The Persistence of Memories - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe (8 page)

Kai understood. She’d been working with her
brother for almost her whole life. “She's not ignoring everything
else in the process, is she?”

“No,” he said, and let out a short laugh. “As
a matter of fact, she's been more connected to the outside than
ever. It's weird, seeing her interact with so many people in a
positive way, after five years of wanting to get the hell out of
the Sprawl.”

Kai nodded. “Perhaps she's connected with her
True Self, Alec.”

“I still worry about her,” he said. He paused
again, this time a little longer.

This was that special pause, where she
listened to him, whether he spoke or not. Their souls were now
interconnected, Love and Light entwining, even at such a distance.
She didn’t say anything, but only watched him. This was the point
of the conversation where they didn't have to speak. It wasn’t the
physical link he wanted or needed right now, but this. Just the
fact that she was there for him. It was comfort enough.

“You worry about me too much, Akaina,” he
said.

“I do not!” she said a little too quickly and
laughed, a blush rising on her cheeks. “Where did that come
from?”

He laughed. “You do, Kai, face it.”
Allei
aiya, Akaina Shalei,
he thought, only to himself. He didn't
have to say it. She already knew.
My guardian angel.

“We’ll talk tomorrow?” she asked.

“Of course. Pleasant dreams, Alec Poe,” she
said.

“Sweetest dreams to you, Akaina,” he
answered.

“Good night, my shadhisi,” she said with a
smile, and disconnected.

He let himself smile like an idiot as he let
her words sink in. Belatedly he realized he hadn’t brought up
Saisshalé in the conversation, but it hadn't warranted it. Perhaps
it wasn't the man he'd been worried about after all; perhaps it had
been himself. He stood up, lit another cigarette, and paused at the
windows to watch the lights of Bridgetown, watching life start,
end, and start again. Nothing ever ended in this town. But the
knowledge that Kai was there for him,
with
him in this
Sprawl even at a distance, somehow made it all bearable.

CHAPTER SIX

Decision

Nehalé Usarai rose from his meditation, took
a series of slow, deep breaths of cool mountain air, and opened his
eyes. A cool springlike breeze came in from the east, gently
pushing at his spirit, refreshing him. He picked up the fragrances
of the
skrihad
and
kriosi
trees that lined the field.
Just underneath he picked up a faint hint of cooking meat hung as
well. The Elders of the One of All Sacred were having a late night
gathering at the Gathering Table.

To his surprise, the Elders had invited him
up here to Trisanda for this meeting. They'd considered the Ninth
Coming of the One to be of high importance, higher than even he'd
expected, for she was what the other eight were not. Due to her
failed Ascension, poor Denni Johnson had become the One of All
Sacred in physical form.
Né Gharné
, the Elders were calling
her. 'Goddess on Earth', and the only Embodiment ever to do so. All
nine had carried the divine spirit of the One within them, and they
had all been brought forth in mass awakenings, Nehalé's being the
latest. The other eight had become a body-spirit hybrid, able to
take on whatever form they wished, but Denni could only do so in
the spirit world. On Earth's reality, she remained her
fifteen-year-old self.

Truth be told, Nehalé was a little more than
anxious about meeting this group. He'd been here only once before,
just before Denni's arrival at the warehouse. Mancka Udéma had
taken him here to prove that his motives for resurrecting the One
had been pure. She had taken him to emha sehndayen-ne Eprysia —
Ampryss, the World Watcher — and the woman had deemed him worthy of
the task.

Only he'd failed.

The Elders, ever resourceful, had decided to
take this as an omen rather than a burden, and beckoned him up
here. Resigned to is fate, he rose to his feet and headed eastward
towards the tree line.

He heard their voices even from this
distance, some boisterous and audible, others soft and from within.
He chose not to focus on either until he actually reached his
destination, using them only as his guide and compass. The forest
path was lined with flickering lanterns hung from high branches, a
rarity here at the Landing Field. The Elders must have strung these
up when they’d arrived earlier. They weren’t exactly needed, but he
appreciated the gesture.

Nehalé Usarai,
he heard.

He stopped short and looked off to his left.
The voice sounded familiar. His name was called again, calm and
patient, just a slight prod to get his attention.

I am here,
Nehalé answered.

Please join us at the Gathering Table,
sehnadha,
the man said.
We welcome you here as an honored
guest.

“You want to know what the hell happened,” he
said to himself with a smirk.
I shall be there within a few
minutes, edha,
he responded. The man sent a wave of spirit
energy in response, flitting past like a swallow, here and gone
before its presence had been acknowledged. He smiled again; the
Mendaihu on Earth rarely used nonverbal communication except in
times of distress or utter joy. They were in fact quite keen on
meeting him.

As for what they were going to ask, he had no
idea. He could only wait and see.

“Somfei, edha Usarai! Welcome, welcome!” the
young man said, approaching Nehalé with an outstretched hand. “I am
Dolan Usara. We met very briefly during your last visit.” The man,
possibly a distant spiritual cousin of his, clasped his
outstretched palm and shook it vigorously with both hands. Nehalé
responded in kind; they were all equals here. Dolan beamed at the
gesture, and led him towards the table. The Elders of the One had
congregated at one end, all busy talking over one another. Ampryss
was there as well, sitting equally among the other Elders rather
than at the head, and motioned him over as soon as she saw him. She
wore her dark hood halfway back this time, letting her fiery red
locks spill out the sides. There was a livelier aura about her this
time, barely containing her excitement.

“Somfei, edha Usarai,” she said. “We are
happy that you could make it here. I gather your journey was a safe
one?”

“Safe and pleasant, thank you,” Nehalé said
with a slight bow. “Things are still a little unstable in
Bridgetown, but it's nothing that can't be handled by the Mendaihu
Gharra. I felt no reason to worry during my travels.”

“I am very glad to hear that,” she said.
“Please, have a seat.”

“Thank you, emha,” he bowed, and took his
spot. The Elders nearby acknowledged his presence briefly, glancing
at him with a courteous smile and a slight nod of the head. Others
were more straightforward, walking up and introducing themselves,
fascinated by his presence. It took him a few minutes for him to
realize they looked upon him as some kind of high adept well above
their own rank, and when it did, he fell silent in shock. He’d been
certain the Elders were going to be disappointed.

He leaned over to Ampryss and spoke quietly.
“Nyhnd’aladh, emha, but I don't understand. These Elders are
thrilled that I'm here.”

Ampryss flashed a smile at him and laughed
warmly. “They are, Nehalé! Don't you realize what has
happened?”

He shook his head and shrugged, clearly at a
loss.

Ampryss shifted in her seat to face him and
adjusted the hood she wore over her head, revealing more of her
flowing red locks. “Your Awakening ritual was a success,” she said.
“And Dennise Johnson has taken it upon herself to extend this
ritual to span an entire planet. She is the first embodiment of the
One of All Sacred to choose to do that.”

Nehalé stared at her. “Surely others have at
least thought about it?” he started.

Ampryss shook her head. “None have bothered.
The others had all decided the risk was too great. The fact that
she did it purely as a gesture of love and peace and not for
personal or political reasons only reinforces her will on the
Mendaihu spirit.”

“Yes, but...”

“Nehalé,” she said, touching his forearm.
“She's become the One
and
the Goddess in human form. She
controls Gharra. She can control the universes if she so
wished.”

Nehalé could not respond. He’d been so close
to Denni and everyone else at the warehouse that he hadn’t noticed
the change. Had she really progressed so far, so soon?

Moments later, the steaming plates of meat
and vegetables were brought to the table and served, easily
distracting him from his worries. He recognized a few Meraladian
delicacies but most were new to him, and tried a bit of everything
that passed his way. He probably wouldn't remember half of what he
ate when he returned home, but to enjoy Trisandi cuisine was a rare
thing indeed, and he wasn't about to pass any of it up. It was
nearly an hour later when all plates were cleared, all dessert
trays were taken away, and goblets of wine were offered. Nehalé
sipped very slowly from his, relishing the moment.

Ampryss stood then, silently watching over
her Council of Elders. She commanded such respect that, seconds
later, all talking had ceased and the entire table fell quiet. Even
the trees in the distance seemed to calm to her request, all silent
except for a breeze rustling through branches. “Peace, Love and
Light to all of you,” she said, nodding slowly at everyone. “I
bring to you the Mendaihu Gharra who brought forth the Ninth
Embodiment of the One of All Sacred, Dennise Jeannette Johnson.
Nehalé, please introduce yourself.”

Nehalé managed a thin and nervous smile and
bowed to the twenty or so people in attendance. “Peace, Love and
Light to all of you,” he said in the best voice he could muster. “I
am Nehalé Usarai si Dhumélis si Kariktas, and Warrior of the One of
All Sacred.”

Peace, Love and Light, Nehalé
, they
said in unison.

He shuddered from the effect; he hadn’t
expected them all to respond within like that. He cleared his
throat and continued. “Sa’im taftika, emha si edha. I'm honored to
have been welcomed so warmly to Trisanda, to our ancestral
home.”

A heavyset bearded man leaned across the
table and offered his hand. “Welcome, sehnadha. I am Roshan
Eiyashné si Dhumélis si Shaleii. I'm a Mendaihu for the ARU up in
NewCanta. Seems we're close neighbors. You did an excellent job on
the Awakening ritual. Best one I've ever witnessed.”

Nehalé warmed to the man instantly and shook
his hand, thanking him multiple times for the ARU’s assistance up
and down the eastern shore. He felt the twinges of Mendaihu emotion
flashing through him, more intensely than before. He felt more
relaxed now, to the point that he was beginning to believe the
Council of Elders really had accepted him. Perhaps not as an equal,
but at least an ally.

“Thank you, Nehalé,” Ampryss said, smiling at
him. “My dear sehnadha, as I am sure you are aware, we have brought
you here to discuss the fate of the One of All Sacred.”

“Odd choice of words,” he replied.

Bemused, Ampryss tilted her head at him, as
if he had spoken out of turn. “You believe the One is above the
whims of fate? We are all tied to fate, in one way or another,
edha. But we must constantly remind ourselves not to be ruled by
it. The One of All Sacred has not ascended. Though she has the
mastery of Lightwalking and wielding energies of Light and Spirit,
she is still a vulnerable fifteen year-old Gharné. I have summoned
all of you here because I have reason to believe that the Shenaihu
nuhm'ndah are going to make their next move very soon, and we need
as many Protectors of the One as we can possibly have, to surround
her at all times.

“What about her sister?” Nehalé asked. “She's
a Protector. Why isn't she here?”

He detected a hint of sadness in her eyes.
“She is not yet ready to visit Trisanda. Although she has fully
awakened, and she has shown considerable improvement in her
Mendaihu abilities, she is not yet ready. She won't be until we
have more sehndayen-ne of the Mendaihu set up around the city. I
applaud your efforts so far, Nehalé, but I'm afraid we need
much
more, and in a very short amount of time.”

Nehalé nodded, and slowly eased himself back
into his seat as Ampryss laid out her plans to move as many
sehndayen-ne volunteers towards Bridgetown as soon as possible. He
only half-listened though, because he’d already guessed what her
plans were. She did what she could from a distance, relying on this
Council of Elders to take action. She could not leave Trisanda, not
while she was the Watcher of Worlds. And that was her downfall.

Ampryss was avoiding the obvious: whatever
the Mendaihu did, the Shenaihu answered back with equal force. Each
side would throw a volley, the other would reciprocate. Every
Mendaihu-Shenaihu skirmish had ended exactly the same way, with
damage to both sides and no closer to a real and lasting peace. The
violence would only continue and escalate until one or the other
would call a truce. And this was
his
downfall: he could come
up with no better plan.

What is on your mind?
Ampryss said
from within. He glanced over, noticed her still talking to the
others out loud. It still amazed him that Elders could carry on
multiple conversations like that. Her inner attention was focused
solely on him, and awaited an answer.

I don't think Denni's in full control,
he said.
There's a chance she may never gain it.

Ampryss faltered momentarily in her spoken
words, only continuing after a quick beaded glance at Nehalé.
Why do you say this?

Unless she chooses to learn in her own way
how to emulate the other eight embodiments, perhaps learn from
their pasts, her strength is finite. I agree, gathering the Elders
and dispatching them around the area to protect her and to be at
her beck and call is a good idea...but it will only prolong the
inevitable.