relieved, and Rhuna could see by the motion of the cabin in which her daughter sat, that the ship was well on its way across the seas.
Tears of relief sprung into Rhuna’s eyes as joy swept over her. She rushed into the
adjoining rooms to announce the news to Aradin and Faleesh that Lozira was safely onboard the
ship to Safu. She hugged Faleesh, who also shed a tear of joy, and then Aradin squeezed her tightly.
“You did it,” he whispered in her ear as he held her. “You and Damell. You made it possible.”
Part Four (The Guardians of Knowledge)
Rhuna was elated that she would soon see her first daughter again, and summoned visions
of her on the ship at least once a day. Lozira spoke regular messages to her mother, telling her in
more detail how restrictive the last three solar cycles had been. The more Rhuna learned about her
daughter’s mental suffering, the more her outrage and anger at Tozar grew.
At times, Rhuna’s anger became so overwhelming that it was almost a welcome distraction to
be reminded of the serious events taking place in and around Safu. The visions she and Aradin had
summoned of the Dark Ones had revealed that their attempts to sabotage merchants and
emissaries from Ubanti were becoming more daring.
She had watched with horrified fascination as the Dark Ones led by Beacon of the Night
made a clay crocodile the size of a child’s toy, and then performed a strange ritual with chants and
incantations. The result appeared to be an attack on a small riverboat by a large crocodile,
frightening the Ubanti onboard and forcing them to return the way they had come.
“These Ubanti want to take our Knowledge, our devices!” said Progress of the Wind in one of
the visions Rhuna had summoned.
“We shall defeat them, prevent them, discourage them from even coming to Safu!” spoke
the Varappan man known as Charmer of Snakes.
“Look! The ailments and mishaps we have created have come to pass, and they are
becoming afraid and reluctant to venture even near the land of Safu!” said Beacon of the Night
with a satisfied grin. Rhuna always shuddered when she saw her former teacher, remembering
that she had been in his house, even in a confined room with solid locks on the door. She was
relieved, therefore, when The Observers assembled the fol owing day to discuss the situation
together and provide reassurance.
When The Observers had settled into the special room protected by the magnetic force,
Rhuna was asked to summon the latest activity by the Guardians of Knowledge by means of the
Gazing of the Waters.
“Your ability to summon visions that are inaccessible to the rest of us always astounds me!”
said Designer of Works. In response, Rhuna complimented him on his creation of the magnetic
field generators disguised as decorative urns.
The Observers huddled together when the water began to swirl in dynamic colours,and the
now-familiar setting of dark-robed men and women in a dimly-lit room appeared.
“Brother, we have a problem,” said Charmer of Snakes. “Atlán has sent a new Council for
Safu after learning of our curses and amulets!”
“This is not unexpected,” said Beacon of the Night dismissively. “Many Atlans residing in
Safu have become acquainted with our work,” he said.
“A fleet of many Atlans, on assignment from the Atlan High Council shall investigate our
activities and banish us!” said one of the other Dark Ones.
“What shall we do, Brother?” asked Charmer of Snakes.
“Let us demonstrate our acquired power!” said Beacon of the Night, his green eyes
flashing.“Brothers, let us make small models of the Atlan fleet, and then we shall utilize our newly
acquired Words of Power!” he continued.
“The ships shall sink?” asked Charmer of Snakes, delighted.
“Apparently in an unforeseen storm,” the other answered with a wicked grin.
Rhuna’s chest tightened until she could barely breathe.
“My daughter! She’s aboard one of the ships!” Rhuna cried out.
“Wait! There are more images!” said Divider of Fortunes.
Rhuna pressed her hand over her mouth to suppress a scream of anguish, and then held her
breath as she watched the next image emerge. She saw the Dark Ones led by Beacon of the Night
placing model ships in a large tub of water, some of them commenting on how realistic the models
appeared.
“Now make gigantic waves!” enthused Charmer of Snakes as another Dark One pushed the
water with a plank of wood. At the same time, the entire group began to chant and then speak
strange incantations Rhuna had never heard before. The model boats tossed about wildly and
most of them capsized, prompting cheers and laughter from the Dark Ones.
The image faded, and when the water returned to normal, Rhuna let out a groan of despair.
“We have to do something to save them! To save my daughter!”
“How? We can’t speak a message because they are unable to use the Gazing of the Waters
while the ship is constantly moving on the water!” said Roses of the Field.
“Damell! He will know! Maybe we can stop them the same way he showed me how to
intercept the message Tozar spoke to the innkeeper in the land of the isthmus!”
“What is this you are saying, Star Child?” asked Revealer of Truths with a concerned frown.
“It appears you have not shared important events with The Observers,” stated Divider of
Fortunes gravely.
Rhuna began to explain that she was advised by her father not to reveal certain things when
they were startled to hear a knock on the door. Alarmed, Aradin quickly jumped towards the door
and then asked loudly who stood on the other side.
“Avenger of Justice!” came the reply. Rhuna gasped and jumped to her feet as Aradin opened
the door.
“Pardon the interruption,” Damell said as he quickly looked at The Observers’ startled faces.
“On behalf of the Observers, I bid you a warm and heartfelt welcome, Avenger of Justice! It is
indeed a great pleasure!” said Divider of Fortunes standing up to shake the revered Atlan’s hand.
“The pleasure is all mine, I am sure,” said Damell politely, and then turned to Rhuna. “It is a
matter of great urgency which brings me here,” he said gravely.
“You know about the Dark Ones’ attempt to sink the Atlan fleet!” Rhuna exclaimed.
“May I request your indulgence, as there is no time to waste!” he said urgently, looking at The
Observers.
“Father, can we stop the curse somehow? Like we did in The Infinite with Tozar’s message?”
“Indeed, My Daughter, this is the only way,” he said severely.
Aradin stepped in front of The Observers who remained respectfully silent.“We shall explain
about the Infinite afterwards,” he told them.
Rhuna’s body throbbed with fear and excitement as she released her Consciousness into The
Infinite, anxious to save her daughter from certain death before the Dark Ones’ curse took
effect.Damell reached his hand out to her in The Infinite, and she understood that he was guiding
her to a place where colours shifted continuously in shades of light and dark.
“We are on a level between the material and ethereal planes,” her father’s thoughts entered
her mind.
“What does this curse look like?” Rhuna asked her father telepathically, wondering whether it
would look like Tozar’s message.
“We shall see in a moment,” answered Damell, as he continued to guide Rhuna through
clouds of changing colours, densities and factions of dark and light.
“There it is!” Damell said triumphantly.
Rhuna thought she would have been breathless if her Extended Consciousness could
breathe. Before her loomed a dense and dark mass, moving with angry, ferocious jerks as
explosions of light shot out from its interior.
“The storm to sink the ships!” exclaimed Rhuna in awe, and then felt overcome by despair,
feeling completely inadequate to stop the massive bundle of pulsating energy.
“We must transform it with our minds,” Damell said forceful y, prodding Rhuna to pullherself
out of the momentary despondency.
“The same procedure when transforming elements such as water to stone,” Damell instructed
her. “A difficult task even for the First Atlans, but you have mastered it in the physical world, and
therefore you shall succeed in The Infinite!” Damel said firmly.
“What should I transform?” she asked, suddenly unsure of her abilities. The tumultuous
storm made Rhuna think she was hearing extremely loud roaring, and communicating with her
father felt like shouting through a windstorm.
“The noise is only your mind’s interpretation of what you sense,” Damell told her, knowing
her thoughts. “The wind, lightning and compressed air can be transformed in the same way as
water, stone and metal. You are able to change it!”
“But I never did anything like that before!” Rhuna said in dismay.
“Proceed, Rhuna! I am here with you, attempting the very same procedure, and together we
shall succeed!” Damell said forcefully.
Rhuna focused all her energy on the individual parts of the simulated storm and visualized
the elements changing their structure, exactly as she always did when transforming stone or metal.
She imagined dissolving the compressed air into light, breezy air particles, and weakening the
lightning by disrupting the current of energy that connected the particles. When nothing
appeared to change after a while, Rhuna concluded that the mass of particles was too great.
Suddenly, she remembered the thin metal screens that Roaming the Hills said were used to amplify
and focus sound vibrations onto a certain object. She visualized several large metal screens like
the ones she had seen, and before long, Rhuna saw them in front of her. Reaching out, she was
able to lift, hold and turn them with merely one hand. Directing her concentrated mental energies
to bounce off the screens towards the dense air and lightning, she renewed her attempt to change
the particles.
After a while, Rhuna sensed that something finally began to change. She noticed the
intensity of the dark colours in the thunderous mass becoming transparent and turn a lighter
shade of grey and purple. Then the lightning flashes were reduced to mere flickers, like candles in
the wind. She continued projecting her mental energy until everything looked bright, translucent
and calm.
Rhuna willed her Extended Consciousness to return to her body, and she slowly sat up with a
deep sigh of relief. She looked to her side where her father was also rising from his cushions and
smiling with deep satisfaction.
“Did we really stop the storm?” Rhuna asked breathlessly as the enormity of their feat
suddenly struck her. “We stopped a giant storm that the Dark Ones created, and now Lozira is
safe!” she said to everyone in the room who had been watching in stunned silence.
“Yes, My Daughter,” said Damell with a smug grin. “We accomplished a great feat today!
“What has been achieved?” asked Divider of Fortunes with bewilderment. Rhuna looked
around the room at the wide-eyed Observers, and then sat upright to explain to them what she
had learned from her father.
“This is incredible!” Revealer of Truths gasped in awe.
“We have never heard of such things!” Designer of Works said with slight alarm.
“It is overwhelming!” said Softness of the Clouds shaking her head.
“Is it a forgotten Atlan skill, perhaps?” asked Echo of the Evening as he nervously fiddled with
his outer garment.
“Some believe that the First Atlans possessed this knowledge and developed the skill of
accessing The Infinite,” nodded Damell in response.
“In my homeland of Varappa I heard stories about such things, but no one understood them
properly,” Aradin said.
“You can all imagine the power one can wield with this knowledge,” Damell said in a serious
tone. “It is therefore imperative that the Dark One’s followers do not learn of this.”
“Yes, of course, Avenger of Justice! We shall hold this in utmost secrecy!” said Reaching the
Moon, and the other Observers nodded and murmured their agreement.
“You have done well in keeping your use of hallucinatory herbs secret from everyone,”
Damell said.
“For the same reasons,” Aradin answered. “We cannot give the Dark Ones any advantage, not
even the suspicion that we have the ability to observe them when they think they are hidden from
any summoning.”
“Let us summon images by means of the Gazing of the Waters in the present time to confirm
what we believe has transpired,” Damell suggested.
The Observers promptly moved to their positions around the basin of water and looked
questioningly at Damell. Without the assistance of powders or incantations, Damell merely
colour appeared.
Rhuna held her breath, anxious to see whether the storm had completely vanished. First,
she saw the fleet of ships bobbing on the rising waves, with the sunshine brightly reflected on the
water and parts of the ships. Rhuna sighed silently with relief as she observed the blue sky as far
as the image revealed, and then wondered what the Dark Ones would think of this development.
She watched the various images closely and waited to see Lozira, who was in conversation with
two other Atlan women on one of the ships, completely unaware of the devious plot to sabotage
their voyage.
After lengthy animated discussions about their newly-acquired insights, The Observers
prepared to leave the special room and share a meal in the main part of Rhuna’s lovely home.
Damell told them that he would also remain to eat, and turning to Rhuna, asked to see his grand-
daughter at last.
Overjoyed that Lozira was safe, and that now her father could finally sit and eat a meal with
them, Rhuna rushed to tell Faleesh and then whisked Shandi out of her sleeping cot. Before
Rhunacould say a word, Shandi gave a happy squeal and stretched out her arms to embrace the
grandfather she had never seen.
“It’s as if she already knows you!” remarked Aradin surprised.
Damell took the little girl in his arms and let her kiss his cheek and then pull his beard.
“Why are you surprised?” Damell asked Aradin. “She can not only foresee the future,” he
said as he stroked her hair fondly. “She has insight that not even I have yet attained.”
“Insights?” Rhuna asked, looking at her small child with amazement. “Like…my mental
visions?” she wondered.
&
nbsp; “Hmm, similar,” Damell answered, smiling. “You shall understand when she is able to speak
more and express herself better.”
Rhuna helped Faleesh prepare the meal for their guests outside in the courtyard garden
where two large trees provided shelter, and rose bushes nearby exuded their rich fragrance. The
abundance of variety in the dishes Faleesh had prepared reminded Rhuna of The Reigning One’s
feast. She breathed in the warm air mingled with the aromas of cooked leek and garlic with
roasted meats, and for the remainder of the day she felt wonderfully elated.
“Do you ever miss Atlán?” asked Roses of the Field. Rhuna answered no, and said that she
was very happy in Safu.
“I like the diversity and mix of people here,” she went on to explain to the pale-haired Healer
whose compassionate eyes always made Rhuna feel at ease. “So many various games and
activities all the time, the warm climate and this lush vegetation,” she said looking around at the
blossoming garden and shade trees in the neighbourhood. She noticed that the birds were singing
noisily, and the sound blended with the light-hearted conversation of friends enjoying good food
together.
As they ate sweet fruit for dessert, Rhuna looked across at her father who had held Shandi on
his lap during the whole meal. The little child appeared to be completely at ease and happy with
her grandfather, as if she had known him all of her short life. Rhuna concluded that Shandi must have known about Damell with her special gift of insight.
As evening fell and the friends took their leave, Rhuna’s thoughts returned to serious matters
and she entered the quiet solitude of her sleeping chamber. Shetook the position for Inside
Focussing on a seating cushion on the floor and began her mental summons to observe the Dark
Ones in connection with their attempt to stop the Atlan ships. Almost immediately, she perceived
the dark and musty room in which the Dark Ones performed their secret activities, hidden from
the Gazing of the Waters.
“The storm has not materialized as expected!” exclaimed Progress of the Wind.
Beacon of the Night muttered a curse under his breath.
“Why not?” asked Charmer of Snakes, his brow in deep creases as he shook his head with
incomprehension.
“Perhaps the distance,” offered Progress of the Wind. “It is the first attempt to alter matter at