The Cosmic Logos (44 page)

The sound of her cell door unlocking set Electra scampering for a seat on the stone block supplied for sleeping, and she attempted to look fearful, just as Rhun had suggested.

‘You are under no threat of death any longer,' Prometheus assured Electra, after he eyed over her quarters.

‘The spirit world disagrees with you, my Shar,' Electra lied. ‘I'm afraid a truly horrid death awaits me here.' She gazed at the floor, a hopeless look upon her face.

‘Then I shall take you away from here,' Prometheus offered gallantly.

Electra was inwardly excited by the suggestion, but she spoke in a flat disbelieving tone to hide her true feelings as she posed the pertinent question. ‘After you destroy Aegisthus, or before?'

 

Rhun and Avery disposed of the guards that Orestes had posted outside his sister's cell with the stun function on their pulse lasers and locking the guards in a nearby cell, the lads from Kila assumed the appearance of the Atlantean soldiers.

As Rhun seemed to be giving him the silent treatment, Avery thought he'd try and clear the air. ‘My abilities are not my fault, you realise? I have not trained to be Lord of the Otherworld all my life just so I could bug you.'

‘But it helps,' Rhun commented lightheartedly, as if he didn't really mean it, and maintained the soldier's stance — his eyes fixed ahead — so that he didn't have to see his brother's reaction.

Avery was not fooled. ‘You think I don't know that you have infinitely more life experience than I do? I've studied your history … you ruled Gwynedd and then Briton as High King. You did extensive time travel, built an entire underground city from nothing and fought in the greatest battle of our history, the Gathering of Kings. Not to mention the integral part you played in the
rebellion of Lahmu!' Now Avery had Rhun's attention. ‘I don't have your experience, believe me, I am well aware of that. But now is my time to prove my worth and I am not going to relinquish my destiny just because you feel threatened by it!' Avery spat out, feeling better for having gotten that off his chest.

Rhun began to silently fume, when normally he had a good command of his emotions. He was about to launch into a spiel about adhering to the word of authority when he felt his father's presence close by, urging him to be calm and reasonable.

Before you cut him down in flames, know that Avery idolises you above all others and always has. He just got through telling you so, though not in so many words.

A big lump suddenly built in Rhun's throat as he realised the reason he was so angry. Could he fear losing his hero image in Avery's eyes so much that he would try to oppress his little brother rather than encourage the use of his talents? Rhun realised he was greatly in error, for encouragement was the way of light and would go much further towards sustaining any relationship than jealousy and oppression, which could only destroy. ‘You do threaten me,' he confessed. ‘But, I would probably feel far less irritated by the fact if you would just keep me up to date with what's going on in that cosmic brain of yours …
before
I make a fool of myself.'

Avery's desire to assert himself vanished as his brother stopped playing games and was straight with him. ‘I was afraid you'd accuse me of playing you for sport … which, incidentally, I would never do on a mission.'

‘I know.' Rhun could concede that now. ‘I have been an idiot, Avery —'

‘No.' Avery could not agree. ‘I have given you just cause to question everything I do. I do play people for sport at times and that has been my own undoing —'

‘Christ, Avery, slow down.' Rhun urged his brother to quieten. ‘Such revelations coming out of your mouth are making my head spin!'

The persona Avery was wearing smiled broadly. ‘Ditto, brother, I thought you'd never realise I was an adult.'

‘Well, I kept waiting for you to realise it.' Rhun just had to have one final dig.

But as the brothers stood smirking at each other, both wondering if Avery's comeback was going to destroy the breakthrough they'd just had, a large force of soldiers was heard to enter the long curved corridor in which they stood.

Rhun pulled his weapons. ‘Time to start proving your worth.'

As the force rounded the bend in the corridor, there appeared to be roughly twenty men to contend with.

‘I'll bet you dinner at Patrick's that I down more of them than you do.' Avery willed his weapons to manifest in his hands and began firing.

‘Ha-hah!' Rhun joined the assault, charging forth with lasers blasting. ‘You're on.'

All the noise brought Prometheus charging out of Electra's cell with his sword activated and ready for battle. But by the time he arrived on the scene only two guards remained standing and they were highly amused about something.

‘It was even, I'm telling you.' Rhun turned to see Prometheus eyeing them with concern. He knew that look on the warrior's face. Maelgwn always got the same look when he was about to attack. ‘No, wait!' Rhun resumed his own appearance and Avery followed his cue.

‘You!' Prometheus gazed at Avery. ‘I saw you in the High Temple.'

‘These are my Otherworldly guardians, Prometheus,' Electra informed as she joined them in the corridor. ‘They are going to help us avenge your wife.'

‘What!' Rhun and Avery both protested at her implication in unison.

‘No, no.' Rhun made haste towards the couple. ‘We shall take care of the Dark Lodge after you two have departed the city.'

‘Deukalion?' Prometheus nearly had heart failure as he saw his son in the considerably shorter Otherworldly lord before him.

It took Rhun a second to remember who Deukalion was. And as Prometheus's son was to become the Noah who built the legendary Ark, Rhun was stunned and proud — he really had to do more past-life regression. ‘Your son is no doubt a past-life incarnation of me.' Rhun attempted to ease Prometheus' panic. ‘Just as Electra is a twin soul of your wife.'

Prometheus struggled to accept the idea, although it was pleasing to him. ‘Is that possible?' He looked at Electra, for the oracle's view.

‘My spirits support their claim, therefore I must believe that what they say is true.' Electra turned back
to Avery and Rhun to inform them: ‘I have vowed to Prometheus to aid his cause.' Electra took hold of the warrior's arm.

Rhun was about to object when Prometheus did.

‘No, this changes everything. We must get you out of the city at once.'

Electra backed away from Prometheus when she realised he wasn't planning to leave with her. ‘Not without you.'

The boys from Kila, having heard this argument all through their childhood years, already knew how it would end. Prometheus would not abandon his quest and Electra would not abandon Prometheus.

‘This isn't the way this was supposed to go,' Avery mumbled as he pulled Rhun aside for a quiet word. ‘Electra's concern for her own wellbeing last time around sprang from selfishness and fear … perhaps that was her undoing? Let us suppose that her desire to aid Prometheus this time around, is just reinforcing her courage and selflessness, which has got to be a good thing, hasn't it?'

Rhun had a think about this and moved back to consult with Prometheus. ‘The Nefilim Lord Shamash is waiting in Orestes's room of court. He has enchanted Electra's brother into trading her to the Dark Lodge, in exchange for a beautiful maiden that the Nefilim designed specifically to attract Orestes. As soon as your brother sleeps with this woman, she will attempt to murder him.'

Electra gasped, having foreseen the coming of her brother's enchantress.

‘We can prevent that by disposing of the vase,' Avery thought out loud and Rhun nodded.

‘The vase?' Prometheus frowned, finding the conversation, and this whole scenario, a little hard to swallow.

‘But Shamash has an even bigger surprise in store for you,' Rhun enlightened Prometheus, and the Titan forgot the other matter. ‘To dissuade you from aiding Electra, Shamash is going to threaten to destroy your capital city, your son and his secret project along with it.'

Prometheus was doubly shocked that the Otherworldly guardians knew about his son's work for the Lord Enki, but the knowledge of Shamash's threat was far more alarming to him.

‘Now, obviously, if Shamash wants Electra he's not going to carry out that threat until he has her. Still, I doubt our chances of eluding the Nefilim and the Dark lodge long enough for your son to complete his project for Enki,' Rhun summed up and as everyone was looking a mite concerned, he thought he'd better say something encouraging. He looked at Avery. ‘So, perhaps we could take the chariot back in time, find Lugal and get Enki's plans to Deukalion sooner.'

Avery nodded, as Prometheus knew what Lugal looked like, yet they risked having an even greater effect on the future if they messed about too much. ‘Or … we could attempt to put Chailidocean in stasis for a couple of weeks.'

Rhun was stunned by the suggestion, but for a change he did not scoff at his brother's idea. ‘You can do that?'

Avery shrugged. ‘Electra's spirit did it —'

‘Who was a deva of high order,' Rhun reminded him.

‘And I know the Night Hunter had the ability,' Avery added, rather bravely. ‘If all his abilities have passed to me then surely I must be able to achieve the feat too.'

Rhun considered this would be a simple solution. ‘Well, let's hop it over to the Mount Duranki Plateau and give it a burl.' Rhun gripped Prometheus's arm and Avery took hold of Electra.

‘Electra?' Prometheus appealed for reassurance as he was suddenly engulfed by bright etheric light.

 

On the plateau, Avery positioned himself in the centre of the huge, carved amethyst crystal stones that marked the perimeter of the circle of this sacred site. He glanced at his brother who stood beyond the stone circle with Electra and Prometheus and Rhun gave Avery the thumbs up in encouragement.

The Otherworldly apprentice turned to face the north and took a moment to focus on his objective. He then mentally issued his summons into the etheric world, just as the Night Hunter had taught him.

Avery perceived a mass of glowing green vapour, filled with tiny light beings, rising out of the natural landscape beyond the sacred site to the north and the
ethereal mist floated towards them on a northerly breeze.

Rhun saw nothing of what his brother saw, but he did note the breeze arise from the direction his brother faced and this made him smile — it was an encouraging sign that their plan might work. He waited with bated breath to see what would happen now that Avery had turned to the west.

A blue mist arose like a great tidal wave out of the waterways of the city of Chailidocean. It crashed down at the base of Mount Duranki and then proceeded to slither its way up the mountainside like a great serpent.

As a wind began blowing from the west, Rhun's smile grew more confident.

A golden streak of wind whipped past Avery, exhilarating him with its velocity.

Rhun's smile was wiped from his face as this third wind moved over the plateau, threatening to spin the other two winds into a twister.

‘Perhaps we should take shelter in the doorway,' Prometheus suggested, motioning to the entrance of the secret passage that led through the mountain to the plateau.

‘A good idea.' Rhun battled the winds to lead the couple in that direction.

‘Your brother is very powerful.' Electra admired the young man from the safety of the doorway, as Avery turned to face south. ‘I have never seen the elements commanded to the cause of light before, only ever to the cause of darkness.'

‘In the future that will change,' Rhun assured her, realising that he was planting the seed for a whole new course of study for Electra.

Avery saw this elemental wind take the form of a ball of glowing orange fire, and it combined with the other winds to form a tornado around Avery, who stood in the eye of the storm.

‘Will he be all right?' Prometheus yelled over the gale to Rhun, who nodded with certainty.

‘He's in his element, as it were.' His joke was personally amusing, and as Electra understood the jest she smiled too. Prometheus was only bemused, but he trusted that his company were more informed about such matters than he was.

Inside the whirlwind the elemental creatures maintained their assigned direction, and four large faces formed in each body of substance to address Avery.

The face of fire spoke first; his voice was raspy and harsh. ‘This pubescent human thinks he's Gwyn ap
Nudd.' The huge face of flame burst into laughter as did all the elementals.

‘The Otherworld is timeless,' challenged Avery, ‘therefore I know you must be aware that I assume rulership of the Otherworld after the Night Hunter withdraws from the ethereal realm.'

The elementals only laughed harder at this. The reason the elementals did not recognise Avery was because, as he'd said, the ethereal realm was timeless; they had no sense of time past or future as they lived an eternal now. Unless, of course, an elemental being broke away from its group soul and entered the service of the Lords of the Materialistic, whereby the being could manifest in the physical realm and gain some concept of time.

‘Who is the Night Hunter?' Fire queried his fellow elementals, who all pouted and shook their heads, none the wiser.