The Guardian's Protector: The Chamber of Souls (28 page)

Once the light returned, Amy was lifted from the ground; it was only about an inch, but the feeling made her heart skip a beat. The light spanned out again, this time faster. After hitting the stones it flew back under Amy and she lifted farther from the ground. Even though the lift made her panic, she knew she was safe.

The lift, taking her through the Guardian’s crisscross of light, made her feel energised. The gentle, pleasurable feeling gave her a huge sense of well-being. She felt powerful, like her inner being was coming alive. As she ascended, her stomach untied all knots, the fog in her mind lifted, and her heart opened, clearing the pain she held. All feelings of misery and turmoil abolished, she felt strong, worthy, soothed and at ease.

Something made her look up and, as she did, the dark grey sky rippled. A few strips of light grey clouds shifted oddly, joining together above her head in an ominous, swirling motion. As the swirl expanded, it gave way to a vast, black hole.

Like a gateway through time and space, Amy felt like she was witnessing the whole universe. The ripples of light under her rose up, forming a cylindrical body around her. She could still see through the veil of light to the surrounding landscaped area, but she could mostly see up to the dark, wide whirlwind that was now being created above her head.

She then rose farther from the ground and the whirlwind pushed its way out of the sky and lowered itself towards her stream of light, ready to join it. As if every ounce of her fear had disappeared, she didn’t care how high she was being lifted, she only cared for her cylinder of light and where it was taking her. She wanted to embrace the whirlwind which, twirling and sinking towards her, formed into a sturdy tornado.

As the tornado picked up speed, the pool of light below her accelerated too and she shot up so high that she could no longer hear the humming of the Guardians. She couldn’t comprehend how far she was from the ground but, because of how she felt, she didn’t care.

The two cylinders hit each other at an extraordinary speed and, dark into light, light into dark, they made a magnificent, sparkling, grey stream. The impact made her feel a tremendous rush of power. The light, soaring to the sky, penetrated the black hole and turned it into a dazzling saucer. She felt as if she was being anaesthetised for a moment and then it happened: a bright laser-type beam shot through the vortex and penetrated her body.

She inhaled as she felt the beam move around and form something strange inside her—obviously the channel. The feeling itself, not painful but certainly felt, was like cold bubbles bursting inside her.

No cares in the world at this point; it was her and the power and nothing else mattered. It had consumed her. She exhaled as the beam shot back. Her head felt light and weightless as if her body had tapped into some higher form of harmonious meditation. The state of euphoria and serenity she felt was indescribable.

After the cylinders separated, she began to descend. Clear minded, calm and satisfied with a sensational feeling of vitality, she longed to stay. She knew once she was out of the light she would begin to feel her normal, anxious self. As she gazed up at the sky, the black hole closed, the whirlwind slowed to a stop and, as she touched the ground, the clouds streaked across the sky like nothing had happened.

Breaking free of their bind, the Guardians stopped humming and their eyes stopped shining. Mark held his hand out to her but she couldn’t move. She didn’t want to move. As the light disappeared altogether, she could feel all those good feelings rush away and she sat in dread, waiting for her old depression to hit.

‘Beautiful,’ Adaizi whispered, making Amy look up. As she did, she noted a faint white light around her as if she were glowing. Amy took Adaizi’s hands and pulled herself up. As she turned to Mark she could see a faint white light around him also. Light surrounded the two guests as well.

‘My name is Feng,’ the Chinese man said. He held his bright hand out for her to shake. ‘It’s been a pleasure,’ he added, bowing his head to Amy then to Adaizi and Mark. He then turned to the Indian lady and bowed. ‘Goodbye, Swami.’ The air warped beside her, a sure sign of a Light-Void, and in a flash, he was gone.

Swami introduced herself with a captivating smile. Amy took her hand and smiled awkwardly. Three more bows, a warp and a flash, and Amy was left with just Mark and Adaizi, who were still lit.

‘Do we look different?’ Mark asked.

‘You’re sort of lit up. There’s a white light around you.’

‘You can see our
shade
,’ Adaizi told her. ‘You will be able to see the black to white spectrum now. Most people you see will be some shade of grey. There are lighter and darker shades of grey depending what level of the Test they are on. You are to stay clear of the black shades,’ she added with a serious note.

‘Okay,’ Amy promised with a worried look.

‘You will have to be with one of us at all times until you invoke the light,’ Adaizi said. ‘Like we told you, a Dogod can see your open channel, just as a Guardian can. Until you invoke the light into this channel, they can infuse the dark. If by chance you end up in contact with one…’

‘Adaizi,’ Mark interrupted, stopping her from continuing.

‘Well,’ she said, glancing at Mark and then back to Amy, ‘we need to be with you so we could try to Light-Void you away. You need to visit Omnipion as soon as possible.’

‘Okay,’ Amy agreed, her heart beginning to turn over with fear.

‘The feeling you just felt is how we want you to feel when you are guided to Omnipion,’ Mark revealed.

‘Okay,’ Amy repeated, as if this was the only word she had in her vocabulary.

‘You have to try and feel that way
yourself
to enter,’ Adaizi instructed. ‘Your mind must be relaxed on its own.’

‘I have to feel like that on my own?’ she asked, looking at her like she was mad. ‘I thought you said I just have to be okay with going before I could go.’

‘It’s the same thing, really,’ Adaizi replied. ‘You just need to release all resistance, which will then enable you to feel something like that. Anything you’ve felt before, you can feel again, even if it’s not happening. That feeling runs inside you innately. It is your essence, your life source, your energy stream. You can meditate to feel it, but you need to let go of the fear of visiting yourself. If you fully trust in what we say, you will get there sooner.’

‘Okay,’ Amy said. ‘I’ll try,’ she added, so she could feel more literate.

‘You really need to understand the danger…’

‘Adaizi,’ Mark interrupted, ‘can we give her a chance to try first?’ Amy could tell he wanted her protected from something.

‘
Okay
,’ Adaizi agreed, with a smile. She gave Mark a bow and turned back to Amy, taking her chin with her forefinger. ‘I’m sure proud of you, beautiful.’ She gave Amy a gentle smile and Light-Voided away, leaving Amy alone in the field with Mark.

CHAPTER 19

THE TRYING

‘I’m proud of you too,’ Mark said.

Amy gazed up at Mark, his bright, magical shade illuminating each stone in the circle, and suddenly the place looked beautiful.

She wanted to apologise. She needed to explain that the reason she’d treated him so badly was because of how much she loved him. Tell him she hated herself for it. She wanted to tell him she knew, without a doubt, he loved her and would never intentionally hurt her. That his love, even if it didn’t match hers, meant something to her. She needed to convey to him that she loved him with every inch of her soul.

Though she wished to say so much, she had to say nothing at all. He was reading her. She could see the relief wash over him.

She smiled, took his hands and squeezed. ‘Come on,’ she whispered.

He smiled his most beautiful smile, squeezed her hands and, in a flash, they stood on the clover-covered hill.

‘Did you have a good night?’ Jack asked as they entered. He sat in the armchair that faced the main TV, his right arm hung over the back, his neck straining to face them. He’d tied pink feathers in some of his newly formed dreads that hung over the chair like a dirty mop. Amy stared at him with a look of awe, confusion and disbelief, and he grabbed one, a huge smile plastered across his face, and waved it at her.

Amy just continued to stare—she hadn’t even noticed his new pink additions. The only thing she saw was that he was sort of glowing too. Not like Mark and Adaizi, who almost stung her eyes with their brightness, but he had a pale grey hue surrounding his entire body.

‘
Hello
?’ he said with a click of his fingers. ‘Earth to Amy. Did you have a good night?’

‘Err…yes,’ she answered, suddenly realising this was how she’d see people from now. It was a little change, but still a lot to get used to. It wasn’t just that she could see his shade—she stood in amazement, too, of how her mind could automatically tell which level Jack was on inside the Chamber simply by looking. She couldn’t even comprehend Omnipion, and here she was using its powers.

‘Where’re your shoes?’ Jack asked, spotting her feet.

Amy looked down to see her thick, woolly socks muddy from the ground. ‘Err…’ She tried to think of a reason.

‘Oh yeah?’ Jack laughed.

‘What?’ Amy asked, blushing red, looking up at Mark to see if his white light had been tarnished.

‘Nothing like that, Jack!’ Mark laughed. ‘But we’re not telling you now, just to taunt you!’ Mark put his hand on Amy’s back and they walked off into the kitchen.

Amy felt mortified. ‘I’m sorry about—’

‘Amy,’ Mark interrupted, with a serious tone, ‘I’m human as well, you know! Believe it or not, I was brought up by people. I can
have a laugh and I can give you a dig if you carry on looking at me like I’m an angel. I’d rather you went back to being mad at me!’ He playfully shoved his shoulder into hers, changing her shocked and appalled expression into a more relaxed one.

‘Okay, back to normal,’ she said. ‘I shall be ignoring you and treating you as badly as possible.’

‘Well maybe not
that
normal!’ he replied with a smile.

Amy felt grateful for his understanding. ‘I’m off to bed then. It’s been…an experience!’ she said, and his smile widened. Before she turned to walk away, he took her hand and she looked back at him with a confused expression.

‘Good night.’ He kissed her softly on the cheek.

‘Good…err…night,’ she said, her legs turning to jelly. Was this his attempt to end the fake evening properly for Jack’s sake or was he just glad they were friends again, she wondered?

As she stumbled up the stairs, she noted Jack smirking from ear to ear and, after scowling at him, she continued to her floor. She opened Tom’s door and what she saw brought her to tears.

The top of Tom’s head, sticking out from his covers, glowed like a lantern. As she crept towards him, David, who was curled up on top of the bed next to him, lifted his head. He wagged his tail once and then, as she took a closer look, she found David too had a shade of grey around him. Realising he must have a soul, Amy wondered just how little she knew of the universe.

She sat on the edge of the bed and placed her shaky hand on the side of her child’s glowing face and felt an overwhelming sense of love. It shocked her to see him for the beautiful Guardian he was, but it did not change the way she felt. In fact it made her more determined to protect him at all costs.

Stroking his wavy locks, she saw his shade of white stood out further from his body than Mark or Adaizi’s. In this moment, although he was without a care in the world, she felt utterly scared for him. Wiping her tears on her vest top, she climbed in and wrapped her loving, motherly arms around her precious child. She closed her eyes and forced herself to remember the feeling of serenity and calm she’d experienced at Stonehenge.

‘What are you doing?’ Tom asked when he woke the next morning.

‘Oh,’ she mumbled, coming round. She tried to look at him and not his shade. Even the daylight that flooded through the window couldn’t outshine his brilliant white. ‘I thought I’d have a cuddle.’

‘I mean what are you doing to your insides?’ He laughed, looking at her body.

‘My insides?’

‘Yes,’ he said, pointing down to her centre. ‘How are you doing that? I’ve never seen anything like it.’

‘What do you mean?’ she asked, sitting up in alarm and inspecting herself.

‘You’re normally all white, but your middle is missing. It’s like you have nothing there. It’s strange.’

Amy walked into Tom’s en suite, stood in front of the mirror and saw that her whole body, apart from her centre, was lit up with an extremely white shade, although slightly fainter than a Guardian’s.

Tom followed behind and David after him. ‘Can you see your light, Mum?’

‘Yes,’ she answered in amazement.