The Will of the Three Wayne Ellis

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The Will of the Three
Wayne Ellis
© Copyright Wayne Ellis 2014
Edited by Wordfix,  www.word -fix.com.au
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Chapter 1
“This  will  take  you  into  the  Dark  Realms,  Calana,”  said  Arden.  “On  a  galactic  scale,  the
Dark Realms ha ve  left the Realm of Innocence and   are now in the  Realm of Creativity.” He
opened up  his hand,  and seven  Golden Stars  flew toward Calana, penetrating where the
seven centres resided in her body.
At first,   she was a  little surprised,  but then she became completely thoughtless, as a
wave  of  new  awareness  washed  through  her  senses.  This  was  the  first  time  she  had
received the temporary powers of the Incarnation.
“ It's now time for the Guardians to go to the next step. It's time for the m to take on the
Shadow Masters,” said Arden.
Calana was twenty-seven, with a solid build and brown hair. Born in Varlia, Udicia, she
was  as  patriotic  as  the  rest  of  her  compatriots.  She  wore  a  ninja -style  uniform  with  a
symbol of the Three Ways woven on  her right breast pocket.
“Let's do this,” said Calana. She motioned to Arden. “Open it.”
“Just  before  you  enter,  it  will  rotate  anti -clockwise  for  a  few  rotations,”  said  Arden.
“This will let you in, undetected. But it will also make you sick.”
“ I always  come back sick,” said Calana.
Arden conjured  up the special  Mandala that was able to penetrate the anti -clockwise
motion of the Dark Realms.  A greyish  Mandala  started rotating slowly against the opposite
spinning forces.
“Quick!” said Arden.
Calana jumped through the Mandala.
Her  target  was  chosen  on  the  basis  of  the  vibrational  knowledge  received  from  the
Galactic Council. A few select Guardians were chosen to  conduct  missions into the border
regions of the Dark  Realms , where several Shadow  Masters  ha d recently infiltrated.  This
was  the  region  between  the  Transformed  Realms  and  Dark  Realms,  and  was  potential
ground for expansion of the Dark Realms.
The Galaxy was  expected to transform much more quickly  than Galaxies had done in
the past . So it was important that these  Shadow  Masters were removed quickly. Also, as
they  were commencing the transformation of the  Realm of Creativity, there  was a risk at
the Left Way of a significant breach. The planet that was directly in  line with that   was Pern.
After Daniel Withers  was given the seven  Golden  Stars to defeat Gylith, the  Council
decided  that  it  was  time  to  empower  many  Guardians  with  these  new  strengths.  This
would also let the Incarnations put more of their attention on the Shadow Wraiths.
Calana  had  been  trained  to  handle  some  overbearing  negativity,  but  nothing  had
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prepared her for  her entrance into this world.  The planet was called Vorne and it resided
on the Right Way in the Realm of Creativity. When she materialised, she vomited violently
over the g rass.
After regaining  her composure, she moved swiftly across  the countryside. She knew
where  the  Shadow  Master  was,  because  the  Oracle  was  indicating  his  whereabouts  by
radiating heat.  She was running through the outskirts of a large, regional city. The a ir was
thick with smog, and the houses around looked like they should have been condemned.
She  had seen it all before, in  varying degrees, across the border regions.  The more
Shadows on a planet, the more misery, death and destruction.
A vehicle suddenly rounded a corner , its  headlights almost blinding her . It braked hard ,
and several figures jumped  out, the doors rising like a lady beetle‟s wings.
“Way past curfew,” said one of the soldiers.
She instantly knew,   through the Oracle, that these soldiers were   under the influence of
a Shadow Lord. She threw the Oracle,   and the discus made its rounds, knocking the guns
out  of  their  hands.  She  engaged  the  unarmed  soldiers  with  wild  karate  kicks  and  flying
punches, before catching the returned discus.
After all was quiet, she looked inside the vehicle and noticed a bulky computer screen
protruding from the dashboard . She ran a finger on the screen,  but it  didn't respond to her
touch.  She  felt  something  underneath  it,  something  jutting  out.  It  turned  out  to  be  a
keyboard.
She  was  familiar  with  this  old  technology,  as  it  was  not  dissimilar  to  that  on  Udicia.
However,  lately  she  had  been  to  so  many  different  worlds  that  she  was  becoming
accustomed to more evolved computing. She'd seen keyboards and mice, touch-screen s,
holo -graphic controls, voice-only computers,   and even robots.
She tapped quickly on the keyboard,   and a schematic of the region displayed on  the
green  LCD screen.  This would lead her  to the location   of their leader. She jumped in the
passenger seat, punching a soldier through   the window,   and drove down the road.
Calana  studied the fortified compound as she approached.  The best option for getting in
would  be  to  talk  to  the  security  guard.  The  vehicle,  although  quite  sturdy,  would  not  be
able to smash down the gate.
Luckil y  for  her,  as  she  approached  the  gate,  it  opened.  The  Oracle  was  a  universal
key.  Not  only  that,  it  was  also  a  universal  translator.  Everyone  spoke  Varlian  –  or  so  it
seemed to her.
She  drove  quickly  into  the  compound,  parking  at  the  back  of  a  large  shed,  which
looked like a hangar. The  heat was definitely coming  from  within  this shed.   After  looking
around, she dashed out of the vehicle and went to a side door of the building. There was a
combination keypad on it. She waved the Oracle across it,  and the door clicked open. She
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loved having the best skeleton key in the Universe.
Inside, she crept  her  way along a  rack of military equipment and weapon parts. She
could hear a military-style voice  talking to a group of soldiers in the distance.  She went into
the  next aisle and peered across at the gathering.  There was a large missile propped up
on the floor in the centre of this gathering.
A technical person in a white coat was standing next to a screen built into the missile's
side panel; but Calana wasn't looking at him. She glared at the man who was speaking. He
wore a dark military uniform and  a cap.
Something  wasn't  quite  right;   the  information  from  the  Oracle  indicated  that  the
Shadow Master was here. But this wasn't a Master;  this man was  only a Shadow Lord.
“...this is activated,  the pathogen will become airborne and will quickly spread across
the world,” the Shadow Lord was saying.
“Won't this kill everyone?” asked  one of the soldiers.
“ Yes,   it  will,” said the Lord with an evil grin.  “It 's the  Plague.”  He picked up a syringe
and squirted a little into the air. “But for everyone who is inoculated...”
“The shipments  have  now been delivered to all our allies,” said the  man in the  white
coat.
“Excellent,” said the Shadow Lord. “All we need to do now is get this baby in the air.”
“There's  no  honour  in  genocide,”  roared  Calana,  casually  walking  out  into  the  open.
She was holding a Guardian sword.
Some of the soldiers started laughing, because they all held machine guns.
“Well, well, well,” said the Shadow Lord. “A Knight in shining armour.”   More chuckles.
“Why don't you join us? You can watch as your family and friends die a slow and horrible
death.”
“Like I said, everybody deserves a fighting chance . This is cold-blooded murder,   and I
think I'll fight!” snapped Calana.
One of the soldiers fired his machine gun as if it were going to be an easy kill, but was
shocked when the bullets fell short of their target. They were all hitting an energy spiral l ing
from her sword!
A massive surge of the energy started spirall ing around Calana's sword in a clockwise
direction. She pointed it at a group of soldiers,  and a flash of light turned them into white
statues. One or two fell over , and a chalky- white  powder drifted everywhere.
She charged and  was soon  sparring  with a group of angry soldiers.  They'd dropped
their  machine  guns  and  held  large  Bowie  knives.  She  kicked,  punched  and  threw  some
opponents over her shoulders ,   while she slashed others. They  were instantly whitened by
the vibrations from  her sword.
Meanwhile,  the  Shadow  Lord  had  climbed  up  to  a  second- level  landing  and  was
holding a large rocket launcher. 
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“Sorry to break up the party...  but I have to break up the party.”
The rocket fired,   and it quickly bore  down on Calana. She fired a flash of energy from
her sword,   and the rocket was pushed back toward the Shadow Lord. It exploded close to
him,   and he was thrown into the air, landing on the floor below. Pieces of the landing and
the roof of the shed crashed to the floor.
She  looked  down  at  the  Lord  who  was  returning  to  his  own  form.  He  had  a  black,
ghost- like appearance and  large red eyes.
“ It's not...over...Guardian...” he croaked.
A large, dark vortex suddenly appeared over the top of the Shadow Lord  and   rotated in
an anti-clockwise direction. Si ckening negativity poured out as the portal expanded.
A new monster emerged from this dark void, looking more evil and more sinister than
anything Calana had ever encountered before.  The Master wore a black suit, a short cape
and a pale sinister look,  not dissimilar to a vampire‟s.
“ You  didn‟t  waste  any  time  getting  here,”  said  Calana,  a  little  surprised.  Now  she
understood why she had picked up the Master's trail here.
“ I  was  expecting  you,  Guardian,”  sneered  the  Shadow  Master.   A  black  tentacle
suddenly s hot out of what was his right arm and twirled around her neck.  “Guardians! They
always ruin things!” he snapped.
“Well,  watch  me  ruin  it  some  more!”  snapped  Calana,  half-choking.  She  pointed  her
sword,  and  a  large  flash  of  energy  struck  the  Master.  The  Master  flew  through  the  air,
crashing through the side of the shed and out into the compound.
Calana charged through the hole into the shed, running with god- like speed. Springing
to his feet, the Master met her sword with his staff, dark spira l ling energy fi ring from it. She
deflected the dark energy with her sword, but it struck the side of the shed.
Suddenly,  there  was a  huge explosion from all the  munitions  that  were stored there.
Calana  held  her  ground  as  waves  of  blasts  hit  her.  She  cringed  momentarily,  but  soon
realised that she now had powers that were protecting her.
When it all died down,   she  had a terrible thought  about the warhead.  It  mustn‟t  have
exploded,   because it would  have been much  larger than any of the explosions she‟d just
endured. But the  pathogens could have escaped.
The Master picked up on her thoughts and was grinning.
“Well,   that may save me some time...”
Becoming angry, Calana fired a volley of energy into the Shadow Master, driving  him
into  the  ground  with  her  fury.  She  quickly  ran  back  to  where  the  shed  once  stood  and
looked  around.  She  found  the  missile  intact,  lying  amongst  the  rumble.   It  was  built  to
withstand  extreme  shock  and  temperature ,   with  only  a  near-atomic  blast  able  to  break
through its casing. Besides, the Oracle was now   telling her it had not been compromised.
She looked around for the Master, who had disappeared. But he wouldn‟t be far  away. 
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Suddenly, a giant Phoenix came down from the sky! It had long ,   black feathers, a large
pointy beak and red piercing eyes. Huge  talons extended  toward the  missile and locked
onto it. It began to ascend into the sky.
Calana ran up a big pile of rubble and jumped to grab the end of the missile.  Swinging
from it, she realised the Shadow Master still had to climb very high and arm the mis sile, if
he  was  going  to  disperse  the  Plague  quickly  around  the  world.  Otherwise,  it  would  only
affect a small area,   and  his enemies would  have enough time to come  up with the same
vaccine as the Shadows.
A tentacle came out of the wing. It flipped open the display on the missile and started
punching in an access code.  She stood on top of the missile, swung around the Master‟s
giant leg and cut the tentacle with her sword. More tentacles came, but she sliced through
those ,  too.
A huge beak and red eyes came  into  view from above.  The Phoenix emitted  an earpiercing  screech,  and  shook  the  missile  violently.  She  slipped,  unable  to  grab  anything,
and was falling back down to earth.  As she fell, she thought,  “If  he can fly,   so can I.”  She
stopped in mid-air.
“OK,   this is weird.”
She thought of going forward,   and suddenly she was  flying forward, picking up speed
as she became accustomed to this new power. She could see the Master in the distance ;
so  she  willed  the  distance  to  close.  She  flew  like  a  rocket  and  stop ped  in  front  of  the
Master.
“Not so fast.”
The  Phoenix  reared,   and  a  fiery  bolt  of  energy  flew  from  its  mouth.  The  Oracle
transformed into a shield and repelled the anti -clockwise, searing energy.
“ I think this is high enough, anyway ,” croaked the Phoenix,  and let go of the missile.
Calana  dived  for  it,  remembering  her  sky-diving  training.  She  quickly  caught  it ,   and
started to slow it down.
The Phoenix was right onto her, snapping at her with its giant beak. Calana fired at the
bird with bolts of energy, one shot hitting its wing.
Calana  knew  she  needed  to  put  the  missile  somewhere  it  wouldn‟t  endanger  this
world,  but  where?  Underground,  under  the  ocean,  out  in  space?   It  was  a  race  against
time,  as the countdown on the LCD panel became frighteningly close to   the end.
She could possibly take it up into space, but the Shadow Master was snapping at her
heels. She looked up at the Phoenix, silhouetted over the glorious sun.
Of course! She had the Golden Stars! She didn‟t need the Keepers here.  She lined the
missile up with the Phoenix and threw it directly at the Master,  with the Sun at the bird‟s
back.
A Mandala  opened around the three of them. Just before it closed, the Phoenix made
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an ear-splitting screech,   and they were all gone.
Millions of  miles away from Vorne,   a  Mandala   opened.  The Shadow Master and  the
warhead were fried in the sun‟s corona.
As  she  descended  back  to  earth,  she  realised  one  thing  about  her  experience :  h er
humanity  had clouded  her will. She  was thinking too much  like an ordinary  human being
while she had the temporary powers. If she‟d realised  the powers  she had, she could have
destroyed the Shadow Master with a thought!
However,  it  was  all  part  of  her  experience  and  something  she  could  take  away  to
enlighten other Guardians.
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Chapter 2
"It‟s really changed,   hasn't it?" said Penni. "Bersia,   I mean. Since the secret police left."
Penni was nineteen, with a thin build, olive skin and short hair. Born in Bersia, she had
been a Guardian for six years. She wore a black, ninja -style uniform wit h a symbol of the
Three Ways woven on  her right breast pocket.
"I  know  what  you  mean.  I t‟s  not  just  the  people,"  replied  Sari,  looking  around  the
forest. "Have you ever seen so many animals, birds and insects ?"
Sari  was  sixteen,  with  a  small  build,  olive  skin  and  long,  dark-brown  hair.  Born  in
Bersia,  she‟d  only  been  a  Guardian  for  half  as  long  as  Penni.  She  also  wore  the  same
ninja-style uniform  as Penni, with the same Three Ways  symbol.
“We're in the true realms of the Goddess without the Shadows,” said Penni.
The countryside of Bersia was scenic,  with rolling  hills covered in flowers and grand
old trees dotting the landscape.
“Now it's up to us to keep it that way,” said Sari.
“Not  on  our  own,  but  we  play  a  pretty  significant  part,”  said  Penni,  looking  a t  Sari
seriously. “You know all that training we've done ;   we'll have to put it all to the test sooner
or later.”
“ Yea h, but let's not think about that now,” said Sari. “We should be enjoying ourselves
while we can!”
“ You‟re right,   Sari.  N ever  look back and  never look  forward.  That's  what Dad always
said.”
“He did, didn't he?” said Sari. “He said a lot of things like that, and it never really s a nk
in until Mum left.”
"She was a strict woman and not exactly the greatest wife," said Penni ,   “b ut she is our
mother,   and look where we are because of her."
Both girls were silent for a while as they walked through the forest.
"Look at that huge butterfly!" said Sari suddenly. "Let‟s try and catch up with it."
Both girls gave chase. Soon they  were  running through a fi eld of tall grass, giggling
with each other as they ran. Suddenly,   they  fell into the grass, still giggling as they rolled
over and looked up to the sky.
"We used to do that a lot,  didn't we ,  Penni?" said Sari. "How long has it been?"
"Maybe  five or six  years," said Penni. "Since  then,  we've been running after  Oracle generated beasts. But it‟s nice for a change."
"Well,   I've  had  my  Oracle  for  three  years,"  said  Sari.  "The  Oracle  has  ruled  our
teenage years. It‟s like we‟ve..."
"Missed out on growing up, per haps?" said Penni. 
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"Maybe, but we've gained so much in other ways," said Sari.
"Like understanding people and being in tune with nature," said Penni.
"Yeah, but we already had that as  Gurus," replied Sari.
"Having the powers to vanq uish a Shadow Lord?" offered Penni. "Well,   you can't beat
that one!"
"Perhaps i f   all  these  things...” Sari trailed off.  “Something has  happened.   I can feel it
through the Oracle. I sense it's about to reveal something.”
“ I felt that ,   too,” said Penni.
A  large  golden  Mandala  sudde nly  opened  up  behind  the  girls.  They  looked  at  each
other, knowing that this was their first real quest. They quickly walked through.
Penni and Sari re-materialised and stood observing a picturesque scene. They were in the
centre of the Realm of Innocence.
“We're still in Udicia,” said Sari, breaking the silence. “It's too beautiful for there to be
Shadows here.”
“This is Delicia,” said Penni. “I know because I've seen that pyramid -shaped building in
a brochure before.” They were on a mountain,   overlooking  the city. The city was next to a
large shipping port. “It's breathtaking.”
“We must be close to a Keeper,” said Sari. “Why else would we be here?”
They walked in silence for a while, both contemplating the fact that they were now on
their  first  mission.  T hey  were  moving  along  the  side  of  a  mountain,  taking  in  the  resortstyle housing that overlooked the city.
“ It's cooler this way,” said Sari, pointing to one of the houses at the edge of the cliff.
They walked around the side of the building and noticed  a man standing close to the back
fence, looking out at the scenery.
“ I  was  expecting  you  two,”  said  Ulef,  turning  to  face  the  girls  and  smiling.  “Come
through.” He looked up the road. “Where's the other Guardian?”
Ulef was the Keeper of the Realm of Innocence. He was of medium build with brown,
curly  hair,  and  was  thirty-eight  years  of  age.  He  was  wearing  Lemarian  clothing,  which
looked like it came from England in the nineteenth century.
“We haven't caught up with him or her yet,” said Penni. She looked at Ulef's wrists. He
wore gold bangles on each one,  with disks  covering his lower palms. There was an etching
of the Mars- like planet of Marcia on each disk, representing the  Realm of Innocence.
Ulef  motioned  them  toward  the  back  of  the  yard.  He  looked  acro ss  the  ocean  and
pointed to the land in the distance.
“Lemaria,” said Sari.
“That's  right,  young  lady,  Lemaria.  It's  a  beautiful  country  now ,   since  the
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transformation, but before that, it was under the brutal rule of a tyrant called Liro.”
“ You played yo ur role as a Guru,” said Penni .   “ You stayed united with other Gurus and
gave the community hope.”
“We did survive,   didn't  we? Like  yourselves,” said  Ulef.  He stared at Lemaria. “Look
how close I was to freedom. I could have just got in a boat and come to D elicia years ago.”
“But you didn't,” said Sari. “You chose to be part of something significant and fight for
the cause.”
“Like us,” said Penni.
There was silence among   the three.
“Please come inside for a moment.”
Ulef‟s house was big inside, full of memorabilia from his home country, Lemaria.
“Why  the  two  talismans?”  asked  Penni.  “I  remember  the  Earth  people  only  having
one.”
“ You're right,” said Ulef. “All the Keepers of Udicia have been given the powers of the
Left, Central and Right  Ways, and now they only reside in the Central Way. I guess it falls
in  line  with  the  three  Guardians.  Thus,  I'm  now  sitting  in  Delicia,  and  not  in  my  home
country, Lemaria.”
“Three Guardians?” queried Sari. “I wonder why we haven‟t met the other one yet?”
“ I haven't been giv en the privilege of that knowledge,” said Ulef.
“ I  guess  we'll  find  out  who  the  other  one  is  eventually,”  said  Penni.  “Do  you  know
where we're going?”
“No,  there isn't any  need. All the Keepers are required to do is put  their attention on
the specific realms at  the right moment.  It doesn't matter  where  you are in this  Universe;
everything is connected.”
Ulef lifted his arms, palms up.
“Put  your  Oracles on each  talisman.”  Penni and Sari did so.  “And whoever the  third
Guardian is, may he or she also become empowered by the subtle qualities of this realm.”
Penni  and  Sari  materialised  at  the  end  of  a  dusty  road,  in  a  small  village.  This  was  the
Realm of Creativity in the Central Way. The y were in the country   of  Velonia.
As  they  walked  along,  they  noticed  people  politely  chatting  in  front  of  restaurants,
cafes,  and  art  and  craft  shops.  The  odd  chariot  went  by,  with  passengers  smiling  and
waving.
“Do you know this place, Penni?” asked Sari.
“ It‟s s till Udicia, but  what country   it is,  I'm  not sure.  They  look  lik e Varlians, but  their
fashion is odd.”
A lady walked out of a sewing shop.
“Oh,   my,  young ladies, you are a long way from  home. Beautiful fabrics like that,   and
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lovely olive skin . Y ou must be Eeonians –  no, Bersians.”
“That's right,” started Penni.
“I‟m Nellie. What are your names?”
“Penni and Sari,” said Penni, noticing a symbol in the window of the shop.  It  was the
planet Lesnora,  which symbolised the  Realm of Creativity. She pointed  towards it.   “That's
interesting. W here did you get that?”
“Well,  you are  very perceptive,” said Nellie. “I'm  not sure exactly, but  the man in that
art shop over the road might know.”
They  walked  across  the  road  and  entered  the  art  shop  as  suggested;  although  art
shop wasn't the right description. This was quite a large gallery, with a variety of work from
all across Udicia. The girls even noticed Bersian tapestries.
Something  in  one  of  the  displays  caught  their  eyes.  There  was  a  painting  of  the
Oracle, the order of the rings,   and even a Guardian sword.
“Look at this!” said Sari. “It's the final battle!”
Most Udicians now referred to  the opening of the Juncture as the final battle. War and
legacy  no  longer  held any reverence in the  new order.  The past  was the past ,  and  most
Udicians just wanted to move on and leave the dark times behind.
“Such infinite detail,” said Penni, looking at the work. “Only an Incarnation could paint
something like this.”
“ It always felt like someone else was painting it,” said a man from behind the girls.
They turned around and looked at Sef,  the Keeper of the  Realm of Creativity. He was
of small build, with straight black hair,   and was twenty-nine years of age. He wore a suited
version of clothing from Earth‟s old west.
“Hello, I'm Sef, and you must be Larn's girls, Penni and Sari?”
“ Yes, that's right,” said Penni, looking at Sef's rings. He had  rings on both   thumbs.  The
etchings on  his rings represented the  moon -like planet of Lesnora, closest  to the sun.  “I
guess we're here to make our connection with this realm.”
“Of course you are,” said Sef. He looked around the shop.
“We haven't caught up with the other Guardian yet,” said Penni.
“Maybe she's already in the battle,” said Sef.
“How do you know she's a she?” asked Sari.
“That's true,” said Sef. “The same way I knew these details :  they just come to me.”
“So, where are you in this scene?” asked Penni.
“Here,” said Sef, pointing at the bottom of the painting. “That's Ulef right at the bottom.”
“ I see,” said Sari. “So the Gurus fought in order of your realms within the Juncture?”
“ Yes, but not at first,”  said Sef. “This is a snapshot toward the end of the battle. So this
is Ulef at the  Realm of  Innocence,  and  then me in the  Realm of  Creativity.   Viler's here at
the Realm of Contentment.”
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“So  you  worked  in  a  clockwise  direction  around  the  battles?”  asked  Sa ri.  “Those
Shadows  within  the  battle  circles,  were  they  all  the  opposing  qualities  of  the  particular
Realms?”
“ Yes, you can see that, can't you Sari? Although we never thought of it at the time, we
did  circle  the  battles  to  counter  their  opposing  forces.  That  was  really  the  power  in  the
battle, not the guns.  It was also  what the Guardians did with those winged creatures that
helped.
“The Shadow Angels,” said Sari.
“Yes. Well,   you can see here,” said Sef,   “Cal is circling the  Realm of Collectivity.”
“But he's firing at the Juncture,” said Sari.
“Gylith  played  that  trick  on  the  Gurus,”  said  Sef.  “In  order  to  try  and  break  up  our
collectivity,  he  manipulated  that  very  realm.  With  the  transformation  of  General  Nas ,   he
had  another  means  of  blocking  the  Juncture  a nd  pulling  Remm  and  Meln  out  of  their
realms.”
“ I thought you said it was Uncle Cal's realm?” asked Penni.
“No, it was  Remm's ,  but  he  was tied  up in a battle with  Nas. Cal was also a Varlian
and a sniper. So he did the circling of Remm's  realm.”
“Well picked up by the divine forces,” said Penni, looking in the Juncture. “Is that Nas
and a Shadow Angel, flying through the Right Way?”
“ Yes.  The Gurus had little  hope of bringing down Nas,” said Sef. “As you know, Meln
tried to bring him down with a conventiona l weapon, but failed. Only a Guardian can kill a
Shadow Lord.”
“ You could now,” said Sari.
“In a way,  I could , as Udicia is now working through the Planetary realms.  If one was
here I could move him onto the Juncture, which in our case now is via the sun,”   said Sef.
“Ouch,” said Penni.
“As I was saying about the Gurus fighting in the Juncture, they never had any chance
of destroying him.”
“But they could position him,” said Sari.
“ Yes, put him in the right spot to be nudged up the way, which is what Meln d id.”
“But at that point the Juncture wasn't open,” mentioned Penni.
“No,   it wasn't. So Nas assumed his position at the wing tips of the Master,” said Sef.
“Wouldn't that have given Gylith more power?” asked Penni.
“ It did, in a direct  fighting sense, but  he'd  lost all  his collective senses.  You see, that
war  was all ingeniously prepared by  the Guardians. All Gylith‟s Lords were sent back to
their Master,   via the Keepers. Armies were prepared from each realm and coordinated to
appear at the Juncture when Gylith attacked. When he was about to invade, the Guardians
let the readied armies through, the Sylonians being the first.” 
13
“There‟s something missing in this painting,” said Penni.
“The Guru who represented the Realm of Security,” said Sari.
“That's  right.  That  Guru  was  never  there  fighting  on  the  ground .  H e  was  already
fighting Shadows the way the Keepers will this time.”
“Who was he?” asked Penni.
“Considering  you are  moving  your way  up the realms ,  I  think  you will find  that out by
the time you get to that  particular realm,” said Sef, staring at the large  Mandalas spinning
behind them.
14
Chapter 3
The girls materialised in the  Realm of Contentment, in the Central Way. This country was
Olrone.
“This is like a round- the -world trip,” said Sari. “Another exoti c destination.”
“This  is  strictly  business,”  said  Penni,  feeling  for  the  coolness  in  the  Oracle.  She
remembered  when she was a little girl she  used to feel for coolness in  her  hands.  “This
way.”
They walked down a dirt road ,   looking at the small farmhouse  in the distance. Beside
them  was  an  orchard  of  lemm,  a  fruit   similar  to  olives.  Beyond  the  house  was  thick
bushland.
“The countryside is picturesque ,” said Sari.
“The Shadows drove a lot of this  realm into poverty,” said Penni ,   “b ut it looks like the
orchard industry is back on its feet.”
“Look, there's a guy up there with a telescope,” said Sari, pointing to a tree next to the
house.
“He's cool,” said Penni. Sari gave her a funny look.  “ I mean he's a Guru. H e's giving off
cool vibrations. Let's go and talk to him.”
The man climbed  back down the tree and ran behind the house.
Soon   they  approached  the  house.  Sari  was  the  first  to  stand  on  the  veranda.  Two
trapdoors suddenly opened! Sari did a full split holding herself over the hole.
“Luck y  you‟re really flexible,” said Penni. “Looks like someone wants to challenge us.”
Sari  flipped  herself  back  onto  the  decking.  Both  girls  stood  either  side  of  the  main
door. The door eerily opened by itself . So they peered into the house.
As  they  walked  into  the  entrance  t hey  saw  something  falling  from  above  out  of  the
corners  of their eyes.  It was a net!   Penni quickly grabbed a sword  from  a nearby  hanger
and cut a  huge  hole in the centre of  the  net as it  was about  to engulf  them.  The  net fell
uselessly around them.
A man dressed  like a soldier came flying into  the room from  the back of the house,
swinging his arms around in karate motions. Sari raced toward the man, grabbed his arm
and  threw  him over  her shoulder. Startled,  the man sprang back  up on  his feet and ran
down the hallway.
“ Is he our Keeper?” asked Sari.
“ I think so.”
An energy bolt blasted a hole in the wall near Penni's head.
“Get down. He's shooting at us!”
“Where is he?”
15
“He  just  shot  at  us  from  down  the  hallway.  Come  on!  Let's  end  this,”  said  Penni,
running in  his direction.
“We can't use the Oracle as a weapon against a Keeper,” said Sari.
“No, we'll have to improvise.”
They slowed down at the end of the hall and noticed that he'd gone outside, as one of
the bedroom windows was still open.
“Wait,” said Penni,   “ we'll be sitting ducks if we go that way. ”  They raced out the front
door and crept around  to  the back of  the house.  They scanned  the bushland, looking  for
potential hiding spots.
“He's good,” whispered Sari.
“ Yes,   and  look  where  he's  leading  us,”  said  P enni.  “Into  thick  bushland  that  he's
familiar with.”
Before  Penni  could  say  anything,  Sari  was  quickly  creeping  through  the  bush.  An
energy bolt shot across the yard close to her.  Penni quickly  followed her sister, but  left a
bit of a gap. She wanted to get a bearing on where the Keeper was firing from.
He fired again, this time even closer to where Sari was hiding. Penni  had a  good idea
where the shots were coming from. He was low this time. Was  he climbing  up and down
trees,  or was there another person?
Penni  signa l led  to  Sari,  holding  up  two  fingers  and  pointing  in  the  directions  of  the
mock enemy.  Penni moved toward the last-known position, but instead of going in directly,
she took a wider arc. The bush was getting thicker and made more noise as they m oved.
But  Penni  had  done  a  lot  of  training  in  this  type  of  situation.  She  knew  Sari  was  very
stealthy in situations like this.
Crawling silently, Penni spotted movement from the corner of her eye. She spotted the
end of an energy-bolt weapon poking out of  a large bush. S he  had  found him!   She would
have to be even stealthier from this point.  As she crept into a clearing she saw him about
to  sneak  from  one  tree  to  another.  Penni  tapped  on  his  shoulder,  as  Sari  snatched  his
weapon from behind.
“ I  must  be  getti ng  rusty,”  said  the  man.  “Been  too  long  since  I've  done  any  serious
combat.” He stood up and shook Penni's hand. “Hello, I'm Viler.”
Viler was  the Keeper of the  Realm of Contentment.  He  was tall and  about  forty-one
years of age. He wore karate-style pants and a plain tee-shirt.
“I'm  Penni ,   and  this  is  Sari,”  said  Penni,  looking  at  the  rings  on  the  middle  finger  of
each  hand.  Each  ring  had  an  etching  of  the  large  gaseous  planet  in  this  system  called
Setov.
“Well,   you girls are alert ;   I'll give you that much.  Not a bad effort without any weapons,”
said Viler.
“ I thought we were supposed to feel contentment in this realm,” said Sari ,   “l ike a cuppa
16
and biscuits.”
“Well,   contentment for a Guru is feeling confident that he always  has enough money
for  what  he  needs,   and  good  connections  to  his  friends  and  family,”  said  Viler.  “For  a
Guardian,  contentment  is  the  feeling  of  total  confidence  and  fearlessness,  even  in  the
event of being personally under threat.”
“But we weren't under threat,” said Sari.
“I was  firing l ive rounds and  using cross- hairs to fine-tune my aim,” said Viler. “I  was
aiming to kill.”
“Well,   we must be content,” said Penni,   after a moment‟s silence. “There was never a
moment of concern.”
“Excellent!  Y ou've  passed,”  grinned  Viler,  deactivating  his  weapon.  “I  also  do  warm
brews and biscuits.”
Two Mandalas appeared beside them.
“Sorry,   we have to keep moving,” said Penni. “Thanks for the information.”
They materialised in front of an Asian-style  house in the country of Eeonia. This was the
centre of the  Realm of Security. Like Bersia, Eeonian houses had paper walls.
“This  looks  like  Bersia,  but  I  think  it‟s  Eeonia,”  said  Sari.  “You  can  see  the  subtle
differences in the design.”
“This must be the Keeper‟s house,” said Penni.
Larn appeared from inside and smiled. 
“Hello,  girls , fancy finding you here.”
“Dad!” they said together.
Larn was  the Keeper of the Realm of  Security.  He was tall and  fifty  years of age.  He
was wearing a Bersian Kimono, belted around the waist, and moccasin-style shoes.
The girls looked curiously at each other.
“We‟ve been meeting all  the Keepers of  the  world . So,  you  must be a Keeper also,”
said Penni
“Well, now you know,” said Larn. “Come inside and I‟ll show you something.”
Larn took his daughters to an altar set up in respect to   the Goddess.
“Well,” started Sari. She noticed the large bronze Oracle sitting next to the photo of the
Udician incarnated Goddess.
“You have an Oracle, ”  said Sari.
“I had it here back in the transformation time, too,” said Larn. “Arden gave it to me.”
“You‟re the Keeper that Sef  was talking about!” said Sari. “He said you  were working
then, like you all will be now.”
A ring suddenly materialised on the small fingers of each of his hands.
“That‟s correct. Arden brought me in early, not because of my posi tion in the  Realm of
17
Security, but with you two being Guardians. This gives me the extra powers as a Keeper.”
“There‟s a third power also,” said Penni.
“ Yes, there is,” Larn said.
Calana was  the third Guardian and was Larn‟s other daughter. Penni and Sari  didn‟t
know that yet, but they soon would.  Larn  hadn‟t seen Calana for many years . I n fact,   he'd
seen  little  of  her  since  she  was  born.  He  knew  his  three  girls  were  about  to  embark  on
something significant.
“Are you all  right,  Dad?” asked Penni.
“The Oracle is such a powerful tool and you both possess  one .” He was regaining his
composure. “There are a lot of things the Oracle will reveal, but there   are  a lot of things it
won't –  until the right time.” He paused. “I need to tell you a few things ,   and I don‟t  think we
have a lot of time.  As you know,   y ou‟ll meet up with the Guardian of the  Right Way soon.
From this moment on,   you will think of me more as your Keeper than  your father.”
“But,   Dad,” said Sari. She was always particularly close to her father.
“ I'm   still  your father, but  you‟re  Guardians  now, and enemies of  the Shadow Empire.
Our relationship is our strength,   but it could also be our weakness. As you know, Udicians
have all become family since the war, regardless of our bloodlines.”
“We understand,   Father,” said Penni. She had  her eyes closed. “I've tried to see the
third power but the Oracle won't reveal him or her.”
“ I can understand why,” said Larn, not elaborating. “I've been fighting the Shadows for
a very long time,   in a way. You know my marria ge to your mother was a struggle for years.
This was a direct influence of their  rei gn ,   and it  happened to many  families.  That's their
fundamental  power,  destroying  society  at  the  roots   –   the  family.”  He  looked  at  his  two
Guardian daughters. “It was my second bad relationship, and the first time was worse.”
Penni and Sari looked at their father, shocked.
Penni said, “You were married before Mum?”
“ I  wasn't married before  Mum, but  I was in a  relationship,” said Larn. “The Shadows
had a much stronger  hold on  this planet back then ,   and  I guess  you could say,  they  had
some hold on me.  Before  I was a Guru, Gylith  had his sights set on m y   being his Lord of
this realm."
The  two  girls  were  silent :   another  shock.  Keeper,  another  marriage  and  potential
Shadow Lord . W hat next?
"I  was right into  the silly attachments  that everyone else was into, like alcohol, drugs
and  even  sleeping  around.  As  you  know,  sex  shouldn't  be  on  your  mind  all  the  time.  It
should  be  spontaneous,  preferably  within  marriage.  This  keeps  the  Realm  of  Innocence
pure."   Sari was looking at her father with serious interest.   “So, my conditionings were just
about  right to become  the  next Lord  when  I met a  young Varlian  woman, Lila. She was
everything but innocent, and I wasn't totally pure either. If I was, I would never have given
18
her a second look. I never had any feelings for her. As it was ,   I never loved her.”
“Dad, the past is the past," said Sari.
“That's true, the past is the past, and all is forgiven by the Goddess,” said Larn. “But in
this case ,  my past is part of your future.”
“Dad, you‟re starting to speak in riddles,” said Penni.
“ You‟re absolutely right,” said Larn. “There is something I can't tell you as yet, but it will
all  come  together  soon.  You  see,  Lila  was  under  the  direct  influence  of  a  powerful
Shadow,   unbeknown  to  her;  a  much  more  devious  monster  than  Gylith.  You  have  to
understand, Lila wasn't a Shadow herself, but was being used to get to me. The Shadows
knew I would be an important part of what was going to happen in Udicia in the  future.”
“Do you know who this devious Shadow monster was?” asked Penni.
“No,  but  I‟m  certain  it  was  a  Shadow  Wraith.  Masters  only  have  powers  over  a
Planetary  Oracle,  but  Wraiths  have  powers  over  an  entire  Quadrant.  It  wasn‟t  Gylith,
because it was a fema le voice.”
“ I remember dreams I had  when I was a child ,   about an evil witch. She used to talk to
me in my dreams, but I knew she was telling lies,” said Sari.
“ Yeah,  I  remember  Mum‟s  voice  changing  years  ago,  like  she  was  possessed  or
something,” said Penni.
They were all silent for a while,   in collective understanding.
“ If this is all true,” said Larn, “t his Wraith might have something to do with our up and
coming fight.”
“But we can‟t fight a Wraith!” said Sari.
“Not  directly,”  said  Larn.  “We‟ll  fight  them  collectively.  We  fight  them  with  our  love.
Shadows hate love.”
19
Chapter 4
Later, the girls entered Var li a in the beautiful city of Neth.  The city was majestic, with highrise buildings,  and chariots  flying everywhere  among them .  On the street  you could   see
the hustle and bustle of Varlians, walking down the streets with their high -collared suits.
"This place is huge!" said Sari.
"Yes, probably because it's also in a realm of its own," replied Penni.
"How do you mean? Aren't we in the  Realm of Collectiv ity?" asked Sari.
"We are, but it's an extension of  that. In Gurudom we call this realm 'Hum sa' . "
"Of  course,  between  the  eyes  on  the  subtle  body.  Also  called  the  Realm  of  Sweet
Speech," said Sari.
"Now, talking about that, where is our sweet talker ,  I wo nder?" asked Penni.
A  chariot  suddenly  appeared  out  of  the  traffic  above,   and  a  man  grinned  at  them.
People in the crowded streets were forced to dive for safety.
"Jump in, before an officer on the beat tries to book  me for  reckless  flying," said the
man. "My name is Remm Altonino."
Remm  was the Keeper of the  Realm of Collectivity.  He was  of  solid build with brown
hair,  and  was  thirty- nine  years of age. He  wore dark army-style overalls,  with  large black
boots.
"Nice  chariot,"  said  Penni,  staring  at  the  stre amlined  panels  on  the  craft.  It  looked
more like a spaceship. "I'm Penni and this is Sari."
"Buckle- up. T his chariot doesn't always sit horizontal, "  Remm said.
"How do you mean?" asked Sari, quickly activating the restraint beams.
Remm accelerated the chariot with incredible speed and headed  straight  toward a tall
building. Just as the girls thought they were going to collide with it, Remm pulled back the
aircraft-style steering column,   and the chariot shot straight up!   The chariot was now going
straight up  like a rocket.
"I  thought  this  was  a  spaceship,"  said  Penni,  looking  up  at  the  top  of  the  building,
which was racing toward them, fast.   Remm brought the chariot over and landed on top of
the high - rise.
"This chariot has illegal mods," said Sari.
"Well,   someone  had  to  clean  up  the  pockets  of  negativity  that  were  left  after  the
transformation," said Remm.
"You're a cop?" asked Sari.
"Yes,"  said  Remm,  "although  I  wasn't  always  one.  I  was  a  secret  agent  during  the
war." 
20
The girls looked at the rings on his lef t and right index fingers. The planets on his rings
represented the ringed, gas giant in this system called Zovis.
"And a Keeper,   too," said Penni. “I think I remember seeing you in Tyrone years ago."
"Did you? That must have been during the war.  I wouldn' t have thought  you  were old
enough."
"Well,   no, I just happened to have popped in," said Penni ,  with a mischievous smile.
"That didn't have something to do with a certain Oracle, did it?" queried Remm.
"Maybe."
"She was ordained with it at that time," said   Sari,   “at thirteen.”
"It was the beginning of a lot of changes for Udicia, I know," said Remm. "We were all
given greater responsibility from then. Not only for us Gurus ,   promoted into the new order,
but for every Udician."
Remm paused, looking out at the aerial view of the city from the top of the high- rise.
"Varlia has become such a powerful world leader,   and it‟s great how all the nations are
now working well together.
“The  Udici an  Alliance  is  no  longer  divided.  The  Sylonian  and  Nelven  governments
were  always opposing the rest of the Alliance with Tyrone. We knew as Gurus that Sylonia
and Nelve were on either side of the Juncture, pushing out those big national balloons of
'ego' so  that  no  vibrational flows could get through.  Gylith parked  himself in the tiny gap,
and then we were separated from universal truth.
“Varlians  didn't perform  their role well,   either,   at that time.  Their leadership was poor,
and  they  should  have  taken  charge  of  world  affairs.  It  was  their  job  at  the  Realm  of
Collectivity. But instead,   they became greedy, speech became slander, finances became
dirty,   and they lost sight of the true value of business and politics. Again, Gylith parked his
Lord in the middle of all this,  and we got a leader that sounded like he was the answer to
ou r prayers.
“ Thank God for the Guardians . Otherwise,  we'd never  have broken out of our trance.
Fancy another ride in my chariot before you go?” Remm asked.
“ Yes,” said Sari. “Where to?”
“Well, just to make doubly sure I've done my job, and cleared this  realm well enough,
we can utilise that Oracle of yours.”
“Oh,” said Penni. “How's that?”
“By finishing off some clearing.”
They all climbed into the chariot,   and Remm quickly took off, gaining considerable speed.
If he were driving this high in a civilian chariot,   he would have been quickly pulled over by
his fellow officers. As it was, his fellow officers were probably not impressed ,   and a crackle
over his radio confirmed this. 
21
“Sergeant, what the hell are you doing?” It was the Chief, who was probably  informed
by another officer. Remm snapped the radio off.
“Why are you flying so high,  anyway?” asked Penni.
“ I told you:   we're doing some clearing,” said Remm. “Hold that Oracle up.”
Remm went even faster and put the chariot into a slight turn.
“ You‟re going to do some big circles around the city and clear it out, just like we clear
our own centres,” said Sari.
“ Yep, we can't afford to have any more negativity in this realm,” said Remm. “I hope to
do the next few years of police work in one day.”
Penni looked at Remm. “You‟re thinking like a Guardian.”
“ You might be right,” smiled Remm. “I couldn't do this before, because the rings don't
quite give me enough power.”
“We've got company,” said Sari.
Three Police chariots were in pursuit.
Remm was about to  go faster,   but Penni motioned for him  not to. She turned around
and directed the Oracle at their pursuers.
“Are you going to shoot them?” asked Remm.
“They'll  be  fine,”  said  Penni,  “unless  they're  Shadows.  I'm  giving  them  a  little
vibrational persuasion.”
“Now you‟re thinking like a Guardian,” said Remm.
Vibrations shot out of Penni's Oracle in a clockwise motion and struck the trio behind
them. They immediately slowed down and turned around.
“See,  now  they know  what  we are doing and  will back  you up later  on,” said Penni.
“You‟re welcome.”
Remm grinned. “You‟re going to be a hard opponent for the first Shadow you run into. I
can  see  through  the  ring  that  you've  put  a  lot  into  your  experience  and  training  so  far.
You're the Central Way, and will be a very important part of your trio. In a way,   it will be up
to you to keep things together.”
“So I've been informed by the Oracle,” said Penni. “It's all unfamiliar territory once we
pass  through  the  Juncture.  Not  just  because  of  the  new  world  we'll  be  placed  in,  or  the
Shadows we cross, but because of the responsibility of our role in this great  Universe.”
“ I know how you feel, but not at your scale,” replied Remm.
Remm did a few more circles around the city and finally landed the chariot in a park. It
was right  across from the city centre.
“Well,  I feel that we  have finally put  me out of a job!” said Remm,  half -sad and  halfglad. “Look at this place. It's vibrant!”
The girls looked at the city and smiled. It did seem very peaceful. 
22
“We  haven't  just  transformed  Udicia  for  ourselves,”  said  Remm.  “We've  transformed
Udicia  for  the  rest  of  the  Universe.  With  all  our  national  realms  cleared  and  attentive
Keepers at their posts, you will be empowered to emit beautiful loving vibrations for those
who   desire it out there and positive destructive vibrations for those  who  don't.”
“Thanks,   Uncle Remm. Y ou've been an inspiration,” said Sari. “We hope to talk to you
again.”
“Going already?”
A huge Mandala appeared behind the girls.
“We have that sense when we have to leave,” said Penni. “So long.”
The girls gave Remm a quick hug and walked into the  Mandala.
23
Chapter 5
The girls materialised inside what was once Tyrone‟s Imperial  Palace. They stared at the
grand  hall of the building.  On  the  high  walls  they  noticed paintings   of Presidents from a
bygone  era  –  except  that  Gylith  wasn‟t  there.  He‟d  been  removed.  Now  this  was  the
Parliament  House  of  the  first  free  democratic  government.   They  walked  over  to  the
administration alcove and looked at the old lady behind the glass partition.
“Sorry,   girls. This place is only  for official government business   –   n ot  field trips from
school!” snapped the lady, annoyed.
“This is official business,” said Penni, holding up the Oracle.
“Oh,   I see,” said the Lady with sudden understanding. “You‟ re Guardians!” She came
out  and  kissed  the  two  girls,  her  grumpiness  completely  evaporated.  “I  will  contact  the
President immediately.”
Sari raised her eyebrows and grinned .   “We‟re royalty here.”
A  man,  who  looked  way  too  young  to  be  a  President,  came  bounding  around  the
corner.
“ I‟ve  been  looking  forward  to  this  day,”  said  the  young  ma n,  beaming,  “to  see  the
return of the Guardians. Now, what do you need ? C hariots? Weapons? A n army?”
Benn was the President of Tyrone. He was tall, with short, sandy hair,  and was twentyfive  years of age. He wore an old -fashioned suit with a cloak. A gold chain hung out of his
right-breast pocket.
Penni immediately liked the man for his enthusiasm, for his charm, his...
Sari nudged her discreetly and whispered, “It‟s forbidden to get involved.”
Sari was right. I f she became attracted to a man, it was all over for her. She would be
immediately replaced as a  Guardian. Guardians  had to keep a chaste lifestyle. Marriage
was  fine,  but  a  partner  was  vibrationally  selected,  meaning   he  or  she  would  become
apparent when the time was right. Having flings in between was absolutely forbidden.
Penni looked at his hand for rings  –  n ot wedding rings, but Keeper rings. There were
none. “We need to see the Keeper immediately, ”   she said.
“Straight to business,” said the man. “I‟m Benn , by the way. And who are you two?”
“Sari and Penni,” said Sari.
“OK, this way,” said Benn, curious to know why the girls were so serious. Oh well, he
thought, who was he to question Guardian business?
Benn led them through the old palace to an office at the end of a long hallway. He opened
the door,   and a man looked up from his desk and smiled. 
24
“Ambassador, I‟ll leave you with the two Guardians, Penni and Sari.” Benn left, smiling
at Penni.
“Hello,  I‟m  Meln Lavos,  the Ambassador of Sylonia.”  He walked around  his desk and
shook the girls‟ hands. “I‟m really excited to catch up with Guardians once again.”
Meln was the Keeper of the Realm of Forgiveness  –  the  Juncture. He was of medium
build,  with  black  hair,  and  was  forty - five  years  of  age.  He  wore  a  Sylonian  suit,  which
looked similar to  the formal Star  Trek  uniform. Meln wore rings on  his ring fingers. Each
ring had an etching of a sun  –  Udicia‟s sun.
“So was everyone else,” commented Sari.
“Well,   they would be,” said Meln. “The Guardians gave Udicia our independence.”
“ I heard you did al l  right through the conflict,” said Penni.
“ You mean  with General Nas?  Shadow Lords are impossible to kill  without the silver
from a Guardian‟s sword ,   as you know.”
“Through the heart,   at that,” said Sari.
“ Yes, but it didn‟t matter . We kept General  Nas occupied, so he couldn‟t organise the
troops in  Gylith‟s legion.”  Meln paused ,  thinking. “It  really put everything into perspective
when I put these rings on.”
“ Yes,   it does,” said Penni, knowing  that  the Oracle and  the rings  provided  the same
perception of knowledge.
“Gylith was only a small part of the Shadows‟ grand scheme. We thought  he was the
'Puppet Master', but he was merely a puppet himself.”
“ Yeah, between the likes of him and the Shadow One, there are the Shadow Wraiths,”
said Sari.
“Mmm,  the  Shadow  Wraiths.  The  Masters  orchestrate  the  national  level,  while  the
Wraiths, the broader  universal  level. As  you know,  Udicia was the staging point for their
'universal' plans to take back Earth. Luckily,  Gylith failed.”
“ I  think  I  understand  the  implication,”  said  Penni.  “The  Shadow  One  may  want  to
regain lost ground.”
“Exactly.  There  are  several thousand light years between here and the Dark Realms.
The  Incarnations  have been busily   k nocking out a lot of these Masters, although that has
changed in recent times.”
“The  Golden Stars,” said Sari. “We know  that the Guardians are gradually starting  to
take over from the Incarnations there.”
“ Yes.  The  Incarnations  now  need to focus  their atte ntion on these Wraiths, while  the
Guardians take care of the Masters.”
Penni  and  Sari  looked  at  Meln,  knowing  he  was  about  to  tell  them  something
important. 
25
“The Galactic Council are certain the Shadows are about to make a major strike on the
Ranger Alliance, in the border regions –  at the planet Pern, in the region of the Left Way at
the Realm of Creativity.”
“A vunerable realm, that‟s for sure.  How do you know, anyway?” asked Penni, a little
surprised. “A Keeper wouldn‟t be privy to this, I don‟t think.”
“Sounds like you‟ve received a little intelligence,” commented Sari.
“Very  alert  of  you  both.  Y ou‟re  right.  I  spoke  to  Arden  a  few  hours  ago,”  said  Meln.
“He‟s eager to speak to you.”
“Ready to go,” said Meln, opening the door of his sleek- looking chario t.
“Nice  carriage,”  commented  Penni,  stepping  into  the  chariot.  “How  come  all  the
Keepers are so well-equipped?”
“Must be,  kind of like, universal payment for our outstanding service to the cause,” said
Meln with a grin.
“Oh, brother,” murmured Sari.
“Wait for me,” called Benn.
Penni  pretended  there  was  suddenly  something  much  more  interesting  to  see ,   and
stared out at the beautiful countryside.
Sari grinned mischievously and said,” Hasn't the President  got more  important matters
to attend to?”
“Not at all,” replied Benn,   with a smirk at Meln.  “Guardians are the  top priority. Even
more so than Ambassadors.”
“Well,  at  least  this  ruler  of  Tyrone  has  a  better  sense  of  humour  than  the  last  one,”
replied Meln, with a grin. “...and is much better looking ,  too.”
“Where  are  we  going?”  asked  Penni  firmly.  She  was  annoyed  that  Benn  had  joined
them,   and  she  was  annoyed  at  herself  for  dodging  his  gaze.  She  knew  she  was  being
ridiculously silly.
“What do you think,  Penni?” asked Benn. “Are you ready for the great adventure?”
“Absolutely,” said Penni, feeling a weight lift from her shoulders all of a sudden. "More
than ever.”
"Good. Let's get you two out there," said Benn, powering up the levitation gyros on the
chariot.
After a few  hours‟   travel over  Tyrone's  hilly countryside, they  finally made it  to the  valley
between the Thal mountains,  Udicia's Great Juncture; the place on Udicia where the  Left
and Right Ways meet.  Once a place that was spiritually shut down because of the Shadow
Empire, it was now open for universal  business. Loving vibrations from the six  realms now
26
flowed through like a torrent and instantly made people feel completely thoughtless, never
wanting to leave.
The  first  order  of  business  was  becoming  apparent  as  the  President  of  Tyrone,  the
Keeper of the   Realm of Forgiveness and the two Guardians arrived there.
“This  place  is  a  haven  for  wildlife,”  commented  Sari,  looking  around  at  all  the  birds
flying around.
“ Yes,  there  weren't  as  many  shrubs  and  trees  around  here ,   either,   before  the
transformation,” said Meln.
“And  just  the  feeling  of  this  place  now,”  said  Benn.  “Back  then,  it  felt  like  the  killing
field;   now,   it‟s just like heaven.”
Penni  was the  first to see the subtle stirrings of a  significant event around  the Great
Juncture.
“Look, the Juncture is widening,” said Penni.
Big  flocks  of  birds  were  flying  away  from  the  mountains  as  the  wind  picked  up.
Suddenly,  a  huge  vortex  appeared  between  the  mountains,  spinning  in  a  clockwise
direction.  E veryone  stood silently as the  vortex widened   and  became  three-dimensional,
giving them the feeling that it was a long tunnel, leading to a far-away realm.
From a distant point within the tunnel, a large, spinning golden  Mandala  came toward
them,  becoming  larger  and  larger.  The  Mandala  stopped  at  the  entrance  of  the  vortex
momentarily, before there was a flash of brilliant subtle light.
A white -robed man stood looking toward them for a moment, before turning around to
look at the vortex. It was Arden , t he Incarnation of the Great Juncture.   He turned to study
the Junct ure and motioned  his right arm in a clockwise motion.  The Juncture  responded
and started rotating faster.
The vibrations from the Left, Middle and  Right Ways increased, and the four stood on
the chariot,   speechless.  The  vibrations  were actually  visible  no w, like sparkling points of
light,  swirling  around  in  a  random  sort  of  motion.  There  was  nothing  to  say ;   there  was
nothing to think. They weren't in the past;   they weren't in the future. This was the present.
With  the  Keepers  at  their  realms  and  the  girls  having  journeyed  through  them  all  to
increase their clearing, Arden now opened the Juncture to increase the flow of the  Ways. It
was time for Udicia, like Earth, Caldon and other worlds, to use its enlightened standing to
make an impact on the rest of the Universe.  Then, Arden realigned Udicia's Juncture to the
Realm of Innocence in the Ranger Alliance's solar system, thousands of light years away,
in t he planetary Oracle called Rune.
Arden  turned  and  smiled,  as  everyone  climbed  out  of  the  chariot,  giving  him  a
courteous, pray er-like  bow.  He turned to Penni and Sari.
“Udicia's transformation caused a cascade of transformations across hundreds of light
years. The Shadow's hold on Udicia had restricted vibrational flow for worlds beyond your
27
world.  You see, the Milky Way galaxy is spinning clockwise ,   with loving vibrations flowing
as far as the border region of the Dark Realms ,  where their anti-clockwise flow of darkness
is pushing back against this.”
“So, that's why the Shadows are desperate to counter that motion, and at least claim a
large patch of heav ily  militarised space,” said Penni.
“ Yes. The Ranger planet, Pern and allied worlds are approaching their transformations
sooner  because  of  the  work  we've  done  here.  It  will  make  it  twice  as  hard  for  them  to
t ransform,” said Arden.
“And  all  that  much  easier  for  the  Shadows  to  undo  everything,  considering  their
position in the Realm of Creativity,” said Sari.
“They may  not be as ready as  you, but  you are  more than ready. Forty- two Keepers
have now become nine. Nine Guardians have now become three," said Arden.
"Where is the other Guardian,   anyway?" asked Sari.
"You  will meet up with  her  very soon," said Arden, "but before that  I  want  to explain
something about the Guardians and Keepers.”
"Why have our numbers  been reduced so much?" asked Penni.
"Now that  the Guardians are engaging  the Masters, it‟s been decided by the  Council
that  nine  Guardians  together  in  a  particular  battle  are  no  longer  required ,   since  the
application of the S tars.
“The three Guardians will  each take on the three powers of the three Ways –     the three
powers of the Goddess." He paused. “Also, because of the widespread campaign into the
new realm, Guardian numbers need to be stretched.”
“As for the Keepers, they will no longer be anywhere near  the battles. There are many
transformed worlds now. They can do their job effectively from local  realms.”
“What  about  the  Shadow  numbers?”  asked  Sari.  “Aren't  their  resources  also
stretched?”
“ Yes,  but  the  Wraiths  are  desperately  spawning  more  Masters  to  conquer  the  next
world.”
“OK, so the Masters are the Wraiths ‟   main chess pieces in this conquest. What about
the Wraiths? How much control has the Shadow One over them? ”
“Very  good  question,”  said  Arden.  “They've  been  around  since  the  beginning  of
creation ,   like  the  One.  He  was  a  Wraith  himself  once,  who  turned  his  back  on  the
Goddess.  You see,  ultimately  he‟s just a Wraith that  happened to take power. He didn‟t
earn Godhood;   he just took it. ”
“So, Wraiths were once Incarnations like yourself?” mused Penni .
“ Yes, and that's why we need you to take care of the Masters,  as the Incarnations are
very  busy  with  these  unpredictable  Wraiths.  Even  now,  most  of  my  attention  is  on  their
movements. They could strike the border regions or beyond at any moment.” 
28
“Then don't let us hold you up,” said Penni. “We're ready.”
He raised both of his hands,   and the  Golden  Stars were swirling around in each one.
They suddenly shot out toward Penni and Sari and entered their subtle centres where they
reside in the human body.
At  first  Penni  felt  sick,  as  the  torrent  of  vibrations  went  through  her  body,  but  that
passed and was followed by a feeling of overwhelming euphoria! But not in a sexual way.
Then,  subtle  knowledge  began  to  manifest,  not  like  the  knowledge  from  a  book  or  a
computer, but a deeper understanding of the workings of the  Universe around her.
Penni  was  eventually  drawn  to  a  “catch”  at  the  left  side  of  the  Realm  of  Innocence .
Without looking at either Benn or Penni, Arden said, “When this is all over, you can court.
But for now, you must focus on the job at hand.”
Benn had left her mind completely, but the vibrations were so powerful they could pick
up the slightest residue of a past  wrong.  Penni didn't feel embarrassed  or guilty about it,
which was a blessing of her past conditionings. Even more of a blessing was the fact that
Arden didn't immediately stand  her down.  I nnocence  was what  he stood  for, and  he was
well-known not to compromise on it.
Benn  held a poker face, but Arden knew. After all,  he was the  Universe.  How  many
galaxies were swirling around in his body, anyway?
Penni and Sari looked at the Juncture and then at each other.  They didn't speak ,   but
their eyes conveyed that this was it;  this was what they'd worked for. They held hand s  and
walked through.
29
Chapter 6
"Captain, we‟re detecting a large armada of Imperialist ships on long -range scans. They‟re
approaching Ranger space!"
"My  God,  there  must  be  fifty  battleships!"  said  the  first  officer,  looking  at  the
communications officer's panel.
Ranger-Captain  Raywond  Hiler  had  mentally  prepared  himself  for  this  day.  The
attacks by  Imperialists  had been becoming  more  frequent and  more desperate in  recent
months.
Not  only  that:  Hiler  was  holding  a  secret  from  the  other  Rangers.  He  knew  the
„Imperialists‟ were actually Shadows, but he had to keep that to himself, for now. While the
other  Ranger  captains  could  only  see  that  they  were  aggressive  humans,  he  could  see
that they looked like “demons”.
He  had a bad feeling about this latest incursion.  Until  now the  Impe rialists  had been
testing their defences, but now they were planning to break them. This was an invasion.
“Tell Ranger Command to send out more ships. We'll keep them busy at Rune.”
Rune,  once  a  barren  planet  like  Mars,  had  been  Terra-formed  to  become  a  tropical
haven.  Several  large  space  cannons  had  been  set  up  in  the  orbit  of  the  planet  as  a
defence shield.  They could fire missiles  hundreds of  thousands of kilometres into space,
and had very precise targeting computers.
That was all  very good, thought Hiler, but how were they going to get an intercepting
force big enough to counter the Shadows this time? They'd be lucky to have twenty ships
in jump range.
“Sir,”  said  his  communications  officer,  “Admiral  Band  wants  to  speak  with  you
immediately.”
“Put him  on the front- view screen,” ordered Hiler.
“Sir?”
Normally he would take a message like this in his quarters, but there wasn't time. “Do
it.”
“Captain,” said the Admiral's video image at the front of the ship, “I'll keep this brief. I'm
sure you‟re aware of our dire situation and the unspeakable odds...”
“ It's  all  right,  Admiral.  My  crew  are  ready.  They've  trained  for  something  like  this  for
months...”
“ I realise that, but things have gone from bad to worse,” the Admiral trailed off, looking
concerned. Hiler had  never seen Band lose  his composure before. “We've received long range  telemetry  that  an  unidentified  number  of  ships  are  moving  toward  us  from  the
opposite direction. They're using unconventional means of travel.” 
30
“How do you mean, unconventional?” asked Hiler.
“A jump capability far more advanced than ours.”
Hiler thought about this. “So, they‟re advanced. Perhaps they‟re coming to help.”
“Help who?” snapped Band. “We have to assume they have hostile intent.”
“Our focus should be on the Imperialists, because we know who they are,” said Hiler.
“We can't assume anything about this advanced armada.”
“That‟s e xactly why I need you to...” The transmission was cut off.
Suddenly,  the  front- view  screen  changed,  and  a  group  of  disc -shaped  starships
started  appearing  through  a  large  Mandala  in  space.  There  was  a  stunned  silence
throughout the bridge. A figure appeared on the front- view screen.
“Hello,  my  name  is  Daniel  Withers.  Forgive  our  intrusion,  but  as  you're  aware,  the
Shadow Empire is launching an incursion into your territories.”
“Daniel, my name is Captain Raywond Hiler. These incursions have been going on for
several  months.  We've  lost  many  ships  to  their  superior  technology.”  Band  trailed  off,
realising  with  whom   he  was  speaking:  it  was  the  Tenth  Guardian.  Although  he  hadn‟t
taken any orders from him as yet, he knew this man was his real superior.
“ I see,” said Withers,  understanding Hiler‟s discomfort. “It might be best that  you  tell
the other ships to get behind us. We can take the brunt of the charg e.”
“I‟ll try, but...”
Five Ranger ships suddenly jumped into orbit around Rune.
“ I demand that you identify yourselves,” said one of the Ranger captains.
“Stand down,” ordered Hiler, detecting the activation of their targeting systems. “They
are here to help. Move into position behind their ships.”
It  was  too  late  to  re -position,  and  at  that  moment  there  was  a  tremendous  noise  in
space, like a clap of thunder, but  many times  louder. A  huge, dark  vortex appeared and
began rotating in an anti-clockwise direction. A large fleet of crude, dark battleships began
materialising  from  its  centre.  A  tremendous  negativity  also  began  pouring  out,  which
stunned the Ranger ships.
Seven  Guardian  ships  went  into  an  edge-on  formation.  The  ships  were  circular  in
shape and  had the Mandala etched into the bottom of their  hulls. Effectively, seven huge
Oracles were poised for attack!
There  was  a  tremendous  explosion  of  light  from  the  giant  Oracles,  and  then  a
spiralling wave of positive destruction headed toward the Shadow arma da. Many Shadow
ships  were  instantly  vapourised,  as  the  clockwise -turning  spiral  took  its  course.  The
Shadow ships responded,  with an anti -clockwise spiral of darkness and destruction. One
of the Guardian‟s seven ships in formation was struck, and an explo sion ripped out its hull.
A  dog-fight  erupted,  and  there  was  a  fierce  exchange  of  fire.  Hiler  ordered  his  ship
away from the battle, as the fire power was beyond anything their shields could withstand.
31
Some of the other Ranger ships engaged. He realised the weaponry of these ships were
much more advanced than the ships they‟d been using in their previous attacks.  It  was a
deception the Shadows were renowned for.
“Take us down into orbit,” ordered Hiler. “We're no match for this.”
Just as he  uttered those words, stray deflected fire broad-sided their ship. There was
an explosion at the stern.
“We've been hit!” called an officer. “Sections on the starboard side have been exposed
to the vacuum. Crews have been lost. We're losing structural integrity!”
“All  hands,  this  is  the  Captain  speaking,”  called  Hiler.  “Abandon  ship!  I  repeat,
abandon ship!”
“Captain,” said an officer, “should we separate the bridge from the ship?”
Hiler stared at the schematic of the red flashing ship on the nearest console. His heart
tol d  him  he should be the  last to go down, but  he could see that the ship  had  very little
time.
“Do it.” At least he could save the senior staff on the bridge.
“Prepare for bridge separation,” called an officer over the noise of the exploding ship.
The bridge  section shot away, as did several life pods.
Hiler stared out the closest window as the rest of his ship exploded in a fiery display.
How many men did the Rangers  lose? He looked back and watched the battle in space.
He  saw  pieces  of  Ranger  ships  floating  around  in  space,  and  was  grateful  that  only  six
ships were caught  up in it.  It could  have been an entire armada.  If  the  Guardians  hadn‟t
shown up, the Rangers would have been slaughtered.
“Take us down to the surface,” he ordered.
Some  time  into  the  battle,  the  vortex  re -opened,  and  a  huge  Mother  ship  appeared.  A
darkness, beyond anything  that any present Guardians  had previously known, broke into
their senses. Even Withers  hadn't felt such sinister darkness from  Gylith and  his armies.
This was a negativity that came directly from the Shadow's source itself.
“All ships focus all your powers onto this ship!” ordered Withers.
At that moment, all the Guardian ships went edge on, exploding into brilliant displays
of light. The spiralling waves of positive destruction came from all directions, raining down
on the Mother ship.
Just before its demise, an arrow- head-shaped missile fired out of the front of the ship
and headed for the surface of Rune. Closer scans confirmed that it was an escape pod.
Withers put  his attention on the Oracle at the bottom of  the ship. He  needed special
Guardians for this task. It didn‟t take long to get what he required from the Oracle. A large
Mandala appeared on the bridge of his ship, and a female Guardian was glaring at him.
"So,  you‟re  the  one  pulling  the  strings  now,"  she  said,  annoyed  that  she  had  been
32
pulled out of a new mission.
"Calana,"  said  Withers  cheerfully,  ignoring  her  disrespectful  tone.  "I‟ve  heard  a  lot
about you."
"Likewise." She looked out the front- view screen of the ship. "And what is this?"
"Rune, the planetary  Oracle in  this system," said Withers, staring at  the planet, "and
it‟s just been compromised."
"Why is this more important than where you summoned me from?" asked Calana.
Withers‟  face  gave  nothing  away  as  he  thought  to  himself  that  this  young  woman
couldn't be much older than twenty- five. So young and so fearless!
"It's  strategically  more  important,"  said  Withers.  “This  system  is  in  the  Realm  of
Creativity  on  the  Left  Way,  and  this  quadrant  is  part  of  eig ht  other  systems  that  the
Shadows are planning to conquer.” Withers looked serious. “This threatens to reverse the
rotation of this entire galaxy.”
The  crude  arrow-shaped  craft  ascended  very  fast  into  Rune's  atmosphere.  Close  to  the
surface it de-accelerated so  hard it would have crushed a  normal  human being. But  this
was  no  normal  human being.  When  the craft hit the surface, the impact left a crater the
size of a football field. There was a huge explosion of earth and  vegetation, which took a
while to settle down. Among this scene of destruction, the arrow- headed craft stood buried
in the ground like a sentinel.
Suddenly, the sides of the craft blew apart, and a large black mass emerged. It was a
giant bull. It had large horns, red eyes and a huge mace wi th three spikes poking out from
the top of it.
“Are there other Guardians being summoned for this mission?” asked Calana.
“ You  will  meet  up  with  two  other  Guardians.  The  three  of  you  combined  will  be  a
formidable force,” said Withers.
Calana  thought  about  this.  There  were  very  few  Guardians  that  she  knew  of,  doing
secret missions into the border regions.
“They're not from the Guardian Elite Force,” said Withers, picking up on her thoughts.
“They will be familiar to you, but not in the way you'd expect.”
33
Chapter 7
The  jump  between  realms  felt  a  little  longer  than  it  had  in  local  realms.  Instead  of
thousands  of  kilometres  like  last  time,  this  time  they   had  jumped  several  thousand  light
years.
When the girls entered  Rune,  they  both stood  for a moment, adjusting to  the lack of
vibrations. They felt a strong negativity, but it  felt   like it was coming from somewhere far in
the distance. Feeling a little sick in the stomach, they both breathed a few lung s ful of stale
air to force it to pass.  Penni's Orac le transformed into a bow. It was simple in design,   with
the Oracle still sitting at the centre.
“Keep your ears and eyes open,  Sari,” said Penni.
Sari's Oracle transformed into a circular cutting disk.  It could be either thrown  like a
boomerang,   or used in combat as a blade.
“ I'm ready.”
“We'll head straight for that source,” said Penni, thinking about the other Guardian. “I
suspect our third power will turn up when she's needed.”
They both started running through the forest.  There  was no  time to lose.  The sooner
they got there, the sooner they could take out the Master.
After moving swiftly through  the  forest  for a few  hours,  they  heard some shouts and gun
fire in the distance. They crept up over an embankment and saw several soldiers bearing
down  on  a  female  Guardian  with  a  sword.  It  was  Calana.  There  were  several  whitened
bodies lying around the area.
Then  Penni  saw  a  whole  platoon  emerging  from  the  forest.  They  wore  military
uniforms . The only thing that looked out of place were  their black, demonic faces and red
glaring eyes.
They  were  all  sporting  powerful  energy  weapons  that  looked  like  they'd  do  a  lot  of
damage.  Hand- to- hand  combat  with  these  Shadow  Lords  may  have  been  easy  with
Incarnational  powers,  but  the  weapons  would  make  it  a  challenge,  espe cially  with  their
numbers.
At first, a  huge barrage of energy  fire came toward the three Guardians , and they   all
took  cover.  After  only a short break in  fire,  Calana's sword responded with a big burst of
white energy. Several Shadows were lifted into the air and thrown back onto the others.
As they began firing at Calana, Penni sent several bolts toward them with  her deadly
bow, taking out a few of the closer ones.
Meanwhile, Sari neared a group of them. She threw her discus, cutting through several
arms holding big guns. As the discus did its rounds ,   she dodged fire, and  then caught her
34
weapon, slicing a few Shadows as she passed.
Penni  fired bolts at Shadows  that  were  trying to  target  Sari, while Calana sent more
bursts of energy at  the  next wave. She  then engaged some closer Shadow Lords with a
few strikes of her sword.
It was a strange scene: three women  with ancient-looking weaponry  fighting a heavily
armed platoon of professional Rangers.
Without  the  assistance  of  the  Golden  Stars,  the  women  would  h ave  needed  more
drawn-out  tactics, such as  leading  the soldiers  through the forest and picking them off in
smaller  numbers.  But  with  these  new  powers ,   they  were  far  more  dynamic  and  could
easily preempt anything the Shadow Lords could throw at them.
There  was  also  some  close  hand -to- hand  combat  with  the  more  ruthless  Lords  who
held  barbaric- looking  swords.  Penni  sparred  with  her  bow,  sometimes  pushing  an  arrow
through the odd Lord.
Sari did a somersault in the air,   spinning at the same time, her disk cutti ng into several
Lords as she landed. Calana gallantly fought like a master swordsman, out -matching any
who challenged her.
Then suddenly everything was quiet. All the Shadow Lords had been slain.
Penni  look around at  the dead Shadow Lords. She saw that the bodies had  tattered
uniforms  hanging  from  them  –  n ot  Galactic  Shadow  uniforms,  but  a  type  of  standard
military uniform. And it suddenly dawned on her who these Lords once were : t hey were the
allies;   they were Rangers.
“Well,” said Calana, brightly. “You  finally arrived.  If you'd got  here on  time we could have
staged this better.” She trailed off, looking at Penni and Sari with sudden understanding. It
had been many years   since she had seen them,   but she now recognised them. The tenth
Guardian was right:  you will know them. They were her half-sisters.
“Hey,   hang,  on lady! ” snapped Penni, rudely.  It  wasn't  normal for  her to talk like that,
but  they  had  run   here as soon as Arden  had  let  them go and fought like they  had  never
fought before! Sari's face convey ed the same thought. “We got here as soon as we could.
In fact we ran here. And the battle...  I've never seen Sari so dynamic.”
Calana  was  very  irritated  at  the  mention  of  Sari.  “The  Tenth  Guardian  never  said  I
would be baby-sitting.”
“Hey,  that's not fair!” said Sari.
“How  old  are  you  anyway,   little  lady?  Fourteen?  Fifteen?”  asked  Calana,  glaring  at
Sari. “Does your Mum know you're here?”
“Age is irrelevant,” said Penni firmly,   “a nd after  all, she was chosen by the Goddess.”
Penni  noticed that struck a chord. She was entitled to pull Calana into  line. She  was
the  Central Way, and if the Right Way was going too far to the right, she had to pull it in. 
35
The three were all silent for a while, before Penni looked at Sari.
“Hey, are you all right?”
Sari‟s  eyes  warned  her  not  to  ask.  Penni  had  completely  dropped  any  expectations
about this new Guardian and focused on business.
Calana  was  silent  at  first,  still  deciding  how  she  would  deal  with  this  unexpected
situation. She decided she definitely wasn't going to wa tch out for them, even if they were
her sisters. They had to prove their worth. OK, they had a little triumph with the Rangers,
but  the  real  battle  was  still  ahead.  Sari  still  looked  far  too  young  and  fragile  to  face  the
Shadow Master.
“ You girls are way out of your league,” said Calana.
Penni pulled Sari aside and pointed at the closest dead Ranger.
“Just let her go for a while,” whispered Penni. “She's got something to sort out and she
strikes me as someone  who  can be very set in her ways.” She grinned.  “Did you notice the
uniforms on the bodies?”
“ Yes, Rangers,” said Sari.
“ It's happens a lot . The Shadows lose numbers in their own galactic military and make
up  for  it  in  the  newly  conquered  worlds,”  said  Penni.  “But  all  these  Rangers  being
converted to Lords so soon?”
“There's no time for the Master to establish his dominion on Pern. H e's transformed all
his forty - two Lords and the nine Angels here on Rune,” said Sari.
“ It may not be enough against Super Guardians,” said Penni. “I wonder what else is in
store.”
Calana had listened but didn't respond. Suddenly she started walking away.
“Let's move.”
Penni  and  Sari  looked  at  each  other,  but  were  both  very  keen  to  lighten  things  up
between them. So they followed obediently.
The  three  Guardians  raced  through  the  forest,  neither  Penni  nor  Sari  speaking  another
word. Between  them,   they  had  decided to give Calana as  much space as she required.
Becoming friends wasn't the immediate priority.
Back on Udici a, all the seven Keepers were in deep meditation. They were all working
through their  realms to strengthen the girls‟ connection to them.
In  Del i cia,  Ulef  worked  to  coax  them  into  moving  clockwise  around  his  realm,  the
Realm  of  Innocence.  Approaching  the  centre  of  the  realm  this  way  and  neutralising  any
Shadows moving anti-clockwise, would be  the best offence against the Master.
In Bersia, Larn knew the three girls had finally come together. He was working out the
Realm  of  Security  between  them,  which  was  the  heart  centre  in  the  human  body.  This
36
would  bring  the  realisation  of  their  real  relationship  in  a  subtle  way,  without  distracting
them from their goal.
In  Varlia,  Remm  had  his  attention  on  their  communication.  Proper  speech  between
them was essential, as anything less would drive them apart.
The Guardians moved across Rune very fast. Because of their powers they could run
up  to  sixty  kilometres  an  hour!  This  way,  they  could  cover  much  territory  and  make  a
substantial curve to the rotation of the realm.
They were aware that the Master could send more reinforcements at any moment. But
the  sun  was  going  down  and,  even  if  they  looked  like  super  heroes,  they  still  felt  like
humans. They needed rest and decided to stop for a few hours before continuing on.
“ You made good progress  today,” said Calana.  It  was pitch-black ,   and all they could
hear were   each other‟s voices and the sound of the forest, although they could look up and
see a beautiful starry sky.
“We made good progress today,” corrected Penni.
“ It's neat running so   fast,” commented Sari.
There was a long silence.
“Has your father ever spoken about his past?” asked Calana.
“ You know our father?” asked Sari.
“Of course! H e's our Keeper,” said Calana.
Penni could feel there was more than that. “Why do you ask about his past? What's it
got to do with your connection to the Keeper?”
Calana was silent  for a moment. “I'm  not sure  yet, but  you girls  have obviously been
left out of the loop.”
“OK, so let‟s  talk about you,” said Penni. “Where are you from?”
“Varlia,” said Calana. “But I'm half Bersian.”
“We're from Bersia,” said Sari. “Which parent was Bersian?”
“My father, although  I've hardly seen him throughout my life,” said Calana. “I grew  up
in  Varlia,  and  when  I  was  twenty -one  I  became  a  Guardian.  So  I  travelled  all  over  the
galaxy.”
“How old are you now?” asked Sari.
“Twenty-seven.”
“Ah, so you became a Guardian when I did,” said Penni ,   “although I was thirteen.”
“So,   Sari, was I right about your age?” asked Calana.
“Actually,   I'm sixteen,” said Sari.
“ I think it's too young, but who am I to judge ?  If you're h ere, you're meant to be.”
Penni was glad  Calana  finally spoke, but she was  hiding something close to  her and
Sari.
They all finally slept, but it didn't seem  very  long,  maybe only a few  hours ,  as it  was
37
still dark when they awoke.
“Let‟s keep moving,” said Calana.
They were moving fast again, this time through the night. They continued on their spiral ling
path,  moving  closer  and  closer  to  the  centre  of  the  realm,  knowing  that  at  any  moment
they could be under attack  from  the Shadows.
To be most effective,   the spiral had to be done in three and a half turns. They ran for
several more hours, but at the second turn of their spiral, they suddenly heard screeches
echoing across the forest. The Master had sent another wave of minions.
The three women cleared  the edge of the forest and looked up into the dawn sky. It looked
like someone had stirred up a pack of flying foxes from their tree!
There must be about nine Shadow Angels coming in to land, thought Penni.
Penni  lined  one  up  in  the  air,  with  her  specialised  bow,  sending  a  bolt  through  the
beast's heart with deadly accuracy. The Angel cried out ,   began slowing turning white and
crashed loudly into the forest.
Penni was about to signal to Sari, but she had already disappeared. If there were any
Angels on the ground, they won‟t see her coming, she thought.
Penni  ran into the clearing, firing energy bolts one after the other. A few made  their
mark,   and  another  fallen  Angel  crashed  loudly  to  the  ground.  Others  she   had  missed,
landed with a thud and a roar.
Calana engaged the first beast,  cutting  the barbed end of its tail,  and  then stuck  her
sword  through  its  heart.  The  beast  turned  white  and  fell  backward,  the  ground  rumbling
under their feet.
Penni was now sending bolts at a much closer range, which was just  as effective. The
Angels were shooting fireballs out of their mouths,   which the Guardians continually had to
dodge.
Just as the two felt they were starting to get pushed back, a flying discus sliced across
the  necks  of  the  leading  Angels.  Sari  had  crept  up  from  behind!  She  caught  the  discus
when it returned and started running toward a beast. She flew into the air, over the top of
the Angel, grabbed one of its  horns and sliced through its  heart as she flipped over the
other side.
Sari was now in the middle  of the pack and was cutting a few tails with her disk as they
tried to swipe her. She bent over backward to avoid being cindered, the fire from one beast
burning  another.  Penni  picked  off  those  that  were  about  to  attack  Sari  from  behind ,   as
Calana engaged  another one.
Suddenly,   the ninth Angel that had hesitated to land earlier, came down and cindered
the  three  remaining  Angels  on  the  ground.  The  Guardians  stood  there  bewildered.  The
38
Shadow Angel did a few  more circles in the air before landing before the  girls. Slowly,   it
closed its wings.
“Hello,”  it  growled.  “I'm  Captain  Raywond  Hiler.”  He  pulled  a  disk  out  of  his  tattered
uniform and showed the three.
At  that  moment  they  all  understood.  It  was  horrible :   the  Shadows  had  staged  a
nightmare. A  nightmare that would  haunt the  women  for the  rest of their lives. They  had
just slain all the Keepers and Guardians of this world.
Sari vomited on the grass.
How  could  this  have  happened?  thought  Penni.  A  Master  cannot  pull  this  off.  The
Oracle  manifests  absolute  truth,  but  why  didn't  we  know  the  truth?  Why  didn't  we  know
they were Keepers and Guardians?
“A Master cannot turn Keepers and Guardians into Shadows,” said Penni. “At least not
on this scale.”
Calana  was  handling  it  better  than  the  others,  because  she'd  bee n  in  messed- up
situations before, although not this bad. “No, but a Wraith can.”
“Arden  said  he  was  watching  these  Wraiths  very  closely,  i n  case  we  were  in  any
danger,” said Sari, wiping her mouth.
“ I agree,” said Penni, but still a dread haunted  her. Not  a dread because there was a
Wraith around, but because of all these dead Guardians. She couldn't look at the bodies.
“Have  you  learnt   anything  through  your  connection  with  them,  Captain?”  asked
Calana.
The Shadow Angel didn't look  very  well. H e was struggling  to deal with  his Shadow
awareness.
“ I'm...not sure,” said Hiler. “I'm  fighting to get back to the  Goddess and  I'm fighting to
push  the  Master  away.  So  I  haven't  been  under  the  spell  like  the  others.  I  think  it's
because I had the Oracle,  where the other Guardians were potentials.”
“But your Oracle has been corrupted,” said Penni.
“Not  corrupted,”  corrected  Calana.  “It  just  becomes  dormant  when  it  goes  into  the
wrong hands. But it's obvious the power from it has kept you from fully transforming.”
“Which means he can help us,” said Sari hopefully. “Can we move from here?”
Calana  glared  at  Sari,  but  her  face  softened.  She  had  coped  well  in  this  terrible
situation, she thought.
“OK, let's move.” She looked at Hiler. “Pass me your Oracle.”
Hiler  passed  her  his  Oracle  and  she  laid  hers  against  it.  The  blackened  Oracle
returned to its silver colour and was now emitting vibrations.
She  went  to  pass  it  back  but  hesitated.  “You  know  this  might  turn  you  into  a  white
statue.” 
39
“ I know, but it's better than staying like this,” said Hiler.
Hiler took  the  Oracle and suddenly cried out in pain.  His wings and the  horns on  his
head receded but didn‟t disappear. The red in his eyes became much lighter.
“He‟s much better,” said Sari.
“Are you further away from the Master?”  asked Calana.
“ I...think so,” stammered Hiler.
“ The Shadows have staged a shocking blow to the future of the transformation in this
quadrant. They‟re willing to do anything to break our will,” said Penni. She looked at Hiler.
“But no, our will won't be broken that easily. Captain Hiler is proof that we can fight back. ”
She held her hands in a prayer-like  pose. “Let's all thank the Goddess from the bottom of
our hearts for giving us these strengths.”
40
Chapter 8
“Perhaps  you can fly up ahead and  gather some intelligence about  the Master, and w arn
us of any more advances,” s uggested  Calana.
Hiler  nodded. “I'll come  when  you really  need me.”  He suddenly shot into  the air and
flew out of sight.
Calana shook her head.
“What do you think about Hiler?  Do you think we can trust him?” asked Penni.
“ I think so,” said Calana ,  looking  at Penni,   “b ut remember,  he‟s still partially influenced
by the Master. We‟ll see what happens, I guess.”
Penni nodded.
“ I think  we should keep moving,” said Calana,  noticing   the sun was moving up in the
sky. “Judging  by the strength of that negativity, we're not far away from our goal.”
The Guardians once again raced through the forest. This time they moved with haste.
The Master had  gone too far this time,  and they were eager to put an end to his little show.
They  weren't  very far  from  the source  when  the forest started  to get really dark and
evil. It was like the trees were trying  to  reach out and grab them. It was like an old horror
movie.
Something  did  reach  out  of  the  tree  for  Sari.  She  looked  up  to  see  a  huge,  black
serpent with red eyes hissing at her. She threw her discus, slicing off its head.
“The Master is controlling nature,” said Penni.
“ I don't think a Master has that sort of power,” said Calana.
More snakes came out of the forest, rearing up and hissing. Penni fired bolts at them,
while Calana and Sari cut them down with their respective weapons.
“Quick, let's get past here,” said Calana.
They raced on further,   but the darkness of  the forest made it difficult. Sa ri didn't see
strands of web coming down from one of the trees and ran right into them. She tried to pull
herself free, but was stuck.
A  huge  black  spider  with  rows  of  red  eyes  raced  down  from  above,  alerted  by  the
movement on its web.  It moved quickly and  was almost on top of Sari when a bolt smote
its thorax. The spider started turning white as it crashed to the forest floor, its legs folding
under its body.
“Thanks,   Penni,” said Sari, freeing herself from the sticky web.  But Penni was looking
up at a huge  number of spiders free-falling from strands of web above.
“Run!” cried Calana.
The girls ran,  but the spiders were coming down too fast! They had  no choice but  to
engage them.
41
Calana split one in front of her down the middle  and bounced off its abdomen,  slicing
another spider in the air.
Penni was sending out bolts ,   and whitened spider bodies rained down around them.
Sari threw her discus, trimming legs off several spiders, incapacitating them. The   girls
ran out of there as soon as they could and finally made it into a clearing.
Then they saw pillars, a dome and a large Oracle. They'd made it to the centre of the
realm.
The pillars and dome were still intact,   and if it wasn't for the Master standing in the centre
of the scene, it  would  have  looked  very a uspicious.  He was standing on top of the giant
Oracle, which had blackened.
The Master looked like a black, giant bull. He was holding a huge black mace. On top
of that mace three crude spikes protruded.
The Guardians walked   toward the Master, weapons rai sed.
“Well, you made it,” said the Master. “Rather  surprising, considering your maturity.”
“Well,  don't be fooled by the schoolgirl look,” said Calana.
The Master laughed. He dropped the mace for a moment,  and  then clapped his hands
together.  Two  new  black  shapes  broke  away  from  the  Master  and  quickly  formed  into
exact copies  of the original bull, but with one difference:   instead of being nine feet high the
three were now about seven feet high , and  each bull held a giant mace with only one large
spike poking out.
“Let's say I'm good at multi-tasking,” qu ipped the original Master.
The three  women all thought  the same thing:   they  needed to lead the  Masters away
from the Planetary Oracle and into the forest.
“Another surprise,” said Sari, running beside Penni.  “What next?”
“Prepare  for  anything.”  There  weren't  any  reports  of  a  Master  splitting  into  several
forms, thought Penni.
Calana had already disappeared into the forest ,   and the other two followed.
Each of the three  Master forms  followed its respective oppo nent, crashing through the
forest as it went.
With the three Masters in pursuit,  each  Guardian had to quickly make a plan to outsmart
her opponent. They would each have to use the territory to fight the Master and limit hand to- hand  combat.  Although  they  still  had  the  Incarnational  powers,  one  of  the  Master's
opposing powers of the three Ways might become more powerful and overcome them.
The  Master  of  the  Left  Way  was  frustrated  with  Sari,  destroying  much  of  the  forest
while trying to find her. Each time he honed in on her position, she eluded him. She even
managed to slice him with her disk from time to time. 
42
Penni  was  using the canopy of the  forest, climbing  to the  top s  of large trees so she
could fire bolts down at the Master of the  Central Way from this  vantage point.  The Master
tried to shake her out of the trees, but she quickly jumped to the next one.
Meanwhile, Calana was on  the ground dodging  the odd swipe of the Master's mace.
She managed to  hide behind trees and come out to cut  the bull's  legs and   run off again.
The Master's legs were becoming more and more wounded. She hoped that eventually he
would tumble , bringing   his heart closer to the ground.
Just as the Masters became used to their tactics, the women would pass each other in
the forest and q uickly swap tactics.
Now, Sari was climbing  up the large trees and throwing her disk down at the Master.
Penni was firing from the ground and running off again,  while Calana climbed halfway up
trees and sliced the Master on the arms and torso, before fleei ng again.
This went on for a while ,   and the girls  became  more deadly and precise,   until Sari's
opponent  got  lucky.  She  had  thrown  her  disk  from  high  in  a  tree  and  cut  off  one  of  her
Master's horns. The Master angrily responded by hurling his mace at her, c lipping her right
shoulder.
Sari cried out, falling through branches and landing hard on the ground.
At that moment, Penni had mortally  wounded  her Master, with a bolt passing straight
through the bull's neck. The beast held the bolt and slowly fell to the ground.
Penni raced through the forest at the sound of her sister's cries. Luckily,   she wasn't far
away,  as Sari's Master was bearing down on her.
Penni  fired bolts at Sari's opponent, one  hitting  the Shadow  right between the eyes.
The bull fell forward,  face down ,  and was silent.
Penni looked at the wound on Sari's shoulder.  It was deep. She held her Oracle over
it ,  and the wound began slowly repairing itself. In the end ,  there was only a small scar.
“Just lie  there a bit,” ordered Penni.
“Thanks.”
They  suddenly  heard  roars  getting  closer  and  closer.  Calana  broke  out  of  the  bush
nearby, closely followed by the Master of the  Right Way. Its legs were badly injured.
“Look, your other powers have been defeated,” yelled Calana. “And by the look of you,
you n early are,   too.”
Penni  looked at  the Master and thought  he  looked impressed, instead of concerned.
Something didn't feel right:   they'd defeated the Master's powers a little too easily.
“Calana...”
Calana looked around at Penni as if in understanding.
The Master laughed a long,   evil laugh.
“Things aren't always as they seem , are they,   Calana?”
He  walked  toward  her,  but  his  weakened  legs  caught  a  root  and  he  suddenly  fell
43
forward.
Calana quickly ran toward him and stuck her sword through his heart.
There  was  a  moment  of  silence.  The  girls  stared  at  each  other,   as  they  knew  it  wasn't
over. Then, the three forms of the Master suddenly melted in unison,   and the swirling black
goo  reunited.  It  began  spinning  anti -clockwise  and,  after  a  short  time,  was  a  raging
tornado. Lightning bolts shot out  here and there ,   and it  was quickly moving back toward
the Temple.
The girls followed at  a jog, not speaking as they watched the mini -storm hovering over
the Planetary Oracle.  The rotation of  the storm slowed,   and through  the dissipating black
cloud, they could see a form appearing. It was a woman. She was surrounded by a mass
of  black,  squid- like,  spidery  tentacles.  She  had  red  eyes,  a  tangle  of  black  hair,  a  cruel
face and a long,   dark, high -collared dress.
She  lifted  her  arms  in  the  air  as  if  in  triumph,  and  the  tentacles  followed  suit.  Five
larger  tentacles  headed out into space, looking more translucent  than the others around
her.  They  also  weren‟t  spidery  in  appearance  like  the  rest.  They  made  their  connection
with  the  planets  that  corresponded  with  the  five  realms  above  the  Realm  of  Innocence.
The sixth, which  was also translucent, buried itself into the ground at  her feet. This one
represented the Realm of Innocence. This was also Rune's place at this quadrant.
The weather deteriorated suddenly,  and Rune's orbital path was thrown off its natural
course.  It  became  very  windy  and  rainy,  and  the  storm  quickly  turned  into  a  terrible
blizzard.  Soon  the  girls  could  hardly  stand  in  the  thick  snow!  But  they  were  not  getting
stuck in the snow because the gravity was becoming weaker and weaker.
They had  no choice but  to attempt to fly.  Calana was  the first to  levitate, as she  had
already used  this ability before, but the other  two struggled to do the same ,   as the snow
hindered their progress.
Penni managed to shoot out of the snow, but fell flat on her face. Sari grabbed a large
over- hanging tree branch. She climbed on top of it and looked out toward the Wraith.   They
all flew toward the Wraith, knowing that they would  have to tr y and re-stabilise this realm
very  quickly, as the whole galaxy was at stake.
They  all  looked  at  each  other  in  the  air  in  understanding.  They  would  have  to  spin
around the Wraith in a clockwise direction.  They flew around the Wraith several times, but
the  force of the opposing rotation was great. After all, this was a Wraith, a monster loyal to
the Shadow One. They were mere Guardians, only recently able to challenge the Masters ,
who were subordinates of the Wraiths.
But  it  didn't  matter;   they  would  either  die  trying  to  fight  this  monster,   or  die  for  not
trying. They couldn't run away ,   as the Wraith‟s reach was at least a solar system long. 
The  Wraith  suddenly  plucked  them  out  of  the  vortex  and  threw  them  into  the  snow.
44
The weather had now settled down to a light rain.
“Well, I finally get to meet the all-powerful threesome,” snarled the Wraith.
“So,   it was  you all along,” said Calana, ignoring  the  Wraith's comment.  “There never
was a Master.”
The  Wraith  glared  at  Calana  in  contempt.  “Because  of  you,  because  of  what  you've
become, ” s he said, looking  at Penni and Sari,   “t he Masters have prove n  to be inadequate.”
“So you‟ve taken things into your own hands,” said Sari.
The Wraith glared at Sari like she  was a child who  had spoken in church.  “Well,   the
little on es speak.” Her face softened cunningly.
“We might be small,   but we've destroyed your army,” snapped Penni.
“My army?” mocked the Wraith. “Or yours...”
“Why, you...” started Calana, angrily. Penni glared at her not to react. That was exactly
what she wanted.
“Well,  I like the older,   feisty one,” said the Wraith ,  “but the little ones might be of  use
also.”
Penni knew she was  now considering transforming  them, but  she,  like other the  two,
would prefer to die in an honourable fight than turn into a Shadow.
The  weapons  of  the  three  transformed,   and  they  immediately  began  firing  them.
Calana  sent  spirals  of  positive  energy,  Penni  sent  waves  of  bolts  and  Sari  hurled  her
discus.
The Wraith responded with a huge wave of anti -clockwise energy which pushed back
their  energy,  and  knocked  down  the  bolts  and  the  discus  attempting  to  cut  through  her
tangle of spidery tentacles.
“ You see, your powers are no match for me,” snarled the Wraith.
But  she'd  suddenly  lost  sight  of  the  Guardians.  They'd  disappeared  with  their  hig hspeed run. “So, you want to be elusive  and find a weak point. Very nice tactics.”
She noticed a glint of silver at her side and grabbed Calana with one of her tentacles.
“Excellent work. N o other human has ever got  so  close to me so quickly .” She held h er up
to her side and looked out for the others.
There was a rustle in the trees above, like birds landing. The Wraith knew one of them
was up there. Very impressive, she  thought. Bolts suddenly  rained down on her, but she
shrugged them off with  her powers.  One bolt managed to find its target and  pierced  her
right shoulder. The Wraith cried out angrily,   as a small white infection spread there.
Annoyed ,   she honed in on any meagre  sound, shooting a tentacle into the trees to try
and  find  the  Guardian.  After  several  attempts,  she  pulled  Penni  out  of  the  canopy.  She
held Penni up next to Calana, and tried to find Sari.
Calana noticed her anguish. “You can hold this whole solar system down ,   but you can't
find a little girl in the forest.” 
45
The  Wraith  wasn't  accustomed  to  disrespect;   all  her  Masters  spoke  to  her  like  a
Queen. “You  will soon learn to respect  me!” said the Wraith, squeezing Calana with the
tentacle.  “I  will  find  this  little  mouse  and  squash  it.  Then  you  will  bow  to  me  as  your
Queen!”
So, she was the Shadow Queen, thought Penni. The next in line to the Shadow One.
But  why  would  the  Queen  be  out  on  the  front  line?  Have  the  Shadows  become   so
desperate?
“ I will...never...bow to you!” roared Calana. “Not now. Not ever! Go to hell!”
The Wraith would have killed Calana right then, but she had plans for her.
Suddenly, something shot out of the ground right in front the Wraith.  It was Sari. Sari
had gone far enough in the air to slice the Shadow Queen in the heart. She somersaulted
backward and watched as t he Wraith held her wound and faltered on her feet. The others
were then able to free themselves from her hold.
The  Wraith  sagged  a  little  with  her  head  down,  but  suddenly  looked  back  up  and
grinned an evil grin.
“ I'm so impressed that I want the three of y ou as my Masters.” She glared at the three
who  now  stood  before  her.  “But  not  ordinary  Masters.  You'll  be  special  ones,  like  no
others.”
Sari looked at Penni and Calana. “I'm sorry.”
“No  need to be sorry,” said Calana. “You  would  have killed  her if she was   a  Master.
Apparently,   she doesn't die the same way.”
“...be a powerful force driving back the advancement of the Guardians...”
“Remember,   too,”  said  Penni ,   “she's  not  using  her  full  power.  She's  still  holding  this
system down and if she wasn't she'd probably kill us with a look.”
“ You are  not  listening  to me!”  roared the Wraith, glaring at them for talking amongst
themselves.
“That's because we're bored with your talk,” said Calana.  “Your  voice is irritating and
we can't be bothered listening.”
Penni noticed that struck a chord ,   and didn't give Calana a flash of disagreement this
time.  She  was  right:   the  Wraith  was  creating  a  drama  that  would  ultimately  end  in  their
transformation to the dark side. Why not fight with words as well?
“ Yes, you can stick your  Mastership,” spat Sari.
"Very well, if you won‟t listen to me," said the Wraith smugly, "I'll make you listen!"
A few black tentacles shot out and picked Calana up in the air. A black web came out
of her tentacles, winding around and around her until she was almost completely covered.
In the end, she looked like a black cocoon, with only her head poking out.
"Put  me  down,   you  witch!"  spat  Calana.  She  tried  to  summon  the  Oracle  to  break
through it,   but she was overpowered. 
46
Penni and Sari began attacking the  Wraith,   but she pushed the bolts and discus back
as if  she had a new surge of power.
"It's frustrating ,   isn't it? Don't worry. Soon you will be under new management."
At  that  moment,  Hiler  the  half-angel,  shot  out  of  the  sky,   firing  jets  of  fire  from  his
mouth. He managed to singe the tentacles and the cocoon holding Calana. This burned  it
enough to lessen the pressure in the cocoon, aiding her escape.
“Why,  you traitor...” snarled the Wraith, directing a huge surge of energy toward Hiler,
singing  one of his wings. He crash - landed between the Guardians and the Wraith, but was
quickly on his feet, swinging his tail.
“ You‟re  losing  the  connection  to  the  One,”  said  the  Wraith,  curiously.  “How  can  that
be?”
His will is strong, thought Penni. She doesn‟t realise how powerful the Guardian‟s will
and desire and the other powers of the Left Way can be.
The four Guardians all began fighting the Wraith in unison. Hiler jumped up on one of
the Wraith‟s tentacles and was swinging his tail toward her face.   Suddenly, a tentacle shot
toward Hiler and  pierced  him through the chest. The Wraith flung him to the ground  where
he landed in front of the other three.
“ It‟s been a n   honour to serve with you...” managed Hiler. Blood was coming out of his
mouth.
“We‟ll tell your world  that you fought a noble battle and died ;  as a Guardian,  defending
this important realm,” said Penni.
He didn‟t have the strength to say anything and died. A light appeared at the top of his
head and headed up into the sky.
Suddenly,  the whole scene around  them changed, as if someone  turned on a  v irtual
reality program.  It  was the Planetary  Oracle ;   it  had been activated. The  three  Guardians
hadn‟t done it, because they  needed all  the Keepers‟ attention  to do so. But  Incarnations
could  activate  it  if  they  were  close  by.  Or  the  Goddess  could  activate  any  of  them,
anywhere, from wherever she desired to be.
The Wraith quickly acted on this and transformed the scene to her advantage.
The three girls were suddenly in Varlia, a long time ago.
“ You see,” said Calana‟s mother ,   with the Wraith‟s voice. She was holding Calana as a
baby .  “I‟ve been with you all along .   I‟ve been waiting for this time.”
“But you‟re not my mother. Y ou‟re the one who drove my mother mad! You put voices
in her head,” roared Calana, with sudde n realisation.
Larn entered the scene,  and the Wraith, as  her  mother, threw a piece of crockery at
him, shouting abuse. The object hit his head, hard.
Penni  and  Sari  suddenly  realised:   Larn  was  Calana‟s  father ,   too.  This  was  the
previous relationship he had mentioned. 
47
The  Wraith  probably  drove  their  mother  to  madness,   too,  thought  Penni.  She  said,
“You‟ve been there all along, even through our family...”
Just to prove  her point ,   the Wraith changed  the scene  to a  long time ago in Bersia.
Two little girls were running around the house,   giggling. Penni looked about six years old,
Sari three.
“ You‟re turning strange, just like all those cult people  you  hang around with!”  roared
Rosi. “You just need something to cling on to...a god...symbols...”
Larn said nothing, but Rosi grinned at the  girls, appearing  as the Wraith from the past.
“You see ,   he was good- for- nothing, your father...”
“Was he! Was he!” snapped Penni. Calana looked at Penni, bewildered. “Look at him
now.  Y ou‟re  frightened  of  him.  He‟s  one  of  the  most  powerful  Keepers  ever.  He‟s  the
reason there are  no Shadows between here and Udicia!”
“Well, well. The middle one can be a little feisty,   too,” said the Wraith as her  mother.
„But I‟m bored with all this.”
The scene changed back to the temple of Rune.
“Eenie Meenie Miney Mo ,” said the Wraith, pointing at each girl. “Which one will be the
first to go?  Perhaps I‟ll convert the little one. She hasn‟t said much.  S he can be my silent
killer.”
“Leave  her  alone,”  said  Penni,  shooting  a  bolt  at  the  approaching   tentacle.  The
tentacle suddenly wrapped around Penni and held her up before the Wraith.
“ You‟ll do.   I don‟t care in which order...”
At that a blinding  light appeared, followed by  a  huge golden  Mandala. A dirty,   white robed Incarnation walked into  the sce ne.  It  was Arden.  H e looked like he‟d been doing a
lot of fighting.
“Put her down!” he ordered.
48
Chapter 9
“Well, if it isn‟t the prodigal son, Ar‟desh,” said the Wraith.
“Salura,  there  will  be  consequences  for  your  atrocities  against  the  Guardians,”  s aid
Arden.
The Master's guise  had hidden her from the eyes of  the  Incarnations.  To fight Arden
now, she would have to let go of the whole solar system, which she was reluctant to do.
“ I‟m not concerned,” said Salura .
Salura  decided it was best to reduce her power   over  the solar system and increase her
attention on fighting Arden. Thus, she diverted most of her powers onto Rune, increasing
the wind and rain. Thunder and lightning followed.
Suddenly,  clockwise  powers  started  swirling  around  Arden‟s  hands  and  heart.  He
blasted Salura with the positive destructive energy and threw her many kilometres across
Rune.
Salura spra ng back from the other side of the continent, flew into the air and directed
large spirals of anti -clockwise energy toward Arden‟s location.  Trees exploded all around
the area. The Guardians ran for cover as Arden responded with more of his powers.
Arden fired waves of mantric energy at the Wraith.  In the air, she struggled to dodge
the onslaught as she fired  her powers. Suddenly, both powers  collided,  and there was a
loud boom which knocked her out of the sky. She landed roughly, not too far away.
“Let‟s uproot her,” said Calana to the other two Guardians.
The girls ran toward the Planetary Oracle and began firing their weapons at the thick,
t ranslucent tentacle that had buried itself into the Oracle.
Rune's  weather  suddenly  became  much  worse.  The  sky  was  a  raging  storm,  with
lightning strikes and mini -tornadoes springing up everywhere.
“ I‟ve got too good a hold for you to stop me,” snarled Sa lura, racing toward the Oracle.
The girls ignored her and continued to fire at the tentacle.
While  Salura  was  distracted,  Arden  grabbed  hold  of  one  of  her  tentacles,  spun  her
around and around then let her go. She rocketed into the air and broke orbit.
“Create a vortex around it,” said Arden. “I‟ll keep her occupied.”
Rune  represented  the  Realm  of  Innocence  in  Pern‟s  solar  system,  and  the  solar
system represented the Realm of Innocence in the entire quadrant. Salura was in a prime
position  to  project  her  collective  sorcery  to  easily  bring  down  the  other  eight  adjoining
Planetary  Oracles  as  well.  This  would  further  darken  the  Shadows  in  adjoining  infected
systems, causing the galaxy to rotate in the opposite direction.
Arden flew into space in time to see Salura directing  her powers against  the planet‟s
atmosphere. He engaged her with  his powers, but she took off, spinning around Rune in
49
an anti-clockwise direction. Massive cyclonic storms start to appear around the planet, with
Arden close at Salura‟s heels.
He  changed  direction  and  confronted  her  in  the  next  rotation  of  the  planet,  but  she
suddenly broke orbit, leaving behind a fiery blaze.
Arden quickly dived after  her, catching  the Shadow Witch as the fire on  their burning
bodies was extinguished. He fired  his powers at her, stopping her graceful ascent, and she
crashed  through  the  forest  like  an  out-of-control  airliner.  However,  by  the  time  Arden
landed near her, Salura was standing up grinning at him.
In  the meantime, the  three Guardians  had created a  vortex around  the  tentacle buried in
the Oracle. The powers of the vortex were strong, but the Wraith‟s powers were stronger.
“ It‟s  getting  too  cold,”  said  Sari,  within  the  vortex.  “Regardless  of  our  extra  powers,
we‟re still going to freeze.”
“ In that case,  we  have to keeping going until  we do,” said Calana.  “Guardians never
retreat. That‟s our duty.”
They  were  both  right,  thought  Penni.  It  was  as  cold  as  Mars  now;  a  normal  human
would  have  perished  long  ago.  But  they  also  had  a  duty  to  protect  transforme d  worlds
beyond  this  point.  “Maybe  we  don‟t  have  to  freeze.  Just  direct  some  of  that  attention  of
yours, to pray for the Goddess to keep us warm enough to continue to fight.”
The  Oracle  began  to  glow  after  a  while,  and  they  did  feel  the  heat,  which  in  turn
increased their powers.
“ You can feel it, can‟t you, Ard‟esh? You can feel that your Guardians are failing?” Salura
asked.
She wasn‟t  talking about the local Guardians particularly, but all those fighting across
the  nine  systems. Arden didn‟t  feel any  hu man pain, suffering or  loss.  He didn‟t  feel any
physical discomforts, but he had lived enough human lifetimes to know what they must be
going through. Right now, he knew that the temperature was well below zero.
“Their wills are beyond defeat, Salura. Thei r wills are beyond death,” said Arden.
“ If  they  die,  you‟ve  failed,”  said  Salura  triumphantly.  “We  now  have  a  good  enough
hold on this  whole quadrant  to put a  halt  to  your Guardian advancements.” She put  her
hands in the air and looked into the stormy sky.  Lightning flashed. “The Dark Realms are
heading back to Udicia and Earth! Back to Caldon!"
Suddenly, a global blizzard set in across  Rune, and the air  temperature plummeted.
Large cracking noises could be heard all around as the landscape was snap -frozen.
The  girls  were  making  little  progress  on  the  Wraith‟s  evil  foundation,  when  everything
suddenly went silent and peaceful. As they heard the loud, cracking noises around them,
50
they  suddenly  became  extremely  powerful.  Sari  noticed  that  Penni  and  Calana  had
sprouted white, crystallised wings. Her sisters looked like beautiful angels.
“Penni! Calana! Look, we‟ve got wings!”
The  realisation  dawned  on  Penni.  They  were  dead.  Their  guardianship  had  crossed
over to the other side. They were Guardian Angels.
Calana  looked  at  her  physical  body  from  outside  of  it,  completely  covered  in  snow.
Then she turned to look at the Planetary Oracle. “Now, let‟s pull this bitch out!”
“Oh,  Ar‟desh,  how  long  has  it  been?  Eleven,  twelve  thousand  years  of  wars  across
countless  worlds?   How ironic that  I‟ll finally claim my rightful place as  the Queen of  this
entire  galaxy!”  Salura  grinned  an  evil  grin.  “First,   I‟ll  take  out  her  number  one  son.”  She
grabbed  Arden  with  several  of  her  spidery  tentacles,  lifting  him  up  like  a  giant  spid er
admiring its prey before eating it.
Arden‟s  powers  had  become  weaker  as  the  Shadows  began  to  overcome  the  local
galaxy.  He  drew  some  of  his  power  from  the  Guardian  collectivity.  Salura‟s  powers  had
become much more powerful as her hold became  stronger.
Arden fired his powers ,   but she moved him around so they‟d shoot into the air.
“ I‟ve  been  waiting  for  this  moment.”  A  large  tentacle ,   shaped  like  a  spear,   headed
toward Arden.
She  stopped  talking  suddenly  and  looked  toward  the  Oracle,  which  was  several
kilometres away. “What have those little wenches done? I thought they were dead!”
“Sorry, tried to warn  you, Salura,” said Arden falling gracefully on both of his feet.  He
hit her with a blast of his powers,   and Salura was thrown in the direction of the Oracle. She
crashed close to it, as Arden flew off after her.
When  he  arrived  there  he  noticed  the  vortex  had  taken  on  a  mind  of  its  own.  The
Guardians no longer had any control over it.  Ard'esh had now taken over.
Arden  charged  at  Salura  knowing  she  would  be  losing  her  grip  by  now,  with  no  direct
power over the  Realm of Innocence. He hit her and she flew into the air, crashing through
the trees. There, she la y  still.
He looked toward Salura, but was more concerned about the Guardians. He could see
a  large  group  of  Guardian  Angels  congregating  around  the  vortex.  A  lot  of  Guardians
crossed over today, he thought. The three girls were talking to the new arrivals. He quickly
made his way toward them, but spinning powers shot out of the vortex and struck him. His
powers that had been blocked by Salura were coming back, thanks to the Guardians.
And just in time,   too. A loud rustling noise was coming from the forest.
A dark form quickly loomed into  view. Six  red eyes glared at  him  from  the front of a
monstrous  thorax.  Without  the  bonds  of  the  local  Universe  holding  her  back,  she  could
51
easily take her Shadow form. She was the Queen of the Shadows; a giant black spider.
“ You  look  like  a  very  tasty  meal  to  me,”  she  mocked.  “I  have  no  restrictions  on  me
now, Ar‟desh.”
A  golden,  blazing  Oracle  suddenly  materialised  in  Arden‟s  hands.  He  held  it  up  in
anticipation.  “You may try.” He threw the Oracle,  which soared through the air, a burning
tail trailed behind it.
Salura  quickly  responded  with  rounds  of  spinning  disks  of  web,  but  the  Oracle
managed  to  break  through  the  tangle  and  severed  one  of  her  eight  appendages.  She
shrieked, but the leg quickly started reforming.
She  scuttled  quickly  toward  Arden,  trying  to  get  him  with  her  huge  fangs,  but  the
golden Oracle changed into a long, gleaming sword,   and he struck  her at the front of the
thorax, leaving a large gash between her eyes.
Salura flew back,  startled, losing her stance momentarily.
“ You getting a little slow in your old age, Salura?” asked Arden. “Perhaps I should get
one  of the Guardians to continue what they started.”
Mention of  the Guardians angered her,   and she quickly  looked around  the  vortex  to
spot them.
“Where the hell did the little wenches go, anyway?”
“Like  you,  we‟re  still  here,”  said  Calana  to  Hiler  who  had  approached  the  three
Guardians.
“ I see,” said Hiler, looking at their white, crystallised wings. “Even after death the fight
continues.”
“So it seems,” said Calana. She stared at all  the  Guardians  who  they  had slayed as
Shadows. “Are they cool with us?”
“Absolutely, they don‟t blame you for their deaths . They see this as their destiny. They
don‟t  mind  which  front  they  fight  on,”  said  Hiler.  He  grinned  mischievously.  “These
Sorcerers think they‟re so clever,   projecting their invisible armies, but the Goddess  has all
that covered ,  too.”
When  he  referred  to  Sorcerers  he  meant  Lords,  Masters  and  Wraiths,  as  that  was
what  they  were.  The  Lords‟  powers  spanned  a  community,  Masters‟  powers  spanned  a
nation  and  Wraiths‟  powers  spanned  a  galaxy.  “It‟s  pretty  bad  out  there  in  the  Dark
Realms .”
“ I know,” said Calana.
“So are you our boss now?” asked Sari, curiously.
“No,” said Hiler. “Arden said to wait here for him . He has  other plans for you.”
“Thanks,   Captain,”  said  Penni,  watching  the  Angels  walking  one -by -one  through  the
vortex. “God speed.” 
52
Hiler saluted and followed the last angel through.
“They‟re not far,” said Arden.  He eyed the vortex a s  it started to increase its rotation. He
could feel his powers increasing as the Incarnations and Guardians across the other   nine
systems  won battles to regain their respective Planetary Oracles. But this one was a major
block;   he needed to remove Salura soon. “This quadrant is in dire need of cleansing.”
Salura was very cunning;   she could sense Arden‟s scheme, although he had  the best
poker  face.  She  shot  a  web  into  the  trees  and  started  swinging  toward  Arden,  shooting
venom  at  him  from  her  deadly  fangs.  This  wasn‟t  just  a  poison;   it  was  like  acid.
Everywhere it landed was like a downpour of acid rain!
Arden formed an  Oracle shield shaped like an  umbrella.  He could see all  the grass,
bushes and trees around him being instantly dissolved. It was like reality was disappearing
around him!
But Arden wasn‟t deterred. W hen the deadly torrent of acid stopped for a moment, he
instantly  formed a golden bow and fired multiple white - hot bolts at her. They fired like mini
missiles, striking the spider all around her body.
Salura screamed and fell from where she was hanging in the trees. She crashed into
the bushes upside down, her eight legs  struggling to get her upright.
Arden  didn‟t  waste  a  moment,  a  sword  forming  from  his  golden  Oracle.  He  raced
toward  her  and  jumped  up  onto  her  huge  abdomen.  He  dived  toward  the  region  of  the
heart, at the centre of the thorax, holding his sword up high.
Salura shot a  web, catching the sword  which she flung into the bush. Arden slipped
and slid down the side of her thorax and landed on the ground below.
She managed to get herself back onto her legs and dived toward Arden with her huge
fangs. Arden rolled away as the  fangs penetrated the ground  where he had just been.
Arden formed powers around his hands and heart and blasted Salura,  who slid along
the ground toward the raging vortex. He reached back ,   and the golden Oracle returned to
his hand. He held it up,   and a large clockwise spiral of energy formed. The energy shot out
and blasted Salura again.
She was picked  up and  heading toward  the  vortex  when she shot out a  web toward
the closest tree. She quickly shot out two more webs and created a small padded are a.
There she sat,  with only  the  web stopping  her  from being pulled into the  vortex. She
started losing her spidery form and shape-shifted back into human form. She looked much
smaller amid the web.
“ I  think  you‟re  caught  up  in  your  own  web,”  said  Arden.  He   watched  as  the  three
Guardians headed toward each end of the thick strands holding her. “Seems like you didn‟t
make too many friends while you were here,   either.”
Salura couldn‟t see the Guardians before, but they now suddenly came into focus. 
53
“Oh,   l adies! You know that deal about becoming my elite Masters is still on. If you help
me down we can arrange your...”
“ You  are  kidding,   aren‟t  you,   lady?”  snapped  Calana.  “Can‟t  you  see  we‟re  dead?  I
think  you‟ve  spun  your  last  lie.”  She  brought  a  shining,  crystal lised  sword  down  on  her
strand. The patch of web fell closer to the vortex.
Salura looked around nervously and said, “Penni, Sari dear, be good girls and help me
down.” She was using their mother‟s voice.
“ You‟re  not  our  mother!”  snapped  Penni.  She  struck  the  strand  with  her  Guardian
sword but it didn‟t break. Salura swung even closer to the vortex but eventually came back
to the same point. She had a horrified look on her face as she could see where the vortex
led to.
“  Ar‟desh, send me anywhere, but not  to her! ”
“ I‟m sorry, Salura ,   but she insisted. Penni!”
Penni struck the strand and it broke. Salura  swung into the mouth of the vortex.
“Oh,   Ar‟desh, get me down. I‟ll come back with the Incarnations! Anything, don‟t let me
go!”  She  looked  toward  the  end  of  the  strand.  “Sari.  That‟s  a  good  dear.  N ow  pull  me
toward  you.  You and  I,   my little mouse,  we can...Sari...Sari...where have  you gone?” She
looked down ,   and the four of them were standing down below. “Oh. Thank the One. You‟re
going to get me down!” She  was hysterical now.
Sari held up a bow and was testing the invisible string on it. She shot a bolt into a log,
which exploded.
“Good  shot,   sis,”  said  Penni.  “Maybe  you  should  use  my  Oracle.  Well,  when  I‟m
alive...”
“Sari,  Sari,   what are you doing ,   my dear?” asked the hysterical Wraith.
“Just practising my aim.” She aimed the bow above Salura‟s head and fired. It missed.
“No, try using her hair as a target. See that bit sticking up.”
Salura quickly pushed it down,   but the bolt went through her hand.
“Sari, don‟t do it ,  my little mouse. Ahhhhh! ”
“A good marksman should always shoot to kill, not torture their target,” said Penni. “Try
this.  Become  part  of  the  bow.  Be  part  of  the  weapon.  Feel  the  strength  of  pulling  the
invisible twine. Look sharply at the ta rget.”
“Sari,  no! No!”
Sari released the bow,   and the bolt struck the strand.
Salura fell into the  vortex. “This is not the end.  This is only the beginning of the end.”
The vortex closed up and disappeared behind her.
“ I didn‟t mean to terrorise her before she died,” said Sari.
“Don‟t worry,” whispered Penni. “I think she deserved it.”
54
Battered after fighting the second most powerful Shadow in the galaxy, Arden managed to
form a Mandala  and disappeared. He visited all the other nine systems.
He destroyed  other Wraiths in other worlds, but in most cases they decided to retreat.
Guardians who hadn‟t yet defeated the Masters were now able to so.
The nine realms were restored, without the Queen‟s powers holding down the Realms
of  Innocence, and their anti -clockwise movement slowed down and started to move back
the other way.
Arden returned from his jaunt far and wide around the galaxy. A golden Mandala appeared
before the Guardians who were hanging around their dead physical bodies, waiting for his
return.
“Just had to fix  up a few loose ends,” Arden said. Subtle powers immediately formed
around his hands, and he directed them toward their dead bodies. The girls suddenly felt
their  angelic  forms  being  drawn  back  toward  their  physical  forms.  For  a  while,  they
hovered over their foreheads, before  transforming into a row of seven Golden Stars. The
Golden Stars penetrated each girl‟s forehead, going in one by one.
Calana was the first to pull her physical body out of the snow, overjoyed that she was
having this ex perience once again. The other two girls also stirred back to life.
“ You brought us back,” said Calana.
“The Goddess needs you. I need you,” said Arden. “Your wills have helped to win this
great  battle.”  He  paused,  looking  admiringly  at  the  three.  “You  se e,  it‟s  not  the  physical
fight that brings down the Shadows each time. It‟s the surrender. Daniel also surrendered
himself to the Great Juncture to defeat Gylith. This also took him beyond death and back.
You now know that even after death the Guardians co ntinue to do their work.
“Nonetheless, you have brought the Guardians up to a new level. But just because you
acquired temporary powers of an  Incarnation, doesn‟t mean  you‟ve become one.  You will
never  become  Incarnations  or  Gods,  but  you'll  continue  to  be come  closer  and  closer  to
them."
Penni said nothing. She stood admiring the sunshine that began pouring over Rune,
melting the snow.
“What  about  Pern?  They  don‟t  have  any  Keepers  and  Guardians  anymore?”  asked
Sari.
“ You  need  not  worry  about  all  the  Keepers  and  Guardians.  There  are  plenty  of
candidate Gurus there who can step up to the plate. We‟ve made up some time for them
by dethroning their Queen. The Shadows will take a long time to recover from this loss.”
“Shouldn‟t we stage an attack on their garrisons while they‟re weak?” asked Calana.
Arden  grinned,  but  not  mockingly.  “We‟re  not  the  military,  my  dearest  Calana.  We
never stage sorties or campaigns against the Shadows. Admittedly, we are strategic and
55
we do place our strengths where needed.
“No. As  always, our best methods are  neither offensive  nor defensive, but collective;
keeping our galactic family connected, strong, dedicated and faithful to the Goddess. We
should also be reaching out to those poor souls who are beyond the borders of  the Dark
Realms. Except for the deepest and darkest Shadows, they are the ones who will one day
join us.”
At that moment, a silver Mandala opened, and Daniel Withers walked through.
“Lord, ladies,” said Withers.  He bowed toward Arden. “The impact of the death of the
Queen is tremendous.”
“We did it together. Managing  that entire  fleet against such a massive assault  was a
feather in your cap, Admiral.” Arden grinned at Calana.
Withers frowned a little at the mention of Admiral, but quickly understood he missed a
moment between Arden and Calana. He saluted mockingly.
“ Yes, sir.”
“But, like  I mentioned before,  just because the Shadows declared war on  us, doesn‟t
mean we‟re at war with them. The Galactic Alliance is not a nation fighting against another
nation, a race fighting against another race. We‟ve found the truth; we found God. Most of
those in  the Dark  Realms haven‟t as  yet. We‟re part and parcel of  the grand scheme to
transform  this  galaxy,  but  they  aren‟t  as  yet.  All  those  Shadows  out  there  in  the  Dark
Realms  are n‟t  our  enemies;  a  smaller  number  will  never  be  brought  back,  but  still  they
aren‟t our enemies, either.  It‟s our duty  to bring those who are  under the influence of the
Shadows to join us as we move further and further into those realms. I think human beings
are now closer to knowing what their part is.”
A huge golden Mandala appeared behind him. He looked around at the four Guardians
admiringly, before stepping through.
There was a long silence.
“He always does that,” said Withers. “He never stays for  long   idle talks and tea.”  The
three girls giggled. “But  I do. After all,  I‟m  human.” He gave the three sisters a hug. “So,
you finally found out that you‟re all sisters!”
“ Yeah, the things we  have  to keep secret to hold this Universe together,” said Penni.
She  hugged Calana.
“She‟s feisty, but she‟s OK,” said Sari, also hugging her.
“Hey, little girl, watch it,” said Calana. “But I will take that back about you being out of
your league here. That move on the Queen was really something.”
The three hugged each other for a while and then all looked up at Withers.
“ Your  newfound strengths  will make  Udicia a much more collective  world.  That‟s  the
beauty of  family; it‟s the  root of our  unity.” He paused, staring at  the glorious blue sky of
56
Rune.  “Now, about  your being  needed,  I need  you also,  to  help build Pern into a better
place. On Earth and Udicia we enjoy the freedoms of the Goddess and the absence of the
Shadows.  Pern  should  also  enjoy  these  freedoms.  The  Guardians  will  have  a  large
presence  here,  more so than our  worlds had.  This is the fringe of  the Dark Realms, and
the state of Pern is far worse than they were beyond our borders. But, like Arden said, we
won‟t be here as a military build- up, or preparing for war, but to guide this world and share
the knowledge that we are also still continuing to grasp.”
Three bronze Mandalas suddenly appeared behind the girls.
“Who would summon us so soon?” asked Penni, bewildered.
“That‟s  the  Keeper  colour,”  said  Withers.  “It  must  be  a  powerful  Keeper  to  open
realms. You‟d be tter jump through and see.”
The girls said goodbye to the Tenth Guardian and walked through the Mandalas.
The  three  girls  materialised  back  in  Udicia,  in  Eeonia,  before  Larn.  He  was  standing  in
front of an altar with a photo of the Udician incarnated Godd ess. Beside that photo was a
bouquet of flowers, a candle and a large bronze Oracle.
Larn  was  wearing  a  Bersian  Kimono,  belted  around  the  waist  and  moccasin -style
shoes. He was overjoyed when he saw his three daughters together. Penni and Sari went
to him and gave him a big hug.
"I thought I'd lost you," said Larn, "but here you are."
"Apparently, we're still needed," said Sari.
"You know us; we always manage to get out of trouble," said Penni.
"What about you, young lady?" asked Larn, looking at Calana.
"Bit of both, I guess," she said. She looked at the large Oracle on the altar. "Where did
you get that?"
"Who else but the Goddess? I needed it to get me out of trouble," said Larn with a grin.
"How  do  you  think  I  got  you  here?  Come  here."  Calana  walked  t oward  Larn  and  they
hugged. "It‟s been a long time. I missed you," he said.
Calana  said  nothing,  not  being  accustomed  to  sentimental  emotions.  She'd  spent
years  fighting  the  Shadows  with  no  contact  with  family  or  friends.  Besides,  she  hardly
knew her father.
"Well, we should do something about our distant relationship," she managed to say.
"Good  idea,"  said  Larn  holding  back  tears  of  elation  and  joy.  "I've  prepared  a  little
homecoming dinner."
"Oh, Dad," said Penni, looking at the large spread of wholes ome foods, "where did you
get time to prepare this fea..." She froze when she noticed Arden, Daniel and Benn sitting
at the large table, chatting.
"Told you I do dinners," said Daniel, grinning. "I had to twist his arm to come." He was
57
referring to Arden.  "But I didn't have to twist his," he said, grinning at Benn.
"I'm glad  you made it," said Benn. He  motioned  for Penni to sit  next to  him, and  her
face flushed a little.
"Well, I was officially dead up until an hour ago."
Benn passed Penni a small box. She took it and opened it. It was a beautiful Tyronian
cluster ring, set with a mixture of diamonds and gemstones.
"Will you come back to Tyrone with me and be my wife?" asked Benn.
It was all happening so fast, she thought. "Yes, I will!"
Everyone burst out cheering and clapping.
"I love weddings," said Arden. "Let me marry you both at the Juncture."
"Yes, please," said Penni. She hugged her father who was elated at the news.
"Sounds like we have a lot to celebrate tonight," said Larn. "We celebrate the success
in  this  phase  of  galactic  transition,  the  re - union  of  family,  and  the  engagement  of  this
beautiful couple."
They all made a non-alcoholic toast with grape juice.
In the end, Benn and Penni were married between the Thal mountains in Tyrone, Udicia‟ s
Great Juncture. It was the place on Udicia where the Left and Right Ways met.
Tremendous  vibrations  from  the  six  realms  came  through  like  a  torrent.  It  was  the
direct  impact  of  Udicia‟s  support  in  the  expansion  of  these  vibrations  further  into  the
galaxy.
“On  this  day,  on  this  joyous  occasion,  I  unite  Benn  and  Penni  in  divine  matrimony,”
said Arden, looking more like an angel than a priest.
Penni felt like she  was in a fairy- tale  wedding. She couldn‟t believe it! It  looked like a
fairy-tale wedding as wel l! The Tyronian dress was similar to Cinderella‟s. Benn was even
wearing tight stocking-style pants with his suit.
The whole scene around  them was enchanting,  with many trees, rolling  hills, and an
abundance of birds and butterflies. The Tyronian palace co uld be seen like a shining jewel
in the distance.
There were a lot of Tyronians at the wedding, as Benn  was, after all, their President.
Also,  many  of  Penni‟s  Bersian  relatives  came  from  abroad.  All  the  Keepers  had  come,
also. Larn brought most of them through via the realms.
Later,  at  the  reception  inside  the  palace,  Benn,  Penni,  Sari,  Calana,  Withers,  Larn,
Ulef, Sef, Viler, Remm,  Meln and Arden  managed to get  together after  hours of  mingling
with the other guests.
“ I‟m not sure how you did it, my dear,”  said Benn. “Saved the galaxy, then came back
to go through all this. I‟m just about spent!”
"The night‟s not over yet,” said Viler, winking at Penni. 
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“ It was a beautiful wedding,” said Remm to Penni and Benn. “All the best.”
“Thanks,” said Penni.
“Congratulations,” said Ulef. “May you both enjoy years of happiness.”
“We will,” said Penni, looking at Benn admiringly.
“Well, congratulations to you both,” said Sef. He looked at Larn. “I‟ll bet you‟re a proud
father.”
Larn kissed Penni on the cheek and shook Be nn‟s hand.
“As  an  extension  of  my  speech  on  wishing  the  bride  and  groom  all  the  best  for  the
future,  I also  want to  note  that the President of Tyrone has  now married the Guardian of
the Central Way in the centre of the Realm of Forgiveness. Not only is this a joyous thing
for the newly - weds, but it establishes a very important foundation for the future of Udicia.”
“Very much so,” said Withers. “On Earth, the Guardian and Keepers also ended up in
positions of authority within their realms.”
“ Yes,  and  that‟s  what  makes  this  whole,  in  our  honourable  Arden‟s  words,  „grand
scheme  of  the  galaxy‟,  so  well-orchestrated.  We‟re  just  the  actors,  while  the  Goddess,
Arden and other Incarnations are constantly preparing the stage for us,” said Larn.
There was a moment of  silence. Sari looked at Calana, who was holding the bouquet
she caught. “Looks like your stage is being prepared.”
Calana  grinned.  “I  have  no  idea  who  it  will  be,  because  I‟ve  never  had  the  time  to
court.”
“That‟s the best way,” said Penni. “Leave it to t he Goddess.”
“So  what  of  the  Guardians  now?”  asked  Meln,  looking  at  Arden.  “I  know  they  are
growing with the help of the Keepers and Gurus, but what is their destiny?”
“This  is  a  very  good  question,  and  I  see  that,  although  you  are  all  powerfully  in  the
moment, your outlook is also very dynamic,” said Arden.
“ Humanity took a very long time to become enlightened and, as you know, there have
been many Incarnations taking birth on your worlds to bring you up to the Great Juncture.
Even the Father himself, the Goddess and the Son have taken birth many times. You now
know who I am. I am that very son,” Arden held up his arms as if to embrace his younger
brothers and sisters.
“On  some  worlds  I  have  taken  on  the  more  destructive  attributes  of  myself,  mainl y
where there are no Guardians present. As you‟ve seen,  I‟ve also used the more forgiving
attributes  of  myself.”  Arden  paused.  “I  told  the  Guardians  on  Rune  that  we  have  a
responsibility to save those lost souls in the Dark Realms, and we don‟t have a lot  of time
left to do it.”
Everyone stood, captivated by Arden‟s words.
“My   work  with  the  Guardians  has  ended  for  now,  but  there  are  still  another  five
hundred  years  with  the  remaining  Incarnations.  By  that  time,  the  Shadows   will  be  very
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powerful indeed.  It will be just the right time for the Father to take his birth and lead them
into  one  of  the  darkest  times  the  Galaxy  has  ever  seen.  The  Guardians  may  be  very
powerful  by  then,  but  so  will  the  Shadows.  The  Dark  Realms  may  have  become  much
smaller, but so dark that no seeker of truth will be able to survive there.
“The Father  you know as Rael  will bring down all His destructive Powers, as  His job
will  be  to  destroy.  He  will  destroy  anyone  in  this  Galaxy  who  hasn‟t  found  the  truth.  He
won‟t  even  be  interested  in  any  Guardians  who  are  not  progressing  well.  He  may  even
punish  them.  He will give orders and expect them  to be carried out immediately.  I  would
say  your  future  lives  will  be  with  Rael.  So,  fine - tune  now.  Get  ready.  This  is  my  job,  to
toughen  you  all  u p,  after  the  Goddess  has  gently  given  you  your  enlightenment  and
prepared you for your Father.”