Rhuna, Keeper of Wisdom

by Barbara Underwood

  “There are no dots in this area!” Rhuna noticed.

  “Only very few. This is the most uninhabited part of the entire world, and the islands in this section are the most isolated lands in the world,” said Solver or Riddles pointing to a few dots in the empty blue area between Atlán and Medíz. “This speck here,” he said looking at Rhuna, “is Chinza.”

  “Oh.”

  Morning Glory looked at Rhuna and smiled proudly.

  The class learnt the names and locations of ten more important lands or territories belonging to the Atlan Empire, and then they repeated the names and pointed to their location on the globe.

  That evening, Rhuna spoke another message to Tozar telling him that she had seen Atlán on the globe and also saw where her old home lay. She told him about the strange sensations she felt every time she had summoned his messages by the Gazing of the Waters, but that Solver of Riddles had told her not to worry about it. She was still afraid to tell him about the night with Mala Mahuni and the dreadful things he told her about the Dark Master.

  One morning, Solver of Riddles began the day’s lesson explaining that the students were old enough to begin Inner Focussing. Rhuna quickly recognized this as the deep concentration Tozar did before he changed the look of the small stone. She listened to the teacher’s instructions to sit comfortably but alert, to keep her eyes well shut and to focus all her thoughts on a blank space deep within her mind while shutting out all external sensations and thoughts until she became tired. When he told the class to begin, Rhuna shut her eyes and looked for the blank spot in the middle of her mind. For a little while she felt as if she were roaming about in an unfamiliar world, detached from the world outside her. No thoughts from the outside world entered her mind either, until suddenly she saw an image of the ugly statues from her home, then an image of Uncle Metti laughing at her, then another image of the statue again, only this time it had long hair and black paint around its eyes. It was such a shocking sight that her eyes shot open as she gasped in fright.

  Solver of Riddles was looking at her as her eyes popped open. His brow creased. She slowly stood up and walked towards him, careful not to disturb the other students.

  “I saw something awful!” she whispered to Solver of Riddles. He silently motioned her to walk outside with him. “I saw the Dark Master!” she said, still feeling shaken.

  “The Dark Master?” said the teacher with wide eyes and slack mouth.

  “First I saw the statues at home, then my uncle laughing at me, and then the statue again, only this time it looked like a real person!”

  Solver of Riddles patted her shoulder. “Find peace, be calm. It is not uncommon that matters most distressing to one’s soul appear in one’s mind when commencing Inside Focussing. Be not alarmed. Continue slowly and resist all images and thoughts of the outside world.”

  The following mornings during Inside Focussing, Rhuna only saw brief glimpses of her mother and one of Tozar, and then she put the frightening image of the Dark Master out of her mind.

  Before long, the important class of preliminary transforming was about to begin, and Rhuna felt anxious. She thought about Windy who had discovered she had no Atlan ability during this class and had to abandon all classes which required the ability. Rhuna realized how dear her learning had become to her and how much she feared giving up any classes.

  Solver of Riddles gave each student a small, yellowish-white stone that had been cut from a single block of soft sandstone. Rhuna placed it on the floor directly in front of her, as the students were instructed. Then the teacher described the process of transforming this simple stone element.

  “Sit comfortably but alert, as you have done for Inside Focussing, only project your concentrated thought energy outwards, toward the stone. Project a mental image of the desired texture and quality, and visualize the stone changing into the desired form. For this first lesson, visualize your stone becoming so soft that it crumbles to the touch.”

  Rhuna obeyed and shut her eyes to concentrate. She visualized the little stone fragment crumbling and dissolving into fine powder. As she projected her thoughts outwards to the stone, she felt a vibration in her head. During her intense focussing, she suddenly realized that she didn’t know how long it would take, and fearing the others might have finished and be waiting for her, she quickly opened her eyes.

  In front of her lay a small pile of yellow-white powder. She looked up. Solver of Riddles was looking at her expectantly, then he stepped forward to view the floor in front of her. He raised his hand to motion silence and for her to wait until the other students had finished.

  Rhuna breathed deeply with relief and felt the tension ebb out of her body. Solver of Riddles began to walk about and look at each student’s progress, then finally clapped his hands once and smiled.

  “I am delighted to announce that every student has accomplished this first step successfully!” Rhuna heard a few gentle sighs and she wondered if others had shared her anxiety. Morning Glory looked across and gave Rhuna a wide grin. She had also transformed her stone into a pile of powder.

  That afternoon she went to tell Windy about the successful transformation lesson, then spoke a message to Tozar with the same news. She was still reluctant to see Mala Mahuni, but expected him to show her another cocoa dish soon.

  Rhuna did not spend the free day at the end of each lunar cycle as most of the students did. Instead, she asked permission to take the school’s vuda for the day to practice playing. Then she sought out Solver of Riddles to ask if she could use the Gazing of the Waters again. Although she found him busily making a new pair of sandals, he readily agreed to escort her. After she had seen his rooms, two of them not much larger than her own, she asked him if he had a family. Solver of Riddles explained that for some people, the imparting of knowledge is as good as family. Rhuna told him that she also had no family.

  When Tozar appeared in the water reflection, Rhuna saw that he had arrived in Atlán and her heart beat faster. She thought of all the messages she had spoken to him in almost three lunar cycles since he left Medíz. Tozar was seated in a large room with striking colours of mainly red and gold around him, and she thought that Atlán must be a very special place.

  “Be warmly embraced, Rhuna,” began the message. “I have delighted in all your messages and am deeply joyous at your enthusiastic embrace of many subjects. An eager student is a teacher’s delight. May your passion for knowledge and wisdom continue to abound and bring you rich rewards, Rhuna!” He paused and continued in a more sombre tone. “The sensation you experience when summoning the Gazing of the Waters is rare, however not unknown to me. A dear companion of mine… spoke to me of such experiences while summoning certain powers. The forces we harness and utilize, though not visible to the eye, are perceptible by certain individuals with acute sensitivity and a mental aptitude that harmonizes with the vibration of the energies. If this be so in your case, Rhuna, then be joyful because your gift is greater than that of the multitude. Use it wisely and you shall reap the rewards.”

  Tozar moved slightly and then continued speaking in a brighter tone. “The vuda is my favourite musical instrument! Perhaps, when you are adept enough, you may compose a song about the subject dearest to your heart. I shall long to hear it. Here in my home I take pleasure in many handicrafts and other pastimes, however I regret the impending High Council deliberations shall fill my days and evenings for several lunar cycles to come. My only pleasure shall be summoning your messages, Rhuna. Be safe and well!”

  Rhuna left the Gazing of the Waters room with her teacher feeling elated and relieved.

  “What is Atlán like?” she asked her teacher.

  “Such a question is best answered by visions of the Gazing of the Waters, so be patient, Adopted by the Rain. Tomorrow your class shall have its first lesson in summoning general images of faraway places.”

  Rhuna was thrilled at the prospect of seeing images of Atlán. She planned to pass the evening playing the vuda, but as
she walked between school buildings, she saw Mala Mahuni waving exuberantly. She ran across the green garden to greet him.

  “Chocolate with nuts!” he whispered loudly in a playful manner.

  “What?”

  “Cocoa with clear fats and crushed almond nuts! But no coffee beans,” he added with a laugh. “Come, let’s savour this delicacy!” She noticed the sweet fragrance of his body oil and the new red and yellow head band he wore.

  They walked quickly and Mala Mahuni told her he had prepared some other special food for them as well because the chocolate was only a special treat to be eaten in small portions. She remembered what Morning Glory had told her, and was glad she wouldn’t have to eat so much cocoa again this time.

  In the kitchen, Mala Mahuni showed her a bowl of wrinkled odd shapes in assorted colours bobbing in cooking water.

  “They are dried fruit and vegetables from Atlán and other colonies” he said excitedly. “This is the only way these foods can come to Medíz so it’s always a special occasion when vessels with preserved food stuffs arrive. Like the cocoa!” he said grinning mischievously at her.

  Rhuna began to share his enthusiasm for the endless variety of foods she had never known before, and she admired the way Mala Mahuni mixed them in such delicious combinations. To accompany the dried and preserved foods he had made a seasoned sweet sauce and freshly baked bread. He told Rhuna to eat them all together so that the bread would soak up the sauce.

  “Mmm!” said Rhuna, and Mala Mahuni laughed with delight.

  “Now try the chocolate!” he said after the meal. He handed her a plate with dark brown blobs of uneven shapes and sizes. She took one and carefully bit off a piece. It melted on her tongue and left a smooth nutty flavour in her mouth.

  “Mmm!” she said loudly with raised eyebrows, and Mala Mahuni laughed again. “I shouldn’t have too much, though,” said Rhuna after finishing her second piece.

  “Why not?” asked Mala Mahuni, pretending to be sad.

  “Morning Glory said that cocoa isn’t good for cats and children.”

  Mala Mahuni threw back his head in loud laughter, and Rhuna enjoyed its deep resonance. “But you’re not a cat!” he said and laughed again. “And you’re not a child either!”

  “But I feel like a child,” she said.

  “Because you’re learning things at school you never knew before,” said Mala Mahuni, still in a very happy mood. Rhuna thought about her life before she came to Medíz.

  “I didn’t know anything before, and everything here is so different!” she told Mala Mahuni. “My people didn’t even like the Masters.”

  “Hm, that happens.”

  “Did your people always like the Masters when they came?” she asked.

  “I think so,” he said shrugging his shoulders. “All our stories about that are good.”

  “Are there other stories then? About your people before the Atlans came?”

  Mala Mahuni frowned as he thought, then raised his eyebrows when he remembered.

  “I know! There’s a story they tell about the great land where our Zao ancestors used to live. It’s a big place, just like Atlán, but there were too many people and a lot of problems. That’s why many of them made boats and went looking for new lands across the Great Ocean. That’s how our ancestors came here.”

  “Oh, that’s interesting.”

  “You really want to learn a lot, don’t you?” said Mala Mahuni.

  “Mmm, I want to learn how to make chocolate!” Rhuna teased, and Mala Mahuni let out another resonant laugh.

  The following morning Rhuna was awake earlier than usual, excited about the Gazing of the Waters lesson her teacher had promised. The class walked down the hallway to the dim room with the stone basin, then stood around it in a semi-circle so that every student had a good view of the water. They waited silently for their teacher to produce a small container of powder from within his robe, then he whispered to them in a low tone.

  “First I shall summon a general place vision. These usually contain four or five images. Let us behold a view of Atlán now!”

  Rhuna could barely contain her excitement. Morning Glory’s eyes were wide and bright. The students watched with bated breath as Solver of Riddles spoke the words of incantation and then quickly sprinkled some green powder over the pool of water. They watched dark green clouds growing and then swirling until the pool became an opaque white. Then some students gasped in awe and amazement as an image began to appear. Rhuna immediately recognized the gold everywhere, gleaming like the sun itself and even producing a rainbow. She focussed on this band of colour and then realized it was actually the iridescent reflections of other shiny objects. And then she saw that those objects were large houses in many different sizes and proportions. Some looked very high, others low and wide. The windows were shiny, as if they were also made of a gold-like material. Rhuna couldn’t believe her eyes. She stood transfixed and watched a new image form, this time of three big houses and a very wide path between them. The walking track was paved with smooth stones and the walls of the houses also reflected different coloured light. Before Rhuna could understand what she had seen, another image appeared, this time with people moving about. It looked like a grand market where people carried all kinds of wares back and forth, trading them or standing about talking about them. There was a tent in bright colours of red and yellow, a fenced area containing large animals she could not recognize, and in the background towered an enormous mountain range with white tops. The immense size of the mountains frightened her.

  The fourth image held no houses or people, only a tranquil scene of a lake in translucent blue-green colours with the same massive mountains looming behind. Rhuna noticed that there were some small boats on the lake. The final image emerged and brought forth more gasps from the students. A large open area, completely paved in smooth flat stones, with several massive stone structures at each end of the enormous open court. Above the solid stone foundation of four sides, the corners of which sloped inwards with each layer, were houses with windows which twinkled in the sunlight as if they were completely made of gold or shiny metals. The sight reminded her of the communal center, and she assumed that this grand version must be Atlán’s communal center.

  When this image faded, the students breathed loudly, and Rhuna noticed she had also been holding her breath in awe and astonishment. Morning Glory had very rosy cheeks and fiery eyes. Before they could exchange a word, Solver of Riddles quickly reminded them to be as quiet as possible in this room. They obeyed and watched the next summoning of a major Atlan colony they had discussed in the geography lesson with the globe. Rhuna remembered that this colony was on the opposite side of the globe from Medíz.

  Rhuna noticed that Solver of Riddles used the same words of incantation as before. They were similar to the ones she had learned for summoning Tozar’s messages.

  Another gleaming image appeared, this time of two structures, each with its four corners tapering completely inwards until they met at the top. One of them was completely covered in gold plates while the other one was still being finished. Its four triangular sides were made of massive stone blocks, layered in tiers like the foundations of the Presentation Hall at the communal center. In the foreground, Rhuna recognized a square foundation for a third structure, and then she realized that the tiny moving dots around this base were people. She shrunk back in awe of the enormity of the strange triangular buildings. Other students also moved and made restrained noises of surprise or amazement.

  The second image showed a wide river with trees, fields and water canals along the bank. Rhuna thought it looked a little like Medíz. The image lingered a while, then the water returned to normal.

  “One more image,” whispered Solver of Riddles, “It shall suffice for the day.” He explained that he would now summon an image of the giant plasmos located in another major colony they had examined on the globe. Rhuna remembered that it was a large island close to the main body of land that connected t
o the place of the long wide river and enormous gold triangles.

  Solver of Riddles used the same incantation, and Rhuna paid close attention to the foreign words. Then an image appeared. Instead of only one measurement and observation frame, this giant plasmos had many of them all connected to each other to form a circle. Some students again gasped in amazement. Inside the circle stood various erect stones of different heights, and Rhuna wondered if they were the sighting stones. The image lasted long enough for Rhuna to notice a smaller sighting stone far outside the circle, and that the area around this plasmos also featured a well-kept garden and flat green grass. She wondered how many other stars or planets could be measured and observed at such a complex plasmos.

  The students broke out in exuberant chatter as soon as they left the room of the Gazing of the Waters. Morning Glory chirped in Rhuna’s ear about gold-plated pyramids and metal-lined walls, while Rhuna thought about Tozar and wondered whether his home looked like the houses she had seen. She also wondered why the same incantation was used to summon general place visions of three completely different lands.

  The remainder of the day involved questions, comments and formal discussions about all the things the class had seen by means of the Gazing of the Waters that morning. At one point, Rhuna stood up to ask why Solver of Riddles had used the same incantation for all three visions.

  “The incantation serves to summon general place images, however it is one’s concentrated thought energies that determine which area precisely shall be presented in the Gazing of the Waters.” Then Solver of Riddles continued to explain that the class had not progressed to this stage of concentrated thoughts yet, but in the meantime students could still observe and learn from the images summoned by him or another teacher.

  Rhuna was disappointed. She was impatient to start summoning such place visions herself so that she could see more of Tozar’s home and other exciting places. That night she spoke a message to Tozar telling him in detail what she had seen, and asked him what his house looked like. A few days later, she asked Solver of Riddles to accompany her again while she summoned Tozar’s messages.