“What DO they teach you in history class? Charlemagne’s Code of Chivalry…you know, to help the weak and defenseless, to refrain from giving offense, to despise financial rewards, to fight for the welfare of all, to keep faith, to respect the honor of women. Doesn’t this ring any bells?”
We shook our heads. “Maybe that’s why there is such a problem with bullies in high school. No one teaches good manners…much less how to save the world,” Diana huffed. “And we wonder why we are on the brink of disaster once AGAIN. We are doomed to keep repeating the mistakes of the past if we don’t ever learn its lessons.”
“Well, that explains why I’m here. If Whitney has to save the world she can’t get lost along the way. Too bad the only intuitive I know can’t seem to read a map.” Blair cut the tension with her sarcastic remark and Diana quickly adjusted out of her funk with a laugh.
“Intuitives follow their own true north, Blair. Whitney is an instrument of change. She follows her own path and it is one not marked on any map,” Dr. West chimed in. He tossed a roll at me and I caught it before it hit the table. I heard his wordless directive to eat something.
I took a bite and he continued, “But to your point, Blair, the reason you are here is because our Sundial cannot accomplish this feat alone. That is why others have failed in the past or not reached their full potential. Although Whitney is sometimes not good at admitting it, she needs help. Which brings us to the point of why you are ALL going to Africa to retrieve the spear. Please tell me you all have at least heard of Achilles and his unprotected heel? Good. Those with pure energy have something similar, which we call blind spots. They are individual specific weaknesses. The four of you together enhance and fortify your strengths while one of you compensates for another’s weakness. I am NOT going to get into the specifics of what those strengths and weaknesses actually are. Someone, who shall remain nameless, will undoubtedly argue against having any weakness whatsoever.”
All eyes at the table pivoted toward me and I sighed in exasperation. “That is so not true. I can admit my weaknesses.”
“Really? Name one,” Dr. West challenged with a spark in his eye.
Without hesitation I replied, “Chocolate.” Everyone laughed and I grinned.
“Didn’t you say we needed to get back to Helga and Yoshi? I haven’t even told them about the Dogon tribe or the ghost army yet,” Diana mentioned as she dramatically pulled the spotlight back for herself.
“Ghost army? How are we getting to Africa? In the Mystery Machine van?” I squeaked. For the first time all night, Diana was the one who looked befuddled. Clearly, she was not an expert in popular cartoon culture. “Sorry, it was a Scooby-Doo reference that somehow seemed appropriate since I thought you said “ghost army.” It reminded me of the Scooby-Doo Zombie Island episode but I must have misheard you.” I shook my head as if I had water in my ears. Patrick nodded, recalling the episode and giving me some support that my analogy was good fit.
“No, you heard correctly. The Dogon, another reclusive people who live in an isolated area, are guarding the Spear of Light. They are a harmonious and democratic people and this is probably the reason they were chosen to guard it in the first place, but over time some regional witch doctors have used the power of the spear against others. Those in the ghost army are being persecuted and only the spear can free them…” Diana calmly responded.
Patrick almost choked on his chowder. “Seriously? You do know that sounds crazy, right?”
“Well, it’s about as crazy as deactivating an electromagnet in a toxic nuclear reactor with a makeshift field hockey stick before raw pure energy was released into the atmosphere. But you know, these sorts of ‘heroics’ are the stuff legends are made of as the story is retold over the ages…” Diana used finger quotes around the word heroics. Her penetrating eyes landed on me and she said, “For saving my nephew, Whitney, I will always be in your debt.”
My cheeks felt hot. It made me uncomfortable that she continued to allude that I was being discussed in Sunrise circles while I was not there.
Patrick pointed his clean spoon at me and clarified, “Lemme get this straight. You actually did that?” I would have phrased Diana’s description of events differently, but I nodded my head and a smile broke across Patrick’s face.
I looked at Reid out of the corner of my eye. He was intently watching Diana and seemed indifferent to what she said. Perhaps she was trying to get him to react to extract information but he refused to cooperate. I reminded myself that I needed to remain impassive.
“You were in a nuclear reactor, NOT in the hospital ICU? Well, I’ve always heard too much rest is bad for the patient. Sounds like a ghost army and a spear will be a piece of cake after that. Where are we going and when do we leave?” Patrick set down his spoon and looked around for a trip itinerary and airplane tickets to appear.
Reid’s tense posture relaxed as he played along. “It was the hit of a lifetime—literally, in my case. I hardly saw the object go by me, it had so much force.”
What was going on? Did humor disarm Diana? Patrick seemed intent on reducing the tension in the atmosphere and Reid jumped at the chance to do the same. Dr. West added to the protective humor barrier and pegged a roll past Reid’s head.
“Like that?” he asked, and we all laughed as Reid looked around and pretended he had no idea what happened. Dr. West was not usually such a goofball and I had a feeling my hunch was correct.
“Do I need to remind you all that people are starving in Africa? We aren’t wasting any more food,” Blair weighed in as she moved the rolls.
Diana continued, “That’s right, and you will soon see for yourselves. You are headed to the central plateau region of Mali in West Africa. This is the isolated home of the reclusive Dogon tribe and they live primarily in the highland hillsides and caves.
“According to their origin legends, they were visited by a water god they called Nommo—a deity from the star Sirius who gave them a great deal of astrological information. Some of this information was not confirmed and verified until 1970 when powerful telescopes discovered Sirius had a companion star like the Dogon had been saying since 3200 B.C. What’s more, they were correct that the invisible companion star completes an orbit every fifty years, and the Dogon celebrated this orbit for thousands of years. The companion star, known today as Sirius B, is a super-dense white dwarf invisible to the naked eye.”
I whistled. “Talk about some insider information. And you think they were a reclusive tribe because they have something that helped protect them?”
“According to my research, the Dogon were given the Spear of Light in Alexandria, Egypt, and the Dogon are believed to be of ancient Egyptian descent. The Dogon use the glow of the spear to launch a festival called the Sigi every fifty years and the glow, I believe, is the distinctive light of pure energy forged into the blade of the spear, and it is triggered by the proximity of the Sirius star system.” I was glad Dr. West’s research partner, Dr. Cohen, was not here. I sensed if he were we would be getting a lecture on the physics of light and gravity. Thankfully, Diana did not seem as academic.
“How did you narrow it down to the Dogon?” Reid asked. His arms were folded across his chest and he gave Diana a critical stare. “I want to be sure this is not a wild goose chase. I imagine us showing up and asking for an ancient relic is not going to go over too well.”
“Hopefully, you will be more creative in your approach than ringing the doorbell of their sacred cave and telling them to hand it over, Reid. Perhaps that is where Whitney’s creative strength comes into play,” Diana zinged back. Reid remained unemotional and I was impressed with his excellent control. “Try to remember that the Dogon are a harmonious people and taking something from anyone is usually NOT a good idea.”
“I am not saying that is what I would do, but there are plenty of reclusive tribes in the world. Why this one?” Reid pressed in a calm and even voice.
“For starters, a lot of their mythology doesn’t fit t
heir geographic location, and they have sophisticated astrological knowledge that would be difficult to acquire in the middle of the desert. In addition, they KNOW about a group of people who have enhanced powers who are waiting to reclaim the spear. There is also the…”
Dr. West held up a hand and interrupted, “Tell them Nommo’s more common name, Diana. It will make more sense to them.”
“Oh, right. You may know Nommo as her other name of Vivienne. Or perhaps as the Lady of the Lake…”
Patrick coughed. He had been in the middle of swallowing another heaping dose of chowder. His rasped, “I’ve got to stop eating. As in the Lady of the Lake from King Arthur and Camelot?”
“Yes. She does appear in that legend. Except in there they only mention the Sword of Illumination and not the Spear of Light.”
An intuitive shiver went up my spine as I murmured, “The sword is known as Excalibur and is also a pure energy weapon…”
It was odd how this was somehow all making sense to me. Patrick was not as easily convinced. His arms flailed about as he said, “Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You are all talking about this as if it is real. Isn’t this a made-up a fairytale? A bedtime story?”
Diana ignored Patrick and looked directly at me as she answered, “In Welsh, it is not called Excalibur. Caledfwich is its name in the first Arthur legend but the sword goes by many other names throughout history. The sword, like Nommo, pops up in legends around the world.”
Blair’s eyes narrowed with doubt. “How do you know it is the same sword?”
I was almost certain Blair had never read the Arthurian legends. She hated fantasy and magic; Blair liked practical and realistic. She didn’t even like The Wizard of Oz as a kid.
“It is hard to miss when a particular sword is repeatedly described as giving off the light of thirty torches when it is first drawn and known for blinding its adversary,” Diana explained with a smile. The flash of brilliant light that went off in my mind was when the pure energy had been released into the atmosphere and blinded me in the truck. It was a stunning brightness unlike anything I had ever experienced. Yes, I knew that brightness. “It is always described as a golden hilt sword carved with twin dragons whose eyes of fire calm its bearer in the midst of chaos. The sword is etched with ancient magical writing up the side and has a small saying scripted at its base. It is a sword of rightful sovereignty that appears throughout history. It all goes back to the ancestral lines…”
Dr. West fired her an exasperated stare. “Diana, we can’t go down your ancestral lines road tonight. Helga is keeping dinner warm back at Yoshi’s and we are at least an hour late.”
Patrick was brimming with excitement and could not resist asking Diana one more question. “What about the sword’s scabbard? It was said to have its own powers like healing blood loss…” Patrick leaned into the table as he tried to block Dr. West’s angry glare. Diana’s eyes quickly flicked toward Reid. I remembered when Reid had cut his lip playing football and how fast it healed.
“As I mentioned, it is a sword of sovereignty. That means rightful ownership of the sword follows a bloodline just like the succession of kings. It’s debatable as to whether or not the scabbard had powers of healing or if the powers came from the person wielding it,” Diana continued as she kept coming back to bloodlines and ancestry. What was she talking about? I did not have much time to consider it because I felt a powerful pull on my mind. I had rested my elbow on the table and immediately removed it. Reid was right to warn me she was a strong empath, as I had never felt someone come so close to moving my third eye after I had mastered how to close it.
“As I was saying before we jaunted off into Camelot, the Dogon speak a ritualistic language and wear masks during a traditional festival that takes place once a lifetime. Masks often play a role as a mediator between this world and the next to many African tribes. White, for example, is considered to be a positive color representing death and this may be tied to the ghost army. How about it, Whitney? Reg? Are you getting any vibes that my hunch is correct?” Diana teased with a warm gleam in her eye.
I smirked. “You know it doesn’t work like that, Diana, and please don’t mislead Patrick. Otherwise, he will never stop badgering me about his upcoming tests in AP Government instead of just READING the book.”
Patrick sighed. “Oh man, I was starting to get optimistic over here! I heard it loud and clear when Diana was explaining why we need to know our history but I confess I WAS hoping to get the sneak preview on which books Mrs. Johnson was picking for her midterm exam in English class.”
“You mean so you could rent the movie?” I chided.
“Guilty as charged, Sabrina Duncan,” Patrick retorted. It took me a second to figure out Sabrina Duncan was not a famous character from an English classic but a lead character from a famous television show.
“Well, at least you picked the smartest one of Charlie’s Angels,” I scoffed, and everyone laughed. Diana once again looked lost. Hadn’t everyone at least heard of Charlie’s Angels? Where did she live that she had no access to television?
“That’s ‘cause I get to be Kelly Garrett,” Blair said as she tossed her hair and laughed.
“In any event, I am telling you this because according to their myth, whoever reclaims Nommo’s greatest treasure is said to survive a killer lake and free a ghost army from persecution. Clearly, this is no easy task and others are in need of help. Not to mention, there is treasure to be retrieved to its rightful owner.”
“Anyone have the number to Ghostbusters?” Patrick asked, as he once again shifted the weight of the atmosphere of the room from oppressive to light.
Without Patrick here to make jokes, I might have been hyperventilating about the killer lake and ghost army. Humor was a survival skill and Patrick was a comedic expert. I recalled that levity helped thinking in serious situations and realized I had figured out one of Patrick’s valuable strengths. I looked at Blair, expressly implying that numbers were her department.
Blair picked up on my insinuation and responded, “Yeah, right. I’ve got Dan Aykroyd on speed dial. Although if any of this proves true I may be calling Spielberg.”
“Congratulations. You both just won an entertainment pie piece for Trivial Pursuit. However, I am not sure that those little plastic triangles will do much to a ghost army. Is there anything else we need to know before we leave, Diana, or is this enough?” Reid weighed in.
“Yeah. And who is Vlad Dune? Why did I have to memorize his contact information?” Blair asked Dr. West.
No joke could dampen the pounding in my chest as I wondered why in the world was Vlad Dune a Sunrise contact?
Chapter Five: Houdini
The idea of working with Vlad Dune made me want to move away from the table. The only trouble was that I couldn’t get up to leave because to be a safe distance from Diana I was stuck between the galley wall of storage cabinetry and Reid. These two obstacles dramatically impeded my flight response and added to the feeling I was trapped.
Reid touched my leg under the table. “Wow. Whit, you’ve been calling him two-faced since you first met him,” he said with the warm tone of congratulations. He must have known the comment about Vlad would set me off and I knew he was trying to calm me down. “I would have never expected him to be a double agent. When I shook his hand at Dr. West’s funeral, all I got from him was how much he hated Dr. West. He was well trained against empaths but not against intuitives.” Reid’s words increased my desire to escape. Calling Vlad two-faced was a gut reaction because we were both different and yet he had the nerve to judge me harshly.
“Oh, he probably hates me,” confirmed Dr. West. “I wouldn’t want to be alone in a room with him and a sharp object unless I was the one holding it since Carson Noir made sure to lead him to believe I killed Vlad’s brother.”
“Oh great, nothing like that kind of bond to form an effective working relationship. And you expect us to need his contact information because…?” I waited expectantly for Dr. W
est to fill in the blank with this crucial tidbit of information. He looked stuffy in his sweater vest and tweed jacket and made me think he had information tucked away but wasn’t revealing it.
“Two-faced, huh? I guess that is essentially how a double agent operates. Whitney, your rapid cognition is a useful tool that serves you well. Don’t ever talk yourself out of your first impression of someone. It is often correct.” Dr. West’s blue eyes wrinkled at the corners and showed me was pleased. His eyes darted to Reid, reminding me of how I had recognized something was different about Reid but did not know what.
“I may not be on your wavelength but I am smart enough to figure out when you are talking about me. I don’t think Whitney wants to tell everyone how she fell in love with me at first sight. It was getting embarrassing the way she was constantly following me around,” Reid joked, and everyone laughed. He was reframing our story for Diana’s benefit and if he wanted it to be ambiguous about how we ended up together, that was fine with me.
“In your dreams,” I retorted, obliging Reid in his game. The bulk of his torso was leaning into me and I playfully shoved him out of my space. His smooth oxford shirt felt warm under my hands and I could smell its light starch mixed nicely with his usual fresh fragrance.
“How did you know?” Reid mocked with astonishment. He had successfully clouded Diana’s perception. She looked at us, confused by this charade.
I shook my head. “I’ll leave your dream analysis to the psychologists. Who knows what is in that head of yours.”
“Chicken,” he muttered quietly to me with a satisfied smile as he leaned his body weight back into me. He was right. I was afraid to see too much of Reid’s mind because he was a vortex of deep emotion and it scared me. Plus, I could not appease my intuitive alarm that there was a bond between Reid and Karen and I did not want to feel the discomfort of jealousy if she was in his memories. To me, she was not as harmless as Reid claimed.
Blair gave Reid a hard glance. She hated public displays of affection, even if my boyfriend was just playfully crushing me. “All right. All right. No one has answered my question and I thought we needed to wrap things up.”
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