For the next twenty minutes, as we all tried to catch our breath, Father Zouadin did a series of stretches as if he were a high school track star about to compete. And every once in a while, he would look at us, giggle and shake his head disapprovingly.
After a while, we got up and continued on.
Hours later, the sun finally began to make it's slow descent before it sank behind the horizon. The the lavender-blue sky became a live watercolor show- painting strokes of salmon and violet that were intertwined with sun-kissed slivers of teal light.
The land which had stretched out before us in a flat blanket near the coast now began to dip and swell in a series of snowy hills that were dotted with evergreen trees.
“Wow, this is beautiful.” Sister Josephine exhaled. She was right. The land rolled out like a peachy-white carpeted ocean, its waves frozen in time. I dropped my gear, and tilted my head backwards, letting the last rays of the sun kiss my cheeks and forehead. A warm breeze trailed across my face, and my eyes popped opened in surprise.
“That was a warm breeze!” I commented, looking around to see if anyone else had felt it too. Kaisan walked a little distance over, and placed his hand on the trunk of the evergreen tree beside me.
“It's from the trees. They have incredibly long roots, some of which reach near the core of Mercia. That is what makes the trees and the occasional breezes so warm.”
I crossed over to Kaisan and touched the tree. Sure enough, a strong warmth emanated from the rough brown bark.
“You know,” Kaisan continued, “the Casteri lights are happening tonight. Do you want to watch them together?” He smiled warmly at me, the question hovering in his eyes.
Usually, Kaisan, had a charismatic surety about him. In school, we were both over-achievers who had competed with each other to see who could make the better grades.
No matter what we were competing in, I had always admired him because he was always so sure of himself. This very early stage of our new relationship was vulnerable, and it was reflected in his expression. We were committed to each other, but he was still not positive that I would say yes to the invitation. I know is sounds cliché, but my heart skipped a beat.
I smiled and tilted my head to the side. “I'd love to, Ki. You know, it only happens once every twelve years. I can't believe we are actually here to see it. I'd love to see it together. You know....”
“Shhhhh!” Kaisan whispered a little sharply. I put my hand on my hip and looked up at him. Did he just shush me?? I was about to ask him what the heck had gotten into him, but the look in his eyes stopped me cold. He was staring intently over my shoulder, one hand already poised to slip an arrow out of his shoulder-pack. I turned around and took a step back when I saw a group of about twenty huge white bears stalking towards us. They were still a good distance away, but were advancing steadily.
Kaisan, Sister Josephine, Father Zouadin and Brother Chord stepped in front of us with lightening speed, weapons drawn. We stood behind them, hands lifted to deliver whatever kind of Pulse we could muster. Chord had said that our skills would be affected by nervousness, and I hoped we could shake it off.
My hands were trembling uncontrollably, and the rest of the Gifted 5 looked pretty nervous too. I wondered if we would be able to get anything out at all.
“How are those Pulse shots, Bro? Get any stronger” Teo glanced over at Aziz. Aziz just shot him a dirty look.
Kaisan lifted his bow and pulled the arrow back, slow and steady. He narrowed his eyes and focused on the huge bear that lead the pack. His fingers nimbly released the arrow, and it shot out into the still air. Moments later, we heard the bear roar in pain as it tumbled to the ground.
I thought this would make the other bears stop, but they just side-stepped their fallen comrade, and began to run towards us.
“I don't think they liked that at all,” Josephine said, and she was right. The arrow had only roused the bear pack's anger.
The bears charged forward until they were close enough for me to hear their deep, mucus filled growls.
The pounding of their footsteps reverberated on the ground and through my body. Panic began to swirl around us, but Chord and the Kulindas stood rooted to their spots, revealing not one trace of fear.
The low rumble of the bear's stampede turned into a crackling thunder, and then exploded into a booming roar.
Seconds later, I heard something else. It sounded like a bass choir made of giants had opened their mouths to sing in unison. The sound was deep and loud and intense and rich and beautiful all at the same time. I looked around, trying to figure out where it was coming from. It was then that I saw the purple plasma-like fire glowing around the perimeter of our protector's bodies, and I realized the sound was coming from them. The entire area of their eyes and their weapons too were internally lit by the purple light.
Before we knew it, the bears were attacking us. Aziz, Joelle, Hantaywee, Teo and I stood in the middle of the circle, the petrified calm of a raging tornado as Chord and our Kulindas whipped into action around us. We were so amazed by the spectacle that we could barely get out any Pulses.
It was as if the purple plasma-haze heightened their fighting skills. Brother Kaisan was shooting his arrows at an incredible rate, and moved with gravity defying prowess and speed, side stepping and actually jumping over the huge animals as they hurled their bodies towards him. Sister Josephine was whipping her daggers so swiftly through the air, that you only saw blurs, and then the resulting wounds on a bear's legs or hind flanks.
Brother Zouadin, on the other hand, moved slowly and gracefully, as if he were doing his afternoon T'ai-Chi exercises.
Each time a bear charged at him, he would calmly step aside while expertly flicking his wrist. His razor tipped staff would sail through the air and land in a bear's jugular. It was so smooth that I wouldn't have been surprised if classical music started playing along as a soundtrack.
They all moved with expertise, the purple plasma fire leaving an iridescent lightening trail behind them. Chord, even though he wasn't a Kulinda, had the purple glow too. He had whipped out a pair of nunchucks and was going to town with them. His strength also seemed to be magnified, and he was doing back flips into the air, landing on the backs of the bears. As soon as he landed, he used all of his might to punch the animal on both sides of its neck, hitting some kind of pressure point. As soon as he did this, the animal would go limp and crumple to the ground.
Within minutes, all of the animals lay wounded and motionless on the snow.
We stood at the middle of the circle, panting, even though we hadn't done much work. Our Kulindas walked towards us, calmly tucking their weapons back into their resting places. Kaisan came and stood in front of me. “Yaya, are you OK?”
“Yes, yes,” I said, still shaking. I couldn't believe what I had just witnessed. “And what the heck was that purple glow! Even you, Brother Chord! Where did you guys get that from?!”
Kaisan smiled. “It's part of the blessing we received when we became your Kulindas. Chord, if you didn't know by now, is your Guide, your Orientar. We all received dreams calling us to these very tasks. When we went to the High Council, we reported the dreams, and they had us all take the Oath.”
I inhaled slightly. I knew what the Oath was. In any situation, people can always lie. The way this was dealt with in important situations was to call each side to take the Oath. Both sides had to declare that they were not lying four times, and then a fifth time while also invoking the curse of The Creator on themselves if they were indeed lying.
“Wow,” I sighed. “It really is so awesome how The Creator works. How He sent inspiration down to different people......our Kulindas, our Orientar, our meulim....The Guided Council....It just.....feels so good to be a part of a plan.”
“I know what you mean--” Kaisan was about to continue, but Father Zouadin's mad dash over to us cut our conversation short. He had a very panicked look on his face. I was alarmed because I had never seen him move so fast
before.
“Everyone!” he shouted, “hurry, give the animals a clean slaughter! You must do it quickly!” he said this while running up to one huge bear, making a clean slice across it's throat while saying “In the name of The Most High”.
It was customary to sever the veins in the neck and to say this whenever an animal was killed, so that it was immediately relieved of any pain. What I didn't understand was why Father Zouadin looked so panicked. It looked to be something more than just wanting to make sure the animals were dealt with humanely.
I wasn't the only one who felt his urgency. We all began to frantically move from animal to animal, ending it's misery. None of them were completely gone--all were in various stages of pain and death. We moved with relative speed, but Father Zouadin was racing around like a mad man. “Faster! Faster!” was all he kept shouting.
“Father, what's wrong?” Hantaywee called out, echoing the question in everyone's mind.
But before he could utter another word, one of the last two bears who hadn't been gotten to yet lifted its head and let out an ear-splitting siren-like blast that made us clutch our ears and drop to our knees. The sound was mind numbing, and covering our ears did little to dull the sound's intensity.
And then as suddenly as it had started, the noise ended, and the animal's head dropped lifelessly back into the powdery snow.
All was silent for a moment. Our heads instinctively snapped to Father Zouadin. His eyes were intense and his jaw was set.
“Brace yourselves.” he whispered.
A crack echoed somewhere, followed by the beginnings of a low rumble that originated somewhere deep beneath the snow.
Another crack. Then another. It sounded like the noise that boomed just after a lightening bolt struck. The terrifying sound wildly snapped and echoed through the air. I began to shake, and it was with good reason. The very land beneath our feet was splitting apart.
We spotted the crack and looked in terror as it lengthened and twisted, looking like a huge, hungry black python that was headed directly for us.
Chapter 3
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
The Holy Bible KJV, The Old Testament,
Psalms 91:4-6
“RUN!” Someone screamed. And the mad dash began. Everyone sprang to action. All I could hear was my own labored breath, the blood pumping in my ears, and the thud of my feet as they chugged urgently through the snow. My huge, fuzzy legs weren't helping at all. The fur on my pants created so much friction that my run was reduced to a clumsy and frantic gallop.
Kaisan was right beside me, and Aziz wasn't too far away. I chanced a look over my shoulder and could see everyone else, struggling just as hard to run, panting, and out of breath.
I didn't know where the fissure was now--if it was right behind me, or had veered off to the left or right. I didn't have time to look.
Pop! Pop! Snap! Pop! Snap, Crack!
The sound of the land splitting apart was unreal. “Oh, Creator of the Heavens and the entire Universe,”
Snap, Crack! Pop, Snap!
“Please, please, please, make a way out of no way!”
Pop! Crack! Pop!
“I trust you. I trust you. I trust you!” All my mind did was repeat this prayer.
My eyes widened as the fissure shot right between Kaisan and I. I gasped as Kaisan instinctively reached for me, but then jerked back to keep from falling in the huge, growing gash in the ground. The split widened, and we moved apart from each other as if on two boats going in opposite directions.
We each turned and began running away from the fissure, but it started to splinter again, chasing after me. My path crossed Aziz and Joelle, and they immediately turned in my direction. We turned this way, then that, but the fissure continued to splinter and follow us, fanning out like the framework of an old maple tree's branches.
Snap! Pop! Snap, Crack! I felt my leg give way as the fissure nipped at my heels. I tried to increase my speed, but it did no good. The crack suddenly sprang forward, swallowing me whole.
The ground disappeared and I dropped, the icy air whipping at my cheeks and scarf as I plummeted into the dark crevice. My arms flailed in the air, desperately trying to grab at any protrusions in the icy walls that raced by me. And then, SMACK! My body slammed into the ground, knocking all of the wind out of me. My eyes snapped shut, and I was left gasping for air. My lungs hurt from sucking in the cold, but my body needed the oxygen, and I had no choice but to breathe deeply and endure the hurt.
Smack! I heard another body hit the icy floor a few feet from me. Smack! Then another one. I hoisted myself up, my body aching in protest. “Hello?” I called out, coughing, peering into the blackness before me.
“Sis? Where are you?” Aziz! Tears sprang to my eyes from the sheer relief at hearing his voice.
“Over here, Aziz!” I called out, my voice cracking.
“Just keep talking, Sis! I'll find you!”
“I'm down here too!” It was Joelle. I could hear her sucking in air just the way that I had. She sounded a little further away than Aziz. “I'll follow your voice too, Yaya!”
I propped my elbows on my knees and rubbed my eyes. I slid my hands around to the back of my head, which was throbbing, and stared upwards. The crack snaked and twisted above us, the sliver of violet-blue sky looking like some serene river suspended overhead.
And then the images started up again. A baby crying, an army, flashes of metal and guns. I blinked a couple of times, and the images disappeared as Aziz materialized out of the darkness and ran over to me. Joelle followed moments after he did.
“Hey down there, you guys OK?” Hantaywee called. We looked up and could see the heads of Chord and the others as they peered down into the crevice. From what I could tell, we were about 60 feet down.
“Yeah, we're good. Holding up. How about you guys come down and get us?” Aziz chided.
A distant noise from somewhere deep in the shadows made our heads snap to the right.
“Ummm, and we need y’all to jump on that sooner than later. I don't think we're alone down here.” Aziz called up, trying not to let too much worry into his voice.
“Ok,” It was Sister Josephine. “We'll send some ropes down for you.”
Various heads popped in and out of view above us until two ropes finally made their way down. The end of each rope was skillfully knotted into a harness. Aziz grabbed one and gave it a good yank. “OK, you two can go up first. And hurry up. I don't want to get...eaten or anything down here.”
Joelle and I giggled nervously, and glanced at Aziz. He just raised his eyebrows and tilted his head. He was dead serious. We cut the giggles short and slid our legs into the harnesses as quickly as we could.
About half way up, we began to hear the same weird guttural noises. The sound was being made from something that was alive.....and definitely not human.
“Guys, any way to speed it up?” Aziz began to call from below, but suddenly stopped. I looked down, my heart in my throat. His hands were raised, ready to fire off a Pulse.
“Send me back down!” I called out. At the same time, I could hear Aziz's Pulse firing off into the darkness below.
“What's wrong?” Father Zouadin shouted, his hands grasping the rope I was attached to.
“Aziz is in trouble! Send me back down now!”
My rope immediately began to lower. I looked back down, willing the rope to go faster. Aziz was looking up, firing Pulses and running around like a crazy person down below.
“Yaya!” he shouted.
“Almost there!” I shouted back.
My boot hit the ice, and Aziz grabbed onto my rope. Pairs of glowing yellow eyes were everywhere, and the sound of growling and snapping jaws whipped around us.
&nb
sp; “Now!” Aziz shouted, and the rope jerked up just as some huge dark gray animal lunged for my foot. I closed my eyes to the sea of glowing pupils and wrapped my arms around Aziz as tightly as I could.
We finally made it to the surface as pairs of hands grabbed at our coats and legs to pull us up.
“What the heck was down there?” Hantaywee asked, rubbing her hands together to ease the cramps from pulling the rope.
“I don't know, and I don't want to know. But it was pretty intense down there. I shot off some pretty strong Pulses too.”
Teo couldn't help himself. “Finally!” Everyone laughed. Even Aziz couldn't stop himself from joining in.
~~~
Once it began to get dark, we set up camp. We erected two modest tents near a huge evergreen tree, and made a fire to heat up the dehydrated vegetable soup we had in our backpacks.
The night was beautiful, even before the Casteri light show began. The sky was a deep indigo sea, dotted by swirls of tiny stars and twinkling far off galaxies. The temperature had fallen, but the combined warmth from the evergreen tree, the fire, and the warm soup in our bellies made it much more bearable.
Moss covered tree skins littered the ground, and we lounged on them, sipping our soup, waiting for the sky to begin it's magic. The night was filled with sounds of quiet conversation and laughs that helped ease the tensions of the day away.
Kaisan settled on the skin next to me, soup in hand. He leaned over and nudged me with his shoulder, flashing me a smile and giving me the greeting before sipping down a big spoonful of soup.
I nudged him back, wrapped my arms around my legs, and stared at the beautiful canvas above. I took in a deep breath, and then slowly let it out, the tingling of gratitude filling me.
Enjoying nature like this always made me feel more connected to the rest of creation, and to my Creator. It always took me to a different space....where I could pull back and not look at my situation subjectively, but objectively. To retract and look at whatever I was experiencing, not just to go through it....but to learn the lesson behind it. It always made problems seem smaller. I reflected on the day's events. The splitting of the land, and falling into it's crack. During it all, I had been filled with an intense fear. In this moment, I knew what my biggest mountain was. It was fear and having faith.
The Azurean Trilogy (All Three Books: 1, 2 & 3): Essentia, Burgeor & Manifest Page 11