‘No, mother,’ Lirathea objected. ‘Only whilst your body rests in the outer court of Shamballa can you fulfil your quest for the Masters as a muse. If Mahaud takes over your body you shall be bound to the same time and dimension that she occupies.’
‘Will Mahaud take my body?’ Maelgwn requested Avery to ask.
‘Then, in order to fuck him I’d have to fuck myself,’ the witch laughed at the suggestion. ‘I want Tory Alexander and then that playmate of hers will be my toy boy, anyway. Your father owes me and I intend to see that he pays.’
‘My father will see right through you, Mahaud,’ Avery stated, very sure about that.
‘Where I intend to take him, my sweet, the Dragon won’t care.’ Again she chuckled, obviously impressed by her secret designs.
‘Sounds like we’re in for a real treat.’ Maelgwn looked to his wife to check her resolve.
‘Arrange a place, Avery,’ Tory instructed her son. ‘Then you and Bast meet us back at Taliesin’s. I have a few ideas to toss about.’
In the entrance foyer to Taliesin’s labyrinth, Rhun and party were relieved beyond belief to have Bast returned to them safely and Gazelle was astounded that Bast had flattened her brother’s feline thugs.
Rhun, however, was greatly alarmed to learn his youngest sister had relinquished her body to Mahaud.
‘What the hell were you thinking?’ He directed the query at his sister’s etheric form, which had manifested alongside those of his parents.
It was the only way I could find out what the witch was up to, Lirathea explained to everyone.
‘And what have you discovered?’ Rhun awarded her the benefit of the doubt.
I know why Mahaud wants mother’s body so badly. Lirathea looked at her mother, sorry to say it: She is a past-life incarnation of you that never returned to your higher self.
‘I don’t believe it,’ uttered En Noah, whom no one had noticed arrive on the scene.
‘What are you doing here?’ Rhun queried, hoping nothing else had gone wrong at home.
‘I had to pick up the chariot I left on the Aten, to ensure Viper didn’t find it.’ The Sage waved off the explanation, and approached the spirit forms present, remaining focused on Tory. ‘Mahaud called you her Chosen incarnation, but I did not want to believe her.’
Tory was emotionally detached from the situation and so could consider the news rationally, without feeling insulted, disgusted, guilty or horrified. ‘How did I become so wretched?’
Only you can find that out, Lirathea told her mother. And if you do, we can truly put an end to Mahaud, by going back in time and making sure she never comes to exist in the first place.
‘Ancient time travel.’ Rhun rubbed his hands together, very keen on the idea. ‘Now that’s what I call an adventure.’
‘But why is stealing the body of her own incarnation so important to Mahaud?’ Sparrowhawk posed, curious.
Because it would be like regaining control of her own body, Tory replied, having already had this conversation with Lirathea, to whom she returned her attention. How did you find out about this?
Mahaud confided in Viper and told him about her desire to steal your body. Lirathea turned Maelgwn’s way and delivered the news as gently as possible. Mahaud claimed that father set her on the dark path when he deserted her.
I would never desert you, Maelgwn told his wife, with certainty.
Tory nodded, knowing he spoke the truth. Something went horribly amiss somewhere.
‘It does seem to explain why Mahaud is so dark on the Dragon, however,’ Noah conceded.
Do you have any idea at what period in history this sad episode unfolded? Tory inquired of her daughter.
No, Lirathea was sorry to say. Although I did find out one piece of information that could prove helpful. Mahaud was the name given to this entity by Shamash when he cursed her, as it means ‘mighty battle maid’. But before her terrible trial took place she was known as Electra, which means ‘shining, brilliant’.
‘Electra was also the name of one of the seven holy daughters of Atlantis,’ Noah added for everyone’s information. ‘She did not escape the sinking of the continent as she became caught up in the murder of the ruler of Chailidocean. Her sisters went on to establish great races of people all over the new lands beyond their submerged continent. The faintest star in the Pleiades is named after Electra, for it was her prophecy that saved the life of her sisters and indeed the spiritual wellbeing of mankind.’
Tory was absolutely stunned by Noah’s claim. If we are talking about the same Electra, then how was her character so grievously altered as to become Mahaud? I must get close to her and find out, Tory resolved and began formulating a plan. There must be a way to reverse my immortality, so that when Mahaud enters my body, she won’t pose such a threat.
She’ll shoot you full of dark Orme and try and turn you to her path. Maelgwn could see their eternal life together slipping further and further away.
I am not afraid to face whatever it is she’s running away from, Tory told him in all honesty, for clearly we cannot hope to ascend before we reclaim this missing part of ourselves. There must be a way for me to get back in control of my body and trap Mahaud in there with me.
Gazelle, unused to dealing with the witch, was appalled by the idea. ‘Why would you want to do that?’
So as to probe her memory and discover the exact time and place her tragedy unfolded. Tory looked to Rhun. So that you can go save her. Us, she added as an afterthought. Tory could not simply do a past-life regression, as Mahaud had never returned to their higher self. Therefore, via regression she could not recollect the details of this lifetime. With Mahuad out of existence, Viper’s position in our home dimension and time will be weakened considerably.
‘And hopefully, that will aid Gaia’s future too,’ Doc advised, having viewed the information his future self had sent back for Hayden Ingram to view.
Hayden, who was standing beside Doc, nodded meekly to agree with the theory, although due to the Otherworldly spirits with whom they were conversing and the nature of the conversation, the business tycoon could not bring himself to speak.
Tory suddenly gasped, excited by a theory she was considering. If Mahaud can give a physical being a charm that allows her to control their will, and if I were to be wearing such a charm on my person when she enters my body —
‘Then she,’ Noah cut in, excited by the theory, ‘as the occupant of the body, would be forced to do your bidding.’ He nodded, thinking this a sound basis for a plan.
But doesn’t the wearer of such a charm have to willingly accept the amulet and put it on? Maelgwn queried.
I will, Tory assured, right before I vacate my body.
Maelgwn frowned, not as certain the trick would work.
‘I know what you’re saying,’ Noah granted Maelgwn his point, ‘but perhaps we can devise a spell that will enable Tory to put her body under a kind a self-induced hypnosis.’ Everyone looked at Noah and grinned, impressed by his suggestion; even Maelgwn raised his brow.
‘Better still, I shall be the hypnotist,’ Maelgwn informed them.
The crone had advised Avery that she wanted Tory’s body left at the King’s Men stone circle.
Noah carried out his mission to retrieve the chariot from the Aten without incident. He then brought the time hopping transport to Doc’s Otherworldly abode in 2108AD Gaia time, as that was where Tory and Maelgwn’s physical forms still resided in the outer Court of Shamballa. Noah would then provide the couple the means to join their kindred in the past. Everyone else from Kila awaited Tory and Maelgwn’s return in Doc’s Otherworldly labyrinth in the year 2088AD Gaia time.
Since she was being detoured from musing duties, Tory thought she’d best explain herself to her guardian in this affair, the Master DK. Meanwhile, Maelgwn would seek out the Count to explain their intentions. Tory also wished to question DK on the matter of switching off her immortal gene. She knew this was possible with dark Orme, as they had rendere
d the Nefilim goddess Aya mortal thus, but would such an act be frowned upon by her Logos and his minions, who had gone to such pains to make her one of the Chosen by filling her being with divine light?
Tory’s etheric spirit joined the Master Djwhal Khul on a grassy mountainside on the borders of Tibet, overlooking the Lamasery over which DK resided as Abbot.
‘Greetings, Tory Alexander.’ He acknowledged her arrival before turning to address her. ‘You have made a discovery.’
Yes I have, she admitted, although not a very pleasant one, I’m afraid.
He smiled to reassure her. ‘Only by experiencing all-that-is do we truly come to understand and emulate the Logos. If you think something is unpleasant or a waste of energy, that is a judgement and the divine never judges.’
I believe Mahaud may have sprung from something one of my incarnations did during the fall of Atlantis. Tory got straight to the point.
‘And now that it seems Armageddon is again upon you, you think there might be a connection?’ The way DK asked the question, it seemed as if he knew there was.
Is there? Tory hadn’t even conceived of this premise. I thought that the time of the Gathering was the event that Armageddon predicted.
‘The battle of Armageddon is waged within each and every being during every thought of each and every lifetime. For within the righteous ones is the memory of an ancient anger and hatred that you bore for those who once had power over you, and still do have control over humanity to a large extent.’
Are you talking about the Nefilim? Tory had a funny feeling that he wasn’t.
‘No,’ DK advised in all seriousness. ‘I’m talking about the Dark Lodge of the Materialistic. The Lords of the Dark Face, the Men in Black.’
Tory gasped with shock as the connection between the Dark Lodge of old Atlantis and a secret agency that was rumoured to exist on modern day Gaia was made known to her.
‘I advise you not to jump to any conclusions about these beings, for that would be a judgement,’ DK warned. ‘It is up to you to bring about a shift in the sands of time yet again, safe in the knowledge that you have learned much from the Nefilim debacle. When an entity next comes to you voicing hatred and a desire to control your life, what shall be your response? What interaction on your behalf will change the tides of time and evolution?’
Love? Tory ventured.
‘And non-judgement,’ DK added in reminder, and Tory nodded, believing she understood his point. ‘Dwell on your warrior past, Tory Alexander. Every time you saw good people and nations destroyed by the hatred and greed of a jealous, greedy, warlike race, did you not think … here they go again? When will they ever learn? Why must they destroy in this manner?’ DK emphasised the frustration of such instances and Tory found herself nodding in agreement with the master. Then DK smiled, having led her into a trap. ‘If you did ask these questions, you were judging your fellow man who, like you, is struggling to learn as you are learning. The souls of these warlike peoples stem from the Orion system. These beings struggle to understand love. The only way they can express their attraction is through war and conquering. Still, they are you, as much as your soul-mate is you. You will just be one with your soul-mate sooner, that is all.’
Tory’s eyes were again wide with wonder. Although she knew how the human body had been perfected she’d never pondered where the soul-minds had originated. She’d certainly never considered that the differing attitudes, and levels of awareness, of mankind’s races was due to their soul-minds originating in different star systems. And from what planet did my soul group derive?
‘I believe you already know the answer to that question,’ DK teased and Tory’s jaw dropped a moment before she voiced her guess.
From the Pleiades?
‘Originally,’ DK nodded. ‘But the remnants of that civilisation only exists on the causal plane of awareness these days. You’ve also incarnated on other planets, some in this very solar system.’ As Tory fell quiet, pondering all that had been said, DK continued: ‘It is a wise move to regress to a mortal body to face your alter-ego. This will be considered by the Logos as a great act of courage and sacrifice.’
Tory caught the master’s meaning, for she had been told that the fourth initiation of Shamballa involved sacrifice. This is to be my crucifixion. Now she understood DK’s explanation of Armageddon.
‘The gift of sacrifice is harmony,’ DK offered his viewpoint, having endured the initiation his student was about to face, ‘and beyond this trial, the second door of Shamballa that leads to the central city, will open to you and grant you its gift of enlightenment.’
Tory smiled sincerely, thankful for DK’s inspiration and then went straight-faced as she considered her next move. So I must take the dark Orme, she assumed.
‘Heavens, no.’ DK faked a stressed tone, to imply how severe he thought the suggestion to be. ‘The Water of Life shall grant your desire.’
The Water of Life? Tory frowned. Wasn’t that the ancient’s name for gold Orme?
‘No, no, you’re confusing it with the Fountain of Eternal Youth,’ DK corrected. ‘There are three sacred fountains that flow in Shamballa, the third being the Fountain of Rejuvenation, the waters of which you’ve been refreshed by in the past.’ He nudged her memory. ‘The Water of Life will deactivate the immortal gene in your body without exposing you to the dark side of creation — as Orme Charichalum would — and allow Mahaud more command over you.’ DK handed her a tiny phial containing a glowing blue substance. ‘Do what you must, with the blessing of the Logos.’
Tory accepted the instrument of her physical death from the master, seeing it for the great treasure it was — her ticket to the ultimate union. And what of my musing responsibilities?
‘They can wait,’ DK told her calmly. ‘Time is an illusion, after all.’
Willing herself forth to her physical form, Tory woke in her body as if she’d merely been dreaming her time as a muse, and yet the phial DK had given her was in her hand. Her head felt too heavy to move, but Tory adjusted to being earthbound quickly and rolled over to see Maelgwn sitting on the far side of the Tablet on which they’d lain together. In his hand was a phial of the same glowing blue substance, which he held up in cheers to her before swallowing the liquid down. ‘No!’ Tory leapt up in an attempt to stop him drinking the potion, but she was too late. ‘There is no need for you to suffer too.’
‘You don’t go anywhere without me.’ He forced out the words through gritted teeth as the great weight of his mortality came over him. When the pain stopped increasing, Maelgwn looked up at Tory, who was hugging him close in an attempt to comfort his transition. ‘Am I old?’ he asked, fearful that he now appeared his age, which was well over a hundred years.
Tory chuckled at his fear. ‘You don’t look a day over thirty.’
‘Really?’ He sounded surprised, daring to sit up straight and stretch his aching bones. ‘It sure feels like I’m a hundred.’
Tory grinned at his moaning as she had not heard him whine so in a long time. She then took a deep breath to rouse her own courage. ‘We’re going to die, you know?’
‘I know,’ Maelgwn replied. ‘And you know the only thing that perturbs me about us departing this world?’ He took Tory by the hand.
Tory’s emotions suddenly caused her eyes to flood with tears, for she did know his grievance. ‘Your lovely person shall perish and I shall never again hold you, or touch you.’ Tory stole the opportunity to do so now.
‘Aye,’ Maelgwn squeezed her in return, ‘but then I take comfort in knowledge that, when it is all over, I shall have your soul to embrace.’
15
INSIDE THE ALTER
EGO
At Doc’s Otherworldly abode in the past, Rhun, Zabeel and Bast were utilising their free time to question their prisoner about Viper and the whereabouts of Hayden Ingram’s son. Unfortunately, Horace didn’t know much.
‘Why were you chosen to impersonate Rainer?’ Rhun queried, having gotten nowhere with his
other questions.
‘Just lucky, I guess,’ Horace replied with a good serve of cynicism, before stating what he knew. ‘Viper is assured that I will stay faithful to his dark cause. Dark Orme keeps me whole only so long as I am in the service of the Dark Lodge.’
‘Yes, you said that before.’ Zabeel recalled they’d decided not to pursue the issue. Still, it did seem pertinent. ‘Please explain.’
‘Viper called me to his cause as a mortal.’ Horace glanced at Bast, the only female present, and then returned his gaze to Rhun and Zabeel. ‘He had some of his thugs remove my privates and rather than be a sexless freak among freaks, I chose to take the dark Orme and serve the cause of the crone. The dark Orme made me whole again.’ Horace smiled at the agonised expressions on his captors’ faces. He then looked to Bast, who appeared discomforted by his gaze now. ‘How about helping me test the new equipment, sweetheart? You’re not one of mine, but you’ll do.’ He stuck out his tongue and began wiggling it in her direction.
‘You’d have to earn it, my lovely,’ she teased, in a seductive tone. Bast neared Horace and straddled the seat in which he sat to sit upon his lap. ‘And so far, you’ve not done me any favours.’
As Horace raised his hands to touch Bast, Rhun forbade the prisoner his intent, so the Leonine continued to communicate his desire with his free moving tongue.
Bast gripped both sides of the prisoner’s face firmly and stared deep into his eyes that were glazed by a dark shadow. ‘Don’t delude yourself, my friend. You are the victim in this scenario. There is no point in trying to deflect your fear onto me as that won’t aid your cause. We are here to help you.’
‘I don’t want to be helped,’ he replied coldly.
‘Then you shall never truly be whole,’ Bast concluded and climbed off him.
The prisoner was obviously stunned by Bast’s approach and as she seemed to have caught him off guard rather nicely, Rhun handed over the prisoner’s NERGUZ control module to her. ‘I’ll leave him in your very capable hands, Bast.’