“Let us investigate separately,” Damell communicated to Rhuna by thought only, and Rhuna acknowledged his suggestion. She began to focus on the past event when the Dark Master, in the body of the ship’s Commander, somehow violated Aradin’s mind. After moving through mists and blurry shapes like in a thick fog, Rhuna’s Extended Consciousness reached a plane where she recognized the ship and the people on board. She saw Aradin, the Commander, Namzu Toma and a few others walking around on the outer deck, and let her Extended Consciousness hover in a position where she could observe everything that happened.
The Commander beckoned Aradin inside his cabin, telling him of some stone tablets with writing that he could not decipher. “A man educated in higher knowledge shall most certainly know what it is!” he said smiling. Aradin eagerly agreed and took the items with great interest.
“Yes, I recognize these symbols,” Aradin said nodding, and proceeded to explain to the Commander from which region the persons referred to in the treatise resided, and what kind of deal was agreed upon.
Then the Commander looked at him with a penetrating stare, standing very still, and Rhuna sensed a strange, high-pitched buzz which she found disturbing and almost painful to her senses.
“You are under my control,” the Commander chanted in a low voice which reverberated all around Rhuna. “When you see the cold snow atop the mountain peaks from your home in Cha’al, then your feelings for Rhuna will turn cold,” he said.
Aradin continued to look blankly and sit completely still.
“Do you understand my commandments?”
“Yes,” said Aradin with a certainty that shocked Rhuna.
She continued to observe as the Dark Master snapped his fingers in front of Aradin’s face, and after blinking several times, Aradin resumed his normal behaviour. He returned the item he had previously examined, and the Commander took it, expressing his appreciation.
“How fortunate to have a skilled reader of various scripts on my ship!” he said smiling.
Rhuna willed her Extended Consciousness to return to her body, and she immediately sat bolt upright with outrage.
“He can control minds! And he’s controlling Aradin’s feelings for me!” she exclaimed incredulously. She looked to her side where her father was also sitting up.
“It is as I suspected,” Damell said gloomily. “He has been experimenting with this skill of controlling the mind and will of others, and I should have realized…”
“Father, don’t waste time with self-reproof – do something to make Aradin normal again!”
“This is the problem, My Child – I cannot; not yet. His mastery of this new skill far surpasses my own. There is a great deal for me to learn yet before I can undo what he has accomplished,” Damell said.
“Oh no,” said Rhuna with a deep groan of dismay.
“Wait, there is more,” Damell said in a severe tone. “While accessing The Infinite to determine how Aradin was…put under Lorbut’s power, I also learned that he did the same to Lozira.”
“To Lozira?” asked Rhuna alarmed, as fiery rage rose inside her once more.
“Her psychological traumas, the need for intoxicating and mind-altering substances,” Damell groaned.
“Oh, I could…” Rhuna broke off when she realized what she wanted to say.
“Kill him? We already did that,” Damell said. “Let us go to your home and tell Aradin, then discuss the matter together.”
“Wait, Father!” Rhuna said, grabbing her father’s arm to hold him back.
“Twice now you have called the Dark Master ‘Lorbut’ – by his personal name! How do you know his personal name when only family members use and know one another’s personal names?”
Damell turned and looked directly into her face. “We are cousins,” he said flatly.
Rhuna fell speechless again.
“My wish was that it would never be necessary to tell you,” he continued with a deep sigh.
“But…but…” Rhuna struggled to find words for the outrage and confusion broiling inside her.
“It would have disturbed you to know…before,” Damell continued lamely.
“It disturbs me now!” Rhuna managed to express.
“Give yourself time to think it through,” Damell suggested. “Ask yourself, does it really matter that he is a relative?”
Rhuna still struggled to find words, and only managed to shake her head in frustration.
“Come, let us go to Cha’al,” Damell said as he ushered Rhuna outside and towards the Rapid Transport Enclosure.
“What can we do about it?” Rhuna asked as they entered the RTE.
“We must learn what he did, and find a way to reverse it. Obviously, he shall not assist us,” Damell answered.
Rhuna guided the RTE to the level area next to the garden of their house in Cha’al, and as she set the craft down, she saw her family enjoying the warm sunshine on the lake’s shore. Lozira and Goram lay on a brightly-coloured rug on the grass, while Aradin sat nearby watching Shandi playing with Panapu. Rhuna smiled as she watched her little daughter sitting on Panapu’s back as he walked around on his hands and knees pretending to be a donkey.
“It was the Dark Master!” Rhuna said as she ran towards the family. “He can control minds, and he did it to Aradin and Lozira!”
Rhuna stopped in front of them and saw the expression of incomprehension in their faces.
“What did he do to Lozira?” Goram asked as he slowly stood up.
“He has mastered the ability to invade the subconscious mind of others!” Damell answered as he caught up with Rhuna.
“He put it into your head to lose feelings for me!” Rhuna spluttered as she approached Aradin.
“Dead man – put it in Din-Din’s head!” squealed Shandi running towards her, desperate to be understood.
“Yes, Honey Cakes, I understand you now!” Rhuna said giving her small daughter a tight embrace and smothering her face with kisses.
“The Commander of the ships died of drowning in the past solar cycle,” Damell began to explain. “Gather of Sage, whose Extended Consciousness has been thriving in The Infinite, found a way to project his Consciousness into the dead man’s body while it could still be resuscitated.”
“What is this? The Infinite? Extended Consciousness?” Goram demanded to know as he became visibly agitated.
“He was able to project his Extended Consciousness into the man known as Voyager of the Ocean when he nearly drowned! Namzu Toma told me earlier today, and then Damell realized what had happened,” Rhuna prattled, looking back and forth between Aradin and Lozira.
“That’s why Shandi kept calling him dead man!” exclaimed Lozira, her eyes wide with dawning comprehension.
“Where is he? I shall kill him with my bare hands!” raged Goram.
“Be calm, be calm,” urged Damell. “You cannot kill him, and should you succeed somehow, then you may well destroy the only chance of her recovery…lest I am unable to cure her…”
“Show me enemy – I kill!” said Panapu stepping forward.
“How did he invade Lozira’s mind? For what purpose? Was it to punish me for leaving his fold?” Goram raged as he paced back and forth.
“How do I get it out of my head?” cried Lozira as she put her hands to her face. “Take it away, away!”
Goram instantly stopped pacing and rushed to Lozira, embracing her tightly and comforting her with soothing words of assurance. “We shall rectify this terrible violation,” he said as calmly as possible. “And I shall seek appropriate retaliation!”
“Do nothing in haste!” Damell warned.
“Get it out of my head!” squealed Lozira, pulling at her hair in deep distress. Goram continued to calm her with soothing words until her anguish began to ease.
Rhuna turned back to Aradin. “Do you feel any different, now that you know it was done by him, and that those feelings aren’t real?” Rhuna asked hopefully.
Aradin shook his head. “I don’t know what
I feel…it’s beyond my comprehension at the moment,” he said shaking his head.
“Maybe you can resist or fight it, now that you know it’s not real and not your own thoughts and feelings!” urged Rhuna.
“Leave me be!” Aradin shot back. “What I feel is that I’ve been violated in the most thorough and destructive manner!” he raged and then stormed off. Rhuna wanted to run after him but her father held her back.
“Do not fret,” Damell said as he placed a reassuring hand on Rhuna’s shoulder. “We know the cause, and in due time we shall be able to reverse it!”
Rhuna realized she was breathing heavily from intense emotional turmoil, and as the family entered the house, she decided to prepare a calming herbal drink.
“Show me how you access The Infinite,” demanded Goram when they had finished their drink and were settled on seating cushions in the main room of the house. “What is it, and how does it work?”
Rhuna looked at Damell, who answered her with a slight nod.
“Tell him everything – he ought to know everything that we know,” said Aradin testily.
Rhuna took a deep breath as she collected her thoughts, then looked directly at Goram. whose green eyes sparkled with burning curiosity.
“It is the spiritual plane where the Dark Master’s Extended Consciousness has been alive since his body died in the pyramid in Atlán over twenty solar cycles past,” she began. “You access it with your mind at a certain frequency, like we do for transforming elements or summoning visions. Only it’s much more difficult and you need to practice a long time until you can do it.”
“Teach me this technique,” he insisted.
“Be patient,” Damell urged, and then suggested that he and Rhuna access The Infinite as a demonstration for Goram, and to learn exactly how The Dark Master, in the body of The Commander, achieved mind control over Lozira.
Rhuna arranged the cushions so that she could recline in the ideal position for the release of her Extended Consciousness, and then briefly described the process to Goram before closing her eyes and breathing deeply. She needed more time than usual to find the necessary silent tranquility in her mind, and she felt her Extended Consciousness float heavily at first as it rose from her physical body.
When her Extended Consciousness reached the proper plane, Rhuna concentrated on the time they were on the ship with the Commander, and how he gained control of Lozira’s mind. After tumbling through a plane of coloured fog, Rhuna began to perceive the past clearly, and focussed her attention on Lozira sitting on the deck of the ship.
“You like fine jewellery, do you not?” the Commander asked her. Lozira turned to look at the Commander who had approached her from behind. “In my possession are rare and exquisite blue stones from distant parts of the land of Atlán,” he continued.
“Blue stones?” Lozira asked excitedly. “Like turquoise?”
“Much more beautiful! A rich, deep blue colour!” the Commander answered as he smiled broadly. “Come, enter my personal chamber!”
Rhuna watched in horror as Lozira followed the Commander into his private chamber and the door closed firmly behind them.
“Here,” the Dark Master, in the body of the Commander, said as he held out a metal casket. Lozira reached out to hold it and lift up the lid. As she looked down into the interior of the casket, the Dark Master touched her forehead with a finger.
“Listen!” he whispered. Lozira stood motionless as the Dark Master whispered forcefully to her.
“The past has deeply traumatized you, and the memories are unbearable,” he said. “You shall crave intoxicating and mind-altering substances to numb your pain!” He repeated these statements and then asked Lozira whether she understood. When she nodded, the Dark Master once again touched her forehead, and immediately Lozira began to move again.
“Oh, they are so blue!” she exclaimed, looking into the casket, completely unaware of the Commander’s touch and inculcation.
Rhuna felt her Extended Consciousness suddenly tear away, and she realized it was due to her emotional response to observing the Dark Master’s control over her daughter. She struggled to control the return into her body so that she would not suffer any discomfort.
“That wretched person!” Rhuna shouted as she sat bold upright in her physical body.
“What did he do?” Goram demanded to know as he kneeled closely at Rhuna’s side.
Rhuna described what she observed in the plane of The Infinite, and then saw her own rage reflected in Goram’s face.
“How do we undo it?” he raged, looking back and forth between Rhuna and Damell.
“Allow me to attempt rectifying the situation,” Damell offered. “First I must examine the process, the manner in which…”
“Yes, yes – just do it!” Goram shouted.
“It shall take time!” Damell retorted loudly. “Both of you should reside in my home a while so that I may have frequent access to Lozira.”
Goram nodded his agreement and then squeezed Lozira’s hand reassuringly. Lozira smiled weakly at Damell, her eyes pleading for a quick release from the Dark Master’s control.
“Possessor of Discernment is ailing and unable to participate in social activities outside my home,” Damell said. “He shall enjoy the company of people other than Hari Tal and I.”
“If he is ill, why didn’t you tell me? I’m a Healer, after all!” said Rhuna with some indignation.
“He does not wish it,” Damell said flatly.
“He doesn’t wish to be healed?” asked Rhuna incredulously.
“He is an old man who has accepted that his life nears its end.”
“Oh no, he is still so energetic and vibrant…”
“He has an incurable ailment…the Malady of Consuming Growths, throughout his body,” Damell said with finality.
Rhuna stopped to think a moment.
“At the Forum of Healing by Forceful Intervention I heard about the procedure to remove such growths!”
“Taught by Lorbut?”
“Yes, but does it matter, as long as it saves lives?” Rhuna argued.
“No, it matters not, yet Possessor of Discernment’s condition is well advanced, and he merely requires pain relief.”
“But if the growths are removed and…”
Damell waved his hand firmly.
“It is his wish,” he said firmly. “We must respect his wish to die a certain way.”
Rhuna transported Damell, Lozira and Goram to Judharo in the RTE, and then returned to Cha’al by herself. The house was quiet in the fading sunlight, and only the aroma of spices and cooked meat welcomed her home.
“Damell can undo the mind control, and then you and Lozira will feel normal again,” Rhuna prattled as she and Aradin ate the evening meal. “What a relief to know that your feelings…or lack of them…aren’t real!”
Aradin merely grunted, and continued to avoid looking at Rhuna. The silence between them weighed heavily on Rhuna’s heart, and after the meal, she sat in the darkness overlooking the lake, letting bitter tears flow freely down her cheeks.
Part Five
(The Forums)
Rhuna was unable to enjoy her beautiful home while Aradin continued to avoid and ignore her, and she moved her personal belongings into Lozira’s vacated sleeping chamber to be alone at night. She felt compelled to keep moving and going away from her home during the day, and even some nights. In Judharo, many activities, sounds and intriguing people served as adequate distraction, and Rhuna found herself drawn to various unusual forums where she could learn about subjects new to her.
She began to attend the Forum of Time Distortions regularly, since the subject of time never ceased to fascinate her. When this forum ended for the midday meal, other forums commenced until the evening meal, and Rhuna found the Forum of Earth Energy Lines particularly interesting.
On several occasions, Rhuna even participated in some of the forums, asking a question or standing up to comment on what the speaker had said. The
first time she asked a question, she felt self-conscious as people turned around to look at her, but when she had become a regular attendant, her questions and comments aroused no curiosity, and she began to feel that she was part of a small community of like-minded people.
“The earth is covered in currents of energy, and they converge at regular intervals,” said the woman Rhuna assumed was the most knowledgeable in the field of Earth Energy Lines. “It creates a complex grid all around the planet, and some points of convergence hold increased amounts of energies.”
Rhuna stood up to comment, and the woman paused to allow Rhuna and a second person to contribute to the discussion.
“I’ve seen Atlan Masters walk long distances in a straight line, marking certain places where a stone pillar or pyramid should be set up for harnessing energies for various purposes,” Rhuna said, careful that her speech reflected the high standards set by the participants in the forums she attended.
“The Atlan Masters possessed this knowledge of energy current lines long ago, and used them to establish their colonies,” replied the woman on the speaker’s platform.
“Like Safu,” Rhuna quickly added.
“Yes, indeed. The Pyramids were positioned on a particularly potent convergence of various earth energies,” the woman responded.
Rhuna remembered Goram’s finely-tuned senses which enabled him to easily find such points of energy confluences when he saved them all from the Ubanti Army in the wilderness. She realized that the point of energy convergence Goram found was so strong that he was able to perform his work without the aid of any stone pillar, pyramid or crystal to transmit energy.
Rhuna’s thoughts wandered while others discussed this topic further, and then Rhuna thought of a question to ask the woman before she finished her address to the Forum of Earth Energy Lines.
“What kind of stone transmits the earth energies best?” Rhuna asked.
“Ah, good question! Most commonly, the hard stone containing crystal is used for the erect stone pillars or towers,” she answered with some enthusiasm. “It is the crystal within that transmits the energy, yet a pillar of pure crystal would not only transmit but also accelerate the energies!”
Rhuna- New Horizons Page 16