One Great Year (2 page)

The day had begun like many others. The sun rose on a gorgeous white sandy coastline. The place was called Atitala,
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meaning “white island,” and was one in a succession of great civilizations. Atitala was the seat of power to a vast empire, which was governed by eleven spiritual leaders called the Elders. The Elders ruled together, led by White Elder.

The Atitalans believed firmly in one creator or, more accurately, a single point of creation, which they called many names, including: God, the Great Spirit, the Eternal White Light, or the Source.

Atitala was stunning, built almost exclusively of white, black, and red stone. The rooftops and columns were embellished ornately with precious metals. There was a Great Hall atop the high plateau at the center, and on the outermost points of east and west were two impressive pyramids.

Marcus and Theron had soared to their destination, swooping through the canopy, steering the crystal glider easily as the leaves brushed past them.

Theron was an unusual beauty; her russet hair blew wildly as they rode. From a distance she looked like a torch, a fireball speeding through the forest. Her narrow green eyes squinted almost closed when she laughed, and days spent on the sunny coast had left her fair skin mottled with freckles. Theron's prominent nose marked her as oddly striking. There was something compelling about her, an allure not contained by her physical shell. She was almost always flush with emotion: passion, fury, competition. Her aura, or karmic code, shone violet, purple, and in rainbows of emotion around her. Despite her sarcastic wit and competitive nature, Theron was magnetic and charming.

In contrast to Theron's fair complexion Marcus's skin was a deep brown, and it looked as though he had been buttered and baked for a feast. His springy black curls were exactly the size of his thick fingers and fell across his forehead and dark brown eyes. Theron had wrapped her arms tightly around his narrow waist as they playfully dipped and weaved through the trees. The duo had channeled their energy into the small transport, and the crystal that had enabled them to fly had grown warm in the pouch at Marcus's hip.

Atlantium crystal was found only in Atitala and, because of its powerful properties, it was carefully protected. It was a power source that, when combined with a disciplined will, allowed the holder to control gravity and movement. It had allowed for miraculous advances in flight and was used in the building of all the great architectural feats of Atitala, including the perfectly designed pyramids. It was an essential tool in the Golden Age and had many other extraordinary capabilities.

Marcus and Theron had arrived at an inland lake at the base of a large quarry. The pool was surrounded by rocky cliffs to the north and dense jungle to the south. The young couple loved to spend time there and almost always had the remote water hole completely to themselves. They often held hands under the water and practiced the mind games and telepathy that all Atitalans learned as children. It was an intimate and familiar way of communicating used only between family members and friends. It was not an unspoken voice, it was not words, exactly; it was more like intentionally transmitted images, feelings, and meaning. Theron and Marcus would spend hours exchanging thoughts and ideas without a sound, immersed in one another's energy.

As they swam, Theron had been actively speaking in detailed mind pictures to Marcus. They had held their breath and glided just under the surface of the sparkling lake. Just as they had reached the steep cliffs adjacent to the atlantium quarry, an enormous boulder splashed dangerously close to them.

The pair had dived as two more large boulders rumbled toward them. The water rippled in anticipation, and the swimmers dove deeper to evade the heavy stones bearing down on them.

Suddenly, a stone broke through the water directly on top of Theron, submerging her and pinning her to the lake bottom. The panic-stricken young man had pursued her down but was unable to move the boulder that pinned her right leg. They had struggled frantically, pushing and tugging to no avail. Theron had watched in horror as Marcus left her and returned to the surface.

Marcus had known that he was almost out of time. The atlantium crystal in his pack was her only hope. The rockslide had opened a small gap where a steep cliff had once been, and the air was thick with dust. The determined man had scrambled up the shore, his feet slipping. His young body was being pushed to its limit as he foraged desperately through his rubble-covered bag for the crystal.

Through the new opening in the cliff, several of the quarry Nephilim
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—the giant people who mined the sacred stone—had watched the frenzied man indifferently, uninterested in anything that did not offer material gain or gore. The workforce was welcomed on the island, as all beings were, though they were monitored closely to ensure that the harmony of Atitala was not compromised.

Atlantium crystal in hand, Marcus had returned to the pool, already summoning the inner energy he would need to activate it. Using his own life force, just as he had in flying the glider, Marcus had been able to touch the giant boulder and raise it off his motionless soulmate.

Marcus had pulled Theron from the water and immediately begun resuscitating her. Finally she had sputtered; there had been a freshwater flood and coughing, and the young woman had opened her eyes. She was alive, and Marcus was overwhelmed with gratitude.

“I thought you left me,” she had choked, still gasping. She remembered the helplessness she had felt as she had watched him swim away.

“I will never leave you,” he had promised, cradling her in his arms, his voice muffled and lost as he had placed his lips to her head. Theron's crushed leg was bloody and bent at an awkward angle, and Marcus held her still to reduce her pain.

From above, Helghul had watched with conflicting relief and disappointment as Marcus emerged with Theron. He had hoped she would drown. He had hoped she would live. He had been at odds as to what he had desired for her, though he had certainly wished that Marcus had died.

In their younger days Theron, Helghul, and Marcus had been friends. She was funny and clever and had created the most fantastic games and challenges. She was a great student and teacher, and she consistently outperformed everyone. Marcus didn't mind being outshone, but Helghul grew to resent Theron.

Though Theron consistently outdid Helghul, as they matured he concluded that she would be his ideal mate. She was intelligent, unusual, and so powerful in her telepathic and psychic ability that he couldn't help but admire her.

Theron was a phenomenon among her people. Astral travel was a skill that usually took centuries of the Atitalans' exceptionally long lives to develop, but Theron's parents had discovered when she was a child that she had a special talent for moving beyond the material dimension. Without training, she had shed her human vessel, connected only by an invisible umbilical cord, and her spirit had traveled the Astral Grid.

Theron's father had also been a gifted telepath and psychic, and at the time of his death he had been the Elder of the Sixth Chakra, also called the third eye. He had taught his daughter to control and respect her abilities. He had warned her of the dangers that lurked at the edges of the Grid and had urged Theron to stay within view of the Great Light, avoiding the dark Guardians that howled and thundered from the abyss of the outer realm.

Theron was the only student in Helghul's class that he believed to be his equal. He resisted the love that he felt for her, but he acknowledged that theirs would be a powerful alliance. In the early years it had not been clear that she and Marcus were anything more than friends, and it seemed absurd to Helghul that she could ever choose Marcus over him. Certainly she would choose brains and breeding over ease and brawn.

The defining moment came in their late adolescence when, working on a project, Helghul impulsively confessed his love for Theron. But Theron apologetically affirmed that she loved Marcus and hoped to someday become his mate. Helghul's vulnerability was plain, and he quickly looked away. His mind clouded with humiliation.

Theron was empathetic and kind, but no tact could have soothed Helghul's unrequited heart. Ever after he imagined Theron and Marcus were laughing at his vulnerability, and he bitterly retreated from them.

In the years following, Helghul avoided the couple whenever possible—his ego scabrous and infected where her rejection had wounded him. He watched her with begrudging admiration whenever she was near. His jealousy and wish to outdo her twisted into a torturous knot in his gut, filling his third chakra, fueling the fire in his belly and trapping him in the prison of his ego. Helghul's loathing for the irreverent slacker Marcus also consumed him, and he contemplated how the couple would be made to pay for their affront when he became White Elder.

Despite his apparent disdain for Theron and his open insults and bitterness, it was she who defended Helghul when others complained that he was a braggart. She maintained that he was misunderstood and good at heart. She believed that someday they would serve together in the senate as Elders, and she wished for harmony between them instead of discord.

Elders served for a lifetime, once chosen, but were not born to their posts. They were democratically and divinely chosen. Next to White Elder in importance were the Trinity, the three spiritual Elders known as Brown, Red, and Grey. They were named after colors because their divine titles were musical notes and could not be spoken any other way. Directly below them were the Elders of the seven chakras, who represented the material man and the seven energy centers of the body.

Only the most prestigious title of White Elder would please Helghul. He would have none above him.

Helghul decided that he preferred that Theron had died, rather than watch her be coupled with Marcus or replace her mother as White Elder above him. (Only White Elder knew that her daughter would never join the senate.) He was beset with jealousy as he watched Theron at the base of the quarry in Marcus's arms.

When Theron's sputtering and coughing finally subsided, Marcus wrapped her bloody leg with a strip of his clothing and placed her carefully in his lap for transport. He held the knot of atlantium crystal in his palm, and together they reactivated their swirling energies and summoned the crystal glider to return home.

Marcus had alerted the healers, who met them at the opulent home of White Elder. Theron was given relief from her pain, and Marcus was sent away so she could be treated. Despite his desire to remain with Theron, Marcus had no choice but to leave.

Throughout Atitala, people were preparing for the summer solstice festival that would take place the next day. On the morning of the celebration, the Sirius Star, which was the brightest in the sky, would re-emerge from behind the sun. After seventy days, it would once again become visible. The star was called the star of death and rebirth. It was believed to be directly linked to the spiritual evolution of mankind and had forewarned every shift in the pattern of human existence. The precession of the stars was truly an evolutionary clock.