Iona Portal (13 page)

When Piper returned from her morning run, Holmes was in the kitchen making coffee.

“Did you work out already?” she asked, still trying to catch her breath.

“Yes, and showered,” Holmes looked up.  “You had a long run this morning.”

“It helped me think.” Piper said, dabbing the perspiration from her face with a white towel.  “There’s a big part of me that says none of that last night was real… that I dreamed it.  Holmes, this whole thing makes me question my sanity.”

“I still struggle with that myself, even after all these months,” Holmes said.  “When I’m talking with one of the Irin, it can seem the most natural thing in the world.  But when the sun comes up the next morning, none of it seems real.”

“When did Eliel say she would get here?”

“She said she’ll be here at 10:00.  She wanted to give us plenty of time.  Turns out the aliens don’t sleep, either.”

They’d already cleaned up from breakfast when Eliel arrived.  This time she chose a less dramatic entrance, landing on the broad deck outside the great room windows and actually knocking on the door before entering, precisely at 10:00 AM.

Holmes poured everyone some coffee, and they took comfortable seats in the great room.

“Eliel,” Piper began, “I want to thank you for giving me the strangest night of my life.  I don’t think I slept a wink.”

“I
guarantee
you’ll have stranger nights than that.” Eliel smiled, “Things have just
begun
to get interesting.”

“That’s comforting,” Piper said nervously.

“So, Eliel…” Holmes interrupted, “why don’t you explain to Piper how the two of us fit into this whole thing.”

“Certainly, Holmes.”

Eliel turned to Piper, taking a quick sip of her coffee. “First of all, Piper, you need to understand the danger confronting your world.

“In the last fifty years, your world has experienced some remarkable changes.  Many of those changes have been positive:  You’ve recognized the equality of your races.  You’ve made improvements in communications and technology.  Your progress in the area of medicine has greatly improved your quality of life.

“But other changes have
not
been positive.   In fact, within the last fifty years, trends have developed that threaten to destroy all you’ve accomplished.

“An obvious example is the rise of terrorism.  Terrorism was unheard of fifty years ago.  Even in your parents’ day, you could walk into any airport and board a plane without passing through a single security check, and no one questioned your safety.  Now increasing threats bring more oppressive security measures every year.  But terrorism is just the tip of the iceberg.

“Every nation on earth is being inundated by a rising tide of violence.  Look at your own country.  In your grandparents’ day, Americans slept with their windows open and their doors unlocked and felt totally secure.  Violent crime was rare.

“Piper, when your grandmother was your age, she could walk down almost any street in any city—even at night—with little fear of harm.

“Yet today you have 20,000 murders every year in America.  That’s like having 40 jumbo jets, loaded with 500 people each, crashing every year; yet few are even aware of the problem.”   

 “I had no idea there were so many.” Piper said, genuinely appalled.

“It’s worse than you think,” Eliel continued.  “In the nineties your politicians tried to slow the rising tide of violence by imprisoning more and more of your population.  Since 1987 your prison population has tripled.   Almost two and one-half million Americans now live their lives behind bars.  If they were all consolidated in one location, it would form your fourth largest city, bigger than Philadelphia or Houston.  

“Yet, they haven’t been able to build prisons fast enough to keep up with the rise in violent crime.  So your chance of being assaulted, murdered, or raped increases every year.”  

“What’s caused all of this?” Piper asked.

“In the last fifty years, the Archons have launched a massive offensive against your world.  Because of the destruction that occurred 20,000 years ago, the Ancient Ones won’t permit them to attack you in force.  So they come covertly, working behind the scenes.  Their goal is to create such widespread disruption that there can be no resistance to their invasion, and they’re very close to success.

“Even now, Archons are moving among you.  Sometimes they choose human victims to ensnare and destroy.  Sometimes they find individuals weak enough to possess and use as tools.  More frequently, they use their mental powers to plant suggestions, perverting your natural desires and ambitions.  They stir up lust and greed and plant thoughts of violence.  Their goal is to cause you to destroy yourselves. 

“Your situation becomes more perilous with every passing month.  The number of Archons in your world is overwhelming—tens of millions—and their numbers are increasing rapidly.  This build-up of enemy forces is something we’ve not seen since the Great Wars, and it’s taken us by surprise.  We’re now badly outnumbered.”

“How has this happened?”  Piper pressed, with increasing concern.

“In the last century, the Archons implemented a new strategy,” Eliel explained, “They’ve used their mental abilities to enlist large numbers of Human allies.  They gave promises of power and offered tantalizing experiences with the supernatural.  They worked through your media to make their sinister path seem exotic and exciting. 

“As a result, many of your people are now flirting with some very dark powers, not truly understanding what they’re doing.  A few have even become willing allies of the Archons and are opening doors of great destruction for your world.  The Archons are using these unwitting allies to create entry-points—momentary wormholes between the earth-realm and Hades.  With each new entry-point, more Archon warriors pour into your realm.

“There have always been humans who chose the path of darkness, but we weren’t prepared for the sheer numbers of your race that have now given themselves to the Archon cause.  If this Archon buildup continues, the fragile web you call civilization will soon disintegrate, and your world will be plunged into chaos.”

“But, how could
that
happen?”  Piper objected.  “I mean, I don’t see our society in danger of imminent collapse.”

“Don’t you?” Eliel gave Piper a questioning look.  “What about the sense of dread you sometimes feel when you read the news? … the unspoken fear that your world is headed in the wrong direction … rushing headlong toward some unthinkable calamity?   Are you telling me you’ve not sensed an approaching disaster?”

“Well, I know things are bad… but surely there’s still time to find an answer!” 

“You don’t understand how fragile your civilization is,” Eliel persisted.  “The world you know is inherently unstable.  You go to the grocery store and the shelves are full.  You take abundance for granted. 

“But introduce a disruption in the supply chain and those shelves go empty within days.   What happens then?  A few weeks later people are starving.  Gangs go from house to house stealing what food they can find.  Police are overwhelmed.  Transportation and communications break down.  All the things you took for granted are destroyed within weeks.

“Your society is hauntingly similar to the final years of the Roman Empire.  To the Romans, the idea that Rome could collapse was unthinkable.  They looked at their monumental architecture, their proud history, and their mighty legions, and assumed Roman civilization would last forever.  Yet Rome did fall.

“For now, your governments are keeping the crisis contained, but you’ll soon reach a tipping point where your ability to maintain order is overwhelmed.  When that happens, things will unravel quickly.” 

 “What can we do about it?”  Piper asked.

“The source of your problem lies in a realm you can’t see…” Eliel said, “an unseen world populated by beings you’ve only read about in myth and legend.   Yet a very real war rages in that realm and it affects every member of your race.   To avoid destruction, you must join in that battle.

“You’ve accepted the reality of angels,” she continued.  “You need to see that the creatures you’ve called
demons
are also real.  And you’ll have to learn to fight them.”

“Wait a minute,” Piper raised her hands in protest, feeling suddenly overwhelmed.   “This is getting
way
over my head pretty fast.”

She paused a moment, trying to collect her thoughts, then continued, “Okay… I suppose it
is
logical to admit that angels exist… since I’m sitting here talking to one.  Though to be honest, I don’t think
you
are exactly what they sing about in Christmas carols!

“And if angels are real, then it’s not a huge leap to believe in demons… But even if demons do exist, Eliel, how could we ever
fight
them?”  

 “Piper,” Eliel’s voice softened, “the Creator of all worlds placed incredible powers within you, but you’ve lost the ability to use them. 

“In the warfare that raged before your history began, the Archons inflicted genetic damage on your entire race.  Your lifespan was drastically shortened and your life-force nearly extinguished.  Your race became a mere shadow of what it once was.

“The Ancient Ones assure us that your race will one day be restored.  That’s a time all the realms look forward to with great eagerness.  That’s why we volunteered to come here and fight… we remember what you used to be.” 

Eliel paused a moment, looking intently into Piper’s eyes. “The human race was always the highest of the races.  Your abilities were amazing.  It was once common for humans to exercise powers you’d now call supernatural.  If you can recover even a small portion of these lost powers, you’ll easily be able to stand against the Archons.” 

“What kind of powers are you talking about?”

Eliel hesitated, as if uncertain how much to say.  “Your race had abilities on many levels.  Some were gifted to be healers.  Some had the second sight—the ability to see into the future.  Some could see beyond your own dimension.  Some could alter matter by the sound of their voice.”

Then, choosing her words carefully, Eliel added, “And there are
other
abilities, far beyond those… abilities you remember now only in your dreams.”

“All of those abilities are still there, locked up inside you.  You still have the potential… every member of your race secretly senses that.”

“Why can’t we use these powers now?”

“Part of the problem is fear… 

“The Archons know what lies dormant within you, so they’ve used their influence to hold you in ignorance.  They planted superstition and suspicion and filled you with irrational fears.  For thousands of years, any human who tapped into even a small portion of his potential was burned at the stake.

“The other problem is the weakening of your life-force.  Your life-force is what the Greeks called the
pneuma
.  It’s the part of you that goes beyond physical existence, and it’s what energizes all your abilities.  Because of the damage inflicted on your race, your life-force is greatly diminished… almost non-existent.”

“So, how can we regain those powers?”   Piper asked.

“The key is what we call a
synaxis
.”

Seeing her puzzled look, Eliel explained, “The word
synaxis
is an ancient human term.  It was coined by the Greeks to describe the union of two worlds—the natural and the supernatural realms meeting together.  The Greeks believed when a synaxis took place, humans could mingle freely with angels, receiving hidden knowledge and gaining miraculous powers.  That’s why the earliest Christians used the word
synaxis
to describe their secret gatherings in the Roman catacombs.

“More accurately,” she continued, “a synaxis is a group of humans who are brought into a special relationship with the Irin.  In that relationship, a portion of our life-force is transferred to you and the damage inflicted on your race is partially reversed.  Over the course of time, as you meet in synaxis, your dormant powers begin to awaken. 

“In that process a
synergy
develops.  The abilities of each member strengthen and reinforce the abilities of the others.  Eventually, the members of the synaxis learn to function together, almost as a single living organism, exercising powers far greater than any of the individuals possess.

“There have been a number of times in your history—at times of great crisis—that we’ve entered into synaxis with your race.  Each time, as humans regained their lost powers, the Archon forces were overcome.”

Eliel glanced at Holmes, then back to Piper. “Piper, you need to understand the importance of what I’m telling you.  We’re about to initiate the first synaxis in the Human-realm in more than a thousand years, and it’s truly the only hope for your race.  As your life-force is restored and your lost powers are energized, you
will
gain the power to confront the forces of Hades and drive them from your world. 

“That’s why we chose you.”  Eliel said, looking at Holmes again, then resting her gaze on Piper.  “You’ve been chosen to lead the first synaxis
… both of you.”

“Us?”
  Piper and Holmes both blurted.

“Wait a minute, Eliel…” Holmes objected. “For weeks now, you and the other Irin have been telling me about this group you’re forming to save the world…  I thought you were recruiting Piper and me to be
part
of it.  You never said we’d be the ones to
lead
it.”

“I’m sorry, Holmes,” Eliel responded.  “I thought you understood...  That’s why you and Piper were chosen.  You
both
possess the necessary abilities to lead a synaxis.”

“Of course, we don’t expect you to fight the battle alone,” she continued, “There are others we must draw together with you.  But our time is short.  The Archon forces are strengthening rapidly and war is almost upon us.  I fear we may be caught unprepared.”

Eliel tilted her head slightly, as though listening to a faint sound.  “Rand is coming now… and Araton is with her.”