Insight

by Tina Engel

  Brett told me that he didn’t want to hurt anyone, but we had to remove this fey so we could go on. He told me to release him from my shield but keep myself surrounded, and if I had to, go on without him. (Well, you know how that went over, I don’t think so.) I did let down my shield for Brett to exit and I put it back up around myself, but there was no way I was going on without him.

  As Brett approached the fey, instead of having a look of fear or aggression, he had a look of relief and joy. He came to Brett with hand out in greeting, and they started to talk. Brett put his sword away and motioned for me to come.

  This fey’s name was Zale, and he was here to get us through this part of the city. He explained that he was told, years ago, he would meet someone here, on this day, at this time, and to take them to the forbidden part of the city.

  I asked him, who had told him to do this, and he informed us that it was Angelina, and that she had others here in the city who obeyed only her.

  This group of fey had been contacted by a woman many years ago. Some of them were now so old, that it was their children who were now here to follow Angelina. It was Zale though, who was to guide us to the forbidden part of the city.

  I started to ask more questions, but Zale put a hand up and said quite sternly, “Please, ask no more questions. I’m here to guide you only, not share with you what I know. Not that I know much, but I am not supposed to converse. I can’t take a chance on changing the future.”

  Well that was very interesting. Visiting could possibly change the future, but then as I thought about it, knowledge does give one ideas and thoughts that we would not have, if not for knowledge that we are given, at any given time.

  I let it go then and he started to move through the city, as we followed him. At times, I would see just a blur of movement, and soon realized that it was other fey, keeping watch, but not wanting to be seen.

  After what seemed like hours of walking, hiding behind buildings and structures and crawling, at times, through large pipes that linked one section of town to another, we followed Zale into a basement of a home, where there was a circular stone.

  Zale pushed open the stone and there below was a tunnel, several yards down. He threw a long piece of rope down it and informed us that we had to climb down and go the rest of the way, without him. He couldn’t chance getting caught with us. Zale told us to follow the tunnel and it would take us to another stone covering to enter the forbidden part of the city.

  Suddenly, there was commotion upstairs, and down the stairs stumbled another fey. He informed us that a group of Proteus’s guards were in the area and he had to get back upstairs and close off the area where the basement was hidden.

  I went up to Zale, gave him a warm hug, (to his surprise I might add), and I went back to the opening, grabbed hold of the rope and climbed down. Brett followed and when he was at the bottom with me, the cover was placed back over the opening and then it disappeared, as if never there.

  I looked towards Brett but it being so dark, I could hardly see him or my surroundings. Not having my diamond necklace to give us a little light, I didn’t quite know what to do. Suddenly the walls started to softly glow, and it gave us just enough light to see where the tunnel led.

  I went over to the wall and inspecting it closer, I could see tiny rocks in the dirt wall and they were glowing. I thought of the lava pebbles in my diamond and realized just how much I missed them.

  I put my hand on the wall as Brett came to stand by me and he reached out to grab my hand, but I gave him a stern look and he thought better of it. As I rested my hand on the wall, I could hear them talking to each other, millions of them all in sync with each other. They were there to help.

  I then felt another presence, a sad, angry one, and the small rocks, told me to hurry, they couldn’t stay lit for long. It would find us and give our whereabouts away, if we didn’t hurry.

  Brett was there with me, heard everything, and he grabbed my other hand and we started to run. As we ran the lights disappeared behind us. This urged us on quicker, our running became more panicked and suddenly the tunnel ended and the lights went out completely.

  It was totally dark, and I was glad to have Brett’s hand in mine. I don’t like the dark, never have and never will, (just so you know).

  Suddenly, there at the end of the tunnel, on the dirt wall, came a speck of light, and then another, and more, creating a large circular door and I assumed it was the opening to the city. Brett let go of my hand and walked over to it, with me following close behind. It was still, after all, very dark.

  Brett ran his hand around the circle and it seemed to move inwards, towards us, and Brett was able to push it to the side. There on the other side was the city, the Forbidden City.

  Brett went first after taking my hand back in his and we entered the opening. When we were through, it closed back up and the lighted circle disappeared, and the wall appeared solid, with no way in or out.

  As I looked around, the city was in ruins; the buildings crumbling, great fountains that once had grand spouts of water, now were just trickles spilling into the streets that were overgrown with sea weed. There was a strange black ooze that I couldn’t identify, and didn’t really want to.

  The smell was that of decay and sadness, if sadness had a smell. Everything was gray and cold. There were strange lights here and there on the walls of the crumbling buildings.

  “Now what?” I said in a whisper, not wanting anything to hear me. I remembered what we were told, that small creatures from Gehenna, the dimension where the greyness lived, were here as guards to keep all out of this area, at all cost, waiting for the doorway to open.

  Brett took the map out of his pocket and opened it, resting it on a large slab of stone. It took some time to agree exactly where we were in this part of the city, and what direction we had to take to get to the doorway that I was supposed to close, in the Earths realm.

  I was a bit perplexed as to how I was to close a doorway between Earth and Gehenna, if I was in Terrafirma.

  The realization came to me then, there are no doorways between Earth and Terrafirma. Closing the doorway to Gehenna in the dimension of Terrafirma would close it in the humans’ world too.

  I knew where it was. I looked towards the far side of the city, and saw a large mountain that the city seemed to come out of. I turned to look in the opposite direction, and in the distance, I could see the beautiful city of Bermuda, in all its glowing splendor.

  Proteus was there, somewhere, and did he know that I was here, in this part of his great city, about to close the doorway? Did he want me to, or did he want the doorway open, letting evil in? Did he really think that he and I could contain such evil and be a part of it, in some way?

  I could feel him then, he wasn’t close to me, but I could feel him, and I knew he was aware of me at that moment. I would be face to face with him soon. Was this a part of the plan, me seeing him? Was Lily aware, that I would be facing this fey? I thought she probably was.

  Brett, still holding my hand, tugged it slightly to get my attention, and as I turned to look at him, he was looking over to his right.

  I looked in the same direction and could see movement, as if a cloud of emerald green, was drifting towards us. There was a strange buzzing noise coming from that direction too, and suddenly my other hand where the beetle type creature, was attached, started to hum, but a different sound than the sound coming from afar. As I looked down at my hand, I saw that the creature was glowing and there was blood oozing from where it had attached.

  We knew that we had to hurry, before the cloud of green reached us. We knew that it was the creatures Lily had told us about, the ones here to stop us from reaching the doorway.

  We headed in the direction of the great mountain, going around destruction, climbing over crumbled stones that were once glorious buildings, I was sure. As we ran, my hand throbbed and I felt like the creature was trying to release itself from my hand, which was why I was bleeding.

 
I put my shield around both of us, so I thought that the creatures chasing us couldn’t get to us, but then, I wasn’t 100 percent sure. I didn’t know exactly what they could do.

  The wave of green got closer and closer as we ran, and soon I could see that it wasn’t one massive being, but thousands of creatures, like the one on my hand. I thought of my shield and visualized it pushing out, away from Brett and me. I wanted it to spread as far as it could reach, to keep these creatures away from us.

  As we reached the large mountain, there in front of us was a wall that was covered with vines, dried sea weed and thorns. My shield was a good 20 feet away from us and connected to the wall. As the creatures descended upon it, they couldn’t break through. They did, however, surround the shield, covering it entirely and trying desperately to get in. The buzzing sound was deafening and my hand was so painful that I crumpled to the ground.

  Brett, knelt down next to me, and asked with a panic in his voice, “What can I do to help you?”

  “We need to clear the wall, find the doorway.” I replied trying to stay calm.

  Brett got up, and with his sword, he started to chop away what was attached to the wall and as he did, I could see that there was a smooth golden surface underneath. It was made of solid gold. When Brett was done, he had uncovered what looked like a sun carving, and I could feel warmth radiating from it.

  The creature that was attached to my hand was suddenly free, but did not leave my hand. I stood up and walked over to the wall. I didn’t know what to do. I looked around and with my other hand, I started to feel the stone. It was warm and pulsed as if whatever was on the other side was desperate to get through. The creatures surrounding us were screaming, shrieking and I feared that they would break through soon.

  Suddenly my hand brushed across an indentation of some kind. It was small and oval shaped and as I looked closer, it was an indentation of a cameo.

  I looked up at Brett and he had a look of shock, as I must have had too. The creature that I was holding, wiggled out of my hand and jumped up onto the wall just above the indentation and just stayed there, waiting.

  I removed my cameo and placed it into the indentation and it fit perfectly. Suddenly the ring on my finger started to glow and a beam of light came out of it and struck the cameo. Suddenly all was quiet. The creatures stopped, as if frozen.

  The cameo then fell out, and Brett reached out and caught it. I kept the beam of light on the hole and it grew to the size of the bug that was just above it. Suddenly the wall started to rumble and I feared that I had done something wrong.

  The creature then disappeared into the hole as the beam continued to penetrate the hole. The creatures all around started to buzz again but it was almost calming, this time.

  I somehow knew that the creatures surrounding us, weren’t after us; they wanted back on the other side of the door. They were chasing us to get back to where they belonged. I shrunk my shield so that the creatures could get to the opening on the wall. They entered one by one, as my ring continued to shine on it, as if holding the small hole open.

  It didn’t take long, for the bugs seemed to become one flowing movement, and as the last one disappeared into the hole, it closed up and the beam of light was gone. The wall was just a dirt wall, nothing was on it, as if it never was. The door to Gehenna was closed.

  I looked up at Brett and as he looked down at me and our eyes met, the relief we both felt washed over us like a wave. Brett took me in his arms and I wrapped my arms around his waist and we just stood there for some time.

  My hand, that the creature had been on, was tingling and as I pulled away from Brett, looking at it, it was healing right there in front of me. Within moments, it was healed.

  Suddenly around me, the surroundings started to lighten up. As I looked around, the city, all crumbled and destroyed, was putting itself back together. Within minutes, the city was beautiful, golden buildings, magnificent fountains, cobblestone streets, but all empty of people.

  This part of the city was different though, from the city where fey lived. This city was like a picture from the past. Was it the ancient city, where the ancestors of these fey once lived? I wondered, and somehow I knew it was.

  Chapter 10

  The past touches the present,

  It is all around us.

  Look around, see it,

  Feel it,

  Do not be afraid.

  It is a part of you.

  I could see them then, living their lives here in this beautiful place, they were the guardians of the wall. They were different than the fey of today that live in the City of Bermuda. They looked similar to Brett from the waist up but had a large fish tail from waist down. The color of their skin, however, was different too, matching their lower extremities, slightly.

  The city was in water, there was no barrier between water and city. I was standing there, in the middle of this great city with fey all around, and they could see me, they would look at me as they swam by, smiling as if I had always been there.

  I felt a touch on my elbow and looking over, there was Brett standing with me. He could see it all too, he could see what I was seeing, as he touched me.

  This city and these fey were here so long ago, but their spirits never left, they were the guardians of the doorway, not the creatures from the other side. Something happened long ago. The creatures from Gehenna escaped, came here and destroyed the city.

  The true guardians never left. They were waiting for me to free the city from evil and now that the doorway was closed for good, they were free to continue to live, even if in spirit only. I wasn’t here, looking into the past, this was now, but in a different dimension from the city of the present. The past, present and future were just different dimensions too. These fey, who were here so long ago, were still here, just waiting.

  I felt him then, he was close. It wasn’t Proteus, it was the other, the true king of all the waters on this planet. I knew him then, as Lily did. He was the one who interfered, to push me, rush my transformation and had angered Lily.

  I looked up at Brett and then down at his hand holding onto my arm. He knew what I was thinking. He had to let go of me and go back to the City of todays’ fey, where we had been standing moments ago. I knew that Brett just had to let go of me, and he would be there.

  Brett shook his head no, but I took my other hand, and placed it on his. I smiled and reassured him that I had to do this alone, and with that, I brushed his hand away from my arm and let him go.

  I was alone then, and as I looked around, the fey that had been there just moments ago, now were gone.

  I felt him close by and as I turned, there he was, he was the great white shark, which we had seen in the kelp forest. He was a magnificent, grand being, as large as the great grey whale I had seen days before.

  He swam towards me slowly, as if just meandering, not in any rush to get anywhere. I went to take a step back, but instead I tilted backwards just a bit and a fish tail came up into my sight. I didn’t have legs, but a fish tail. I was like the ancient fey, my tail a silvery white.

  I looked back up as the great white shark transformed into a fey, male fey above, but fish below. He was tall and muscular, dark in color with long white hair and a beard that made me think of Douglas. His facial features were like all the fey that resembled humans, but his eyes were piercing, green in color, like emeralds, and they sparkled as the lights from around us hit his face.

  He smiled and his intimidating appearance changed slightly, and I relaxed a bit. I didn’t realize that I was anxious, but I was. (Sharks, like spiders, are not my favorite creatures, just saying.)

  It was him, Poseidon, I knew before he introduced himself to me. I thought he had died long ago. As this thought came to me, I realized that those all around me, had died long ago, but still lived on, in yet another place, dimension, or time.

  “I’ve been waiting a long time to meet you Child.” He said.

  Poseidon bowed his head slightly in a respectful ge
sture and as he lifted his head, he continued, “I’m sorry for trying to rush things earlier. My son seems eager to let evil reign. Yes, even we can be impatient at times, but she put me in my place. Only she could do that.” And he chuckled as he said the last part.

  Poseidon approached me then, and taking my hand in his, did the fey traditional greeting. I wasn’t frightened, but in awe of this great fey, but didn’t quite know why he was here, or why I was here with him.

  I asked then, “If you are the one who had the beast put its venom in me and changed my make up to not need Rose, but now have a need for …” I stopped then, feeling embarrassed to admit that I needed Brett’s blood, but then continued, “and Lily said you both have different ideas on how to save us all.”

  “We have the same agenda my child, just different ways to get there. Lily, as you call her, well, let us just say, has a responsibility and it is all consuming. She believes we should go in the order that she sees fit, proceed at a snail’s pace, at times, to ensure things turn out the way she wants.

  “I, on the other hand, think that we can skip some of the middle ground, so to speak, and get things done quicker. She never gets tired of letting me know, though, that she is in charge, even though this situation is in my ocean.

  “The poison was to push you along, the need for Rose was a temporary thing, to strengthen you to a point. I rushed things a bit, but it was still to happen.

  “I did it without her permission though, which I don’t feel I need to get, but I will humor her, for now. You are stronger than she realizes, or wants to believe at this time. You are more important to her than she lets on.” Poseidon said, with a twinkle in his eyes.

  When Poseidon paused, I was able to question, “What do you mean, Lily, as I call her? She is a cat, a fey yes, but a cat.”