The Secret of Namana (The Arnaka Saga Book 2)

by Lucia Ashta

  Elena turned her gaze to Sitting Bear with the intention of explaining what was wrong with Marco. But Sitting Bear’s father had taught him to address a person directly, instead of discussing him with another. Before Elena could begin, Sitting Bear spoke to Marco.

  “You resist your destiny.”

  Elena had been rubbing Marco’s back. Her hand froze, waiting for Marco’s reaction. It was what she had concluded herself, but it was not in the ways of her family to speak so directly. She had been taught to consider the other person’s feelings before speaking. Elena thought she liked Sitting Bear’s way of doing things much better. There was less wasted time and energy and less potential for misunderstanding.

  Elena still watched and waited, and then Marco threw up.

  “You reject what I say now, but you already recognize the truth of it.”

  Marco vomited again.

  “This is good,” Sitting Bear said and smiled. “You are releasing that which no longer serves you. Release it all to the earth. She will take it and transform it. And you will become free to step into your destiny and send light up through the pyramid.”

  Marco heaved. Elena rubbed his back and held his hair away from his face, in a repeat of yesterday’s performance.

  “Good, good. You are already becoming stronger,” Then Sitting Bear ambled off to the nearest sage bush, said a quiet prayer of gratitude, and plucked a small branch. He pulled a refillable lighter from the leather pouch he wore at his waist and lit the sage. Once the sage was smoking vigorously, he walked over to where Marco, exhausted and spent, lay on his side. Sitting Bear encircled Marco with the smoke, saying prayers in his native language. Elena didn’t understand the words of the prayer, but she felt their power, and she bowed her head in respect.

  Sitting Bear and Elena waited patiently until Marco was able to walk, and then Sitting Bear helped them to their car. They could advance no more that day, but Sitting Bear said he wanted them to return tomorrow. He asked them to bring camping gear and provisions for several days and to meet him at his cave dwelling mid-morning.

  “You are strong,” Sitting Bear said to Marco as Elena helped him into the passenger seat in a replay of the day before. “Rest now so that tomorrow you feel that strength.

  “I am happy the time of the thunder gods has returned,” Sitting Bear said to no one in particular and turned toward his home.

  Elena sat in the driver’s seat and looked at Marco. Neither one of them looked like thunder gods, especially not now. But as Elena started the car and pointed it toward their campsite, the enthusiasm of Sitting Bear’s final words touched her. If life had taught her anything over the last several months, it was that anything and everything was possible. Marco was strong; he would conquer that strength and release his fears. And so would she.

  Elena put the car into cruise control and her unfocused gaze took in the vast unknown that stretched before her, lined in corn and alfalfa.

  When they arrived at the campsite, the sun was strong overhead, and Elena decided to set up makeshift camp in the shade instead of the tent. Marco would rest uneasily in the baking heat of an enclosure. Elena smiled at the ripple that roiled through her as they walked into Willem’s protective bubble of light—she enjoyed the crossover reminder of her other life. They made their way to the shade of a large juniper tree. Marco leaned on Elena heavily as they walked until Elena lowered him carefully to the ground.

  After Elena set Marco up on blankets and sleeping bags, she also sat on the ground, leaning her back against the trunk of the juniper. She faced away from Marco’s resting form and closed her eyes, and within moments she felt the visions come to life within her.

  The colors were vivid and the scenes as genuine as her own reality, just as they always were when she saw herself as Ashta. But this time, what she saw was different. This time, everything was different. This was the first time she would want to send information in the other direction and reach into Ashta’s world. And it was all because of the doman.

  16 Thinning of the Veils

  They slept fitfully, but they slept, and Elena woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed, though she still carried the haziness of the dream world with her. She looked around their campsite in the predawn light and sensed the concentration of life that swirled everywhere around her. Today it was more intense than it had ever been. Something had changed. She was certain of it. How long would it last?

  “Something is different,” Elena said over her shoulder when she heard Marco walk up behind her.

  “The veils between the dimensions are very thin right now. I can see all sorts of beings and energies from other planes—more than usual.”

  “How long have you been up?” Marco asked, rubbing the sleep out of his face. The morning was crisp. He sat to join Elena watch the sun rise, huddling up against her for body warmth. He was cold from the sudden change in temperature; his sleeping bag had been warm. Now, a chill wind whipped up and blew against his face, pushing him to alertness.

  “I’ve been up for a while,” Elena brushed away his question quickly. There were more important things to discuss. “Something is going on. I feel strange, like something has changed. The shift is tangible. I can feel it. And I can see all sorts of things.”

  Marco leaned his head on Elena’s shoulder. “What kinds of things?”

  “I see flickers of things, beings from other dimensions. They show up as either a shadow or as a shimmer of light.”

  “Are they threatening?” Marco asked.

  Elena was already shaking her head before he finished his question. She had been thinking about this. “No, they don’t seem threatening. Not even the figures I see as shadows. I think they are from another dimension, and that’s why I don’t see them clearly. They appear as enough of a shimmer to show me they are there, but not so that I know what they are. And they are all unique, as if I were glimpsing different kinds of beings.

  “Marco, something is going on, I’m telling you. I’ve seen stuff before, obviously, and I regularly see things. But it’s not every day, and it’s certainly not multiple times a day. Now it’s been like this for the last several days, since we arrived in Utah actually,” Elena trailed off in thought.

  “Why did you wait to mention it?” Marco asked.

  Elena shrugged. “I’m not sure. I guess I was trying to understand what was going on first.” She paused. “And it was intense when we first got here, remember?”

  Marco did remember. They had arrived on the very day of their mentors’ deaths, grieving, shocked, and overwhelmed.

  “And then you got sick. Twice,” she added. “Are you feeling okay this morning?” she asked. Already last night before they went to sleep, Marco was well but weak.

  “Sì, amore. I am fine. Thank you.”

  The sun was beginning its ascent, announcing a new day. It was a stunning spectacle. Marco breathed in a deep inhale of fresh air and gratitude.

  “What do you think it all means?” Marco asked.

  “I’m not sure. But I think it shows us that the veils between the worlds are not obstacles to extend into other dimensions. It would also seem that beings from other worlds can reach into ours with ease.

  “It can’t be a coincidence that this all intensified once we arrived in Utah, in search of the pyramid, can it? I think we’ve seen enough to know that coincidences are hardly ever just that.

  “Whatever it means, I’m happy you’re here with me,” she said and leaned her head against his. She looked into the sun and the resplendent colors it painted the sky.

  “Ti amo,” she said. I love you. After all, love was all that truly mattered. Everything else was ultimately inconsequential.

  “Do you feel up to our pyramid adventure with Sitting Bear today?” Elena asked.

  Marco nodded, determined. He had been laying awake in his sleeping bag thinking about it. He would let nothing get in the way of his divine destiny, and he would especially not get in his own way. He mentally steeled himself to identif
y his fears. It was the only way he would be able to release what was necessary. He would become the person he was destined to be—the man who could scale pyramids to touch the magic of thunder.

  “I need to do some prayers first though.” He kissed Elena on the forehead and walked away from her. Barefoot, he walked to the other side of the campsite, still within the protective light bubble, and stood, arms outstretched to the sun. He intended on having a very long talk with Creator.

  But as it almost always was with expectations, they proved to be wrong. When Marco opened his lips to speak, he knew in that instant to shut them. Creator knew his heart already. Marco did not need to speak. Instead, Marco bared his soul. He offered his love, his gratitude, and his desire to serve the world. Every unspoken sentiment was heard.

  When Elena and Marco arrived at Sitting Bear’s cave, it was mid-morning, the sun was bright, and Elena and Sitting Bear quietly wondered whether Marco would be able to reach the pyramid. But Marco did not. With his soul bare before all of divine creation, Marco knew himself to be healed of his fear.

  He knew within his heart that he was fully capable of fulfilling the destiny reserved for him. He knew he was worthy of such a grand purpose, and he had the strength to do whatever was needed to accomplish this goal. He deserved to share an eternal love with Elena; their bond was a vital component of his destiny.

  He was an angel incarnate with a constant connection to other worlds. He was the subject of important prophecies in human history because he was capable of transforming the world. Now, the only moment he truly had, was the time for it all. He was a force of light.

  Not needing to explain, but wanting Elena and Sitting Bear on board, Marco ran ahead of them—Sitting Bear had set a slow pace for Marco’s sake—and stopped. Marco turned to face them. Sitting Bear watched Marco curiously, expectantly. Elena looked back at Marco with unassuming love. Marco’s heart thudded a beat; Elena’s love was one of the greatest gifts in his life.

  “Look at me,” he told them. “Look closely.”

  He gave Elena and Sitting Bear time. Marco watched their eyes widen in surprise.

  “Okay then. Now, let us go.” Marco took the lead and headed toward the pyramid at a steady pace. There was no moment like the present for destiny.

  17 Master of the Isle

  Elena, Marco, and Sitting Bear made steady progress toward the pyramid. As Sitting Bear had instructed, Elena and Marco carried camping gear to sleep out on the land that night. The twins were preparing to dismantle their campsite when they discovered another, smaller tent among the equipment in their car. Marian had anticipated their every need. So Elena and Marco left their temporary home mostly intact and took the small tent of quick assembly instead. They packed scant supplies and took off.

  Elena and Marco carried their loads comfortably in external frame backpacks. Elena looked ahead and noticed only a leather canteen strapped across Sitting Bear’s chest, and even the canteen seemed insufficient for her levels of thirst. Sitting Bear had adjusted to the environment in a way Elena could not come close to yet.

  It took them several hours to reach the pyramid’s shadow.

  “Have you climbed the pyramid before?” Elena asked Sitting Bear.

  They had been mostly silent since leaving Sitting Bear’s cave dwelling that morning; very few words interrupted the placid stillness of the desert. But Sitting Bear was prepared for Elena’s question. He had been pondering this very thing. He thought it peculiar that he had never touched the pyramid. Why, when he stared out onto it almost every day, had he never gone past the point where they stood now?

  “No, I have not,” he answered, his voice full of curiosity. Perhaps today he would discover the answer to this mystery that perplexed him almost as much as the mystery of the pyramid itself. It was unlike him not to explore.

  Marco was holding up very well. It was difficult to imagine he was the same man who had fallen so intensely ill on their last two attempts to reach the pyramid. Whatever prayers he said that morning worked, Elena thought. He looked vibrant.

  They stopped to rest and regroup in the shade, the one reliable reprieve from the scorching sun. Elena fanned her face with her hat and redid her ponytail. Even the few strands of hair that had fallen loose felt like too much, adhering with sweat to her neck. But she was happy despite her body’s discomfort. Little invigorated her more than feeling this close to her destiny.

  Seated on the ground, Elena looked up into the canopy of a juniper tree. There was something incredibly powerful about these trees. She carried the berry Juniper gifted her between her breasts, even though she knew she didn’t need it to be connected to the tree. But the berry made Elena happy, so she brought it along. It reminded her of the infinite connection between her and all of divine creation.

  This juniper provided incomplete shade from the sun because its branches sprouted needles instead of the wide leaves of tropical areas, but Elena appreciated it just the same. The canopy swayed in response to her admiration, its branches moving in harmony with the wind, and Elena’s heart smiled. She wondered if sap would rain down on her as it had last time. The two drops of sap the juniper had gifted her stuck to everything, but Elena loved their scent.

  She sat under the tree and closed her eyes, her arms holding her legs against her chest. The sun dappled her face as it filtered through the juniper’s needles with different degrees of success.

  Sitting Bear observed the woman. Her sun-mottled skin reminded him of a cheetah’s pelt. Watching her now recalled memories of their first encounter. She had connected to the consciousness of a wild animal then. Coyote’s wily nature made him especially difficult to connect with, yet this woman had linked to him. The bond between Coyote and Elena had been so intense that Elena was only able to break free of it with Sitting Bear’s help.

  This was most unusual for a woman of Elena’s background. Sitting Bear had only seen indigenous people do this. Native peoples around the globe connected with other life on the planet through varying traditions, but the practice was absent from Elena’s family customs.

  Now he watched her begin to join with the juniper that offered her shade. Connecting to trees was common to him, but the intensity with which she did it was extraordinary. She did not just feel or listen to the tree; she merged her essence with that of the tree, and that was unusual. There was a mutual sharing.

  Sitting Bear’s father taught him to preserve the integrity of his being; that was why Sitting Bear didn’t let anything in. Now he wondered whether it was truly wrong to allow another divine creature to explore his essence. It was humans who were capable of conniving deceit and ill intent. Plants and animals did not function that way. With flora and fauna, needs defined actions, aligned with the flow of creation—everything in nature was a choreographed dance, repeating cycles of life and death. So why should he prevent a tree from connecting with his consciousness?

  There was an advantage to Elena’s recent awakening. Because her exposure to ancient teachings was limited, she retained a naïveté that permitted an innate wisdom to guide her. Sitting Bear possessed defined notions of the right and wrong ways, just as his father had, and his father’s father. For the first time, Sitting Bear debated the soundness of this legacy.

  As Sitting Bear observed Elena merge with the juniper tree, he was grateful. She led him to reevaluate his beliefs. As a result, he would grow and evolve. In that moment, a faint glow enveloped Elena as she became one with all of creation through her connection to Juniper.

  Sitting Bear’s knowing eyes witnessed the glow, and he admired the woman. Her ways were just hers for the time being, and so what she did was exactly right for her. Out of respect for what woman and tree were sharing, Sitting Bear bowed his head and then looked away.

  -----

  Thom and the twins walked and walked. They did not know exactly where they were going; they were searching for the doman, so they kept on, responding to slight shifts in the winds that led them. Not knowing their destinati
on did not bother any of them. They were too respectful of the path laid out before them, whatever it looked like, to be bothered by this.

  It was a pleasant day. They enjoyed each other’s company, mostly in silence, keenly listening to the sounds of nature to ensure they would notice any slight indicator of where to go. The sun shone brilliantly all day, until it was time for rest, and then the sun went down with its usual splendor.

  The twins and Thom made ready to sleep where they were. Ashta and Anak spread out their blankets, and Thom laid out his. They were in an open forest glade, surrounded by trees and their inhabitant birds and furry woodland creatures. The setting was idyllic and none of them wanted to disturb it by building a fire. Instead, they lay next to each other on their blankets and stared up into the heavens.

  They stared at the glowing moon and the twinkling stars, and they pointed out any falling star they saw. Falling stars reminded Ashta of how closely connected heaven and earth were. She liked to imagine falling stars as angels coming to earth to begin a life in a human body. When the star fell to the earth, a human being rose up from the smoke and ashes. This angelic human being then led humanity in the ways of peace.

  Musing about the parallels between her imaginings and her own angelic origins, Ashta snuggled up to Anak and buried her face under the covering blanket. She fell asleep with a smile on her face. Anak continued to stare at the stars for a long time after he felt Ashta’s breathing become deep and regular.

  Thom stayed up as long as Anak did, connecting to the forest life surrounding them. This setting was as close to heaven on earth as it got for Thom. He felt the spirit of the entire forest, and its serenity filled his heart.

  Meanwhile, Master Kaanra scoured the night for the doman. He knew the doman was close, so very near that he could feel it. Dann’s final prophecy attributed the task of finding it to him, but now that he had found it, he did not know how to retrieve it. He could not even see it. He just knew it was right there.