Don't Label Me! (31 page)

Thex pondered that. In fighting to preserve
justice in the universe had he come to see himself as some how
separate to and better than those he protected? Had he failed to
feel compassion for those he called enemy? Had he stagnated? “Does
that mean I shouldn’t be trying to deal with Sakla and his
hordes?”

“
Not at all. By all means send the Din
to the Between. But it doesn’t achieve anything in the long run as
the root problem doesn’t go away. The Din simply come back and
possess new hosts. We must wake them up, one by one if necessary.
Only once they see planets like the earth as something other than a
mine to be plundered and other sentient beings as more than
potential hosts and workers will the universe start to move back to
some kind of balance. To do that we need to see beyond them being
the enemy. They are never going to be what we would regard as
saints. They will always be opportunistic seekers of comfort and
wealth but they can be steered into doing that in ways that help us
all. You only have to look at Polemarch. Once Sakla’s most feared
general. Now, as a Meta being, he is one of our greatest allies. He
still enjoys playing the role of the grouchy psychopath when people
are watching and I’d wager he’ll still turn a tidy dollar for
Sauros Enterprises from that new mine of his. The difference is
that he’ll do it in a way that doesn’t inevitably destroy the
planet.”

“
What about the Shang?” Arion
wondered. “Why haven’t they ascended?”

“
Actually they are Meta beings like
Thex’s dad there.” He nodded to the cat in Thex’s lap. The tabby
had one eye open watching them, obviously listening. “They have
chosen to stay in this dimension to assist in restoring the
balance. It may seem like the Shang do nothing for the rest of the
planet, safe as they are in their underground and mountain
fortresses but the vibratory power of their meditations should not
be underestimated. Without their efforts this world would have
become a living hell long ago. They keep watch and steer things as
they can.”

“
And what about you?” Thex wondered,
an undertone of suspicion lacing his question.

“
What about me?” Simon grinned. He had
his reasons for hiding his true nature but still, they were his
mates. He could at least hint at it. “I learnt to cloak my aura
long ago.” And left it at that.

• Tyra, Thex, Arion and Simon
  (see books 1 and 2,
  Heart of Stone
  and
  A lick of
  Immortality
  )
  

• Michael, Kiana and Sarah
  (see book 3, Trust and Destiny)
  

• Kit (Kitsuneko Abe, a four
  hundred year old ruthless ninja, geneticist and shibari bondage
  master. She was adopted by Jnarn after her family were slaughtered.
  He turned her immortal). Doc (I-Wayan Agung) is her
  mate.
  

• Annie (Tyra’s mum) and
  Jnarn (Tyra’s father, geneticist, based in Japan for many centuries
  but now reunited with Annie and living in Boswell)
  

• Sally and John (Arion’s
  brother Lukos from a past life). Their divine children are Crystal
  and Sky (see book 2,
  A lick of
  immortality
  ) but the girls were his and
  Arion’s sisters when he was Lukos.
  

• Melissa (the town’s Wicca
  coven priestess, seamstress and tarot reader) and Rob (the local
  machinery operator). They have a son Adin who’s been blessed by the
  goddess Ma (Simon’s mum)
  

• Jeff (the pub owner) and
  Rachel (previously an aged widow named Mrs Simmonds)
  

• Daniel O’Rourke (Long haul
  truck driver and Sarah’s recently discovered father) and Frieda
  (Mrs Anderson who’s Doc’s medical receptionist and also a viking
  Seidr, seer)
  

• Anya (town’s new vet and
  Helena’s sister) and Andrew (John’s friend from his army day’s,
  previously crippled from an injury in Afghanistan, now healed. He’s
  high up in the Australian security and heads up the Sentient
  Species Liaison unit that’s now based at Boswell.
  

• Helena and Zex (see book 4,
  Don’t call me kitten!)
  

• Upal (ex Din scientist and
  inventor of the stone fire weapons and technology, Mendal,
  spaceship engineer, and Ally, the town’s electrician who lives in a
  refurbished church. see book 4, Don’t call me kitten!)
  

• Mr Hideo Suzuki (exchange
  teacher teaching Japanese at the local school and also Aikido
  instructor at the local youth club), destined mate of Sathi
  Rupasinghe (book 5)
  

• Phoenix O’Halloran
  (journalist), Trian’s future mate (book 6, TBA)
  

• Sathi Rupasinghe (Tamil Sri
  Lankan sold into sexual slavery and freed by the members of a
  Sydney BDSM club, now their business manager. Kit has made her
  immortal but at the end of book 4 she didn’t know it.)
  

• Angela de Silva (local
  rubbish truck driver) and now liaison with the Delphines. Em’s
  chosen.
  

• Trian and Kaleem (member’s
  of Thex’s original crew, still trapped in stone)
  

• George Morrisby (Sudanese
  refugee migrant, English university trained engineer and Simon’s
  chauffeur) and Orea, once the communication’s officer on Thex’s
  space ship. Now guardian of a lost tribe and an endangered
  landscape in Borneo
  

• Thomas (town’s sorcerer, of
  dubious repute. Currently living and studying magic with the
  Shang)
  

• Alpha, Bran, Conn, Delta
  and Evie: those mortally wounded in the original battle 100,000
  years ago. They were long ago thought lost for all time but Eleni
  finds them in the novella “Guardians of the Rasselas”. Eleni, JJ
  and Yiannos: the Munro family who befriend and mate the lost
  Malakim.
  

• Astraea. The goddess who
  will return when the Earth is ready to reawaken. Taz. At one time
  contract delivery driver in Afghanistan. Was living as a recluse in
  a remote area south of Boswell. Now on the run. Janic Jasinski
  (Polish film maker and son of a Polish freedom fighter). More about
  them later.
  

• Adelaide, Boswell’s headmistress. (more about her in an
  upcoming novella).
  

• Humans
  - enough said.
  

• Shang
  - came to Earth long ago as a place to live in retreat and
  meditate. These days they keep out of the way of the Din by living
  in the high mountains of the world, in hidden valleys and
  underground.
  

• Malakim
  - higher dimensional beings who have ascended past the need
  to be reborn. Immortal they can only evolve further by pursuing
  their own spiritual understanding of the universe. They protect and
  guide less evolved beings in the lower dimensions. Some guard
  species, some planets, some are troubleshooters and peacekeepers. A
  few evolve in their knowledge so far that they are no longer bound
  by the laws of the known universe. They are called meta beings. The
  Deniers are a sect of the Malakim who split from them long ago
  after a disagreement about the value of the relative
  world.
  

• Din
  - the souls of a reptilian species, probably the dinosaurs
  that once roamed the Earth. They refuse to work out their karma
  through rebirth so they are trapped in The Between, a relatively
  grey lifeless place with no form. They found a way to possess other
  species by inhabiting their aura. From there they can direct the
  being to do their will, often without their knowledge. Stronger Din
  such as Sakla can takeover the will of their host fully, passing on
  to another host when that body wears out. They can separate from
  their hose and manifest in a physical form. They are vicious
  formidable fighters. Upal and Mendal are a special case as the
  goddess purged them of their bad karma and merged their reptilian
  souls with that of their human hosts. They are still able to
  shapeshift as long as it is in her service. They tend to stand out
  because of their tangerine colored eyes so they wear sunglasses
  most of the time. Sakla, aka Mr Sauros, is the leader of the Din.
  Polemarch is his general but unbeknownst to Sakla Polemarch is now
  one of the good guys thanks to the Shang Silwa converting him to
  their side.
  

• Fairies/Fae/Feya/Elderfolk
  -
  Androgynous winged beings who were once like humans but were
  advanced enough to be immortal. They phase shifted part of the
  earth into a parallel dimension where they now exist beyond the
  reach of the Din. They tend to look down on humans and they hate
  the Din for taking the rest of the earth which they consider
  rightfully theirs.
  

• Delphines
  - Whales and dolphins and the higher dimensional
  beings who guard them. Generally distrustful of “two-legs” (their
  nickname for the other sentient species) but Arion is working on
  gaining their trust.
  

• Translavians
  - an alien species living a little known republic
  in the Carpathian mountains. Lewis had their last president
  convicted. More on them soon.
  

Right hand path
- followed by those who pursue justice and fight
to protect the innocent, maintaining the balance of the
universe.

Left hand path
- followed by those who pursue enlightenment
through ecstasy, using shamanic and tantric practices. They use
sound, diet, herbs, yoga and a variety of disciplines to achieve
immortality, ascension and oneness with the all-spirit. Followers
of this path tend to be mages, guides and visionaries.

Middle path
- the path of love and compassion, equanimity and
joy. Followers of this path tend to be healers. Capable of deep
communion with other beings, the earth and the elements.

Knowledge path
- is what it says it is. Followers of this path
tend to be scientists, innovators, problem solvers and
philosophers.

Earth path
- the path of those who honor the earth and seek
to serve and aid those who protect it. They preserve the ancient
rituals and magic, using them to protect and heal the earth and
others. They also use practical means and tend to be
environmentalists.

Chaos path
- the path of rebels like Thomas. A dangerous
winding path pursued by individuals seeking individual empowerment
but ultimately leading them back to union with the all-spirit
anyway.

Beyond the paths
- there are those, like Meta, John and Polemarch,
who have seen and understood the true nature of reality and no
longer need to pursue any path. They are no longer bound by any of
the rules or constraints of the lower dimensions. They find it
difficult to exist in the lower dimensions and must anchor
themselves to stay there, often using a soul or La stone which they
wear around their neck.

Stone fire - a ray that
when it comes into contact with any carbon based substance,
including living tissue, turns it into the hardest, densest known
element in the universe known as Sama crystal. It is 0 on the
periodical table.

Retrovirus - a virus that
sneaks genetic material into the body and is used by the
geneticists of Boswell to repair human DNA, meddled with long ago
by the Din.

Thex’s space ship, usually
parked at the bottom of Boswell’s nearby lake

The space glider, used to
shuttle mortals between the spaceship and Boswell. Usually parked
in a spare bay of Boswell’s volunteer fire station.

The UFO that Kiana, Michael
and Sarah commandeered in Book 3

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