Their conversation was interrupted when the front door of the house opened, and the man in question stepped out into the daylight. Agetha tore her gaze away from his lean, masculine form and looked over at the girl by her side. The expression she saw on her friend’s face instantly infuriated her with jealousy. In disgust, she threw down the rake she had been barely using, let out a loud sigh, and stomped off to her own home.
Fraya jumped with surprise at Agetha’s poor manners. She blushed prettily and immediately bent to retrieve the abandoned tool. Without looking back over to Ozias, but painfully aware he was probably watching her, she scurried away to hide behind her own house.
Unknown to either of the women, Ozias had been able to overhear their conversation. He had originally planned on going for a walk until the women’s concern changed his mind. Ozias firmly shut the door behind him and walked with purpose to Vinia’s house to find out what she thought about his name. Never before had it occurred to him there might be something socially wrong with his name.
Arriving only seconds after deciding to go, Ozias knocked swiftly on the door. As soon as the door opened, Ozias hurriedly asked, “What’s wrong with my name?”
Vinia’s expression turned puzzled, and she stammered slightly before stepping back into her house and saying, “Come inside.”
Ozias barely cleared the doorframe before he started talking. “I overheard some women saying my name wasn’t honorable. What were they talking about?”
“Oh,” Vinia replied lamely as she shut the door silently. She turned around and rested her back against the wood as she tried to come up with the easiest explanation. “There’s nothing wrong with your name, at least not where you come from. The problem is that you’re in Tuala now and here all of the men’s names end with an ‘n’ unless they’ve lost honor.” She pushed herself away from the support of the door and took several steps across the room to where she could sit at the table.
Vinia gestured for him to sit down with her as she thought about possible solutions to their new dilemma. She watched him carefully to see if she could read his face enough to discern what he was thinking. As he sat next to her, she suddenly felt something click inside her head. She hastily looked away as she realized she was flustered by the idea of having a man inside her house, sitting at her table.
She had told Amanda she wanted to be able to reunite with Nealan as soon as he had recovered from his ordeal. Now she felt as though she were betraying his memory with her lecherous thoughts. Surely, Ozias did not entertain the same ideas about herself, and she could not understand what had suddenly overcome her good judgment.
Returning to the original discussion, she said, “In Tuala, we’re supposed to report any foreigners to the Elders. Usually, the people who come here would be from Earth, and they call them old souls here.” She stopped talking as another realization hit her; Ozias had not lost his memory when he entered Tuala. “I think you’re special, Ozias. More than you’ll ever know, really.” She had to look away again as she felt the same attraction pulling at her when he looked in her eyes.
“Elder Daven already knows I’m here. Doesn’t that take care of your social obligation then?”
“Yes.” She could not remain idle, and she pushed herself away from the table and started to pace the room. “The women did have a point, however. If we don’t do something about your name, then anytime you meet someone from outside the village, they’ll think you’re not honorable. How would you feel about modifying your name…say something like Ozian?”
“Ozian,” he said quietly and slowly, feeling the sound of it on his tongue. “I think I could live with that change.”
“Alright, I’ll be sure to tell everyone in the village what we’ve decided then.” She did not want him to leave and swiftly asked, “Are you hungry? I could make us something to eat.”
“I’m always hungry, but I don’t want to put you to any trouble.”
Gathering elemy, she created two plates of lunch which appeared instantaneously on the table. “No trouble at all.” She sat in her recently vacated chair and smiled proudly at the look of surprise on his face.
“I’d forgotten about you being able to do that!”
“Would you like to say the prayer before we eat?”
Ozian looked uncomfortable as it was not something he practiced for himself.
Vinia saw his expression change and hastily offered, “I can do it if you’d rather.”
“Please. I’d like that.”
Vinia folded her hands on the table, bowed her head with eyes closed, and spoke softly, “Jehoban, we thank you for this food which we are about to receive, and pray that thou will bless it, and us to thy service, in Emmanuen’s name we pray. Amen.”
Ozian smiled at her when she opened her eyes and said, “That was really beautiful. Will you teach that to me?”
“Sure, but I think we should eat first, while it’s still hot.” She picked up her shredded foxl sandwich and dunked it into the bowl of broth.
Ozian chuckled at her response and followed her lead with the food. One day, he hoped he would be able to learn how to create food out of thin air. Somehow, he thought it was going to be a skill which would be difficult to acquire.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ever since arriving back in Tuala, Jena had been experiencing a strange feeling. At first, she simply believed it to be the energy rising from the land itself. Now, as she lay in a pool of sweat in her bed, she knew it was something much more. The nightmares which had plagued her for almost her whole life were more intense than ever. It was almost as if the dream were trying to prepare her for something to come.
As if on cue, Juila entered the room and sprawled out on the bed beside her. “I’m here now,” she whispered as she threw her arm across her sister’s stomach. “It seemed worse tonight.”
“It definitely was worse,” Jena whispered. “The dreams have been less intense until tonight. What do you think made the difference?”
“Probably being back in Tuala. Don’t worry about it. I’ll stay here for the rest of the night. You won’t be alone.” Juila thrust her arm up under the pillow to raise her head a little higher as she prepared herself to sleep again.
Jena knew exactly when her sister fell asleep. She counted the breaths as Juila took them, hoping the monotony of it all would bore her back to sleep. Unfortunately, the rising sun found her still awake as she tried to make sense of the disturbing dreams. Trying not to wake Juila, she wiggled out from under her arm and off the edge of the bed.
She freshened up in the bathroom by splashing cold water on her face. Staring at her wet reflection in the mirror, she could see the dark circles under her eyes. She used the smallest amount of elemy to revitalize her body and watched with pleasure as the darkness seemed to seep away. This was hardly the first time she had used this unorthodox method to make it through a day after a bad night. She wished she could say it would be her last, but she knew that to be untrue as long as she still had to live through what the dreams were showing her.
Her thoughts must have woken up Juila since she was now sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for her to return.
“Grandma Nena said we could go to Grandpa Daven’s office to read through the books in his library. She said there were some really old ones in there.” Juila knew how much her sister loved to read and hoped the offer would help her mind to relax. She could feel the turmoil in her own mind and knew it was even worse for her sister. She wished she could trade places with her so she would sleep better. It was hard to imagine they would have to wait for another two anons before the dreams would finally end.
Smiling at her sister’s attempt to help her, she smiled and answered, “I can’t wait to see what he’s got. I’m pretty sure we already read everything in the library at Acaim.”
“To be sure,” Juila agreed as she stood up and stretched, joints cracking, and sighing deeply. “Are you ready?” She led the way to the door, planning on stopping by her own bedroom to pu
t on a robe before heading downstairs.
Jena grabbed her own robe off of the chair next to the door as she followed her sister. She pulled it on as she walked across the hall and into Juila’s room, which was identical to her own. Maybe she could find something of use inside the books downstairs which could help her figure out her dreams.
They walked around the office several times before pulling several volumes from the shelf. Jena was exhilarated to find several topics which she had read very little about. Even Juila had discovered a couple of books which she seemed interested in reading.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shutting his folder with more force than necessary, Dr. Gascon ripped the glasses off of his face and pinched the bridge of his nose to try to ease the headache behind his eyes. There had to be something he was missing in these records; something which would give him the breakthrough he needed in order to submit his case study to his peers. It had been far too long since he had begun this research and told his colleagues about it, and they were pressing him for answers he was unable to provide with solid proof.
If only he had a couple more cases in which to provide supporting documentation. This line of thinking only angered him more because he had two more cases he should have been able to pursue: Nealand Taivas and Amanda Covington. Both of them had slipped through his fingers and were now firmly out of his reach. Which led him to another line of thinking entirely.
He pulled the latest envelope of pictures and reports from out of the locked top drawer of his massive desk. There had to be something going on at the Stel house. Too many people were seen coming away from the property when only very few ever actually entered. Maybe he should consider hiring another investigator to see if there truly were a second, perhaps secret, entrance to the property.
After rifling through the various photographs, he held the clearest picture of Amanda up in front of him and simply stared at her. “What are you keeping from me,” he asked out loud. “One day I will have you in my care, and you will answer all of my questions.”
The phone buzzed annoyingly. Dr. Gascon stuffed the investigative reports back into the envelope before he picked up the receiver. “What?!”
“Your three o’clock appointment is waiting for you, Dr. Gascon.” The receptionist did not wait for an answer before she clicked off the line. She had enough experience to know when the doctor was not feeling particularly nice, and she would rather not hear any of his snide comments.
Thinking about how much trouble it would be to replace his impertinent secretary, Dr. Gascon gathered the files he would need and shoved them in his briefcase. He locked his desk up and then stomped across the large office. Once he got within earshot of his secretary, he said, “You’re fired!” Without missing a beat, he continued on his way to the next patient.
Chapter Twelve
ELDER DAVEN FOUND the girls studying in his office and it still warmed his heart to know these brilliant young women were his flesh and blood. He had seen them on several occasions throughout the anons when he had consulted with Jehoban. He knew Jehoban was extremely proud of their accomplishments and it stroked his ego to know now who the girls were to him. For so many anons, he and his wife had lamented the lack of grandchildren from their only son. He could never have anticipated how well things would have turned out.
“It looks as though you’ve both found books of interest,” he announced as he stepped through the doorway into his office.
As one, both girls looked up at him and smiled the exact same smile. Jena abandoned her seat and rushed over to hug her grandfather and say, “Good morning, Grandpa. You have some great books here!” With her greeting finished, she returned to her seat and asked, “What do you have planned today?”
“Unfortunately, I have a healing to attend. The parties were unable to leave their property, so I’m going to be gone for most of the morning unless the ailment cannot be contained quickly, then I’ll be gone until dinner.” He stopped behind Jena’s chair and glanced over to see what she had picked out to read. He was more than a little surprised to see the volumes were of the most complicated subject matter he owned. With raised eyebrows, he shifted his gaze to inspect Juila’s choices and found her to be reading equally challenging material. “Promise me you won’t spend the entire day cooped up in here. These books aren’t going anywhere so you should enjoy the grounds and get some fresh air.”
Juila grinned broadly and assured him, “I’ll be sure to pry Jena away. She does tend to forget to eat when she finds a book she hasn’t read before.”
He placed his palm on the top of Juila’s head and said, “That’s my girl.” With more than a little reluctance he moved away from his grandchildren, gathered the supplies he would need for his day, and sighed with the idea of leaving so soon after finally getting the girls to come and visit. Daven kissed each girl on the top of her head as he passed behind them and said, “I’ll do everything I can to make this short, so I can get back home. Have a great day!”
“You too, Grandpa,” the girls spoke in unison.
Daven rushed down the hall and out to the landing field. He wished there were someone else he could have sent to handle this particular situation. Any other Elder would have sent their successor, but Riccan was spending some much-needed time alone with his new bride. Besides, being Sabtu, he would not have asked anyone else to handle such a delicate task.
Once he was settled in his telepod, he began the start-up procedures. The telepod rose from the ground several inches and hovered, unmoving. Instead of concentrating on his current task, Daven found his mind wandering back to the scene in his office. There had been a tension around the two girls which Daven tried to understand. He wondered if the girls were homesick, or if they had some other problem which he should try to resolve for them.
Daven shook his head in resignation as he realized trying to understand a teenage girl’s mind was almost impossible and he had another task at hand. With a gusty sigh, Daven pulled up the coordinates of his destination, focused his mind to only completing the transfer, and then he touched the activation button which immediately sent him on his way.
The darkness surrounded him, and his mind maintained the necessary focus. The landing area was detailed in his thoughts, and he could feel himself moving through space, even though he knew it was most likely a figment of his imagination. Who knew? Maybe it was a special talent of his, to be able to feel space moving around him. Three seconds passed, and then the site he had noted in his head was directly ahead of him. Daven shifted the telepod into manual mode and used the yoke to navigate over to a perfect landing.
Several of the people from the small town were already waiting for him at the edges of the field. Daven could see their anxious expressions even as he worked through the steps to deactivating the telepod. The strange epidemic the town was experiencing was troublesome to his mind since they had never encountered such a widespread sickness before. He had to discover the source of the problem to prevent a second outbreak after he healed the first round of the ill.
He picked up his healer’s bag as he passed through the back of the telepod on his way out the side door. He barely had time to turn around to press the button to close the hatch before the people began to advance upon him. For some strange reason, he felt uneasy about this situation, even though he had been to this town several times and personally knew most of the residence. There seemed to be an air of evil surrounding him, and rapidly he spoke a prayer for safety before he smiled at the advancing crowd.
“It’s gotten worse,” a man called out across the distance between them.
“Take me to the first person to have fallen ill,” Daven said as he identified the speaker and stopped in front of him.
“She’s in the market square,” he said cryptically.
Daven’s eyebrows rose at the odd location. Something was definitely amiss with this situation. He followed the man and felt the crowd of people press around him on all sides as they tried to hurry him to their loved on
es. They had walked for several minutes before they reached the middle of town. Once there, the leader stopped and stepped to the side for Daven to witness the strange actions of the people.
“We can’t make them stop dancing. You can see they are exhausted, but they won’t stop moving.”
Daven watched for several seconds, entranced by the clumsy swaying and weaving of the men and women of the town. Their cheeks were flushed bright red, and they were all sweating profusely. Their motions were jerky, and they often bumped into one another without seeming to notice. Most of all, the blank expressions on their faces was the most bothersome.
Wishing he could make one of them stand still so he could examine them, Daven dismissed such an idea as he looked at the feet of the first woman to come down with the ailment. There were bloody footprints everywhere she stepped. She had shuffled her feet so long that she had worn through the soles of her shoes and was now scraping the layers of skin off of her feet.
Once he saw the devastation the dancers were doing to their own bodies unknowingly, Daven immediately went into action. He set his bag on the ground and held his hands out to his sides to catch the onlookers’ attention and yelled to the crowd. “I’m going to begin working on these people. Please do not interrupt me or touch me. If you see any of the dancers fall, please pick them up and remove them from the market square, so they won’t be trampled by any of the other people affected by this strange sickness.”
“How do we know we won’t catch whatever ails them if we touch them?” A male voice called out from the crowd.
“I promise it will be safe once they stop dancing.” Daven could no longer wait for any more discussion, and he closed his eyes and gathered elemy from under his feet. Thinking of the number of people twirling in the market square, he pulled more elemy than ever before and searched for the woman whose feet were bloody. He tapped into her life-line and immediately felt the flow of something terribly wrong coursing throughout her body. There was a darkness surrounding the illness which puzzled him. Never before had he encountered anything as insidious as this new ailment, and he wracked his brain to find a cure.
Ascension Vision- The Levels of Ascension Box Set Page 36