A big lump suddenly built in Rhun’s throat as he realised the reason he was so angry. Could he fear losing his hero image in Avery’s eyes so much that he would try to oppress his little brother rather than encourage the use of his talents? Rhun realised he was greatly in error, for encouragement was the way of light and would go much further towards sustaining any relationship than jealousy and oppression, which could only destroy. ‘You do threaten me,’ he confessed. ‘But, I would probably feel far less irritated by the fact if you would just keep me up to date with what’s going on in that cosmic brain of yours … before I make a fool of myself.’
Avery’s desire to assert himself vanished as his brother stopped playing games and was straight with him. ‘I was afraid you’d accuse me of playing you for sport … which, incidentally, I would never do on a mission.’
‘I know.’ Rhun could concede that now. ‘I have been an idiot, Avery —’
‘No.’ Avery could not agree. ‘I have given you just cause to question everything I do. I do play people for sport at times and that has been my own undoing —’
‘Christ, Avery, slow down.’ Rhun urged his brother to quieten. ‘Such revelations coming out of your mouth are making my head spin!’
The persona Avery was wearing smiled broadly. ‘Ditto, brother, I thought you’d never realise I was an adult.’
‘Well, I kept waiting for you to realise it.’ Rhun just had to have one final dig.
But as the brothers stood smirking at each other, both wondering if Avery’s comeback was going to destroy the breakthrough they’d just had, a large force of soldiers was heard to enter the long curved corridor in which they stood.
Rhun pulled his weapons. ‘Time to start proving your worth.’
As the force rounded the bend in the corridor, there appeared to be roughly twenty men to contend with.
‘I’ll bet you dinner at Patrick’s that I down more of them than you do.’ Avery willed his weapons to manifest in his hands and began firing.
‘Ha-hah!’ Rhun joined the assault, charging forth with lasers blasting. ‘You’re on.’
All the noise brought Prometheus charging out of Electra’s cell with his sword activated and ready for battle. But by the time he arrived on the scene only two guards remained standing and they were highly amused about something.
‘It was even, I’m telling you.’ Rhun turned to see Prometheus eyeing them with concern. He knew that look on the warrior’s face. Maelgwn always got the same look when he was about to attack. ‘No, wait!’ Rhun resumed his own appearance and Avery followed his cue.
‘You!’ Prometheus gazed at Avery. ‘I saw you in the High Temple.’
‘These are my Otherworldly guardians, Prometheus,’ Electra informed as she joined them in the corridor. ‘They are going to help us avenge your wife.’
‘What!’ Rhun and Avery both protested at her implication in unison.
‘No, no.’ Rhun made haste towards the couple. ‘We shall take care of the Dark Lodge after you two have departed the city.’
‘Deukalion?’ Prometheus nearly had heart failure as he saw his son in the considerably shorter Otherworldly lord before him.
It took Rhun a second to remember who Deukalion was. And as Prometheus’s son was to become the Noah who built the legendary Ark, Rhun was stunned and proud — he really had to do more past-life regression. ‘Your son is no doubt a past-life incarnation of me.’ Rhun attempted to ease Prometheus’ panic. ‘Just as Electra is a twin soul of your wife.’
Prometheus struggled to accept the idea, although it was pleasing to him. ‘Is that possible?’ He looked at Electra, for the oracle’s view.
‘My spirits support their claim, therefore I must believe that what they say is true.’ Electra turned back to Avery and Rhun to inform them: ‘I have vowed to Prometheus to aid his cause.’ Electra took hold of the warrior’s arm.
Rhun was about to object when Prometheus did.
‘No, this changes everything. We must get you out of the city at once.’
Electra backed away from Prometheus when she realised he wasn’t planning to leave with her. ‘Not without you.’
The boys from Kila, having heard this argument all through their childhood years, already knew how it would end. Prometheus would not abandon his quest and Electra would not abandon Prometheus.
‘This isn’t the way this was supposed to go,’ Avery mumbled as he pulled Rhun aside for a quiet word. ‘Electra’s concern for her own wellbeing last time around sprang from selfishness and fear … perhaps that was her undoing? Let us suppose that her desire to aid Prometheus this time around, is just reinforcing her courage and selflessness, which has got to be a good thing, hasn’t it?’
Rhun had a think about this and moved back to consult with Prometheus. ‘The Nefilim Lord Shamash is waiting in Orestes’s room of court. He has enchanted Electra’s brother into trading her to the Dark Lodge, in exchange for a beautiful maiden that the Nefilim designed specifically to attract Orestes. As soon as your brother sleeps with this woman, she will attempt to murder him.’
Electra gasped, having foreseen the coming of her brother’s enchantress.
‘We can prevent that by disposing of the vase,’ Avery thought out loud and Rhun nodded.
‘The vase?’ Prometheus frowned, finding the conversation, and this whole scenario, a little hard to swallow.
‘But Shamash has an even bigger surprise in store for you,’ Rhun enlightened Prometheus, and the Titan forgot the other matter. ‘To dissuade you from aiding Electra, Shamash is going to threaten to destroy your capital city, your son and his secret project along with it.’
Prometheus was doubly shocked that the Otherworldly guardians knew about his son’s work for the Lord Enki, but the knowledge of Shamash’s threat was far more alarming to him.
‘Now, obviously, if Shamash wants Electra he’s not going to carry out that threat until he has her. Still, I doubt our chances of eluding the Nefilim and the Dark lodge long enough for your son to complete his project for Enki,’ Rhun summed up and as everyone was looking a mite concerned, he thought he’d better say something encouraging. He looked at Avery. ‘So, perhaps we could take the chariot back in time, find Lugal and get Enki’s plans to Deukalion sooner.’
Avery nodded, as Prometheus knew what Lugal looked like, yet they risked having an even greater effect on the future if they messed about too much. ‘Or … we could attempt to put Chailidocean in stasis for a couple of weeks.’
Rhun was stunned by the suggestion, but for a change he did not scoff at his brother’s idea. ‘You can do that?’
Avery shrugged. ‘Electra’s spirit did it —’
‘Who was a deva of high order,’ Rhun reminded him.
‘And I know the Night Hunter had the ability,’ Avery added, rather bravely. ‘If all his abilities have passed to me then surely I must be able to achieve the feat too.’
Rhun considered this would be a simple solution. ‘Well, let’s hop it over to the Mount Duranki Plateau and give it a burl.’ Rhun gripped Prometheus’s arm and Avery took hold of Electra.
‘Electra?’ Prometheus appealed for reassurance as he was suddenly engulfed by bright etheric light.
On the plateau, Avery positioned himself in the centre of the huge, carved amethyst crystal stones that marked the perimeter of the circle of this sacred site. He glanced at his brother who stood beyond the stone circle with Electra and Prometheus and Rhun gave Avery the thumbs up in encouragement.
The Otherworldly apprentice turned to face the north and took a moment to focus on his objective. He then mentally issued his summons into the etheric world, just as the Night Hunter had taught him.
North wind and the elements of earth
lend me the secrets of past and future.
Avery perceived a mass of glowing green vapour, filled with tiny light beings, rising out of the natural landscape beyond the sacred site to the north and the ethereal mist floated towards them on a northerly breeze.
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Rhun saw nothing of what his brother saw, but he did note the breeze arise from the direction his brother faced and this made him smile — it was an encouraging sign that their plan might work. He waited with bated breath to see what would happen now that Avery had turned to the west.
West wind aid me with your mist,
inspiration of water and light.
A blue mist arose like a great tidal wave out of the waterways of the city of Chailidocean. It crashed down at the base of Mount Duranki and then proceeded to slither its way up the mountainside like a great serpent.
As a wind began blowing from the west, Rhun’s smile grew more confident.
East wind send the spirits of air,
to speed my thought, my will.
A golden streak of wind whipped past Avery, exhilarating him with its velocity.
Rhun’s smile was wiped from his face as this third wind moved over the plateau, threatening to spin the other two winds into a twister.
‘Perhaps we should take shelter in the doorway,’ Prometheus suggested, motioning to the entrance of the secret passage that led through the mountain to the plateau.
‘A good idea.’ Rhun battled the winds to lead the couple in that direction.
‘Your brother is very powerful.’ Electra admired the young man from the safety of the doorway, as Avery turned to face south. ‘I have never seen the elements commanded to the cause of light before, only ever to the cause of darkness.’
‘In the future that will change,’ Rhun assured her, realising that he was planting the seed for a whole new course of study for Electra.
South wind of primordial fire,
blow forth from the dawn of life
and fulfil your Lord’s request.
Avery saw this elemental wind take the form of a ball of glowing orange fire, and it combined with the other winds to form a tornado around Avery, who stood in the eye of the storm.
‘Will he be all right?’ Prometheus yelled over the gale to Rhun, who nodded with certainty.
‘He’s in his element, as it were.’ His joke was personally amusing, and as Electra understood the jest she smiled too. Prometheus was only bemused, but he trusted that his company were more informed about such matters than he was.
Inside the whirlwind the elemental creatures maintained their assigned direction, and four large faces formed in each body of substance to address Avery.
The face of fire spoke first; his voice was raspy and harsh. ‘This pubescent human thinks he’s Gwyn ap Nudd.’ The huge face of flame burst into laughter as did all the elementals.
‘The Otherworld is timeless,’ challenged Avery, ‘therefore I know you must be aware that I assume rulership of the Otherworld after the Night Hunter withdraws from the ethereal realm.’
The elementals only laughed harder at this. The reason the elementals did not recognise Avery was because, as he’d said, the ethereal realm was timeless; they had no sense of time past or future as they lived an eternal now. Unless, of course, an elemental being broke away from its group soul and entered the service of the Lords of the Materialistic, whereby the being could manifest in the physical realm and gain some concept of time.
‘Who is the Night Hunter?’ Fire queried his fellow elementals, who all pouted and shook their heads, none the wiser.
‘I hate to say it, sonny,’ the watery spirit garbled, sounding as if it were speaking underwater, ‘but I think our master has led you a merry dance if that is what you believe. A human guardian of the Otherworld,’ it suggested in jest and started another fit of laughter from all bar the Earth elemental.
‘We should inform our lord of this impostor,’ the glowing green face suggested in a booming voice.
‘I am on to it,’ the golden face of air spirits immediately calmed down to advise in a speedy manner.
‘Is this part of my initiation?’ Avery wondered out loud.
‘The Night Hunter is here,’ announced the Earth elemental as the Lord of the Otherworld passed through it to stand in the calm inner circle of the whirlwind to confront Avery.
Avery was so relieved to see his mentor that he wanted to hug him, but refrained. ‘Night Hunter, I am so pleased to see you.’
‘You are out of time, lad. No one here calls me by that name.’ Gwyn folded his arms and frowned, most disenchanted. ‘Who are you, and what do you want?’
‘He claims he’s your successor, lord,’ Earth boomed for his information.
‘But that won’t happen for eons, yet,’ Avery added, as the Night Hunter seemed to be most affronted by the statement. ‘You were right, I am out of time. The future —’
‘Eons, you say?’ Gwyn was most infuriated. ‘My forefather’s are going to leave me stuck in this realm for eons!’
Avery was intrigued by the Night Hunter’s response. ‘Well, it takes that long for the rest of your kindred to finally give up Earth-bound existence, so I guess your Logos figured your soul-mind had nowhere better to go until then.’
Gwyn was clearly impressed by the extent of Avery’s knowledge. ‘You are very clever, for a human being,’ he granted.
‘Maybe that’s why I was chosen to be your apprentice.’ Avery ventured to be a little cocky, a trait he knew Gwyn ap Nudd was well disposed towards.
Avery couldn’t tell for the life of him if the Night Hunter was testing him, or if he really didn’t remember him. One possibility was that the Night Hunter had yet to fully develop all his etheric world abilities, including future sight. It sounded to Avery like the Night Hunter’s Logos, Anu, was withholding certain details of the divine plan until such time as the Lord of the Otherworld was deemed ready to be made privy to it. For the first time in the whole of his tuition, Avery began to wonder: ‘What did you do, Night Hunter, to become the King of the Otherworld? Did you ever belong to the physical world?’
The query seemed to spark something in the lord and he became perturbed. ‘I did not come here to be interrogated. It is you who are trespassing in my realm and thus I shall ask the questions.’ The Night Hunter, who was a good foot taller than Avery, walked forward to tower over him. ‘Now, what is it you want, boy? I’m very busy.’
Fortunately, Avery was not easily intimidated and so floated up into the air until he equalled the Night Hunter in height. ‘I was hoping to put this city to sleep for a couple of weeks, and then bring down the shield that is protecting the Dark Lodge.’
Gwyn had never been impressed by a human before — certainly not a male of the species, anyway. ‘But that would aid humanity, which is not my department.’ He sidestepped the request.
‘Well, whose department is it?’ Avery argued, although he knew what the answer would be.
‘The White Brotherhood,’ Gwyn replied, predictably. ‘And they don’t want Atlantis saved.’
‘Ah! But they do want Electra and Prometheus spared,’ Avery shot back.
‘Then I shall get them safely away,’ Gwyn offered.
‘Prometheus won’t leave without destroying Aegisthus first.’
‘Then he shall lose his second chance at love and his son’s mission will fail,’ Gywn shrugged. ‘I don’t interfere with the evolution of man. They are making their own bed and they will lie in it.’
‘Quid pro quo,’ Avery suggested as the Night Hunter turned to depart. ‘If you help me, I shall tell you anything about your future that you want to know. Everything that your Logos has kept from you.’
The Night Hunter stopped in his tracks and slowly turned back to the lad. ‘You assume too much. Don’t try and call my bluff, boy, or you’ll find yourself rotting where the sun don’t shine.’
‘Then forget doing this for humanity,’ Avery suggested. ‘Do it for those god-ignorant elementals that are being drawn into the service of the Dark Lodge. Are they not your responsibility?’
‘Yes, sire. Vast numbers of our underdeveloped beings are being attracted to the promise of the quick physical manifestation that the dark path offers,’ Air confirmed.
??
?It is of their own will that man and elemental alike flock to the service of the materialistic.’ Gwyn washed his hands of the issue. ‘It is humanity that is retarding elemental growth, not I,’ he reminded the elementals around him, as they seemed to be disappointed by his words.
‘And who retarded humanity’s behaviour?’ Avery argued. ‘The Nefilim, of whom you are one.’
‘You should get your facts straight, boy,’ Gwyn fumed, and the large elemental faces that towered around them started to look a little worried. ‘Firstly, I was never physically one of the Nefilim, but a Silent Watcher. I perform a different task in the great scheme from my kindred inhabiting the physical universe. And secondly, the Nefilim only ever affected human behaviour on a physical level. Other extra-terrestrial intelligences are to blame for humanity’s consciousness. So, my cocky young friend, you’re on your own.’
‘And what of elemental consciousness?’ Avery called after the Night Hunter. ‘As man must learn unconditional love of all things, so must the denizens of your kingdom learn it.’ Suddenly Avery realised what Gwyn ap Nudd’s task in the great scheme was. ‘Is that not your mission for your Logos? To come to an understanding of the love principle that was spawned on Gaia. Ah, that’s why you choose to keep your office here,’ Avery guessed.
‘I’d do just fine if humans didn’t keep confusing the issue,’ Gwyn snapped. ‘Go back to where you belong and do not anger me further.’
‘I know you succeed in your quest,’ Avery blurted out.
It took a moment, but the Night Hunter calmed down as he considered the claim. ‘But to understand love I would have to —’
‘Fall in love, yes,’ Avery confirmed. ‘Although legend has it that you do have a few misadventures before you settle down.’
‘Tell me more.’ Gwyn was definitely interested.
‘Put Chailidocean in stasis and I’ll have two weeks to fill you in,’ Avery said, fully expecting to get the offer thrown back in his face.
‘Granted.’ Gwyn dismissed the elementals with a flick of his hand, whereupon they rushed off over the city and everything froze in its place. The Night Hunter manifested a luxurious lounge to sit upon and made himself comfortable. ‘Now talk.’