Page 5 (2/2)

"Suza yourself"

"I haven&039;t been a saint exactly You must know that"

"Yes But that is past You are here with me now, and I am with you"

My throat is constricted "I feel you with me, yes"

"Why are you afraid of love, Sita? Because it has hurt you?"

I nod weakly "It hurts all of us Soood for"

Alanda shakes her head "Love is good for otten The veil has to be lifted"

I am curious "What is this veil?"

Alanda turns away and walks on the sand, between the weeds She is barefoot--I only realize that now The way her soles touch the ground, it is al at the desert, the stars, and playing with her long blond hair, she enchants me as she speaks The communication may even be telepathic, her voice is so soft But it is easy to understand her

"This galaxy is ancient, as you know," she says "Your sun is old, but the stars at the center of the galaxy were there first The planets circling theave rise to civilizations So life evolved First plants, then animals and finally, what you would call people arrived Some of these people looked like us, but not all They became conscious They knew all that the people of this world know, and more For there was at that time no veil between the conscious and the unconscious, no loss of the awareness that we are all a part of the creation The gods of those suns did not desire this veil to confuse their children, and therefore everyone on those ancient planets lived in light and peace Do you understand?"

"I&039;m not sure," I say "Continue"

"Suza harvest, on this world These ancient people also arrived at a point when it was important for them to move on, to move into another realm, a fourth dimension if you like But then there was a problealaxy were positive-- what you would call good-hearted But because they had always lived in bliss, they had no incentive to grow Therefore, for many billions of years, from the third dimension to the fourth, there were few harvests Such people were a rarity" Alanda pauses "Do you understand?"

"Yes The source of pain for us--here on this world--is the veil between the conscious and the unconscious Yet this pain acts as a catalyst for us to grow"

"Precisely People of your world often speak of good and evil But what you call evil goads you onto the greatest good This is necessary for you, and all people of your world That is why it is there That is why the great being within your sun allows the veil to exist The story froood and evil that your ancient ances?tors received--that was not a curse but a blessing It only seems a curse to you at times like this, when you are in doubt"

"But to some extent we live our whole lives in doubt" I pause "So you&039;re saying the devil wasn&039;t such a bad guy after all?"

"No I aativity--as reat sches There is no hero without a villain, no peak without a valley But our path, the path of love, deativity But we do not overco it That is an illusion What you resist will persist"

"Why are you telling me this?" I ask, and there is suddenly fear in my voice But I knohat she will answer For I knew, personally, the greatest evil that ever walked the Earth Still, Alanda&039;s words chill me to the bone

"Landulf cannot be overcome by force," she says

My lower lip treo"

"Perhaps Perhaps not But certainly his work lives on You ht in the desert There areat this time, and they possess a sample of your blood" She steps toward me, looks at me "Do you knohat that h sons of-bitches"

Alanda is serious "Yes They are tough And it was never intended that the negative side of harvest should possess such a powerful ar years they will overwhelm your people, turn virtually everyone toward fear This will be the downfall for all who aspire to the light This fear will cause the negative harvest to be larger than it would have been In other words, your world is out of balance"

"And I caused this ihs "This must be difficult for you to hear"

"The truth is always better than illusions" I pause "Is it true?"

"Yes You are the ultimate source of this cancer, and itto deny what I just heard It&039;s too e of mankind I feel as if I must run away Only entle Her next word is not "Yes"

"But how can you be sure?" I demand

"Because my old and dear friend, I am from your future"

I take a moment to absorb her statement "What is it like?"

Now she stutters "In ruins"

I am shocked "This world?"

The life leaves her voice "This entire sector of the galaxy When so much of Earth fails, much else fails later" Alanda steps close to me, puts her hands on my shoulders, her eyes in my soul "We have coo back to the days of Landulf To relive those days, and keep hi to you what he desired"

The prospect fills me with horror "But I can&039;t remember what he did to me!"

"You will, I promise, when you travel back to that tiuts turn to ice "That is one thing I cannot do Ask anything of me but that"

Alanda strokes the side of ain I brush her off and turn aside "Yes," I say in a shaky voice "And I don&039;t understand why I can&039;t understand why the siain overwhelms me"

"It&039;s because of what you can&039;t remember"

I whirl around "Then tell me what happened?"

"I cannot You must face the memory when you are once more in his castle It is the only way It is why he was able to block your memory in the first place At that time you refused to face what happened"

"Did he torture me? Did he mutilate me?"

She nods reluctantly "In his oay But there is more than that to the puzzle--you will see"

I am sick at the prospect "Is your spaceship a tilances up "Not exactly"

"But how can I go back to those days? How can I meet myself?"

She stares at me "Physically you will not journey in tio back"

"I don&039;t understand?"

"As our ships approach light speed, we are able to jump into a realm that exists outside tiht-years in a y, and that is how they were able to surround you in the desert tonight In that realm, the laws of physics as you understand them do not apply For a few seconds you will cease to exist in a particular time and place Therefore, you will have the freedom to be where you wish to be If you focus all your will on that ninth century vampire, you will become her Do you see?"

"No Will both our minds be in the same body?"

"No There is only one of you You will become her, and she will become you There is no question of two"

I am still confused, but dread continues to doain," I plead "You don&039;t knohat he was like"

Alanda is sad "But I know his kind well He is not from the dimension beyond this one, but froative fifth density-- not merely a sorcerer, but a master of sorcerers Above his head the vipers hiss, and before his vision all wills turn to stone Those you reater than you, Sita I know you, old friend, know of your extraordinary origin You cannot directly resist hi so you will become him That is his special power, the spell he cloaked you in before Yet you can defeat hier than stone&039;"

"But you will not tell me how to defeat him?"

"No You must find the way It is your destiny to do so"

I don&039;t want to ask the question but I do anyway

"Is it also my destiny to die? Alanda?"

She shakes her head "I cannot say"

"But you come from the future You know Tell me"

"I know that you will rewrite our future Please do not ask me to say more" Her eyes return to the heavens and she points "Behold, Sita Our ship comes for you"