The Golden Desires (11 page)

He watched as she sat down in front of him, and
then he leaned in to kiss her gently.

"I have been talking to Elder Rhys about the
option of me coming into your world," he said and saw her nod in response.

"And?"

"And I told him that I wish to cross over so
I can be with you, Isabella. So we can pair, if that is what you want." He
paused to let her consider an answer and speak again but when she did not he
continued. "
Is
that what you want?"

"Yes," she seemed to breathe out heavily.
"Yes, Trent. I want to pair with you. I want to live with you and see you
every day - openly. I want to have your children."

They were quiet for a few minutes before she spoke
again.

"I want to kiss you every day - every morning
and every night. I want to bathe with you."

Her blatant desire fuelled him and he kissed her
hungrily then, resolved that he had to have her. Not just sexually but in
entirety. As the greater part of the rest of his life.

"I want that too."

She sat back, shy all of a sudden, and now pulled
out food she had brought from breakfast and started to help him eat.

"I shall miss this, though - helping you in
this way," she said and he saw amusement on her face so laughed with her.

"We shall find other things to share pleasure
in," he told her and saw her blush in response.

~~~~~

"What are your thoughts, Isabella?" the
ancient asked her as she sat inside the temple with him. He did not expand on
the question because he knew he did not need to.

"Elder Rhys, I would like him to come through
to our time, and for him and me to pair," she said and then paused.
"But it is not up to me, is it? He must make the decision about both of
those things. And they are not one decision - they are two."

The ancient nodded.

"It is true, but he is resolved to come
through and pair with you and I believe his sincerity. Do you have
doubts?"

Isabella kept quiet but Elder Rhys could see
something was passing over her mind so questioned her.

"What is it?"

"I … I just wonder if he will still want me
when he is around many women again. Right now I am the only woman he sees, but
how can he be sure he wishes to be only with me, if he does not yet know who
else he is going to see when he comes through to our time?"

Suddenly she felt his hand reach out and touch
hers.

"Isabella, the two of you are entwined. Fate
has secured that and I believe it to be real. He did not have visions in the
night of anyone else. He cannot see anyone else apart from you and me.
You
are
his connection. You are his
intended
. And he is yours."

Isabella nodded but remained quiet thereafter. It
was all very well what she wanted but ultimately she could not force someone
from another time to leave their life - their
world
- to come into hers.

10 ~ THE FINAL CHAPTER

"It is time," the ancient
said to Trent as the three of them sat quietly near the pool in the very early
morning. "Are you certain of what you are asking me to do for you, Trent?
I cannot reverse this once it is done. You will not be able to return to your
own time. You will leave behind everyone you ever knew."

Trent
smiled at Isabella and then turned to the ancient.

"I
already left my world behind, Elder Rhys. It is a world that I do not wish to
be part of now. Please accept me into yours."

The
ancient nodded, stood and walked toward the waterfall. Behind him Isabella and
Trent stood also, to watch. Neither knew what they would see or what would
happen, but both were astounded as they watched the ancient walk not in the
water, but
on
the water. Over the pool he walked, stopping in
the middle and turning back to them.

"Follow,"
he said simply, and together they stepped out, expecting to fall into the water
but following his footsteps they found themselves on what felt like a hard
surface even though they could not see it.

They
reached him and then as he moved forward still, they stayed close behind him,
until all three of them were directly in front of the waterfall. With the raise
of his hands, Elder Rhys forced the water flowing to separate into a right and
a left side, leaving a dry entry point directly in the centre of the flow.

Isabella
thought she must be seeing things. In all her years, she had never seen power
such as she was seeing now. Although the ancients were all regarded as sacred
people of a great age, there had never been any word of anything like this
being possible.

She
felt
Trent
squeeze her hand as he started to walk forward,
through the space that had been provided for them in the waterfall. Once
through to the other side, they found themselves in a cave.

Isabella
felt like she might faint when in front of her she saw, for as high as her eyes
could see, yellow. Looking at
Trent
she knew that he recognised it as well - it was
the same colour of what she had handed to him in their mutual dream.

The
ancient stood between them and the glowing rock, as if protective of it.

"This
is our life source. It is what provides our village with the heat required to
sustain our existence in this location. Without it we would perish. That is why
it is kept secret and neither of you must tell anyone about it.
Trent
,
you have seen what our village has become," he said and saw the traveller
nod. "That was the result of someone speaking of this and people coming to
our village, filled with greed and desperation to take this. It destroyed our
home and our people then, and it would destroy us again if we speak of this.
The two of you have the ability to prevent what happened to this village from
happening in the future. Do you both understand?"

Isabella
looked at
Trent
and saw him nod, and she did the same. She
supposed that now she would know for certain if he wished to be with her or
not, as here was something of great value that he could return home and tell
his people about if such a thing were more important to him than her and her
people.

But
looking at his face - looking into his eyes - she saw no greed. She saw no
malice or discontentment. All she saw looking back at her was passion and
desire, and the same eagerness as she felt inside of her.

Elder
Rhys looked intently at both of their faces, as if to ascertain if both of them
could truly be trusted still, but was pleased with what he saw as he looked
into their souls. The traveller had been lost, seeking to find some solace from
a life of extreme chaos, but he was now calm. And it was very evident that he
was very much in love.

"
Trent
,
this will be your final chance to say if you do not wish to come to us. If you
wish to come to us, you will step forward and touch the stone," he said
and immediately
Trent
took a step forward, but was stopped. "Stop.
Do not rush. This cannot be undone once you touch it. Be
sure
."

Trent
turned away, walked right up to Isabella, put his
arms around her and kissed her softly.

"Is
this definitely what you want? To be with me all the time? Not just each
morning and each evening? Not just in our own time and place? You will pair
with me and we will start a family … together?"

Isabella
felt tears come to her eyes as she nodded and kissed him passionately, in that
moment completely oblivious to the ancient in their presence.

Trent
turned back to Elder Rhys and nodded.

"I
am ready."

"Very
well. Step forward,
Trent
, and place your hands here."

Trent
stepped up to the large golden rock before him and raised his hands, stopping
short of touching the rock for a moment before he firmly placed both of his
palms against it.

Isabella
watched as light emanated from the rock and
Trent
's body all at once,
like for that moment he was joined to it - as one with it. His head moved
backwards and to her he looked … no, she did not know what that look was. It
was so indefinable.

As
Trent
touched the rock he felt its immense power flow through him. It was
the same feeling he'd had when he had touched the ground with both of his hands
- the touch of both hands working like a complete circuit of power.

That
had been nothing compared to this though. This was making him feel complete in
a way that he had never felt before, but it scared him also, and he was
conscious enough to know that after this time, he would never want to feel this
level of power ever again. Many men would - they would thrive on power like
this and do anything to have access to it - but he knew it was too much for
him.

For
the moment he could not turn away - he was attached to the rock, as if a part
of it. As if in that moment he and the giant golden stone were one. He wanted
to get away from it but at the same time he couldn't.

Elder
Rhys watched the exchange. He had seen it once before, and knew it would be
several minutes before it had worked. If it worked. It had worked last time,
but he did not know for certain it worked
every
time.

All
three of them stood as if frozen in time until finally the glow of the rock
eased off and as if in slow motion,
Trent
's hands seemed to fall off the rock wall before
he slumped to the ground.

Isabella
ran forward.

"Be
careful!" Elder Rhys called out to her, stopping her from touching him
immediately. "Wait."

Isabella
watched the man on the ground before her. He seemed lifeless, and after a few
minutes even Elder Rhys seemed concerned.

They
turned
Trent
over and there was no life in him, but Isabella
knew what to do. Without consulting the ancient at all, she reached forward and
placed her hand over the centre of
Trent
's chest. All of a sudden an intense golden glow
came from him and he moved as he took a deep breath of air.

Elder
Rhys looked at Isabella.

"The
touch, Isabella! You have the touch!" he whispered to her but she could
not think of anything he was saying right now. All she could focus on was
Trent
.

Trent
felt like he was waking from a dream. He had been
touching the wall and felt its power, and then … nothing … until now, as he
came around and sat up slowly.

He
felt warmth and looking down at his chest he could see it glowing yellow. He
touched it and felt the heat coming from it, before it slowly faded away,
leaving him feeling simply invigorated and so alive.

"Isabella,"
he whispered as his eyes locked with hers.

"I'm
here,
Trent
. You are alright now."

He
started to stand up but quickly stopped himself, feeling dizzy.

"Wait
a few minutes, traveller. Your body has undergone a change and you must give it
a chance to adjust," he heard Elder Rhys say quietly.

"Has
it worked? How do we know?"
Trent
asked and the ancient before him nodded and
smiled.

"I
believe it has worked, but you will know as soon as we leave the cave and step
outside."

Isabella
moved closer to
Trent
and he accepted her arms around him. When he felt
stronger, he tried to move again and this time felt able to stand.

When
all three were upright on their feet,
Trent
pulled her into his arms and kissed her, a large
aura of bright golden light instantly coming off both of them. Elder Rhys stepped
back in surprise. This was not something he had ever seen before.

At
first he was alarmed. But he could see them in their embrace. While he would
normally not consider it polite to watch two in such an embrace, the glow
emanating from them was intriguing to him and he couldn't look away.

Finally
they broke apart and smiled broadly at each other, both having felt the
increased power of their desire in that moment.

They
turned to the ancient and saw the shock on his face.

"What?"
Isabella asked him in concern but he only smiled softly and knowingly, and said
nothing about what he had seen.

"Come.
Now we return to our village, and our time - all of us. Before we leave I will
stress to you both once again how important it is that
no-one
knows about this place. No-one at all - even Adrian, Isabella. Not even your
parents. Do you understand the importance of this?"

Isabella
felt the aura of importance coming off him and nodded.

"Yes."

He
then led them through the parted waterfall once again, and over the pool. When
they looked behind them everything was as it should be - water flowing
completely over its usual run line, and the pond as it always was.

Trent
looked around him and almost felt like he could
faint. Everything was green. He had seen this immediate area before, for short
periods of time, but now he could stand and look at it for as long as he liked.
It was lush - the trees, the bushes and the flowers. The roses creeping all
over the high grey exterior walls.

Further
over he could see more trees … and buildings. And in the distance he could hear
a light chatter of people. Only a few but more than he had heard till now.

"The
village is awakening. Let us go to the temple before we are seen. I wish to
talk to both of you alone before we are around people," Elder Rhys said
and Isabella and Trent nodded in response, eager to follow him and learn
whatever they could about what had just happened.

Trent
was in awe as he walked through the village now.
Buildings, grass, trees, houses, a water fountain - all of this was destroyed
in his time, and he was determined to do whatever he could to make sure that
future timeline did not happen.

He
recognised the markings on the front of the temple - even in its broken state
the markings had been visible and obvious to him, and now he entered the
structure in its entirety, amazed at the sheer size of it as he walked into it.

Once
within the initial interior, he stopped and looked up to see a most amazing
painted ceiling with graphical images.

"These
were done by our ancestors and tell stories of our heritage. It is important
these are kept intact," the ancient said, looking pointedly at Trent, who
understood fully since he had seen what one action of the village letting a
stranger into their midst had done to destroy all that he was presently looking
at.
Trent
nodded at the ancient, assuring him of his
dedication to not letting that happen.

Isabella
and Trent were led through another large wooden door to a depth of the temple
Isabella had never seen before.

"This
is the meditation room of the ancients. You will not come here again until it
is your time to serve as an ancient, Isabella."

She
looked at him sharply, not knowing what he was talking about.

"I
do not understand, Elder Rhys. What do you mean?"

"You
are a chosen one, Isabella. That is why you could see the traveller when others
cannot. But more than that, you have the gift of life. That is how you brought
Trent
back to life in the cave," he said and instantly saw
Trent
look at her in surprise, not having been aware that when in the cave he had …
died
.
Elder Rhys continued to speak.