A Division of Souls - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe (44 page)

Janoss blanched, suddenly realizing his
mistake. “I am sorry, Dahné.”

Natianos brushed off the apology. “We
attacked, Janoss, because we needed to stop the Mendaihu
before
they get out of hand
. They’re trying to awaken everyone at
once. Do you realize what would happen if they succeed?” Janoss
chose not to respond, and Natianos answered for him. “They Awaken
to the spiritual side of the Mendaihu, Janoss. Regardless of their
Shenaihu influence. Completely oblivious of the spirits of nature.
We’d have a planet full of egotistical zealots.
That
is why
we need to get a hold of the girl, Janoss.”

“The…?”

“Dennise Johnson,” he said flatly. “The One
of All Sacred. We need her. We
all
need her, to give us
balance again.”

Janoss understood, and nodded silently.

“Let us return, Janoss,” Natianos said as
they climbed the hill back to the clearing in the field. “There is
precious little time left.”

*

Nehalé was exhausted. He needed to get some
rest soon, even just to close his eyes for a few minutes. There
were now over five thousand people here, filling up nearly
three-quarters of the warehouse, all under his care now. Some had
clustered into talkative packs in the vacant nooks where machinery
once stood, while others had taken refuge within the remaining
storage racks to create a flat house type of shelter. Nehalé had
made it a point to prove to these people that he was Mendaihu as
they were, on the same level and not a prophet or elder above their
stature. He’d spent the entire afternoon making the rounds and
talking with whoever wished to speak with him, and there had been
many. It had been slow going, but it had been worth it. He’d also
been able to get a bead on the signatures of a good number of
people here. He didn’t want a repeat of the church, or the
awakening ritual. He learned his lesson…he didn’t want to relive
that knife-pain of spirit loss again. If he lost anyone else, he
needed to know who they were.

He returned to the main office area to calm
himself down and relax, when he found Anando standing near the
stairway, talking to two younger women who were listening to his
words with middling fascination. He grinned, wondering what the kid
could possibly be doing to impress them, because it obviously
wasn’t working. He made his way over to them, but the girls had bid
farewell and walked away before he could introduce himself.

“I don’t know how you do it,” Anando said.
“I could say the same words you do, with the same conviction, and
yet you somehow win people over. I just bore them.”

Nehalé laughed and patted him on the
shoulder. “You don’t bore them, my friend, you’re just not speaking
from the heart.” He prodded at Anando’s chest with his fingers.
“Your heart, Anando. Not mine, nor theirs. It’s not about
conviction…it’s about belief.”

Anando nodded and gave him a sheepish smile.
“I know...it’s just hard to explain what’s going on to those who
may be unwilling to fully listen. I’ve been talking with one of
them off and on…Sonia’s her name. I get the feeling she and her
friend are here not so much to witness or be a part of the One’s
return, but to find an opportunity.”

Nehalé cocked his head at him. “How so?”

Anando hedged. “I’m not sure.”

“Even if they were, what could they do?” he
said. “If that’s their plan, then they’re merely reacting. Doing
the same predictable thing they always do, and it’s something we
count on. Not depend on, mind you, but we can certainly use it to
our advantage.”

Anando frowned at him. “Yes, but what if
this is different?” he asked. “I’m not expecting the Shenaihu to
take this gathering lightly. Sure, I’ve been hearing the same
rumors you have, but that’s not what’s bothering me.”

Nehalé nodded slowly, and directed him into
the one of the back offices to continue the conversation privately.
“Of course the Shenaihu know what we’re up to,” he said. “But right
now, they’re too busy falling over themselves, trying to fix all
the minor problems, and in the process they’re avoiding the larger
one — we Mendaihu. They’re too focused on their own side, grabbing
the One of All Sacred and not paying attention to what would happen
if they succeed.”

“You seem so sure that it won’t escalate,”
Anando said. “I may not be a truthseer, Nehalé, but I just don’t
expect them to stay quiet. Please tell me you at least have backup
plans.”

As much as he wanted to reassure this young
man that the probability of a fight was negligible, he could not do
it. He knew there were Shenaihu planted here in the warehouse
already, but they were the least of his worries now. When the girl
arrived, when the One of All Sacred stepped through those doors in
an hour or so, his role in this game would be over. Anything else
that happened would be the One of All Sacred’s doing.

Nehalé sighed. “I can’t promise
anything.”

Anando glared at him. “You started this,
Nehalé. Don’t back out of it now.”

Those close-hitting words left him wincing,
but before he could answer, Anando had turned and left. He thought
to call him back but chose against it; the kid had a point. He
alone knew exactly what he had to do to finish what he’d started,
and he had purposely not given anyone the full details. Any
non-action on his part would have looked like inaction to anyone
else, and in effect any explanation after the fact would have
sounded like an excuse. He forgave Anando his moment of
frustration…the kid understood quite well what was going on and
what he had to do on his own. His words were borne of impatience
and fear. The awakening had affected him significantly more than
he’d expected, and he was still flailing without a spiritual
anchor. He willingly accepted his current role, but it would take
time for him to adjust.

He poked his head out one of the side
entrances to check on the oncoming rainstorm. It was yet to start
raining but the darkening gray clouds were now directly above the
Sprawl, and the temperature had fallen significantly. He thought of
the Rain of Light he had witnessed days ago, on the roof of his
apartment in Branden Hill. That delicate ballet of spirit energies
dancing peacefully over the city, skimming the Mirades Tower,
showering down on the Sprawl…the cycle had been healthy, growing
stronger and brighter. His original plan had been to let this Rain
cycle and recycle itself until it grew and became self-sufficient
enough to become a life channel for the recently awakened. The
hrrah-sehdhyn had affected the cycle somehow, perverted it, enough
to affect the physical plane. This was where he was at a loss…he
couldn’t quite grasp why it had happened, and how he could stop it
at this time. An overwhelming sense of sadness and failure had
washed over him, realizing the loss of innocence he had witnessed
from that rooftop, and how he had not thought twice about it, too
wrapped up in preparation for this so-called ‘spiritual war.’ Not
even the knowledge that he would in just a few hours see the One of
All Sacred, the savior he had worked for so long to bring into this
world, could lift his melancholia. The cold breeze picked up;
suddenly shivering, he drew the collar of his jacket closer and
pulled himself back into the building, and secured the door.

Somfei, edha Usarai.

Nehalé spun around, looking for the source
of the unfamiliar voice.

Do not be so hard on yourself, edha,
the woman said.
You are closer to the truth than you think you
are, you just need to clear your vision before you can truly see
it.

He scanned the crowd before him. There were
at least thirty people close by, and nearly all were distracted by
their own conversations both within and aloud. Eventually his eyes
landed on a slender Meraladian woman, standing twenty feet away and
separated from the crowd. She was leaning up against a wall with
her arms crossed and looking elsewhere, but he recognized her
immediately.

Somfei, emha Udéma
, he said,
surprised and more than a little confused. What was one of Governor
Rieflin’s round table members doing here?

A smile crossed Mancka Udéma’s face and
pushed herself off the wall, and made her way towards him. She had
a look of determination and conviction in her eyes, which made
Nehalé nervous. She might have been here to witness the return of
the One, but she had more than just that on her mind.

“I admit I’m surprised to see you here,
Councilor Udéma,” he said, bowing slightly in her direction. She
had a classic Mannaki build, somewhat taller and larger than a
normal human but a much lighter skin tone than a Meraladian, and
she was well toned in muscle. For some reason he’d always imagined
her as timid, if only because she was the quietest member of the
Governor’s Council, rarely speaking during the Council’s public
outings unless prompted. The conviction she exuded made sense to
him, now that he could sense her spirit so clearly before him…she
was a true Mendaihu Watcher, listening and processing and only
speaking when necessary.

“I assure you, I am here of my own will,”
she said, and flashed another smile at him. “I caught your speech
earlier…”

“Oh?” He offered his arm and walked with her
back towards the mezzanine. “I admit, it was a bit
unrehearsed…”

“Sometimes the intent comes through clearer
that way, edha,” she said.

“Please, call me Nehalé.” He let her go
first up the stairs up to the platform he’d stood on a few hours
earlier, and followed behind. “I must agree at any rate. Had I come
with a prewritten soliloquy, I’m sure half the crowd would have
booed me off the stage.”

Mancka’s laugh filled the air. It was a
distinctively Mannaki laugh, a quick fit of high-pitched giggling
and ending with a satisfied sigh, a trait he’d heard from no one
except direct descendants of that outpost planet. It was a trivial
and unlikely trait that had no basis in fact except for in his own
experience, but it had done its job; he had instantly felt relaxed
and safe in her presence. He played along, his mind already in
motion. Her ancestors must have been part of the first landing
party on Earth, which said quite a bit; there was a good chance she
knew the history behind the One of All Sacred on this planet. As
they entered one of the rear offices on the mezzanine, he asked her
point blank about all this.

“Why yes,” she smiled. “One of my matriarchs
was a child at the time of the flight. She eventually became part
of the new provincial government, holding the same title I have
now, for close to fifteen years.”

“You must be proud,” he said, profoundly
impressed.

“Yes, I am. It’s an honor to be doing the
same thing she did. Now, Nehalé…I must ask you a few questions,
before anything else happens here. I ask both as a Mendaihu, and as
a Provincial Representative. But I am not here to judge, edha. I am
a Mendaihu first and foremost…I observe. I do not judge, lest I be
judged.”

Nehalé appreciated her words, and had
expected them. “Ask away.”

She nodded, and took a seat on the edge of
lone desk in the room. She focused her eyes on the floor, taking
her time to organize her thoughts before she spoke again. “Nehalé…I
must ask this. Why are you summoning the One of All Sacred?”

Nehalé blinked, surprised by the simplicity
of the question. “It was prophecy, Mancka. It was foretold by
Kindeiya Shalei.”

He did not like her reaction to the name,
but continued to tell her of his constant discussions both at the
Mirades Tower and here in the Waterfront Sector. Kindeiya Shalei
was very blunt with his words, one who would foretell events as he
saw them, without fanfare or flourish. Because of this, he was not
a very popular as a reality seer. His discussions on the One of All
Sacred bordered on fanatical, as if he’d been waiting impatiently
for the deity much longer than he wanted to admit.

“Denysia has already awakened as the Ninth
Embodiment then,” she said.

“Yes. I’m unsure of her whereabouts, but
Kindeiya says she will be here shortly.”

She seemed appeased by that answer and
continued. “I must also ask, edha…what really happened at St.
Patrick’s?”

He consciously rubbed the fresh scar above
his eye, and looked away. So many lives, so many spirits forcibly
pulled away… “Is this for a report, or off the record?”

“Nehalé?” she started.

He glanced at her, then away again. “I’m
okay, Mancka. They’re just memories I’d rather not have to relive
so soon.” He summoned up his courage, looked her in the eyes, and
told his story. He left nothing out, as he had no reason to keep
anything from a Watcher of her stature. He trusted that she would
understand. Once he’d finished, he remained quiet for a long time
afterwards, and she did not prod him. “The truth is, I’m not
entirely sure what happened,” he said eventually. “Or why. If the
Shenaihu want the One of All Sacred so badly…taking her by force
has to be one of the most miscalculated ideas I’ve ever seen.
Perhaps with your background you can explain that to me.”

She reached out a hand and touched him on
the shoulder. “I promise I will. But I must ask one more
question.”

Nehalé nodded again, more exhausted than
ever. His fatigue added to the sadness he’d felt earlier, the
antithesis of what he should be feeling, the elation and love and
energy that saturated the air below them. Instead, he felt dejected
and completely alone.

“Nehalé…” she paused. Her sudden silence
disturbed him, and he was forced to face her again. Compassion
filled her eyes, as if realizing he had never known all the facts
in this convoluted game of spirits, and chose to take pity on him.
He frowned, not exactly sure what to expect.

“Nehalé,” she started again. “For this last
question, we must go elsewhere.”