Gene of Isis

Molier pulled a gun, ending any hope of thinking through the situation. I was in serious danger, just as Albray had always claimed.

I rose to accompany Molier to the gateway and, in a moment of divine clarity, I took up my bottle of drinking water and took it with me.

‘What are your employees going to think when they see you escorting me at gunpoint?’

Molier chuckled. ‘And I credited you with being intelligent.’

I wanted to hit myself. ‘They have all taken the Fire-Stone substance.’ I concluded that this was why all their auras had appeared the same. ‘And Conally too, I suppose?’

‘You begin to see much,’ he said.

‘What about Marty?’ Our chopper pilot was just your average bloke and I couldn’t imagine him being involved.

‘Marty has just eaten lunch and he’s taking a little nap right now.’

‘You drugged him.’ It seemed Molier had thought of everything. Still, there was at least one member of this expedition that I knew wasn’t a superhuman vampire. I looked about for Akbar, only to note how quiet and deserted the camp was—no sounds of camels moaning, or the clattering of pans and dishes in the mess tent. Had Molier drugged them, too, or were the hired help assembled at the gateway to assist with the opening?

When we arrived at the entrance to the mount and there was only Conally, Andre and Tusca Resi present, I became alarmed. ‘Where are the Bedouins?’

‘We dispensed with their services this morning,’ Tusca informed me. ‘Our work at this site will be done by nightfall.’

‘They left camp this morning?’ After all we’d discussed I couldn’t imagine that Akbar would have just up and left without saying a word.

‘In a manner of speaking,’ Molier granted, ‘yes.’

When the other people present smirked at the response, I was chilled to the core. It seemed all my guardians had been disposed of, and I alone had been left to defend the ancient mysteries and defeat, not one, but four superhuman creatures.

I am not immortal, only a little more resilient than most mortals, Ashlee had observed about herself. And I recalled how my great-great-grandmother’s psychic talents had been enhanced by the consumption of the Star substance.

I eyed the spraying device in which the sample of ORME had been stored for easy application to the gateway. I scanned over all I had learned in the last few days, trusting that the right advice to aid my current predicament would be forthcoming.

Your ancestors are very powerful spirits, Ashlee’s old gypsy spirit guide had told her the first time they’d met. You shouldn’t be afraid to summon them to your aid. They will come, you will see.

Could I do it? And Ashlee was one of those mighty foremothers now. She’d know what to do—not only that, but she had the psychic aptitude to execute such a plan.

I call upon Ashlee Devere whose wisdom has served me true.

Enter my being in this time of need, That I should accomplish all that you would have me do.

So, I was not as eloquent at summoning the powers-that-be as Ashlee had been. I felt no great presence overcome me and immediately the cynic in me began to wonder whether I was deluding myself about my ancestry.

Meanwhile, Andre had taken the nozzle of the ORME spraygun in hand. ‘Here goes everything,’ he advised, and aiming it at the gateway he squeezed the trigger.

Light-filled particles squirted forth and due to the heat emanating off the round gateway, the luminous specks stuck to the supermetal. It began to erode the previously unscratchable substance. ‘Fantastic!’ Andre cheered the unbelievable occurrence.

When he was just about done with the coating, a gust of wind erupted from nowhere and dusted me with a thick dose of the exotic matter, which I inhaled deeply.

‘You idiot!’ Molier scolded. ‘I told you to keep it away from her!’

‘It’s not my fault!’ Andre protested. ‘I don’t control the winds.’

For a moment I was blinded by a great burst of internal light. I staggered about, trying to see beyond the illumination. My heart welled to overflowing with love, which could not compare to any earthly feeling I had ever had—not even for Albray. I was touching heaven, for surely only in the celestial realm could one find such pure peace, contentment and fearlessness.

When my vision returned I was entirely focused within my third eye. Now I could see straight through to the dark souls of those in my company, and wrapped around every one of their light-bodies were hideous unearthly creatures. Albray had expressed to Ashlee his fear that Molier might have been calling upon lower-world intelligences to enhance his psychic skill. This was how he’d managed to block their chakras from my sight; the creatures were performing the function of a psychic shield.

Then I saw her. A woman with wild auburn hair that was bound back in a braid. Her eyes glistened like emerald jewels, enhanced by the deep green velvet garments she wore. The sword and pistol that hung from the belt at her waist made her look very much the warrior. All the time I had been reading her tale, I had never realised how much I wanted to be like her, until now.

Ashlee?

You called? She smiled at me.

I’m in trouble, I bethought her as, in a flash of light, the gateway into the mountain