Tablet of Destinies (15 page)

‘Of the most sacred kind. For it is the love of giving to others that enables us to love ourselves and be loved in return.'

Maelgwn's words reduced the Goddess to tears, for suddenly she could empathise with what he meant. The purest and most empowering emotion she'd ever felt began surging through her being, filling her with such joy and goodwill that her capacity for speech escaped her.

‘Your soul-source never stopped loving you, Inanna. It was you who stopped loving yourself when you shut yourself off to Anu's influence. Dare to look deep within yourself and you shall not find demons lurking there … what you shall find is the pure and loving child you've been seeking all your life.'

She closed her eyes to give silent praise to her creator as she felt the warmth of the Logos alive inside her heart for the first time since she was a girl.
I will aid your cause, Dragon
,
for clearly Anu wishes it.

The smile returned to Maelgwn's face. ‘Tell me more about Zabeel.'

Inanna confessed to having led the lad to believe that, disgusted by her pregnancy, Maelgwn had slain Aquilla and left her and her unborn baby to die. Zabeel believed that Inanna had saved his life by separating him from his mother soon after conception, as Aquilla's wound had proven fatal.
I never told Zabeel your name, I professed only to have known you as ‘the Dragon'. My guess is that he went looking for you, to seek revenge.
Inanna handed Maelgwn a thought-band recorder containing memories of Zabeel when last seen.
If he'd only hung around a little longer I would have led him straight to you,
she shrugged, thinking the circumstances ironic.
As it is, he's probably perished in the attempt to locate you.
She shed a couple of tears for the child she'd raised, but wiped
them away quickly.
I suppose I have no right to grieve his loss, as he should never have been mine in the first place
.

Maelgwn placed a hand on her shoulder. ‘Have faith that all fares well with him, Nin, for I shall find him if it does.'

The Goddess materialised a small phial in her palm, which she pushed into the Dragon's hand.
The means by which to restore Zabeel to the first Chosen One of his kind.
She forced a smile, hoping it would not be too late.

As Maelgwn placed her offering into his pocket for safekeeping, he leant down and kissed her cheek, long and soft. ‘Bless you for facing this nightmare, Inanna. The light of the Logos is upon you.'

Inanna watched Maelgwn walk from her presence, dying to order him back to give her comfort and delight, but it was the will of Anu that she let him go. She could feel the divine at work within her now. The Dragon had shown her the way to her redemption, just as she had foreseen.
My soul debt can and will be repaid.
She had made of herself an island by acts of hatred and selfishness and now her love and selflessness would flow like a river to the people that she had so long abused.

 

When Maelgwn reached his transport back to Nibiru, he knew he'd been detained on Tarazean too long to possibly hope to make it back to address the Senate. He was confident that Brian, however apprehensive he may have been, would have met the challenge head on. Maelgwn hoped that the new Governor of Kila had succeeded in making a lasting impression on the Pantheon he sought to infiltrate.

‘The Governor is online and waiting to speak with you, En Maelgwn,' the onboard communications officer advised as Maelgwn boarded. ‘The line is secure,' the officer added, whereupon Maelgwn understood the urgency of the matter and made straight for the communications room and shut himself in.

‘Governor, what's news? Did all go well at the meeting?' asked Maelgwn, lightheartedly.

‘I never made it to the meeting,' Brian replied. ‘You know that war you've been expecting me to start?'

Maelgwn smiled, amused by his brother-in-law's approach. ‘You do hate to disappoint, don't you?'

‘The good news is that I think I might have gained some influence with the other human tribes.'

Maelgwn had expected to have longer to prepare for an uprising, but after waiting seventy years, now seemed as good a time as any. ‘Was war actually declared?'

‘Does it have to be?' Brian's question was rhetorical. ‘My fear is that Kila is grossly unprepared to defend against a Nefilim attack.'

‘Do not worry,' Maelgwn advised him, and then seemingly changed the subject. ‘I suspect you are heading back to Kila at present, Governor. When you arrive, I shall meet you with a plan of action. Out.'

‘But you are further afoot from Kila than we are.' Brian managed to voice his concern before Maelgwn terminated the transmission.

The Dragon was of a mind to risk teleporting himself across the unpredictable recesses of deep space in order to beat the Governor back to Kila and ready the city for evacuation. This had never been attempted by any of
the Chosen before now, for fear of becoming trapped in a time warp, or worse, an entirely different dimension. But in this instance Maelgwn was prepared to take the risk for the stakes were high. However, before he attempted such a daring stunt, he needed to arrange a temporary safe haven for the Kila refugees. Maelgwn advised his crew to stay put on Tarazean and willed himself back to the side of the Goddess Inanna.

F
or two weeks Tory and Noah had managed to hold the attention of the Devas. Sacha and Psyche had taken instruction from the head of every major institutional faculty in Kila, in subjects ranging from the mind and earth sciences, to law, art, history, commerce, astronomy, and every subject in between. All their tutors had found them to be extraordinary students who lapped up information at the rate of a full course on any given subject in the matter of a few hours.

Now that the twins' teenage growth hormones had kicked in, they had started to rebel against their formal studies and were out and about in search of some real life experience. In the past couple of days the Deva twins had taken to keeping the company of Tory's grandchildren, Asher and Rai, and were experiencing
what it was to be carefree adolescents for a time. Tory considered this to be a good thing; in the next week the twins would be young adults and their interests would be diverted to more important issues.

Personally speaking, Tory had found the twins' coming of age to be a little anti-climatic. Two weeks of intense care and attention and her newborn babes were near grown and out on their own. Still, with every advancement the young Devas made, their quest became more imminent — as did the return of Avery and Lirathea. Tory had abandoned any thought of trying to visit her children in their current abode, as all her sources agreed that human soul-minds didn't associate on that level of awareness. Devachan was not a social evolution as hers was, but a solitary growth period. This meant that, even if she managed to manifest in Devachan, she would only perceive her experience of it, designed by the Logos for her specific development. To hope to experience Devachan from another's reality, in this case her twins, was a fool's crusade — an impossible dream.

‘Even the worst Devachanic experience far surpasses a wonderful physical existence,' she commented to Noah, as they strolled through Central Park, ‘so I don't know why I can't just accept our separation, for however long it's fated to last?'

‘Maybe you envy them a little?' Noah timidly suggested with a shrug.

Tory gave him a sideways glance and a sly, questioning grin.

‘Well,' he defended, ‘you've been in the service of others since landing on Kila. In developing our great
nation, you've scarce had time to do any developing yourself.' As Tory seemed interested in his ideas, he rolled with it. ‘Perhaps that is why your children have been taken off your hands for a time, because what you really need right now is to focus on yourself … which is
exactly
what you secretly wish to do.'

Tory gave a heavy sigh. He'd hit the nail right on the head. ‘Everyone reveres me as this great spiritual leader, Noah, “the holder of the Tablet of Destinies”! But I don't feel deserving of that acclaim. Truth be known, I don't even know how to use the damn thing properly … a problem I could rectify if I could rouse the time and courage to experiment with the divine tool.' Tory, frustrated, walked away from Noah a little. ‘I mean, why didn't Taliesin give the Tablet to someone who might have the knowhow to make better use of it? Like Thais, or you!'

‘Me?' Noah startled, stepped backward. ‘I think you might be confusing me with Selwyn.'

‘But you are Selwyn!' she emphasised. ‘I see more of the druid in you each time we meet.'

‘And I see the Goddess in you, Tory,' he retorted, flattered by her statement.

‘Then why don't I?' she whined, feeling drained and inadequate.

Noah gave her a warm look. ‘I don't know anyone who could've handled the ordeal you've just been through and still be sane.' He approached Tory to place an arm around her shoulder and give her a comforting squeeze.

‘It's not like Maelgwn to stay mad at me this long.' Another of Tory's brooding fears surfaced. ‘I felt sure he
would have contacted me by now … even if it was only to tell me he's still annoyed with me.'

If truth be told, Noah had also expected that the Dragon would've made his peace with Tory by this time, but he was not about to say so. ‘You need to recharge your batteries, Nin … you can't expend so much energy on others and not expect to feel drained.'

Tory forced a smile, seeing reason. ‘So what do you suggest?'

He wrinkled his brow as he thought about the best avenue of rejuvenation. ‘Perhaps it's time you allowed others to pour a little energy into you. Let us go and see En Thais and his students. They'll replenish your energy stores, quick smart.'

Tory's smile was genuine, as she nodded to agree that it was a good idea.

 

Whilst Tory lay on a table of pure crystal in the Institute of the Mind Sciences, receiving Reiki and a guided meditation from Thais and his adepts, Noah relaxed in the sunshine of the facility's garden café, which was practically deserted this morning.

He was thinking about what he might do this afternoon. Noah had a load of work to catch up on at the Institute, planning courses for the next year.

‘Ho-hum,' he sighed. It all seemed a bit mundane after six months in the jungle and two weeks with a couple of higher world intelligences. Like Tory, he secretly craved a little more adventure in his life, which led Noah to wonder how Maelgwn was doing in his quest to find the stone that would lead them to one of the Lord
Master Enki's Creation Stations. He supposed that the meeting with the Pantheon was probably keeping the Dragon well occupied and as Kila hadn't received any word from Nibiru, Noah assumed that the Senate was still in session.

‘No news is good news, I guess.' He picked up his cup to finish his tea, when a large obstruction suddenly appeared before him.

It was the time-shifting chariot that Taliesin had left in his safekeeping, Noah realised, and at the controls was Maelgwn. Noah had thought the precious treasure safely locked away in a secret chamber under the Institute of Immortal History.

‘Pardon my asking, En Maelgwn, but how did you get access to the chariot?' Noah stood up, horrified that someone had managed to breach his security measures.

‘This is the only copy of the original, made by Aquilla for Inanna,' Maelgwn explained as he climbed out. ‘When the Goddess learnt that I was entertaining the notion of projecting myself through open space to return to Kila, she insisted on lending me her toy to ensure my safe and speedy arrival.'

So many questions arose in Noah's mind from this statement.
Inanna was concerned for someone?
He thought this very strange. Obviously Maelgwn had seen the Goddess, but had she given him the stone?

One of Noah's questions took precedence over the rest. ‘Why the rush to return home?'

Maelgwn fixed Noah with a determined and very serious look. ‘We have to evacuate the city.'

‘What!' Noah freaked and then forced a smile as he
looked about him to see if anyone might be following their conversation, but there was no one within earshot. ‘You're not serious … are you?'

Maelgwn hated to shatter Noah's illusion that this might be a hoax. ‘All visitors to the city must return to their homes at once. All residents — those that are not head of a government department, part of the defence department, KEPA, or an advisor of the Governor — are to evacuate to Tarazean.'

Noah didn't have to ask what had happened. ‘The rebellion has begun then?'

Maelgwn nodded firmly. ‘We're going underground.'

 

Although Tory had cried her eyes out during the hands-on healing session, she now lay in a calm state of bliss upon the amethyst healing table. Thais and his students had worked their magic and aided her to release most of the emotional blockages that were disturbing the flow of energy around her subtle body.

Thais dismissed his students from the healing room and only he remained with the patient to guide her through a meditation.

Tory was very relaxed now. Her whole body tingled with a sensation like pins and needles. This was not a painful experience, however, as when a limb became numb, what she felt as present was liberating and tranquillising. This detached sensation was synonymous with the astral body being ever so slightly out of alignment with the physical.

Thais guided Tory's mind through a meditation of colour and sound, starting with the colour red and a deep
vibrational chant that was connected to the lowest chakra of her subtle body. He worked up through the colour spectrum and sound scale, until they reached the pure white of the crown chakra and the highest associated note.

‘All your chakras are fully open to receive the life-diving energy of the Logos,' Thais advised softly. Tory breathed deep the brilliant white light she'd visualised in her mind and brought it down to surround her physical body. As she did, Tory felt as if she had begun to float. ‘Now,' said Thais, ‘keeping your eyes closed, I want you to look down upon your body and tell me if you can see your aura.'

Tory directed her third eye to look down over her body, and the splendour she saw made her gasp. ‘I can. It's sparkling silver, like sunshine reflected on a lake.' Inside the glistening light field her chakra centres whirled, drawing celestial energy into her subtle body. Tory's perception began to drift upward.

‘Tory, this is a grounding exercise, stay with me,' Thais instructed, as he noticed Tory's etheric double separate from her physical body completely.

Tory meant to obey Thais' instruction and tried to draw her perception back down towards her physical self, but it seemed her subtle body had plans of its own. Higher and higher it rose until it encountered the ceiling of the healing chamber, and Tory looked down to see herself lying on the amethyst block. A long, fine thread, sparkling silver like her aura, connected her etheric double with the physical presence it mirrored.

‘Tory?' Thais gazed up at her free-floating etheric form. ‘This is not today's objective. I realise the thought
of going for a stroll in the astral realms must be most appealing, but that is not going to aid your physical condition. I need you present to complete the repairs,' he pleaded. Thais heard the entrance door to the healing chamber open and he turned to address the intruder. ‘I said we were not to be disturb—'

A laser bullet shot forth and Thais hit the ground, unconscious. A second bullet shot into Tory's already motionless body and her subtle form rebounded from the shock of the pulse laser bullet entering her physical body. The intruder entered and closed the door. He was one of the Falcon species — a pirate, poacher or bounty hunter by the look of his attire, which was draped with holsters, belts and pockets to accommodate all his gadgets and weapons.

Who is this?
Tory willed herself closer to get a better look at him.
And what does he want with me?

The large winged male approached her body, dousing a padded gag with fluid from a bottle as he moved. ‘The pulse laser won't have a lasting effect on a Goddess like you.' He stuck the wet pad over her mouth and nose, and upon contact the gag's strap automatically latched itself tight around her head. ‘But this stuff will keep you sleeping like a babe. Hey-ho …' he joked, looking over the body of the woman he'd come to snatch, ‘… you already are one.'

He must have doused the gag with some immortal-strength chloroform to keep me sleeping,
Tory surmised and upon viewing her assailant's face she recognised him — or rather she recognised the incarnating soul-mind within him.
Doc!

This soul's Chosen incarnation and his mate were the only two of their kind to remain on Gaia. The enlightened path had never come easy to this man, and he'd caused Gaia much damage before he'd seen the error of his ways. Doc had stayed on earth to amend the wrongs he'd done to the planet and to protect Gaia against any further damage. In the Dark Ages he had been Maelgwn's younger half brother, Caradoc, whom Tory had had several nasty confrontations with. In the end, she had killed Caradoc out of mercy when she had found him rotting in a dungeon at Arwystli.

‘And just in case any of your demi-god mates try willing themselves into your presence …' The intruder slapped a NERGUZ module around the wrist of her unconscious person to ensure she could not be found via psychic teleportation.

But the Pantheon had banned and confiscated all NERGUZ modules after the Shamash debacle some fifty years before.
How on earth did he get possession of one of those?
When the Falcon man lifted her limp form up onto his shoulder, Tory got a fair idea of his intent and felt she had to protest. She spotted a large crystal on a nearby table and willed it to rise.
Sorry, friend, but I can't let you abscond with my person.
The heavy quartz rock ascended from its resting place, and Tory willed it on a collision course with the Falcon's head.

‘Hey!' He sensed the movement in time to duck. ‘Pluck me!' Upon realising the extent of his unconscious captive's abilities and noting all the large crystal sculptures that stood about the healing chamber, the Falcon decided to move quickly. Glancing upward, he
saw the large glass dome in the roof and smiled. ‘I love having the Gods on my side.'

Tory watched with horror as her kidnapper activated a module he wore on his wrist and a light beam shot forth a compact getaway vehicle.
Oh my stars, he's going to get away with this.
Feeling a little out of it, Tory couldn't think of how to stop him. Her only thought was to stay with her body and try to get back into it. But then, what was the point when it was obviously unconscious and therefore useless to her.
I wonder if I am always this conscious when I am unconscious and the recollection just becomes an unconscious one once I become conscious again?
Tory pondered, as she followed her body and her abductor inside the tiny vessel.

 

As soon as Noah saw Inanna's chariot safely locked away under the Institute of Immortal History with its twin, he returned to Maelgwn's side in the government's offices where he was rallying everyone to the evacuation cause.