56)
With the Mirror Of Sfel now in his hands, Alex knew that he no longer needed to dwell in his Labyrinth. It had served a purpose all through those years and it had kept him safe and shown him guidance, but it no longer served a purpose for him. Focusing on his light he let the darkness around him disperse until he was back in the valley again. Sure enough he was sitting on the same rock that he had been before entering the labyrinth, but this time he was holding an ornate, guilt edged mirror.
“Now do you believe, Creator?” A voice boomed out, one that Alex knew instantly. Looking up from the mirror he rejoiced to see not only Onyx walking towards him, but Anjinn and Allura too.
Allura smiled at him, pride shining from her eyes. Anjinn thrust his hand out and said, “You have truly proved yourself worthy of the Wyxann, Paige. You will forever be known as The Creator in our townage. Now we will be able to turn the tide against the Deluge, and restore Bellkipeg to its former glory.”
“How do you feel, Creator?” Onyx asked, placing a firm hand on his shoulder.
“I’m not sure, Onyx.” Alex replied. “…I’m not sure what actually happened in there.”
“Take your time, Creator. Just explain what happened from when you first walked into the Labyrinth.” Alex explained as best he could, it felt so subjective, but he felt so changed by the experience.
“Yes, Creator.” Onyx agreed. “You had spent so much time walking away from your truth. So, how much do you remember of your past life?”
“Almost all of it.” Alex replied. “Some of it doesn’t make sense, and the rest just doesn’t seem to matter anymore.” He chuckled.
“It will take a time for all the memories to settle, Creator.”
“The thing is, I don’t recognise the person in the memories.”
“Why should you?” Anjinn interjected. “Looking at how you are now, how you hold yourself… You are completely different to how you were when we first met. You were a child then, a man now.” Alex smiled for that was truly a compliment coming from Anjinn.
“So those memories are quite useless now, is that what you mean?” Alex asked.
“No, Creator.” Onyx replied. “The memories serve to tell you how far you have traveled and how far you’ve come. Do not feel disheartened by your memories, cherish them and let them go for they no longer govern your life. You live purely in the present now, and the past no longer has any bearings on who you are.”
“I suppose we’ve got to decide where to go next.” Alex remarked. It was Anjinn who spoke first, surprising Alex with his answer.
57)
“Our destinies are set for us.” Anjinn replied, “and our paths now lead us back to our village.” Allura nodded sadly in agreement.
“Anjinn is right, Creator.” She said and kissed Alex on the cheek. “We need to take the Mirror back to our village, to its rightful place. Then we will be able to turn back the tide against The Deluge and the darkness that has been threatening Bellkipeg.”
“But maybe we can go with you.” Alex replied, not wanting to say goodbye to them. He’d been through so much with Allura that he now didn’t want to be away from her. The irony did not escape him. Onyx shook his head.
“That is not our way, Creator.” He spoke solemnly. “Our path is into the heart of Bellkipeg itself. Allura and Anjinn have their destiny, you have yours. We have walked together, but now is the time for us to part.” Alex nodded.
“I’ll not forget you.” He said to Allura, placing a hand on her arm. “Either of you.” He continued, looking at Anjinn. Allura held Alex, hugged him like a brother. Anjinn shook Alex firmly by the hand again and thanked him for all that he had done. Alex nodded and when they finally walked away up the hill to the wood he felt disheartened.
“We have no time for indulgences, Creator.” Onyx explained, slapping Alex on the shoulder. “They have not truly left us, because they were never truly with us. For a time it seemed as if our lives were running along parallel lines, but that is all.”
“What do we do now?” Alex asked. “You said something about walking to the heart of Bellkipeg.”
“Yes, that is where we will be able to confront the true source of the darkness that threatens the land.”
“So I guess time is of the essence then.”
They walked in silence for some time, utilizing the power walk. It was second nature to Alex now, and he even found himself leading the way intuitively, Onyx smiled; he knew that Alex had no conscious idea of where they were heading, it was something that they hadn’t talked about, but by scanning the area and walking properly Alex was going in the right direction.
Alex, for his part, was oblivious to this irony. It was now natural for him to walk this way; it was far less tiresome and he could cover much more ground in the same time.
“Where are we going?” He finally asked.
“Where do you feel?” Onyx replied. Alex chuckled at this; it wasn’t so long ago that he would have balked at such a retort, but now he welcomed the chance to allow his feelings free reign. He stopped and closed his eyes.
“I feel that we’re heading towards a village, smaller than Haywreath.” He said. “This is a place of so much peace, with deep connections to the heart of Bellkipeg.”
“You are right, Creator. However,” He smiled, “next time I expect you to connect without stopping and closing your eyes! It’s not very practical and is also dangerous!” Alex smiled sheepishly; it did seem a very stupid thing to do, there wouldn’t always be the luxury of doing that.
“How far away are we?” He asked.
“Not far, just over the brow of the hill.” He motioned. “There was a time when Slauwood was linked directly into the heart of Bellkipeg. I fear now that may not be the case, after talking to Anjinn, the Deluge is spreading it’s corrupting influence further than I had originally thought.”
“What can we do to stop it?” Alex asked as they carried on walking.
“You have found the Mirror of Sfel and that will help a great deal in our battle.” Onyx explained. “But your biggest task is still to understand yourself, Creator. You and the land are one, remember. To understand Bellkipeg, you must first truly understand yourself.”
58)
The village of Slauwood consisted of a stone church, a few ramshackle wooden huts and a thatched communal building. Quite the opposite from the energy he had sensed from earlier; however the village was surrounded by a circle of large standing stones and further ahead, on the brow of the hill, stood the largest of the stones, tapered at the top to a point. It shimmered in the light and hurt Alex’s eyes to look at it for too long.
“That is the source of Slauwood’s power.” Onyx explained. “It taps right into the very soul of Bellkipeg and shines forth its light.” He motioned to the church, and then to the communal building. “We won’t visit the church today for we need to rest and replenish our own strength. The vicar is an old friend of ours and will not mind waiting another day!” Onyx smiled. “The beds are soft, and the food is reasonable, and this time we will not have to worry for our lives. What say you, Creator?” Alex could only smile at this; although he had slept well after his initiation with the Faire, this would be a chance to be in a real bed again! He beamed at Onyx. “I take that as a definite!”
For once the afternoon and evening passed without incident. Alex and Onyx were welcomed into Slauwood, with a hearty meal in the communal building before being shown to their own hut. The village was everything that Onyx had promised and for once Alex relaxed. He slept soundly, the first time that he’d been able to since arriving in Bellkipeg. Onyx had warned him to be wary of any dreams that he might have, especially in such a hallowed village and being so close to the heart, but Alex had no such dreams. When he had woken up and dressed Onyx quizzed him about the lack of dreams:
“That is strange, Creator.” Onyx remarked, “I find that very strange indeed. We are so close to the Heart that both of us should’ve received some form of communication from the Stone.”
“So you didn’t dream either, then?” Alex asked.
“No. For me not to dream is a rare occurrence for that is how Bellkipeg imparts its knowledge to me. I had hoped that the same would’ve happened to you.” Onyx opened the door and stared at the Stone, and intimated for Alex to do the same.
Alex shifted his gaze and tilted his head to one side. This allowed him to See the stone. “What am I supposed to be looking for?” Alex asked.
“First, tell me what you see.” Onyx replied.
“I’m just seeing the Stone.” Alex shrugged his shoulders and tried harder, really concentrating on the Heart, allowing it to fill his vision completely. “For such a powerful stone it’s a very dullish colour, and I know this may sound silly, but there’s no life to it.”
“You are right to make such an observation. There is something wrong with the Heart, something is blocking it; something is blocking the energy flow for the entire village and this could be disastrous for Bellkipeg if left unchecked!” Alex was shocked by this, because it meant that the dark forces were already turning this place of power against itself.
“What do we need to do?” He asked walking towards the Stone. Onyx stopped him before he got too close to it.
“I wouldn’t, Creator.” He warned. “This could be deadly.”
“How so?”
“Neither of us noticed that anything was wrong, and yet the Heart has been blocked.” Onyx explained. “It takes a powerful force to hide its truth that way, and I can only just see the Heart shimmer.” Alex strained to look harder, but couldn’t make out what Onyx was seeing. “You need to look either just above the Stone, or to the side of it. If you stare long enough at it you’ll notice that the Stone itself shimmers slightly.” Alex did as he was told and stared just beyond the Stone and sure enough he could see a very faint shivering, like a heat haze.
“What does that mean?” He asked.
“It means that it’s been protected.” Onyx replied, looking at Alex. “There will be four guardians that we will need to disarm in order to release the energy blockage from the Heart.”
“How do we find them?” Alex asked again.
“You know the answer to that question, as well as I do.”
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