by Lucia Ashta
The cousins shared mischievous energy that remained from their time playing together as children. That same sense of frolicsome familiarity continued, tempered some of the time by advancing maturity. They elbowed each other with private jokes, but without a sense of exclusivity.
In the comfort of a new sense of family, bonded not by ties of blood but by those of spirit, and in the comfort of their new makeshift home, the group didn’t concern itself with the uncertainty of the future. They didn’t know what step their spirit guides would ask them to take next, but they would relax and enjoy the moments gifted to them as they waited for direction.
As the fire died down, the celebration of life and friendship drew to a close. One by one, the companions retired to the comfort of their cabins. Asara nestled snuggly against her twin. She cherished sleeping with Anak. It had been rare for them within the walls of the Temple of Laresu’u Kal where there were no lovers other than them.
The gentle stirrings of sleep now held beautiful surprises as her partner was only a reach away. To feel his caress in the night was a whisper in the dream world of sleep. It was powerful to be able to touch each other at any moment. In the pleasure that Asara felt at such a simple thing as Anak’s touch through the night, it was easy to forget that a real war was being waged, one that involved real souls. Asara allowed herself to forget all of that in the moment and settled into her lover’s arms.
Chapter 29
The days passed almost without Lena noticing. Her body continued healing in such a way that, most of the time, she was able to forget about the murder attempt via the flattened sports car. Every day Marian or Victor prepared their students for spiritual warfare, both in abstract learning and in the art of weaponry. All four of them were aware that a real, physical battle between the light and the dark was impending. They didn’t need to speak of it. It tingled in the air around them.
That morning, Lena and Paolo were to meet Marian for a training session with the wooden staff. Though Lena and Paolo usually slept together, Marian had given them separate rooms in the guesthouse. She said that it was important for their growth and integration to have the option of space if they needed it. The night before, Lena understood Marian’s wisdom. She slept alone in her room. She needed to process all that had happened in the thunderstorm at the creek.
Although Lena was behind schedule, she took the time to read a prayer that held great meaning for her. She found a thin, unremarkable-looking book in Marian’s library that offered a simple prayer. Though minimal, the prayer gave her a greater depth of understanding of how Creator and the universe worked. She didn’t know where the prayer came from, but it spoke to her soul.
Lena read the prayer aloud. She was beginning to understand the power of the spoken word.
Source of all things:
You radiate within and all around us;
Even the darkness shines with your light.
Let us breathe sacred breath,
Creating a temple within where there is only you.
Lead us in each moment,
Guiding us to create reality in its fullest.
Help us love all creatures as you do,
Showing compassion for all life.
Meet our body’s needs with plenty
And grant us the wisdom to walk this earth.
Allow us to forgive ourselves as we do others,
Creating peace within.
Grant us the knowledge of our divine purpose,
With the strength to fulfill it.
Repel the advances of darkness
While we strive to hold pure light and faith in our hearts.
We are grateful to you always. Thank you.
When Lena read the prayer, it reminded her what was important. She asked Creator, the archangels, the angels, and the ascended masters to be with her that day, to help and guide her on her path. Lena breathed in that divine breath, moving it through her body, reminding herself that she was a combination of the human and the divine. She was ready to start her day.
She left her room, anxious to see what Marian would teach them. The petite woman surprised them regularly. Marian was gifted with the staff and had already taught the twins how to spin, swing, and twist in ways that converted the staff into a formidable weapon. Marian had told them she would teach them something special that day. Remembering, Lena picked up her pace.
Marian and Paolo chatted quietly while they waited for Lena to arrive. They stood on one of the big terraces of Marian’s home that overlooked the creek. Though they had their backs turned to her, both Marian and Paolo felt Lena’s quiet approach and turned to greet her. Lena smiled. Marian and Paolo looked happy to see her. It was such a beautiful feeling to be loved by people that understood her—the real her—and embraced all of her.
Lena and Paolo practiced their use of the staff. Marian led them through exercises in which they battled each other in mock combat. It was oddly exhilarating to Lena, and she could tell that Paolo felt it too. Occasionally, Lena and Paolo would exchange a flicker of feral energy that they would express in lovemaking later. It was inevitable.
Staffs clinked and clashed as Lena and Paolo acquired more dexterity in defense and attack. After several hours, the twins were tired, but they were moving swiftly and with fluidity. Marian decided they were ready to learn the last lesson she would teach them with the staff.
Marian directed Lena and Paolo to bring their sparring to a close, and then led them down from the terrace, across the gardens, and toward the creek. The sound of the rushing water became louder and more intoxicating the nearer they got to it. Lena’s senses prickled to a different level of awareness. The water seemed to allow Lena to access frequencies of information she couldn’t as easily without it.
Though Marian was leading them and Lena wanted to be respectful of her teacher, an urge was building within her that was becoming irresistible. Lena weighed her desire to give in to that impulse against her wish to respect her teacher. In the end, Lena decided she had to honor herself in this. She kicked off her shoes and ran toward the creek. She waded into the water until it reached the edge of her shorts. She was happy to be so free.
Lena curled and uncurled her toes, enjoying the mushy dirt bottom. The water lapped against the hem of her shorts getting them wet. She was so immersed in her enjoyment of the creek that she momentarily forgot that Marian had led them there for a specific exercise. Lena tried to force her eyes open, but it was a difficult task; the water had a very powerful effect on her. Just a minute in the water transported Lena to another world that she didn’t want to separate from.
When her eyes finally fluttered open, she was shocked to see Paolo standing directly in front of her only a few feet away. Lena had been so absorbed in her experience that she hadn’t even felt him. Paolo stood in his boxer shorts, in the water up to his thighs, staring at her with a beauty and intensity that sent a shudder through her body. Lena stared back into Paolo’s eyes; they were as mesmerizing to her as the water. She felt a magnetic pull to his heart center. Her body yearned for the beauty they could touch together.
“Ahem.” Marian’s soft throat clearing startled both Lena and Paolo. The twins were both so bewitched by the power between them and the flowing energy of the water that they’d forgotten why they were there.
Lena started, “Oh, Marian. I’m sorry. I mean always to be respectful.” Then Lena blushed a little. “I just couldn’t help myself. I wanted to run into the water so badly.”
Marian smiled at the part of Lena that wanted to be free and explore life.
“My dear child, don’t apologize for loving life and what it has to offer. And especially don’t apologize to me for listening to your heart and honoring it. Doing that actually respects me, not the other way around. I’m here to teach you that all the answers you need are within you already. When you listen, then you’re truly free to live the divine life. Now, would you two get out of the water and get dressed again so I can show you some real magic?”
&n
bsp; The mischievous twinkle in Marian’s eye got Lena and Paolo moving, their curiosity piqued.
Chapter 30
Lena and Paolo watched Marian prove to them what an illusion this three-dimensional world really was. It was one thing to believe that a woman in her sixties could move as if she were a teenager while emitting tangible waves of energy, and it was quite another to see it. The twins stood together as they observed Marian perform what seemed like a timeless ritual.
Marian moved with her eyes closed and with grace and agility, as if the comings and goings of this world didn’t affect her. Her movements gave credence to that conclusion. She moved to a slow, meditative tempo, but her unhurried movements were deceptive. Great power was building, fueled by the intensity of focus that she held. It was a combination of concentration and relaxation of focus. It was that perfect balance between holding a specific intention and handing it all over to Creator without attachment to the outcome. That was Marian’s special formula.
Her black hair barely moved out of its chignon as she swung the staff around her body in measured movements that made Lena think of the art of Tai Chi. Marian’s motions were so like the meditative practices of the temples Lena had seen in her visions that a thought flashed through her mind. Had they all shared a life at the temple before? Was that why Marian was so devoted to helping them? Lena didn’t think that the style of movement Marian was demonstrating was of this time.
Eventually, enough qi built up through Marian’s movements that a visible force field formed around her. It looked as if a bubble made of continuous ripples was swelling out from her. Marian focused that surge of power, pulling the energy of the bubble that had formed around her into the staff. Then her eyes popped open with a fierce determination that surprised Lena, and Marian pointed the staff at a shed at the edge of the gardens. In a single burst, the staff emitted enough energy to hit the shed with a force that Lena had never witnessed before. It was as if a bomb had met its target. The little shed and everything in it were on fire, succumbing rapidly to combustion.
Marian had no worry about the shed and its fate. Instead, she appeared to be at perfect peace. She stood still; not a muscle seemed to move. Not even her heart beat rapidly. Lena and Paolo, however, could feel each other’s hearts pounding furiously; they stood rooted to the spot, Lena’s chest against Paolo’s side. What they’d witnessed was an astounding display of martial artistry. It was what, until then, Lena had only seen in her visions. It was what Paolo had only felt in his heart.
Now, Marian had shown them that it was concrete reality. The twins couldn’t deny what they’d just witnessed; they could only choose to become a part of it. Marian’s demonstration propelled Lena and Paolo into further acceptance of what they were to do on this planet. It showed them that all the knowledge from the parallel time when Lena was Asara and Paolo was Anak was available to them in the now, and it compelled them to bring this knowing into their bodies immediately.
They were the twins of Arnaka, on earth for another turn at destiny. With Marian’s display of power, the twins’ capability increased a hundred fold. Believing in the magic with every cell of their beings was most of the battle. Marian looked up at Lena, and a flicker of mischief crossed her face. Marian had known exactly what she was doing and the full range of effect that her actions would have. And in that instant, Lena saw the flash of Master Kaanra pass through Marian’s eyes.
Chapter 31
As Asara slept that night, Archangel Michael came to reveal her angel wings. Even within the dream state, Asara could feel them and knew they were real. They glistened and floated like the lightest of gossamers yet, incongruously, they were strong and powerful enough to carry her. Though she hadn’t connected with her wings before in this human lifetime, they were comfortable to her. They felt like a seamless part of her. After all, she’d used them for a long time in her angel body.
Archangel Michael, bright and powerful in Asara’s dream state just as he was in actuality, handed Asara the etheric sword that she could beckon at any time. Asara’s etheric sword, the sword of Asara, the sword of awakening, the sword of reckoning, glowed with the same golden light that she and Anak produced together in the pyramids. Asara reached out to receive the sword from Archangel Michael’s extended hand. She recognized its familiar comfort. She noticed how its hilt fit her hand perfectly, as it had been fashioned for her ages ago in the heavenly forges.
As Asara began to rouse from that deep dream state, she felt her angel sword, almost forgotten in her hand. She felt the naturalness of her wings and was certain that one day she’d be able to use them in flight while still in the shell of this human body.
Asara stirred against Anak and woke from her dream. She kissed him on the forehead then stepped outside of the cabin in the still of night. The light of the moon shone bright and bathed the entire camp in a shimmering, pale light. Asara dug her bare feet into the ground, connecting firmly to Mother Earth. She visualized her feet growing roots into the ground so that she could reach into the ethers without losing her footing.
Asara stood there, in the silver of moonlight, fully grounded, with dirt between her toes. She’d stolen outside to unfurl her wings, to get accustomed to using them again. Asara felt her angel wings attached around her shoulder blades. She felt them resting in balance with her body which provided the necessary counterweight.
She began to move her wings, hesitantly and slowly at first. She stretched them knowing they hadn’t been extended to their full length in the twenty-two years of her human life. She pushed them to their fullest extension, and a shocked expression crossed her face. Her wings spanned almost twice her height!
They were a brilliant white, covered in feathers unlike the feathers of birds. They were diaphanous, as if they consisted of a base material originating in light. Just like the thin, almost transparent filaments of a spider’s web, her wings, though delicate in appearance, were strong and eminently capable of doing their job. They were of divine design.
Asara pulsed her wings, getting a sense of what it felt like to move with them. At first, she beat them slowly, then, as she grew more used to the motion, stronger and faster. She rose into the air steadily, and hovered just a few feet off the ground. Then, as she became comfortable with flight, she rose above the cabin where Anak slept.
Asara wanted to keep exploring. There was no sense in stopping yet, her adventurous spirit wouldn’t allow it. She rose up higher until she burst through the bubble of light that protected the campsite. A tremulous ripple of energy ran through her body as she broke through.
From her high vantage point, Asara could make out a raging battle in the distance. Explosions rocked the streets; orange fires punctuated the night. Shock waves of light burst in the sky, overshadowing the stars. The conflict was engaged on two levels: one below, inside a city, and a second above the city fought by flying creatures of both light and dark.
Asara wondered how it was that she hadn’t heard the sounds of battle, and then she remembered the protective bubble that Area and Arien had placed around the campsite. Its purpose was to keep out the dark. It seemed that it also muted the sounds of war, something that could dampen the glowing embers of a human heart.
She flew up higher to get a better look. It was no accident that she was witnessing this combat. She knew there were no coincidences in life but that everything was a carefully balanced interweaving of people and events. Especially then, when Asara’s life was completely devoted to the guidance of spirit, the conclusion that she was seeing what she was supposed to see was inescapable.
Asara identified angels flying over the wracked city. They were too far away to make out their faces, but she could see their great white wings, identical to the ones she had so recently discovered on herself. The angels moved expertly. They flew speedily, darting here and there, battling their opposites in this etheric battle of light and dark. The angels hovered, suspended by an invisible force, as there was a minimal flapping of wings. Then, in the flash
of an instant, they pumped their wings and ended up on the other side of their opponents, poised for attack.
The flying dark creatures were at a disadvantage. They had only small, stunted wings; their inelegance couldn’t match the graceful movements of the angels. The dark winged creatures couldn’t hover steadily, but rather jerked up and down with the beating of their wings. Still, despite the angels’ advantage, the battle was fierce. The dark creatures were resilient like the pests that ravaged humanity throughout its history.
Asara watched a figure drop from the sky. The body hurtled toward the ground, picking up speed as it descended toward earth. She was relieved to see the figure was as dark as the midnight sky, so dark it was difficult to see, except for the reflections of the moon against its darkness.
It hit a roof in its downward tumble, its body contorting and bouncing in unnatural ways. In relation to the building, Asara was able to appreciate the true scale of the dark figure. Its body was much larger than that of a human, almost twice as large. She shuddered.
Suddenly, she knew she was about to be spotted. She didn’t know what had alerted her, but wherever the warning came from, Asara heeded it immediately, and concealed herself before there was a chance her actions could endanger their group. She dropped back down into the bubble of light Area and Arien had placed around them. Within it, Asara was safe from the dark forces. In there, they wouldn’t be able to see or sense her. Already more skilled in the use of her wings, she dropped all the way to the ground, landing gently. She returned her wings to their natural resting position, folded against her back, while she reviewed what she’d seen.