The Persistence of Memories - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe (31 page)

Anando. My cho-shadhisi. You truly are my
anchor.

She gave one final push and her arc of Light
defeated the Water instantly, surging through it and scattering it
into millions of tiny rain droplets that shimmered and sparkled
with life. Rainbow fragments appeared everywhere as the droplets
exploded into mist and fell lazily to the floor, calmed and
defeated.

And in the mist, the Light finally began to
illuminate the entire hall.

“...emha,” Caren whispered. Her voice echoed
off every surface.

Across the room where the Water had
originated, she finally saw her. Crittiqila smiled, her thick
serpentine tail waving through the air, and though it never touched
the ground, she could hear it cutting through the mist. Her paws
were folded in front of her, giant black talons tapping quietly
against the stone floor in an even beat. She smiled, her deathly
sharp teeth glimmering. Beautiful black eyes staring back at her
intensely. Looking directly into her soul.

I am proud of you, Karinna Shalei,
Crittiqila said, her low inner voice resonating with every inch of
Caren’s soul.
You have ascended. You are Mendaihu
Gharra.

Caren let out a breath. “I am...”

“I heard you,” Denni said.

Caren stared at the ceiling of her bedroom,
dizzy and out of breath. The room spun at odd angles, first
toppling one way then the other, sounds coming from all sides. She
heard voices outside, she heard the honking of wild geese flying
overhead and heading south, she heard the unexpected blast of a car
backfiring, she heard heartbeats, she heard the wind and the earth,
she heard...she heard Denni. She reached out until she felt the
grasp of Denni's hand in hers. The sounds of Gharra receding into
the background. The bed rocking and swaying as her sister climbed
on and moved up next to her.

“I...” she whispered.

“I heard you calling me,” Denni soothed,
pushing strands of hair out of her face. “I heard you praying, sis.
And I answered. And so did Anando.”

Her face heated up. “I...”

“Shhh...” Denni snuggled up closer, calming
her down, her fingertips touching her breastbone, tapping it
quietly. She was soulhealing her, bringing her back down to this
reality. Waves of love, of care and protection trickled into her,
strengthening her spirit and keeping her from harm.

“Denni...” she whispered.

“You're here,” Denni soothed. “You're home
now. You're okay.”

Yes. She was just fine. Spiritually
rejuvenated but completely exhausted physically, every bone and
nerve in her body aching too much for sleep. She laid there, eyes
still focused on the ceiling, breathing normally again, wondering
what would come next.
You have ascended,
the sehndayen-ne
had said.
You are Mendaihu Gharra.
Was that really it? How
could she have possibly learned anything in that short time? Maybe
something insignificant and symbolic, but no more than that. With a
little help from Denni and Anando, she'd defended herself. That was
all.

With a shuddering breath, she squeezed her
sister's hand and turned to her. “Taftika eichi. You guided me
back.”

Denni shook her head and smiled. “No, you did
that yourself. All I did was give you something to focus on. And
you were anchored to Anando. I did the same with you during the
Ascension.”

Anchored,
she thought, and knew Denni
was right. She'd kept her senses, kept her footing, and remembered
where she was, simply by keeping her sister in the back of her mind
and using Anando’s love as stable ground. By doing that, she kept
her focus on what had to be done, to defend herself. Once she
stopped distrusting herself, she had won. The water had turned to
mist, the dark cavern had become a brightly lit castle hall, and
Crittiqila...

Crittiqila had become her True Self. A
kiralla. She'd become a mighty and deadly beast, an impossibly
beautiful, impossibly
real
spirit body, right before her
eyes. Oh, how she wanted to share that view with Denni right now!
But how could she adequately describe such a thing to her? She
could not find any words at all, English or Anjshé, that could even
begin to describe what she'd experienced and seen.

“Guess we’re even now,” Caren laughed
weakly.

Denni smiled, and kissed her forehead. “Yeah.
Guess we are.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Shadha fadhyané

David stood at the bedroom door, watching
Alec pack his belongings and ready himself for the train ride back
to Bridgetown. He felt his brother’s presence well before he’d
arrived, and now he could feel him staring with some kind of
annoyance. No, maybe not annoyance. Frustration? Sadness? He’d been
in a dour mood all afternoon, and just like all the Poe men, he
kept it well contained and rarely came out and said what was on his
mind. He wasn’t unsure of his emotions, far from it — he just chose
not to burden everyone else with them. He watched silently,
slouching heavily against the doorframe, arms crossed.

“I've got to get back,” Alec said
noncommittally.

“I know,” David said after a long pause. His
voice barely crossed the room. “I just wish...”

He smirked at him. “Yeah, I know. Believe me,
any other situation and I would love to spend a good month or so up
here. But you know my place is in B-Town. Especially now.”

David hunched his shoulders and grimaced.
“Alec, do you really believe…?”

“Yes,” he said, again without any emotion,
and continued packing.

David entered the room and grabbed his
forearm, stopping him. “That's it, Alec? 'Yes'? No
explanation?”

He gently pulled away from his grip, stood up
straight, and faced him. “No explanation,” he said as evenly as he
could. “I really wish I could say more, but I can't, because I need
to protect you guys. You're my only family, Dave. I can’t lose a
family the way Caren did.”

David threw up his hands, twirled around and
headed back to the door. “Caren has nothing to do with it, Alec,”
he growled. “Yeah, we're your family, but for goddess' sake! We
don't need you to be so damned heroic! We need you
up
here
.”

Alec let out a deep breath, shaking his head.
So it had finally come to this? “Look — I'm involved in this way
too deep, Dave. Honestly. I cannot back away. I'm a part of what’s
going on down there, whether any of us likes it or not. I hate to
tell you this, and I really shouldn't...but
you
of all
people should know. Even though you're not a blood relative, you're
still my brother. You and Mom and Dad are part of my soul, and I
love you all. But I've
got
to tell you this.”

David saw the hurt in his eyes and gestured
for him to speak. He returned to his doorframe lean, arms crossed
and patience wilting.

“Ever since I was told I was adopted,” Alec
said, “I always wondered who my birth parents were. Once I was old
enough, I found their names at the DRL: Deilo and Shara Eiyashné.
But out of respect for both them and our parents, I left them
alone. I never contacted them. I don't even know if they're
Meraladian, Mannaki, or Gharné. All I know is that they separated a
while back, one living in McCleever West and the other down in
NewCanta Province.”

“They split up about eight years ago,” David
said. “Mom got a letter from them then, just as a precaution...you
know, medical reasons, if anything came up.”

“Right,” he said. “She told me about that.
But other than that, I really never knew anything about them.”

“Why should you?” Dave shrugged. “It was a
mutual decision after all, wasn't it?”

“That’s not —” he growled, and stopped
himself. Now was not the time for anger. He took another slow
breath, and faced him again. “The point is that I may or may not
have inherited something from them...and I don’t exactly know what.
They both passed away a little over two years ago. Mom called me
about that as well. That was the real reason why I’ve avoided
talking to any of you since then. I never held it against any of
you, I just needed time alone to figure myself out. I never told
Caren.”

“I understand that,” David said, moving back
into the room again. “But what the hell is your point here? What
could you possibly need to know that we didn't know already?”

Alec dropped his head, not wanting to do this
at all. Certainly in all the years he'd lived under their roof, at
least
one
of them should have noticed how different he was,
how out of place he was in this family. It would be so much easier
if David knew already. But he didn’t. Nobody in the family did.

“I...” he started, then turned away, afraid
to face him. “I was one of those affected a few weeks back, during
the Awakening ritual. I'm not quite Mendaihu...I'm what you call a
cho-nyhndah. A spiritual mixture of both Mendaihu and Shenaihu
soul.”

He stopped and waited. He couldn't see
David's face, and he hadn't responded, so he warily continued. “But
I might be more than that, Dave. And I want to find out. Even if I
can't meet up with either of my birth parents...hell, I'll hire a
sehndayen-ne if I have to.”

“You're...” David started. He'd grown very
still and quiet at the opposite side of the room, looking out the
double windows at the driveway. Finally, he turned around and faced
him. He was backlit by the brightness outside, making his facial
expression hard to read. And he did not want to soulsense his own
brother. It wouldn’t have been right or fair.

“You're cho-nyhndah,” David started again.
“Huh.”

He offered him a weak smile. “A peaceful one,
if that makes you feel any better.”

“Oh, sure,” David said with equal sarcasm. “I
feel so much safer now.”

“Good to know,” laughing despite the tension.
“Smartass.”

David finally walked into the light of the
room and revealed he was smiling. It was forced, but it was
heartfelt. “I'm fine with that, Alec. I've been surrounded by
Mendaihu and Shenaihu all my life. And I know I'll be seeing more
of them soon. Hell, half my students have awakened to one or the
other already since the One did whatever she did down there. I'm
half expecting them to go at each other’s throats now, but that
doesn't seem to be happening at all. In fact, it's quite the
opposite.”

“They're keeping the peace?”

“As far as I can tell.” He sat down on the
bed next to his suitcase and looked up at him. The look in his eyes
was not quite sadness…it was a mixture of exhaustion and relief.
“Don't get me wrong, Alec, I'm not mad or scared or whatever
because you're cho-nyhndah. I'm just...well, I’m surprised, that's
all.”

“So we're good?”

David smiled and held out a hand. “We're
cool.”

Alec grabbed at his brother's hand and held
it between both of his hands. David recognized immediately and
chuckled, but clasped both his hands as well. Whatever he may be,
he’d accept it and trust him as he always had. He pulled him up and
into a tight embrace. He felt a heavy wave of relief wash over him,
both his and David's. David still didn't fully understand what he
was going through, or what he had to do, but he had accepted what
his brother was, without a second thought and without
reservation.

“Taftika, eicho,” he said, as he pulled away.
“I needed to hear that.”

“Sure thing,” he said, and turned back
towards the door. He slowed when he got there, however, and turned
back around. “Listen,” he said. His face was dark, completely
devoid of the humor he'd had just seconds before. The relief he
felt was short lived, replaced by a cold, restrained anger. No…not
anger. Not anger at all. “You take care of yourself down there,
okay?” he said, his voice wavering slightly. “Mom and Dad may have
come to terms about you playing the hero, but it still bothers me.”
He pursed his lips and turned away, a shaky hand against the door
frame. “I don't want to lose you, kid.”

He closed his own eyes, tears threatening.
“Damn it, Dave...”

“Promise you'll come by again, once this is
over,” David said, his voice only a whisper now.

Damn it.
“You know...” He coughed,
hiding the catch in his voice. “You know I will, Dave. I
promise.”

“Good.”

Alec watched his brother. His head was
lowered, rubbing at his eyes, his shoulders hunched. He wanted to
say more, say
anything
that would make him feel better, but
nothing came to mind that would do justice. He resisted throwing
out a gossamer thread of energy, trying in his own pathetic way to
soulheal him through this experience, but he knew Dave would have
none of that. He would have protested, just as Caren once would,
preferring to face his inner demons without any help. He would heal
on his own.

“When do you want to go?” David finally
asked. He'd regained his voice, but still did not turn around.

“Late afternoon, if you can do it,” he said.
“I've got some last minute stuff to tie up at the ARU
headquarters.”

His brother's shoulders twitched in a quick
chuckle. “You were behind that escape I heard on the news last
night, weren't you?”

He laughed bitterly. “Busted.”

“Thought so,” he said, and began walking
away, down the hall. “Be careful, Alec. I'll be here whenever you
want to leave.”

“Thanks,” he said, and turned back to
packing.

“Who's Alix Eiyashné?” Detective Murphy asked
before Poe had even finished closing the office door. He turned and
saw Murph staring at the monitor on his screen and typing
furiously. “Someone you know?”

“It's my birth name,” Poe said. “Good to see
you too, Murph.”

“Thought so,” he said without missing a
beat.

Poe watched him for a second as he finished
off the report of yesterday's fiasco with Saisshalé. Murph was so
engrossed in his work that acknowledging his presence surprised
him; it reminded him, perhaps a little too closely, of Matthew when
he was working on Vigil projects. He took one of the seats in front
of Murph's desk and waited patiently until he finished.