The Secret of Namana (The Arnaka Saga Book 2)

by Lucia Ashta

  The Secret of Namana

  Lucía Ashta

  Awaken to Peace Press

  SEDONA, ARIZONA

  The Secret of Namana is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogue are either drawn from the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright 2014 Lucía Ashta. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  First edition: August 5, 2014

  Grateful acknowledgment is made to John Livingston for permission to use material from his book: Livingston, John G. (2004). Adversaries Walk Among Us: A Guide to the History, Nature, and Removal of Demons and Spirits. Fort Bragg, CA: Lost Coast Press. The script Elena uses to clear the demon and Marco’s request for soul retrieval are John Livingston’s material.

  Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data

  Ashta, Lucia Marie.

  The Secret of Namana / Lucia Ashta.

  p. cm.

  ISBN 978-0-9832743-0-8

  1. Reincarnation—Fiction. 2. Magic—Fiction. 3. Spirituality—Fiction.

  4. Good and evil—Fiction. 5. Angels—Fiction. 6. Fantasy fiction.

  PS3551.S42 P76 2014

  813.6—dc23 2014913189

  For my beloved,

  with love and gratitude

  1 The Weight of Destiny

  It had been a long trip. The shock, exhaustion, and grief stretched and distorted the six hours it took to drive from Sedona to Inspiration. Elena and Marco felt every bit of the weight of the world on their shoulders. Images of barely-there wraiths, haunted humans, and monstrous demons flashed, unbidden, through their thoughts.

  They were able to accept that their teachers died a purposeful death. They knew that Marian and Victor fulfilled the purpose for their incarnations. Elena’s rational mind understood that there was peace and completion in their parting of the earth plane. Still, an inevitable sense of loss clung to her bones like sickness. She had grown used to their teachers’ strength and their smiles that hinted at deep, secret wisdom. Marian and Victor were like family to her, and she already missed them.

  When Elena and Marco were finally ready to abandon the vigil of their teachers’ lifeless bodies, they turned their backs to the creek that soothed them in their time of loss and headed toward Marian’s guesthouse. It seemed like an eternity since they had last slept in the safety of the guest bed even though it had only been several hours. They planned to honor what they felt was now their duty and begin preparations for the next step on their journey when Marian’s butler intercepted them.

  After the initial shock of seeing the polite and gentle Manolo with a sword strapped to his belt wore off, Elena and Marco were surprised to discover that their teachers had known they were going to pass from this world to the next on that night when the darkness descended upon Marian’s home like a dense, unrelenting fog, destroying the illusion of safety that surrounded them there.

  Elena and Marco learned that Marian and Victor had left instructions with Manolo to cremate their bodies and then spread their ashes to the wind, so that their borrowed bodies could return to the earth once more. They had also prearranged everything so their students could continue to fulfill the purposes destined for them without interruption.

  Manolo and the rest of Marian’s staff then proceeded to carry out their detailed instructions with a sense of solemn honor. They had known Marian and Victor in a way that was much more profound than Elena had realized, and they understood that there should be no sadness at their parting. The wise teachers had completed what they were on earth to do, and their souls returned to their natural state of perfect beauty and peace. But even they, who had been around Marian’s teachings for decades, struggled to focus on what Marian and Victor’s deaths really meant, that their passing from this world to another was freeing. Inevitably, they all shed tears.

  Among her final mandates, Marian left Elena and Marco a car. As usual, she had anticipated their needs and had known they would have to leave in search of the pyramids right away. How much more Marian and Victor had foreseen of Elena and Marco’s destinies, they would never know now, but Elena suspected their teachers had probably seen it all.

  Elena didn’t know if she would ever be as wise. The many teachings she was forced to integrate over the last several months suddenly seemed like too much to handle. Her entire world and beliefs had been uprooted while she learned to accept what had previously been the impossible. Yesterday, she believed she was progressing well and that all of the miracles she experienced proved that she had accepted the magical world at a deep level.

  Today, with the weight of a destiny that held in its balance the fate of the human race, she didn’t know anymore; she didn’t know anything. For just a second, she wanted to give up. The strength of her character would never let her truly give up, but, for just a moment, she wanted to feel free from her newfound role. She wanted to feel like a small human being living a menial life, where no one depended on her for much, where humanity did not count on her to steer its trajectory toward survival.

  The irony of it was not lost on Elena, but she was too tired to appreciate the humor in it. When she had lived what she felt was a menial existence, she had longed to know her purpose, to understand what her life was really about, for it to mean more than it did then. Now that her life meant more than she had ever imagined possible, she wanted to close her eyes and shut it all out. She wanted to forget what the world was really like, if even for a moment.

  Elena turned her head to stare out the window. The mountains were different from the bright terracotta curves of Sedona, but they were striking in their own way. Shades of green colored the earth in striated tones as they drove through a corridor of mountains. She leaned her forehead against the car window and breathed. In the breath, there was calm; there was an innate knowingness that revealed its strength.

  Elena pulled in the deepest breath she could in a prolonged inhale, held it for a moment, and then released it slowly. The passenger-side window fogged. She chuckled a sarcastic chortle. Just like that, with the release of a breath, her perspective could change. The crisp detail and color she had been appreciating was now obscured. How she looked at things was her choice. Ultimately, she determined her experiences by how she decided to interpret them.

  She wasn’t weak; she was strong. She had proven that to herself over and again during the last life-changing months. She could do it. She could pull it together. She could become who she came to this earth to be. She believed in herself. She believed in magic. There had never really been any going back for her.

  She turned toward Marco. The intensity of their experiences over the last several months showed through a day-old beard. Although he had been farther along on the path of true understanding than she had, he was unprepared for the recent outlandishness that had infiltrated their lives. Demons in the flesh were not part of his ordinary experience before finding Elena.

  It was all the other things that Elena contributed to Marco’s life that brought a glimmer to his eyes and overshadowed the weariness in his face. Elena and Marco had found each other. They had proven it possible. Beloveds had incarnated through the shimmer of time to find and love each other again.

  Through finding Elena, Marco had discovered what felt like a missing piece of himself. He now understood himself better than ever before in his adult life. The destiny that laid open in front of him—ready for him—was greater than any he had imagined during the previous fif
teen years of searching. And now he knew he had the strength to fulfill this destiny. With his twin by his side, he saw tangible evidence of the magical world they lived in everywhere he looked. Anything was possible when he believed it wholly and it was in the highest good of all concerned.

  Marco shifted his eyes from the road for a moment, and he caught Elena’s gaze. He instantly understood her present inner struggle. But he also knew that she had already won the battle. Elena smiled a sad smile that melted his heart. Despite all of her inner strength, she still possessed the beautiful delicateness that accompanied the feminine. Marco reached out to sweep a golden lock from her face.

  “Are you okay, amore?” he asked.

  Elena hesitated for a second, and then nodded. Yes, she was okay. She smiled another sad smile, turned her head toward the window again, and closed her eyes. The glisten of unsung tears rested on her lashes. Marco fell in love with her a little bit more as the sun began to tinge the sky the most brilliant orange he believed he had ever seen. Creator was always there to surprise them with the beauty of life.

  2 The Time Has Come

  Arnaka felt like a different place than it was before Ashta and Anak left to answer Archangel Michael’s call to duty. The silence of the land seemed different somehow, and the sense of peace, tenuous. Regardless, the twins were excited to return home. They had missed the water and the swaying grasses of the riverbanks; the pyramids and their cool interiors; and the wind, at times swift and at others implacably still. The life at the Temple of Laresu’u Kal and even the barren sand made them nostalgic of greater times of innocence.

  After entering one of the pyramids for a long-anticipated light emission, Ashta and Anak went directly to see Master Kaanra. He had been a figure of wisdom and parental guidance to both of them for many years. They now sought him for solace and comfort after the trauma of what they had experienced while away.

  Kaanra listened in shock as Ashta and Anak recounted how Mana, Dahn, and Marn had died. It was a clear violation of universal law. In the temples of Arnaka, stories were passed down from master to pupil, but not even in the stories of his ancestors had Kaanra heard of such a thing. Not one of the ancient texts that remained from before the invasion spoke of an extraterrestrial attack either.

  A legion of darkness invaded Arnaka almost a thousand years before. Monstrous human beings that resembled the demons that fought alongside them terrorized the people and destroyed many of their sacred sites and objects. Almost all of the scholarly texts of Arnaka’s history were burned. Only those few that temple masters managed to hide survived.

  But despite the strength and dominance of its invaders, Arnaka had other plans for them. Rumored to be protected by an otherworldly force, Arnaka—literally, the land of enchanted water—steadily did away with the invaders, who could not bear the magic that wore them down every day. Arnaka tormented the dark invaders, warlords of an intense ferocity, with gentleness. The energy of Arnaka was so foreign to the invaders that it slowly tore away at them, destroying their very essence.

  The few warlords that allowed Arnaka’s gentle and magical energy to influence them saw a gradual change in their very natures. Cruelty gave way, and, as they transformed, they assimilated into the surrounding culture. In time, the people of Arnaka accepted and forgave them. As centuries passed, this event in history was largely forgotten, and the descendants of the dark warlords did not even remember their origins.

  Arnaka and its people were a cohesive whole once again. Even the land found a way to rid itself of the violence that threatened to claim it. Time was on Arnaka’s side.

  Despite having this history of dark invasion fresh in his mind, Kaanra was astonished at Ashta and Anak’s story. He did not understand how it could be possible. Beings from other dimensions were not allowed to act on the earth plane unless it was in accordance with a human’s free will. Ashta and Anak were certain that the cousins, Mana, Dahn, and Marn, did not open up to such an attack. The twins were adamant: the cousins’ hearts and intentions were pure. The extraterrestrial attack was a violation.

  “My children,” Kaanra said, “what you tell me deeply disturbs me. I do not understand. Nothing any master or spirit guide has ever taught me explains this.”

  Kaanra turned away to look out the window toward the River Haakal. A dense fog had settled over the water lending a sense of mystery to the setting. The Temple of Laresu’u Kal was still quiet as the day slowly got underway. Another of the temple masters, Master Tahn, led pupils in the central courtyard through the moving meditation that had been taught at this temple for centuries.

  “I do not know what to tell you,” Kaanra continued. “I will have to discuss this with the other temple masters.

  “We have come upon a time I did not think I would have to face in this lifetime.”

  The master had always offered the twins wise words of guidance, even if it was just to tell them they already had the answers they sought within them. Ashta and Anak exchanged a worried glance. They were embarking upon uncertain times.

  When Kaanra sat, he looked tired and weary of the trials of this life. Although the master was wiser than anyone the twins knew, the suffering of others affected him deeply. He knew the ways of the world had their perfect reasons, but he had seen pain for almost eight decades and, today, that tired him. He exhaled loudly and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

  He looked toward the river again. When Kaanra finally turned his gaze back to the twins, his eyes were full of something else, something new. Ashta did not know what it was yet.

  With eyes that seemed to swirl hypnotically, Kaanra said, “I think the time is coming, my children, when you will have to do the unthinkable. You may have to make a choice that no one ever wants to make, and the security of humanity will depend on your decision.

  “I know it is something that you never wanted to take on. I know it is a fate that you would likely have never chosen. But it is yours, for better or for worse. My children, I never thought I would live to see this time, but it has come.

  “The great prophet, Dann, told another prophecy besides the one that concerned your births.”

  Ashta and Anak raised their eyebrows and exchanged looks. The last time Kaanra revealed one of Dann’s prophecies, their lives had forcibly changed forever.

  “This prophecy was forgotten. No one understood it, not even the temple masters of Dann’s time. Despite the power that his words had always carried, many feared the prophet had succumbed to the madness of his solitary life. But I have always wondered...”

  Kaanra trailed off. He could not understand that his life would come to this. With a depth of conflicting emotions the twins had never witnessed within him before, Kaanra continued.

  “No matter what happens, know that I have always loved you. I always knew that I would, even before your births. Like you, I also have a destiny. I just never thought it would come to this. I prayed with every part of me that it would not.

  “Go now. You must ready yourselves. You will have little time for rest before much is asked of you again. Comfort each other. Protect each other. Love each other. Life is not at all what it seems.

  “Tomorrow, at first light, come to the hall to meet with the council of temple masters. I will meet with the other six masters now to discuss not just your futures, but that of all human beings.”

  Kaanra turned to the window once more. The rushing water of the river below was a reprieve from the picture that was already forming in his reluctant mind.

  “I had so very much hoped that it would never come to this. Creator will have to help us all.”

  When Kaanra approached the twins one last time, he looked preoccupied. He was already somewhere else, thinking about the seemingly impossible that now plagued his mind. He kissed Ashta and Anak on the forehead. Full lips pressed against their heads as if Kaanra wanted to remember the sensation of his skin against theirs.

  The site of Kaanra’s kiss prickled with a strong sensation Ashta tried to dismiss. She r
ealized it was possible that she might never see her beloved master again. This knowingness conflicted with her presumption that she would see Kaanra tomorrow with the rest of the masters. Her knowing usually knew best.

  Although the twins were comfortable together in the marital bedroom Kaanra had prepared for them before their wedding plans were interrupted, their sleep was restless, and they awoke before the sun. Only a few delicate songbirds forecasted the coming of the morning. Trained early on to synchronize their sleep cycles with those of the planet, Ashta and Anak were accustomed to sleeping with the sun; the moon and her magic accompanied them in the dream world. But last night, Kaanra’s words weighed heavily on their hearts.

  When the twins arrived at the temple hall to meet with the master council, they realized there had been reason for their concern. Kaanra had stolen away in the middle of the night to find something so entrenched in mystery that no one could tell them what it was.

  Kaanra usually led the meetings when the masters came together for council. In his absence, a woman Ashta had interacted with little during her years at the Temple of Laresu'u Kal sat in the center seat Kaanra normally occupied. The woman’s name was Sina, and she had intimidated Ashta as a child.

  Sina’s hair was long and raven black. It hung loosely at her sides, and, like her, it seemed strong and impenetrable as if not even the wind could move it. Master Sina was slender and agile even though she had lived for more than half a century. She also had swiftness to her character that Ashta felt was mercurial. Her eyes were a steely blue that seemed out of place with her black hair, but they reflected the lack of warmth of her personality well.

  When Ashta and Anak entered the room, Master Sina commenced the meeting in abrupt fashion. Six masters were present waiting for the twins to arrive; only Kaanra was absent. Ashta and Anak had the impression they had just walked into a war tribunal. Sadly, the twins would soon discover there was reason for the comparison.