Reid was standing on the highest peak of the escarpment. The daylight around him seemed dim in comparison to the eruption of light connecting the earth and the sun from the hole in the cliff that formed the oculus. In his hand was a gold Cloccan rope, the end of which he threw down to me. Finding it by touch was the only option since a misstep on the jagged island meant a fall into the boiling lake. I went back into my own mind and swung the spear until I hit the rope. Then I used the spear to guide the rope toward me and looped it around my wrist. It was not lost on me that the rope created a long minute hand from the center of the dial face and it gave me Reid’s position.
I leaned back and looked up into the full beam of the sun. Then, using all my might, I threw the spear into the light. I had faith the Spear of Light would find and protect its rightful owner, for the spear did not belong to me. Intuitively, I had known all along it was Cloccan.
Chapter Eighteen: Elevation
The golden rope constricted around my wrist like a metallic python and my feet left the ground before I could adjust my grip. The pressure on my shoulder socket burned and I pushed the pain out of my mind. I reminded myself that pain was mental and, as long as a chance remained, I allowed myself to hope.
My express trip to the top slowed as the roof began to close. The dome’s movement reduced some of the intense glare and for the first time I could see two large metal hooks on either side of the closing oculus. I comprehended it was part of a locking mechanism and would make an escape or rescue even more difficult. I tried to steady myself and control my escalating heart rate as Reid crossed into my mind to gain a sense of my position. I showed him the huge hooks and my distance from the top while I swung like a pendulum through the air.
Nothing happened, and I dangled uneasily on the end of the rope. I did not like the sensation something desperate was about to happen. I tried to cross over into Reid’s mind to see what they were doing and was furious to find he had blocked me out. Angry and terrified that he might gamble his safety, I banged against his third eye with ferocious determination. He was ready for me and fought hard to keep it shut. Through the fading static, I caught a glimpse of the rope being wrapped around someone else. NO! I shouted into his mind but to no avail. Reid raised his cinnabar shield against me and I was shut out.
A shadow crossed the top of the oculus and I knew someone was standing precariously close to the rim. The shadow was near the hook that would lock the oculus, and the only other person who knew about the hook was Reid. I could feel the rope being pulled in the direction of the hook and my stomach clenched as I thought about what a hook and rope would create.
“REID! Do NOT come down here! That’s a direct order! I AM STILL FIELD COMMANDER!” I shouted at the top of my lungs in desperation. I had no way to override his crane instinct and the phrase that he would do whatever it took to win a fight orbited around in my mind.
The rope lifted and I cursed as he patently ignored me. Restitution did not matter to someone who did not plan to be around for the repercussions of my anger or the reprimand of Sunrise. He had neutralized me with a lack of information except I remembered I was not completely without recourse. I had the dagger and I could feel it deep in the pocket on the same side as my tangled hand. If I could reach it and cut myself free, all of this would be irrelevant.
Every field commander has to make tough decisions, and the best solution in a bad situation was that it was better to lose one life instead of two. Dr. West’s statues on the scavenger hunt depicted the art of war as sacrifice and valor. I was brave enough to cut the rope, and I let go with my free hand to reach around my torso to grab the dagger in my pocket.
The burn in my shoulder from the violent jerk of the rope made my clever plan impossible to implement as I found myself rocketing to the top of the oculus. His construction of a simple pulley worked first. I wanted to scream in a futile attempt to stop time but as I opened my mouth I reflexively sucked in air. I saw the blur of someone bigger and heavier than me go by on the other end of the rope as we traded gravitational places. An instant later, my head slammed into a pair of strong hands braced to slow my speed inches in front of the large metal hook.
I looked up, expecting to see Patrick’s blue eyes and sun-streaked hair, and my brain almost short-circuited to see Reid’s face instead. My eyes widened in surprise and I was overcome with relief and then swamped by panic. If he did not jump into the oculus, who did?
Reid immediately grabbed back onto the rope and gritted through his teeth, “Whitney, give us your other hand.” Sweat started to pour off his face as he used every ounce of his strength to hold the rope. Giving him my hand would balance some of my weight and allow him to untangle my arm from the rope. There was an outstretched hand next to my head. That’s when I looked up and my eyes found Patrick’s shaggy curls and blue eyes. He was lying down on the oculus roof reaching in to grab me.
I went cold from the horrible realization that Blair was missing. “Blair?” I choked. Patrick was close enough to me to see the look of shock on my face. He understood I realized what had happened but did not know who jumped.
“Blair’s here, Whitney. She’s right behind me. Give me your hand,” Patrick coaxed as the roof of the oculus moved together again. It jostled my position and reminded me I had to help them help me. I held up my hand and Patrick latched onto my entire forearm. I was not going anywhere without Patrick.
The redistribution of weight gave Reid enough slack to uncoil the golden rope from my other arm. As soon as I was free, Patrick heaved me up onto the gritty sandstone roof but Reid kept holding the rope. This confirmed my worst fear that someone was attached to the other end of it.
I had figured out the oculus was closing on fifteen-second intervals. At best, it was a long shot to hoist someone up through the opening in time.
“Who is it down there?” I demanded from Reid. As I asked the question, the face that woke me up this morning came floating back into my mind.
It gave me a second to prepare before Reid answered, “Vlad Dune. He was waiting for us at the top of the stairs. He had the Cloccan rope and threw it down to you when he realized you were not with us.” Reid paused to reposition himself and to take a breath. It was enough time for me to think there had to be more of an explanation.
As if he was reading my mind, Reid continued, “Vlad told us he was Marlin Steele’s brother and he needed to get you out to restore his family dignity. He had taken an oath never to block the Light Bringer’s Way and he did not want you to waste the gift of Marlin’s sight. I didn’t have much time to discuss this with him, Whit, and I definitely wasn’t going to give you a chance to shoot it down. It was our best chance to get you out so I took it.”
I had told Reid at the Lucie statue in the shrine of the elephants that dignity was life’s rightful end. As we heaved on the rope, I took the liberty to cross over into Vlad’s mind. Through his early memories I could make out that Marlin and Vlad were both the sons of the Dogon astronomer. Marlin and his father had the gift of special eyesight that helped them maintain the traps protecting the Spear of Light until its rightful owner returned. They called this path the Light Bringer’s Way.
One day, Marlin and Vlad were working in the observatory and some local men came for Vlad. Marlin was not big enough to fight them and they took Vlad away from the village. It was the last time Vlad heard his real name, when Marlin yelled, “Mannie, come back!”
The next memory was of Vlad looking through the files in Dr. West’s office and discovering a file labeled Mamadou “Mannie” Steele. It was empty except for a VHS tape of Marlin telling Vlad he had come to America looking for him and to work on the Clarion project to ensure the liberation of the spear and to end the ghost curse. He asked for Vlad to understand that his precognitive abilities showed him he had to give his eyesight to a young girl, Whitney Forbes, in hopes no child or albino person would be hunted again. This Light Bringer had to succeed where others failed. Feeling robbed and cheated of the only per
son Vlad ever cared about, he took his revenge by sending me the cookie basket after seeing my RAST blood test results. It was not until he discovered I survived that he decided perhaps Marlin was right and maybe Whitney Forbes could defy the odds.
The rest of his mind was cluttered with the atrocious images of hate from the Thunderbird Program after Vlad assumed control. These were acts of power and brutality that never made him feel whole and became mindless and uncontrolled violence. The memory he had buried the deepest was the one of Chen Parks hanging with eerie grace in her cell. He had not expected it and could never reconcile his blame in her death. The final image I saw was of Yoshi Parks breaking his hand through the bars in agony through Vlad’s eyes.
“He isn’t going to make it,” Blair said, looking at her watch. She had also figured out the intervals. The oculus was about to move closer again and no man would be able to fit through the hole. Even if we managed to get him up to the top, there was nothing we could do to get him out.
Reid looked at me and said, “He wanted you to cut him free with the dagger, Whitney. Somehow, he knew you would have it. He said the Light Bringer does not fear death but cannot bear suffering. If you do not see fit to cut the rope, he said he would understand. He does not believe he deserves mercy.”
I thought about when I was rocketing to the top of the oculus without warning. There was nothing but motion and reaction and my brain blocked out everything else. Given the choice, I would take it over trying to figure out how to end my own life. That was a level of psychological despair I would not wish on my worst enemy. Without a word to anyone, I pulled the dagger with the black handle out of my pocket and sliced the rope.
There was no sound from the oculus as he fell. Reid, Patrick, and Blair were still holding the rope, dumbfounded as I fortified the seal of my third eye shut and walked away. I was given two bad choices and I took the one that would be the hardest for myself and the least detrimental for someone else. It was cold comfort. The responsibility for the choice was mine and it was done.
Numbly, I went toward the ridge of the dome to see the expanse of desert and horizon. I wanted to be alone. The ground started to shake like an earthquake as I approached the edge, and in front of me at least 10,000 people and hundreds of elephants were stomping their feet. The vibration was intense. There was a mighty roar from the crowd and the trumpeting of elephants as I appeared at the edge of the ridge. I could not take my eyes away from the mass of people or the magnificent elephants because I was wonder-struck that the ghost army existed. The people were all African albinos and the elephants were all white. They were cheering because the light from the sky…it freed them from the curse of persecution. I fell to my knees.
My eyes refocused on the plane’s wood laminate table and I attempted to tune back into the conversation. “…afraid she was going to fall. By the time I reached her, Tiembo had her standing back up and was waving her hand to the crowd. No, he did not know what happened to Vlad. Trust me, it was what he wanted. He said he wanted to know he had done one good act to elevate his character or else he would be ashamed to meet Marlin in the next life. Yeah, I know it was hard for Whitney but she feels OK about it knowing it was what he wanted and to be able to free all those people from hiding. The noise was tremendous. Apparently, the light from the oculus and the spear was the spirit of the Nommo returning back to Sirius.” Reid’s voice rumbled through the cold air blowing from the air vents in the jet. I fought to listen to the conversation but was not doing a good job. My head kept lolling to the right in search of a pillow that was not there.
Diana’s voice could not hide her admiration as she said, “It was quite a sight. We couldn’t have missed it—the entire village seemed to be yelling about the Nommo being set free and everyone ran outside. I’m amazed by the ingenuity of the liquid mercury to create a reflective lens that size to make it all happen. Masterful engineering.” Diana was on the verge of being giddy. Her eyes shone with excitement listening to Reid. I was a stark contrast and had to fight to keep my eyes open. Exhaustion and the painkillers Dr. West gave me for my shoulder kept luring my mind into sleep.
We were debriefing Mr. Parks, Helga, Dr. West, and Diana on the plane back home. I deferred to Reid to do most of the talking and as he went on to describe returning to the village on the backs of the white elephants, I could hardly process that it had happened only a few hours ago.
Once Reid, Blair, and Patrick joined Tiembo and me, we all went down to the base of the cliff. An African woman with albinism came forward and greeted us. She said her name was Sabina and she had straw-colored hair cut short and close to her head. Her blue eyes were like Vlad’s. She introduced herself as the matriarch of the tribe of over 15,000 people living with albinism. She explained how her nephew, Mannie Steele, had returned to her village and told them the hour they had been waiting for had arrived and it was time to be free because the Light Bringer’s Way was going to be completed.
Sabina’s skin was caramel-colored and her hand was warm and soft. “We have been waiting for the foretold blinding light during the noonday sun to come and free my people from suffering seclusion, stigmatization, mutilation, and death. All could see the healing light of the Nommo has gone back to Sirius where it belongs and that it no longer dwells here on Earth in the mortal form of my people. You have released us from a horrible curse and we are free to be seen as human beings again. Starting now, we can live with dignity under the same sun. Asante.”
I hadn’t needed Reid to translate the Swahili word for “thank you” and I murmured it back to Sabina for her kind words. I would never feel good about cutting the rope to let Vlad fall, but Sabina reminded me of his choice for dignity and honor. It made it tolerable somehow. She seemed to understand that I knew how relieved she felt that people would no longer be unseen or only targeted.
We were to lead the processional back into the village. Ana was the regal white elephant waiting to give us a ride. The white elephants were not really white; they were actually more of a ruddy pink. And, like most albino animals, they benefited from sun protection so each animal was covered in tribal fabrics across their backs. Ana’s keen intelligence was obvious in her eyes and she looked visibly pleased as we approached. Reid went right up to her and began speaking to her in a low whisper. I wondered if I imagined that she tipped her head in response.
On the ride back to the village, we swayed gracefully in the carriage on Ana’s back. I listened as Reid told me some of the reasons the Cloccans recognize the elephant as one of its sacred animals. He explained that elephants form tight-knit, matriarchal families and these ties are so strong, elephant families can only be separated by death or capture. Incredibly, they are the only animal on earth other than humans known to grieve their dead and the loss of a member of their family. Separating elephants from their family is emotionally harmful to the elephant, and countries that keep white elephants for good luck are misguided because it is bad karma. Those who want good karma must keep elephant families together and not allow these peaceful giants to be hunted.
As we approached the village, I thought I felt a low vibration and I looked at Reid. He smiled at me and wondered aloud if I was starting to feel the infrasound that Cloccans and elephants used to communicate.
“And then Tiembo took us back to the safe house in Timbuktu,” Reid said. “We have a lot less luggage than we came with but one Spear of Light, and Whitney has what I think is the Dagger of Dundee.”
“No, I don’t. I gave it to Blair,” I said with my eyes closed, hoping my shut eyelids would serve as a Do Not Disturb sign on my face. The base of the black hilt of the dagger had a D engraved into it and a Delaney seemed an obvious choice. Judging by the look on Blair’s face when I handed it to her, I was sure the knife had special meaning to Cloccans.
The briefing was over and I couldn’t fight the exhaustion any more. As I slipped into sleep, I felt Reid’s fingertips rest lightly on my shoulder. I was too tired to protest the empath X-ray and as I doze
d off I heard him telling Dr. West that the pain medication seemed to be working.
The plane cabin door opened and a chilly blast from the late October night caused goose bumps to cover my bare arms and legs. “Cold or intuition?” Reid asked with a sly smile. I gave him a sideways glance. It was the first time he revealed he noticed I often got goose bumps on my arms when my intuition was trying to get my attention. I thought back to the first time I met Reid on the soccer field and how the hair on my arms raised like it was being attracted by a magnet. “I’ve always noticed,” he revealed.
“Well, then, what’s the answer?” I didn’t move even though I wanted to rub my hands along my arms. I never got intuitive chills on my legs and I was curious to see if Reid noticed that level of detail.
Gingerly, he lifted me up to him and gave me a kiss. “Cold. But you won’t be if you stay close to me,” he whispered into my ear, and I shivered. I touched my icy hands onto his stomach and he bounced back from me as if I had burned him. “That was so not fair.”
“Whitney, although you are quite capable of taking care of yourself, I would feel more comfortable if you went home with Blair tonight. Stuart is traveling and I want someone with you as long as you are taking the pain medicine,” Dr. West said from behind us. Reid opened his mouth as if he was about to lobby for the watchdog position when Dr. West cleared his throat and continued, “Let me rephrase that. The Delaneys are expecting you and tomorrow morning you and Blair are to report to Mr. Parks. Got it?”
Dr. West’s commanding tone invited no arguments. “Got it,” I agreed. I took off the radio transmitter from around my neck and handed it back to Dr. West. It was clear I was off the field of my command and no longer in charge.
The Light Bringer's Way Page 18