Walking Among the Shadows: Awakening: Revised Edition

by Navi' Robins

  “Wait!!”

  “Have a seat Aiden, please,” my grandfather pleaded. “There is a lot that you don’t understand and you will need to sit down to hear this. This man, Sir Jaffrey, has all the answers you seek. He can help you with the changes you have been going through.”

  “Changes? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I denied.

  “Aiden, please, I know exactly what’s happening to you and Jaffrey can make sense of everything but you have to be willing to listen and learn. He has a lot to show you and teach you but you have to be open to receive what he has to share with you. I trust him and if I didn’t trust him I wouldn’t have brought you to him. I’ve known him all my life and your father also knew him.”

  “Dad knew him?”

  “Yes he did. He helped your father on several occasions and he’s here to help you too.”

  “So my dad went through this too?”

  “Not exactly, Grandson. Your situation is very unique and because it’s so unique it’s also very dangerous to keep you in the dark any longer. So please calm down and listen to what Jaffrey has to say.”

  I decided to have a seat for two reasons: one, I had come to the conclusion that if I wanted to leave this place I would need Jaffrey or my grandfather to show me the way out and fighting them wasn’t going to make that exit just appear. The second reason was I needed answers and a lot of them. It seemed like everyone knew something except the person who was experiencing this phenomenon. My mom, Manny, Grandpa, Grandma, and even my deceased father. This had better be good. After I took a seat Jaffrey walked towards me and asked me if I wanted something to drink. I declined even though I was thirsty. I wasn’t in the mood for any more delays. I needed answers now.

  “Ask me the most important question in your head right now, Aiden.”

  “What am I?”

  “Good, very good question. Well, you are Baraqu and the light inside you has awakened. You and I are the last of our kind. I am also Baraqu and before you started going through the awakening I believed I was the only and perhaps the last of our kind. But you…you surprised us all.”

  “Hey, Jaffrey, I’m not sure you are aware of this but that name holds no meaning to me. I don’t know what that is or what I am.”

  “Yes, you are correct, you are not aware because if you were this room would not be able to hold you, your brother would not have been able to touch you, let alone knock you unconscious, and the man you knew as Jason would not have been able to infiltrate your home and attempt to murder you and your family. In order to explain what we are I must start from the beginning.”

  “What beginning?”

  “Creation Aiden, the beginning of all things in this realm.”

  “Realm?”

  “Yes. You see, some of the smarter people on this planet believe that the universe is filled with life on other planets and they are partially correct. There is life elsewhere, multitudes of living beings that inhabit countless worlds but we are all separated by realms. One realm can’t cross over into the next without certain keys or invitations. Some realms are uninhabitable by other beings from other realms because the environment is toxic to them. Like a fish out of water, eventually it will die because its oxygen is found in the water and not in the open air and vice versa for humans. This separation is crucial to the harmony and continuity of the universe, but it wasn’t always so. Eons before man walked the earth the universe was a dark abyss filled with dark entities of evil. The Creator decided that the time had come for order, so he spoke the most powerful words ever in the history of this universe: ‘Let there be light.’”

  “But creation happened in seven days according to the Bible.”

  “Yes, but one day in the eyes of the Creator isn’t the same as in the eyes of man. Creation wasn’t automatic nor was it a peaceful process. When he uttered those words he commissioned his warriors of light, the Immaru, to go forth throughout the universe and expel the evil that inhabited the darkness. Creation was a process, just like the seasons changing to bring about a year or the day going through its stages before it ends. Everything happens in stages and creation was no exception.

  “The Immaru fought for eons against the demons of the deep and after each victory the Creator created a new realm of light and life. Because the Creator loves variety each form created was never the same and he created some of the most beautiful forms the Immaru had ever seen. Then the time came to strike at the very heart of the demon realm. Here in the center of the universe where this planet Earth resides was the last stronghold of the demon race and their sickening darkness. The Immaru, after so many realms of war and death had grown weary and one of their most decorated generals decided he had enough. He despised the Creator for driving the Immaru to such lengths without any reward so he decided to create dissension among the ranks by lying to them, saying he had been assured by the Creator that when they had conquered this final realm the Creator would give the Immaru this realm to call their own as a reward for their undying service.

  “The Creator would create a lasting paradise for them so that they would be allowed to not only rest but also be given the ability to procreate and live in peace. You see, the Immaru were eternal entities and unless they were killed by another eternal being they would live forever, but they were never given the gift to continue life from themselves. They were created, not born, and during the ‘War of Light’ they found themselves longing for the ability to have children of their own.

  “They watched as the Creator granted the gift of continuous life to mortal beings and observed the joy it brought to them. But it was here at the final stroke during the war in this realm that the great deception took hold of them and their desires turned to envy when they discovered that the Creator had not intended to grant them such a reward. But the General knew that this would happen; he intended for the Immaru to turn against their charter of being the protectors of the realms and the keepers of the light. But what the general didn’t intend was for the Creator to create a form as unique as man. Not only did he grant them continuous life, he also granted them free will, something that only the Creator possessed.

  “After observing this the Immaru were enraged and decided to march against the Creator in battle. Needless to say the war was swift and brutal as the Creator single handedly defeated the Immaru. For their betrayal and disobedience the Immaru were banished and made to remain in this realm to live among the creation they hated the most. The General was punished for his deception by being cast into the dark realm where all the conquered demons were banished. He soon became their king and has vowed vengeance on the Creator and mankind ever since his fall.

  “With the Immaru banished in this realm they had come to a crossroad in their existence. They lost their immortality and their access to the cosmic power that was theirs to wield at will. They were still superior beings and some decided to separate themselves from mankind. But there were some that decided to embrace their new existence and began to mingle with mankind, helping Mankind advance themselves. Then one day an unlikely union revealed a most intriguing discovery. The Immaru may have lost their favor with the Creator but they also gained the one thing they truly desired— to create life from themselves. But this gift wasn’t without irony because only through man was this gift given. They could not create life with each other, only with mankind could their bloodline continue but the bloodline would be diluted and the purity of who they were would be lost forever.

  “Along with having to rely on mankind to continue the bloodline the Immaru also discovered that through man also lies the key to unlocking their powers. Instead of accessing the cosmic powers of the universe the Immaru were able to access the power of emotions and the energy that it created. They discovered that the energy emotions created although not nearly as powerful as the cosmic energy from the universe, was still a formidable power source. Similar to having a power cable connected to each living creature on this planet and the emotions they felt daily; the Immaru drew
their power from the emotional content of Man. At first there seemed to be no difference in the energy mankind’s emotions emitted until one day twin brothers in a field took up weapons against each other and by the time the fight was over, one had been murdered.

  “The emotional energy of murder and pain was broadcasted across the realm and when the Immaru felt this energy it was unlike anything they had ever experienced. Some became instantly addicted to the power negative energy created; like a crack head or heroin addict they needed more and more. Others were repulsed by the feeling and refused to use the negative energy and this is when the great divide occurred.

  Eventually two factions of the Immaru emerged: the Lalartu, which means shadow or phantom, and the Baraqu, which means lightening. The Lalartu decided to only use negative emotional energy and the Baraqu decided to only use positive emotional energy. Of course this divide posed a huge danger to mankind because in order for the Lalartu to get the energy they yearned for they would need to create pain and suffering to mankind and they went about that task with precision and vigor.

  “The Baraqu became the protectors of mankind and were chartered to keep the Lalartu or the Shadows from destroying the world of man. Now both sides due to their arrogance did not find it necessary to hide their presence from mankind and eventually the antics of the Lalartu caused mankind to take matters into their own hands. That is when the Kashaptu, or Wiccan, came into existence.”

  “The who?”

  “Witches and Warlocks. Mankind when created was given free will and with this blessing was given limitless possibilities to advance themselves, knowledge being the fuel that fed their advancement. Eventually mankind began to delve into a realm of energy they call the paranormal or spiritual realm. This is a realm created by the Creator but mankind was not supposed to have access this realm; however, for reasons unknown to us even to this day mankind was given access and the knowledge poured out. Soon the Kashaptu possessed enough knowledge to be able to combat not only the Lalartu but the Baraqu as well. The more knowledge man can internalize the more powerful he becomes. Man’s power comes from within and even in the most hostile environments mankind can flourish and that is a power that neither side can touch.

  “So the Wiccan began their campaign to rid the world of both sides of the Immaru. Eventually a pact was reached once the Wiccan discovered that the Baraqu weren’t a threat to them and the Wiccan and Baraqu joined forces to rid the realm of the Shadows. Mankind began calling us Elementals because of our ability to control the elements of the planet. Just when we thought we had the Shadows defeated, a new evil arose and its name was Alal. Half Shadow, half Warlock, and all powerful, he began leading the Shadows and he seemed to have knowledge unlike anyone, even the Immaru. He taught the Shadows that in order to control man’s emotions they must control man’s mind and they began to start working in the background. No longer fighting on the battlefield but executing a campaign of greed and deception that would cause mankind to shed any idea of positive thinking.

  “Man became self-centered and self-destructive. Each century mankind gave off less and less positive energy and our ranks became weaker and weaker. Soon the human seed became more dominant than the Baraqu seed and fewer of us who possess power were being born. Creation will only create what it needs and because negative energy became the most dominant energy in the realm, nature began to produce more Shadows than Elementals.

  “Things seemed hopeless and victory was imminent for the Shadows until Anshargal, which means ‘great prince of heaven,’ was born. He was a hybrid, having a mother who was a Shadow and a father who was an Elemental. He wasn’t Baraqu or Lalartu; he was Immaru, the original form and he had a direct connection with the Creator and access to the cosmic energy that the Immaru were cut off from. Something that was seen as an impossibility had been made possible and the universe made it so to restore balance in this realm. Most in this world called him a Messiah but he was more than a messiah for mankind. He was the reemergence of the ‘Warriors of the Light’ and forgiveness from the Creator. He was to be the vessel through which all would return to the source and mend the divide between our kind and bring mankind into our fold.

  “But Alal saw him as a threat and convinced a group of Wiccan to assist him in the greatest crime in the history of the universe. A secret meeting was called that was supposed to be a peace treaty between the Elementals and the Shadows. With the emergence of Anshargal and mankind’s acceptance of his powers and lineage, they led the Elementals to believe they were ready to mend the divide. But the Wiccan cast a spell to bind the Elementals, which left us powerless to stop the crucifixion and murder of Anshargal. Alal, in his deception made sure that neither Shadows or Elementals touched Anshargal. He left it up to the humans and his intent was to get the Creator so angry with mankind at the murder of Anshargal that he would destroy the planet leaving only our kind to remain, but what he didn’t account for was Anshargal’s sacrifice.

  “It wasn’t a sacrifice of the flesh but of his soul. All energy after being used returns to the source, but what Anshargal did was command his soul to remain here surrounding this planet and protecting mankind from the wrath of the Creator. The Creator couldn’t stand to destroy the essence of Anshargal, so his wrath was kindled but he turned his eyes away from this realm until mankind becomes what the Creator intended and the Baraqu and Lalartu become the Immaru again.

  “After the murder of Anshargal, no more Baraqu warriors were conceived, and this planet fell into darkness and the Shadows led by Alal took complete control over this planet. Their purpose as it has always been is to create an environment conducive to their addiction for negative energy. They are the facilitators of chaos and mankind carries out their orders with perfection.”

  I sat there confused and terrified at everything I was being told. Any other person would chalk this conversation up as the ramblings of a lunatic, but his revelation spoke to me deeper than any poem or song; it touched the very depths of my soul and at that moment I knew I was being fed the truth. A truth that billions of people on this planet were not privy to. But there were still some things that didn’t add up, like why me? Why now? And what kind of powers did I possess?

  “I know you are wondering Aiden, what all this has to do with you.” My grandfather had now taken over the conversation and began to reveal to me that even though no other Baraqu warrior was born after the death of the hybrid, the bloodline never died and there were people on this planet that were born with extraordinary abilities. Athletes, musicians, soldiers, etc.—all kinds of people born with an edge that gave them abilities others saw as superhuman and the ones gifted with the more extreme abilities were recruited to join the fight against Alal and the Shadows. They were everywhere, working in secret trying to prevent a complete global meltdown of everything good in this world. But they were seriously outgunned and outnumbered and with the humans siding with the Shadows, things had gotten worse. The Shadows had heads of state, businessmen, and people of influence in their pockets doing their bidding across the globe. Anything that caused mankind pain and anguish wasn’t an accident.

  Everything was planned, right down to small details like traffic jams and bad customer service. Anger, pain, murder, injustice, hunger, wars, pollution, racism, religion, disease, and oppression. All these things were assets in the Shadow’s general ledger, and from what my grandfather was telling me, business was booming. Manny and my father were a part of the resistance and they carried out dangerous covert missions against the Shadows to weaken their grip on the realm. But they never had a Baraqu Etlu, or warrior, on their side and this was basically a recruitment meeting for me. They needed my help to fight the good fight and even though all this sounded so noble, I had my reservations and anyone in my shoes would have the same reservations.

  “Okay, what is so special about a Baraqu warrior exactly?”

  “We are wielders of time and space.”

  “Huh? Jaffrey, you have to break that down for me because I
don’t follow.”

  Jaffrey got out his chair smiling and walked towards the far side of the room.

  “We have the ability to control time and space, which means that anything that falls under the realm of time and space we can change. For example, the chair you are sitting in is controlled by time and space. Right now that chair is sitting at that exact location at this exact time and it’s taking up an exact amount of energy and real estate within space and time. Well, if I wanted to I could remove it from the equation and move it on the other side of the room instantaneously.”

  “Bullsh—”

  Before I could finish my curse word, I was falling to the floor, the chair having disappeared from beneath me, and just when I was bracing myself to feel the hard floor connect with my ass, the chair reappeared underneath me as if it had never moved.

  “What the hell was that?!”

  “That was me moving time and space and altering reality.”

  “So what you are saying is with all this power all we can do is move chairs around? Great, call UHaul and tell them they’re saved.”

  “No, that was on a smaller scale, Aiden. If you possess enough positive energy you could do things that would seem impossible. You could appear to possess superhuman strength by altering your muscle density. You could soar through the skies changing the rules of time and space to fit your desire to fly. You could split the earth to swallow an entire city or you could just make the entire planet disappear.”

  “Wait, are you saying I could pull a ‘Kris Angel’ on the planet?”