I looked up at the cab driver who was still watching me from the rear view mirror. She arched an eyebrow like someone does when saying or thinking that they told you so. I frowned and narrowed my eyes in response.

  “What’s going on here?”

  “Why don’t you check the news Professor?”

  “The news? What for?”

  “Just check it,” she said.

  I accessed the Boston Globe online from my phone and the front page had a picture of me with a headline announcing: ‘Promising young Professor Willington from Harvard dies in plane crash’.”

  My mouth dropped open. “That’s impossible. We just left the hotel not more than 10 minutes ago. My plane hasn’t even begun boarding people yet, not to mention I am right here and very much alive.”

  I looked at my watch which should have shown 7:10 AM or so, but it was 5:10 PM. Ten hours had passed since I left the hotel. That’s just not possible. The driver turned around again and looked at me with a smirk.

  “The funny thing about time is how relevant it is. Isn’t this what your Einstein said? By the way, my name is Alura and I’m here to help you,” she said and then muttered something I couldn’t hear.

  Wind began to swirl around the cab like a tornado. I looked outside and saw blue-white light all around the cab as it lifted off the ground into the air. Seconds later the cab landed back on the ground and the wind and lights disappeared. When I looked out the window, there was no desert. I was now on a mountain plateau covered with snow. The driver exited the cab and opened my door.

  “Come on Azul. All your questions will be answered soon.”

  I must still be dreaming. There’s no other explanation. Yea, this is all part of the same crazy dream and I’m still sleeping in the hotel bed.

  I smiled. “You’re part of my dream, aren’t you?

  Alura didn’t respond, but extended her arm out to suggest that I exit the cab. I stepped out, reluctantly, and followed her to a narrow pathway with walls of granite rising at least fifty feet into the sky. The pathway led to a solid wall of granite about five feet wide and about 100 feet long. Alura looked at me over her shoulder and said, “Follow me”, then she vanished through the wall.

  Okay, now I’m certain this is a dream.

  I heard Alura speak from what sounded like inside the granite wall. “Come on Azul, don’t waste time,” she said, then her hand came out of the wall, grabbed my shirt collar, and yanked me through the wall into a large opening on the other side.

  Dream or not, I was beginning to hyperventilate and felt like everything I ate the last 24 hours was about to exit my body. I looked over my shoulder and the granite wall I was pulled through was still there.

  “Relax, you’re among friends,” she said and walked up stairs leading to another wall.

  This wall one was much bigger and had two gigantic columns holding up a monolith slab. After climbing fifty or more stairs, Alura stopped and I noticed she also had a glowing amulet, but hers was on a ring instead of a necklace.

  Alura grinned at me and said, “Entrunezum Keob,” and the wall got fuzzy and then vanished revealing a large chamber. She then walked through the opening, and this time I followed her without being asked – but I did close my eyes.

  The chamber was circular, about 50 feet across, and the ceiling was at least several hundred feet high. At the center of the ceiling was a bright light that created a spotlight effect on the floor of the chamber. Sitting at a half circle shaped stone table were four men and three women. There were also three empty seats to the left and two to the right of the last seated figures. All of them had white hair at or below shoulder length, some pulled back in pony tails, others falling straight down. The men also had white beards of varied lengths and they all had the same brilliant blue eyes as Alura and Kyiel. The man sitting at the center smiled and greeted me.

  “Welcome Azul. We have been waiting for your return,” the man said, then he looked at my crazy cabby. “Kysna almat Alura.”

  “Grasna Micha” Alura said, then she bowed and moved off to the side into shadows as Micha spoke again.

  “The amulet you have in the small pouch of your garment must be kept with you always.”

  “Small pouch … oh, you mean my pocket,” I said, trying to appear confident and unafraid. “Can someone please tell me what’s really going on?”

  Micha pointed to a similar amulet he was wearing around his neck and I noticed everyone sitting with him also had an amulet.

  “Put your amulet on now Azul,” Micha said. “Do not be afraid. You are among friends here.”

  I took the amulet from my pocket and placed it around my neck expecting a shock or something worse, but nothing happened. Okay, I’m still alive.

  “You must unlock the amulet by speaking the words used when it was first made,” Micha said.

  “What words might those be?”

  “Only you know the words Azul. You made the amulet long ago and only you can unlock its power.”

  “Sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about. I think this is all some of a big mistake. I’m not Azul.”

  Micha joined hands with his companions and they closed their eyes. I began hearing their voices in my head chanting something, but I could not understand the words. My amulet began to glow blue-white and everything in the room darkened.

  I felt as if I was alone and became very relaxed, then heard a new voice begin to take over the chanting. It was faint at first, but as it got louder I began to hear some of the words … icea … isha, no it was ichsna. I began to slowly distinguish other words flashing in my mind, and after a number of mispronunciations, I involuntarily shouted aloud, “Icksna, polaratoo, amulatay.”

  The room lit up again and the seven figures were smiling as blue-white streams of light encompassed me. At first, the light traveled across my chest to my arms, then to my legs, neck, face, and head. I closed my eyes again as chills covered me from head to toe. In my mind I saw the same old man’s face from my vision of the battle on Zeshtune with Kyiel. He appeared to be looking at me and spoke.

  “Azul, do not be afraid. We are the same you and I, and now exist on the Earth plane once again. There is much to do and no time to doubt who you are or why you’re here. Listen to the elders of the Zeshtune Council. Your sister Alura will help you, as will your friend Kyiel. Don’t despair and remain strong for the task at hand. Time is short Azul, and the enemy is coming.”

  The image disappeared, and when I opened my eyes, no one was sitting at the stone table. Alura came out of the shadows and stood in front of me.

  “You’re my sister?”

  Alura smiled and tears filled her eyes. “Dear brother, I waited so long for your return.”

  I smiled and felt a quiet peace come over me while Alura embraced me, squeezing tightly.

  “Welcome back Azul,” she said. “Welcome back to Keob.”

  Alura led me out of the chamber into another room. It looked modern with earth tone colored walls, hardwood flooring, leather furniture, and a large kitchen.

  “This is our home at Keob. It is also our safe place, especially while you continue recognition.”

  “Not bad, not bad at all. Sure beats my place back in Boston by a long shot,” I said and Alura laughed.

  There was a hot dinner prepared in various sized dishes neatly arranged on the kitchen table. I took a deep breath to take in the sweet aroma.

  “Something smells really good,” I said, still not sure I wasn’t dreaming, but slowly coming around in understanding all this was real.

  “Sarila’s assistant made us dinner. She is somewhat of a culinary master, which comes in quite handy around here.”

  “I bet it does. Did she use magic to make all this?”

  “No, magic was not used.”

  Alura explained how magic must not be used for personal gain. Doing so creates some kind of bad mojo that weakens a wizard’s ability. She told me wizards could do almost anything to help another person, even whip up nutritional meals if needed, but never for personal satisfaction or vanity. The only exception is if a situation presented itself jeopardizing a wizard’s life.

  “So, you’re telling me that I’m a wizard?”

  “Yes, a very powerful one.”

  I grinned. “Like Merlin in the King Arthur story?” I said, thinking she was kidding me.

  Alura laughed. “Yes, but you are a real wizard with extraordinary magical power.”

  I scratched my head. “Are you sure you have the right guy? I can’t even conjure up a microwave pizza.”

  “Oh, you can do a whole lot more than simple things like that.”

  “This is a lot to take in Alura. I mean, a few hours ago I was a professor and now you’re telling me I’m an all powerful wizard. It’s the same kind of crazy stuff that Kyiel told me, but up to now, I thought I was dreaming.”

  “It’s all very real Azul. You are my brother and a powerful Zeshtune wizard.”

  “Let me see if I got this magic stuff right. I can’t conjure up a pizza and six-pack while watching a movie, but if I’m about to take my last breath in a hot desert, magically created water is okay?”

  “That’s right, you got it. There are other rules we’ll discuss later, including rule number one.”

  “Rule number one? What might that be?”

  Alura poked her finger in my chest. “A wizard may never ever use magic to harm any human or other living beings. This is rule number one Azul and there are only two exceptions. The first one is that creatures of the dark are not protected by Zeshtune laws because they kill humans and beings of light. Also, if you have no other choice to preserve a human life, magic can be used to take a life, but there must be no alternative.”

  Alura sat down at the table to eat and I joined her. She then began to explain how the sole purpose of a wizard’s magic was to preserve and protect life. Destroying dark creatures are an exception because their sole purpose is to destroy life.

  “In short, killing bad guys saves good guys,” she said.

  “What exactly happens to a wizard if he takes a life that is not dark?”

  “Taking a human life, or any being of light, would cause all other wizards to have visions of the act. Eventfully, they would find and destroy the wizard responsible in order to restore balance in the magic continuum. Only the Zeshtune council would be able to intervene, which is unlikely. So big brother, unless you have no other choice and can prove it was absolutely necessary, never cause harm to any thing good.”

  Alura and I finished our dinner and she excused herself to meet with someone named Sarila, who was the person responsible for all this tasty food.

  “You clean things up brother. Next time will be my turn. Right now I have to catch up on things, but I’ll be back later.”

  I washed the dishes and placed them in a cupboard while trying to recall things about my past. There were fragments of thoughts all jumbled up like when you almost remember a name or place but can’t. After I put the last plate away, I stretched out on the leather couch to relax and recount the events that have turned my life upside down. A few hours ago I was a professor, now I’m supposed to believe that I’m some sort of ancient wizard. It’s hard to explain, but it felt good having a sister and an important purpose in my life. It actually feels very real and no longer like some mind melting hallucination.

  I soon fell into a deep sleep and for the first time in days felt refreshed and energetic when I woke. I was still alone, which provided me a good chance to explore my new home starting with the refrigerator. A big smile covered my face upon seeing turkey, chicken, roast beef, and … I blinked my eyes to be sure I wasn’t dreaming … there were several six packs of my favorite domestic beer. Fantastic, I thought as my eyes widened.

  Even though I had eaten a few hours ago, my stomach was making noise telling me to eat more. I loaded up a plate with various meats and grabbed a can of beer. Ahhh .. life is good.

  On the table in front of me was a note with the name Azul written of the folded half. I unfolded it and saw two words.

  “What the heck does ‘aptier Kyiel’ mean?”

  No sooner than I said those two words, Kyiel appeared sitting on the couch in front of me, which startled me enough to cause minor choking on my food and dropping a beer.

  “Crap … what the heck are you doing here?” I asked him, jumping to my feet and wiping spilled beer off my pants. “Are you going to keep popping in without warning?”

  “You summoned me,” Kyiel replied.

  “I summoned you? How did I do that? You mean speaking those words written on that paper called you here?”

  “Yes, I am compelled to answer your summon.”

  I scratched my head again, which I seemed to be doing a lot today.

  Just when I was thinking things couldn’t get weirder, it does.

  Chapter 6

  Alura must have returned while I was sleeping and placed the note on the table. Funny girl … she knew that Kyiel popping out of nowhere would scare the crap out of me.

  “Let me make sure I got this right. What you’re telling me is that I can summon you anytime when I say aptier Kyiel?”

  “Yes, that is correct.”

  “What do I say to get rid of you?”

  “You simply dismiss me.”

  “Who came up with this idea?”

  “You created the summon spell to preserve your privacy and maintain my counsel,” Kyiel said. “Only you can use these words. It will not work for anyone else because the spell is unique to your will and power and not germane to any language or other being.”

  Pretty cool. This should prove to be handy from time to time, especially with all the questions I have.

  “Alright Kyiel, grab some grub and a beer. I have a thousand questions to ask you,” I said and drank some more beer, but Kyiel sat motionless on the couch staring at me.

  “Hey, don’t you know it’s rude to watch someone eat, especially after being offered their hospitality? What’s wrong, are you a vegetarian or something?”

  “No Azul, I am not a being of flesh and do not require sustenance.”

  I stopped chewing and raised my eyebrows.

  “Really? What exactly are you?”

  “I am not a corporeal being and have no physical form. I am imprisoned in a limited state of existence on this plane to serve you. Think of me as a collection of molecules arranged in a way to make sense while in the presence of physical beings.”

  I took another sip of beer emptying the can and thought Kyiel was pulling my leg.

  “You’re a collection of molecules and not solid? Seriously?”

  “Not solid in the sense a corporal being thinks of such things, but I am real just the same.”

  I got off of my chair and walked closer to Kyiel. His eyes followed me as I looked closely at his face, only a few inches away.

  “You certainly look solid to me.”

  “You are thinking you should be able to pass your hand through me if I am not solid,” Kyiel said. “Proceed.”

  I narrowed my eyes and moved my hand slowly through his head. Swirls of light moved out like air displacing smoke and then reformed back to the shape of his head. I returned to my chair and quietly stared at Kyiel for a minute.

  “What exactly did you do to deserve this state of existence? I know the short of it, that something happened at this place you call Zeshtune, but what exactly did you do?”

  “Zeshtune is our homeworld where a great battle once took place. It was where choices were made, sides chosen, destinies created, and punishment administered. Dark and light exist throughout the universe, and as with all living beings, Zeshtunians have free will to decide for themselves either dark or light. Most chose light and battled the dark on Zeshtune and have continued doing so through the ages in an eternal struggle of good against evil.”

  I frowned. “Imprisonment until the end of days seems a bit harsh for getting cold feet during a battle if you ask me.”

  “You choose light Azul, as did Alura and countless others, but I chose neither light nor darkness. I stood by watching the great battle on Zeshtune unfold and was indifferent to any outcome. The elders and their wizards drove out darkness from Zeshtune to the void of empty space. Those who stood by were spared from the void, but we were condemned to exist in between light and dark until the end of days. I am one of those condemned.”

  I was feeling a little sad for Kyiel, realizing the punishment explained his lack of emotion and stone like appearance.

  “If those who stood by, sitting of the fence so to speak, were condemned to an existence between light and dark, how is it that you are here right now?”

  “A few had someone advocate for them to the elders of Zeshtune for mercy and a pathway to undo their punishment. You were my advocate and the council agreed to your plea. I and the others who had advocates have been given a chance to overcome their indifference while existing between light and dark.”

  “That’s a tall order,” I said. “Overcoming any shortfall of character would be a difficult task, if not impossible, without having free will. So, you’re telling me that I have some clout with these elders?”

  “You are the Council of Elder’s most honorable colleague and a wizard possessing great power and knowledge. It is because of you that I am here now to serve you.”

  “Are you saying I am one of those people I saw in the chamber room?”

  “Yes, you are an elder and came to this world to protect it from the Darkzon and all those who exist in darkness.”

  “Are you kidding me? I can’t even ride a bike without a safety helmet. I am nobody’s hero, believe me.”

  “There is no other who is more capable than you Azul. You have saved this world many times from the Darkzon and I have been with you for each battle. It will take time for you to realize your destiny and importance in protecting this world. First, you must complete recognition.”

  “Who exactly are the Darkzon?”

  “They are beings from another world who harbor great evil towards all beings of light. Humans are insignificant to them and only slaves to do their bidding while they are here on Earth.”

 

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