The Light Bringer's Way

by C. F. Fruzzetti

  “Harmattan haze? What is that?” It sounded ominous and didn’t fit with the panoramic helicopter shots of the wide-open grasslands from the National Geographic specials that lingered in my mind. I had not thought about the weather details and I chided myself for not being sharper.

  Dr. West nodded and answered, “The Harmattan haze is a dry and dusty trade wind that blows over the Sahara. It frequently grounds aircraft so it’s better for us to avoid it. We don’t need any unforeseen delays. A quick trip is our objective.”

  “Why do you say that so cautiously? Are you uncertain as to how fast we will complete the mission?” I didn’t like that Dr. West said the word “unforeseen” or his lukewarm tone. I knit my eyebrows as I studied him for further clues.

  “You know my precognition with you is fuzzy, Whitney. Emotional connections sometimes distort the ability to see clearly.” He laughed at my serious expression. “Take it easy. I wouldn’t let you go if I thought I would never see you again. My focus is always on your survival—at any cost. There will be a lot of human connections on this trip and that makes things dramatically more complicated to predict. As you know, free will can change the outcome of many things and Timbuktu is impoverished even by third world standards. On this trip, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. That’s why I am focused on you all NOT needing any medical care. In every situation, I expect you to make smart choices and do frequent risk assessments. Success is most often dictated by the small choices you make.

  “And speaking of small but important choices, let me brief you both on food. Reid, if you must eat locally, I recommend you stick to the millet and rice. The Dogon use a peanut sauce for the chicken and even though they may promise you the dish has no peanuts, they may not fully understand that the peanut protein from a prior dish could cause you to become ill. Even with your language fluency, they may not fully understand that all pots, pans, and utensils are required to be thoroughly scrubbed beforehand to be free of the peanut protein. Not worth the risk, agreed?”

  Reid listened carefully and nodded. “Got it. Traveling with my food allergy has taught me to be cautious. Grains and rice—sounds like exhilarating mush. Can I chew on some twigs for some crunch?”

  “Don’t you mean scorpions for their extra little kick and dash of protein?” I joked. I saw the dimple in his cheek as he smiled.

  Dr. West gave me another needle poke in my arm. “You aren’t totally off the hook either, Whitney. The Dogon’s spiritual leader, the Hogon, is typically presented with kola nuts. Do us all a favor and don’t touch them. Your macadamia nut allergy is unusual and I don’t like that the kola tree is from a similar tropical environment. Let Blair and Patrick handle them.”

  Mr. Parks came back toward the table. He set down a map of Africa and placed jade stones on each of the four corners. He looked at the map and pointed his finger at the center of the country of Mali. His dark eyes looked up at me as he said, “Remember, anticipate the difficult by managing the easy. According to Sun Tzu, there are five factors to consider when taking the field and you never go into the field unprepared. We will review all of these factors.”

  Mr. Parks pulled out a dog-tag necklace from his pocket. He set it on the map. The beaded metal chain pooled over the rectangles. I couldn’t see whose name was on it.

  “And medicines. Remember that medicines in other countries are not the same as those we use in America. That is why our goal is to not need them or, if you do, to have your own EpiPen and Benadryl on hand. The EpiPen can jam so be sure to have more than one with you.”

  “I hear you and I understand that I am responsible for my personal safety. I promise you I will be fully aware of my environment, including food and drink. Always.” I never wanted to have another anaphylactic reaction. It had been a painful lesson to learn. It did not need to be taught again.

  Mr. Parks slid the necklace across the map and toward me and I picked it up. It had a phone number and a red cross stamped onto it. The words “nut allergy” were etched across the bottom in military block letters. Dr. West explained while I looked it over. “The number connects to a member of Sunrise. Hopefully, no one will dial it as that will mean you are in trouble. The red cross is to show you are on a humanitarian mission and will help identify your macadamia nut allergy. The medical alert bracelet Reid gave you is not practical here.”

  Mr. Parks met my eyes as I looked toward the map. “You are field commander on this trip and responsible for the safety of your entire team. Remember, be a chief, not a lord.” He was reminding me that a leader has all the responsibility and accepts none of the glory. It was the most difficult position on the team because I would have to make the tough decisions to keep our team together, accomplish our goal, and get us home. Mr. Parks cleared his throat as if there was something else he wanted me to know. I slipped into his mind and he was thinking about the time he told me at the heart of every crane is a phoenix. I gave a small nod so that he knew I got the message loud and clear.

  Dr. West rolled down my sleeve. I was done with the round of injections but found I could not sigh with relief. The pressure of being field commander meant I would need to know how to turn every adversity into advantage. I leaned over the map to study it, already thinking Blair would need to commit this to memory. Mr. Parks smiled as I remembered him telling me there was no day off for me anymore. I had refocused and was ready to lead.

  Chapter Seven: Targets

  My eyes glanced around the airplane cabin and I saw Reid asleep and reclined in his seat next to me. Diana walked up and put her hand on Reid’s seat. I closed my third eye and met her sparkling blue eyes. She smiled and motioned for me to follow her.

  I undid the metal buckle of my seat belt, silently got up, and followed Diana to the back of the plane. She took the window seat and looked up at me, waiting for me to sit down next to her.

  “Do you always wake up before landing?” Diana looked like she was genuinely interested in hearing my answer and she was impressively adept at creating a feeling of closeness. Body language was a tool of empaths and she was a master.

  “Usually.” I smiled and thought about Reid’s warning on the boat. He said Diana was cunning and would want to extract as much information from me as possible. I had thought he had meant in only her ability to sense emotions through objects until I looked around at the unexpected trap I found myself. The tan leather plane seat was hardly a cage, but I was stuck here for the moment since I was not interested in socially alienating Reid’s aunt. His father’s obvious dislike of me was bad enough.

  “It’s so interesting to me that you can wake up without a watch. I wish I could do that—I’m always running late, even with six different alarms.” Diana looked at her black digital watch. It was a man’s Timex with a variety of buttons on the side.

  “It is not something I work hard to accomplish. I wake up early and that is all.” I gave a small shrug and a smile. Mr. Parks taught me to smile at my opponent. It was the best way to hide intent, as most people did not recognize niceness was a social strategy and not a character trait.

  Diana pounced and asked, “Can you also sense day from night? In any time zone?” Chills ran down my arms and I heeded my defensive warning system. It was better not to tell her that I could feel the breaking of a new day. Her personal desire to sense time was strong. I did not know why she wanted this trait but she seemed desperate to have it.

  I laughed. “I am not a human clock, Diana. I have no idea what time it says on your watch at this moment. I am merely awake so I can get organized. You know, brush my teeth and splash water on my face and maybe read some of my Vogue before we land in the third world.”

  Diana laughed, as if she was relieved to discover what she said was preposterous. She readily accepted it was too good to be true and my peripheral vision noted the way she continued to readjust her watch on her arm. Her watch was like a security blanket, and to someone who depended on her watch, I could never explain that wearing a timepiece made it ha
rd for me to breathe. To have absolute timing, I had to disregard man-made time to follow natural time. It was the only way to remain nimble in my decisions.

  “You must pay attention to watches and clocks…” she said, confirming my suspicion that she did not quite grasp that timing and time were not necessarily the same thing.

  “When relevant, yes. I can’t be late for my classes or expect a bus to run on my time and to disregard everyone else. That would be ridiculous.” I rolled my eyes as if she was asking the obvious. I refrained from saying that time served me because I was not a slave to time. Clock time was a burden and an artificial parameter. I only socially adhered to it and at my own will.

  Diana looked at me as if she was starting to comprehend that time had no hold on me. She continued to absentmindedly adjust and readjust her watch. It was clear she could not say the same about herself. I thought she might be crazy as well as everything else Reid warned me about and decided it was time to leave.

  “Well, thanks for the chat. I’d better get ready to land,” I said as I started to move forward in my seat. Diana put her hand on my arm and there was a sensation of lightness in the space between us that was not there before. The pressure was from the content of the conversation and the fact that Diana had stopped trying to break into my mind.

  “Wait. Please. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, Whitney. You can see I am rusty at using language to get answers. I know by your strong defenses you are aware I am an empath like my nephew. You are superbly trained as you have now put me in the position of asking to allow me to explain myself. May I go on?” Her face flushed, embarrassed. She was Reid’s aunt, I reminded myself. I kept my third eye closed but sat back in my seat. She smiled slightly in gratitude.

  “Your level of defense is quite remarkable. My nephew warned me not to try it but I had to see for myself. He is so protective of you that I thought he was overreacting. I’m afraid I may have done more harm than good and that was not my intention. As an ambassador of the Cloccan people as well as a member of Sunrise, I needed to be absolutely certain the information I would pass to you could not be stolen.”

  “Cloccan people?” I repeated because I honestly was not sure I had heard her correctly. Diana looked one hundred percent American to me and she did not have a foreign accent or any indicator she was from another country. She narrowed her eyes at me, dubious I had never heard the term. I looked blankly back at her and tried to ignore the warning chills that cascaded down my arms.

  She acquiesced when I did not falter under the weight of her stare. “I am surprised Ellen never told you anything at all. But then again, you were so young. Cloccan is the ancient name of the empath tribe and it is what we call ourselves. I can see by your face that Ellen never used the word. I’m surprised because she was so proud of her Cloccan heritage and a superior empath guide. Her precision at sorting and buffering emotion was astounding. I am sure you miss her terribly. “

  Diana thought I simply did not know the ancient name of the tribe but that was not all I did not know. I had never known my mother was an empath. I took one slow blink to try to reset my thoughts but it was too late. The premonition of my mother walking through the elegant London hotel flashed like a thundering train through my mind. The drape of her beige trench coat was reflected in the polished elevator doors and her footsteps tapped quick and certain as she moved across the marble floor in her black heels. I could not see her face, only layers of her blonde hair as she looked down at her diamond-encrusted watch. The hour hand showed three minutes until two o’clock. In three minutes, she would arrive at her meeting in the Savoy dining room and then I would never see her again. If what Diana said was true, and my mother was an empath, she should have known something was amiss.

  Diana must have read my body language, as she agreed. “It was so strange she did not sense it, Whitney. She could see Big Ben from the window of the Savoy, for heaven’s sake. She could have summoned help from all over London. But she stayed silent. I was hoping you might have known why but I see Ellen kept her own counsel.”

  “What do you mean she could have gotten help from the clock? Is that where the name Cloccan comes from?” It seemed that all empaths I had met wore a watch. Was that some kind of symbolic connection?

  “No, not the clock. I’m talking about the bell Big Ben. Clocca is Latin for ‘bell’ and empaths are all fluent in the vibration of air known as sound. Bell towers are communication devices for empaths. We can interpret messages within all sound—even sound that is so high pitched it is not heard but felt.” Diana peered closely at me to see if I was half asleep or dense. I preferred the former so I rubbed my eyes.

  “Oh, right. Is it tough that some of the best bell towers are also major tourist attractions? You know, like Munich’s Glockenspiel? Those crowds are intense.” My mind was racing and Diana’s gaze was fixed on me, looking for a crack in my veneer. She found it and gave an exasperated sigh. Somehow, I had given my ignorance away.

  “The Glockenspiel is the location of our German headquarters. The crowds do not defeat our purpose because they are irrelevant. Sound moves through crowds, especially infrasound. The Cloccan world headquarters is at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., the only place in North America to house carillon and peal bells together, making the site incredibly secure. That is why Reg’s funeral was there…because we knew the Tenebraen would not try to infiltrate the building. Well, except for her and we were prepared to tolerate Noir.” Diana’s voice had a bitter edge as she talked about Carson Noir. I agreed with her sentiment even as my brain was busy connecting the dots. Noir was also part of this group called the Tenebraen? I thought tenebrae was Latin for “darkness” but couldn’t be sure. I wished Reid were here since as a polyglot, he could easily decipher the meaning of tenebrae. Too bad I had not learned language fluency from him when I learned how to cross over into his mind on Sanctuary.

  The thought jarred me. Dr. West said as the Sundial I could fuse the pure energy gifts of others. If that was the case, then why I hadn’t I been able to absorb understanding language from Reid? Or, for that matter, why hadn’t I absorbed any gifts from my own mother?

  “There you are. Couldn’t sleep?” Reid asked as he sleepily walked up the aisle. My heart melted with relief as his eyes searched my face for a hint of distress. I gave him a small smile to let him know I was holding my own but that it was good to have reinforcements.

  Reid tossed Diana a stern look and the set of his jaw was firm. Diana immediately responded to his challenge. “Don’t worry, Reid. I am not bothering Whitney. Simply trying to get to know her better.”

  Reid raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Good. Then you won’t mind if I join you.”

  “Not at all. I was just about to explain the 1968 alliance. Whitney seems to know little about the Cloccan people and you could have told her something, Reid. Not every oath has a vow of silence on it and, like it or not, you are half Cloccan. You know what is expected of you, Reid, and—”

  “Sorry, Aunt Diana. We’ve been a little busy, and regaling Whitney with the tales of Cloccan history have not been high on my list of priorities,” Reid dryly interrupted as he sat next to me and flipped up the armrest. The security of his presence was calming and I asked myself if counting on him was something I could stand to lose. I could not answer yes and it worried me that he would compromise my survival skills.

  “I told you, Reid. I have come to an understanding with Whitney. I am not trying to garner any information from her. But suit yourself.” She laughed. She looked at the two of us objectively for a moment. “Yes. Together it is undeniable. It seems the prophecy—”

  “Aunt, you are extraordinarily verbose for so early in the morning. Please do not drown Whitney in your constant deluge of information. I think we will go back to our seats and get ready to land if you are done.” Reid moved to rise and Diana rested a hand on his arm. Their eyes clashed with anger, and they seemed to be having a wordless argument around me.

 
; “Not so fast, Reid. Whitney should know that some of those from the Albus clan saw the Tenebraen shadow growing in America. The world order is on the verge of shifting…”

  “Who ARE the Tenebraen and the Albus?” I felt like I was walking into the third act of a play and was trying to figure out what I had missed. Thoroughly exasperated, Diana threw her hands up. It made me want to feel embarrassed, if I had a clue why my question set her off.

  Reid closed his eyes to shut out Diana’s antics. “The clan from the northern portion of Scotland is called the Albus clan. The people of this region have unusually strong precognitive abilities.” His voice had an air of finality to it, as if he had provided the definition and that was the end of the topic.

  “You are leaving out a bit of key information, Reid. Scotland was once known as Alba—derived from the root word meaning ‘white’—and your very name, Whitney, means ‘white island’ because Scotland is your homeland. How is it you did not know something as rudimentary as this? Have they taught you nothing?” Diana’s voice was edgy and disapproving. I felt like she was grading me on a test that I forgot to study for…and I was failing it. Her rising fury made me decide not to quibble with her that I was born in London, England, not Scotland.

  “The Tenebraen are our greatest enemy and difficult to explain as their dark forces take many forms,” Diana said. “They are pure evil and found where evil is allowed to flourish. Their presence is in the form of riot, rebellion, and violence throughout the land.