Consequently, I fell behind the group and glided alone, observing them interact and trying hard not to think about that awful choking feeling.
Valerie, Celeste, and Henry were gliding together toward the back as well; Henry was doing all the talking as was his habit to do. Celeste looked bored and my suspicions were soon proven when she started to look all around her, obviously in search for me. Once she saw me, she left Henry and Valerie, and came to my side. Valerie shot Celeste an anxious look as she left, not wanting to be Henry’s only listening ear.
As soon as Celeste was at my side she laced her arm around mine and gave me a friendly nudge. “So...I’m dying to know what Alex said to you!” she said with a conspiratorial tone.
I shrugged. “Not much actually, just the usual stuff. Why?”
“Why?” She shook her head. “OK, OK, if you want to play that game we will.”
I didn’t have time to properly respond to her, because some silvery blob attached itself to my face.
“Euh! Get it off! Get it off!” I mumbled through what little room remained between my face and the blob.
“Take it easy…it’s not going to hurt you! Relax!” Celeste reached around and gently pulled the thing off my face. The thing stayed on her hand but it quickly began moving again, this time up her arm.
“What in the Eternal’s universe is that!” I said indignantly.
“An intelligence, you idiot! Don’t you remember?”
“No, not at all,” I assured her.
“Oh, come on. How could you not. I mean, sure you may not remember everything, but you must have some recollection, flashes even?”
“No, no recollection, no flashes.”
“Odd…”
“Is it? You remember being an intelligence?”
“Yes, a little bit. I remember trying to figure things out by doing what this one is doing.”
“Um…what is it doing?”
“See, how it shapes itself around things…it’s trying to understand what we are. Oh, come on, you have to remember!”
“Sorry, I don’t.”
“Well, here you go, little one,” Celeste said to the blob before gently sliding it off her hand and leaving it floating in space. As soon as the intelligence was free, it took off flying at an incredible speed. All we could see was a flash of silvery light, and it was gone.
“I wonder why I can’t remember anything.” It seemed that I now had something new to worry about. “Let’s see…I fall through space and feel choked to death—literally—then I can’t remember a thing about my previous existence…what else? Help me out here.”
Celeste laughed and nudged me again. “Oh, just forget about it. What difference does it make? Everything will work out in the end—trust me,” she said with that surety that came so natural to her. Did she ever doubt? Did she ever fear?
* * * * *
Chapter 3
The rally at the moon proved to be a bigger gathering than I first anticipated. There were thousands of spirits, and they were all as excited as we were. Several other spirits came to greet us as soon as we came into view, and my clan melted into the sea of transparent forms.
Three little female spirits hurried over to me and Celeste and when Dorian saw them coming, he too joined us.
“Hi, Luz,” Dorian flashed his most dazzling smile at her and casually placed himself at Luz’s side. This move was not missed by Celeste who elbowed me in the stomach for it.
Luz, Amor, and Paz were identical, I had no idea how he knew who was who, but somehow he could tell. They hardly ever separated, and were always giggling about something.
They were very pleasant, and Dorian who was always happy himself was naturally drawn to them, Luz in particular.
“Hi, Dorian!” was the triple reply.
“Can you believe they are capturing spirits now? Who would have imagined?” Luz commented, her words a flurry of excitement.
Paz and Amor huddled around us.
“Yeah, we were just talking about the same thing,” Celeste added.
“Max seems to think that we need to come up with some sort of strategy to protect those of us who are undecided,” Amor whispered, as if she were telling a secret.
I noticed that at the mention of Max, Celeste straightened up a bit and shifted uncomfortably.
“How would we know who is undecided?” Celeste asked.
“Well, we took a vote earlier in our clan,” Paz said softly as she looked around, afraid of being overheard. “We didn’t want to assume anything; we just wanted to see if we needed to start right here—in our own clan,” she whispered.
“And we did,” finished Amor. “Eros and Richard are undecided. Max has been talking to them, but Eros doesn’t seem to see the logic.”
“Really?” said Celeste with a sudden interest. “Richard? That seems odd; he is so decisive, so sure of himself all the time.”
Celeste thought much more of Richard than I did; there was something about him that I didn’t like. I had mentioned this to Celeste before, but because I was so vague, she dismissed it as me being anti-social and judgmental. Still, I was not as surprised to hear that he was undecided.
Richard was arrogant and conceited, but he liked Celeste, so he was always guarded around her. Eros was worse if possible. He was outright antagonistic, quick to anger like Russell. But unlike Russell, Eros did not get over it quickly.
The odd thing was that the spirits in his clan liked him, or at least tolerated him. I knew that Max was very protective of him, and that was another puzzle. Max was a lot like Dane, patient, gentle, kind, very thoughtful and quiet. Why he cared so much about Eros was beyond me.
I was usually like this—noticing things about spirits that others might not notice—I believe it’s because I’m a Discerner and that means that I should be able to read spirit’s natures. Really good Discerners can do all sorts of things like read minds and even communicate telepathically like the Eternals can through the Link, but so far I have only proven to be very inept at it. All I can do is sense the good or the bad in spirits…and apparently, fall through space.
The other spirits in my clan have certain things that make them special too, and over time we have learned to rely on each others’ hunches, feelings, and premonitions. Some are really impressive, like Valerie’s premonitions. She’s always telling us, “Oh I wouldn’t do that if I were you…” meaning, “I’ve had a premonition and whatever you are about to do will end badly.” She can be a bit of a doomsayer, but she can’t help it I suppose. If she senses something, she has to say it—and she does.
Dorian is a seer, he can actually see things in his mind, and he saw Henry coming to join our clan, before it actually happened. It’s fun to see him contradict Valerie, just for the fun of it—it drives her nuts.
Alex has the gift of wisdom and the added ability of finding me anywhere I seem to roam. I often wonder why he can do that as well as having the gift of wisdom, but such things are so random. Either way, I personally think that he needs to work on expanding his homing abilities, to include other spirits.
Celeste’s gift is more subtle; it is faith. It manifests itself through her confidence in everything. Her confidence in the Eternals not only makes her strong and fearless, but her personality is such that it infects all those around her. You can always feel like anything is possible when you are around Celeste, and that is why she is so popular and loved by everyone.
Henry has the gift of knowledge, and he is always reminding us of it. Dane, the gift of healing along with Nancy, and Russell…well his is the coolest, the gift of working miracles! Not that he has worked any yet—a sore subject with him.
We were told what our gifts were when we were formed, and some of us have been trying to develop our gifts. Frankly, I don’t know how to develop mine, but if I ever sense something about someone, like in the case of Richard, I say it loud and clear—even if it falls on deaf ears.
There is one more thing about me that not even I can explain�
�I wander. I don’t even know how it happens…it just does. I’ll be somewhere one moment, and the next thing I know I’m not! Like now, how did I end up back here? When did I leave the rally? Not long ago I was telling my clan to get out of here, and now… here I was again! What is the matter with me?
As I was turning to fly back to the rally I heard something. Filled with curiosity I turned back and followed the sound. This time, I didn’t feel the same oppression I felt before, instead I felt a pull toward the sound or presence. I couldn’t quite explain it, I knew I was doing something wrong, and I knew I should leave, but the curiosity I felt was overpowering.
I felt a tinge of guilt, but I quickly pushed it aside by telling myself that I would not be missed for a little while, and while I was here I might as well find out what had me so spooked.
Whatever noise I had heard was gone now. There was total and complete silence as I glided forward through the narrow canyon. But silence only lasted for a brief moment. As I approached a sharp left turn—I heard voices, spirit voices.
Part of me felt drawn to them. I wanted to know who they were and what they were talking about. Another part of me, the one with common sense, told me to turn around and fly off as fast as I could in the opposite direction. But I pressed on, intrigued by what the voices were saying.
No one would be able to hear them here, yet they whispered. There were mostly male voices and one female, at least one that had spoken.
I stopped and stayed on the other side of the rock, quiet, hoping not to be discovered—because these spirits didn’t feel right to me. Didn’t I have enough weirdness to last me for a long time? Why was I so curious, and why did I ever leave my clan?
Suddenly I felt fear running through my frame, and a great dislike. I couldn’t explain it. I knew I should leave but I stayed paralyzed to the spot. There was definitely something wrong with these spirits, something…evil.
“But master, I will not leave you,” said a male voice.
“You will not leave me, I am sending you and you must obey,” an icy voice replied.
“Master, the Veil, how will I remember…”
“You have pledged yourself to me; your soul will always belong to me.”
“You will recognize our call, when you are ready,” the female added smoothly and slowly as if trying to control her temper.
“I still think…”
“NO! You think wrong!” the female barked, all her patience gone.
After a brief pause, the icy male voice added, “You, all of you, will be our spies on the other side. You will be able to do things we will not. If we are cast-out, we will not be able to infiltrate certain places, high places. You will.”
“I pledge myself to you master.”
“I too.”
“And I.”
“How about you Ca…” began the female, but was cut short.
The long pause, made me nervous. What if they found me here? I obviously knew too much. Now I realized how dumb I had been. I had just been told about spirits who were getting captured—and what did I do?
Before I could answer my own questions they were there, right in front of me. How had they gotten here so quick, and how did they detect of my presence?
I was frozen with fear, I couldn’t think or move. I was face to face with the female, who looked familiar, though I couldn’t remember ever seeing her, and the Second One himself.
“So…Tess.” He tried to make his voice sound casual and friendly, but it fell short—very short. “Beautiful canyon isn’t it?” His gaze never left mine.
I remained silent, all the happiness, all the warmth within me had disappeared. I felt desolate, desperate, lost. I remembered Dane’s words about all the light, truth, and enjoyments being gone when a spirit dies. I remembered the screams and the choking feeling. “Oh no!” I thought to myself. “I don’t want to die!”
Seeing that I was not answering, the female added, “Interesting that she is here, in this canyon, while there is quite a large rally of loyalists, just over there, on the moon.” Her voice was smooth again and low.
“Yes…very interesting. I wonder what Tess is looking for here that she can’t find among her friends,” the Second One answered with a sneer.
They were right; what was I doing here, and why had I come? Stupid, stupid me.
“Maybe she wants to know what we can do for her,” the female said brightly.
“No!” My strangled croak came out a lot louder than I had intended. They however were not startled at all, but they acted as if they had been. Then they both smiled broadly and laughed.
“Well…then, she must be a spy,” the female said with an appraising smile.
“I was just taking a stroll. I didn’t realize this canyon was some sort of special gathering place for the rebellion,” I said, summoning up any strength I had left.
The Second One narrowed his eyes, but kept smiling the smile of someone who enjoyed watching others suffer.
At that moment I realized that he had to be stopped. If I survived this I would do anything in my power—whatever that was—to stop him from becoming our next ruler. He wasn’t concerned for our eternal evolution and well-being—he enjoyed the panic he saw in the eyes of those he tortured. He liked being powerful, feared, and obeyed.
“We are everywhere, dear Tess, even on that moon where your friends are.” His voice was smooth—his version of friendly. “You are all seriously misguided in thinking you will win. We will have the support we need to rule Earth, and you can help me,” he said, looking unconcerned.
“You can’t win and I will never join you! What can you possibly hope to achieve? You will be cast-out and never evolve beyond what you are now. The Eternals will not let you exist anywhere but Perdition,” I spat. The Second One cringed at the mention of the Eternals. “All your hopes now rely on others, and they may fail you too,” I said spitefully as I ventured a glance at the female. I had no idea where I found the strength to speak, but I was proud of myself for doing so.
The female, however, widened her eyes, and let out a snarl. Apparently she didn’t find my tone of voice and my insinuations to her liking. The Second One was unmoved by my outburst. He just held her arm back and kept smiling his venomous smile. Then he released her and came to my side.
He got really close to my ear and whispered tersely. “Careful, Tess, you don’t want to make me particularly mad. Nor do you want me to take too much notice of you. It will be better for you that way. Your resolve might be strong, but trust me—I’m stronger!” His last words sounded more like a low growl.
This sent a wave of terror through my frame and I was paralyzed, I could not make a single part of my form move. I couldn’t even think straight, my mind simply shut down.
“I know you, Tess…I know what you want, and I’m the only one who can make sure you get it. I can make sure you have all your favorite friends around you in mortality. I might even be able to manage to let you keep some of your current memories.” His voice was soft, but now it felt warm and inviting. Images of me and my clan—just as we are now—but alive and together filled my mind.
“Speaking of the devil!” Alex appeared out of nowhere, unnoticed by either them or I. He came to my side with a casual smile.
They were surprised, but quickly recovered.
“Alexander! My dear old friend.” The Second One said as he moved away from me and back to the female’s side.
“When have we been friends?”
“It’s never too late to make amends.”
“In your case, I will make an exception,” Alex said generously.
“You need to keep a closer eye on her Alex. She almost got herself into a heap of trouble,” the Second One said with a casual smile.
“I’m not into controlling others they way you are.” Alex smirked and shot the female a purposeful look. Then he interlaced his fingers with mine and started moving away, but stopped suddenly and turned. “You are so obtuse! The Eternals know everything about your l
ittle secret meetings. You will lose this war,” he said with spite.
“Alex…how little you know of what is really at stake here. This is not the war, but a battle. The real war, dear Alex, is far from over.” The Second One’s smile was tight, not as flashy as before.
Alex regarded him for a moment then he turned and we flew off. They made no attempts at stopping us, so we just flew off undisturbed.
“It was nice talking to you, Tess. We hope to see you soon!” the Second One called in a friendly sing-song tone as we glided away.
“Yeah, come back and see us soon!” the female said, and then they burst out laughing.
Alex was mad, I could tell, but he remained silent. This made it worse, so after a moment I broke the silence.
“I didn’t know they would be there, I just wanted…I’m sorry.” I had no real excuse so I left it at that.
“I know.”
“I overheard their conversation,” I offered hoping to sound useful.
“I heard.”
This was not going well, but I insisted on conversation. “Who was that female?”
“Her name is Agatha. She is the Second One’s mate or something…”
“Oh…they are sending spies to our side,” I offered. “They know they will be cast-out, but are making certain spirits go along with the First One, so they can have allies among the mortals. Can they do that?”
“Apparently…they’re going to try anyway.”
“They also have spies among us, now. They knew about our rally on the moon. How could they so quickly?”
“There are many on that moon that are undecided, some of them might even be spies, but we are working on explaining things to them—that’s all we can do.”
“Well, what if one of those who say they are on our side is really a spy?”
“We have nothing to hide.”
“But they can tell the Second One who is undecided and why. They can tell him what it would take to turn them.”
“Yes, those will be the casualties of war,” Alex said with a faraway look.
“There’s got to be a way to protect them while they make their own choices, without being manipulated. We can’t let them die, it’s horrible!” I protested. “I should know…”
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