Read Raven's Key: A Novel Page 17


  “George was mentioning that just before you snatched me from my apartment.”

  “Good, good. I’ve enjoyed my little game of cat and mouse with he and his grandfather,” replied Raven. “if they only knew we were working on the same side, I wouldn’t have had to sacrifice the old man for the cause.”

  “What are you talking about? You didn’t harm Iyash did you?”

  “No, not me,” replied Raven. “He got messed up in some business he shouldn’t have. I warned him to let me do my job but he wouldn’t listen.”

  “Is he dead?”

  “You could say that, but death is just a new journey.”

  “I’d say that this journey is coming to an end.” Maeve pointed to two bright lights that were approaching them very fast.

  “The welcoming party has arrived. It’s about time, I was starting to worry.” Raven opened his arms and extended his hands out. “Don’t be alarmed. Just do as I do.”

  The two spheres stood hovering in front of them. Maeve noticed that the lights shifted colours as they pulsated, and at a certain angle each sphere seemed to have a face.

  “Bran Corvus, welcome, we have been expecting you,” spoke the first sphere. “We are eager to talk with you.”

  The ball of light enveloped Raven and he disappeared.

  “Maeve Finn, welcome to Anwin. Don’t be alarmed, we will not hurt you, ” assured the second sphere. “Let the light take you.”

  Maeve felt the vibration of the light enter her body. She was momentarily blinded but quickly regained her sight. As the light faded, she noticed Raven was once again standing beside her and that they were now inside the dome that seconds before seemed to be far off in the distance.

  The dome wasn’t as large as she had expected, but it had exceptionally high ceilings. There was no furniture in the building, just collections of old artifacts stacked on shelves. On the floor of the room was a beautiful mandala of evenly spaced, overlapping circles, that formed a flower-like pattern with a six-fold symmetry like a hexagon. Each flower seemed to glow with a colored translucence, forming a three-dimensional image.

  Standing in front of her was a man and a woman, dressed in long flowing green robes. Their eyes sparkled with the same quality of light that glowed from the three-dimensional mandala on the floor.

  “This looks like some kind of museum.” Maeve tried to regain her balance. She was starting to feel a little woozy from all the dimensional shifts. “Is there some kind of theme to this exhibit?”

  “Over the years we’ve made an effort to collect special objects from the many places and time dimensions we have visited,” said the man. “We’ve also received many gifts from various intergalactic delegation visiting Anwin.”

  “You must have some Corvus in you Arwan,” joked Raven. “Your particular fondness for shiny and rare objects is a quality I value in myself.”

  “I can assure you that I have no Corvus in me,” replied the man. “I do recall the experiments we conducted to create you and your clan, however. Such an intriguing animal you are. We had varied success in the laboratory with the earth-felis. Many failed experiments we killed out of kindness. What we learned from those experiments we integrated into the genetic manipulations of the Corvus genus. Unfortunately we learned later that the bird and cat species did not co-exist very well, especially after our manipulations. “

  “So why have you come to see us without a summons Bran,” interrupted the woman. “Arwan and I are surprised to see you here with Maeve Finn.”

  “It’s about Marduk and the shift that is occurring right now with the humans,” replied Raven. “We’ve reached a critical situation and I thought that it was time to see if the Lyrian’s were willing to take some responsibility for the mess they left on earth.”

  “We are well aware of the situation on Earth and its proximity to the galactic equator. There has been much dissonance within the human consciousness lately. Our probes have also been monitoring the radiation situation. We’ve been able to establish an electromagnetic pulse to reinforce the magnetosphere around the planet. While this is helping to reduce the effects of the gamma ray bursts from Cygnus X3, it does not reduce the strength of the singularity on the human consciousness. We have also noted a very strong Annunaki presence on the dark side of the moon. It seems as though they too have been working to reduce the harmful effects of the gamma radiation on the planet.”

  “As long as humans continue to live in a state of fear, anger and greed, their world will become increasingly darker and darker,” added Essa. “The strong dissonance in their consciousness right now suggests that they have decided to reject the Lyrian teachings and education we worked hard to impart and share over the past thousands of years.”

  “Over the last twenty years we’ve even tried to communicate by leaving large, complex messages in fields.”

  “Crop circles!” said Maeve. “I always wondered about those. But I thought that they were debunked by the people who made them.”

  “Quite right Maeve, but even the circles created by humans have a charge to them,” replied Essa. “If you talk to those involved in their creation, they will confess to having heightened states of awareness and transformative experiences that have shifted their consciousness significantly.”

  “Which was our original intent behind their creation,” continued Arwan. “It doesn’t really matter who creates them. Although with our earlier attempts, we encoded messages in the circles. These messages, however, proved to be too complex for general human understanding.”

  “But why not just communicate directly with us,” asked Maeve.

  “Unfortunately, the Annunaki have been manipulating the human consciousness for a very long time and it has become very difficult for the Lyrians to maintain any direct contact with humans. Over the last fifty years, in particular, human governments have developed very crude weaponry using Annunaki technology. These weapons have been placed in a low orbit to limit our entry to earth. We have resorted to other means of contact, including crop circles, high vibrational channels and dimensional portals, like Anwin. But these have a limited effect and as you have experienced, dimensional portals are not for everybody.”

  “But this is not what you are here to discuss.” Arwan looked at Raven. “Speak your intention Bran Crovus.”

  “As you are well aware, the Council of light has been working very hard to stop Seth Marduk from plunging Earth consciousness further into darkness. Somehow he has tapped into and learned how to amplify human consciousness to manipulate the effects of the singularity. I suspect that for some time, with help from the Annunaki, he has been accessing the timeline sequences to develop these exceptional powers.”

  “We have been aware of Marduk for some time. Unfortunately, all of our attempts to contact him have failed. Like the two of you, he is one of the old line but of Annunaki breeding.”

  “You understand that there is little we can do, other that what we have been doing,” said Essa. ” Honestly, we are surprised you are here Bran Corvus. The Council is well aware of the restrictions we have been working under. In fact, our latest reports have indicated that the Council has now agreed to work with the Annunaki. You can imagine that this news is somewhat troubling for us.”

  “I’m unaware of any recent decisions by the Council, and can’t imagine that they would ever agree to work with the Annunaki without consulting with the Lyrian delegation first.” Raven crossed his arms. “You must have received the wrong information.”

  “I can assure you that the Annunaki are working on a plan that involves the council. We’re not entirely clear on the direction of the plan. However, the various timeline sequences we have explored do not bode well for Earth and its inhabitants. The irony of the situation is that in all the sequences we have explored, it is humans who are responsible for annihilating themselves. “

  “Sounds like a repeat of Lyrian history, doesn’t it,” pressed Raven. “You must have forgotten to breed out the aggressive stu
pid genes when you were experimenting with those early primates.”

  “Why can’t you just intervene,” asked Maeve. “With all your high technology you must be able to do something worthwhile?”

  “We’ve examined those options,” replied Essa. “Any intervention by the Lyrians only accelerates the process.”

  “In the scenario that keeps appearing, the crude human weaponry in space malfunctions,” continued Arwan. “Instead of firing upon our ships, the weapons destroy orbiting human military satellites. The fallout from the satellites’ small nuclear reactors poisons the atmosphere with a fine plutonium dust, which in turn kills thousands of people and pollutes important fresh water sources on the planet. The human government’s then react to our presence by mounting a military offensive, which escalates into a full blow war and ends with the deployment of various atomic weapons.”

  “The Annunaki have made it very difficult for us to intervene in any material way,” said Essa. “So we continue to explore many other options.”

  “That’s why I have brought Maeve here,” said Raven , “I believe she may hold the key to shifting the timeline sequences.”

  “What was that?” Maeve noticed a buzzing in her ears, which stopped as abruptly as it started.

  “Our invited guest has finally arrived.” Arwan looked at Raven then at Essa.

  “Who are you expecting,” asked Raven.

  “You’ll soon find out.”

  Chapter 43

  “This is all starting to get really confusing.” Susan sat back in her chair. “First objects disappearing and now people appearing out of nowhere and then disappearing.”

  “I’m feeling just as confused as you right now.” George stood up and started to pace back and forth. “First my grandfather disappears and now Maeve is gone. Both times it was Raven who caused it and we’re no closer to finding any of the objects. Maybe my grandfather was right and this is a hopeless cause after all.”

  “Come on guys, snap out of this,” exclaimed Paul. “We need to be clear-headed and stay optimistic. There are always solutions if you look at all the potential options.”

  “So what do you purpose Mr. optimist,” asked Susan.

  “Paul is right Susan.” George stopped pacing and sat back down next to Paul. “There’s always a reason for why things happen, we just need to figure it out. Unfortunately, we’re running out of time and resources. First of all we have to figure out why Raven came for Maeve.”

  “The first time Iyash was able to foil Raven’s attack,” continued Paul, “but somehow he was able to come back, probably with the help of that man, Derg, who came with him.”

  “That’s what I can’t figure out. Why would Derg help Raven take Maeve?”

  “He mentioned something about a blood debt,” said Susan. “Which sounds kind of sinister.”

  “Who is this Derg anyways,” asked Paul. “Maybe we could track him down and ask him ourselves?”

  “I’m not entirely sure, but I suspect that Derg is the leader of the royal guard, here to protect Maeve.”

  “The one your grandfather asked directions from.”

  “Most likely.”

  “But if he was here to protect Maeve, why would he let Raven take her away,” asked Susan.

  “Maybe Raven is here to protect her. Maybe he took her away to a safe house or something,” added Paul.

  “I thought if we found Raven, we would find the objects.” Susan looked skeptically at George. “I’m not convinced that we’re getting any closer to the objects we’re after. In fact, I’m starting to suspect that maybe this is all some kind of game you are playing to link me to the disappearance of those objects from the museum. Ever since those objects started to go missing, the police have been after me as a primary suspect.”

  “I thought they caught the guy,” said Paul, “and that you were off the hook.”

  “Yea, so did I until the morning when George and his grandfather showed up.” Susan continued, “I had a call from a Detective Coon, who said he wanted to talk to me about the missing objects. That same morning Raven showed up just hours before George and his grandfather came in to the museum. “

  “So you think that George and Iyash were there to distract us from Raven stealing the objects?”

  “Interesting theory, but you can’t be serious,” remarked George. “Why would we even think about trying to help Raven?”

  “Susan has some good points George,” said Paul, “but maybe we can chalk it up to synchronicity.”

  “And now we’re here in Maeve’s apartment. No Maeve, no objects. We could now be accessories to kidnapping. Worse. What if Raven decides to kill her? We could be in some real serious trouble Paul.”

  “I understand your concerns Susan. But I can assure you that I’m not trying to deceive you in any way,” reassured George. “I’m just as confused as you. I’m also concerned that my grandfather hasn’t contacted us at all. He could be in some serious trouble. I like to think that Paul is correct and that for some reason Raven has taken Maeve away to keep her safe. Considering Derg’s involvement in this, it seems like the most plausible explanation.”

  “So why don’t we go and find Derg?” Susan was starting to sound exhausted. “Maybe he’ll know where to find the objects.”

  “It’s a good point Susan,” murmured George, “but unfortunately I don’t have my grandfathers uncanny knack for locating and talking to spirits.”

  “I thought you said he was one the royal guard,” said Paul, “and you did take us to the council.”

  “Technically the royal guard are spirits Paul, but more like inter-dimensional beings,” answered George, “like the members of the Council.”

  “So you should be able to take us to find Derg, just like you took us to the council,” pressed Paul.

  “Maeve’s vibration helped a lot,” replied George, “and right now, it would be very difficult to travel inter-dimensionally without the extra push.”

  “Is there anything I can do to raise the vibration,” asked Paul. “I think this is our only chance.”

  “It isn’t you I’m concerned about, but Susan,” answered George. “She’s at a real low point right now, which is anchoring us to this time-space reality.”

  “I’m just really tired. I haven’t had a descent meal in the last few days and I’m really stressed out about this whole scenario and the prospects of losing my job,” replied Susan defensively. “I’ve worked really hard to get to this point in my career and I don’t want to be tossed out in the streets as a thief and an accessory to murder. All this talk about inter-dimensional beam-me-up space traveling is hocus pocus anyways. You don’t really believe in this stuff do you Paul?”

  “I believe in the power to suspend disbelief and open myself up to new opportunities and ways of thinking,” said Paul, “and besides what other option do we have at this point?”

  Before Susan could reply, there was a loud knock on the door. George, startled out his own thoughts, got up to answer the door.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t answer it,” whispered Paul. “How are we going to explain where Maeve is to whoever is on the other side of that door?”

  George stopped in the hall leading towards the door of Maeve’s apartment and returned to his seat.

  “Good point Paul. We’re better off keeping a low profile.”

  “Just like criminals,” said Susan. “What if it’s Iyash? Are you going to just leave him out there in the cold?”

  There was a second, louder knock, followed by a deep voice.

  “Ms. Finn, this is Detective Bradley Coon, I need to talk to you.”

  Susan bolted up out of her chair. Her eyes wide with terror.

  “Oh my god. They’re on to us,” she hissed. “We’ve got to turn ourselves in and explain everything.”

  “Are you nuts, sit down Susan.” Paul motioned with both of his hands. “How are you going to explain to the cops that we’re chasing a shape shifting Raven who travels through space-time?
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br />   “Susan, please, we need to stay level-headed. We don’t have the time or the energy right now to involve the authorities.” There was a noticeable edge to George’s voice. “You have to trust me that this will all work out in the end as it should.”

  “I’m done trusting you and I’m tired of this game of cat and mouse.” Susan made her way over to the door. “I’m going to let him in and you’re going to explain everything.”

  Susan unlocked the bolt on the door, opening it slowly. Standing on the other side was a man, with a heavy parka pulled up around his neck, a police badge noticeably visible in his hand.

  “Ah, sorry to have to bother you so early in the morning Ms. Finn, but I received an anonymous tip that you may have had contact with a suspect in a case I’m working on and I wanted to ask you a few questions.”

  “My name is Susan Hasser, Detective, please, come in.”

  “Strange. Do you live here?” asked Coon. “I mean, we were supposed to meet yesterday at the Museum and you never showed up. This is great. It’ll save me a lot of time.”

  “I think we have some things to discuss. Ill answer all you questions.” Susan led the detective into Maeve’s apartment. “But first I want to introduce you to my two colleagues.”

  “Sorry Ms. Hasser, but I don’t see anybody here,” replied Coon.

  “What do you mean, Paul and George are right there.”

  As Susan came in the room, she couldn’t believe that Paul and George were no longer sitting in Maeve’s living room.

  “I don’t know what to tell you Detective.”

  “How about starting at the beginning.”

  Chapter 44

  I sure will have a story to tell after this journey.

  Iyash watched as the bright star in the distance transformed into a large sphere of light and moved closer and closer, until it was hovering in front of him. It pulsated with a noticeable vibration.

  I guess I should follow the fox’s instructions and step into it. Maybe I’ll be able to finally cross over.

  Iyash moved forward into the sphere. He felt the vibrations enter his body and was momentarily blinded by the intensity of the light. When the light faded Iyash found himself in a completely different space. He was no longer in the stars but standing inside a large dome. When his eyes finally focused to the new light, he noticed he was no longer alone.