The Cosmic Logos (14 page)

‘My dear, dear friend.' Tory wiped the tears from his face and, holding his head between her hands, she rested her forehead against his. ‘I do not know what the universe has planned for us,' she whispered, her own emotion causing a mild suffocation. ‘But I do know that
whatever destiny is given to us, on whatever level of awareness, it will always be entwined with thine.'

‘Sorry, Maelgwn,' Noah apologised, in advance of kissing the man's wife and then squeezing her tight. ‘I have so much to thank you for I barely know where to begin,' he mumbled through tears that were now free flowing.

‘Me too.' Tory gasped for air and sniffled to regain some sort of composure.

‘Aren't I taking this well?' Maelgwn spoke up, proud to have finally conquered his jealous streak.

‘That you are.' Noah took the hint and let Tory go. ‘I am going to miss you too, Dragon.'

‘I very much doubt that you shall have the opportunity in the near future.' Maelgwn shook the Sage's hand. ‘But I have faith that you will guide our people through this calamity and I have no qualms about leaving my kindred in your very capable hands.'

Noah exhaled deeply, both overawed by the compliment and horrified by the great expectations they had of him. ‘I should go then,' he said, knowing that every second he delayed could be crucial. Noah looked from Maelgwn to Tory and then stepped back to where he could view them both. ‘You are already sorely missed.'

‘No need.' Tory shook her head to assure him. ‘We shall always be close at hand.'

‘And close at heart.' He placed a hand to his chest to pledge: ‘God bless.' The great Sage struggled to repress his grief as he vanished from their midst.

Once Noah had gone Tory turned and took up both
her husband's hands. ‘Thank you for allowing me the chance to say goodbye to him. I know —' she spoke up over his pending comment, ‘that you are going to say that you fluked this instance, but deep down inside I know you suspected we'd find Noah here.'

‘Maybe you're right.' Maelgwn gave himself the benefit of the doubt, deciding to allow his wife to think well of him.

‘Of course she is right. Deep down we remember everything.'

Their attention was drawn to a slender middle-aged man dressed in a robe of violet and gold. Tory knew he was an Ascendant Master, as the mere sight of him filled her being with peace, love and hope. His hair was long, straight and dark, like Maelgwn's, although this man wore his longer and sported a tiny triangular beard on his chin. His eyes were soft blue and when the lord smiled he revealed the whitest, most perfect set of teeth that Tory had ever seen.

‘Count, how wonderful to see you again.' Maelgwn greeted him warmly, bowing slightly to revere his presence.

‘I thought we'd never finish all those goodbyes,' the lord commented, smiling warmly all the while. ‘We have made far too many friends on the physical plane, which is why it has taken us so long to tear ourselves away from our involvement with matter.'

Tory was immediately infatuated with the way he spoke in the plural, reinforcing the idea that all are one. ‘Is that why we are here on Gaia? To disengage ourselves from matter … to ascend?'

‘My dear Tory Alexander.' The Count held out his hands to her. ‘What a joy you have been to me. Such bravery and compassion as I have seldom known in all my female lives.'

Tory took hold as requested, but bowed before the lord, feeling humbled by his beautiful ultraviolet aura.

‘Only Maelgwn and yourself can answer your question, I'm afraid. I do not make your decisions, I just learn from them as you do,' he explained, urging her with a tug on her hands to rise. ‘I am Master of your Soul Ray, but several of my colleagues govern other aspects of your manifestation in this life. You have a Personality Ray and Rays that govern your mental and astral bodies. Not to mention the Rays that influence the era and country of your birth, your planet and your solar system, your galaxy and so forth. This is how every incarnation of every soul-mind can create a completely individual experience. But, let us leave this forsaken part of the world and find more inspiring surroundings in which to take our repose and talk at greater length.'

As the master let go of one of her hands to take up one of her husband's, Tory thought she'd best speak up before they got sidetracked. ‘What we really need is to speak with Doc Alexander.'

‘Ah, yes, Cadwaladr,' the Count said. ‘Melchizedek has been following his work on Gaia very closely.'

‘Melchizedek?' Tory queried, trying not to sound rude or ignorant, although she felt both.

‘Perhaps you know him better as the Sanat Kumara, the personality expression of the Silent Watcher whose
consciousness is incarnated as the planetary Logos,' he explained.

‘But I thought the planetary Logos, Gaia, was female?' Tory was confused.

‘Indeed,' the Count conceded, ‘but when dealing with the harsh reality of life on the planes of matter at this early stage of mankind's spiritual evolution, Gaia usually chooses to assume a male persona … in the future that will change.'

‘So you are taking us to meet Melchizedek?' Tory was intrigued by the notion.

‘Eventually … but first you must meet some of my Brotherhood,' the Count informed her. ‘They are most eager to meet you both in person.'

‘And we are eager to meet them,' Maelgwn assured before his wife could ask any more questions. ‘Please lead us where you will, lord.'

 

After reporting the sad disappearance of Lahmu's daughter to him, Avery had been given leave to retire to a meditation chamber to familiarise himself with Viper's appearance and see if he couldn't learn more about the Falcon pirate's intentions.

Most of the Chosen didn't begin being tutored in past-life regression before the age of about eighteen years and were not permitted to regress alone before the age of twenty-five. Avery and his sister, having proved to be more psychically adept than any of the Chosen before them, were introduced to this technique at a younger age.

It was, therefore, rather a rude shock to Avery to be unable to conjure so much as a glimpse of his past life as
Viper. This failure found him seeking his sister, Lirathea, in the wilderness on the far side of Kila where the sun was just rising. Avery was on the same cliff top where all his problems had begun. Lirathea was seated in the Lotus position facing the sun, and was deep in meditation.

She wore a plain, shapeless robe of violet, drawn at the waist by a girdle woven in all the colours of the rainbow. The hood of her robe hung around her shoulders, exposing her bald scalp to the warm rays of morning.

‘I still can't get used to seeing you shorn like that,' Avery commented to make Lirathea aware of his presence. When she did not break from her repose, Avery figured that his sister would continue to ignore him unless he came to the point. ‘Why can't I view my past life as Viper?'

‘It isn't a past life,' she spoke calmly and softly, moving nothing but her mouth. ‘You and Viper are a split soul whose lives are unfolding simultaneously.'

‘No, that's not done,' Avery protested. ‘I am immortal. The incarnating soul stops here, with me.'

‘When we agreed to hand over our physical bodies to Devas soon after birth, the Logos achieved quantum leaps of good to further the cause of light in creation. This then had to be counterbalanced with the cause of darkness. As the involvement of Devas in the physical realm had never been permitted before, the Dark Lodge of the Materialistic were also granted something by creation that had never been permitted before —'

‘They allowed a damned soul to reincarnate,' Avery
concluded, positive that he was right. ‘But why has this soul been allowed to inhabit one of my bodies?'

‘Because if your angelic soul has been allowed to reside here in the physical, polarity demands that your demonic aspect be allowed the same opportunity.'

‘Are you saying the dark soul that has incarnated was and is part of my own soul-mind?' Avery was repulsed by the notion and even a little insulted.

Lirathea nodded. ‘In the course of a soul's evolution it must experience all aspects of creation, negative and positive, light and dark.'

‘But your angelic soul had a stay here too!' Avery objected to being singled out and tested alone.

‘And my dark aspect has also reincarnated,' she advised, opening her eyes and looking to her brother, ‘only she is not as conceited as her brother, and shall not pose as great a problem as Viper is bound to.'

Avery placed both hands on his hips, dumbfounded for a second; it sounded to him like his sister was having a dig. ‘Are you saying I am conceited?'

His reaction seemed to answer the question in Lirathea's opinion. ‘It won't do you any good to take out your frustration on me. En Noah warned you this would happen, so you only have yourself to blame for the loss of your love.'

‘I am not in love with Fallon!' Avery blew his stack, tired of hearing this unfounded accusation over and over.

‘Beware when your words conflict with what is in your heart, for a great rivalry will be avoided by putting your ego aside and telling the truth.' Lirathea repeated
their tutor's warning and stood. ‘Well,' she emphasised, with a sardonic but happy tone, ‘the great rivalry has been struck, Avery, so somewhere between now and graduation you have lied to someone about your feelings … and when was that, exactly?'

Avery could only think of two instances where he'd been conscious of lying, and both times he'd been telling Fallon that he didn't find her attractive. The realisation caused him to bow his head in defeat. ‘What mighty force causes someone to lie to themselves, sis? Why can't I just admit that she has bewitched me with her attention and now I can't bear to consider life without it?'

Lirathea could empathise with her brother, as she'd nearly glamoured herself into a big mistake, too. She'd been deluding herself into needing to be loved, whereas Avery had been fooling himself into believing he could do without it. ‘Your reluctance is Viper's will holding sway over you. He would really much rather you stayed out of his way, and left Fallon's fate to his darkening and twisted discretion,' Lirathea informed her brother, knowing the fact would rile him.

‘You think Viper has power over me?' Avery scoffed, choosing to be openly insulted instead of alarmed.

‘I know he does. And even if his influence is unintentional, it can be powerful,' she warned. ‘I know, because I am using my influence to guide my dark half towards the path of light … I focus on sending her love and light every day.'

Avery cracked up; how could he take her seriously? ‘You want me to devote love to Viper? I suppose you
want me to wish him well too! May he be triumphant over us and spread his reign of horror throughout the galaxy!' He stopped raving when he noticed his sister's eyes were like daggers. This was a new look for her.

‘Have you learned nothing from our parents?' Her look turned to bewilderment. ‘The entire Interplanetary Chain Logoi is counting on you, Avery. Don't screw this up by being nonchalant. Viper has power over you because he's had it tough; his desire to succeed is strong. Underestimate him and he will show you up for the spoilt, well-to-do brat that you potentially are.'

Avery's head was bowed again. ‘He already has exposed me as thus,' he admitted, feeling childish and very put in his place. ‘So, would you be so kind as to advise your
loser
brother as to how he might rectify this catastrophe?'

‘There is only one course of action for you,' Lirathea smiled, gratifed by his turnaround. ‘You must win Fallon back.'

Avery rolled his head to one side, appearing pained. ‘It is too late. Viper has taken her god knows where!'

Lirathea placed a hand on her brother's shoulder to calm him and waited until she had his full attention once more. ‘It has been made known to me that Viper will raid one of our Orme production operations.'

‘Which one?' Avery pressed for information. ‘When?'

‘I don't know,' she replied resolutely, prompting the disappointed Avery to back off. ‘It will be soon though. I have foreseen Viper using Fallon to get into the facility, which gives you one last chance to set her straight about how you feel.'

‘I don't like it when you say “last chance”.'

Lirathea looked away to hide her dread, her voice dropping to little more than a whisper. ‘I feel a terrible fate awaits Fallon if she does not come to her senses. Your love is very important to her.' The holy woman turned her violet eyes back to meet her brother's of identical colour. ‘I cannot stress how vital it is that you make your true feelings known to her.'

‘What terrible fate?' Avery was still caught up in that part of her claim. ‘You know plenty that you're not telling me, don't you?'

‘I can't see it,' Lirathea retorted sharply, perturbed about the fact. ‘I have only felt its cold, bleak, guilt-ridden torture once,
briefly
, and I never want to feel it again.'

The look in her eyes told Avery not to doubt her word.

‘Win her heart, Avery, it is the only thing that will save the day. And make sure Sparrowhawk is with you when you confront Viper,' she added as an afterthought.

‘Why?' Avery frowned; he and his younger half-brother were anything but a team.

‘The spirits tell me it will be beneficial to you both.' She shrugged, as if she knew no more.

‘I don't see how?' Avery whined, resigning himself to obliging the spirit world's request.

‘I was the cause of the rift between you and Sparrowhawk,' Lirathea pointed out, ‘but now I have removed myself from society your reason for contention has dissipated, has it not? You two can no longer use me as an excuse not to get along.' Lirathea smiled a self-
satisfied smile in conclusion and managed to coax a grin out of Avery as well.