Iona Portal (21 page)

Chapter Eighteen:  Angel Dance

THE LAKE HOUSE – THE PINEY WOODS OF EAST TEXAS

Friday afternoon, Holmes left directly from the office for his 7:00 PM meeting with Eliel but the trip did not go smoothly.  Heading south from Frisco, Dallas North Tollway was a virtual parking lot, with stop-and-go traffic creeping along at 10 MPH.

Swinging onto Loop 635—the broad, multilane highway encircling Dallas—Holmes breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the worst of the traffic was behind him.  But in less than a half-mile, traffic came to a complete standstill.  An eighteen-wheeler had overturned on the road ahead, blocking the interstate and backing up traffic for miles.  It took almost an hour for crews to reopen the road.

Finally clearing the blockage, Holmes exited onto Interstate-30 east and mashed the accelerator.  The Mercedes responded smoothly as he transitioned from gear to gear until he was cruising at 80 MPH.  He was finally on the way to East Texas almost two hours after leaving the office. 

As he drove, Derek thought about Eliel.  He had been surprised to detect the note of fear in Eliel’s voice when she described the horde of Archons at the Vanderberg ranch.  What had she said?
 “If I’d tried to stand against them, I would have been destroyed.” 

That was a new revelation for Holmes about the Irin.  While the aliens don’t naturally deteriorate and die as humans do, they
could
still be destroyed.

That meant the battle ahead was as real for Eliel as it was for him.  Victory was not assured, and neither was survival.  Holmes had asked the members of the synaxis to be prepared to lay down their lives.  For the first time Holmes realized that Eliel had made the same commitment. 

Exiting the interstate in the gathering dusk, Holmes noticed a shooting star streaking across the sky from the north.  He glanced at his watch and frowned.  It was almost seven o’clock.  He was running late.

The night was clear, and traffic on Texas Highway 37 was light.  As Holmes took the turnoff to Cedar Hills Lake, he lowered the windows and opened the moon roof, savoring the feel of the wind in his hair as he traced the winding road through the cool pine forest.  Finally arriving at the lake house, he walked through the great room and out onto the deck.  And there he saw Eliel. 

She was dancing.  But it was a dance no human had ever seen.  Eliel was dancing in the air, out over the middle of the lake.  Holmes stood transfixed by the sheer beauty of what he was witnessing. 

As Holmes watched from the deck, Eliel skimmed horizontally across the lake, just feet above the surface, then rose into a graceful pirouette, twirling rapidly with arms extended, poised fifty feet above the water.  Then she broke for the shore and flew along the edge of the lake, flying a high-speed slalom through the pine trees.  Her whole body was glowing as she flashed smoothly in and out among the trees, not even rustling the branches as she sped through.

Next, she veered to the left and up, climbing without effort.  She banked and flipped, and then flipped again.

Holmes had never seen anything more graceful.  He couldn’t help laughing out loud at the sheer joy of it.  It was the joy of freedom.  The joy of flight.  The joy of life.

Angling her wings to catch the edge of the currents that constantly flow between the dimensions, Eliel began executing a series of graceful twirls and loops, each one rising higher, as she compassed a great circle around the lake. 

Like some surreal figure skater, Eliel spun around and jumped from current to current, then swooped again toward the center of the lake and shot upward, all the while twirling in another pirouette.  As she rose, she drew her arms and wings close to her body, and her spinning accelerated until all that was visible was a blur of white light.  Finally, when she was almost out of sight, she broke her upward momentum and, extending her wings, made a long, triumphant spiral back down to the lake.

Holmes suddenly understood what Eliel was expressing in her dance.  She was heading into battle and—perhaps for the first time in her long existence—faced the real possibility of death.  But this was her protest against the powers of darkness.  In the face of unthinkable destruction and death, her dance was an extravagant celebration of life. 

Eliel whirled effortlessly, executing a graceful loop that flowed into a series of aerial somersaults, then swung into a smooth arc across the lake that brought her to a stop directly over the deck.  Extending her wings horizontally, Eliel allowed herself to descend, drifting to a stop mere inches above the deck’s surface.

Breathless, Eliel noticed Holmes and broke into a broad smile. 

He couldn’t resist breaking into applause.  “Eliel, that was beautiful!”

Holmes sensed a slight embarrassment that her dance had been seen.  “I used to dance before the twenty-four Ancient Ones in Hi-Ouranos,” she ventured, trying to catch her breath, “But that was before the Great Wars.  When the Archons invaded, I volunteered to come here to defend your world.”  Then she added, “But I still enjoy dancing.”

She drifted gently down to the deck surface and folded her wings into the unseen plane.  She looked up at him and smiled again. “You’re late,” she said quietly.  It was not a rebuke, just an observation.

Holmes opened a
Guinness
for Eliel, and an English ale for himself.  They took seats opposite each other in the great room.

Taking a sip of the
Guinness
, she began, “Holmes, our worst fears have been confirmed.   The Archons have amassed great numbers and are on the move.  We believe they’re preparing to take Iona, and if they do, our cause is lost.”

“Why is that?” Holmes asked, sipping his ale.

“Iona is crucial,” She replied, looking at him with an intensity he’d never seen in her.  “It’s the only place on earth we can open a lasting portal with our present level of strength.  Our forces in your world are now greatly outnumbered.  If we can’t open the Iona portal, I fear we’ll all be destroyed.

“So we must make a drastic change in our strategy.  You must make plans immediately for the entire synaxis to travel to Iona.  The time for battle has come.   Most of our forces are already there.”

 “But Eliel,” Holmes protested, “you said our training would take months.  We’re not ready!  Most of us have never even had a chance to use our gifts. 
 

“I’m
not ready!” He continued, “I don’t even know what my gift is!”

“I understand that, Holmes, but our time has run out.  I know you don’t feel you’re prepared, but we must go with what we have.  It’s our only chance.  We must try to open the portal before the Archons seize Iona.”

 “But you
do
need to know your gift,” she acknowledged, “and that’s why I’ve asked you here tonight.  Your gift is vital.” 

“What
is
my gift?”

“Your gift is to be what we call a
sent-one
.  There’s no word for it in your language.  It means something like an envoy or ambassador, but much more. 

“It’s a gift you share with Piper.  Piper’s a healer, but she also has the gift of a sent-one, though her ability isn’t yet as strong as yours.  That’s why we chose the two of you.  It’s unusual to find two together with such a high-level gift.

“To be a sent-one means you have the ability to act as an Irin, in some respects, at least.  With regard to the synaxis, you’ll be able to do what we do.  You can activate the gifts of other members.  You’ll know how to set the group in order, even if an Irin is not present.  It’s a high calling, and a great responsibility.  You may be called on to lay down your life for the others.”

Eliel hesitated a moment, then continued, “And there’s something else… a sent-one is a citizen of two realms.  As your gifts develop, you and Piper will both develop the ability to move between worlds as I do.  You’ll live in the earth-realm, yet there will always be a part of you that feels more at home in
Basilea
. 
Basilea
will always call to you.  

“Mendrion has activated your life force.  But before your gift can begin to operate, you must visit your other home.”

Holmes was confused, his head swimming.  “I don’t think I understand.” He protested.

“There’s no need to understand, Holmes.  Just come.”

She stood and extended her hand to him.

Still uncertain what was about to happen, Holmes followed her lead and stood also.

“Give me your hand,” she beckoned.  “It’s okay.” 

He reached out and cautiously placed his hand in hers.  Even though he’d interacted with the Irin for months, this was the first time he could recall actually touching one.  He was surprised that her hand felt totally human.  Her flesh was
real.
 It was soft and warm, and living.

As she clasped his hand in hers, he was also surprised at her strength.  “Since this is your first journey,” she directed, “be careful not to let go of my hand.”

He responded by holding her hand more firmly.  Then he felt a tug on his hand.  There was a sensation of movement, but not in a direction he could identify.  Fighting vertigo, Holmes glanced around in confusion.  They hadn’t moved, but the room around them had somehow faded.  It seemed like a ghostly outline of the room he knew.

“This is the shadow realm.” Eliel said.  “To the eyes of someone in your world, we just winked out of existence.  We’re now invisible.” 

Holmes noted that he could still see every detail of the great room, although the colors were severely muted.

“There’s nothing material in the shadow realm,” Eliel continued, “apart from the shades.” She nodded in the direction of a dark, fuzzy amoeba-like creature that was slowly drifting toward them.  Three tentacle-like arms extended in their direction, slowly undulating. 

Reaching out her free hand, Eliel casually batted the thing away.  Its tentacles immediately retracted and it drifted off in another direction.

Holmes felt another tug on his hand.  They began to move.  He realized for the first time that there was nothing solid under his feet.  They hung suspended in mid-air.  It was the sensation of floating in a crystal-clear pool of water. 

“In the shadow realm the effect of gravity is greatly reduced,” Eliel explained, sensing his surprise.

They drifted through the rear wall of the lake house and found themselves hovering several inches above the deck, gazing out across the lake.

“Time is greatly expanded in the shadow realm,” Eliel added.  “Virtually no time has passed in your world.  This is all taking place in a fraction of a second.

“But that’s enough of the shadow realm,” she said with obvious enthusiasm. “Now let me show you
Basilea!”

She grasped his hand more tightly.  There was a firm tug, and again a sensation of movement, but greater this time.  The vertigo was greater also.  Holmes felt he was losing his balance and squeezed Eliel’s hand more tightly.  Powerful currents of energy surged around him, tugging at him, tossing him, stretching him in several directions at once. 

The scene around them had vanished.  In its place was a fog of nearly-blinding white light.  Holmes closed his eyes against the brightness.  There was a sensation of rapid acceleration, though again, not in a direction he could identify. 

Finally the sense of movement ceased.  He opened his eyes, and at first glance, it looked like he was still in Texas.  The lake was still spread out before him, though it now extended much further to the west.  The shore was still lined with trees and vegetation.  The biggest difference was the sky.  Though the sun had recently dipped below the horizon, the light of two large moons brilliantly illuminated the entire landscape.  It felt like a late summer afternoon.

“Welcome to
Basilea
,” Eliel said with delight.  “the most beautiful of all realms!

“As a sent one, this is now your second home,” she continued.  “You’ll one day learn to come here on your own.  And Piper will come also when she’s ready.”

Holmes glanced down and gasped involuntarily, clenching Eliel’s hand more tightly.  The lake house, and with it the deck beneath them, had vanished.  They were suspended in mid-air, twenty-five feet above the ground.

Sensing his alarm, Eliel looked up at him reassuringly.  “Don’t worry, Holmes.  As long as you hold my hand you’ll be fine.  We’re in my world’s version of the shadow realm so the effect of gravity is almost non-existent.”

Still clasping her hand firmly, Holmes scanned the horizon.  Far to the north a line of majestic, snow-capped mountains rose to impossible heights. 

In the south stood a city like no city he’d ever seen.  It reminded him of the fanciful “cities of the future” drawn by artists in the nineteen-fifties.  A myriad of incredibly tall, slender towers reflected rainbows of pastel colors.  Between the beautiful towers Holmes could faintly see hosts of winged creatures flying from building to building. 
No need for flying cars in this “city of the future,”
Holmes thought. 
The inhabitants have wings.

Remembering a comment Eliel made back in the lake house, he said, “You mentioned a place called Hi-Ouranos where the twenty-four Ancient Ones rule.  Is that near here?”

“Hi-Ouranos is another dimension entirely,” Eliel answered.  “A higher dimension even than
Basileia
.  It’s the highest of all dimensions.

 “But it isn’t just another dimension, Holmes,” she continued. “It’s a realm beyond realms… a separate reality.  You aren’t yet able to go there yet.  But one day you will.”

They drifted slowly to the ground and experienced another shift—a sensation of movement without moving.  The colors around him intensified.  Holmes again felt solid earth beneath his feet.  They’d left the shadow realm and were at last standing on the soil of
Basilea
.

“I
must
be dreaming…” Holmes said quietly to himself as he glanced around in wonder, trying to take it all in.  “This can’t be real!”