Ascension Discovery

by Amy Proebstel

  “Hi, Amanda.” It still amazed her she had a cousin her own age, and she stared at the screen in pleased wonder.

  “Hi, Rasa. How was your day?”

  “Really tiring! How was yours with the new job?”

  Amanda grinned at Rasa’s enthusiasm. “My head’s still spinning from all the things they expect me to learn. I’m sure I’ll eventually get it, but I don’t want them to lose patience before I do!”

  “I’m sure you’re doing fine. Hey, did Alena and you get to work on the memorization techniques using the birth crystal?”

  “We started it, but I kept getting tired and having to stop. Do you have any suggestions?”

  “Sure, we can work on it when we meet again. I think it should be soon, since I imagine you’ll want to use it for work!”

  “That would be wonderful! I hate having to ask Riccan the same question all of the time. So, what’s going on?”

  “Well I wanted to let you know I’m going to be sending your message to Shemalla in a little over an hour. Hopefully, your parents will have it soon thereafter.”

  “That’s amazing news, Rasa. Thank you for working it all out.”

  “I still don’t absolutely know it will work, but I have a pretty good idea it will. Also, I had another idea I’d like to test.”

  “Okay, what is it?”

  “We were learning about life-lines today in class, and I got to thinking I might be able to trace Jena’s. I’m not sure how it will help, but I don’t want to leave any stone unturned.”

  Amanda suddenly had an idea of her own and asked, “How far have you gone in the levels of birth crystal training?”

  Rasa chuckled a little bit before replying, “I’ve completed them all.”

  Amanda’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Wow! It must have taken forever. I saw Alena’s list of twenty-seven levels, and I only got to ten!”

  It was Rasa’s turn to laugh as she asked, “And how long did you train to get to level ten?”

  Amanda blushed as she grasped what Rasa was saying and replied with a chuckle, “We only had a chance to train for five days.”

  “My point exactly! Many people train for more than twelve anons, and they don’t even get that far. You’re definitely a natural at it. I think it might have something to do with our heritage, but that’s for another time. And just so you know, Alena’s list is the one given to teachers and wise-women. With Jehoban’s class, there are more than forty items to be learned. Why were you asking?”

  “Oh!” Amanda returned to her original notion and replied, “I thought if you could trace the life-line then you could use the navigation skill to determine at least in which direction she was located. Am I right?”

  Rasa considered Amanda’s idea for a moment and then slowly nodded her head. “I think that might just work. I’d like to try an experiment with you first if that’s okay.”

  “I’m at your service, Rasa. Experiment away!” Amanda watched Rasa as she nodded confirmation of her consent and then closed her eyes. At first, Amanda just sat there staring at the patil screen and then she felt a sort of tickling sensation inside her skull. It was then she understood Rasa was trying to access her life-line to determine her location. She was hopeful Rasa would be able to complete the task. A few minutes later the tickling was gone, and Amanda saw Rasa open her eyes. “Did it work?”

  “Sort of, I felt something. I think I’m going to have to practice this a little bit more before I try it on Juila or Jena.”

  “I’m available whenever you need me.”

  “Thanks, you know I’m going to take you up on your offer!”

  “I know, it makes me feel better about asking for your help. It’s the least I can do since I’m taking time away from your studies.”

  “I’m not even sure if anyone has tried accessing life-lines from a distance. Who knows, maybe I’m inventing a new level for training. Jehoban did always say my brain didn’t work like anyone else’s which is why He took me on as a student!”

  “Were you terribly scared to go train with Him?”

  “I was more curious than scared. I’ve always craved learning, and I certainly have been able to take advantage of my talent with Jehoban. Obviously, I missed home and my family, but Jehoban always made me feel welcome and loved. I’m pretty sure my childhood was as perfect as it could get. I was always safe, loved, cared for, and challenged mentally.”

  “Have you ever told Barla? She’s always wondered if she did the right thing by letting you go.”

  “Really? How crazy! Well, pretty soon I’ll be able to tell her in person. Once I’m done with my wise-woman training, my studies will be complete.”

  “Oh, Barla will just love having you home. She’s missed you so much, and she always talks about wanting to see you.”

  “My only regret with my choice in education was missing my family. Anyway, it’s almost over now. It turns out I’m not as clumsy with healing as I had once believed, so maybe it will be over soon.”

  “What are you supposed to do once you’re done with school?”

  “Jehoban told me I’d have many anons before I have to worry about that part of my life. He wants me to take my time getting to know my family again and doing whatever makes me happy. Once I get tired of the retired life, then Jehoban told me to come back, and He’d give me my life’s assignment.”

  “Life’s assignment? It sounds so serious! Aren’t you scared?”

  “No, I’m sure He’ll pick something which suits me perfectly.”

  “I hope you’re right!”

  “Okay, it’s almost time for me to message Shemalla, so I’m going to sign off to get prepared for it.”

  “Alright, call me again whenever you want to talk.”

  “I will. Maybe even tonight after I send the message.”

  “Okay, sounds great. Good night.”

  “Good night.” Rasa disconnected the call and pulled out the sheet of paper containing Amanda’s message to her parents. She appreciated how concise Amanda had been in her wording without actually telling them there was a problem.

  Rasa stood up and walked across the room to her sofa. She wanted to be as comfortable as possible to send this message. It was important nothing went wrong so it would end up at its intended location at the right time.

  Once she was calm and centered, Rasa practiced pulling up several spheres of elemy. In each globe, she inserted an object from her room and then imagined each in another location of the living space. With each effort, the globe reappeared where she intended with the contents still intact.

  Satisfied her control was sufficient she made a larger globe than her practice ones and inserted Amanda’s note. She concentrated on Shemalla’s face, location, and time and then sent the sphere on its way. Normally there would be a confirmation of delivery, but it felt different going through the veil, so she was not as certain about the outcome.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Shemalla had just sat down in her dining room to eat dinner when something strange happened. She heard a sound from behind her and turned just in time to see a globe of elemy appear. More than a little surprised, Shemalla jumped up from her chair and reached into the globe to retrieve the piece of paper it contained.

  With shaking fingers, she unfolded the note and read:

  HI MOM & DAD,

  I MADE IT SAFELY SO DON’T WORRY. I’M LIVING IN COZUMEL AND I’M STILL WORKING ON THE DETAILS FOR COMING HOME SO I’M NOT SURE HOW MUCH LONGER I’LL BE GONE. PLEASE DON’T WORRY.

  I LOVE YOU!

  AMANDA

  Shemalla let out a whoop of joy to finally have some news to share with Chris and Diane. She knew they were in the process of moving to New Mexico. Maybe with this update, they might decide to stay in Florida.

  Without another thought for her dinner, Shemalla raced to the phone and dialed the Covington phone number. After what felt like an eternity, Diane picked up the phone.

  “Hello?”

  “Diane! This is Shemalla.” />
  “Shemalla, what’s wrong? This isn’t our usual day. Have you heard something?”

  “I just received a note from Amanda!” She read the contents to Diane and waited for a response which seemed a long time in coming. “Diane?”

  “I’m still here. I’m just processing what Amanda said. I think there’s something wrong, Shemalla.”

  “Why would you say that? She said she’s coming home; she just doesn’t know when.”

  “It troubles me where she said ‘I’ instead of ‘we’ every time. Maybe she hasn’t found the girls or maybe something even worse!”

  “Diane, please don’t borrow trouble. We don’t know anything of the sort except Amanda is safe. Is Chris home?”

  “Yes, let me go get him.”

  Shemalla could hear Diane set the phone down and call for Chris. After a bit of rustling, Chris picked up the phone.

  “Hi, Shemalla. Diane tells me there’s something wrong.”

  “I was afraid she’d say that, let me read you the note I just got from Amanda.” Again Shemalla read the contents of the short note and then said, “I think this’s good news. Please talk some sense into Diane. She always looks for trouble even when there isn’t any.”

  “Don’t I know it! Thank you for letting us know, Shemalla. This really is a blessing. Have a good night.”

  “Good night, Chris.”

  Shemalla hung up the phone and sighed in resignation. Before the call, she had been so excited to get proof of Amanda’s health, yet as she considered Diane’s comment, she did wonder what had gone wrong with the twins. They had waited this long to hear any news; time would tell what was really going to happen.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Chelesa was now officially concerned. She had refused to let the children leave the grounds of the estate until she was convinced there was no longer any danger. Since the incident in the marketplace, each time she had left the house to conduct her normal business she had been followed until the last time where she had been physically attacked.

  While she had not been seriously hurt, the message the man had whispered to her before he let her go chilled her to the core. She could still feel the man’s whiskers on her cheek as he spoke, “Tell the Elder to step down, or your children are next.”

  There was no way she could keep this from Debbon since an actual attack and threat had been made. Debbon felt so close to the community he would understandably be hurt by the violence. Naturally, he would never step down, his position was part of the family line not to mention this was his life’s calling, which he would train Willian to follow in his footsteps. Of course, being First among the Elders held more responsibility, but Debbon absolutely loved his job.

  There was no choice now but to tell Debbon what had been happening since he had left. She knew he would be angry she had waited so long to inform him, but she had thought it would subside over time. Now she was scared, and she did not want to leave the house for anything; she knew this was no way to live.

  She went to her office and touched the screen to make the call to Debbon. Unsure of his teaching schedule, whether or not he was still in class, she cried out in relief when his image filled the screen as he answered the request.

  “Hi, Chelesa. I’m surprised to hear from you. Is everything okay?”

  “No, Debbon, we have a serious problem.”

  “What’s going on, honey? How can I help?”

  “I thought I could handle this situation at home, but today I was attacked…”

  “Chelesa, are you okay? I’m coming home this instant!” He did not even bother to disconnect his call on the patil; he immediately translated himself into Chelesa’s office. Debbon rushed forward to his wife and held her in his arms. She appeared to be okay, yet he could tell she was quite upset. “Start from the beginning and tell me everything.”

  After quite some time Chelesa finished recounting everything which had occurred since he had left. He had remained quiet during her recitation, however inside he was seething with anger. It was one thing for people to be upset with him for his decisions as Elder, but to resort to hurting his family was the work of cowards. Unquestionably he would have to deal with this dreadful problem, but first, he had to ensure his family’s safety.

  “We’re going to have to send the children away for a while, Chelesa.” He could see her starting to shake her head in negation and hurriedly continued, “If I can ensure their safety and your own, then I will be able to address this problem properly. I can’t do anything until everyone who is a potential target is taken out of the equation. You know what I’m saying is true, Chelesa.”

  She hated it when her husband was right, yet she had to admit to the wisdom of his words. “Where will you send them?”

  “Now don’t get upset, but I think the best place for the children will be on Earth.”

  “No, Debbon! I won’t be able to monitor them there; the link doesn’t work the same across the veil!” She could feel her heart breaking just with the idea of losing contact with her children for even a moment, let alone the days or weeks, it would take to get this problem situated.

  “We need them to be safe and any people trying to hurt them here on Tuala will not have access to a Gate to harm them on Earth. It’s the perfect solution.”

  “Well, then I want to go with them.” Chelesa crossed her arms as she planned to stay with her children regardless of Debbon’s plans.

  “I can’t have you go, Chelesa, it would raise too many suspicions.” Thinking speedily on his feet, Debbon finally had the perfect solution to entice her to stay, “Besides, you always wished you’d learned the skills of a wise-woman, but there were too many demands on your time. Come back to Durseni and train with the rest of the class. We haven’t gotten too far ahead where you couldn’t catch up. I can keep you so busy you won’t have enough time to worry about our children.” Debbon reached forward and held Chelesa’s hand entreatingly.

  “It’s not fair, Debbon, to play on my deepest desires.”

  Debbon could see she was starting to lean toward his suggestion before he added the final touch, “I think you’d make a wonderful wise-woman.”

  Chelesa’s greatest desire was to have more to offer the people other than her ability to negotiate well. If she had an actual skill where she could help the community as a healer, then she would feel she would have a purpose. She thought they would embrace her even more if she could heal them too. She sighed with resignation and said, “Okay, Debbon. You can have it your way this time. How long do I have to get the children prepared?”

  “I’m going to make the arrangements tonight. The children will be gone by midnight because we’ll need to return to Durseni before class starts at eight o’clock in the morning.”

  Chelesa instantly went from resignation to horror at the notion it could all be handled within the next several hours. She felt panic rising inside of her, and she started to cry. Her husband pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her. He rocked her back and forth and kept telling her it would be okay. For once she doubted he was telling her the truth, this decision hurt too much.

  “Chelesa, we have a lot to get done. Pack some things for the children, just enough for each of them to carry. Then contact all of your appointments and let them know you’ll be unavailable for at least two mesans. I’ll talk with the house staff and let them know the changes which will be occurring. Then I’ll call Elder Vargen to arrange the transfer for the children.”

  Chelesa immediately looked up and asked, “Why Elder Vargen? Why can’t they go through our Gate?”

  “Because it would be a little bit too obvious. Think about it, if we send them through another Gate the children will be even farther from danger.”

  With one last sniffle and several angry swipes of her hands on her cheeks to get rid of the tears, she nodded curtly. The anger she felt at that moment found a new target: the outlaws who were driving her family apart. She was going to make them pay for every missed moment with her
children.

  Debbon could see the change in Chelesa and inwardly smiled because she had finally come to terms with their plan. His wife was both beautiful and smart; he could always count on her to do right even if she did not like it. He was asking her to do the ultimate thing of letting her children go, and he actually believed he would have to do a lot more talking before she agreed. Debbon realized she was even more scared than he had originally believed.

  Chelesa stalked out of the room causing Debbon to smile at her defiance in the face of danger. He switched seats and turned toward the desk to access the patil. He touched the screen to activate an emergency code to Elder Vargen. As he suspected, the call was picked up immediately.

  “Elder Debbon, how may I help?”

  “I’m requesting a confidential transfer for two citizens to Earth.”

  Elder Vargen had never thought he would hear such a request coming from the First and hurriedly asked, “Are there any special instructions?”

  “Yes, they will need to have caregivers on Earth. I would also need the timing to be altered so they arrive on Earth two mesans from now.”

  Vargen made notes as the First talked and asked, “What kind of caregivers will be required?”

  “Parental guardians. The two citizens being transferred are my children.”

  Vargen’s mouth dropped open before he could stop it. He forgot all protocol as he blurted, “Debbon, what are you doing?”

  “My family is being threatened, and I’m not able to address the situation at this time since I just started the new wise-woman class for the anon. I need to know my children are safe until I can get everything settled. Tell me you can make the necessary arrangements before midnight.” Debbon did not actually ask, but rather demanded Vargen to get it put together or else there would be trouble.

  “I understand, First Elder Debbon. I’ll take care of everything.”

  “We will come to the Gate at midnight.” Debbon disconnected the call before any more questions could be asked. He did not like this solution any better than Chelesa did; however, he really could not conceive of another in such a short timeframe.