The Kuthun (29 page)

Taqôq Wiyon’s own words echo back to me, a ripple of uncertainty follows. As if sensing what is to come, my magic heightens.

Isis continues, ‘You are the Great One chosen to bring forth the light into the world. The era of New Coming has begun.’

The translation that Ama found in the Hall of Records replays through my mind. “She who is Mother, who is of pure blood, shall be the bearer of humanity. She will forge a new world and upon it she will bring the forth the Light.”

‘Do you accept your destiny?’

I hesitate only a moment before I say, ‘Yes.’

An awakening occurs within me. My power surges, engulfing me completely. I cannot contain it. I let it flow.

Magic streams out of my body, causing the air around me to whirl and spin. Faster and faster it turns until it lifts me off the ground.

I am not afraid.

I see what Isis sees. I feel what she feels. The truth that I have been seeking is now revealed to me. I see it all—the past, present and future of our bloodline, of what we must do to survive. My eyes glaze over and I feel a changing within me, a stirring of ancient power. I close my eyes, feeling the light expand from within me with explosive force.

The light absorbs me.

I wake and find myself lying on the cold stone floor.
Isis
is standing over me protectively and I slowly stand up, feeling different somehow. My memory reminds me of what just took place and my hands find their way to my face where I can feel the wet remnants of tears. I look at Isis, noticing that the light around her has dimmed.

She smiles at me. ‘I am free now, Elena. You have saved me. You have saved our people. Thank you.’ I see her eyes glimmer with hope.

I stand up taller. I now know what I have to do and a feeling of peace runs through me, but there is also hesitation. Have I done the right thing?

It’s too late now, I have made my choice.

‘I will honour our people. I will do as you have asked.’

She nods and holds out the vial to me. ‘You will need to drink most of this, but leave a few drops for the Venator. If you place this in his mouth he will see the truth, and the curse will be broken.’

I take the small vial from her hands carefully and pop open the cork stopper. I give her one last look before I take a drink of her ancient blood, the warm, sweet liquid glides smoothly down my throat. I leave a small amount for the Venator and place the cork back into the vial.

Isis is smiling radiantly. She moves forward and embraces me fervently. I wrap my arms around her, squeezing my eyes shut, and then I feel her spirit drift away.

She is gone.

I am alone once more. The enormity of what I must do hits me, bringing me to my knees.

I cannot be who I used to be, everything is different now.

I grasp the vial tighter to my chest, knowing that bringing forth the light will take sacrifice, dedication, focus, and above all else…faith.

I stand up, and without looking back I walk towards the now open door, back into the darkened tunnel. My eyes adjust quickly and my emergent new powers allow me to see with perfect vision. I smile and make my way back through to the small igloo-like space.

Uncle Jo is resting against the wall, with Magi lying at his feet.

He sees me and gets up quickly, placing his hands against the portal wall. I smile, letting him know I’m alright. His eyes widen, before he sadly smiles back. Magi’s tail is wagging furiously, her wolf eyes sparkle with happiness.

I don’t hesitate. I walk straight through the portal and into his arms. He hugs me, relief flooding through him. He lightly kisses the top of my head and I bury myself into his chest, revelling in the familiar smell of family.

‘I found the light,’ I say.

I feel him nod and he pulls away gently. ‘I know.’

I want to go home now,’ I say.

He smiles softly. ‘Okay, let’s go home then.’

He moves aside and I bend down to give Magi a big hug. She nuzzles into my neck and licks my face.

He looks back towards the entry that has been blocked by the shifting walls. ‘We can’t go back that way, so we’ll have to find another exit,’ he says.

‘I’m tired of walking,’ I respond.

He keeps his head down to avoid the low ceiling and begins to move down the opposite passageway. ‘Well, unless you have a better idea, then I’m afraid that’s our only option.’

‘Actually…I think I do.’ I grab his hand and Magi’s collar. ‘Are you ready?’

He frowns. ‘Ready for what?’

I smile.

The sun is just coming up. The red, orange and yellow hues of sunrise are peeking over the mountains, highlighting the lush terrain. I smell the fresh morning air and know we are home.

‘How did you do that?’ Uncle Jo asks curiously. His eyes are gazing at me with what appears to be wonder, but there is also wariness.

‘The light is within me now, Uncle Jo.’

His eyes fall to my necklace where he can see the kuthun no longer resides. He looks away for a moment before saying, ‘I won’t try and understand what that means, Ellie. How could I.’ He turns back to me. ‘I just want you to know, that whatever happens, I’m here for you.’

‘I know. Thank you.’

We both look around at the farm, taking a moment to just be still. Magi nudges my hand and the old me resurfaces.

‘Last one back to the house cooks breakfast!’ I yell, already taking off at a run.

Uncle Jo and Magi run after me, trying to catch up, but I hit the door first. His laughter joins mine.

The back door opens quickly and standing there, with tears of relief in her blue eyes, is Aunt Lily. ‘You made it,’ she whispers, before throwing herself at us.

After escaping her grasp we head inside and she begins to cook up a storm. She is happily opening drawers and getting food out of the fridge while grinning from ear to ear. Uncle Jo watches her with amusement.

I leave them to it and head up to my room, needing a shower badly. As I walk in I see Ama sitting at my window, hugging her knees and looking out at the garden below. Her face is creased in concentration.

‘Ama?’

She looks up and smiles. I see a flash of surprise cross her face and just as quickly as it appeared, it is gone. I walk towards her and she stands to hug me.

She cups my face and takes in my features with new interest. ‘You look beautiful,’ she says.

I blush. ‘Ama, you’ve seen my face a million times.’

She nods, smiles and hugs me again. ‘I am so glad you’re safe, Shem.’ She kisses my head and steps back. Her form starts to fade. ‘I have to go. I’ve been here too long. I just wanted to make sure you got home safely. I’ll be back soon.’ She vanishes before I can say anything.

I frown. It’s not like her to be so…abrupt.

I make my way to the bathroom and spend the next twenty minutes cleaning away the stuffy, cavernous residue that was cloaking my skin. As I am drying my hair and the steam lifts, I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror.

Is that me? I rub the mirror with my towel and take a step back. That can’t be me.

The girl staring back at me has changed. Where there was innocence about her only days ago, there is now wisdom reflected in her eyes. Where there was awkwardness in her movement, there is now gracefulness. I reach up to touch my face and trace my finger around the now defined cheekbones that give me a more womanly appearance. I trace my eye-line, where my once light green eyes have now deepened in colour, and then I touch my cheek, where my skin that once held the blemishes of teenage hormones now flawlessly enhances my softened pink lips.

I smile briefly before remembering that I’m not who I was. There is no turning back now. An uneasiness settles within me and I quickly push it aside.

I finish drying off and get dressed into my comfiest pair of black jeans along with my favourite vintage top.

I smell my way downstairs and into the kitchen. Uncle Jo glances up from his newspaper and his eyes flit across my face before he lowers them again. Aunt Lily is humming away while flipping pancakes on the stove.

‘Hey there. All cleaned up?’ She looks up from the stove and her mouth hangs open.

Uncle Jo says, ‘It’s alright, Lil.’ He grins and winks at me before returning to his paper.

Aunt Lily closes her mouth and forces a smile. ‘Do you want to help make the butter sauce, Ellie?’

I smile, knowing they’ve noticed the changes in me. ‘Sure.’

We spend the next half an hour cooking and eating and chatting away with one another like a normal family, forgetting for a moment that our world has shifted slightly.

Magi comes through the back door looking like she’s eaten a horse. As she waddles past she gives me an I-ate-too-much stare and heads into the lounge room.

I’m on the couch reading when the phone rings.

I hear Uncle Jo answer, his voice quickly taking on a new edge. ‘Calm down, Nina. It’s going to be alright. When did you see her last? Uh huh, okay. Did you ring the school? Uh huh.’

I jump out of the lounge in a hurry and run to the phone. His eyes darken as he glances at me and all of a sudden I know.

Something has happened to Phoebe.

‘Nina, listen. We are going to do everything we can. But first I’m coming to pick you and Tom up and I’ll bring you back here for extra safety. So pack your bags and I’ll be there in a minute.’ As he puts the phone down I can hear Mrs. Campbell sobbing.

‘Don’t even think about it, Ellie,’ he warns, sensing my anger. ‘We do
nothing
until we know more, okay?’

I don’t respond.

‘Jo, what’s happened?’ Aunt Lily asks worriedly.

He runs his hand through his hair angrily. ‘Phoebe hasn’t come home from school yet.’

‘What?’ she asks, looking back and forth between us.

‘The school said she left as usual. Nina thinks there may have been someone lurking about. Apparently Tom saw a man across the street from their house yesterday, while he was playing outside.’

‘This is all wrong,’ I say angrily. A wet nose nuzzles my hand.

‘Ellie, we don’t know what happened yet.’

‘Oh yes we do. It’s
him
.’

‘Him? As in the Venator? Oh my God!’ Her hand finds its way to her mouth in shock.

‘I’ll be back in a few minutes. Don’t go anywhere until I get back. I mean it, Ellie. If he’s taken Phoebe then it’s only to flush you out.’ He waits for my response.

I nod angrily.

He storms out, but not before I see him grab the knife from the kitchen cupboard and put it in his back pocket.

Aunt Lily touches my arm and we sit together on the couch and wait.

Mrs. Campbell’s face is distraught and red from crying. Uncle Jo leads them into the lounge room. Tom looks scared, his small hands keep rubbing together in nervousness.

‘Hey, Tom,’ I say.

‘Hey,’ he whispers, looking down at his hands.

‘Do you want to play one of my Wii games?’ I ask.

He looks at me. ‘What do you got?’

I smile. ‘I have Wii sports and the new Super Mario galaxy?’

His eyes light up. ‘Mario galaxy,’ he says.

I set it up for him on the TV, at least distracting him for a while. Magi keeps him company.

I look over to Aunt Lily, who is comforting Phoebe’s mum on the couch.