*
I am Awakened.
I am…?
I can feel you, Akaina. Where am I?
…he felt the warm breeze of the otherness against his skin. He opened his eyes and took a deep breath, savoring the clear air. He was sitting on an outcropping of rock at the Crest, the same area he’d come to so many times in the past. Clouds the color of soiled cotton filled the sky, a haze of distant rain showers picking up off to the west, just past the outpost mountain ranges. From this view he could see the storm making its way towards the center of the city, its arrival imminent. Over the ocean the sky remained clear, the light of the morning sun still dancing off the rippling waves near the Waterfront.
Despite the imbalance, it was quite peaceful here.
I am right beside you, Alec.
Kai was standing next to him, dressed as she had been before in a black overcoat covering her Mendaihu uniform. Her hair was tied back low, the tail resting over her right shoulder. She was smiling at him, just watching him.
We’re past the first of the walls, he said.
Yes, she answered, taking a seat on a rock to his left and laying a hand on his shoulder as she did so. She gazed out over the city, saying little but observing everything. Within this Lightpath she was the pure Mendaihu, ever the vigilant spirit.
He looked out as well. Focusing was easier this time, knowing what he was looking at and how to process it. His gaze landed on one of the larger warehouses to his left, deep in the warehouse district of West McCleever. It was surrounded by a softly glowing aura, as if it were itself alive with spirit. There were indeed thousands of believers and followers there now, all awakened and ready to act. He blinked again, turning back to Kai. How did I get here?
I brought you here. More to the point, I directed your soul here. You arrived here of your own volition. Physically you’re still down on Leonard Street at the diner. Karinna and Ashyntoya are watching over us.
He visualized a quick image of Ashan and Caren talking, and of his own body slumped halfway over the table in an inebriated stupor, with Kai cradling him in her arms. His right arm stretched out over the table, and Caren’s fingers were interlocked with his. He tried to focus on this, but found it hard to concentrate. He shivered and found himself back on the Crest again.
Kai had slipped her hand in his, and squeezed it tight as he returned. You’re a unique spirit, Alec Poe, she said, though not facing him this time. I believe you have great potential as a Guardian.
Guardian… He paused as the title came into his memory…of the One of All Sacred, you mean.
Yes.
Why a Guardian? Because I’ve awakened? Surely more than that.
She laughed. You’re a rare and curious mix, Alec. You have both Mendaihu and Shenaihu energies flowing within you. A ‘cho-nyhndah.’ A twin-spirit.
Mendaihu and Shenaihu…? He attempted to wrap his brain around that idea and failed. He’d known he had something within, but he always figured it was one or the other. He’d never known or sought out the lineage of his birth parents, and he knew he must have had some Meraladian blood flowing in his veins…but cho-nyhndah? They were indeed rare, one of the rarest forms of spirit on this planet. He couldn’t believe it…but it made sense. Right now it felt as though he’d been looking at everything backwards and, for the first time in his life, had turned around to face his own truths that he’d been avoiding.
How is that possible?
She squeezed his hand again. It is certainly possible to have full control over both spirits. It comes through heritage. Your parents or your grandparents were Shenaihu and Mendaihu and were able to contain the delicate balance. That is why it is so rare…that mix is so potent and unstable, that one energy overpowers the other, and the offspring’s spirit chooses on its own, usually subconsciously. There are those however, like yourself, whose subtler spiritual energies were either dormant or subdued. Upon Awakening, every person, regardless of their upbringing or faith, is faced with a decision: to choose the Shenaihu path, the Mendaihu path…or perhaps both. Almost no one consciously chooses, though, for it is a constant struggle to have both. One side is always at odds with the other. That is all I can say for now; the rest is up to you to remember. Tell me, Alec — where do you think she is?
The change of subject was unexpected. Who?
The One of All Sacred.
He waved a hand in the air and stopped her. Wait a minute. What do you mean by ‘the rest is up to me to remember’? Don’t you mean ‘learn?’
Kai clasped her other hand around his and brought it up to her face, letting the back of his hand caress her cheek, her hair, her lips.
Dehndarra Né hra nyhndah, Alec. To know your own True Spirit is to be One with the Sacred. Everyone has had these memories, these ancient coded messages imprinted in our DNA and our spirits, ever since our mutual ancestors came to this world. They are buried so deep some are never found. That is why I say you must remember, Alec. You must recapture these memories.
Now, if you could answer my question…where do you think the One of All Sacred is?
Where would she be…?
Wait — she? The One is female in this Coming?
Kai kissed the back of his hand, then held it to her chest. Yes.
His jaw rested half open as he tried to say something, anything to answer her. The Ninth Coming of the One of All Sacred had been a long-awaited event with the Meraladians, though the Coming was more of an embodiment than a reincarnation. The pure spirit of the One chose the next embodiment itself, cocooning inside its host until it had been awakened by either by its own volition or by spiritual force. Given the last few days, certainly it must be awake by now.
I don’t know where she is, he said.
Kai seemed to pick up on his hesitation. Her grasp of his hand tightened briefly as she looked at him. Do you not trust me, Alec?
Of course I do, he said, and he knew it to be true, without question. He wouldn’t have been able to say otherwise, not here in the elsewhere. But I don’t know where to go from here, where to look.
You will soon, she said distantly. Just remember what I’ve shown you here, Alec. Please understand that in my physical and spiritual lives I would never harm you. I would find that task utterly impossible. She face had reddened, but her expression had remained solid. She stood, still holding his left hand, and pulled him up. They looked over the expanse of Bridgetown together, each building, each person, each spirit in such sharp detail he found it impossible not to stop and study each one…
…and saw one Light, one spirit, brighter and sharper than all the others. It seared through the Sprawl before him, a pinprick of intensely bright light burning a hole through the canvas of reality and amplifying its beauty in the process. The Light was fueled by everything and everyone surrounding it — people, animals, plants, anything with some amount of life force lent its energy to this one Light. Through miles of buildings and other dotted speckles of spirit light, this one spirit shone with such luminosity it brightened those around it, as if returning its borrowed energy threefold.
He knew exactly where she was, and who she was.
Goddess…he whispered.
She is, Kai answered.
The One of All Sacred, he finished, his own spirit shivering with an overwhelming clarity. Here in Bridgetown.
Yes, Kai whispered. Now you understand. She must be protected, Alec. And you are the only one who can do it.
Why me? He had asked out of curiosity and not of fear, for his own spirit had already answered with its own explanation. If destiny had given him this one task, he accepted it graciously and without question.
Because she knows you, Alec, she said. Because she trusts both you and Karinna above all else. You know who she is.
His hand twitched inside hers, a gesture she may or may not have interpreted as a response to her soothing touch. His vision had been cleared, and he had realized
his true calling as Protector of the One. He had recognized Her Spirit, and She had recognized his. Instantly he recognized the spirit pattern as that of a young girl who had just awakened amidst much confusion, yet understood completely why she had awakened and what it meant. As he stared at the Light of the One, a shudder raced down his back and he caught his breath.
Denysia, he thought, his heart skipping a beat. Oh, Goddess…it’s her!
…and all was Light.