The Secret of Namana (The Arnaka Saga Book 2)

by Lucia Ashta

  The sky above the sea was now a dense and varied shade of gray. The clouds continued to clash with each other, sounding like angry gods. The first bolt of lightning struck the ground near the water. Thunder followed in a rumble that snaked across the earth. Anak took Ashta’s hand. No matter what it looked like by the time they reached the water, they would still do what they needed to do, and they both knew it. Their resolve was firm.

  The sky orchestrated the raging clouds into a spiraling vortex. Crackling air, live with electrical energy, swirled above the water’s surface. The frenzy of chaos and power announced itself loudly in another startling crack of thunder, immediately following a blinding flash of lightning.

  It was light and dark coming together—simultaneously clashing and cooperating in an accurate reflection of how light and dark worked together to bring about soul evolution—that was the root cause of the supernatural storm. Usually, the more powerful or prevalent energy gradually influenced the weaker energy that did not match it until the lesser energy became like it. However, in this case, the light and the dark met rapidly and with great force. There was no opportunity for gradual adaptation. Instead, flashing light and thunder clashed and clanged.

  Thom put his hand beneath his cloak to check the doman. It was tucked safely against his beating heart. It rested as if unaware of what was building around them, sleeping as an infant could, no matter what was happening in its surroundings. The doman felt peaceful and calm, content even.

  Thom knew the doman was powerful. Of course it was. It had to be. After all, it was the object of the great prophet’s final prophecy. It was important enough that Dann used his last words and dying wish on the survival of this prophecy. The doman was vital.

  Thom looked toward the storm and then to the golden twins of prophecy. The outcome of their quest was written upon fluorescent stars long ago. All the light warriors had to do was step onto the footpath destiny had already laid out for them.

  As if in confirmation of his conclusion, Ashta and Anak began to change, and Thom took this as validation that everything they were encountering was as it should be. In the end, any challenge could truly be a blessing if it led to soul growth, and, without understanding the full scope of any situation, it was difficult to determine what effect it would have.

  Ashta and Anak—the golden children of another of Dann’s important prophecies, the twins of now and of other times, the divinely destined beloveds entrusted with the care of light in this human world—changed as swiftly as the storm brewing overhead. With each step they took, their inner light expanded outward. They walked, their minds stilled by the overarching simplicity of life.

  They no longer noticed the threat of storm or darkness. They connected to the heavens and to the Creator of everything, of both the light and the dark, and pulled light down through the crowns of their heads. The basic spark of light fueled all life; it ran even within the darkness at some level. The light was always there.

  As Ashta and Anak pulled more light into their bodies, the light filled their physical shells and overflowed into their energetic fields. Each time, the light grew brighter, and the twins’ glow grew stronger, until the twins were saturated with light. They became beings of light while still within human bodies.

  If the twins had wanted anyone to know they were angels walking the earth for a lifetime, this would have been the time to suggest the seemingly far-fetched notion. Even the nonbelievers would have accepted what was undeniable to the bare eye.

  The twins’ pace was steady. They were within reach of the water’s edge, and, with their next step, they touched it. The crisp water saturated the twins’ leather moccasins the moment they stepped into the Haakal River. The ruby still glowed a vivid, bright red at Ashta’s chest. It pulsed insistently, announcing to Ashta that she and her twin were not at their final destination yet.

  Even so, the ruby was calmer now. Ashta knew where she was going. And Ashta, as powerful as any being on earth at this time, knew exactly what to do next.

  The storm above them flexed its muscles. It announced its intentions with the loudest shake of thunder yet. The booming clap startled the animals around them, causing them to become skittish, but neither Ashta nor Anak flinched. The twins were already somewhere else. Nothing of this earth could threaten them any longer.

  Thom and Kaanra came up behind Ashta and Anak. When the twins turned to look at the gentle master that was more a father to them than anything else, there were tears in his eyes. He had never seen Ashta and Anak like this before, and he believed then that he had never seen anything more beautiful in his long life.

  When the twins reached out to embrace Thom and Kaanra, Kaanra knew what it meant. None of them could anticipate what would happen next, or if any of them would survive this. But Kaanra also knew in his heart that, in the end, it did not matter. They were beings of love, and that was one of the main reasons Creator breathed life into each of them. Whatever happened to them next would be perfect, no matter what it looked like to rational minds.

  Kaanra placed one arm on Ashta and the other on Anak’s shoulder. He faced them squarely. The twins stood before the master with their arms touching; they were forever each other’s main source of support. With tears Kaanra could no longer hold back, he said, “Remember, I vowed before Creator to assist each of you in any way I could, until Creator gives me my last breath.”

  Kaanra spoke aloud in the language of Arnaka despite Thom’s presence. The sound and frequency of Kaanra’s voice gave his words more power, and this was important to the old man as he stared into Ashta and Anak’s eyes, knowing he may never see them again in these bodies. He did not remember if he had ever cried with this much emotion before. He could not hold any of it back. Creator may not have given him children of the flesh, but Creator had blessed him with children all the same.

  “I will do anything I can to help you. Anything. As long as I live, you can call on me. Even if it means giving my life, I will do it. What you are about to do is more important than any one human life, especially one like mine.” He looked at them with tenacity. “I have already fulfilled my divine destiny.”

  Ashta and Anak were not just going into an underwater pyramid for another light emission. The light warriors all understood that the twins might travel to another dimension, possibly to the same plane that Baldub and Carn had disappeared to, desiring to right the wrongs the dark extraterrestrials orchestrated.

  Baldub and Carn had made a heroic choice. They sought to preserve the integrity of the cousins’ souls and to return them to their rightful places in the cycle of life and death so the cousins could again reincarnate into human bodies. Baldub and Carn wanted to correct the injustice perpetrated by the dark extraterrestrials and, by doing so, contribute toward rectifying the imbalance between light and dark. And so they had grabbed each other by the hand and jumped through the portal into the dark unknown. It swallowed them instants before it closed to this world forever.

  Now it was Ashta and Anak’s turn. They embraced Kaanra like children who might not see their father again. But they did not shed tears like he did. They were connected to something mighty, and, in that moment, in that space, there was no sadness. There was only perfection.

  The twins embraced Thom next. He had become their brother, and they loved him too. Thom shared in what coursed through the twins so distinctly that he could not experience sadness at their parting either. The glow that surrounded Ashta and Anak, on its own, spoke of a great force.

  When the twins pulled away from the arms of their spirit family, they instinctively turned their gazes to the sky. Beyond the storm that blotted out the midday sunshine, they were able to make out the faintest outline of a raven flying toward them at startling speed. It was as if a demonic fury were pumping the raven’s wings. The light warriors were shocked that Brazzon was already this close to them.

  Still, it was possible. The path back to Arnaka from the fairies’ forest took several days to travel by foot. Arnaka was an
island and the road to and from it was circuitous. As the dark raven flew, he cut the most direct path to Arnaka, reducing his travel time exponentially.

  The dark raven was still too far away to cause harm. But even though distance obscured the details of the flying creature, only a speck in the skies, the light warriors knew it was Brazzon. He made his way to them with a purpose and focus that knew no relief, and he would make it to the underwater pyramid as quickly as his agile flight would allow. It was time to move now.

  Thom turned his back to the incoming raven and transferred the care of the doman to Anak.

  Namana is yours to protect now. It will allow you to open the pyramid to unknown worlds.

  Then Thom tenderly extended the doman to Anak, who received it while bowing his head.

  Anak did not wear a cloak to conceal the doman, so he slipped it underneath his shirt. It was not much of a deception, but it was something. The twins left their satchels in Kaanra’s care, only carrying a canteen slung across one shoulder, swords fastened at their waists, and the doman and the ruby.

  There was not a moment to spare. The twins turned as one and walked into the water.

  37 The Brewing of Convergence

  Elena and Marco tired of calling to Sitting Bear with no reply. The silence within the pyramid had a life all its own, and it blanketed them. They could not ignore the dense silence any more than they could the surrounding darkness. There was no escaping it.

  The twins resigned themselves to being seemingly trapped inside the pyramid, without understanding how they got there or what they were meant to do. Any entrance the pyramid once had was closed long ago. The pyramid was a tool for energy amplification and emission that could be used for the purposes of the dark as much as for the light. For that reason, Thunder Gods sealed the pyramid to protect the world from the spreading darkness of his time.

  Thunder Gods was the last human being to enter the pyramid. It was now another version of Thunder Gods’ brother and sister, Swift Horse and Sky Elk, who were entrusted with the duty to correct the imbalance of light and dark in the world.

  “Marco, what are we supposed to do now?” Elena asked in a small voice.

  To be suddenly thrust through impenetrable stone, inside a dark and ancient pyramid, was a lot for Elena to handle. Still, she could not begin doubting any of it now. She would not. She was already too far down the rabbit hole to try to climb out of it. She had no choice but to side step the path her former daughter-wife-professional self would lead her down. If she let herself go there, she would only freak out. Nothing productive would come of it.

  Her only real choice was to embrace the magic all around her as if this were an everyday occurrence. What else could she do?

  Marco sounded much calmer than she felt. “Remember, amore, I was meant to find the pyramid. But you are the key to it.”

  That was not at all reassuring to Elena. “But I have no idea what to do!” She blew her hair out of her face in frustration.

  No sooner had she said this than something pulled her attention away from her seeming helplessness. It was the berry the juniper tree had gifted her, and Marco had wrapped with a cord so she could wear it around her neck. Already accustomed to its presence, Elena had forgotten about it entirely.

  Now, it made her remember. The berry was suddenly warm at her chest, and she swore the pulsing of her heart ran through it. How could that be? The heartbeat of the juniper berry was so strong that it disrupted her thoughts. What could it mean?

  The juniper berry throbbed above Elena’s heart just as the ruby pulsed with the rhythm of Ashta’s heart.

  Hurry! You must hurry! We need you!

  From within one pyramid to another, across boundaries of space and time, Ashta reached through to Elena.

  Elena closed her eyes to connect to Ashta fully. If it was urgent that she and Marco act quickly, she must know precisely what they needed to do. There could be no delay or missteps, and this was the best tool Elena had to understand what was happening in Ashta’s world.

  Neither Thom nor Kaanra could follow Ashta and Anak into the water. They had not learned how to breathe water instead of air. Just as Ashta had suspected, Anak’s guides had also led him to the water to become one with it early on. Always connected and learning synchronistic lessons, Ashta and Anak were equally prepared to enter this underwater world.

  The Haakal River circled the island of Arnaka, until it eventually merged with the sweet waters of the Hosuul Sea. The twins serenely walked into the familiar water, all earthly waters uniting with them in that moment. At their core, all waters of the world carried the same substance, and the twins connected with that essence as if it were their own.

  Still glowing radiantly, they walked, hand in hand, into the Haakal River until their heads dipped beneath the surface, their yellow hair trailing behind them like strands of seaweed. As Kaanra saw his children give themselves over to the water completely, a sob broke through his fragile veneer of composure. He had become more emotional as he entered old age. He understood more clearly what was of true importance in life, and two of those things of great importance had just disappeared under the water in human bodies that supposedly could not survive an aquatic environment.

  Thom placed his arm around Kaanra and pulled the older man close. Kaanra leaned his head on Thom’s shoulder and cried. Kaanra seemed smaller than Thom remembered; they appeared to be the same height. Emotion pushed down on Kaanra. He became a fluid shape against Thom’s shoulder, as if no bone supported his frame, and he let it all go.

  Thom alone stared forward to where the twins had vanished. The water churned, ensuring it would not be ignored. The storm was still loud and oppressive above them. Thom turned his head to look over his shoulder. The dark raven was closer.

  Hurry, Ashta and Anak. Hurry.

  Elena’s eyes popped open. She stared into the dark.

  “Marco,” she gasped in disbelief, “we have to send out light from the pyramid, and we have to do it right now.”

  Marco’s eyebrows arched in surprise, and he turned to look at her, even though he could barely see her.

  “If we don’t, all will be lost,” she said. “If we don’t project light through this pyramid, Ashta and Anak can’t go through to the other dimension.

  “The light we emit will connect to the light they emit, and a bridge of light will form, which will somehow allow for space and time to open for them. And then they can travel through this opening.”

  It was an incredible notion. “This was all I could tell from what I saw,” Elena said. “I wish I understood more!

  “And it’s urgent. We have to do it now. They’re waiting for us.”

  “What do we need to do?” Marco asked, and Elena respected him for accepting what she said for what it was and getting straight to the important part.

  “I’m not really sure. We have seen ourselves transmitting light as Ashta and Anak many times. Maybe it’s as simple as doing the same thing we have seen them do?” Elena really hoped it was that easy, because it was her only idea, and Ashta and Anak were counting on them.

  “All right, amore. Let us try it,” Marco said as he stood. He searched for Elena’s hands, and, when he found them, he helped her up. She was grateful to be steady on her feet. The nausea and spinning sensation were gone, just in time.

  Elena held the hand of her beloved as he led her toward the center of the pyramid. Even in the pitch-dark, they knew which spot was directly beneath the capstone. They were beginning to awaken to their innate power. They surrendered to it now, and it took over, guiding them precisely.

  The journey back down the pyramid was treacherous for Sitting Bear. The storm had become violent, and lightning struck aggressively while rain and scattered hail pelted him. He made his way down the pyramid as swiftly as he could. But even as the thunder rumbled and shook the earth, Sitting Bear was wise with his steps. He stepped surely over quickly.

  He made it to the bottom of the pyramid without a second to
spare. The moment his back foot lifted from the base of the pyramid, the sky unleashed its worst upon him.

  Sitting Bear didn’t mind. He stood in the soaking rain, smiling toward the sky and the pyramid. It was not every day that he had the privilege of seeing destiny unfold.

  A hand landed on his shoulder, but he did not startle. Sitting Bear had anticipated the man’s arrival. Even though they hadn’t properly met, Sitting Bear believed Willem was one of the good guys.

  “I’m glad you’re here, brother,” Sitting Bear said to him without turning to face him. “Only time will tell us what this day will bring.”

  Willem moved to stand next to Sitting Bear. He watched the storm dazzle the darkened sky with a flash of brilliant light and then send the bolt to the cusp of the pyramid. The earth beneath their feet moved with the crashing thunder that immediately followed.

  Willem’s short red hair was plastered to his forehead and water slid down his shaven face. Like Sitting Bear, it did not bother him. The excitement of the storm was irresistible.

  “Darkness is coming, bro,” Willem told Sitting Bear. “I can see the darkness, ya know? And a wicked man is heading to the pyramid right now.”

  Sitting Bear nodded, but was silent. He had expected this unholy man to come. It was likely he was the leader who had ordered his minion to attack them.

  The two men stood next to each other. Their shoulders were broad and their stance was strong. They were committed to doing whatever they needed to do to secure the propagation of light across the earth.

  Before the day was over, they would need to call on the inner power that had lain dormant within them. They stood stoically, mimicking the juniper trees that defied the tempest that brewed and bubbled. The junipers had endured many storms, some more ferocious than this one. But this was a disturbance of worlds clashing and coming together.