Consciousness.
Rhuna felt her Extended Consciousness leave her body and float above it for a short time,
surrounded by shifting lights and changing colours. Suddenly, Damell appeared in front of her, first
as ayellow-white light which then formed a familiar face. Rhuna thought the face looked very
young and somehow unreal, like in a dream.
Rhuna heard her father’s voice in her headinstead of with her ears. “It is possible to
acquire many appearances in The Infinite,” he said. “You look purple,” he said, and Rhuna was
suddenly very curious about her own appearance in this dimension of The Infinite. She tried to
look down at herself as if she had a body, only to find that she had none in The Infinite.
“Focus on Tozar’s messages, as you would normally do when summoning,” Damell
instructed, and Rhuna immediately obeyed.
“Look!” said Damell, pointing to a thick, shapeless mass approaching them. It was
throbbing colours and sounds, and when Rhuna examined it more closely, she could hear spoken
words.
“That’s Tozar’s voice!” exclaimed Rhuna.
“It is his message,” answered Damell. “It becomes visible in The Infinite in this form.”
Rhuna stared in amazement at the pulsating mass which constantly changed shape, and
which contained Tozar’s angry words.
“How do I intercept it now?” Rhuna wanted to know.
“Attempt your own idea,” Damell said, floating nearby and watching her.
“After a moment, all Rhuna could think of was to throw something in anger at the formless
mass, and before she realized it, she saw an arm holding out a long and thick-bladed sword.
“I want to destroy that thing with this sword!” exclaimed Rhuna, and when she heard
Damel ’s word of approval in her head, she began swishing the sword side to side. At first she felt
resistance when the blade swooshed through the shapeless mass of noise and colours, but then it
began to move more easily. She watched as the sword broke up the strange mass, dispersing
particles of sound and colour in all directions until only a fine mist remained.
“Is it gone?” she asked Damell when she stoppedand realized the sword had disappeared
from her grip.
“Indeed it is!” he said joyfully, and Rhuna felt elated.
“You have achieved a great accomplishment today,” Damel said in her head.
Rhuna willed her Extended Consciousness to return to her body, and after taking a deep
breath, she sat up and opened her eyes. Her father sat upright in front of her, a wide and satisfied
grin on his face.
“Continue to practice willing your Extended Consciousness to move around, journeying to
distant places to observe as much as you can. You can be with Lozira…” he said with a twinkle in
his eyes.
Rhuna rushed home through the evening darkness, looking up once more at the dazzling
display of stars in the clear night sky. Once inside her home, sheimmediately ushered Aradin into
the special room so that she could tell him at length what she and her father had done in The
Infinite to prevent Lozira being sent back to Atlán.
Rhuna slept well that night, feeling great relief and with thoughts of the beautiful night sky
as she fell asleep. The following day, after Aradin had met a client to discuss trade agreements,
Rhuna dressed for the planned visit with Beacon of the Night. As she applied some face paint and
pinned her hair with bejeweled clasps, she realized she felt slightly nervous at the prospect of
entering the home of the leader of the Dark Ones.
“Be seated!” Beacon of the Night said cheerfully as Rhuna stepped inside, Aradin at her
side. She looked around the house, comparing it to her own in size, comfort and decorations,
noting the general appearance of Atlan styles with an influence of others she could not
immediately identify. She concluded that he had travelled and seen much of the world since the
timehe was an Atlan Master and teacher at her school in Atlán.
As they sat down, Rhuna looked at Beacon of the Night more intently, observing his closely-
cropped beard and Benshi-style clothing, both in contrast to the appearance of most Atlan men.
Her eyes wandered to the colourful thick material of his kilt, common in Safu, only not of such fine
textiles. She concluded that Beacon of the Night deliberately expressed his defiance of Atlan ways
in his appearance.
“What happened to you after your…punishment in Atlán? I never saw you there again,”
Rhuna asked carefully.
“My banishment was humiliating, I must admit, and therefore I never returned to the city
of Atlán, but I travelled and resided in various places,” Beacon of the Night answered, and then
began to recount the lands he had visited and places in which he had resided. At the appropriate
time, Aradin mentioned his trader-clients who came from some of the places Beacon of the Night
mentioned, and the two men discussed various aspects of the land and its people.
“That is how you come to wear unusual garments, unlike most Atlan men living in Safu,”
Rhuna observed.
“Appearing different appeals to me,” he said casually, then reached for a small wooden item
nearby which Rhuna thought resembled the smoking pipes she and The Observers used to inhale
hallucinatory herbs.
“A smoking pipe,” said Beacon of the Night, holding the finely carved pipe in front of him
for Rhuna and Aradin to see. Then he focused his penetrating green eyes on it, and almost
immediately a small flame erupted from the wide opening. “Leaves of the Dark Evening Plant,
which a trader brings me in exchange for some of my pieces of jewellery,” he explained before
raising the small end of the pipe to his mouth and gently drawing a long breath. “It has a mild and
pleasant stimulating effect,” he said as he exhaled.
“Would you like to try some?” he asked after a moment, and Rhuna shook her head.
“Some other time, perhaps,” Aradin answered, and Beacon of the Night bowed his head in
silent acknowledgement.
“How long have you been in Safu?” asked Rhuna, trying to make conversation. Beacon of
the Night answered that he arrived in Safu less than three solar cycles past, before which he had
resided in lands along the Great Sea.
“I’ve heard that you are among a group of Atlans who make amulets for the Benshi…”
Rhuna began carefully.
“My handiwork with precious metals led me to this new enterprise,” he explained, and then
rose to his feet and invited his guests to enter his workroom. They proceeded down a short
hal way which displayed wall-hangings with designs Rhuna had never seen before, and then they
stopped at a large metal door. Beacon of the Night moved something that made a metallic sound,
and Rhuna assumed that it was a lock of some kind.
“A lock I myself designed,” Beacon of the Night said proudly, correctly guessing Rhuna’s
thoughts. “Precious stones are kept in this room, and some attempts have been made to procure
these gemstones to trade for food or other necessities,” he explained as the door opened and they
stepped inside. The stale air made the room feel heavy and very quiet, and Rhuna noticed that
there was only one small window, positioned to allow the sun’s morning light to shine onto the
workspace. The thick stone wall
s and metal door they had just passed through made Rhuna think
of being imprisoned, and a sudden jolt of fear shot through her as she realized they were in the
presence of a powerful and dangerous man.
“Behold, my collection of genuine precious stones,” he said exuberantly, and indicated with
a flowing gesture of his arm towards the shelves and containers along one of the walls.
“Here are mineral ores,” he said as he turned towards the opposite wall. “From these items
I extract gold, silver and other bonding metals,” he explained.
“You make jewellery without the use of Atlan transforming powers?” Aradin asked.
“Most of the time,” Beacon of the Night answered, and then began showing them some of
his self-made tools, and finally a large tray on which six complete items of jewellery had been
placed. Beacon of the Night proudly explained the type of gemstone and metal he used to make
each one, and Rhuna admired the designs and combination of colours.
“You make beautiful jewellery,” Aradin said, and Rhuna agreed, pointing to the pendant that
appealed to her most. Then she explained that she had been to see the Benshi who showed her a
very similar pendant, which they called an amulet to protect against curses.
“We are…experimenting,” he responded. “Unexplored Atlan abilities, such as re-directing
harnessed energy into objects, namely these amulets, for one thing,” he added, and picked up one
of the pendants on the tray.
“The Benshi are afraid of things they don’t understand, and are easy targets for
your…experiments,” Rhuna said.
“This is true,” he said casually.
“But it’s not right to deceive and use people like this!” Rhuna blurted, and then feared her
outburst could make Beacon of the Night suspicious of her motives and her secret activities to
thwart him and the other followers of the Dark Master.
“They are and always shall be inferior to us, and it is imperative that such people continue
to be in awe of Atlans for the Empire to continue thriving and improving the world,” Beacon of the
Night retorted, apparently enjoying the charged verbal exchange. “You know this to be so,” argued
Beacon of the Night. “You never heard anyone say it so clearly and directly as I have done,” he said
with a smirk.
Rhuna felt intense annoyance with his arrogant manner, and voiced the thoughts most
prominent in her mind.
“You lied about me in Atlán, telling the Council that I tried to seduce you, when it was the
other way around!”
Beacon of the Night laughed lightly and turned to leave his workroom. “They should not
have assigned me to teach a beautiful young woman,” he said, flashing a smile at Rhuna as they left
the confined room. “It was a difficult time for me. I was young and impulsive, and meant no
harm. Yet when I was confronted with discipline and chastisement, I felt angry and rebelled,
speaking any lie and excuse that entered my thoughts at that moment. Do not judge me on a
young man’s foolish responses so many solar cycles past.”
Rhuna’s irritation began to subside as the leader of the Dark Ones used open honesty to
charm his critics.
“Furthermore, you yourself have a much more infamous reputation than I!” he smirked.
“The High Council of Atlán doesn’t have all the facts or proper understanding of what
happened,” Rhuna responded quickly.
“You do not owe me an explanation,” Beacon of the Night said with a smile. “Lack of facts
and proper understanding arethe perennial weakness of the Atlan High Council,” he said as he
looked at his pipe and then inhaled again.
After some more general conversation, Rhuna and Aradin left the home of Beacon of the
Night, thanking him for his hospitality. As they left, she wondered whether it was wise to be on
such friendly terms, if only by pretense, with the leader of the Dark Master’s followers.
Later that day, after doing some household chores and playing with Shandi, Rhuna took the
position for releasing her Extended Consciousness with the intention of observing Lozira. She felt
her Consciousness float out of her body and soar aimlessly for an indefinite period of time until
she made an effort to concentrate on Lozira and her location. Then she saw flashes of light and
dark until suddenly warm blue skies and fragrant green trees filled her senses. After a moment to
become oriented, Rhuna realized she was outside the inn in the land of the isthmus. She
recognized the building and surrounding fruit and vegetable gardens from her stopover several
solar cycles past when she journeyed from Atlán to Safu. Directing her Point of Consciousness
with her concentration, she entered the inn where she expected Lozira to be, but after a fleeting
glance across the room of mostly Atlan men and woman of mature age, she realized her daughter
was not inside. Mild panic began to rise until Rhuna instinctively sensed Lozira outside among the
vegetation. Focussing her thoughts on her daughter, her Extended Consciousness immediately
took her to a thicket of tall bushes along the edge of the garden. She saw a head of golden hair
shimmering in the sunlight, and moved her Consciousness down alongside.
Rhuna felt her heart pound with excitement at being so close to her daughter again, seeing
was torn away from her by Tozar was now a tall and slim young woman with evenly-defined
features. Despite the warmth of the sun, Rhuna saw that Lozira was shivering, and her hands
were sweaty as they clenched the fabric of her long, flowing dress.
“Lozira!” Rhuna cried out in her mind. “Don’t be afraid! I stopped Tozar’s message! You’re
safe, Lozira! No one will stop you and make you go back to Atlán!”
The silence when she stopped calling out to Lozira was chilling, and the complete lack of
response from her daughter was devastating. Rhuna reached out to touch Lozira’s anguished face,
to stroke her cheek and her hair, but there were no physical sensations. Lozira kept crouching
among the bushes, looking around frequently so that she would not be discovered, and Rhuna kept
trying to comfort her by reaching out in every way she could. Finally, she resigned herself to the
fact that her Extended Consciousness could not be sensed in any way by someone in the physical
realm, exactly as Damell had told her.
Rhuna returned her Extended Consciousness to her body at the very moment Aradin
entered the room in which she had been reclining.
“I’ve just been with Lozira!” she blurted. “It was so real! But she couldn’t see or hear me, or feel me…I tried to reach out and comfort her…” she said as she raised her hand the way she had
done mentally in The Infinite.
Aradin quickly got down beside her and reminded her to be quiet. Rhuna took a deep
breath and nodded, and then remembered Damell’s instruction to take a rest and some
refreshment after accessing The Infinite.
When she had rested a while and eatensome figs, Rhuna decided to summon visions of
Tozar by means of the Gazing of the Waters. As she reluctantly approached the water basin, she
realized she had not summoned a vision of him in many solar cycles, and the thought of seeing
him still caused her inexplicable distress.
&
nbsp; Rhuna’s determination to help Lozira overcome her apprehensions, and she focused her
mental energy on Tozar in connection with Lozira’s flight from his over-protective shelter in Atlán.
The first image that appeared in the Gazing of the Waters made Rhuna flinch.
“What in the damnable world is happening?” Tozar raged as he paced in one of his private
rooms near the basin used for the Gazing of the Waters. Rhuna had never heard him use such
words, nor express such deep frustration and anger.
Rhuna watched as Tozar approached the basin to summon messages, then images of
certain people, and then let out a roar of annoyance.
“Uncanny forces have interfered with my messages!” he grumbled loudly to himself. Rhuna
looked closely and noticed that his appearance had changed considerably in just three solar cycles,
but she found it difficult to determine exactly which features were different.
When the image faded and showed only clear water, Rhuna quickly summoned visions of
Lozira in the present time at the land of the isthmus. Anxious for Lozira to be safe onboard the
ship to Safu, she held her breath until an image appeared. Rhuna instantly recognized the site as
the dock and inn which her Extended Consciousness had visited earlier, but panic threatened to
overwhelm her when she could not see Lozira anywhere. People bustled on the dock near the fleet
of ships, and Rhuna realized they were loading food and other supplies onto the vessels.
The image in the water reflection changed, and Rhuna let out a sigh of relief when she saw
her daughter walking in line with four other women, crossing a plank to board one of the ships.
Her head was bowed down, as if she were hiding her face for fear that she may still be recognized
and sent home to her father in Atlán.
Rhuna felt the fear her daughter must have been experiencing, and to relay her anxiety, she
summoned a vision of the innkeeper to whom Tozar had sent his two messages. She was pleased
to see that the man was busy directing the dockhands, instructing them where certain supplies
should be stored, and how much more would be needed for the long ocean crossing.
Feeling more at ease again, Rhuna tried to keep herself busy with mundane chores before
summoning visions once more. This time, Lozira appeared in the images, her face flushed but