2.21 The God of Death

        Zara picked up the tile and examined the now recognizable skeletal image engraved in the glassy emerald rock, her hand trembling with renewed fear, this was all so creepy, so confusing, how could this all be by chance? Were they just trying to scare her? This was perhaps a real sign she was in Hellias. "Did I die already?"

         "A part of you has died, yes" Mina replied. "The symbolism will become clear as you discover the journey it speaks of" Mina expanded without offering much help at all. "Don't be afraid of it. Come" she stood up, offering her hand. "Let me show you something that will fill your heart with Light."

         Still clutching the tile, Zara took Mina's hand and followed her out into the main hall to where the stone egg altar stood.

         "This is our most sacred treasure" Mina spoke passionately of their grey lump of stone. She took Zara's hand and placed it on the spiral design, engraved in the front of the egg. "Touch it... Feel it!"

         Zara lifted her hand toward the large stone egg with growing doubt, expecting a trick or a trap. She moved in for a closer look as her fingers met the micro-multi-faceted surface of the rock. Not a trace of blood tarnished the light grey surface, this was no sacrificial altar, did they think she was stupid? "It’s just an egg-shaped rock" she argued.

         "Is it?"

         Sensing something magical rather than something dreadful, Zara ran her fingers along the spiral path, trying to feel something. "It feels like rock" she concluded.

         "The egg is the seed of the Eternal Flame" Mina explained.

         "Eternal Flame?" Zara echoed, interested but skeptical. "This cold hard stone hardly resembles any sort of flame."

         "The Eternal Flame is an energy" Mina expanded. "A Light Spirit. The death tablet foretells of a Death Spirit. These are living divinations, the wisdom speaks of a Dark Spiritual death. Our spirits are energies that live within us all, they pass from one life to another. But sometimes there are evil spirits among us, sometimes there are tortured spirits, sometimes spirits that had been lead astray, trapped souls in undesirable dimensions where they may lay forgotten by a wrongful death of their physical being. Souls can become enslaved forever in the dimension of Darkness unless they are given a chance to return to the Light. When that happens, they experience death as their spirits travel into the Light. From the Darkness, it is a death."

         From the Darkness it is a death? Mina wasn't making any sense at all, Zara didn't feel like her spirit was evil or trapped in some dimension of darkness, she was honest, good, she had been forgiven for her sins even though she couldn't remember them all. Mina was wrong.

         "Think of it this way" Mina tried another approach. "Imagine you had died when the Foreman beat you. You would have died a wrongful death. Without a voice in your own self defence there would only have been lies and a cover up, there would only be negative memories of yourself and your life, if there was anyone who even thought about you long enough to wonder how these things came to pass. Would someone have investigated your death?"

         Zara felt a lump growing in her throat now.

         "You would have remained forgotten in the winds of time. Zara who?" 

        The lump grew bigger, the dam was breaking, Mina continued to weaken it.  "Without love, without family, without resolve, your spirit would have been trapped inside that dark void of nothingness forever!"

         Zara swallowed hard but the lump wouldn't go away, Mina's words rang painfully true. There was no love in her life, no family, no Orien, she didn't even have a room mate anymore. Who would have remembered her? Who would have noticed she was gone? Who would have cared? Would Nolan really have come looking for her?

          "Your Phoenix spirit is alive and well or you wouldn’t be here. The tile suggests it is simply ready to perish from that dark dimension it has been trapped in."

         "Trapped in? How do I know?"

         "You will experience confusion as your spirit transitions." 

        "Confusion?" Zara was definitely feeling confused. 

        "Yes. Confusion is a good sign" Mina assured. "Although it may seem uncomfortable, as if everything is getting worse or like someone is playing some huge trick on you, that sort of anger is an energy that can fuel your Phoenix Flight!"

         Mina sounded genuinely insane, was this why Atalon called the Lemurian goddesses Witches? This Moon goddess could definitely mess with her mind. Spooked now, Zara studied the emerald tile still clutched in her hand. She ran her fingers over the fine engravings again, trying to connect the dots. So far the Lemurians had only helped her... Where was the catch?

         "It's not by chance you chose that tile" Mina continued. "The mysteries of life are all around us, they are all connected through the Eternal Flame."

         What's the Phoenix Flame?" Zara echoed, troubled by the reference.

         "The Phoenix is your personal Eternal Flame that lives deep inside of you. The Flight is travelling your Divine Path in this lifetime."

         Zara's thoughts were just getting more scrambled as she struggled to understand why Mina would tell her this nonsense, was it simply to confuse her? To make her go crazy? She didn’t actually believe this stuff did she?

         "It's the Phoenix Flame that likes to blaze bright inside of us, that likes to celebrate, that wants and needs Love" Mina smiled, touching her cheek, sensing her broken heart. "It was your Phoenix Flame who chose the Death tile!"

         A Phoenix Flame was a part of us all? If she hadn’t had such a big headache, Zara would have laughed. 

        The sound of galloping hooves approaching outside was a timely distraction. And as if an expected arrival, Mina and Nulu hurried to the door. Zara craned her neck to see, she caught a glimpse of white horse legs outside… A tossing white tail...

         Breathless, she stared at the Emerald Tile in her hand... The god of Death rode a Unicorn... Was this some kind of Street Theatre? Joyful voices and warm hugs suggested she was wrong, Mina and Nulu treated this guest like an old friend, but as he entered the temple her fears intensified. He looked just like the god of Death! She had done her homework; the mere sight of him spelled one's demise, this was how these evil sorcerers had forced her to look! This was the trap!

         It was too late. She stared in shock now. He looked almost exactly identical to the character in the book! He had the same freaky blue eyes that Aquilla had. His pale blonde hair was almost white and fell well below his broad shoulders, his face was handsome, much more handsome than the character in the book, however. He was almost glowing, just like the Unicorn itself!

         Zara was struggling with the reality she faced, how could it be? She stiffened, reminding herself of her educational degree. She knew better than to fall for the shiny facade of evil, she knew who he was. Now she knew for sure. This was all a game, an evil Game. Witchcraft. No wonder King Atalon hated the Lemurians, Lemuria was like some evil spider's web. Hellias it was indeed. Now she was beginning to understand the twisted concept and it was sprouting thoughts of escape. How would she escape?

         Neter felt her stare and turned to greet her, he noticed the terror in her eyes, her clenching fist clutching the Emerald Tile. He winked.

         Like a noose tightened, Zara felt breathless, his cold hand of death constricting her entire being as reality struck… This was it…

         "I'm glad you could come so soon" Nulu gestured towards Zara. "Let us introduce you to Zara."

         Zara felt sweat break out all over her body, she was going to throw up again. ‘Orien…’ she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, reminding herself of her mission…

         "Zara, we’d like you to meet Neter, he’s the leader of the Star Tribe. He came all the way from Mu to hear your story."

         Again, Zara wondered if she had heard right. "Who?"

         "Neter. He wants to hear your story" Mina echoed.

         To Zara, this was yet another giant clue she was, in fact, in Hellias. "Yeah, right! I know who he is!" She had done her homework, she wasn't stupid, she wasn't falling for their evil tricks any more. "He's the God of Death!"

2.20 The Black Panther

        Eden led Medena, Seton and Malodon down the dormitory hall of the Meden Institute to Athenia's room, unlocked the door and stood back to let the gods inside. The room was a bloody mess, it looked like there had been an Aquillan Massacre inside. There was fresh blood splattered all over the walls, pungent odors of decay billowed out the room, already unbearable. Athenia's body was almost unrecognizable, parts of it lay splayed across the floor, blood was smeared across the whole room indicating there had been a prolonged struggle. Her stomach was torn open, her guts strewn, her hands heavily bloodied, still clutching the infant's skull.

         "Well that settles that then!" Malodon turned to leave. "Onward and upward."

         Medena wasn't impressed. "Does it have to be so messy? Who is supposed to clean that up?" Neither Seton or Malodon would answer, irritating her farther. "Won't there be a lot of wasted Product?"

         A large falcon spiralled down from the sky and landed on the upper branches of the ancient Yew tree that grew outside the Crystal Temple, sending a shower of red berries tumbling to the ground. Mina smiled, eyes closed she could tell it was the falcon simply by the weight on the branch, he often perched in the tree at this time of day. The ancient tree that grew outside the temple was a favourite meditation spot, a place of serenity that her ancestors had used for meditation as long as the Crystal Temple had existed in time. Once upon a time there had been an obsidian wand embedded into the ground, an ancient Solarian artifact which had served as an energy conductor but it had been stolen and all that was left to mark the spot was a spiral of crystal rocks, embedded into the ground. In the wand's place, the Lemurians had crafted a makeshift device allowing them to feel any spiritual presence among them through reflected light; an Obsidian Goblet, filled with mineral-rich water from the river An, charged with the energy of their hearts.

         Mina clutched the goblet tight as she pondered the recent string of events, the latest refugee was no different from the last, or the one before... What was the message? Had illness seriously befallen Atlan? As the light reflected from the goblet danced across her face, she sensed a dark being dashing behind her. Black Panthers weren’t usually good divinations at all. She glanced up toward the clouds moving fast across the sky... The skies only confirmed her divinations were charged with energies surrounding her, there was a time of powerful transition brewing, this was a warning. Could the Archonic forces be flexing their muscles once again?

         She studied the pyramid's shadow against the schoolhouse spire, a degree closer to the solstice mark. The Winter Solstice was special this year, the moon would be full, this was a powerful eclipse accompanying the arrival of this new comet, and so many Black Panthers of late. The rumors of a Coming War ought to perhaps be taken seriously, this was exactly the sort of astrological climate the Archons liked to hijack.

         Unease growing in exponential ways now, Mina realized this could very well be history repeating itself, they would be wise to prepare. They had all seen an eclipse this close to the Solstice, complete with comet and Black Panthers once before, a long time ago when they had no idea what Black Panthers were; the Time they almost lost their whole world forever. To Mina, fear was a stranger, an enemy, but this fear was like an old friend, warning her. Her thoughts shifted back to Zara... Was there some kind of knowledge to be learned from her timely arrival?

         Nulu and Zara found Mina sitting under the yew tree, reflected sunlight from the obsidian goblet dancing across her face, almost glowing with light, immediately reminding Zara of the Unicorn. 

        Sensing their approach, Mina put the goblet down and rose to greet them, pleased by how much better Zara looked already, in spite of her crippling case of Fear, written across her face. "Come inside, I just made some tea."

         Terrified indeed, Zara followed Mina through the temple hall into a quiet candlelit meditation room. There were cozy couches dressed with woven blankets and beaded pillows, a rustic bookcase laden with old books gave the room a musty smell, exotic crystals and ornaments decorated the space everywhere she looked, it was like a miniature museum. The sweet aroma from the pot of tea awaiting them on the table was therapeutic, helping her feel at ease.

         As if a stranger watching her life from another’s body, Zara listened while Nulu recanted her horrific account of Atlan to Mina. Hearing her story being told by another was shocking! It made her question her very own words! Had she really said those things? How could it be true? How could it possibly have been that bad? Was she overreacting? Had she simply malfunctioned? It couldn't be true!

         Mina listened with growing concern, the dreadful account only validated her suspicions of late, she could see all this in Zara's eyes. She was beginning to see that perhaps Zara's arrival wasn't a coincidence at all, that perhaps Zara was a messenger of sorts. She slid a finely carved wooden box towards her and opened the lid. "Would you like to draw an Emerald Tile?"

         Zara examined the emerald green tiles neatly stacked inside the silk-lined box, she had never seen anything like it. "What are they?"

         "Divination tools" Nulu informed. "By selecting the tile which speaks to you, we can better understand your journey" Mina explained. "They are like windows into our Spirit World, our challenge, our path."

         "Windows?" Zara studied the opaque slabs of rock, she had never heard anything so ridiculous in her life, was this the lunacy that Atalon mocked them of? Feeling ridiculous, curiosity won and she reached for a tile of choice, one side was polished smooth the other side rough with lines, some strange design was engraved on the surface, symbols she couldn’t read and a scary looking skeletal character she didn't like. Gently she placed it on the table, stumped.

         Mina and Nulu leaned in to study the tile. "Death" they unanimously chimed.

         For a moment, Zara went into shock again. Nausea, dizziness and a pounding heart were common in Lemuria; were these symptoms of Hellias? What were they implying? "Death?"
         "Don't be afraid" Mina assured, smiling kindly. "The Emerald Tile does not foretell of a physical death!"