Iona Portal (The Synaxis Chronicles)

by Robert David MacNeil

  “It’s a gift you share with Piper. Piper’s a healer, but she also has the gift of a sent-one, though her ability isn’t yet as strong as yours. That’s why we chose the two of you. It’s unusual to find two together with such a high-level gift.

  “To be a sent-one means you have the ability to act as an Irin, in some respects, at least. With regard to the synaxis, you’ll be able to do what we do. You can activate the gifts of other members. You’ll know how to set the group in order, even if an Irin is not present. It’s a high calling, and a great responsibility. You may be called on to lay down your life for the others.”

  Eliel hesitated a moment, then continued, “And there’s something else… a sent-one is a citizen of two realms. As your gifts develop, you and Piper will both develop the ability to move between worlds as I do. You’ll live in the earth-realm, yet there will always be a part of you that feels more at home in Basilea. Basilea will always call to you.

  “Mendrion has activated your life force. But before your gift can begin to operate, you must visit your other home.”

  Holmes was confused, his head swimming. “I don’t think I understand.” He protested.

  “There’s no need to understand, Holmes. Just come.”

  She stood and extended her hand to him.

  Still uncertain what was about to happen, Holmes followed her lead and stood also.

  “Give me your hand,” she beckoned. “It’s okay.”

  He reached out and cautiously placed his hand in hers. Even though he’d interacted with the Irin for months, this was the first time he could recall actually touching one. He was surprised that her hand felt totally human. Her flesh was real. It was soft and warm, and living.

  As she clasped his hand in hers, he was also surprised at her strength. “Since this is your first journey,” she directed, “be careful not to let go of my hand.”

  He responded by holding her hand more firmly. Then he felt a tug on his hand. There was a sensation of movement, but not in a direction he could identify. Fighting vertigo, Holmes glanced around in confusion. They hadn’t moved, but the room around them had somehow faded. It seemed like a ghostly outline of the room he knew.

  “This is the shadow realm.” Eliel said. “To the eyes of someone in your world, we just winked out of existence. We’re now invisible.”

  Holmes noted that he could still see every detail of the great room, although the colors were severely muted.

  “There’s nothing material in the shadow realm,” Eliel continued, “apart from the shades.” She nodded in the direction of a dark, fuzzy amoeba-like creature that was slowly drifting toward them. Three tentacle-like arms extended in their direction, slowly undulating.

  Reaching out her free hand, Eliel casually batted the thing away. Its tentacles immediately retracted and it drifted off in another direction.

  Holmes felt another tug on his hand. They began to move. He realized for the first time that there was nothing solid under his feet. They hung suspended in mid-air. It was the sensation of floating in a crystal-clear pool of water.

  “In the shadow realm the effect of gravity is greatly reduced,” Eliel explained, sensing his surprise.

  They drifted through the rear wall of the lake house and found themselves hovering several inches above the deck, gazing out across the lake.

  “Time is greatly expanded in the shadow realm,” Eliel added. “Virtually no time has passed in your world. This is all taking place in a fraction of a second.

  “But that’s enough of the shadow realm,” she said with obvious enthusiasm. “Now let me show you Basilea!”

  She grasped his hand more tightly. There was a firm tug, and again a sensation of movement, but greater this time. The vertigo was greater also. Holmes felt he was losing his balance and squeezed Eliel’s hand more tightly. Powerful currents of energy surged around him, tugging at him, tossing him, stretching him in several directions at once.

  The scene around them had vanished. In its place was a fog of nearly-blinding white light. Holmes closed his eyes against the brightness. There was a sensation of rapid acceleration, though again, not in a direction he could identify.

  Finally the sense of movement ceased. He opened his eyes, and at first glance, it looked like he was still in Texas. The lake was still spread out before him, though it now extended much further to the west. The shore was still lined with trees and vegetation. The biggest difference was the sky. Though the sun had recently dipped below the horizon, the light of two large moons brilliantly illuminated the entire landscape. It felt like a late summer afternoon.

  “Welcome to Basilea,” Eliel said with delight. “the most beautiful of all realms!

  “As a sent one, this is now your second home,” she continued. “You’ll one day learn to come here on your own. And Piper will come also when she’s ready.”

  Holmes glanced down and gasped involuntarily, clenching Eliel’s hand more tightly. The lake house, and with it the deck beneath them, had vanished. They were suspended in mid-air, twenty-five feet above the ground.

  Sensing his alarm, Eliel looked up at him reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Holmes. As long as you hold my hand you’ll be fine. We’re in my world’s version of the shadow realm so the effect of gravity is almost non-existent.”

  Still clasping her hand firmly, Holmes scanned the horizon. Far to the north a line of majestic, snow-capped mountains rose to impossible heights.

  In the south stood a city like no city he’d ever seen. It reminded him of the fanciful “cities of the future” drawn by artists in the nineteen-fifties. A myriad of incredibly tall, slender towers reflected rainbows of pastel colors. Between the beautiful towers Holmes could faintly see hosts of winged creatures flying from building to building. No need for flying cars in this “city of the future,” Holmes thought. The inhabitants have wings.

  Remembering a comment Eliel made back in the lake house, he said, “You mentioned a place called Hi-Ouranos where the twenty-four Ancient Ones rule. Is that near here?”

  “Hi-Ouranos is another dimension entirely,” Eliel answered. “A higher dimension even than Basileia. It’s the highest of all dimensions.

  “But it isn’t just another dimension, Holmes,” she continued. “It’s a realm beyond realms… a separate reality. You aren’t yet able to go there yet. But one day you will.”

  They drifted slowly to the ground and experienced another shift—a sensation of movement without moving. The colors around him intensified. Holmes again felt solid earth beneath his feet. They’d left the shadow realm and were at last standing on the soil of Basilea.

  “I must be dreaming…” Holmes said quietly to himself as he glanced around in wonder, trying to take it all in. “This can’t be real!”

  “I can assure you it’s very real...” Eliel smiled. “It’s my home!

  “But come…” she added, “the others are waiting for us.”

  Beckoning for him to follow, Eliel led him along a path to the east—heading away from the lake, walking through the space occupied by the lake house in his world.

  The parkland around them reminded Holmes of a carefully tended botanical garden. It was alive with colors and scents, almost overwhelming in its beauty. Flowering plants of all shapes and sizes had been arranged to perfectly complement each other, as though an artist had created a complex work of art using a living palette. A few of the plants were familiar to him, but others were like nothing he’d ever seen.

  The path sloped gently uphill and entered the surrounding forest. It was cooler under the trees, and slightly humid, but still pleasant.

  Beneath the forest’s overarching canopy, the path wound through a lush carpet of multi-hued moss and lichen, punctuated by delicate fern-like vegetation. Splashes of light from the two large moons seemed to prance and skip, chasing each other among the trees.

  Further into the forest, the path wound along the edge of a shaded pool. The pool was crystal clear and more than fifty feet across. And it was ali
ve with fish… iridescent, multicolored creatures that flashed and darted among the rocks. At the far side of the pool Holmes noted a small horse pausing to drink.

  Holmes caught a brief glimpse of the horse, then did a double-take. The horse was a classic palomino—the distinctive gold coat paired with a flowing white mane and tail—yet it stood less than sixteen inches tall at the shoulder. Seeing them approach, the tiny horse shook itself and unfurled beautiful golden wings. Like a miniature Pegasus, it broke into a gallop, spread its wings, and gracefully ascended into the forest canopy.

  Each new experience in this world increased Holmes’ sense of astonishment. Everything here seemed dreamlike, ethereal... almost too perfect. It was Utopia, Shangri-la, and Paradise rolled into one. He expected to wake up at any moment.

  “Eliel,” he said finally, trying to put words to his feelings, “this placed is unbelievable. My brain is on overload just trying to process it all. If I was a religious man, I’d say I'd died and gone to Heaven.”

  “You haven’t died, Holmes,” Eliel responded with a gentle smile as they walked side-by-side through the forest. “But in a sense, you are in Heaven… or at least one part of it.”

  Seeing the incredulity on his face, Eliel continued. “Stop and think where your concept of Heaven came from … We said in the synaxis that some members of your race have a gift to see beyond your own dimension. When your race wasn’t trying to burn them at the stake, you’ve called these people prophets and mystics and seers.

  “Over the centuries, your seers have had many visions of other worlds. Many of them saw with surprising clarity, yet not one of them had a framework to understand what they were seeing. They viewed scenes of astonishing beauty and unobtainable perfection—worlds untouched by the Archon revolt—and gave them names like Heaven, Paradise, Valhalla, or Elysium.

  “Over time, your concept of heaven developed—an idea that now pervades almost every religion on your planet. While some of the accounts have been greatly embellished, what they saw was very real. They were viewing realities beyond your world. Many of their descriptions of Heaven, for example, can be identified with real locations here in Basilea. At other times, they described places in Hi-Ouranos, Ayden, Alani, or Taverea.

  “As your legends developed,” she continued, “your seers’ descriptions of Basilea, Hi-Ouranos, and the rest, tended to meld together, becoming the various levels of the paradise you call Heaven. So in coming to Baseila, you are, in a very real sense, in Heaven.”

  Holmes looked thoughtful.

  “So here I am…” he mused, “Dr. Derek Holmes: Respected psychologist and confirmed agnostic… three-time president of the Texas Psychological Association, no less… And I’m walking around in Heaven, conversing with an angel… and preparing to do battle with the demonic hosts of darkness?”

  “That’s pretty much it, Holmes,” she nodded, smiling.

  Holmes shook his head in wonder. There’s no need to worry… He laughed to himself. The alarm’s about to go off. I’ll wake up any minute.

  Holmes was still trying to process this latest revelation when he caught a glimpse of one of Basilea’s large moons through a break in the trees. The moon was huge: at least four times the apparent size of earth’s moon, and seemed to glow with a cool blue luminance. As the shining sphere captured his attention, Holmes was amazed to note that more than half its surface was covered with white clouds.

  It took him a moment to recognize the significance of what he was seeing. Finally the reality struck… That huge moon hanging close overhead is not a dry airless rock… it’s a living world! Between its clouds, he could just make out what appeared to be areas of green vegetation and the outlines of large bodies of water. And could that lighter area near the river delta be a city?

  But the forest canopy closed in overhead, and the moon was lost to view.

  Holmes felt numb. It was too much to process. He truly was in another universe, and the categories he’d learned on earth simply did not apply. He stopped trying to figure it out, and just enjoyed walking with Eliel along the cool forest path.

  After a few more minutes, the path took a jog to the right and led them into a broad clearing.

  Entering the clearing, Holmes saw a large pond fed by several crystal-clear streams. On the far side of the pond, a huge stone gazebo soared majestically above the surrounding landscape. Eight massive columns of gleaming white marble towered thirty feet into the air, where they were joined by marble arches intricately carved with flowers and pomegranates. Above the arches rose a solid dome of polished white marble. The splendor of the structure seemed to be a reflection of the skill and beauty of the beings that created it.

  Eliel and Holmes followed the path across a small bridge and into the gazebo. As they entered, Holmes found a number of Irin waiting for them. He recognized Araton, Rand, and Khalil, but there were others he didn’t know. One of the Irin was of a breed he hadn’t yet encountered—an imposing figure almost nine feet tall. Unlike the Irin who frequented the human realm, the large Irin made no attempt to hide his wings.

  Seeing him, Holmes leaned close to Eliel and whispered, “I hope he’s on our side.”

  Eliel laughed, and introduced the giant as Uriel, who smiled graciously and reached down to shake his hand. It was an awkward handshake. Holmes sensed Uriel didn’t interact much with humans, but seeing how the others deferred to him it was obvious he was a person of some importance.

  “In your tradition,” Eliel explained, “Uriel was known as an archangel. He’s one of the most powerful of all Irin. Only the twenty-four Ancient Ones have more authority. I’ve brought you here to meet him.

  “Preparing a sent-one requires a higher level of power than most Irin possess,” She explained. “That’s why Uriel is here. He’ll activate your gift, just as he did for Columba, and many others throughout your history.”

  As Holmes was introduced to the other Irin, it struck him that he’d always thought of the Irin as aliens. But he was now in their homeworld. In this world, they were the natives, and he was the ‘alien being’ from another dimension.

  Eliel said something to Uriel in a language Holmes hadn’t heard before.

  Uriel came near and knelt down on one knee, looking at Holmes face-to-face. Their eyes met. “Eliel has explained your gift?” he asked.

  “Yes… a little,” Holmes answered tentatively, still uncertain what was about to happen.

  “Good!” Uriel said. “Then let’s begin…”

  Without explanation, Uriel placed one huge hand on Holmes’ chest, and another firmly on his back. Uriel’s hands felt every bit as “real” as Eliel’s, but much more powerful. Holmes felt his chest tightly clamped in the jaws of an iron vice, making it difficult to breathe.

  Suddenly a surge of energy began to flow from Uriel’s hands. It was hot and not entirely pleasant.

  The heat poured into his chest and then outward to engulf his body, flowing even to his hands and feet. Holmes was getting lightheaded. If Uriel had not been holding his body firmly between his powerful hands, he would have collapsed to the ground.

  The level of power continued to increase, and with it, Holmes’ discomfort. The heat passed a threshold and became pain. His body was on fire. Holmes gasped, struggling to catch his breath. Every nerve in his body was screaming in protest.

  Something’s not right. Holmes thought in alarm. He’d never known the Irin to willingly inflict pain.

  He struggled to pull away, but Uriel kept his massive hands firmly in place.

  Holmes had never experienced anything like this. For the first time since meeting the Irin, he experienced raw terror. His body was trembling uncontrollably. He felt he’d been plunged into the heart of a nuclear reactor, at the mercy of forces that were ripping him apart.

  Finally the sensation eased. Uriel withdrew his hands, and Holmes collapsed onto the polished marble floor of the gazebo.

  Holmes lay there, dazed, for several minutes. He felt weak. Shaken. Unsure what had j
ust happened.

  He looked around warily. The Irin still surrounded him, but he sensed no malice in any of them.

  “How do you feel?” Uriel asked.

  “I’m not sure…” Holmes said, struggling to speak. “Better, I think… now that it’s over.”

  Sensing his distress, Uriel explained, “We probably should have prepared you better for that. We sometimes forget that becoming a sent-one isn’t always a pleasant experience… but there’s no other way.”

  Holmes felt strength slowly seeping back into his body. “Thank you… I think.”

  Uriel extended a huge hand to help him up.

  Holmes hesitated at the thought of making physical contact with Uriel again, but finally accepted the help, and stood shakily to his feet.

  His body was still trembling. His legs felt week. He looked in confusion at the Irin gathered around him.

  “What just happened to me?” he asked.

  “Your gift has just been activated,” Uriel said. “You’re now a sent-one, a citizen of two realms. Eliel tells me there’s no time to teach you about your gift at the moment, but at the right time, it will begin to manifest. It may take years for the full expression of your gift to surface, but know that you are now a new kind of creature. A sent-one is human, but also more than human. You’re not an Irin, yet you’re now like us in many ways.

  “In your own realm, you’ll be—in some ways at least—more powerful even than the Irin. Unless the Archons attack in force, the Ancient Ones won’t allow us to enter openly into battle. We’re limited in what we can do, but you are not. You can directly confront the powers of Hades. There’s a saying among the Irin, ‘Those with the gift of sent-one have an interesting life.’”

  “Interesting?” Holmes laughed. “In my world, to wish someone an interesting life is sometimes considered a curse.”

  “It’s not always an easy path,” Uriel agreed. “But when you see the Archons driven from your world, you’ll find it’s worth all that it costs.”

  “When does this interesting experience begin?”

  Uriel laughed again. “It’s already begun,” he said. “Look where you are!”