63)
“You should not have come here.” The boy whispered, speaking in the same tongue as the Guardian. “You will suffer the same fate that befell me.”
“No.” Alex replied. “That will not happen. But you can help me.”
“Why should I help you when you abandoned me?” The boy asked, his eyes accusatory and piercing. Alex could detect that his personality had not been completely submerged; and he sought to bring his personality out, to become more dominant.
“I had no choice, but I can save you now; I can save Bellkipeg, but I need your help.” He insisted, focusing his energies on the boy.
“I can not help you; your quest is your own.” The boy replied, his voice trembling with the effort. “I do know that he is scared of you.”
“Who?”
“Dark.” The boy responded, his voice almost his own now. “The Shadow Seeker. He is scared of your light.”
“Who can help me?” Alex asked. “Who can show me the truth behind the Shadow.”
The boys face was now truly contorted and Alex could feel the pain seep into his own body, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could keep up this effort. The Presence was exerting more and more pressure over the child.
“..The Unicorns….” The boy replied, his voice now but a pain soaked whisper. “They are the only ones that will be able to help you. They see all truth… they will see yours.”
“Thank you, young one.” Alex replied, tears forming in his eyes as he saw the stabbing pain that the Guardian was now inflicting on the boy. “We will be reunited and I will take your pain away.” Alex closed his eyes from the pain, and from the very depths of his soul shouted, “Onyx NOW!”
Onyx heard Alex’s cry and scattered the remaining salt over him and chanted the last invocation:
“We call upon the West to cleanse itself of the Fear and Cruelty that has been placed here by the powers of the Guardian to disrupt your flow. We call upon the transformative power of the West to give us the Love and blessings to do your bidding and rid this village, and the land of Darkness. We do this in your name.”
Alex felt the Guardians scream when the invocation was finished.
“Rest a minute, Creator.” Onyx cautioned. “You will have surely been depleted by that ordeal.” Alex felt a gentle heat emanate from Onyx’s hands and let the heat flow through his body rejuvenating him.
“It seems that it was I that misjudged the situation this time.” Onyx conceded.
“I really don’t know, I was able to observe you and the boy, the way that your energies interacted. You seemed so intent on deactivating the Guardian that you were oblivious to the girl’s pain. However it was the fear in her eyes that made me see that it wasn’t a projection.”
“Of course.” Onyx agreed. “Had it been a psychic projection fueled by the Guardian then the girl would have either goaded me into confronting it, or warned me away; she did neither.” He lifted his hands away from Alex’s shoulders and rubbed his left antler. “What did you discern from the Guardian, Creator?” he asked.
“I.. I can’t remember much. The only thing that I can recall is that we need to find the Unicorns. They can tell me how I can find The Presence; and save the land.”
“The Unicorns?” Onyx replied, shocked at the ramifications. “That will be a hard trek for they live in the deepest part of Bellkipeg where few people ever go.. I shall have to think on that. However, our task here is not finished. We may have defeated the Guardians, but we still need to clear the energy blockage.”
“How do we do that?” Alex asked. “We’ve run out of salt.”
“We will not need salt, Creator.” Onyx replied. “And to be honest, the only person that will be able to clear that blockage is you.”
“I knew you were going to say that.” Alex said wryly. It wasn’t that long ago that such a statement would have sent Alex on a spiral of negativity and fear. He now accepted the responsibility without reverting to type. “What do I need to do? Focus on my own blockages?” He said ironically.
“Yes.” Onyx replied.
“Thought so…” Alex walked back to the standing stone.
“Be careful, Creator. You have a healthy attitude, at last – but do not take unnecessary risks.”
“That’s not going to happen, Onyx. I’m just no longer afraid of my responsibility.
Opening my heart will allow me to have the full access to my personality.”
“Not necessarily.” Onyx disagreed. “You will have a greater understanding of yourself, but you will not be complete. Not yet.”
“How do you mean?” Alex asked.
“You will still be out of balance.” Onyx titled his head from side to side as he looked at Alex, and frowned. “I can not see any more than that, Creator.” Alex was perplexed, Onyx could normally sense so much, but it was obvious that something was blocking him even now. Alex sensed that it was linked in some way to his mis-understanding of the final Guardian.
“Ok…” Alex replied. “We’ll have to look at that after I free the village.” He turned back and walked up to the standing stone.
64)
The stone dwarfed Alex and refracted the light from the morning sun. Even though he could feel no energy radiating from it, Alex was moved by its very presence and could feel his own blockage resonate in sympathy with the stone.
There was a numbness just below Alex’s heart, something cold; like a metaphysical pins and needles, he had felt it most of his life as a passing, phasing sensation but never thought anything of it. The numb feeling would gradually pass, but never go away completely. He had put up with it for so many years that it no longer felt any different to any other sensation, but as he walked closer the feeling increased in intensity and he knew just how unnatural it really was.
When Alex reached the stone he had to get down on his knees and it took great efforts to centre himself; he felt that he was synchronising with its energy.
Alex bowed his head and placed both hands onto its surface, it was freezing to the touch. He felt a deep stirring within though, as if there was some residual energy trapped inside and he allowed his consciousness to find that energy inside of himself. By relaxing, he felt himself flow to where the blockage was and he allowed the numb feeling to flow into his whole body.
At first the pins and needles covered every inch of his torso; it was torment but he endured it, the blockage needed to be cleared, otherwise the whole of Bellkipeg would be at the mercy of The Presence.
The pins and needles increased in intensity until it became a burning sensation; Alex was unsure how long he could put up with the pain. He resolved himself to push deeper, none of it was real, it was just another illusion; and upon seeing through the ruse he let the pain wash through him.
Then the pain simply vanished, leaving Alex floating in a void of blackness and serenity. It felt cold here though and there was no sense of presence; he was adrift and alone. In a way Alex belonged here, there was no sense of urgency, no Bellkipeg; no Dark; simply nothingness and no responsibility. He knew this was what had been blocking him; it was an absence of feeling. Its solidity was only in relationship to the depth of Alex’s emotional state, it stopped him from caring or feeling too much –he could see that now.
Not feeling….. It was far easier not to feel anything as it protected him from the world around him, but that too was just a lie. Feelings weren’t dangerous in themselves, but if one ignored them for too long then they could strike without warning. Alex suddenly understood what the boar had represented; and why it had attacked him when he first entered Bellkipeg. The blackness that surrounded him suddenly writhed and contracted around him as if in response to his thoughts.
And it was then that Alex suddenly realised what he was floating in, and what was blocking the Stones power.
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