Tablet of Destinies

Cover

Dedication

PART 1:
THE DEVACHAN

Character List

1.
The Secret Life of Unborn Souls

2.
The Creation Station

3.
In Good Conscience

4.
Changelings

5.
The Impossible Dream

6.
The Pantheon of Twelve

7.
Human Heart

8.
The Assassination

9.
The Inward Spiral

PART 2:
THE HUMAN TRIBES

Character List

Character Incarnation Guide

10.
Part of a Prophecy

11.
Lost Souls

12.
A Pirate's Life

13.
Flirting with the Forbidden

14.
The Outlaw Way

15.
And Loving It!

16.
The Past Calling

17.
In the Beginning

18.
Knowledge or Life?

19.
The Fated Choice

PART 3:
THE NEFILIM

Character List

20.
Ultimatum

21.
Destiny's Babes

22.
Little Miracles

23.
Fated Meetings

24.
Hearts of Darkness, Souls of Light

25.
Rearranging the Galaxy

Bibliography

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Other Books by Traci Harding

Copyright

THE CHOSEN

THE PANTHEON OF TWELVE

W
hat an excellent day for conversing with a celestial intelligence
, Tory reflected as she waddled her way along the earthen track, her hands bracing her large swollen belly which was playing host to twins. She could barely contain her excitement as the place of the sacred crossing drew nearer.

‘Not so fast, Highness.' Her sister-in-law, Candace, gently took hold of Tory's arm. ‘We shall be there soon enough,' she advised in a questioning tone. ‘Are you really in such a hurry to sit and read?'

Not wishing to arouse suspicion, Tory allowed her pace to slow. ‘I am so enjoying my time alone, that I want to make the most of every second.'

Since Tory had fallen pregnant, her husband, Maelgwn, had been excused from his public relations tour of the galaxy, and had returned to his home planet of Kila to assume the responsibilities of governership from his wife so that she might enjoy her pregnancy for a change. And enjoying it she was!

At first, Tory had been at a loss as to what to do with her free time. She had barely known a spare moment since meeting her husband some ninety years before, so it was difficult to remember how to relax. Having decided to find a nice spot in nature to sit and read for a spell every day, Tory discovered an amazing location only a short walk beyond Chaliada's city walls. This place was not only beautiful in a physical sense, it was a ley crossing that pulsated with the unmistakable energy of a sacred site, a gateway to realms Otherworldly. In this instance, the energy crossing was not marked by a circle of stones or trees, but by a beautiful freshwater pool that was perfectly rounded in shape. This was no ordinary pool of water, however, for it played host to inhabitants more beautiful and mysterious than the Tylwyth Teg of Annwn. Unusually, this glen was situated between several peaks near a cliff that overlooked the beautiful, green ocean. How the pool remained filled with fresh water despite the tides of the ocean beyond was a cosmic mystery within itself. Tory had secretly named this spot Devaglen.

Will it be there?
she wondered, and the question so excited her that she again found herself pacing forward as fast as she could muster.
There are so many things I wish to ask it now that I have fathomed its existence.

‘Tory.' Candace became less formal to plead her cause, as the Governess always responded more favourably when addressed thus. ‘I did promise your husband that I would see you safely to your destination … we don't want you dropping my niece and nephew a month early, if at all avoidable.'

‘Point taken,' Tory conceded, taking hold of Candace's arm to stroll along at the pace she set. But pregnancy hormones were tickling her expectation and Tory burst into a huge smile, which she thought she'd best explain. ‘I feel so deliriously happy it's almost sickening.'

‘What do you mean, almost?' Candace grumbled, for she was missing her husband, Brian, who had replaced Maelgwn on the public relations tour of the galaxy.

‘He'll be back in a couple of months.' Tory guessed the cause of Candace's gripe. ‘At which time you might just find yourself in my predicament.' As Tory rubbed her huge belly, she managed to coax a smile out of her escort.

They reached Tory's reading location, whereupon Candace helped her sister-in-law get comfortable. ‘Now, you contact me if you need anything and I'll be here in an instant.'

‘I will. Don't let me detain you from your duties any longer.' Tory assured Candace that she would be fine. ‘I shall teleport myself home.'

‘That would be a completely unnecessary drain on your energy,' Candace advised courteously. ‘Contact me when you wish to return and if you don't feel like walking, I shall teleport you back.'

‘That is kind of you.' Tory tried to sound thankful, although she would have preferred to be left to her own
devices. She didn't know how long it might take for the entity to show itself again, and she didn't wish to run the risk of being disturbed. ‘I could be here quite some time as I have a lot to read, so don't be surprised if I don't make contact until much later this evening,' she forewarned.

‘I promise I shall not disturb you.' Candace felt that she understood Tory's concern. ‘I realise the rest must be bliss.'

‘A true gift from the universe,' Tory confirmed, taking a book and piece of fruit in hand. When she looked back to Candace, her friend was staring at the pool of water in the centre of the lush, tropical clearing. ‘Is something the matter?'

‘You are aware this is a ley crossing?' Candace looked back to the Governess, who nodded. ‘Well … I'm not so sure it's wise to leave you alone in such close vicinity to an Otherworldly passageway, as there are all manner of entities who may take an interest in your condition.'

O-oh,
thought Tory, as her plans were threatened. ‘But as
I
am occupying this particular sacred site, it is empowered by my energy. Therefore, only entities at my level of awareness or higher could be attracted to me and if they were, they could only have the best intentions.'

‘Of course.' Candace smiled. She realised her concerns could almost be considered insulting to the Governess. ‘I didn't mean to imply —'

‘I know you are only watching out for me.' Tory waved off the forthcoming apology. ‘That's what you're best at, which is why you are Head of the Defence Department, Candace.'

Once alone, Tory dropped everything and waddled over to the pool. The perfectly still surface of the water reflected the aquamarine colour of the sky above. The expectant mother carefully lowered herself down to gaze into the crystal clear waters of the sacred marker.

The pool may have only been about twenty feet across, but it appeared bottomless. The rock walls and water of the pool were abundant with marine life — animal, vegetable and mineral — of such vibrant colours that they gave off a luminosity, even in full sunlight. Where the pool passed into the darkened depths, the glowing life could still be seen extending ever downward into the abyss.

As she gazed at the aquatic-rainbow spectacle, Tory thought back on the previous day in an attempt to figure out how she might summon the entity that had made itself known to her.

The celestial entity originated in a realm beyond physical existence, beyond the astral worlds of Annwn through which Tory had ventured on occasion, and beyond the mental realms of existence, through which Tory had yet to pass in a conscious state. This entity called the causal level of awareness home. From this celestial plane, his kind resided over the highest mental realms of human soul-mind activity, a level of consciousness known as Devachan. He described Devachan as ‘the happy place', where human souls resided in between their first incarnations. Here, the ‘effect' of a human soul-mind's admirable, earthly aspirations finally found their ‘cause' and were realised to perfection.

The being had said he was of an order of Devanic entity known as the Dhyan Chohans — the builders of consciousness. Able to function on many different planes of existence at once, Dhyan Chohans were of the highest order of Devas. The fairy folk of the Otherworld made up the lower orders of Devas.

Dhyan Chohans perceive the will of the divine and then aid the planetary spirits to implement change in creation. The Deva had activated his Rupa body — Rupa meaning ‘having form'— to appear to Tory in the physical realm. This was not a solid physical body, however. It was a gigantic, but vague, astral form resembling one of the Deva's human charges, which she had recognised as her husband, Maelgwn. On the mental plane of awareness, the Deva took the form of numerous ethereal cocoons, where its human charges resided between physical incarnations — living out unrealised dreams in preparation for the next physical life.

On the causal level of awareness, the Deva's home, he employed a formless, or Arupa body, which bound him to the host of the Dhyan Chohans. On this level of awareness the higher souls of humankind would reunite with the divine and begin their apprenticeship in one of the many Devanic races, in the hope of one day graduating to become a Planetary Logos or Guardian.

‘But how can you still be nurturing my husband's incarnating soul?' Tory had asked. ‘Maelgwn is immortal and no longer incarnates.'

‘There is no time outside of physical existence,' the Deva had advised. ‘Past, present and future is simultaneous.'

Tory didn't remember much of their conversation, as the encounter had caused her to black out. Perhaps the Deva had arranged a cleansing sleep, so that she didn't remember more than he wanted her to. There was also the distinct possibility that much of what she'd discussed with the Deva was so beyond her limited human understanding, that her conscious memory had rejected the information. It was a good thing she'd regained consciousness before anyone had found her and informed Maelgwn about her blackout, as there was no way in the universe he would have allowed her to return to Devaglen.

The entity had appeared quite unlike any spiritual apparition Tory had witnessed in all her one hundred and twenty years of life. Spectra had always assumed forms that appeared like brilliant clouds of glowing gas. The entity she beheld yesterday had appeared more like a radiant, myriad-hued rainbow of supernatural fire. As one might see the aura around a physical being, this explosive spectral flame encompassed the large astral form of her husband. To the senses he'd felt like tranquillity incarnate and a wellspring of strength; how could Tory help but be completely enchanted by him?

She closed her eyes and conjured up a clear image of the Deva, of half a mind to will herself to it.

Please refrain, I am present.

Upon feeling the Deva's awe-inspiring presence, Tory's heart welled to bursting point with joy and exhilaration. Her eyes widened to behold its vibrant fiery form ascending out of the pool, causing not so much as a ripple to form on the motionless surface from which it rose.

At this point in your spiritual evolution, you are not ready to deal with a conscious experience in Devachan. You must not attempt to seek me there,
said the rainbow spirit as he fully emerged from the pool to float in open space above it.

‘I am sorry. In my condition you tend to get a little vague at times,' Tory explained, wanting to hit herself, as she normally would have considered the danger. She was well aware that the human psyche, even one as advanced as hers, could not only cause her own mind harm by advancing to a plane beyond her comprehension, but, because of her primitive thought forms, she could cause damage to those more advanced souls residing on the higher mental plane of existence. ‘I promise I shall never entertain the notion again.'

I believe you,
he conceded.
There is something you require of me?

Tory was a little bit confused at this point. ‘Initially, you made contact with me, so I thought there was something you required of me. Yet as I hardly remember anything of our last meeting, I —'

The Deva began to laugh in a light and jovial manner, and as he did his flaming aura of brillant colour began to expand until it encompassed Tory also, whereby she was swept up in his amusement.

‘What's so funny?' she managed to ask between giggles.

It seems you misunderstood the meaning of our meeting.
He calmed himself, whereby his aura returned to normal.
I was here to speak with the souls who await birth inside you and have completed that task. Any further communication between us would not be advantageous. In
fact
, he paused to consider his explanation, y
ou should have forgotten my existence. Your psychic link with your unborns must be phenomenal … never to mind, this time I shall be more efficient.

‘You're not going to hurt my babes?' As Tory became concerned for her children, the Deva rushed away from her. He appeared disturbed, pained and confused by her reaction.

Hurt?
the Deva queried, bewildered by the concept, and picking up on Tory's understanding of the word, he gasped in pain.
Is that what you call this crippling energy you entertain?

‘This is fear,' she informed, becoming aware that the Deva was experiencing her feelings in its attempt to understand her, and was thus ashamed of herself. How could she have invoked such a low-grade emotion in the presence of a celestial being?

Again the Deva's senses were overloaded, this time with the detrimental emotion of shame.

Tory wiped the water from her eyes to note how the lustre of the Deva had begun to fade and with three deep breaths she managed to pull her wild, surging emotions into check. ‘My deepest apologies for exposing you to such concepts … I should have known you could mean my children no harm.'

The Deva seemed to recover and approached Tory to advise her:
You will not remember me after this day, but what I tell you now you will remember. Your children are responsible for the creation of every aspect of their forthcoming lives. They have made all their own arrangements, as have you. Their destiny is entirely of their design. I am a Deva.
I merely act upon a human's desires in order to bring them into being, in accordance with their karma. I can do nothing for your children that they have not first devised for themselves and their own divine purpose.

Tears were streaming down Tory's face as she nodded to confirm that she understood what the Deva was telling her; she felt inspired and relieved by his words. Her heart seemed to be exploding with love and happiness; Tory could literally feel these energies flowing forth from some hidden inner universe within her heart centre. This pure life force strengthened every particle of her being and then continued to flow out of her and into the clearing beyond. It seemed that her own aura was expanding and as it did, it empowered everything it engulfed. So abundant was the divine energy that emanated from her, Tory felt she could have filled the planet, the star system, even the galaxy with it; she had never felt more invincible in her life.