhuna asked,
slightly horrified.
Aradin merely nodded.
“How long have you known this? Why didn’t you ever tel me?” she asked, suddenly feeling
outraged.
“It is one of the things the High Council of Atlán dislikes,” he answered flatly.
“Dislikes? You mean, they disapprove of it? Why?”
“The powers…are not traditional Atlan powers, so they reject it and refuse to discuss it.
They have cautioned us not to talk about it at all.”
Rhuna felt stunned for a while.
“I was a member of the High Council of Atlán for many solar cycles, and yet I never heard
any of this,” she said with dismay.
“Things are not the way they appear,” Aradin replied with a frown.
Rhuna awoke from a vivid and confusing dream about her impending arrival in Varappa, and
decided to walk around the encampment until she felt better. She sensed intuitively that it was
shortly before sunrise, and she stopped in her tracks to savour the intense silence all around
her.Even the sea seemed too still, so she began to walk in the direction of the beach until she could
hear the gentle lapping of waves far ahead of her. She concluded that the tide must be very low for
the water to be at such a distance, and after feeling the soft sand with her bare feet, she sat down
to look out towards the sea where the first rays of sun were beginning to lighten the
horizon.Rhuna admired the soothing, soft colours of the sky and sea as the sun began to rise,
watching the fog gather above the sea.
Rhuna suddenly thought she saw a movement on the horizon and looked more intently.
Out of the morning mist,a human form began to emerge, and Rhuna gasped at the uncanny sight.
The human shape appeared to float towards her, his feet shrouded in the mist. When his feet
became visible, Rhuna saw a man wearing a flowing dark red robe and holding a long stick, like
those of Atlans who walk long distances. A strange sense of familiarity struck her, as if she knew
the walk, and wondered for a brief moment whether she might know the person walking towards
her.
Rhuna stood up and waved at the robed man, and he promptly returned the wave. As he
came nearer, she recognized Voyager of the Ocean, and thought he was even more striking in
appearance than in the visions of the Gazing of the Waters. A plain-coloured piece of cloth was
wrapped around his head in a stylish yet simple manner.
“We are saved!” called someone from the encampment behind her, and Rhuna looked
around to see Aradin briskly walking towards her. Amongst jubilation and hand shaking, back-
clapping and kisses, Aradin handed Shandi over into Rhuna’s embrace. She turned so that Shandi could also see who was causing all the cheerful elation.
The small child lifted her arm and pointed at Voyager of the Ocean.
“Dead man!” she said.
***
Rhuna’s adventure continues in Rhuna: New Horizons (2017)
GEARS OF THE GODDESS
PREVIEW
from
Sherlock Holmes Gears Worlds Box Set One
John Pirillo
Copyright 2018
Chapter One: The Goddess
Cyrus McCormack and Byron Ginney stood in the Door Worlds Room, their eyes on the huge
machinery there. Wheels within wheels within wheels. Each wheel symbolizing another world,
another universe they could traverse.
The intricate machinery turned in so many directions it was mind boggling to try and follow the
movement.
The sounds were also quite intricate, with some being booming, some light, some strident, some
that tore into the soul, and some that were quiet and peaceful. Each gear had a different note
associated with it and listening to all of them at once took a lot of patience, but if one was patient,
eventually one began to hear a chorus of sorts…a harmony that put a lie to the apparent chaos of
the appearance of the machine.
“Cyrus, this is madness, if they find out we’re doing this, they’ll come after us with guns blazing!”
Cyrus, turned his bristly mustached face towards Byron, who was bald as the day he was born, tall,
spindly with delicate fingers on long hands. Both men had startling eyes that seemed to glow
slightly, giving them an almost feral appearance, until they turned more into the light and one
could see that Cyrus had bluish eyes and Byron quite deep brown ones.
Cyrus plucked at his thick mustache, causing the bristles of it to poke into his nose a moment. He
let go and eyed Byron. “The guards are unconscious. No one ever comes here this time of night.
They would never suspect any to do so in any case.”
“Because that was the fact before, does not mean it will be the fact now,” Byron insisted.
Cyrus shook his head. “I must know. I must see.”
Byron sighed. He put a hand on his friend’s well muscled shoulder. “So be it, my friend. Whither
you go, I shall follow.”
Cyrus grinned, causing his eyebrows to knot together in a funny way, “However reluctantly?”
Byron barked with laughter.
Cyrus nodded, and then hefted a very bizarre looking weapon that looked like a pistol, but with all
kinds of side apparatus attached to it. A miniature scope mounted the top of its long barrel. It had
miniature lights on both sides that could be flicked on or off to light the path a man followed. A flip
out grip allowed the holder to angle the gun in any direction without turning it and also to prop it
against the shoulder for a better aim. And there were side clips of ammunition on both sides of the
handle of the weapon with spider hands gripping the handle to hold them tight.
Cyrus sprung the weapon open to reveal an ornately designed mouth and he pulled a bullet out
that was shaped like some kind of winged serpent, but rounded so it fit the barrel neatly. He
rubbed a firm thumb along the bullet’s shape and it lit up. He shoved it back into the bullet
chamber and shut the weapon.
Immediately the barrel lit up an ominous red color and the scope emitted a bright and piercing
green light that shot ahead about several dozen yards.
He sighted the scope of the weapon on a distant cup he had placed on a table next to all the
machinery and fired.
A blast of energy. Small, but intense, shot forth and struck something on the cup’s lip.
Cyrus and Byron ran up and examined the cup. It was untouched, but smoking at the side of it was
a very large beetle.
“I hate these things,” Byron growled.
He flicked the dead insect from the table and eyed the numerous doors at the base of the gigantic
machinery.
“You’re sure about this, Cyrus?”
Cyrus switched his weapon off w
ith a flick of his right thumb and swiftly holstered it beneath his
right arm, drawing his thick overcoat back to cover it once more.
“And you?” Cyrus asked, his eyes fixed on those of Byron.
Byron smiled and pulled on the handlebars of an incredibly large bike with rocket mounts on all
three sets of wheels, which were currently empty of missiles. He flicked the power switch to it and
the spokes all lit up, casting a dazzling rainbow of colors across the face of Cyrus and himself.
“Very wel ,” Cyrus said.
He went towards the door ahead of them, with Byron following, pulling the bike along behind him.
They reached the fourth door from the right wall and Cyrus took a hold of its handle.
He eyed Byron again.
Byron nodded.
Cyrus pul ed the door open.
A blast of light and swirling colors emitted.
“May we be protected from the Goddess!” Cyrus chanted, crossing himself as he did so.
Byron repeated the gesture and both men entered the flashing energies and vanished.
The door shut automatically behind them, but not before a very stern looking, but frightening
female figure looked out from the intense light.
She looked like a mechanical creature with all the gears on her body and her face was death
warmed over. Her eyes were vacant of any kind of iris and pure black. She wore a cloak that
shimmered bright copper colors, as did all the rest of her clothing.
She clutched a weapon unlike any seen before, with a huge blade and multiple tiny rifle-like barrels at its hilt that glowed odd colors. Forbidden colors.
She sniffed the air and then slowly, very slowly…she smiled.
You wouldn’t want her to smile at you!
The door slammed shut with a sound so loud and startling that had anyone stood before it, they
might have died of fright.
But there were none.
No, the gears at all the various levels of the vast machine continued to spin and whirl, making their
ongoing cacophony of clinks, clanks, bangs, whistles and screeches as if nothing had changed.
Nothing at all.
But it had!
And not just a little.
Introduction Two: Not All Realms Are Created
Equal