Yet, on the third ring of grace, collaboration took place in the arts, sciences, and all manner of creative inspiration that uplifted humankind through beauty, not twisted ugliness. On level five below, raw, primal, murderous aggression lived in the were-demon realms, but above within the fifth ring, the Akashic wisdom and knowledge protectors resided in a place that garnered temperance created from integrated understanding.
Tears made her sniff as she became overwhelmed at the depth of truth within it all. The vampires she'd hunted from the dreaded level six were the shrewdest of all, hardest to kill, fiercest combatants because they possessed all the attributes of the levels of Darkness. It was only fitting that their cosmic match would be warrior angels-huge, strong, bulked entities with glowing silver eyes, those powerful enough to withstand the furnace blasts unafraid, with the ability to manifest, carry messages, and draw a blade, if necessary, to defend a righteous cause. Oddly, both protected their territories with vigilance. The concept gave her pause until she remembered,as above, so below .
It all made so much sense.
"And you were saying I had no reason to worry," Rider muttered, standing slowly with the others, his hands raised above his head as Ethiopian police trudged toward them with guns readied.
The officers motioned with their guns and shouted commands that the teams could not understand.
Father Patrick and Father Lopez slowly pointed to their dirty clerical collars and the crosses they wore, producing instant understanding. Guns were lowered, and the head of the militia stepped forward.
"Foreigners are not allowed to roam freely in the North Country," the officer said, agitated. "A plane went down nearby due to terrorists, and we are still experiencing rebel skirmishes. It is dangerous in the region for unescorted missionaries." He shook his head and stepped forward. "You have papers?"
Dan nodded and motioned toward his bag. "Yes, sir. But two of our members were on board the plane that went down," he added, covering quickly as the officer snatched up his backpack. "That's the only reason we're here."
Rider and the others gave Dan an approving glance.
"You should have gone to us-the authorities. Where are you headed?"
All eyes were on Dan and the officer as his fellow officers cocked their machine guns skyward.
"Uh, Sudan?" Dan said, unsure, glancing at his teammates.
Marlene nodded, but didn't speak, knowing a woman's voice was not going to inspire positive action. Shabazz stepped forward slowly with his hands still clasped to the top of his head.
"If you check the papers, we lost a man and a woman in the crash... and we wanted to search for them before we crossed the border."
"Not possible," the officer snapped at Shabazz and began rummaging in Dan's sack. "Travel to Sudan is very dangerous on the roads. There are war zones, you are aware? Also armed bandits along the way, driven by starvation." He clicked his tongue with open annoyance. "Foolish Americans. Look around. Do you not watch the news? Ethiopia, Eritrea, Egypt, and the Red Sea are Sudan's borders, as is Libya, Chad, Zaire, Uganda, Kenya-fighting everywhere, armed militias beyond all major cities." He waved his arms about. "Especially along our border and Eritrea and Sudan's frontier-so we would be irresponsible to just point you to a road and say, 'Go!' No!"
"Thanks for the heads up, brother," Big Mike said, his low, confident voice soothing the agitated official. "Then, can you give us a best way to get back to a safe zone?"
"We will take you to the airport in Addis Ababa, from there you can fly to Khartoum and check back daily to see if your family's remains have been recovered. I will give you a number; however, we cannot have civilians interfering with police matters or creating a possible embassy issue-since you are Americans."
But as the officer continued his inspection of Dan's backpack, glaring at each team member to accurately match a face with a photo, when he took out Damali's passport, his gaze softened as he stared at her picture. "This was the star from the music," he said, awe covering his face and coating his tone as he rushed toward his men. "Look, look, a very important person has been lost over our land. This is tragic!"
"May Allah be with her," Imam Asula said, through the din of African voices.
The officer looked up at Imam Asula. "I am sorry for your loss, brother. I am Muslim, too, and we revere our fallen." He motioned toward his fellow officers. "Some are Christian with us, as well. We will say prayers, but it is doubtful your people have made it, given the severity of the crash." He sighed and put the safety back on his weapon, tossing Dan his backpack. He stared at Marlene. "The woman who has tears-this was your daughter?"
Marlene simply nodded and looked down.
"See the waters coming together in your mind," the old teacher said as he instructed Carlos before the rushing grandeur of the Blue Nile Falls. "Use the might of Tis Isat and close the cloak about you as though a coat over your shoulders. Imagine yourself somewhere high and safe, using the energy of a river so mighty that it flows from south to north."
Carlos gazed across the four-hundred-meter expanse of rushing water that dropped into an impressive fifty-meter chasm below. His teacher smiled and nodded. Carlos did the math-four plus five, the number nine, like his birthday came out to. The old boys wasn't no joke when it came to breaking the universe down into mathematics. He summoned courage while looking at the continuous spray of rainbow-hued water that created a mist that hovered above it like a ghost to render its name, Tis Isat, the elders had said-smoke of fire.
Still unsure, he tried to take comfort in the comparison as he readied himself for the first real challenge they'd levied. Indeed he'd been through the fire, now it was time to try illusion in the colored bands of sunlight and rise like smoke above what had once burned him. If water could cast the illusion of being a smoking fire, then he could break through the illusion of time and space and go to where the Blue and White Nile met. Yeah right. God was deep; he was just a spec of dust in comparison. Even to his own mind their logic seemed flawed, especially while watching an extreme force of nature thunder around him.
"Are you sure he should go unescorted... so far?" one of the younger teachers asked, glancing around the small gathering of men.
"We have conferred, yet have not taught him all that we must. He should, perhaps, stay with us for the three cycles of seven," the third teacher offered with uncertainty.
The eldest shook his head. "No. I have had a vision of him at the nexus of the rivers,alone . What he must learn to gain in his arsenal cannot be taught or given, but experienced, then he will own the knowing of it." He sighed. "It is the ancient site of Nubia, the genesis location of our male Neterus-from the water, he will merge his disconnected halves, and then go to the desert, six hours, to see the Al-Ahram, the ancient royal city with great pyramids of Meroe. Learn this history, the peoples of Kush, and of the independent Christian kingdoms. That land, Sudan, was also invaded by tiny countries, conquered because they fought within themselves and could not stand united against invaders... British, French, that spawned wars with Muslims in the name of Christ that created bloodshed and famines and genocides in the millions up to present days-but the connection to Addis Ababa was briefly forged that stopped civil war for a time."
The elder teacher opened both palms and then clasped them, symbolically bringing them into a single fist. "This Neteru must bring together many sides. Indigenous plus Christian and Muslim, Nubian and European-all as one. It starts with quenching your thirst for knowledge at the joining of the two Niles, and then you must forge the desert to seek more knowledge."
"What if I wind up drowning?" Carlos said, growing wary. "My landings haven't been exactly on-point so far... maybe I need to practice a few more times?"
"If you drown, you drown. So be it," the eldest said with a wide smile. "There are no accidents within the universe."