Fire - Betrayal (20 page)

“Thank-you Jacinta, you have always been exceptionally accurate in your readings of people, and we trust in your opinion again, noting that you have never wanted to call an
Earth person a sister before.  We see that you hold her in high regard.  Please wait by the stone door, to escort Ben back to the café after we have spoken to him,”
said the woman Elder with the short white hair, and blue eyes instead of cerulean.

Jacinta left the
Council Meeting Room, unsmiling. Back outside she nodded to me to place my hand on the door before I entered the room with the Terrean Elders.

The stone door smoothly glided to the side.

I breathed in deeply before I entered the large round well lit room.

“Ben, we welcome you back home again.  We did not expect you to return at all.  You explicitly expressed your desire to return to the
Earth to be with your true love Cate, whom you said you could not go on living without.  What brings you back to us?”
asked the male Elder sitting in a chair marked with a topaz jewel.

“I have
come back specifically to return something to Une Autre Terre that belongs here and not on the Earth. Some corrupt men discovered the fruits of The Magnificent Tree, and then illegally entered Cate’s yard and stole one of the opal seeds from The Magnificent Tree.  Apparently, they had discovered that the various properties of the seed, mixed with some other substance produced a highly valuable elixir to stop aging in the human race.  They were set to obtain exclusive rights to the tree, to the extent of murdering Cate so that she would not be able to claim the tree as her own.  After being framed for Cate’s apparent death, I managed to get inside the head of one of the corrupt men of law, and saw the whole plan laid out easily for me to read. After being released with no charges laid against me, I went and collected all of the opal seeds, and then totally destroyed The Magnificent Tree so that their plans could not be put into action.  I have returned the seeds here today, back to the safety of Une Autre Terre.”
Then I laid out the twenty-one seeds that I had rescued.

“I do not intend to stay for long.  I need to return to the
Earth with Cate, and continue our lives their helping the people of the Earth,”
I added.

The
Twelve Elders remained silent.  Their faces appeared as if stunned.

I
looked at them from face to face, waiting for one of them to speak to me, but they did not. Then finally the Highest Elder spoke.

“Ben, you have acted wisely, perhaps saving the
Earth people from a path that they could not successfully travel along without damaging the environment or each other.  You have done a noble thing. Let us know when you are ready to return to the Earth.”

I
nodded my head slightly, and then turned and left The Council Room.

Jacinta was waiting outside for
me.

We
promptly returned to the waiting platform to descend to the base of the tree, and then walked back to the café.

***

The Council Elders sat in silence after Ben had left the room.  They were all thinking the same thing, but no-one would utter the words.

Then finally, the
Highest Elder spoke to the remaining Eleven Elders.

“Yes, we all sit in awe.  We all now know who Ben is, but Ben does not know.  We have been waiting patiently for the foretold events to reveal themselves, and he has proven to use today, by returning The Magn
ificent Tree opal seeds to us, that he is the one destined to be the Warrior that we have been waiting for, to save our world from the invasion. It makes sense to me now.  He knows of the Earth, and he knows of Une Autre Terre.  The Warrior must have inside information to be able to beat them at their own game.  Who better than one of us who grew up with the Earth people? It is indeed all falling into place, as was predicted. Let us give him a little time with his family, before we call on him again to summon him to fulfil his destiny and his mission.”

The
Eleven Elders all nodded in agreement.

“I will now call upon Jacinta to gather the six Terreans to come before
The Council.
”

In no time, Jacinta had gathered the six Terreans who had been sent on a mission to the
Earth, and had returned with Ben and Cate.  They stood, side by side with their heads hanging down, to hide their shame.

Jack, as leader of the group, spoke to the
Council of Elders.

“Your
Highest, we stand before you ashamed that we did not successfully complete the mission that you assigned to us.  We are willing to accept any outcome that you choose for us.  We offer no excuses for our lack of achievement, but would be grateful for another chance to fulfil our mission.  It was cut short because we very nearly lost our lives in a ferocious house fire.  We are sorry to disappoint you all.”

Then the
Highest Elder spoke.

“Jack, I will indeed hold you all to going on a mission again to the
Earth.  But, you are wrong in your appraisal of the successfulness of your mission. Tell me, did you experience pain and suffering on the earth?”

“Yes,
“Jack replied,
“But we did not find the Warrior.”

“That is where you are wrong.  You brought Ben back with you.  He has just revealed to us the opal seeds of The Magnificent Tree.  It is written in The Book, that the Warrior would come from the
Earth bearing the opal seeds, after destroying the tree that produced them. You did indeed find the Warrior and, you did indeed return him to our world. However, Ben does not know his title, role or destiny yet.  You are not to say a word to him.  We shall speak with him in a few days. Jack, your group must be prepared to accompany him and help in his mission, the moment he calls on you.  Do you understand?”

“Totally,”
Jack replied.

Poisoned Arrows

Terrean eyes were on Ben
the whole time that he was amongst the people.  His presence was such among the Terreans that they revered him.

He found
me, Grandy and James at the crowded café where he had left us.  He bent and kissed me lovingly on the forehead before he sat down with us, and then he reached over and held my hand, and joined in our verbal conversation.

Ben looked at Grandy
first after he had looked into my eyes, then he looked at James.

“Cate, I love your
reunion with Grandy, and James, but now, I want you all to myself.  I want to take you around Une Autre Terre to show you my homeland.  I want you to truly understand the essence that drives the momentum of the people, and how my world is so vastly different to the Earth.”

I looked into Ben’s eyes.  It was obvious that he did want to show me around Une Autre Terre, but there was also something in his eyes that I could not understand.

Firstly, he took me out of the small village and into the extensive rainforest.  A narrow track had been cut into the rainforest as it was so thick with undergrowth that it had been extremely difficult to walk through.

As I looked above me, I saw that t
he canopy was extraordinary in its height, and colour, filtering the glorious sunshine so that light that did enter the rainforest was splendid in its illumination.  To me, as I looked around the rainforest, I felt as if it was enchanted.

Ben walked holding
my hand. He did not look around at the plants and animals as I did, but kept his eyes on me.  It was as if I was seeing a rainforest for the first time, as if through the eyes of a child.  My spirit was free, and soaring.

In the distance
, I could hear the sound of falling water, and the air temperature became much cooler as we came nearer to the sound.  Then the thick green rainforest suddenly opened up, revealing a breathtaking and imposing waterfall, its water cascading rapidly and with a deadly destruction, carving its niche through the rocks and boulders that lay beneath the fateful cliff above.  The water blasting against the bottom of the catchment was deafening, empowering and yet making one feel insignificant at the same time.

Ben put his arms around
me and brought me close to his side, as if protecting me.  Together, we stood watching the enormous volumes of never-ending water come crashing down to start its journey towards its destiny, the vast deep sea, beyond their teal lake. Water, which was the sustenance to all life, water that could save and bring life, or destroy it.

I
looked up into Ben’s eyes.  He was in a deep and serious mood.

H
e looked down into my eyes with desire for me, he did not speak, but everything that he felt, I could see in his eyes and on his face.  My body was overcome with passion for him as I looked deeply into his eyes. He slowly brought his hand up to my face, and touched my lips lightly with his fingers.  I felt my body tremble with anticipation.  Then his lips touched mine delicately. His lingering kiss was almost unbearable for me.  I moved my hand to his hair and pulled his lips harder to mine, moaning at the pleasure that I felt.   He released our kiss, but then came again kissing me urgently, breathing heavily.  We should have been married by now.  We both were becoming extremely frustrated with having to restrain our deep feelings.

He pulled away, and walked away a little, putting some distance between
us.  He turned and looked into my eyes again, and then closed his eyes, breathing deeply.

I
walked over to him, and put my arms around him.

“I love you….forever. Never will I love anyone as much as I love you Ben.  If you die, you will take part of my heart with you.  The part that belongs to only you, that no other man can ever claim.”

“Cate,” Ben whispered as a tear fell from his eye at the declaration of my deep love for him.  “Cate, if we are ever separated again, in life or death, I will not be able to love another as I love you.  I know deep within me that I will never feel this way about another soul as long as I live. My love for you is so deep that I cannot put words to it, I can only feel it, and my body continually aches for you.” Ben looked down and found my hand and placed it on his beating heart.  “My heart only beats for you.  You and I must be one, or I will suffer for eternity.”

I
lightly brushed my hand up his chest and around to the back of his neck and pulled his lips gently to mine.  We kissed slowly, and with such a depth of feeling that the forest went silent in awe of our immense love for each other.

We
released our kiss, but continued to look into each other’s eyes in silence, until our breathing returned to normal.  Then we continued on in the journey of the world of Une Autre Terre, with what seemed to be a stream of butterflies following us, bathing in the love that emanated from within us.

Ben led
me to the Une Autre Terrean Magnificent Tree.  It was super massive. It was the original Magnificent Tree planted by their Maker.  It stood, domineering over all of the plants and trees, its beauty glorious making every other plant in Une Autre Terre look plain and unadorned.  It’s very presence was daunting, as was that of the waterfall, my human frailty exposed.

Again, Ben watched
me take in the wonder of the tree, and then I saw him breath in deeply, praising his Maker with every ounce of his being.

I
marveled at the utter peacefulness that shone out of him like a light in the darkness.  Une Autre Terre was not just another parallel world, it was a sacred place.  I felt honoured and privileged to bear witness to this awe inspiring world, and the Terreans that lived here.  It must be protected from invasion.  And I vowed I would protect Une Autre Terre with every bone in my body, every ounce of blood and every breath of the air that I breathed.

W
e left The Magnificent Tree, and walked the path back past the powerful waterfall, and through the enchanting rainforest. Twilight was now upon the parallel world, and it was time to share in a meal with each other, giving thanks before we ate.

As
we sat to eat, I realized that the Terreans were indeed a highly intelligent race of humans. Yet, in some ways they chose to live primitively, compared to the Earth humans. At every meal they sat together and shared in the food, each taking part in the event, serving each other. They took time with the children, guiding them and teaching them right from wrong.  No Terrean ever put their needs first, always thinking of others needs ahead of their own.

There was no burning of fossil fuels, instead, they had devised a very efficient and spectacular way to capture and store solar energy.  There were no televisions or radios.
Instead, they gained knowledge and entertainment from others, from books, or from 3d holographic projections generated by their creative minds. Many, but not all had the gift of music, playing many instruments, composing and expressing their souls in a deep, meaningful and fun way.

Children learned from their parents and their elders, and learned through what looked like play, but in fact were cleverly planned, designed and implemented activities to keep the children’s minds engaged and challenged keyed to their individual needs.