Guardians of the Akasha (21 page)

“There is no Council. Daemon has killed the last member. You will form a new Council when all of this is done.”

Keira nodded and tried not to be overwhelmed. “One step at a time,” she whispered.

Then, in a firmer voice, she asked Cassandra, “When are these Others arriving and how will they help?”

“They will be here tonight, and they will give you their memories,” Cassandra calmly replied.

“Memories?”

“Yes, memories. A gift beyond value. Three will come and four will share.”

Keira’s eyes widened. It suddenly seemed as if Cassandra’s body was encased in layers upon layers of light, causing a rippling and shimmering effect in the bright morning sunlight.

“Who are you?” Keira whispered.

“I am Cassandra, your Guide. I have taught you what I could, now your journey begins.”

“You are not human.”

“No. Not what you understand as being human. This appearance has been chosen because you would feel comfortable with it. It is what you needed when you arrived here.”

“And this place?”

“You would not be able to function in my dimension as it is. This place was created for you.” Cassandra’s voice seemed to fill the air surrounding them, flowing down the hill like a gentle yet powerful river until there was nothing but her voice, deep and calm and old as time.

Cassandra stood up and held her hand out to Keira. Her face glowed with inner love and peace and a gentleness that made Keira swallow back the sudden emotion rising up in her throat.

“Come child,” she said. “We have to prepare.”

“I am scared,” Keira said.

The Being in front of her laughed a silver-bells laugh and said, “Darling, you would be quite bonkers if you weren’t.”

Keira gave a relieved smile. Cassandra wasn’t gone after all. She slowly put her hand in Cassandra’s and watched as a dancing, golden light enveloped their fingers, spread up her arm, and covered her body like a light summer dress.

Together, the two women walked down the path to the round hut. As they got closer, Keira saw an opening, covered with strings of colourful beads.

“This wasn’t here before,” she said.

Cassandra only nodded and held the beads back, inviting Keira to enter. She bent down slightly to go through the entrance, into the gloomy interior. Her eyes took a few moments to adjust, but then she saw five blankets placed on the ground, around a central fire pit.

“Come, sit here.” Cassandra beckoned her over to a blanket woven in an intricate pattern of rainbow colours, all blended together so that it seemed to glow, even in the dim light.

Cassandra sat to her right, on a beautiful yellow blanket woven through with threads of gold. Keira silently watched as she busied herself arranging baskets filled with sweet-smelling herbs on the ground next to her. She recognised rosemary, sage, and the purple-brown flowers of African Ginger.

Protection, wisdom, and success.

Next, Cassandra added the purple spotted stem of a herb that made Keira sit forward with concern.

“Cassandra, is that hemlock? You said we should never….”

“Today is an exception,” the old woman interrupted. “It will aid our visitors’ journey through the planes.”

Cassandra glanced at Keira and smiled that impish smile Keira had come to know and love over the past fortnight. “There. We are ready to invite the Others.”

Keira looked over to where the entrance had been, expecting more people to walk in and take a seat on the blankets. She was startled to see that the doorway had disappeared. When she looked back at Cassandra, the fire in front of them had started burning, merrily giving off warmth and making the hut even cosier.

“Cassandra—”

“Shhh,” Cassandra tut-tutted, selecting a handful of herbs from the baskets next to her. She flung them into the fire with a wide arc of her arm, and sat back with a contented sigh.

The hut was soon filled with a sweet aroma, so overpowering that it threatened to send Keira’s head spinning.

“Cassandra?” she asked again, feeling confused and disoriented, her own voice coming as from a great distance away.

“Hold my hand, Keira,” Cassandra replied. From outside herself, Keira watched her arm stretch out of its own accord and their hands link.

Surya Modjadji Kukulkan

Surya Modjadji Kukulkan

SuryaModjadjiKukulkan SuryaModjadjiKukulkan

Cassandra chanted, first soft and low, then her voice became louder with each repetition, until it rolled off the sides of the hut. Keira could almost see the sound waves as they crashed over her head.

Surya Modjadji Kukulkan

Surya Modjadji Kukulkan

SuryaModjadjiKukulkan SuryaModjadjiKukulkan

On and on it went. At one point Keira heard herself chanting the words with Cassandra…over and over….

To Keira’s left, the air above the blue blanket shifted. She slowly tipped her head in that direction and concentrated very hard to make her eyes focus on the vague outlines of a shape that turned into a statuesque black woman who settled down next to her. The woman’s beauty and regal bearing were overwhelming. Keira was stunned, even through the layer of cotton-wool wrapped around her mind.

“Welcome, Modjadji,” Cassandra spoke and graciously inclined her head to the Rain Queen.

Modjadji nodded back and then to Keira. “We are honoured to help the Akasha,” her brown eyes were warm and Keira smelled that wonderful fresh scent of grass and earth after a rain storm.

Then the fire crackled demandingly and, as Keira looked into the flames, a figure leapt forth, startling her into dropping Cassandra’s hand and scrambling back to the wall of the hut.

“Welcome, Surya,” Cassandra said drily.

“A pleasure, as always,” a voice crackled back.

The figure took his place on the red blanket, on the other side of the fire. Keira tried to bring him into focus, but failed. His image rippled the way a mirage does. She only registered a sense of immense power and heat pouring from the two fiery eyes fixed on her.

A rustle of wind whirled around the hut, stirring Keira’s hair and a small, slight figure alit on the green blanket between Modjadji and Surya. It wore a coat made of a multitude of emerald, ruby, and gold feathers. The feathers stirred and a yellow serpent stuck its head out, tasting the air with its tongue and disappearing again.

“Welcome, Kukulkan,” Cassandra nodded her head toward the feathers.

“Thank you, Wise One,” a voice warbled in reply. The figure was an old man, so thin it seemed the wind could carry him away at the slightest sigh.

“Now,” Cassandra continued. “Let the Dreaming begin.” She beckoned Keira, who was still sitting with her back pressed against the hut’s grass wall, forward.

Keira cautiously returned to her rainbow blanket. On either side of her, Cassandra and Modjadji were holding out their hands to her. She put her own in theirs, closing the chain, and was blasted with a power so overwhelming, her head was thrown back and her eyes stared wide open at the roof above her. She was lost in a great, unending space.

The sound of her blood rushing through her veins thundered in Keira’s ears while colours swirled in a mad, rushing kaleidoscope in her mind. Then she was racing across the African landscape, Modjadji by her side. She flew over wildebeest and elephants and crossed the air with a fish eagle, all the while seeing face after face in a long line of Rain Queens, their voices mingling into one as they shared with her the memory of water and of life.

Then Keira was surrounded by a multitude of birds of every shape, size, and colour. Their singing and chirping filled her ears until she wanted to clamp her hands to her head; but she couldn’t. She was holding on to the neck of the feathered serpent, riding through the sky towards the sun.

She screamed as they flew closer and the sun’s brilliance seared through her eyes and into her mind. They dove into the centre of the fireball, but instead of burning, there was only welcome warmth and an understanding of the power of fire and air.

Time slowed down and carried Keira on an entwined ribbon of crimson, cobalt, silver and bronze. She was lulled by its gentle undulations, floating along with it, until a soft voice called her name from very far away.

“Keira…come child, it is time to go,” it murmured.

Loss and sadness filled Keira as she turned towards the voice. She was reluctant to leave this place, but the voice insisted, pulling her away.

“Thank you,” she whispered into the ocean of time and was rewarded with an embrace of shared love wrapping around her like a soft blanket.

As Keira left that place behind, following the voice calling her name, she became aware of a shining figure in the distance. She drifted closer and closer, until she came to a stop before it. Keira could only stare. The female figure was composed entirely of light—warm, golden light that rippled and moved with an internal energy and power. Entire constellations revolved around little suns in and around the Being in front of her.

“Oh—Cassandra….” Keira’s voice broke with emotion at the beauty in front of her.

“You have done well child.” The words resonated through Keira’s mind. A hand brush her cheek and then there was a slight weight as the Being clasped something around her neck. She looked down and saw a brilliant, oval crystal hanging on her breast.

“Cassandra…what will I do without you?”

“Dear child, you will find your own wisdom. Go and live your destiny.”

The white horse appeared and gave her a soft, greeting nicker. A great tiredness swept through Keira and she struggled to keep her eyes open. She felt herself being lifted and she twisted her fingers automatically in the horse’s silky mane.

Once again, like that first trip she took on his back, she leaned forward onto his neck. He moved forward, and she barely felt the gentle rocking as she drifted off into unconsciousness.

Chapter 24

Dusk settled over the Argentine highlands in shades of rose and tangerine. Sharp mountain peaks and dramatic cliffs, glaringly bright during the day, softened and lost their harshness.

Justin usually loved this twilight time. He would go outside every evening to enjoy those few moments before darkness fell over the Santana ranch. Yet today, even Mother Nature’s spectacular show failed to lighten his mood.

With his scuffed, dust-caked shoes, he kicked at a pebble in the red sand and swore under his breath, careful not to say the word too loud. Uncle Marco didn’t take kindly to children swearing.

Two months had passed since Marco returned to the ranch and Justin was worried. Not a word had come from Keira. Zina said there had been a Dreaming, but that was all they knew. Even though the Old Woman had told his uncle to wait, Justin was afraid that Marco was at the point where he’d go back to Europe to look for her.

Justin didn’t know exactly what a Dreaming was, but judging by the adults’ jittery tension, he was glad he wasn’t a part of it. It made him worry more for his friend, Keira. She was kind to him and Amber at the castle.

A treacherous tear found its way over the boy’s cheek and he angrily wiped it away. He was
not
going to cry, even when scenes of the battle at the castle haunted his sleep every single night. Even when he couldn’t stop worrying about Amber, trapped by that—that evil…. Justin tried to think of a word that wouldn’t violate Marco’s no-swearing rule, and failed. He vowed that he would kill Daemon himself, if Marco didn’t do it first.

Marco and the others tried to hide their tension from him, but he picked up enough from the whispered conversations to realise that the Guardians were in a bad position. More people had arrived at the ranch and they tried to stay busy with training and strategizing, but everyone was on edge. Some people wanted to go and storm the castle, while others urged caution.

Marco had his hands full managing the situation and had no time to spend with Justin. The young boy felt neglected and tried hard not to show it. There were times when he missed his parents so much it was like an ache in the pit of his stomach, but he didn’t want Marco and Rafael to see when he got upset, so he spent a lot of time outside, or with the horses. Zina continued his Healer training when she could, but the lessons were random and haphazard as she also had her hands full; some of the new arrivals were injured in fights with Daemon’s Watchers as they struggled to reach the ranch and needed Zina’s care. There were thirty-three people at the ranch now, and only eight of them were Draaken.

The ten year old boy believed he was more than capable of being initiated as a fully-fledged Guardian, but the adults always urged patience.

“Patience!” Justin kicked at another pebble in the sand.

A gentle nudge from behind nearly pushed him over onto his knees. He whirled around and let out a small cry of surprise as he stared up into the eyes of a big white horse. The horse snorted softly and nodded his head up and down as if laughing at the boy.

It was the person on the horse’s back however, who did laugh softly.

“Hallo, Justin.”

“Keira—” he could only whisper and continue to stare as she lightly jumped down off the horse’s back.

“Well? Aren’t you going to say hallo?” she asked with a smile and held her arms open. Justin stumbled forward and hung onto her with all his might. He squeezed his eyes shut and wished fervently that this wasn’t a dream.

“This is—amazing!” He let go, stood back, and gaped at her. “I was just thinking about you, how I missed you, wishing you were here and—and here you are!” Justin threw his head back and let out a loud whoop, punching his fist in the air. “This is freaking amazing! You’re back!”

“I wasn’t gone
that
long, only two weeks,” Keira laughed again.

“What do you mean ‘two weeks?’ It’s been two months!”

“Oh! Well—you’ll have to fill me in on everything that’s happened. But first, where are we?” she asked and looked around with a puzzled frown.

“We’re at Marco’s ranch. In Argentina! How could you not know that, how did you get here?” The questions tumbled out of Justin’s mouth in a torrent. “Marco and everyone are in the house. They’ll be so happy to see you! Come, let’s go tell them!”