Rhuna, Keeper of Wisdom

by Barbara Underwood

  As she got to her feet and looked at the houses ahead of her, she saw several people moving about. She walked quickly towards them, alongside a shabby house and through a narrow passageway. She realized she was in the Commoners’ part of the city and felt disoriented. She stopped and looked around at the empty shells of old houses with black holes for doorways and windows.

  “Rhu-u-una!” came a hushed whisper from behind her, like a rush of wind through dry leaves.

  “Oh!” she said with fright, and looked around. She saw no one.

  “Who is it?” she called, her voice trembling with fear.

  “It is I…” said the unearthly whisper. Rhuna could barely hear the voice over the loud pounding of her heart. She thought the sound came from a house ahead of her, and she took a few steps towards it. “Keep coming,” said the low whisper.

  Nearing the doorway, Rhuna saw shadows moving inside, and despite the fear that gripped her whole body, she felt compelled to walk forward to investigate. The house had a door but it was open, and the polished stone floor reflected the faint light from outside.

  “Who’s there?” said Rhuna, trying to suppress the fear in her voice. When no one answered, she moved forward again where she had seen the shadows. She found herself in a long corridor with various open doors along it, all shedding dim light onto the polished floor. One opening at the far end shed a brighter light, like many candles, and Rhuna was drawn towards it.

  She stepped silently forward, looking behind her a few times as she approached the candlelit room. In that moment she heard voices, also hushed and unreal like the one she had heard outside the house.

  Very slowly, Rhuna peered around the edge of the doorway to look inside. At first she saw only many small dots of candle lights, then she recognized dark human forms standing with their backs towards her. At the far end of the long room Rhuna saw a raised platform on which two more people stood. A sound, followed by movements of the two men on the platform, made Rhuna impulsively sink to the floor to hide from their sight. She crawled through the doorway towards a corner where she could peer through the standing crowd.

  A loud, piercing sound broke the heavy silence in the room, and several dark forms began to move about quickly. Rhuna focussed on the activity and recognized the form of an animal being lifted onto a table on the raised platform. The animal squealed shrilly a few more times, and Rhuna realized it was a pig. It was held down onto the table by three people, and then a fourth person, a tall and solid man, stood over them and stretched his arms up and outwards, calling out an incantation of several words in a deep and powerful voice. Rhuna watched as the man lowered his arms and then raised them again in front of him holding a long sharp implement with both hands. He thrust it downwards with vicious force, and the pig’s squeals stopped instantly. Rhuna thought her own heart had stopped, and she gripped her robe at her chest with both hands.

  The man raised his hands again to lift the sharp object with both hands, and then spoke more words of incantation. Rhuna strained to recognize them, but the sounds were too unfamiliar. She continued to watch, her whole body gripped by shock, and saw the man with the sharp tool make several swift, sharp movements over the table. The other ones who had held the pig also moved around, and after a little while Rhuna realized that drinking cups were being handed around to everyone who had been standing and watching.

  The leading man then raised his hands up and outwards again.

  “Master of Darkness, we drink to you!” he called out, raising his face upwards. “May this blood give power and life!”

  The others called out in unison, then lifted their cups to drink. Rhuna felt a violent gush of nausea rise inside her. She turned to crawl back towards the doorway, but froze when she saw a tall, thin shadow blocking her exit.

  “Rhu-u-na! Do you not recognize me?” said the dark shadow. “It is I… Gatherer of Sage!”

  Rhuna’s blood ran icy cold as she recognized the voice and the name of the Dark Master. She tried to move but fear paralysed her.

  “Look, Rhuna! I am immortal! Did I not tell you that I would attain immortality? See! They continue my works and honour my name! See, Rhuna!” he said in a loud whisper, raising his hand to indicate the people in the room. He stepped into the room and stooped towards her. His voice was like a snake slithering through dry grass. “Do you remember, Rhuna? Remember that I told you this? Now remember this, Rhuna: You shall never see Tozar again! Never again!” he said, raising his voice for his last pronouncement. Then he grinned and straightened himself, looked into the room and raised his arms towards the man on the platform.

  In that moment, Rhuna’s legs suddenly filled with hot power, and she felt herself leaping through the doorway and bounding down the corridor, faster than she had ever moved in her life. Her legs kept moving under her until she reached a familiar metal gate. Her hands touched the embossed animal designs on it, and then she pushed them open. She began to stumble as she entered the building of The Reigning One’s residence that was her lodging, and then pulled her throbbing body up the stairs with both hands on the balustrade.

  “Lozira!” she called, and noticed that she barely had a voice. She thrust open the door to her rooms, but saw an empty bed in the dimly-lit room. “Lozira!” she shouted louder, but still heard only a hoarse whisper. She looked in the bathroom and other rooms calling Lozira’s name with all the strength she had left. Then she stumbled across the hallway to her own rooms looking for her daughter.

  When she had looked in all the rooms and found no one, she collapsed on the thick floor rug. “Oh!” she heard herself cry once more, followed by her loud panting and pounding heart. “Where are you?!” she cried desperately.

  She looked up and saw the basin of water. She crawled towards it and then pulled herself up on her feet to stand shakily in front of it. “Oh, Lozira, where are you!” She struggled to calm herself enough to summon a vision of a person in the present so that she could see where her daughter was and what she was doing. She spoke the incantation as clearly as possible, then watched breathlessly as the waters began to show an image.

  Rhuna saw a room bathed in soft warm lights, not unlike her own lodgings at night, and several people moving around in it. Suddenly she realized that the people were either completely or partly naked, and some had young, slim bodies, others appeared older. In the middle of the group was a young woman with long fair hair that swung across her face as she moved her body in a rhythmic, swaying motion to a low drumbeat.

  “No!” Rhuna heard herself say. “Not Lozira!” she said, as she began to recognize the near-naked girl who was being touched by groping hands from all around. “Where?” shouted Rhuna, and forced her concentration to summon another vision of this house of pleasure. A new image quickly appeared, and she recognized a large house in the style of those she had seen in the Atlan part of the city. When the image faded, Rhuna pushed herself away from the basin, and with renewed power surging through her body, burst out the doors and gate of The Reigning One’s residence.

  Her legs kept running until she reached the Atlan part of the city. “Lozira! Help me, someone!” she shouted into the black space ahead of her. “Someone help me!” she cried again at the dark houses. “Wake up! Can anyone hear me?”

  Rhuna heard a noise nearby and turned. She saw the figure of a man coming out of one of the houses and she leapt towards him.

  “Help me, quick! My daughter! She’s barely fifteen solar cycles…they’ve taken her to the house of pleasure! I’ve been a terrible mother!” she pleaded with the man. As he stepped forward and into the light, Rhuna could see his face and she thought that it was neither handsome nor ugly, and with surprise and horror she wondered why she had such a mundane thought at such a crucial and desperate moment.

  “Your daughter was taken?” asked the man, and Rhuna absorbed his voice in minute details of pitch, timbre and expression, as if it were a musical instrument.

  “She was taken to the house of pleasure… I must get her
out, help me!” she screamed and fell at his feet. She tried to get up but her legs felt like heavy logs. She saw the man’s feet in front of her and tried to reach them with her hands, but they also refused to move. For a fleeting moment Rhuna wondered if she was dying.

  Closing her eyes, she gathered all her strength to move some part of her body. She felt her mouth open to scream, and then she flung open her eyes. Instead of the man or the dim city road, she saw earth-toned wall-hangings and a warm light. She moved her head and saw the pyramid guide looking at her with his ugly grin.

  “What?” gasped Rhuna, and lifted herself into an upright seated position. “How did I get back here? Where did you go? Why did you leave me alone?” she shouted at him.

  The ugly man snickered. “You go many places, eh?”

  Available now at Amazon: Click here to visit Rhuna Crossroads (Book 2) Amazon Page

  Author’s Note

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  About The Author

  Barbara Underwood was born and raised in Sydney, Australia; the only child of German migrants who provided a rich and diverse childhood environment. Already in third grade she wrote a short children's book for a class project and realized that she was deeply satisfied with creating stories. In sixth grade, for another class project, her teacher was so impressed by the lengthy story she submitted, that he commented at the end "I see we are going to have another author".

  Over the years Barbara kept writing one thing or another, but only as a hobby while she pursued other interests and goals. In the 1990s, she completed a correspondence course in professional writing, doing it in her spare time after work. This led to having a few short stories published, but what she really wanted to do was write a proper novel.

  At this time, Barbara had travelled extensively and gained a wealth of knowledge and experience in subjects that held special appeal for her, namely ancient history, myths and legends (such as Atlantis, the builders of megaliths around the world), folklore (the belief that a god-like race gave mankind its technology), human psychology and the culture of other countries. What better subject for her Urban Fantasy series than to combine all these elements into one big adventure!

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  More Books by the Author

  Rhuna: Crossroads (Book 2) 2015

  (Sequel to Rhuna, Keeper of Wisdom)

  Rhuna, The Star Child (Book 3) 2016

  (Sequel to Rhuna: Crossroads)

  Kindle Box Set – Books 1 – 3