by Lucia Ashta
He breathed, continuing to lean on Thom, accepting the strength the small and gentle wizard emitted as naturally as his own breath. Blame, regret, despair… none of these would achieve anything—at least, nothing good.
As he’d had to do so many times, Kaanra sank into trust. He understood he wasn’t responsible for the twins any more than any one human being could be responsible for the life choices of another. And Kaanra, the temple master who’d had the greatest hand in shaping Asara and Anak into who they were, understood there was nothing he could do now to save them.
No, that wasn’t true. That wasn’t true at all. There was something very real and concrete that Kaanra could do to support his children. He would send waves of light, strength, and intention to wherever they were, for light didn’t deal in distances. Light and his resolute intention that the golden children survive this test would reach them. Kaanra could make a difference. And he would.
Now more than ever, the twins needed Kaanra to stand in his power. There was no place for the grief or worry of a father for his children. Kaanra understood that belief was power, and strength was magic. That magic wasn’t a collection of tricks reserved for the marketplace, rather, it was real, capable of determining realities, of carving and crafting illusions.
Kaanra lifted his head from Thom’s shoulder and stood in remembered strength. Thom, ever resolute in his reserved inner power, didn’t turn to look. He sensed the shift in the master and smiled. Even though young, Thom had long been beyond fretting. He was born into this world with a special gift of easy acceptance, graceful knowing, and unwavering strength in a belief of the magic of this world.
Together, Thom, master wizard of the forest and all its creatures, and Kaanra, master of one of Arnaka’s formidable temples, would hold space for the victory of Asara and Anak, for the victory of the forces of light. They’d see and project forward the image of Asara and Anak finding Baldub and Carn and returning them, along with the twins’ souls, to the plane where they belonged. Stalwart, Kaanra’s energy morphed to resemble Thom’s.
It was more important now than perhaps ever in history that Master Kaanra and Thom hold this vision, sending energy to the crafting of future events. For neither Kaanra nor Thom could tell whether the twins had realized that Brazzon, dark master of illusion, had managed to hitch a ride. In that brief moment when the light still held, he pumped his wings, then pulled them tight against his black body. With his beak stretched forward, his neck long, his body straight and rigid, he was a vision of aerodynamic grace. For even within darkness, twisted and gnarled as it often was, there was grace.
Kaanra and Thom had been forced to watch without any way to stop him as Brazzon intersected the beam of light in the precise instant it vanished from this world. And even though neither Kaanra nor Thom could see within the underwater pyramid, they sensed that the light had transported the golden children of prophecy where they intended to go.
Their light beam of strength and victory had also transported Brazzon. The darkness was mingling with the light, a reflection of the origins of everything. Only one could prevail.
Only the light or the dark would triumph on this day. Either Asara and Anak would kill Brazzon, or the dark illusionist, who’d been feared since the darkness claimed him, would extinguish two of the greatest sources of light the planet had ever known. And Kaanra could do nothing to determine which of the two events would come to pass except send love, light, and hope; these could bridge worlds.
Without turning, Kaanra felt the remaining four Masters from the Temple of Laresu’u Kal and their pupils breaking the horizon. They, too, would join the effort of supporting the golden twins however they could.
All of them trained since the age of seven to do their part to aid the forces of light. They’d have to wait in the unknown with patience. They’d push away fear and doubt, and hold light and hope, firm and unwavering.
The forces of the light warriors were growing.
Yet so were the forces of darkness.
You can continue the story in Beyond Arnaka. Thanks for reading!