Against the Empire: The Dominion and Michian (42 page)

“It’s the only room they had when we checked in,” Alec said defensively. “And we’ve always slept together, haven’t we Rief?””

“We didn’t sleep together the first night, when you got me drunk on wine the first time,” Rief commented.

“Neither of you are helping yourselves, you know,” Bethany said.

“Everyone take your bag,” Alec called to the women, as he pulled out his jar of dust and began pouring it in a circle. With the three of them tightly huddled together within the circle, Alec called upon the prophet. “Bring us back to your presence so that we may serve your wishes, John Mark,” he said softly, in a reverent voice, and the bright room became a dim cave.

Chapter 40 – Leaving the Mountains

“Good Lord, watch over us,” Bethany said softly in reaction to their abrupt translocation.

“He always watches over you,” John Mark said from behind them, causing all three to spin rapidly as they stepped apart.

Bethany immediately sensed the holy power of the figure before her, and fell to her knees in a supplicant’s pose upon meeting the great prophet of her land.

“Please stand, daughter,” John Mark told her. “Alec, I note that you never show such reverence.

“Forgive my humor,” he continued. “You have done well on this trip. Rief, you have proven your great value with the kindness of heart and good counsel you have show these other two children.”

“Thank you, John Mark,” she said with a real feeling of unaccustomed pride at the praise from the ghostly presence.

“Was Bethany the person destined to come back with us?” Alec asked.

“Can there be any doubt? Yes she is, and I will tell you why.

“You will henceforth travel by foot. You are going to leave these mountains and retrace Alec’s path across the wide, dry plain to Sandyforks, and from there you will move down the river collecting pledges of armies and forces that will go to Bondell to fight the great battle against the invasion.

“Alec knows how dry that plain is, and Bethany’s ability will be needed to keep you alive,” John Mark explained.

“Father, you have sent these people across the lands,” Bethany said. “Couldn’t you just have deposited them in Sandyforks?”

“That is an eminently practical question,” he answered. “But, no I cannot send someone away from this cave without bringing them back within six days. When we use this gift from God for travels, a small piece of the person’s soul remains here, and they must return to retrieve it,” the prophet explained. “So ultimately, there must be a physical journey to depart from the Cave.”

“Is it like when Noranda would visit me?” Alec asked.

“It is like that, and it is the opposite of that. In her case, only a part of her soul travelled, while her body remained in place. You have experienced the opposite,” John Mark answered.

“Also, Alec, beware of relying on your powers the next few weeks. You have traveled through time on these missions so much that you will occasionally have two or three presences in the same day or week. It leads to very unpredictable exercises of your powers, as you have already noticed in Michian,” He warned. “Your first presence in a time will have the greatest chance of being able to exercise your powers, and the likelihood diminishes with each additional presence. If your original self in a time begins to use your powers, it may drain them away from your other presences, so do as little as you can. Do you have any other questions, or are you ready to go?”

They looked at one another. “We are ready,” Alec spoke.

“Then show them the way, Alec. I imagine you have it memorized by now,” John Mark said, as he began to make a sign of benediction.

“Wait!” Alec uttered.

John Mark looked at him in surprise. “I just want to say, thank you. I know you love us all, and, and thank you for this journey,” he stammered to a close.

“Go in peace, and serve the Lord,” John Mark said, looking at each of them, but seeming to give Alec a special smile, as he faded away from sight.

The two girls looked at Alec. “Show us the way, since John Mark said this is your territory,” Bethany said.

“We can do something else important here first,” Alec told them. “Bethany, this is the Cave of John Mark, where Rief and I received our healer powers. Would you like to become a healer ingenaire as well?”

She looked at him in stunned silence. “I wouldn’t have to give up my water ingenaire powers, would I?” she asked.

“I don’t think I gave up anything,” Alec pointed out.

“Even if I did give up my water powers, I think it would be worth it. Then Rief and I can elect a new master healer to sit on the Council, and designate you as junior member of the house,” she laughed.

“Let’s go down stairs to get started then,” Alec said, ignoring the threat.

“You’re sure we get to climb down this time?” Rief checked.

Alec looked at the window behind them, “I’m pretty sure,” he commented laconically, then received an elbow in his ribs.

When they opened the door, the long endless stairway descended into the darkness below them.

“I have to climb down there to do this?” Bethany asked, dumbfounded.

“And then turn around and climb back up,” Rief answered.

“And then climb back down again,” Alec added.

“And it will be totally worth it,” Rief concluded.

Bethany looked at the two of them, shook her head, and wordlessly began to descend.

Rief and Alec walked behind her, looking at the information transcribed on the walls. “Alec,” Rief asked after a great deal of descent, “could you touch up our legs?”

Alec reached down to her thighs and touched them lightly, releasing healing powers to take away the tiredness and pain, then did the same to Bethany and for himself. “That’s just like what you did for saddle-soreness when we rode to Bondell,” she commented.

They continued walking down to the bottom. “Oh, this is so energetic!” Bethany exclaimed as she beheld the water that dripped, flowed and cascaded throughout the chamber they stood in. “It’s so pure, and powerful, and something else I can’t even find words to describe.” She stood with her eyes closed and face tilted upward, a look of ecstasy on her face. Alec stood and looked at her, drinking in the beauty of her profile, and Rief watched Alec look at Bethany.

“What do we need to do?” Bethany asked.

“We need to go outside, through that water and the door,” Alec pointed. He walked forward and into the water, feeling that still-stunning sense of chill, holiness, and cleanliness. He reached forward after many moments and opened the door. Rief came behind him, and Bethany slowed followed in their wake as they stepped out onto the mountainside ledge.

“Oh Alec, everything else in the world pales beside this,” Bethany looked at him with open affection, her heart clean and pure.

“Where are we?” she asked a moment later as she looked down the steep valley to the river far below.

“We’re in the Pale Mountains,” Alec reminded her. “Are you ready to go back in and become a healer?” he asked.

She nodded, and Alec opened the door behind them, then ushered the women inside. They all entered, and Bethany gaped at the now-legible information on the walls that had been invisible to her before. “We climb upward now,” Alec waved his arm, directing Bethany’s attention as she stood in the state of amazement that Alec and Rief had also shared when they first experienced the Cave.

The three began climbing up the staircase that hugged the wall. “I don’t know why I’m climbing up all these stairs again,” Rief muttered in a low voice. “Well, I do know. I’d do it a dozen times a day for the experience.”

No one else commented as they saved their breath for the long climb.

When they reached the top of the stairs, all three had pounding hearts, both from the exertion and the anticipation. “You should go in there, alone at first. We’ll be right out here behind you,” Alec told her.

“Why am I going in alone?” she asked with concern.

“You will be the one to receive the powers by going in first. You will be blinded momentarily, but we will be right behind you and with you,” Alec assured.

Bethany looked at him, looked at Rief, who nodded, then stepped to the door. “If you wanted to get rid of me, I’m sure you could have done it before now, so I might as well trust you,” she said with her sunny smile that Alec recognized so well as a sign of good spirits. She opened the door, the usual blinding flash of light occurred, and she called out in surprise, “Alec!”

He stepped up behind her and placed his right hand on her hip and his left on her shoulder, making sure she stood steadily upright. “You’re going to be fine. Just pause a second. Your body, especially your vision, needs to adjust to your new abilities,” he told her softly. He felt her hand on top of his, then she spoke.

“Yes, I can make out some light now,” she stepped forward, away from Alec, and towards the window. Rief stood beside him and held his hand. “I admit I feel so glad for you and her to have this,” Alec said. “But I feel a little jealous too about sharing something as special as this.”

She looked up at him and smiled. “What? The great leader able to have a flaw?”

“So many flaws,” he responded immediately. “Let’s go in with Bethany.” They walked in with her and stood in front of the inexplicable window, staring out at the landscape.

After many silent minutes, Alec spoke. “We need to get going. We at least have to leave the cave and climb down to the river valley, and if we make it fast enough, we’ll be able to ride Walnut upriver a little ways.”

Both girls remained for a minute longer, looking wistfully out the window at the forested mountain valleys, then turned and followed Alec on the trip down the stairs. Bethany again paused in the cleansing chamber, drinking in the powers of the water, literally and figuratively.

“Where do we go now?” Rief asked when the three of them stood on the small ledge outside the chamber door.

“Down,” Alec said laconically, only to have a bucket of water fall on his shoulders.

“She did that to me the very first day she saw me, before I even knew she existed!” Alec exclaimed to Rief, pointing a finger at Bethany.

“And you cut my favorite skirt!” Bethany replied.

“I didn’t cut the whole thing, just the part right back here!” he reached out and spanked Bethany, leaving her with a look of complete surprise.

Alec began to climb down the stony ladder in the cliff face, then directed encouragement to the women to find the rungs and take their time. When all three were down, Alec began to lead them through the opening that led back to the dell in the mountains. “Oh Alec! What does that mean?” Rief asked, looking at the lacerta skeleton near the other end.

“He was a guard who was chasing me, and I killed him,” Alec said thoughtfully. “Then I was so crazy with fear I started running, and wound up where we just left.” He led them out through the dell, into a warm afternoon in the mountains. “Now it’s just straightforward climbing downhill,” he assured his companions. They continued down, and as they approached the river valley, Alec heard Walnut whinny to greet him; the horse was happy to have company again after a night and a day alone.

“Should we start moving out?” Bethany asked after Alec had spent a few minutes socializing with his steed.