Rhuna- New Horizons

by Barbara Underwood

  “We realized you had come here again,” Goram said. “When we arrived, lightning strikes caused one of the crystal pillars to explode, and then suddenly you appeared, lying there. As soon as we ascertained it was safe within the gateway, we carried you out here, to safety.”

  Rhuna looked around and then back at her father, whose eyes were glowering at her.

  “Rhuna, what have you done! You assured me you would not attempt to prevent Lorbut…Gatherer of Sage…”

  “I didn’t, Father. I went back in time…to save my mother.”

  “To save…your mother?” Damell’s voice was weak.

  “Yes, and I think I did it! I made the meat that poisoned her start to smell very badly so that she wouldn’t eat it!”

  Damell stared at Rhuna as he tried to grasp what he had heard.

  “You succeeded in this? You were back in that time? This is extraordinary!” he exclaimed, about to laugh with gleeful surprise, but then his face snapped shut with grave seriousness.

  “You did not consider the grave consequences?” Damell asked sternly.

  “Grave consequences? But…isn’t preventing her death a good and happy…consequence?” asked Rhuna, baffled.

  “You must tell no-one of this; no one! Do you understand?” Damell glowered. Rhuna was taken aback by her father’s sudden vehemence, and simply nodded obediently.

  “Why did you do this?” he asked in a different tone, full of genuine concern and even wonder.

  “You said she was still one of your ‘loved ones’, and then, after you told me more about the time you met her on Chinza, and how she suffered after you left…” Rhuna began as she recalled her unhappy childhood. “How everyone treated her – and me – badly because of you…I felt such pity for her, and then I understood why she was always so bitter, so…unloving…”

  Rhuna swallowed hard and realized that she was on the verge of many tears.

  Damell put a comforting arm around Rhuna. “Once again I have overlooked and underestimated…”

  “But I didn’t even know how strongly I felt until just now,” Rhuna interrupted and let herself be comforted in a fatherly embrace.

  In the following days, Rhuna acquired more warm clothes and footwear at the markets, and busied herself with the construction of her own Rapid Transport Enclosure. The days were shorter and colder, and she dreaded returning to her beautiful home in Cha’al where Aradin’s reception was even colder. She went to Cha’al during the day to spend time with Shandi, and then quickly returned to Judharo and to the RTE base.

  Kitlamu and some of her colleagues had provided a wooden framework for a large RTE, and Rhuna was instructed to provide the metals for the outer hull. One of the RTE operators skilled in the technical details of the magnetic force generators prepared the moulds and guided Rhuna in assembling the parts after she had transformed elements with the power of her mind.

  “The casing of the generator must be of a certain hard metal, impervious to extreme heat and high energy frequencies,” the generator expert told her.

  Rhuna enjoyed transforming base metals into compound metals of various strengths, some of which she had never encountered before.

  “You may embellish the levers and outer parts with gold or silver, if you wish,” Kitlamu suggested.

  Rhuna completed the construction of her own RTE within one lunar cycle, feeling emotionally fulfilled but mentally weary after the tremendous effort of transforming elements into specific metals. Mental energy was also needed to heat and meld some metals, particularly for the hull of the vehicle. She stepped back to admire the smooth yellow-gray metal she had transformed for the outer body, which now gleamed in the sunshine like a new kind of gold.

  Inside her own new Rapid Transport Enclosure, Rhuna decided not to embellish anything in precious metals, but rather make the interior comfortable for passengers. She placed padded mats and cushions around the floor window, and placed supplies such as water containers and blankets in a cabinet she had designed herself.

  Goram and Lozira excitedly looked over every part of the new RTE, and Damell spoke words of praise, but Aradin declined to come. He continued to spend most of the day sitting in a sunny area of the house or garden, looking at the snow-capped mountains in the distance. Instead, many other people who had heard about the completion of a new Rapid Transport Enclosure came to the area near the RTE base to see Rhuna’s vehicle. She proudly answered questions and stood alongside the craft as various people came by to admire it. As the sun began its final descent in the sky, the rays touched the yellowish metal and made it glow like a beacon.

  “It looks magnificent!” said Eraldun after she greeted Rhuna. “You have missed many new developments at the forums,” she told her.

  “I’ve been too busy,” Rhuna responded, and then asked Eraldun what she had missed.

  “The Master of Enlightenment draws a large audience almost every day,” she began, and Rhuna’s blood suddenly ran cold.

  “The Master of Enlightenment?” she repeated, recalling that the Commander referred to himself by this title.

  “Yes, and you know him! He commanded the fleet of ships that brought you to Varappa!” Eraldun said with a smile, but then it vanished and she gave Rhuna a serious look. “He has surprised many people. It is as if he has become someone else, in fact!”

  Rhuna nodded and told Eraldun that she had noticed this change already when she saw him speaking at the Forum of Healing by Forceful Intervention a while ago.

  “Now he speaks at various forums, in particular a new one of his own invention, namely the Forum for Freedom of Thought. He teaches complete freedom in every aspect of life.”

  “But you don’t approve?” Rhuna asked as she looked at Eraldun’s serious expression.

  “I have not decided yet,” she said vaguely.

  After Eraldun left, Rhuna noticed that her heart was beating heavily at the thought of the Dark Master speaking openly about his true motivations in the forums, calling himself the Master of Enlightenment. She decided to discuss this new development with her father immediately, and began walking briskly towards his house.

  Once again, Hari Tal stood by the open door as Rhuna approached the doorstep of her father’s house, but she ignored him this time and rushed inside. As she strode through the main room of the grand building, she saw Lozira descending the stairs. She stopped abruptly to look closely at her daughter’s appearance. Her yellow hair shone like smooth silk, and her skin was an even, healthy tone.

  “You look so well!” Rhuna exclaimed. “Has Damell been able to take away the mind control?” she asked excitedly.

  “No,” Lozira said, and explained the various things Damell had already attempted, without success.

  “But you’re so much calmer – I’m relieved to see that,” Rhuna said.

  “Goram helped me to be calm, and then after a while, when we talked about it, I was able to grasp the situation intellectually and objectively; seeing it from outside myself. Does that make sense?” she laughed briefly.

  “Yes, it makes very good sense,” Rhuna said. “I’m impressed. You rose above this awful situation to be the master of it, rather than let it control you.”

  “You’re impressed?” Lozira asked in a small voice.

  “Yes! Yes, I am!” Rhuna said firmly and leaned over to squeeze her daughter firmly. In that moment, she heard footsteps behind her which she recognized as her father’s. Rhuna turned around, still smiling about her daughter’s inner strength and courage, but her heart sank when she saw her father’s gloomy expression.

  “What is it, Father?” she asked, her voice trembling. She realized that she had never seen her father look so distressed.

  “Have you not attempted to observe your mother since altering the course of her life?” he asked harshly.

  Rhuna shook her head. “I’ve been busy constructing my own RTE, as you know.”

  “You must observe her immediately!” he interrupted gruffly. “You must see what your…inter
ference…has done.”

  Rhuna opened her mouth to speak, and then decided to obey her father first so that she would understand the reason for his anger. She walked directly to the room she had previously used for the release of her Extended Consciousness, made herself comfortable on the reclining cushions, and proceeded to relax her entire body.

  As she attempted to find complete relaxation, she realized that the emotional stress of past lunar cycles was affecting her ability to find the inner peace as quickly as before. When she finally found the dark silence within, she willed her Extended Consciousness to release from her body and explore The Infinite in search of her mother’s present condition.

  After the usual flashes of light and colours accompanied with slight disorientation, Rhuna suddenly sensed the cool, fresh sea breeze she always enjoyed as a child on the small and faraway island of Chinza. She looked around and recognized the hills, the village and the grotesque stone statues the rebellious Atlan Masters had erected in her childhood.

  Rhuna directed her Extended Consciousness to her mother’s location, and was surprised when she found herself hovering over a hidden entrance to one of the island’s many intricate cave systems. She approached the rocky cliff and then willed her Extended Consciousness to enter the caves in search of her mother. Rhuna felt the tingling sensation that always accompanied the passage of her Extended Consciousness through solid matter, and then she immediately recognized the form of her mother sitting on the ground inside.

  Descending to the ground in front of her mother, Rhuna wished she could speak and be heard, and reluctantly realized that she would have to rely on careful observation to understand her mother’s strange action of hiding in a cave. She looked closely at her mother’s face and realized it had become pale and drawn, and beyond the surface Rhuna could see dark colours mingled with yellow and orange in her mother’s aura, which indicated great stress.

  Rhuna watched her mother for a while, and when nothing happened, she decided to direct her Extended Consciousness to the hut her mother had occupied all her life, just outside the village. She soon recognized the primitive wood and straw hut in which she had grown up, but the memory of her childhood made her feel cold and heavy.

  The sensation of movement nearby pulled Rhuna out of the gloomy mood she had momentarily entered, and she looked to see a hunched old woman tending to the ground outside the hut. Rhuna felt that she knew the woman from her childhood, but was unable to remember exactly who she was.

  “Auma,” said a man’s voice approaching from behind the hut and addressing the old woman. “The elders are coming again,” he said sternly. Rhuna watched as the old woman merely huffed and continued with her cleaning chores.

  Rhuna suddenly relived the fear she felt when some of the village elders chased her with the intention of killing her, on that last day before Tozar took her away to safety. After a generation or two, the faces of the current elders were new and fresh, yet the manner and hostility they displayed had not changed.

  “Has she come back?” demanded the lead elder of the old woman. The woman named Auma ignored him and continued to sweep the hard ground in front of the hut’s entrance.

  “Go away!” croaked the man who had warned Auma. “You know it’s not possible! Kiana died from bad food. We all saw her laid in the ground over there!” he said pointing with a shaky hand in the direction of the nearby hill.

  “We know that,” grunted the elder. “We also know that she has been seen several times recently, wandering around, looking for food and water, like a living being!”

  “I tell you, it was a mistake! How could it be her, if she is in the ground?”

  “She has the same uncanny powers as her strange child, the one with pale skin and eyes! They are not from us, they are from out there!” He shouted angrily. “They are bad spirits!”

  “You speak nonsense!” scoffed the old man.

  “Do you bring her food?” another elder charged at Auma, who shrieked in fright.

  “She is hiding somewhere…probably in a cave, right?” asked another.

  Rhuna began to feel deeply distressed as she began to realize what had happened, and she quickly willed her Extended Consciousness back to her physical body.

  “Father, they think my mother is a bad spirit!” Rhuna blurted with alarm when she descended the stairs of Damell’s home. “They fear her and want to harm her because she was dead and now she’s alive again!”

  Damell turned around and merely gave her a grave, dark look.

  “Oh Father, what have I done?”

  “You have seen what you have done,” Damell answered flatly.

  “I only wanted to give her a chance at a better life – after all the suffering and misunderstanding, because of you and me. Everyone treated her badly because of me! They said I was different and bad, and she hated me because of that!” Rhuna stopped herself as she realized that almost forgotten agonizing thoughts and emotions were rising to the surface.

  “There is a reason why going back in time is forbidden,” said Damell, his voice softer after seeing Rhuna’s distress.

  “Forbidden? By whom?” Rhuna asked.

  “By those who have explored these realms before us. Those who now reside at the Top of the World,” Damell answered as his eyes looked far into the distance.

  When her father remained silent, his thoughts apparently far removed from her, Rhuna dashed outside, wiping the tears she suddenly felt on her burning cheeks. She was overcome by feelings of lost love and abandonment by both her father and Aradin.

  Before the devastating feelings could take hold, Rhuna decided to take action and attempt to rectify the wrong that her father had expressed. She turned and ran towards the RTE base where she expected to find Kitlamu, her friend and teacher.

  Part Six

  (Kiana)

  “Kitlamu!” Rhuna called, bursting into the house where the RTE operators met to converse and eat meals. “I need to go somewhere far away – can you help me?” she asked breathlessly.

  Kitlamu scrutinized Rhuna’s face for a moment before responding.

  “Something very important?”

  “I want to rescue my mother from Chinza – and bring her here!”

  “Chinza? Where is that?” Kitlamu asked as she reached for the large textile cloths that served as navigation maps.

  Rhuna took the maps and studied them carefully.

  “These are only for Varappa,” Rhuna observed after a while. “Chinza is even further away than the land of Atlán.”

  “Oh, really?!” Kitlamu’s reaction showed a blend of surprise, concern and excitement. “Then we must go to the Repository!” she said after a moment.

  Kitlamu ushered Rhuna out of the RTE base and along one of Judharo’s beautiful wide avenues.

  “The Repository is a place where all kinds of maps, charts and other items related to transport and travel are kept,” Kitlamu explained as they walked. The current caretaker was one of my husbands,” she added with a slight tone of annoyance in her voice.

  “One of them?” asked Rhuna.

  “Yes, one of seven.”

  “What?” spluttered Rhuna, taken aback. “You’ve had seven husbands?”

  Kitlamu merely nodded.

  “But that’s…astonishing,” Rhuna said, trying to imagine seven husbands, and then she remembered Piremwho had several wives at the same time.“Oh, you mean you’ve had several husbands at one time?”

  “No, no. One after the other,” Kitlamu answered casually.

  “Then you weren’t with most of them for very long,” Rhuna concluded.

  “Some longer than others,” Kitlamu replied with a dismissive wave of her hand.

  Rhuna told Kitlamu about Tozar, Lozira’s father, who was her husband for twenty solar cycles before she journeyed to Safu and met Aradin.

  “Oh, how awful for you,” Kitlamu responded. “Such a long time with just one man! And the best part of your life!”

  “I never thought of it like that
,” Rhuna said. “People in Varappa think so differently from what I’m used to,” she explained.

  Kitlamu smiled and nodded, and once again Rhuna watched her eyes disappear between the fine folds of her wrinkled skin.

  “We are here!” Kitlamu suddenly announced, and Rhuna looked ahead at the large, dark building. Unlike many buildings in Judharo, the Repository had only one level, making it look low and flat among the much taller buildings surrounding it. Rhuna thought the Repository reminded her of a large turtle, low to the ground and rather dull and slow.

  Kitlamu opened the heavy metal doors, and Rhuna winced at the squealing and scraping sounds it made as it opened. The entrance way appeared dank and full of strange smells, but Rhuna’s curiosity was ablaze, not just for the contents of this strange building, but about one of Kitlamu’s many husbands.

  “Greetings!” echoed a voice from the musty interior. Rhuna heard shuffling footsteps approach them, and then the shape of a thin man appeared.

  “Oh. You,” he said in a gruff voice when he saw Kitlamu.

  Kitlamu introduced Rhuna to the Caretaker of the Repository, and she greeted him with the traditional Atlan shake of the hands. Rhuna winced again at the touch of his dry and papery hand.

  “Welcome, welcome,” the caretaker said. “It is a pleasure to welcome someone from Atlán itself to the Repository! My Atlan name is Thunder in the Night, yet most residents of this fine city of Judharo simply call me The Caretaker.”

  Rhuna thought that his Atlan name was unsuitable for the elderly and thin man that stood before her, his shoulders slightly stooped and his narrow, light-brown beard reaching down to his stomach.

  “What is it you require?” asked The Caretaker, looking intently at Rhuna and avoiding eye contact with Kitlamu.

  “We want to go to Chinza, and need a bigger map,” Rhuna answered. The Caretaker’s expression changed from blank puzzlement to shock and then deep criticism.

  “You cannot journey to Chinza in a simple Rapid Transport Enclosure!” he spluttered.