A Division of Souls - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe by Jon Chaisson
*
“Denysia.” Amna’s voice was clear now, speaking aloud. She felt her hand on her shoulder as her eyes adjusted to the brighter and sharper view. This was just like when she was at Branden Hill, when she was up in that otherwhere. This was Lightseeing. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be with you just then,” her friend said. “Nehalé told me I’d be safer here.”
“I agree with him. Things aren’t looking…” She stopped in midsentence as she began to turn around and face the city below…
…and saw instead one giant, swirling spiral of light, and the eye of its hurricane hovering over the Waterfront Sector, specifically over the Moulding Warehouse. All was Light. She saw the energies of the world, felt them and understood them. Down below, in the city, the Rain of Light had condensed to such a degree that it had become a small sun, scattered arms of Light pulling human energies ever closer to its center. If it had not been so close and so threatening, she would have accepted the spiral’s majestic beauty. It closely resembled a galaxy formation, in a way…
Galaxy, she thought.
That’s it! She turned wide-eyed at the two of them, and waved her hands frantically as she fought to speak words quicker than she could come up with them. She abruptly giggled at herself, remembering that gesture as one of her mother’s personal quirks, and began to pace as she spoke.
“We can contain it,” she said. “We can bring it back to its dormancy again. All we need is someone to gather it.”
Nehalé seemed to twitch at her suggestion. “It’s highly unstable, Dearest One,” he said. Other words hung in the air, waiting to be said, but he would never dare to call the One of All Sacred crazy. “Who would have the strength to handle a Gathering?”
“Pool our resources,” Amna said. “I’m sure Den could handle it on her own. It’s just a matter of someone being there to keep everything grounded.”
Denni hid a shiver by fidgeting again. Nervous energy coursed through her body, a mixture of excitement and intense conviction. Caren and the others were most likely thinking the same thing, and were acting on it already. This was an idea Poe would have come up with as well; he of all people would understand the sheer magnitude of attempting to realign the balance of such a force of energy.
“Protectors of the One are there for that reason, aren’t they?” Denni said. “Caren and Alec are somewhere down there, with Kai and Ashan. They’ll know what to do.” She nodded towards the Waterfront. She held her gaze at the swirling mass of Light and energy for a moment, watching its imminent threat and impossible beauty. She could tell from this distance that its epicenter was over the warehouse, and there was indeed precious little time left.
“It’ll work,” she said. “I have faith it will.”
Again, Nehalé left words hanging. His lack of faith worried her. She only hoped his faith in himself was as strong as he displayed it.
“I suggest we return to the warehouse first,” Amna said. “We need to calm everyone down before we can do anything else.”
“Let’s go then,” she said aloud. “Nehalé?”
He bowed slightly towards her. “Yes, Dearest One?”
“Thanks for bringing me up here,” she said, touching his arm. “I had to see what was going on from the outside before I could act. I would have come to this conclusion eventually…but not as quickly.”
“I am but a Warrior, emha,” he said.
She grinned at his stubborn subservience. “And a great one you are,” she said, and took his hand. “Let’s go.”