A Division of Souls - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe by Jon Chaisson
*
“Ashan…” Kai whispered. “I can feel them…all of them.” Eyes blurry with tears, she couldn’t keep from staring at the beam of light that shot up from the warehouse. She reached out blindly and caught the sleeve of his shirt, grasping it tightly. “It’s working…by the will of the One, it’s working!”
“Yes, it is,” Ashan answered, his voice no louder than hers. He watched the Light energy with his sharpened sight as it condensed itself within the warehouse and soared skyward into the heavens. The storm clouds had dispersed, leaving nothing but an immaculately clear blue sky. All the dormant spirits within the Rain were now part of the cho-nyhndah. It was now up to Denni to lead them in the right direction.
Kai reached out again with her gossamer thread of conscience to sense as many of the cho-nyhndah as she could. She felt the ripples of excitement from the awakened, sensing their eagerness to live, to take in all the knowledge of spirit that they could, and to follow the One of All Sacred to the ends of the universes. Their euphoric song touched at Kai’s very soul, pulling her ever closer in. She loosened her inhibitions and drank in the warmth. She felt anticipation; they were waiting for Denni. They were waiting for orders.
“Can you feel her?” Ashan asked.
“She’s very distant…as if she’s assimilating into all of the spirits around her. They’re just soaking her in.” Kai let out a small laugh. “Goddess, she knows more than she’s ever let on! She understands…dehndarra Né hra nyhndah.”
Ashan broke out of his stare and glanced at her. “How old is she, anyway? Fifteen?”
Kai frowned in thought. “Yes, I think so. Why do you ask?”
He shrugged. “Just an observation. There’s a chance she may just remember what she was taught in services when she was young…but it’s got to be more than that. She’s acquired so much in so little time, and not once has it come back on her. Everything she’s done is purely instinctual.”
Because it is instinctual, Kai said from within. Though she was born Dennise Johnson, she was reborn Denysia Shalei, the One of All Sacred. It is because of her faith in her followers as well as herself that she does not stray from her own heart.
The beam of Light caught Kai’s attention again. It had begun to pulse, very slowly at once every ten or twelve seconds. Her own instincts had picked the pattern up just as she had caught the pulse in the corner of her eye. Her heart quickened each time it happened. “Tell me you caught that,” she said.
Ashan hummed in agreement. “That’s new.”
“What’s happening?”
He continued watching the beam, frowning. “I honestly do not know. I have never seen or heard of a Cleansing beacon pulsating before.”
“Nor have I.”
Ashan took a step back and shifted his focus back to Lightseeing. It took him a few tries to focus in on the spirit body rather than the spirit energy, as the former had almost blinded him earlier. Once there he found it harder to stay focused in this different view. He tried again and looked in the direction of the warehouse.
What he saw was a delicate play of shapes and hues, bobbing and weaving above the entire area of the hrrah-sehdhyn in what had begun to resemble a spinning galaxy. Each spirit signature, each aura shone in its own degree of color and radiance. They intertwined with one another, creating a complex rainbow of Light, the strength of which he had never seen.
“They’re not gathering anymore,” he said unevenly. “They’re assimilating.”
“What?” Kai gasped. “That’s impossible!”
“See for yourself,” he said. “I have no idea what she’s doing. None of the others in the same position have ever pulled Warriors of the One together this quickly…let alone in this fashion.” He exhaled, shaking his head and adjusting his eyes back to normal. “It’s beyond my understanding now.”
Kai shuddered, realizing what that meant. It meant that all the Mendaihu, all the Shenaihu…all psionic sensitives here on this planet were on the verge of a new awakening, one that would surpass those in the past. It meant she had found a threat no one else, not even Nehalé or Natianos, could have expected. It meant this was more than just a war between the Mendaihu and the Shenaihu.
She had decided to awaken everyone on Earth after all.
“By the Will of the One,” she said, and found her voice wavering. We have become enlightened, Ashan. The division of souls is being reversed. She’s gone ahead and awakened the Earth. Gharra will return to Trisanda.
Ashan did not answer. In the silence she could see him quivering, and for the first time in many years, there were tears in his eyes. He had come to the same conclusion, and he was terrified.