Rhuna- New Horizons

by Barbara Underwood

  Rhuna looked at her mother and repeated her words in the Zao language, and then asked whether she would like to leave Judharo.

  “I don’t like water,” she said nervously. “If the whole city is surrounded by water, like a small island, it’s like on Chinza, where you can’t run away if something bad happens.”

  Rhuna was about to convey her mother’s opinion to Damell when she saw that he had been looking at Hari Tal.

  “Perhaps…” Damell said hesitantly. “…perhaps we should go, as you suggest,” he said slowly.

  Rhuna looked at Hari Tal and wondered how he managed to change her father’s mind without uttering a word.

  “Allow me a few days to pack the essential items and transport them to Cha’al,” Damell said firmly, and Rhuna immediately offered to transport him and his belongings in her RTE.

  The following day, Rhuna transported Damell and Kiana to Cha’al, and Rhuna introduced her mother to Aradin.

  “I have heard about…what happened,” Aradin said. Kiana reacted cooly towards him, and then began to explore the beautiful house and garden. Rhuna immediately rushed towards Shandi to playfully lift and swing her around, while Lozira and Goram listened to Damell relate recent developments in Judharo.

  Panapu stood nearby, smiling as he watched Rhuna play with her little daughter. Then his expression darkened as he heard what Damell described.

  “Bad people! Must stop bad people!” he said in his gruff voice.

  Rhuna explained that they should all stay in Cha’al, far away from the Conjurers and the frightening abominations they create.

  “I still have to go back and get Hari Tal,” Rhuna said, and then thought about her pretended commitment to The Conjurers. After spending some time with Shandi and then helping her mother settle in, she returned to her RTE and navigated back to Judharo.

  The city of Judharo had changed dramatically within a day, as houses and streets emptied, and the sky above filled with heavy dark clouds. The lack of colour, sounds and scents was almost painful for Rhuna as she recalled how vibrant the city had been only a few lunar cycles past.

  Big raindrops splattered on the pavements as Rhuna walked towards the building where the Conjurers gathered in order to send out the animated dead among the remaining residents of Judharo.

  “It must be done at the setting of the sun, when light is weak, so that people shall be most horrified,” said the Grand Mage.

  “Not at night?” asked a member of the Order.

  “They cannot see enough. They must see and recognize that the dead have returned!” explained the Grand Mage.

  Rhuna followed the Grand Mage’s directions to help two other members of the Order bring one of the animated dead to the plaza area. She learned from the other members that over twenty corpses had been animated, and that the Masters in control must re-energize them at regular intervals.

  Rhuna accompanied the two Order members and the animated dead person which emitted a foul odour and creaked when she walked. Her eyes were glazed over, and her mouth hung open. She still wore the clothes in which she had been interred, along with some jewellery around her neck.

  As the light of the sun quickly diminished, Rhuna watched as the other two Order members turned the animated corpse in the direction of the plaza where some people were gathered. She obediently walked in the direction she was guided, while Rhuna and the other two Order members watched stealthily from behind large pots with plants.

  Rhuna watched as the residents of Judharo noticed the awkward walk of an approaching person, and then stopped their activity to stand up and look more closely. As the animated corpse neared the group, Rhuna heard a high-pitched scream of terror, and then she saw one of the residents tumble in a heap to the ground. The others scrambled around, some yelling while others stood motionless as they stared at the approaching abomination.

  Finally, the terrified residents scattered in every direction, leaving one woman still lying on the ground.

  “That person has fainted – or worse,” said Rhuna. “I’m a Healer – I should see if I can help,” she said, and ran towards the woman on the ground. The other two Order members guided the animated corpse back into the building from which they had come. Rhuna quickly looked around, she realized the plaza area was now completely empty of people. She quickly turned her attention to the woman on the ground, and with deep dismay she realized that the woman was dead. A surge of anger coursed through her body, and she ran after the other Order members.

  “Someone has died from shock!” she told the members of the Order when she returned to the room where they had gathered.

  “Good,” said the Grand Mage. “The terror of the remaining ones shall increase tenfold, and they shall flee the city even faster!”

  “I don’t want innocent people to be killed!” Rhuna shouted in anger.

  “Very well, very well,” answered the Grand Mage with a resigned gesture of his hands. “The Order does not approve of aimless killing, yet on this occasion, it serves our purpose,” he said.

  Rhuna accompanied the members of the Order though some underground passages where they gathered in different groups, and she stopped when she recognized Charmer of Snakes and Yarqi. She noticed that Charmer of Snakes looked ill at ease, and did not greet her in his usual friendly manner.

  “You must be constantly vigilant!” Charmer of Snakes urged. “Cover your hair completely, and be aware of yourself.”

  Rhuna was taken aback by his uncharacteristic gloomy look and fearful speech.

  “Any small piece from your body such as hairs, fingernail or a scrap of clothing worn close to the body can be used in the Conjurers’ curses, and should they so desire, they may kill you instantly!” Charmer of Snakes said as his eyes darted quickly back and forth with fear.

  “What?” asked Rhuna, afraid that her pretence had already been discovered.

  “The other Orders,” he began in an urgent whisper. “They have gathered in Judharo to fight Suchinda in unison, yet they fiercely disagree over many matters.”

  Rhuna recalled the other group of Conjurers that gathered in a cavern in the hills outside Judharo.

  “Some of the more powerful among us have threatened…” Charmer of Snakes continued.

  “Nonsense!” hissed Yarqi. “We have disagreements, discussions, conflicting ideas, as you would find in any large group of highly skilled and ambitious people,” she scoffed. “Any thought of taking the life of a rival or someone who might reveal a secret is totally absurd!"

  “I say not so,” said Charmer of Snakes shaking his head vigorously. “In fact, I wish to leave this Order, yet I fear…”

  Charmer of Snakes stopped abruptly when an Order member approached them. He quickly began to talk casually about a trivial matter, but Rhuna still saw the fear in his eyes.

  Rhuna left the gathering of Order members and returned to Damell’s house, where Hari Tal had completed packing.

  “It’s dark now and I can’t navigate the RTE without seeing landmarks clearly,” she explained.

  “Yes, yes,” said the little man nodding, and then showed Rhuna the meal he had prepared from the remaining food supplies. She ate very little, and the memory of the woman dying of fright and shock continued to haunt her until she fell asleep in her private chamber.

  The following day, Rhuna promptly loaded her RTE with the belongings Hari Tal had carefully packed, and then began the operations of her craft. She felt very uncomfortable with the strange little man, and she began to prattle about the weather to hide her unease.

  “Heavy rain last night,” she said as the RTE began its journey towards Cha’al.

  “Only little,” Hari Tal answered in a similar casual tone. “Soon we get real rain, much worse.”

  “And then the Great River really floods so much that Judharo is surrounded by water?” she asked, trying to imagine such immense volumes of rain.

  “Not just rain,” answered Hari Tal. “Rain collect in valleys up in mountains. And snow melts. L
ots of water, all coming down into river.”

  They soon arrived in Cha’al, and Rhuna set the RTE down near the house where Damell stood waiting.

  “You go back to Judharo now, yeah?” asked Hari Tal when he had finished unpacking the RTE.

  “How did you know?” Rhuna asked, remembering how he always stood at the open door of Damell’s house when she arrived.

  The mysterious man gave no reply, and Rhuna closed the hatch to the RTE so that she could return to Judharo. This time, she set down within the city walls in an area that had been prepared recently in preparation for the flood.

  Rain was falling at a steady pace, and people scrambled around with various personal rain protectors, while others struggled to erect tents and tarpaulins in the open areas of the city. Rhuna walked towards the forum area, and immediately noticed the agitation among the people as she approached.

  Under the tarpaulins, the residents of Judharo were shouting to be heard over the sound of the pelting rain, and then over each other’s voices as panic rose over the animated dead. Rhuna learned that twenty other animated corpses had terrorized the city, and almost everyone was rushing to leave Judharo before the floods made it impossible.

  Part Eight

  (The Pyramid)

  Rhuna watched the grey rain pound incessantly on the empty pavements of Judharo, mesmerized by the roar of water, and stunned by the rapid rise of the Great River. From the city gate she could see the churning white crests and spray of the torrent, and each time she looked, the river had encroached further across the flat plains surrounding Judharo.

  She had told her family in Cha’al that she was needed in Judharo to transport people out of the city to their new homes, but Rhuna assumed that Damell had observed her activity within the Order of Pure Power with his Extended Consciousness.

  The large and empty open area where the forums were held now served as a landing base for only four RTEs which had the approval of the Conjurers. Rhuna transported many residents of Judharo out of the city to various places in Varappa, and she was glad to have a good reason for not spending much time with the Order of Pure Power.

  When she returned from her last transport of the day as the sun made its final descent, she learned that the residents of Judharo who did not leave were threatened with death unless they supported the Conjurers.

  “We need nourishment; good and tasty food to sustain us while we exert our mental energies into destroying the threat from Suchinda!” said one of the Order members. “It benefits us to keep some residents here for the purpose of serving our physical needs. They know that to disobey us means instant death!”

  Rhuna was appalled by the member’s delight in having power over innocent people, and made the decision to help and protect those residents who remained within the city walls. At the same time, she observed the various skilled Conjurers of the Order of Pure Power as they controlled their animated dead like puppets, directing them to Suchinda and a few other places where supporters of Suchinda Atlans resided.

  The Conjurers reveled in being secure within Judharo’s city walls and thereby free to exert all their energies on conquering their persecutors, the Suchinda Atlans. But Rhuna noticed that despite the walls and raging torrents, some Conjurers were found dead, and her knowledge as a Healer revealed to her that they had been killed by Conjurer’s Power.

  “Charmer of Snakes was right,” Rhuna told Yarqi when the two of them were alone at one of the city’s water wells. “People are still being killed, and they are all members of one of the Orders.”

  “Those Orders pursuing their own selfish goals should be eliminated!” said Yarqi defiantly.

  “Listen,” said Rhuna as she grabbed Yarqi’s arm. “The Dark Master himself is one of the Preeminent Ones among us!”

  “Is that so? Who is he? I must meet him!” she said wide-eyed and suddenly awe-struck.

  “No!” Rhuna responded. “How can you admire such a person? He has done so much to harm and kill many people, and his goals are purely selfish without mercy for anyone!”

  Yarqi stared at Rhuna without comprehension for a while.

  “You misunderstood,” answered Yarqi after some thought. “The Great Master teaches complete freedom, which means freedom to achieve the highest goals in the spiritual planes. Nothing must hinder someone who has the ability to reach such sublime heights!”

  “But such freedom hurts others,” argued Rhuna.

  “They are stupid,” retorted Yarqi brusquely. “They should learn to also free themselves of such constrictive thoughts, then they would not be hurt or upset.”

  Rhuna shook her head vigorously.

  “What about the people who were killed?”

  “A necessary step in the process of attaining complete freedom,” she answered bluntly, and then paused before continuing in a tone of admiration and enthusiasm. “The freedom to transcend the Self and lead mankind to higher levels of consciousness, knowledge and ability! Can there be a greater purpose in life? A more sublime quest?”

  “You’ve been blinded by this zeal and ambitious goal of having freedom to use powers,” Rhuna said to Yarqi. “You can’t see what damage it’s causing to everyone else! That’s not leading mankind to higher levels – it’s oppressing and controlling them, using them as slaves, like they’re doing now, with the residents who stayed in Judharo,” Rhuna argued more vehemently.

  Rhuna watched Yarqi’s face change from avid brightness to gloomy doubt as she considered Rhuna’s words.

  “You don’t belong in this Order,” Rhuna urged. “I know you are passionate about the powers, and that you’re like me, in that you want to use them for good things, not to harm people!”

  “You think so? You think I am like you? I hope so, I really do…I had hoped that…that you and I would be great friends…”

  “I’d like that,” said Rhuna smiling.

  Rhuna longed to see her family again, and when the members of Order of Pure Power were immersed in their various pursuits and activities, she slipped away and navigated her RTE out of Judharo and towards the Chala Valley. As she operated the controls, she looked out through the floor window looking for landmarks to guide her, but several times she was forced to stop the craft and hover. The masses of water had completely altered the outline of the rivers and tributaries, and many small valleys were completely flooded. She was forced to navigate by recognizing the shapes of the upper half of mountain ranges and hilltops that still showed above water. Rhuna thought that bare hilltops looked like stepping stones across a pond or creek.

  As she approached her home in Cha’al, her heartbeat quickened with eager anticipation as well as joy that the house had remained untouched by the moving masses of water. She quickly disembarked and entered the house to greet everyone.

  Rhuna’s heart swelled with warm happiness as first Shandi and then Lozira embraced and kissed her. Kiana came up from the lower level of the house where she was preparing food with Panapu, and gave Rhuna a broad smile.

  Aradin remained seated near the window where he always sat, and Goram nodded briefly to acknowledge her return.

  “It’s good to have you back home,” said Kiana with a genuinely warm smile. Rhuna picked up Shandi and carried her as she walked towards her mother.

  “Kiana and Panapu are making meals,” Shandi said, and began to prattle as she listed the different foods they prepared.

  “Are you preparing food?” she asked Kiana.

  “Yes, and that big man is teaching me about all the new kinds of foods in this land,” she said, gesturing at Panapu.

  “But he can hardly speak the Atlan language – how do you communicate?” Rhuna asked, looking back and forth between Panapu and Kiana.

  “You don’t need words to teach someone how to prepare food,” Kiana answered, and Rhuna felt she had asked a foolish question. She let Shandi down on her feet to run around, and then looked for her father.

  Rhuna found Damell seated in front of the window in one of the chambers of th
e upper level, and he slowly turned to acknowledge her presence.

  “It is good that you are home,” he said, and Rhuna prepared herself for an intense discussion about her activities with the Conjurers. She sat on a seating cushion next to her father and waited, and then noticed his slouched shoulders, expressing a defeated mood.

  “The Conjurers have overwhelmed and conquered Varappa,” he said with a deep and painful sigh. “We have been unable to remain apprised of their activities. The lack of summoning visions by means of the Gazing of the Waters has greatly reduced the ability to observe them. You and I, who are able to access The Infinite to observe them, have a limited scope of observation, and the Dark One has cleverly distracted us to such an extent that he has overwhelmed us!”

  Rhuna sat quietly and listened.

  “First, he distracted me with the responsibility of caring for Possessor of Discernment, then we discovered what he did to Aradin and Lozira. The consequent effort on my part to restore their normal feelings has distracted and exhausted me.” Damell paused and shook his head miserably.

  “He knows exactly where to strike and cause the most pain and distraction to disable us!” Damell said. “He has defeated us.”

  “Oh, no, Father,” Rhuna protested, but Damell raised a hand as if in surrender.

  “Now you are back, we must have a family discussion about these grave matters,” Damell said as he slowly stood up. Rhuna wondered whether he would confront her about her activities in the Order of Pure Power during a serious family gathering, and reluctantly followed him down the stairs.

  “We must discuss the present situation and plan our future,” Damell announced as he entered the main sitting room of the house. He lowered himself onto a seating cushion in the middle of the floor, and the others sat in a circle around him. Kiana sat next to Rhuna and looked at her expectantly, waiting for her daughter to translate anything important. Rhuna was disturbed to see Hari Tal seated in the circle, but Damell gave her a silent nod of approval.