The Cosmic Logos (32 page)

Since she was being detoured from musing duties, Tory thought she'd best explain herself to her guardian in this affair, the Master DK. Meanwhile, Maelgwn would seek out the Count to explain their intentions. Tory also wished to question DK on the matter of switching off her immortal gene. She knew this was possible with dark Orme, as they had rendered the Nefilim goddess Aya mortal thus, but would such an act be frowned upon by her Logos and his minions, who had gone to such pains to make her one of the Chosen by filling her being with divine light?

Tory's etheric spirit joined the Master Djwhal Khul on a grassy mountainside on the borders of Tibet, overlooking the Lamasery over which DK resided as Abbot.

‘Greetings, Tory Alexander.' He acknowledged her arrival before turning to address her. ‘You have made a discovery.'

Yes I have,
she admitted,
although not a very pleasant one, I'm afraid.

He smiled to reassure her. ‘Only by experiencing all-that-is do we truly come to understand and emulate the Logos. If you think something is unpleasant or a waste of energy, that is a judgement and the divine never judges.'

I believe Mahaud may have sprung from something one of my incarnations did during the fall of Atlantis.
Tory got straight to the point.

‘And now that it seems Armageddon is again upon you, you think there might be a connection?' The way DK asked the question, it seemed as if he knew there was.

Is there?
Tory hadn't even conceived of this premise.
I thought that the time of the Gathering was the event that Armageddon predicted.

‘The battle of Armageddon is waged within each and every being during every thought of each and every lifetime. For within the righteous ones is the memory of an ancient anger and hatred that you bore for those who once had power over you, and still do have control over humanity to a large extent.'

Are you talking about the Nefilim?
Tory had a funny feeling that he wasn't.

‘No,' DK advised in all seriousness. ‘I'm talking about the Dark Lodge of the Materialistic. The Lords of the Dark Face, the Men in Black.'

Tory gasped with shock as the connection between the Dark Lodge of old Atlantis and a secret agency that was rumoured to exist on modern day Gaia was made known to her.

‘I advise you not to jump to any conclusions about these beings, for that would be a judgement,' DK warned. ‘It is up to you to bring about a shift in the
sands of time yet again, safe in the knowledge that you have learned much from the Nefilim debacle. When an entity next comes to you voicing hatred and a desire to control your life, what shall be your response? What interaction on your behalf will change the tides of time and evolution?'

Love?
Tory ventured.

‘And non-judgement,' DK added in reminder, and Tory nodded, believing she understood his point. ‘Dwell on your warrior past, Tory Alexander. Every time you saw good people and nations destroyed by the hatred and greed of a jealous, greedy, warlike race, did you not think … here they go again? When will they ever learn? Why must they destroy in this manner?' DK emphasised the frustration of such instances and Tory found herself nodding in agreement with the master. Then DK smiled, having led her into a trap. ‘If you did ask these questions, you were judging your fellow man who, like you, is struggling to learn as you are learning. The souls of these warlike peoples stem from the Orion system. These beings struggle to understand love. The only way they can express their attraction is through war and conquering. Still, they are you, as much as your soul-mate is you. You will just be one with your soul-mate sooner, that is all.'

Tory's eyes were again wide with wonder. Although she knew how the human body had been perfected she'd never pondered where the soul-minds had originated. She'd certainly never considered that the differing attitudes, and levels of awareness, of mankind's races was due to their soul-minds originating in different star systems.
And from what planet did my soul group derive?

‘I believe you already know the answer to that question,' DK teased and Tory's jaw dropped a moment before she voiced her guess.

From the Pleiades?

‘Originally,' DK nodded. ‘But the remnants of that civilisation only exists on the causal plane of awareness these days. You've also incarnated on other planets, some in this very solar system.' As Tory fell quiet, pondering all that had been said, DK continued: ‘It is a wise move to regress to a mortal body to face your alter-ego. This will be considered by the Logos as a great act of courage and sacrifice.'

Tory caught the master's meaning, for she had been told that the fourth initiation of Shamballa involved sacrifice.
This is to be my crucifixion.
Now she understood DK's explanation of Armageddon.

‘The gift of sacrifice is harmony,' DK offered his viewpoint, having endured the initiation his student was about to face, ‘and beyond this trial, the second door of Shamballa that leads to the central city, will open to you and grant you its gift of enlightenment.'

Tory smiled sincerely, thankful for DK's inspiration and then went straight-faced as she considered her next move.
So I must take the dark Orme,
she assumed.

‘Heavens, no.' DK faked a stressed tone, to imply how severe he thought the suggestion to be. ‘The Water of Life shall grant your desire.'

The Water of Life?
Tory frowned.
Wasn't that the ancient's name for gold Orme?

‘No, no, you're confusing it with the Fountain of Eternal Youth,' DK corrected. ‘There are three sacred
fountains that flow in Shamballa, the third being the Fountain of Rejuvenation, the waters of which you've been refreshed by in the past.' He nudged her memory. ‘The Water of Life will deactivate the immortal gene in your body without exposing you to the dark side of creation — as Orme Charichalum would — and allow Mahaud more command over you.' DK handed her a tiny phial containing a glowing blue substance. ‘Do what you must, with the blessing of the Logos.'

Tory accepted the instrument of her physical death from the master, seeing it for the great treasure it was — her ticket to the ultimate union.
And what of my musing responsibilities?

‘They can wait,' DK told her calmly. ‘Time is an illusion, after all.'

 

Willing herself forth to her physical form, Tory woke in her body as if she'd merely been dreaming her time as a muse, and yet the phial DK had given her was in her hand. Her head felt too heavy to move, but Tory adjusted to being earthbound quickly and rolled over to see Maelgwn sitting on the far side of the Tablet on which they'd lain together. In his hand was a phial of the same glowing blue substance, which he held up in cheers to her before swallowing the liquid down. ‘No!' Tory leapt up in an attempt to stop him drinking the potion, but she was too late. ‘There is no need for you to suffer too.'

‘You don't go anywhere without me.' He forced out the words through gritted teeth as the great weight of his mortality came over him. When the pain stopped
increasing, Maelgwn looked up at Tory, who was hugging him close in an attempt to comfort his transition. ‘Am I old?' he asked, fearful that he now appeared his age, which was well over a hundred years.

Tory chuckled at his fear. ‘You don't look a day over thirty.'

‘Really?' He sounded surprised, daring to sit up straight and stretch his aching bones. ‘It sure feels like I'm a hundred.'

Tory grinned at his moaning as she had not heard him whine so in a long time. She then took a deep breath to rouse her own courage. ‘We're going to die, you know?'

‘I know,' Maelgwn replied. ‘And you know the only thing that perturbs me about us departing this world?' He took Tory by the hand.

Tory's emotions suddenly caused her eyes to flood with tears, for she did know his grievance. ‘Your lovely person shall perish and I shall never again hold you, or touch you.' Tory stole the opportunity to do so now.

‘Aye,' Maelgwn squeezed her in return, ‘but then I take comfort in knowledge that, when it is all over, I shall have your soul to embrace.'

A
t Doc's Otherworldly abode in the past, Rhun, Zabeel and Bast were utilising their free time to question their prisoner about Viper and the whereabouts of Hayden Ingram's son. Unfortunately, Horace didn't know much.

‘Why were you chosen to impersonate Rainer?' Rhun queried, having gotten nowhere with his other questions.

‘Just lucky, I guess,' Horace replied with a good serve of cynicism, before stating what he knew. ‘Viper is assured that I will stay faithful to his dark cause. Dark Orme keeps me whole only so long as I am in the service of the Dark Lodge.'

‘Yes, you said that before.' Zabeel recalled they'd decided not to pursue the issue. Still, it did seem pertinent. ‘Please explain.'

‘Viper called me to his cause as a mortal.' Horace glanced at Bast, the only female present, and then returned his gaze to Rhun and Zabeel. ‘He had some of his thugs remove my privates and rather than be a sexless freak among freaks, I chose to take the dark Orme and serve the cause of the crone. The dark Orme made me whole again.' Horace smiled at the agonised expressions on his captors' faces. He then looked to Bast, who appeared discomforted by his gaze now. ‘How about helping me test the new equipment, sweetheart? You're not one of mine, but you'll do.' He stuck out his tongue and began wiggling it in her direction.

‘You'd have to earn it, my lovely,' she teased, in a seductive tone. Bast neared Horace and straddled the seat in which he sat to sit upon his lap. ‘And so far, you've not done me any favours.'

As Horace raised his hands to touch Bast, Rhun forbade the prisoner his intent, so the Leonine continued to communicate his desire with his free moving tongue.

Bast gripped both sides of the prisoner's face firmly and stared deep into his eyes that were glazed by a dark shadow. ‘Don't delude yourself, my friend. You are the victim in this scenario. There is no point in trying to deflect your fear onto me as that won't aid your cause. We are here to help you.'

‘I don't want to be helped,' he replied coldly.

‘Then you shall never truly be whole,' Bast concluded and climbed off him.

The prisoner was obviously stunned by Bast's approach and as she seemed to have caught him off guard rather nicely, Rhun handed over the prisoner's NERGUZ control module to her. ‘I'll leave him in your very capable hands, Bast.'

‘Bast!' exclaimed the prisoner, his mood darkening again, for the module had removed what little untrained psychic ability he had. To Horace, Bast appeared to be a Homo sapiens and he'd not suspected her to be the leader of the Leonine people whom he despised with a vengeance.

‘Very good,' Bast told Rhun, ignoring the prisoner. ‘Good luck with the exchange.'

As soon as Rhun and Zabeel departed, Bast assumed her true form and turned back to the prisoner. ‘I am Bast, so state your grievance, Horace.'

‘My injury was your fault!' Horace spoke through gritted teeth.

‘Was it now?' Bast couldn't imagine how he'd reached this conclusion. ‘How so?'

‘Am I, and my kind, not every bit as much a Leonine as you are?' he prompted.

‘Yes, Horace,' she replied reasonably.

‘Then why is it that you rule on Nugia and I was outcast and condemned to a life amongst butchers and whores!' He demanded an answer.

‘Your people chose to remain segregated from the rest of the tribes, Horace. Lahmu offered you sanctuary on any of the planets he rules, bar Numan,' she pointed out.

Horace burst into tears and shook his head. ‘And how would we have been looked upon by the citizens of Nugia? It's all right for
you
…
you
are one of the
Chosen Ones
, bringing the traits of that mighty race to your people. But I carry the Nefilim gene pool within me, the essence of the greatest known oppressors of mankind!'

‘The Nefilim had their good points, too, like intelligence for example —'

‘Nobody wants to know about a relationship with an Antichrist!' He cut her off. ‘And especially not one who is no longer even capable of consummating a relationship.'

‘That is your own impression of yourself, Horace. Cordella and Gazelle have faced the truth about themselves and made good of their lives,' Bast reminded him firmly, but with compassion. ‘So don't give me that outcast crap. You isolated yourself, just as you are doing now, as we speak. The way of the righteous is to trust —'

‘The way of the righteous will reduce me to half a man,' Horace snarled.

‘That's where you are wrong! Become whole in spirit and mind, and the body will surely follow,' Bast argued. ‘Joining the ranks of the Chosen will make you whole, just as surely as the Dark Path, but you must let go of all the anger and resentment, the desire to control and repress —'

‘And what is this you are doing to me, if it is not control and repression? Are you trusting me?' As his tears of pent-up anger flowed freely, Horace felt his heart lightening and his private parts shrinking away. ‘I hate you,' he yelled, not quite as passionately as he would have liked, as he was weakening to her influence.

Bast noted his appearance physically ageing, which was a positive sign, as it meant the effect that dark Orme had over his heart was lessening. ‘Soon I will be able to award you such trust,' Bast assured him, ‘but there is still much darkness in you.'

‘So why don't you shoot me with the good stuff and sweeten me to your cause, bitch?'

Bast slowly shook her head. ‘It wouldn't have a lasting effect. You'd return to the dark path eventually and then we'd be right back where we started. Only you can reverse your selfish cause to a selfless one.'

‘Look, I don't know where Rainer Hayden is, so why don't you just leave me the fuck alone?' he suggested rudely, concerned that he would not be able to resist her beauty, her patience and caring.

‘It's not Rainer we are looking for any more, is it, Horace?' She grabbed a seat and straddled it, to lean on the back and concentrate on the prisoner. ‘Let us discuss where you went.'

 

When Noah arrived in the past with Tory and Maelgwn, their family and friends were thrilled to see them. All of the Dragon's sons lined up to give their parents a squeeze and although the lads did not realise it would be the last time they would hold their parents thus, Tory and Maelgwn were making the most of the moment.

When the family reunion had calmed down, Rhun, who was rather good at hypnotism, guided his father in putting Tory under.

‘When next I say the word “confide”, you shall fall into a deep trance. Your body and mind will be subject
to my will alone until such time as I bid you go in peace.' Maelgwn outlined their arrangement. ‘Nod if you understand.'

A sigh of relief was heard from all those present as Tory nodded her head. Satisfied, Maelgwn clicked his fingers and his wife awoke.

‘You didn't make me impersonate a duck, did you?' she joked as she regained her perspective.

‘Tempting,' Maelgwn smiled, ‘but no.'

‘So you and I are right to proceed?' Tory concluded as she rose from her seat.

‘We are going with you,' Rhun insisted on behalf of all his brothers.

‘No need.' Doc came forward and placed a chain bearing a medallion around the Dragon's neck. ‘Concealed in the pendant is a mike and camera. We can view the event from here. If anything goes wrong, you can all be there in the blink of an eye.'

‘We don't want to put the crone off by having a large force present,' Maelgwn explained, examining the pendant that was a replica of the Dragon medallion he'd once worn in ancient Gwynedd.

‘But psychic phenomena always interferes with electronic transmissions.' Rhun became rather edgy, as he sensed there was something his parents weren't telling him.

Doc shook his head. ‘We won't have that problem with Taliesin's equipment,' he assured. ‘It's still way ahead of its time.'

Maelgwn could tell that Rhun still wasn't comfortable with the plan. ‘I need to speak with Mahaud alone,' he said, to justify their decision.

Rhun knew his mother had regressed to a mortal being for the sake of the mission and although she still radiated the light of a divine being she had the weary look of a mortal about her — his father, too. ‘You're not immortal any more, are you, father?'

‘No,' he replied simply, and all his boys were plainly horrified by the news.

‘You won't have a hope in hell if Viper turns up.' Rhun knew he was stating the obvious, but what were his parents thinking of?

‘Thanks for the vote of confidence.' Maelgwn brushed off his son's concern with humour. ‘May I remind you that I fought several major battles before I was immortal, two of which involved Mahaud.'

‘And may I remind you that your second confrontation with her killed you!' Rhun insisted that his father take the threat more seriously.

‘And yet here I am,' Maelgwn concluded in good cheer, and seeing Rhun's annoyance he resolved to be more serious. ‘I have a feeling Mahaud will be keeping this exchange to herself. I doubt she has told Viper of how powerful she expects to become with the acquisition of your mother's form. Your mission to the past is of vital importance. Once you know the date, destination and details of Electra's plight, I want you to go back to her aid, no matter what events are unfolding here in the present. Your mission to the past will alter everything here, so there is no point in worrying about us. Understand?'

Rhun nodded to concede the validity of his father's reasoning.

Noah approached and gave Maelgwn a talisman. ‘Once Tory's spirit has abandoned her form, place this charm around Tory's waist, where it will not been seen. Once Mahaud has entered Tory's body, this talisman will bind her spirit to the mortal form and prevent her departing the body … just in case Mahaud discovers Tory's depleted state before you have the chance to command her into a trance. King Solomon swore by the amulet's power.'

‘Then that's good enough for me,' Maelgwn granted. ‘I thank you for your pains in research.'

‘Research has always been a pleasure in Taliesin's library,' Noah admitted, feeling no thanks were required. ‘I await your speedy return.' The smile of the Sage faded, for Noah had that awful premonition again as he bid Maelgwn and Tory farewell. He foresaw that he would never again shake the Dragon's hand or sit in wondrous discussion of the greater mysteries with the woman who had changed his life. The knowledge caused a great sadness to well in his throat and heart, but for the sake of their relatives present, Noah merely waved the couple goodbye as Doc teleported them to the prearranged place of exchange.
You are my greatest friends and inspiration,
he thought, although he knew that having forfeited their Chosen abilities Tory and Maelgwn would not hear him.
I shall miss you as long as I live.

 

Doc had transported the couple to a spot within walking distance of the meeting place, although it was out of view of the stone circle.

They ensured that they arrived early for the exchange, to give Tory the chance to vacate her body. She already had Noah's talisman hidden beneath her attire. All Maelgwn had to do was fasten it around her waist once Tory's spirit had left her form.

‘Power to you,' said Doc and immediately vanished to avoid being spotted and raising suspicions, for anyone in the know would wonder why the couple needed another of the Chosen kind to teleport them to their destination.

Tory sat down to prepare to vacate her physical form and Maelgwn knelt down beside her to provide a pillow for her head — he would carry her soulless body the rest of the way.

‘Well …' She drew a deep breath and savoured her last few moments of being able to experience with her physical senses — the sound of the wind rushing over the barren plains; the smell of the warm, dusty air; the feeling of great expectation and an aching in her heart; the sight of Maelgwn's loving face and the taste of his kiss. ‘I've truly loved this life,' she told him, ‘thanks for sharing it with me.'

‘The best is yet to come,' he told her, and as a tear threatened to escape his eye Maelgwn held her close and kissed her repeatedly.

Tory smiled as she eased herself away from her beloved, a little tearful herself, but pushed for time. ‘I'll see you
out there
.' She rolled her eyes to refer to invisible space and then laid down to chant her soul out of her body.

It is done,
Maelgwn heard Tory advise in his thoughts, at which time he fastened Noah's charm
around her waist and then gathered her body up into his arms.

Across country Maelgwn carried his wife's limp form. He knew that everyone, themselves included, would greatly profit from their sacrifice. Then it struck him as a little selfish to consider what they were doing as a sacrifice, for they had to take responsibility for the advent of Mahaud. If they could reconcile the renegade incarnation with their higher self, then they would be simply undoing the karma that they had originally created. Maelgwn had to admit he was curious to learn about the role he'd played in Electra's undoing.

When he reached the King's Men stones Maelgwn noticed that the implements of dark magic had been positioned in front of torches that marked the four cardinal points. The torches were not alight at present, but still Maelgwn was not fool enough to enter the circle. He lay Tory's body down well away from the stones.

Mahaud, in the form of Lirathea, manifested in the centre of the circle. ‘I want that inside the circle, pretty boy,' she advised in a choir of satanic voices.

The dark cloud cover that eternally covered this part of the world began to twirl into a turbulent vortex above the witch.

‘You have the power to drag it in, surely?' Maelgwn proffered. ‘Lirathea's body for Tory's, that was the deal. I was not part of the bargain and so I have no intention of entering your sphere.'