Gene of Isis

‘I see.’ I exhaled deeply, not really wanting to think about the most obvious solution to our troubles. ‘Perhaps I should just go home,’ I ventured, though it pained me to say it.

‘There is no point now,’ Akbar hastened to tell me. ‘Molier knows of your existence and he will hunt you down.’

‘You make it sound like he’s stalking me.’

‘He is!’ Both Akbar and Albray responded at once.

It seemed to follow that if the daughters of Isis were Molier’s fetish, he had had one within his grasp two centuries ago! Ashlee hasn’t mentioned being stalked by him.

Yet! Albray emphasised. You haven’t finished reading her journal.

‘Then what would you have me do?’ I put the question to Akbar and Albray.

‘You must combat Molier and defeat him,’ Akbar replied as if the answer was obvious.

Exactly, Albray concurred. I keep telling you that we need to work on your psychic talents, as it will take more than a sword to defeat Molier . .. I am the non-living proof of that.

I was so horrified by the suggestion that I couldn’t speak.

‘I assumed that you knew your mission here.’ Akbar clearly hadn’t wanted to alarm me. ‘You have such talent with a sword that I assumed you had been trained for the purpose.’

Overwhelmed as I was, I didn’t want to alarm Akbar either. ‘You might say I am still in training,’ I clarified for his benefit. ‘I hope to be ready by the time Molier arrives here in the Sinai, if indeed he intends to come here.’

‘He will come now he knows you are here.’ Of this Akbar seemed very certain. ‘As time is of the essence, I shall not distract you from your studies any longer.’

My nerves were making me feel queasy and as the heat in the cave wasn’t helping, I was more than happy to seize the opportunity to depart. ‘I’ll let you know if Molier sends word of his arrival.’ I stood to make good my escape.

‘Make haste with your preparations,’ he encouraged, voicing his concern. ‘There is much at stake.’

‘I know,’ I managed to reply without sounding sceptical. The truth was that with all the information I’d been subjected to of late from various people, I would be a fool to discount their accounts and theories.

Albray was more attentive and up-vibe than usual that evening; I, for a change, was quiet and thoughtful. I picked at my dinner and then thought about returning to Ashlee’s story, but I couldn’t concentrate on the text. I read the first sentence several times over and each time my mind drifted back to the Cave of Hathor and my conversation with Akbar.

So how do I develop my psychic skills? I queried telepathically, not prepared to risk speaking aloud to Albray, who was currently fascinated with the screensaver on my computer.

Well… He dragged his enchanted sights from all the pretty colours on my screen. The first thing you have to do is actually believe in psychic skill.

And what if I’m a dud? I appealed, so afraid this was the case.

A dud, Albray repeated, unfamiliar with the term, although he caught my meaning and it amused him. I guess that you won’t know until you try.

Fair enough. I closed Ashlee’s book to concentrate on Albray’s instruction. Let’s give it a go then.

My knight ran through a short meditation to calm and focus me, and then we worked on activating my etheric vision, although I don’t know how much success we had. As I was pretty much the only living thing in my tent, Albray had me focusing upon myself in the mirror. He was telling me to concentrate on my third eye area in order to look beyond my physical self to see my light-body. I began to see a kind of negative impression of my being superimposed upon my reflection.

That’s how it starts, good, Albray encouraged. What you are seeing is the etheric shell. Now, if you stay focused and endeavour to see beyond that, you should start to perceive the light-body and its auric hues.

I strained and I focused, I really did, but I just couldn’t see anything beyond the negative impression. A couple of times I lost sight of myself in the mirror altogether and I felt as if I was on the verge of a breakthrough, but when excitement welled, my perception regressed back to my etheric shell and then my physical image once more.

‘I can’t do this,’ I muttered, feeling frustrated, drained and rather silly for believing that I could accomplish a supernatural feat; deep down I doubted that anyone could. I left my seated position before the mirror and collapsed onto my bed.

You’ve done really well for your first attempt. Albray sounded surprised.

Yeah, right, I scoffed in my mind. Ashlee had more talent when she was still in the cradle.

It’s really not fair to compare yourself with Miss Granville . .. most of the mystics that ever lived would pale by comparison.

Well, if Ashlee was so damn talented then why didn’t she destroy Molier and save me the trouble? I was moody and tired.

You’ll read all about that tomorrow, I should think. Albray maintained his sweet mood, understanding that I was exhausted. For today, it might be time we both retired.

You wish to be dismissed? I hauled my bag up onto the bed and fished around for the stone.