“Hellmann, was he the legend you told me about a long time ago, when I visited the Red Pool the first time?” Alec asked, turning to Bernadina. “The one who destroyed the temple?”
“Yes, that is the legend of the ancient enemy that Availlen has just described,” she told him.
“Do you believe his story is true?” Alec asked her.
“I do not completely know, but I think he is closer to truth than not,” she answered.
“What about you?” Alec looked across the table at the two Sleagh Maith elders. “Do you believe this is true?”
“We too have seen some signs. Our powers are not always as reliable as they should be, and we have felt the earth tremble. Our hearts tremble as well. We believe Hellmann is about to return.”
“Why didn’t you approach the Princess with your story, instead of waging all these wars? So many people have died, and so much energy has been wasted,” Alec asked Availlen.
“We know now that our actions were a mistake. We did not think at the time that we would be taken seriously when we finally decided that we would have to marshal all the armies of the Avonellene Empire to fight this battle. We would have needed to openly expose our own hidden existence to humanity and deal with those dynamics before we could begin to cooperate with one aother, or so we thought,” the Ajax replied. “And we did not know of your existence. We thought we would seize control quickly and relatively bloodlessly. Your arrival and your actions destroyed that plan.”
“What happens now?” Alec asked as he considered the merits of Availlen’s answer. “How much time do we have? Where will it occur?”
“We think there are only days or weeks at most until Hellmann reaches the surface, and it will be in the mountains somewhere between here and Valer,” Availlen replied. “We must find a way to combine all of our energies from those of us here in this room, and we must go out and collect more who can contribute. If we can do this, I will face Hellmann in battle and hope to defeat him as soon as he emerges, before he has time to regain his composure above the surface.”
“No,” Bernadina said simply.
No? No to what?” Perpet asked.
“No to Availlen’s bravery,” she told the whole room. “Alec was brought to our world for a reason. He was given to us by his provident God as the perfect tool to fight this battle.” She stood and placed her hand on his shoulder as he sat in stunned amazement.
“He already has all of our powers at his fingertips, the abilities contained within his own body, but altered by his faith. Plus he has added those other energies that the Huldrai and some other lost race could have provided,” she said. “And we already have a way to share our energies with him, or at least I do, and I think you will be able to as well.”
Alec rose to stand next to her. “Do you really think I was brought to this land to fight this battle? My journey here hasn’t all been for Caitlen?”
“I think your battles so far had to be for your princess in order to prepare you to be able to fight this battle to save her, and all of us,” Bernadina replied. “When I first shared heart and mind and soul with you in the Red Pool, I saw all the traces of extraordinary ability within you, much of your own secret ability hidden even from yourself, and much of it murky to me.
“When you and I were in the pool, we shared a chalice of waters,” she reminded him, as the rest of the room watched them.
“I remember,” Alec acknowledged with a faint blush, remembering their lips meeting and exchanging the exotic spring waters from the chalice.
“I don’t know, or at the time I didn’t know, why I chose to carry out that ceremony with you, but that exchange of those waters in that setting gave us the ability to transmit spirit and energy to one another to a greater degree than is typical among our race,” she told him. It also made us married in the Lokasennii traditions. I never told you that, of course!
“It what?” Alec’s voice rose dramatically. He placed each of his hands on the shoulders of the woman with the enigmatic smile.
Don’t worry dear, I never took advantage of you, she sent him the silent message. I didn’t know why I felt compelled to do it at the time, but now I know it was so we would be prepared for this event.
Is all of this true John Mark? Alec asked silently in a prayerful plea for enlightenment.
Yes, blessed son it is. You are now the chosen one, who will fight a battle to save a whole world from the dominion of evil, he heard a powerful voice travel across the great distance, and felt its presence bring comfort and joy to his soul momentarily, and then the saint was gone from him.
“I believe Bernadina is correct. I am meant to be the one to do this,” Alec told the group. “Bernadina told me that the legend said that four powers were used to defeat Hellmann – they were a Warrior, a Healer, a Spiritual, and a Stone member. I already have those abilities, plus one other.
“But I do not understand how our,” he paused as he directed his comment specifically to Bernadina, “relationship allows you to share energies with me.”
“At a distance, I can share energy with you; I can give you my energy, because of our relationship,” Bernadina told Alec. “And I’ve seen in your memories that you can accept energy from others. I think we should test to see if there is a way that I can be a conduit you can use to draw energy from all of us during your battle against Hellmann.”
“I don’t know if I want to do that,” Availlen said. “How do we know we can trust him not to simply drain all our powers away from us and leave us defenseless?”
“Allow me to demonstrate first, so our companion can see?” Perpet suggested.
“That may demonstrate his capacity to act, but won’t show anything about his intentions towards us when he can take our energy,” Availlen pointed out.
“That’s true,” Alec agreed quietly. “You will simply have to trust me, and when the time comes, you will have to make your decision.
“Bernadina, show me how you send power to me,” he twisted to face her.
The lokasenna closed her eyes, then focused her attention on her own spirit, and imagined that she was in Alec’s body. She felt the power come forth within her own body, then smoothly flow into his. The sensation is remarkable; I feel both our bodies at once, she told him.
Alec felt her energy coursing through his body. He lost all track of his own physical extremities as he felt overwhelmed by the hint of odd nuances of the power, so nearly similar to his own, yet slightly askew in some inexplicable way. He felt the energy tempting him with its promises, promises of changing shape that would bring a new experience different from anything he had ever felt, and suddenly his body began to transform.
No dear, that is not needed now, Bernadina’s voice distantly echoed in his mind, at odds with the whispered promises of the powers. You must retain your own shape for now, she spoke in a more commanding tone that compelled him to obey.
It was the shapeshifter portion of the lokasenna powers that was tempting him, or perhaps distracting him. He belatedly realized that it was a phenomena not unlike the whispered temptations the energy realm offered new apprentice ingenairii as they entered the pwoer for the first time. It was a test of ability to control and of authority, and he had nearly failed this one until Bernadina had refocused him.
Good. Now reach your abilities back through me, into Perpet, and accept his powers, she said.
Alec focused. His eyes were already open, he realized, although his vision had not been focused on the physical world, and he swung his head to see Bernadina and Perpet holding hands, watching him. He tried to sort through his memories of using the powers of others. He remembered when he had first used the energies of the Stone and Water and Fire ingenairii to heal Lewis’s injury, before he had any concept of handling the power, and he remembered the energy he had pulled from Abelard and Isial to cause their demise.
“Extraordinary,” he heard Perpet’s muffled response transmitted through Bernadina, and realized the flow of power and spirit mu
st go both ways to some degree.
Neither approach was the right one, so he stopped for a moment to reconsider. This wasn’t like the situation with Lewis or with Abelard. These powers were being transferred to him on a completely voluntary and cooperative basis. He remembered tall, stately Yula, with who he had worked so well, taking her Plant energy and converting it to Healer energy. That was the way to do this, he decided, and he extended his consciousness back through Bernadina, whose purity and kindness were sincere and infinite, even while wrapped around a steely determination to fight this battle to the fullest. Alec went through her in search of Perpet. He found the man and his energy, filtered in some fashion by the indirect degree of connection, but the power was there and available. Carefully Alec opened himself further and caused the energy to flow into his own spirit.
He notice immediately that the Sleagh Maith energy was inwardly-directed. Its promise and allure was the prospect of perpetual improvement in the health of one’s own body – it could refine and enhance any bodily function to make it better for the body as a whole. The chances to improve health were limitless; they were not able to do anything Alec could not already accomplish. But with the Sleagh Maith energy available, Alec imagined he would be able to heal the most serious wounds he might suffer instantaneously.
But this is only a test, Bernadina’s spirit intruded upon his exploration. We will have more opportunities to practice and improve. For now, we know you can do this, she told him, as she gently severed the connection between them.
“That went well, except for that moment in the beginning,” she said aloud.
“What moment was that?” Alec asked, dazed by the experience.
“When you began to shapeshift. You began to move towards a mouse because you were using my energy, then you inclined towards a bear, because that is the male way, and then something independent within you asserted itself, and you verged on becoming a lion,” she answered.
Alec paused to consider her words, realizing that it had been the moment when the energy had tried to seduce him. “Well, we know this can work. Now we need to know where to expect the fight to begin.”
“I know,” Bauer said quietly. “I’ve had dreams of a giant coming out of the ground, on a mountain that was red and black.”
“Red and black? Were the colors mixed together?” Availlen asked.
“No, they were broad stripes of colored stone that were starkly visible on the mountainside,” Bauer replied energetically. “The stripes ran at a slant, and the giant came out where a red stripe and a black one came together.”
“I know where that mountain is,” Availlen told the group. “It’s only two days away from here. I passed it when I came up from the south.”
“You came through the mountains?” Alec asked, impressed. Availlen nodded.
“We should go to the mountain as soon as possible, and wait for Hellmann to emerge,” Bernadina said.
“Are we so certain that the boy’s dream is a reliable sign of where Hellmann will arise?” Perpet asked.
“He was raised as a sorcerer, and I believe his mind is keyed to receive the images that Hellmann is projecting as he dreams of gaining his freedom,” Bernadina said. “The sorcerers call upon a portion of the powers that are disturbingly related to Hellmann’s strength.”
And so the next day, carrying a heavy load of supplies, the five companions from the five races began their journey to try to anticipate the emergence of Hellmann and to defeat him in battle.
The route Availlen led them on was a rough trail in the mountains, and Alec took to using his Stone energy often to improve the journey. At mid-day of their second day they rounded a sharp curve in the trail and stopped, as they observed the striped mountain at the end of the valley they were in.
“Is that it?” Perpet asked.
Both Bauer and Availlen nodded affirmatively. “Right there,” Bauer pointed to a change in the striations on the upper right portion of the mountain. “That’s where I saw him emerge. It was early in the morning; the sunlight was red and shining on the mountain from the east,” he pointed back behind them.
By the end of the day Availlen had led them to the bottom of the mountain, and Alec began carving a path upwards, alternating between his Light and his Stone powers to see where to work.
“This is enough,” Bernadina spoke two hours later. “You need to rest tonight, in case you have to battle tomorrow.” Alec complied, carving a shallow cave that they then used for shelter; he applied his Light energy in a concentrated form to the stones around the cave, making them grow hot, and giving off warmth that was greatly appreciated.
Bernadina prepared a meal using the supplies the Sleagh Maith had provided for the journey, after which they turned in for the night, worn out by the long day of travel. Alec took no turn on watch that night as the others agreed that he needed to have a sound night’s sleep. For Alec, the notion of a sound sleep in the shallow cave, approaching a battle against an overwhelming opponent, was easier to imagine than achieve.
He was still coming to grips with the idea that he had been sent to this land to be its champion against a mythical, monstrous giant. Fighting for Caitlen, even against demons, had seemed more concrete, more heartfelt, as a purpose. The notion of an eternal, satanic giant as an opponent was not something he was yet sure he truly believed in.
I felt your work. I know you’re out there. I will be your doom when we meet, a voice penetrated his mind just as he finally fell into a sound sleep, after exhaustion had finally outlasted his worries.
He woke up with a start, jerking into an upright position, surprising Availlen, who was serving his turn on guard duty.
“He knows we’re here,” Alec gasped. “He spoke to me in my sleep.”
“How can that be? Don’t worry yourself; it was just a dream,” Availlen said reassuringly.
“No, I believe it was a message,” Alec insisted. “He felt me using my powers tonight he said.”
“Your presence must be frightening to him then, if he felt he had to try to talk to you. He wouldn’t bother to threaten you if he was sure he was going to win,” Availlen calmly tried to put Alec at his ease.
“Go back to sleep, and we’ll face whatever happens when the morning comes,” Availlen said. “You’ve already done good work, scaring Hellmann by letting him know an adversary will be here ready to fight him the moment he emerges,” he added with a crooked grin.
Appreciative of the supporting words, Alec lay back down, then fruitlessly closed his eyes as he wished for sleep to come. Although sleep eventually did overtake him and he managed to get rest, the dawn seemed to come too quickly.
Alec stood at the mouth of their shelter as the morning sunlight lit up the mountain above them. He heard and saw no hint of the emergence of his imminent opponent. They all ate a desultory breakfast together, then began climbing higher, Alec choosing to avoid using his power except when absolutely necessary, and by evening they were within a few hundred yards of the area Bauer’s dream had told them to watch, an area of scrubby bushes and scattered trees among the granite cliffs, ledges and boulders that composed the mountainside.
“It will be tomorrow,” Alec told Bernadina as they sat for dinner. “I feel it.
“Let me have the last watch of the night, so I’ll see the sunrise.”
Hours later, Perpet roused Alec from a sound sleep to begin his watch, as the blue stars of the Hourglass constellation passed overhead, finally dropping below the mountainous horizon, a sign that morning was nearly upon them.
He stepped out of the chilly shelter, into the even colder air of the open vistas. I love you Caitlen, he gently sent out the heartfelt message, hoping that his beloved princess was awake and able to hear his words.
Alec looked across the mountain, and felt a slight tremor, causing him to shift his feet. It was at hand! Hellmann was close to emerging. Alec began to climb up the mountainside as another tremor, a stronger one tossed him about, knocking him to the ground on a nar
row ledge, just above a forty foot cliff.
The sun was rising on the horizon. A pink line was delineating the boundaries of the valley to the east. And with an thundering explosion, an eruption of stones blew upward from a spot on the ground just downhill from Alec, between him and his friends in the cave.
Bernadina! Alec shouted her name with his mind, as he whirled to face the large mound of stone that was erupting on the mountainside. He engaged his Warrior energies and ran to the mound, ready to fight. In the center of the mound was a large hole, a tunnel that seemed large enough for an entire squad of men to climb out of.
Ajacii and Demons: The Ingenairii Series Page 29