59)
“We’ll find the Guardians at the four cardinal points.” Alex said, “Each Guardian will be itself protected and will need to be disarmed itself before we can progress on to the other, but first we must ground ourselves.”
“You are correct,” Onyx agreed. “But we must be careful, and take this slowly. Each Guardian will have its own set of problems that will need to be dealt with. We need to walk around the periphery of the village before we go any further.”
“Yes, I think I know why.” Alex responded. When Onyx raised his eyebrow Alex continued, “We need to assess the situation, find out exactly what we’re dealing with here. It’s no good just rushing in.” Onyx found it hard not to smile, despite the situation; it wasn’t that long ago where Alex would’ve just tried to disarm the guardians without thinking.
They walked around the periphery of the village slowly, adopting the true walking stance, more deliberately this time; Onyx explained: “The more consciously you walk, the more aware you are of your surroundings. The moment you take your surroundings for granted…”
“Everything changes.” Alex interrupted. Onyx nodded. Even though it was a fine, crisp and sunny morning there was no one wandering around; the village looked deserted which seemed strange to Alex for even the communal building was empty.
He could see the four guardians simply by their colour change: they glowed a sickly green and he felt fear and apprehension when walking close to them.
“They are drawing their power from the same darkness that flows through the Deluge. For each of these barriers we must intone a prayer and cleanse the area with salt, which I took from the communal building last night. We must walk to the North Guardian first.”
“Why did you take the salt last night, if you didn’t know about the energy blockage?” Alex asked, bemused.
“Salt is a powerful cleanser, and absorbs negative emotional energies.” Onyx replied. “I saw an opportunity to appropriate a small supply, which I keep in my pouch around my neck. It is also a good protector. I took the liberty of collecting some for you as well.” Onyx handed Alex a roughly sewn leather pouch, with a drawer-string. “Use this when I say to, and join in with me when I start the prayer.” Onyx explained.
“How will I know what to say?”
“Open yourself to me, let the words flow.” Onyx replied. “But be warned, the Guardians will not give up easy. Remember, they are connected to The Presence source.
Alex was apprehensive approaching the first of the Guardians, he didn’t know what to expect; was the Guardian going to be a physical presence or an apparition? Onyx sensed his apprehension. “Stay focused and centred. Do not let the Guardians get into your head, Creator. I may not be able to help you.”
Alex concentrated on what was about to happen; drawing on his calm they walked up to the Northern perimeter of the village. As before, he was aware of the green hue to the area directly in front of him, and it was then that he started questioning exactly what was going on. There seemed no point to what they were doing. What did Alex care what happened to the village? His destiny was elsewhere, he certainly had no business deactivating the Guardians, for all he knew they could be protecting the village, not suppressing its power. Onyx could easily be wrong.
“I don’t see the point in this, Onyx.” He snapped. “We haven’t got time to waste.”
“Stay focused, Creator.” Onyx cautioned.
“But I don’t want to do this.” Alex sounded like a petulant child, which surprised him.
“Centre yourself!” Onyx reprimanded. “This is not the time to indulge. It is simply the influence of the Guardian, trying to sway you, resist it!”
Alex grimaced. He hadn’t even been aware of the change in him, the feeling had come over him so quickly. He chastised himself quietly and redoubled his efforts. The feeling didn’t go away but he was aware of it, so he could observe it dispassionately and not let it affect him.
Onyx motioned to him that it was time for them to intone the prayer so he opened himself to Onyx’s energies and let the words flow forth.
“We call upon the North to cleanse itself of the pain and rigidity of the Guardian, placed here to disrupt your flow.” Alex could feel the pain course through his body as they intoned the words, all his joints became rigid and inflexible. It became almost unbearable, but he knew this was but another attempt by the Guardian to warn them off. “We call upon the grounding power of the North to give us the Strength to do your bidding and rid this village, and the land of Darkness. We do this in your name.” Onyx took the pouch of salt from his neck and scattered a handful, Alex did the same. As he did so, he felt the aura of the place change again, the pain subsiding in his joints. He let out a sigh of relief.
“Well, that wasn’t too bad.” Alex remarked. Onyx shot him a look of disdain.
“Be wary, Creator.” He remarked. “Don’t become too self-assured just yet. This is but the first Guardian, and I deliberately chose the North first because it would be the easiest to tackle. The other Guardians will be aware of our presence now and will intensify their efforts to stop us from deactivating them.”
60)
“Learn to trust in your own flow.” Onyx remarked as they walked to the East quadrant of the village. There were still no villagers to be seen and the village was as silent as a cloudy winters day.
Alex felt this emptiness inside of him increase the closer he got to the Guardian. It started off as a prickly feeling in the base of his stomach and with each step it grew in frequency, as if the Guardian itself was sending out waves of fear and insularity. Alex looked to Onyx but he seemed oblivious. It was obvious that he no longer cared; he didn’t want to know when Alex had trouble with the first Guardian and was clearly distancing himself now.
That was absurd though. Onyx was concentrating on the Guardian, which was exactly what he needed to do. He could still feel the waves of loneliness and depression buffet him like ripples on a pond; however they no longer affected him. By disassociating himself from his mask and the self he was no longer influenced by the petty emotions of fear or insecurity, for being connected with his truth he was part of something far bigger than himself.
He could see the ripples change frequency to deep depression and he laughed to himself. He was no longer affected by these emotions and it was a joy to finally be able to step outside them and see his own truth.
At the given signal Onyx took a handful of salt and scattered it over the ground intoning:
“We call upon the East to cleanse itself of the Fear and Anxiety of the Guardian, placed here to disrupt your flow.” Alex felt the strength in the words and even allowed himself to take the lead saying, “We call upon the uplifting power of the East to give us the Knowledge to do your bidding and rid this village, and the land of Darkness. We do this in your name.”
Suddenly, like a switch being flicked, the waves of fear stopped. Onyx turned to him and said: “You understood exactly what I meant, Creator. When I taught you the correct way of walking I actually taught you the correct way to be.”
“I can see that now. Allowing the eyes to cross was really just a gimmick, isn’t it?”
“Yes, in some ways it is.” Onyx conceded. “But it did force you to see things in a new way, and from a slightly different perspective.” Alex understood the logic behind this and smiled. “However, we still have two more Guardians to deactivate, and they will be the hardest to shut down.”
They turned to face the South and walked towards the third Guardian, Onyx leading the way. Alex wondered what form the Guardian would choose to show itself in.
The heat wasn’t noticeable at first, but as they walked closer Alex felt his cheeks burn. It was then that he saw the flames. They appeared out of nowhere, a wall spreading around the area where Onyx felt the Guardian stood, the heat unbearable.
Alex didn’t know what to do at first, he wasn’t expecting something physical as the previous two Guardians had simply been psychic barriers that had to be breached. This one was different, and there seemed no way past it. He could see Onyx simply standing there, seemingly unsure of the way forward too.
The flames roared higher the closer Alex tried to get, and he felt his own anger start to burn as he took a step back. What was going on? There was no way he could get past this fire, there was no water around to douse it, besides which he knew that water alone would have little effect on the flames.
However, Alex noticed there was something different about this fire. As he walked closer the flames grew higher and more intense, as if they had reacted to his presence… or his thoughts.
He remembered that flames needed fuel to burn, and this fire seemed to feed off psychic energy. Simply by focusing on the flames he was actively fuelling them, which is why they grew when he walked closer. Were the flames real or were they just another psychic projection?
Alex tried shifting his perception to no avail, the flames were still burning and became hotter still. Onyx hadn’t advanced any further and seemed to be waiting for Alex to make the first move. All the time he saw the flames he felt the head so he closed his eyes in order to distance himself from the problem.
Surprisingly the temperature abated, he could feel the air cool around him a great deal which prompted him to open his eyes. The flames suddenly shot out at him and he only just stepped back in time. His eyebrows were singed by the heat. He closed his eyes again just to see whether there would be another drop in temperature. Sure enough, Alex no longer felt the heat. He smiled at himself for taking so long to understand the situation. Flames were a representation of anger, the more he concentrated on the flames the higher they rose and the more heat he had felt. Alex knew that this fire wasn’t real, not in any physical sense and that by keeping his eyes closed and focusing on the village becoming clear of the Guardians influence he would be able to deactivate this one.
Onyx sensed that Alex had understood how to neutralize this Guardian and threw his handful of salt. Alex, still with his eyes closed, threw his and they both intoned:
“We call upon the South to cleanse itself of the Aggression and destructive powers of this Guardian, placed here to disrupt your flow. We call upon the transformation power of the South to give us the passion to do your bidding and rid this village, and the land of Darkness. We do this in your name.”
“It is safe to open your eyes now, Creator.” Onyx finally said. Alex complied and sure enough, the flames had disappeared. “I knew that you would figure it out in the end.” Onyx smiled.
“It took a while.” Alex conceded and smiled back. “One Guardian left.”
“And this one will be the most difficult of them all to disarm.” Onyx cautioned. “This one will play on all of our emotions so we will have to be on our guard.”
61)
Turning to face the West they could see in the distance a small girl of no more than five or six. As they walked closer the girl seemed to wince in pain, but she stayed exactly where she was, her long fair hair blowing in the wind.
Alex shifted his perception and saw nothing untoward, this was just a normal girl.
“Are you alright?” Alex shouted to her.
“Creator.” Onyx remonstrated.
“It’s just a girl, Onyx.” Alex replied, now concerned as the girl seemed in a lot of pain the closer they walked.
“Do not be fooled, Creator. Not after we have come so far” Alex stopped walking and simply observed Onyx and the girl. Onyx seemed oblivious to the pain that he was causing the child. He was convinced that the child was simply another illusion like the other three but Alex wasn’t so sure. It was the perfect distraction though, a child in agony. But what if this time it wasn’t a distraction?
“Onyx stop!” Alex said firmly.
“You are mistaken, Creator.” Onyx reprimanded. “This is but another psychic construct that will disappear once we deactivate the Guardian.”
“But it’s not!” Alex argued, sternly.
“This Guardian will use everything in its power to stop you from freeing the village, Creator. You have to be stronger than that!”
“This quarter, the quarter of the West will also use gullibility against you, Onyx.” Alex was shocked to hear himself utter those words, but this was too important for them to get it wrong.
“What do you mean?” Onyx asked, turning back to face Alex. “How can it use my gullibility? I can see what it’s doing, there is no girl.” Onyx walked closer towards the girl, oblivious to her silent screams of anguish. Alex grabbed Onyx’s arm without thinking and spun him around to face him. “YOU DARE!” Onyx exclaimed. Alex had never seen him this incensed, but this was far too important for Alex to back down now.
“Yes. I feel you’re about to make a huge mistake, Onyx.” He explained quickly. “What if there is no psychic projection this time; what if the Guardian is actually using this against us.” Onyx listened. Alex continued speaking. “What if she is real and you actually end up killing her?”
“I hadn’t considered that.”
“We must find a way of separating the girl from the Guardians influence without hurting her in any way.” Alex said. He tilted his head sideways and switched perspectives. “She is surrounded by an energy barrier that keeps her in place, if we disrupt that energy barrier then we can free her and destroy the Guardian.”
“How do we do that?” Onyx asked.
“I will use my salt and throw it in a rough ring around her, the salt should interrupt the flow of psychic energy. We should then be able to rescue her.”
“What is to stop the Guardian from re-capturing her?” Onyx asked.
“I will take her place.” Alex stated “The Guardian can try and use me… Whilst I’m fighting the Guardian on the psychic plane you can disrupt it physically.”
“Are you sure that you feel strong enough to fight the entity?”
“Yes,” Alex replied. “I’m hoping to use the Guardian as a way of finding more information about what is behind this blockage. The Guardian must be linked in to the same power that the Deluge derives its energy from therefore if I link to the Guardian then I should be able to learn more.”
“That seems risky, Creator. How do you not know that you will not be taken over by the same energy?”
“Because it’s tried to take me over before, and it didn’t succeed. We can’t spend any more time talking. We must act.”’
62)
Alex centred himself and took a few deep breaths before scattering the first handful of salt around the girl. Keeping his gaze relaxed, and his head to one side, he could see the energy field start to flicker and become more transparent. Once the circle was complete the flickering became more pronounced before it suddenly disappeared.
“NOW!” Shouted Alex, Onyx ran forward and snatched her from the Guardians clutches. Alex immediately stepped forward as the energy barrier came crashing down again, trapping him inside.
All of a sudden he could feel the energy field trap him. “You should not have come here, boy.” Whispered the voice in Alex’s soul. “Bellkipeg is lost to you now.” The voice seemed to fill Alex’s head, sparking off nasty memories where it reverberated. He remembered being a child, and all the times he had been humiliated or bullied at school. “You are ours now.”
“No no.no” Alex stammered, gritting his teeth against the memories. He clenched his fists and squeezed them, digging his nails into the palms of his hands, anchoring him to the present. He knew that the energy could only possess him if he allowed it to. The boy had no choice, and probably wasn’t even aware of being taken over until it was too late; Alex wasn’t about to make the same mistake. He remembered how he had first met Allura and Anjinn; he thought back to the time he was possessed by the evil force then. He needed to use it to find more about The Presence.
With great effort Alex lifted up his left hand and focused on the ring that he wore on his little finger that had been given to him by the Faire. The ring glowed like embers sending its fire through him, giving him the strength he needed to endure.
“Yes, come deeper into our presence.” The voice hissed insidiously. “Surrender yourself body and soul; become one with us.” Alex knew that all the time he wore the ring the Guardian would not be able to possess him completely.
In amongst the blackness he saw a figure huddled in a fetal position. As he drew closer Alex saw that it was a small boy, sitting with his arms wrapped around his tightly bunched knees, rocking. The boy was clothed in faded jeans and a white t-shirt.
Alex gently placed a hand on the boys shoulder. “Are you alright?” he asked. The boy slowly unfurled his arms from his legs and almost unwrapped himself. As he got up off the ground Alex was startled to see that the boy was in fact the younger version of himself; it was the same age boy as he and Onyx encountered in the wood days before.
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