Birth of the Balancer

 
Fountain of Light
The light rises slowly, like a mist, from the circle of colored stones, as Tzina watches.
Then, the light jumps, filling the air with bursts of color.

Finally, the light circles, high above the fountain.
And hardens into an endless rain of beautiful shapes, which move and change as they fall.
Fading away, before they reach the ground.

“It’s beautiful,” says Tzina, as she watches the dance of light and form.
“What’s it for, Mayla?” she asks.

Mayla squeezes her hand.
“As far as I know,” she answers, “it’s only here for its beauty.”

As each ring of buildings stretches toward a river, the buildings open into Wide plazas to greet the river and its bridge.
Each side of the crossing is blessed with a plaza and a round fountain of light.

In the center of each bridge is another fountain.
The fountain seems suspended in space, a whispy cover for a ten foot hole in the bridge.
The fast current of the river is visible below, as you look through the fountain.

The light of the bridge fountain reaches down to the water below, and rises, fifty feet high.
In all, twelve light fountains dance in every building ring.

Music plays day and night in the plazas, and on the bridges, around the fountains.
The fountains whisper of peace, and bring us all to a wonderful sense of calm.

“Come Tzina,” says Mayla.
“The light fountains are beautiful, but your ina has come here for the Heart Fountain.”

Balshown stands in my way, and puts his hand against my chest.
“No, Yagrin.”
“The Heart Fountain can wait.”

“Balshown,” I say, “you can’t be serious.”
“You’ve been seeking the fountain for over a hundred years.”
“Why give up now?”

“I’m not giving up,” he answers, angrily, and and steps closer to me.
“But we’re threatened right now by the Fiklow, the Tshuans, and another war.”

“We’re all needed, especially you!”
“You can’t be killed easily, but you can be trapped.”

“In ancient times, most of those who entered the Heart Fountain never returned.”
“Their bodies survived for a few weeks, but their minds were gone.”

“Balshown,” I say quietly, “the only way to stop a war with the Fiklow is to give back the artifact.”
“And without the artifact, there is no fountain.”

“A world of pure energy is bound to the artifact.”
“I caught a distant glimpse of it, and the beings who live there.”
“This is our one chance to touch that world, before we give back the artifact.”

“Let it go, Yagrin” says Balshown.
“It’s not that important.”

“At least let me get near the Heart Fountain!” I say.
“Maybe I don’t need to enter it.”

“Tzina,” interrupts Shazira, “where’s Berek?”

“He told me that he’d been studying the layout of the city, and was going to do some exploring.”
“He disappeared a few minutes ago.”
“But I don’t know where he went.”

“Mayla,” says Shazira, concerned, “can you locate Berek.”

“I can search for his life signs throughout the city,” she says, and pauses.

“I’ve found him.”
“He’s near the Heart Fountain!”

“Can you stop him from entering?” asks Shazira.

“No,” answers Mayla
“He’s already by the entrance, and I have no power to seal it.”

“The Heart Fountain often refuses to open its doors for visitors.”
“Normally, I would expect the fountain to refuse to open for any child.”

“But Berek is Yagrin’s son.”
“And something strange is happening.”
“I’ve tried calling Berek, but he doesn’t answer.”

 
Following Berek
“We need to hurry,” says Mayla decisively, as she starts walking toward a transportation platform.
“We’ll go as close as we can with the platform, and then use another way to reach the fountain.”

“We can’t go directly to the fountain.
“The energy from the fountain blocks the function of the platform.”

The platform transports us to a small room, just big enough for another platform.

We walk outside.
We’re on an island in the middle of the sea.
There are only a few small buildings on this island.

The lights of the city are all around us, several miles away.

The wind blows hard here.
And the waves are white, as they crash against the rocky shore of the island.

“Where is the heart fountain?” asks Makish loudly, trying to be heard over the wind.

“Several hundred feet below us,” answers Mayla.

We enter another small building, and within it a small room.
I assume that we’ll travel in some sort of elevator.

But then something soft, strong, and invisible takes holds of us.
And the floor opens below us, revealing a deep shaft.
We move quickly together, held by some invisible force.

At the bottom, we land in another small room, and the ceiling closes above us.
And whatever holds us, lets us go.

“Where’s Berek?” I ask, as we exit the room and come to several sets of doors.

“He’s inside,” answers Mayla.

The area is carpeted with a material that feels like soft grass.
The whole feel reminds me of an entrance into an auditorium.

“No one Berek’s age has ever survived the fountain,” says Mayla.
“Someone must get him out quickly!”
“I would do it, but the fountain will not allow me to enter.”

“I’ll go,” says Balshown.

“No,” I say, “he’s my son.”

“Both of us, then,” says Balshown, as we first planned.”

Shazira looks at Tzina.
“We’ll stay here,” she says.

“And I’ll stay with them,” says Makish.
“If you don’t return, I’ll bring the artifact to the Fiklow.”

I turn to Mayla.
“Can you disconnect the artifact and help Makish to return it, if something happens to us?”

“Yes,” answers Mayla.

“Then we go,” I say.

 
Doors of Sorrow
“These doors lead into a transition room,” says Mayla.
“After you enter the room, touch the inner doors.”
“If the fountains accepts you, the outer doors will close.
“And then, the inner doors will open.”

“What will the heart fountain to do us?” asks Balshown.

“When people encounter the fountain,” says Mayla, “there are four typical results.”

1. “Some people feel and experience nothing at all.”
2. “Others collapse and die within days.”
3. “Some go mad from the experience, and live like that for weeks or months.”
4. “Finally, some are energized by the experience. They find their ability to perceive and work with energy dramatically enhanced.”

“There’s no way to predict what you will experience.”

Shazira and I hug tightly, and she looks me in the eyes for a long time.
“See you soon, Yagrin.

Tzina grabs me.
“It’s not fair, ina,” she says with mock anger.
“You taught Berek to fly before me.”
“I’m older than he is!”
“You need to come back right away, and teach me to fly!”

“Please, ina,” she adds quietly, as her tears fall on my face.
Finally, she lets me go.

“Undress in the transition room,” says Mayla, “before you pass through the inner doors.”

Balshown and I enter the transition room and undress.
It seems odd to take off the black stone necklace.
I wear it always, except when I flow into another form.

I touch the inner doors, wondering if the fountain will accept us.
The outer doors close, and the inner doors open, a few seconds later.

We step through the inner doors, and they close behind us.

The room of the heart fountain is large enough to fit hundreds of people.
Strange, when no more than a handfull of people have ever entered at once.

The room is mostly dark, and seems utterly empty.
The walls, ceiling, and floor seem made of the same, plain, grey stone.

Where is Berek?
There is a dim glow from the floor at the center of the room.
Balshown and I approach that spot.

Berek lies unmoving, his skin almost gray.
I try to fill his body with healing energy, but I can’t find the healing energy in here.

I can’t glide his body, or do much of anything with energy.
Finally, I try to pick up Berek, but his body seems held in place.
“Help me, Balshown!”

We can’t move him.
I open my energy eyes, but the world seems empty of energy.

“Do you see or feel any energy, Balshown?”

“No, Yagrin,” he answers.
“There’s no trace of the energy web in this place.”

 
Hidden Light
I can’t find it, but I know that there’s energy here somewhere.

Then I reach below the floor, where the dim light is.
I stagger and almost fall over from the sudden onslaught of energy.

“Feel the energy under the light, Balshown.”

“That’s incredible,” he says.

I let my intention focus on the dim light, and then I release the glow that was given me by the Feldin.

The room almost explodes with energy, surging forth from the center of the room, like an inverted waterfall.
The energy spreads out as it reaches the top of the room, and rains down upon us.

Without effort, Balshown and I start drifting around the room, through the air, on the energy web that is suddenly there.

And then our energy bodies are sucked into the center of the room, down, and through the fountain.

I wonder how Balshown is, but I can’t manage to ask.
Wave after wave of energy is pouring through me.

With each wave, I feel a tremendous burst of color in the center of my heart.
I feel like I’m going to explode, but the energy keeps moving.

Eventually, the hard, pounding waves vanish, and my energy body rejoins my physical body.
I look for Balshown.

Our bodies rest on the floor of the large room, surrounding Berek.
The fountain of energy is still moving, but it’s more gentle.

Balshown is unconscious and he doesn’t look good.
His skin is a little gray, and he’s barely breathing.

He seems held by the floor, as Berek is.
I must do somethings soon, or they’re both dead.

I hear distant voices calling me from the energy world.
Perhaps they can help.

Only my fire body can travel to such a place.
I dissolve my physical and pattern bodies into a mist.

And I let the Feldin glow shine forth from the fire body.
One side of the egg-shaped body shines brightly, and I pass again through the floor.

The waves of energy begin again, but just move around me.
Now, I direct my glow below where I am, deeper into the source of the energy, and I feel myself falling.

 
The Living Web
My awareness is twisted and foggy.
Time has no measure, until my awareness clears.
Even then, my life as Yagrin seems far away.

I start to feel thoughts, images, sensations that aren’t mine.
And I feel them within me.

“Welcome.”
“What world is it from?”

There is a great chorus of thoughts and feelings bound together.

I ‘look’ around, and I see a great web of energy.
I let my awareness stream forth from me, to the far corners of this place.

There is only energy.

The living creatures here are all energy, and all connected in a web.
It feels like my awareness is continually jumping around the living energy web, from one place to another.
Every place is alive.

Everyone feels/hears/thinks each other’s thoughts.
They are the Seklu, the energy dancers.

It’s hard to shape a thought with so much noise, but I do.
I project an image of the artifact.

The others quiet down.
And I see memories of the Fiklow.

Like lights blinking on, one after another, I see a few hundred among billions, leave their bodies behind, and travel through a portal into this world of pure energy.
Cities rise and fall as the lights appear, and I know that the transformations took place over a long period of time.

The landscape of cities beneath the sea continues to change.
But there are no more new lights.

The Fiklow build machines that send out streams of energy to contact the energy world.

The Fiklow scientists want the power of that world.
They have no interest in giving up their forms.

Finally, the Fiklow succeed, but the contact disturbs the energy beings.
The Seklu can not relate to those who live closed lives, tied to an unchanging form, blind to the energy all around them.

The energy beings shape an energy shield.
The shield is full of complex energy waves that no signal can penetrate.

Huge amounts of energy move from that shield into the physical world.
With the right technology this stray energy can be harnessed.

Or used by an energy master to see visions of the future.

If someone is willing to give up her body, and accept formlessness, then she can penetrate the shield and join the Seklu.
As I have done.

They build an energy doorway that leads to the shield, and bind it to a physical object.
They tell the Fiklow that it is dangerous, and to keep the artifact away from fools.

The Fiklow hide it away from everyone, convinced that it is cursed.

I tell the energy beings what has happened with the artifact.
They have no interest in the physical world.
In a way, though, they seem amused.

 
Balance
“All who find us, must stay.”
“Some day you might become a balancer.”

“I have met a balancer,” I say, “and he gave me a gift.”
I share my memories of the balancer with them, and the rings of blue and gold.
As I do, they are all quiet.

Each of the Seklu has an egg shape, with a blue ball of energy that protrudes from the lower part of the egg.
That blue area has a tinge of gold.

My egg looks like theirs.

When I have finished sharing my memories, I see a vision.
I watch as one of the Seklu passes through a gateway into a strange place.
In that place are endless rings of energy, drifting, always apart.
Each of the blue and gold rings (torus) is a separate universe in a sea of possibility.

The energy creature expands and spreads energy tentacles that reach out into the sea of possibility, and keep the worlds from colliding.
A new balancer is born.

Time passes in my vision.
Then, I see the Balancer shrink its tentacles and its size, and return to the others.
Another being separates from the group and passes through the gateway to take its place as the balancer.

The vision ends.

“Two worlds are out of balance,” they say, “and can only be balanced from within.”
“That is why the balancer gave you a gift.”

“You must return to your world, to grow the balance again.”

I pass a message around the web.
I need to make a copy of the artifact.
They seem amused, but they show me how.

“What can I do,” I ask, “to help those who were damaged by their contact with the stray energy?”
The Seklu show me a pattern of energy, and I understand that those who are damaged, must must bathe in this pattern to survive.

What can I give the beings in return for their gifts?

I share with them memories of the Feldin, the Bizra, and the Kishla, and how each lives energy rich lives, even though they live in a physical world.

And I share my own memories of bridging both worlds, and of traveling.
They listen quietly.

“We have left all forms,” they say, “but forms are a part of creation.”
“It is joyful to see your world, where many live well at the edge of energy and form.”

I thank them for their help.
And I ask them, “How do I return to where I came from?”

They brighten a point on the web.
“There,” they say.

I wait until my shifting awareness returns to the energy egg which seems to be mine.
Then I move it toward the bright point on the web.

“Wait,” I hear.
“For now,” they say, “this one also belongs with you.”

Who?
“Berek,” comes the weak answer.

So we both move to the bright point on the web.
And my fire body rises up through the center of the room.

 
Those Who are Called
Berek is moaning, sweating and sore on the floor below me.
Balshown is motionless.

The room is empty of energy as it was before.
I have to get them out of this room, but I need a physical body.

I move to the transition room, and take the sort of physical bodies that the Gen wear for a time.
These bodies are far stronger than those of the Jiku.

I run back into the room and carry Balshown out.
Then I return for Berek.

Berek is just barely conscious, as I bring him to the transition room.
I light the pattern that the Felku showed me, within the fire bodies of Berek and Balshown.
Balshown’s color improves slightly, but he still looks like he’s dying.
Berek seems to be sleeping.

I fill their bodies with healing energy, not stopping to renew my own body, until I am barely conscious from the effort.
Berek wakes, but not Balshown.

I touch the outer doors, and they open.

Berek moves slowly out on his own.
I carry Balshown out, and then pass out.

When I wake up I see Shazira, Berek, Tzina, and Mayla.

“You’ve been in a healing chamber for a few hours,” says Mayla.
“You would have recovered without it, but not in time for your meeting with the Fiklow.”

“And where is Balshown?” I ask.
Mayla points to a clear chamber.
He’s floating.

“He’ll need a few days in the chamber, ” she says, “but he’ll be fine.”

“It’s an interesting form, Yagrin,” says Shazira, with that golden fur.
“But change back into your normal shape.

“What were you thinking, Berek?” I ask, after I complete the transformation.
“Why did you enter alone?”

“I don’t know ina,” he answers.
“I felt something calling me, and I couldn’t resist.”

“Why does it mean, Mayla?” I ask.

“There have been others like Berek,” she answers, “who felt an irresistible call from the fountain.”
“But in the past, none of these masters ever returned.”