EHYEH-ASHER-EHYEH (I AM THAT I AM): An Elena Duran/Corazon Negro
Vi Moreau (vmoreau@directvinternet.com)
Mon, 23 Sep 2002 23:31:50 -0400
Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh (I am that I am) 26/34
Julio Cesar divad72@prodigy.net.mx
Vi Moreau vmoreau@directvinternet.com
Inside the Dream, suddenly, Corazon Negro felt his soul being attacked. His
chest crashed in several places, and for a moment, he thought he saw blood
in it. He was at
once confused and in agony-and he understood why: outside the Dream, his
body was being attacked. He knew it.
He tried to focus his soul once more. He raised his arms to deflect the
bolts of energy from Lilitu. Initially, he was successful-the blackness
rebounded from his touch, harmlessly into the Dream around him. Soon,
though, the shocks came with such speed and power, they coursed over and
into him, and he could only shrink back, convulsed with pain, his knees
buckling, his powers ebbing away.
"Outside the Dream, your body is dying, child. And very soon, down here,
your soul will disappear too. This time, there is no going back," Lilitu's
shape menaced.
Soon Corazon Negro felt his substance begin to fade away, as if the energy
that held him together was dying inside the Dream under the continuing
assault of Lilitu's blackness. Tormented beyond reason, overcome of a
weakness that drained his very essence, he hoped for nothing more than to
submit to the nothingness toward which he was drifting.
Lilitu's shape smiled at the enfeebled Dreamer. "Bastard!" she rasped at
him. "Now do you understand? I am the new Goddess; I am the beginning and
the end! You will pay the full price for your lack of understanding!"
She laughed maniacally; and although it would not have seemed possible to
Corazon Negro, the outpouring of black energy from Lilitu's eyes actually
increased in intensity. The sound screamed through the Dream, the murderous
blackness of her power was overwhelming. Corazon Negro's soul slowed,
wilted, and finally crumpled under the hideous power of Lilitu's psyche. He
stopped moving altogether. At last, he appeared totally lifeless. A last
thought invaded his mind. "Curi-Rayen," he whispered.
Lilitu's shape hissed maliciously. "It is useless..."
Corazon Negro had shrunk into himself, awaiting his inevitable doom. But
suddenly something sprang to life inside him, something good, something
bright. His other side; the part of his soul that was not darkness, not
evil. He felt a power behind him and heard a deep sigh.
And then, in his darkest, most despairing moment he saw her, shining like
the snow on the mountains, dressed in a soft skin robe, a trarilonco-a
leather cord around her head-with white feathers in her hair, a trariwe
around her waist-a wide beaded belt worn by Mapuche women-and intricate
golden chains around her neck, her ankles and her wrists. The figure moved
directly toward him with the grace of the deer. The Dream shone around her
feet with each step. Her face was calm and beautiful, with gray eyes-no eye
patch here in the Dream-like those of a wolf and skin the color of
alabaster. Tall for a woman, her black hair hung to her hips.
She touched his face gently, caressing him... her fingers were trembling as
much as his tremulous soul ... and her beautiful eyes, both of them, filled
with tears. "Finally I know, my love! Now I understand! One soul and one
heart, until the end of time!"
"Curi-Rayen," Corazon Negro whispered.
"You are nothing, whore!" Lilitu screamed at Elena. "You should not have
come! You'll die with him!"
Elena raised her eyes. "Now I know...the greatest power on this earth...
comes from the eternal love of what was sundered and undone, of what shall
be whole, the two made one again. These numbers matter. This is the way to
destroy the ancient enemy. This is the way to cast you out of the Dream,
Lilitu."
Elena turned, and gently kissed Corazon Negro. As soon as they touched,
their souls blazed, burning the Dream around them. Then, Lilitu watched as
Elena and Corazon Negro's souls melted into a single luminous being. They
grew taller, an everlasting being, dressed with the light of the stars.
"This is our Dream," the Elena-Corazon Negro living being said. "And here is
our signal, like the fire from the sun, where the divine bonfire is, here
inside our soul."
"No!!! You cannot!!! I am the tolling of the judgment day!!!" Lilitu's soul
screamed as she attacked with her blackness again. However, the energy
dissipated before it even reached the luminous being that was Elena and
Corazon Negro.
The Elena-Corazon Negro creature continued its prayer in the Mapuche
language. "Femkefui tain kuitikeceyem, gijatun dugu eli ta Cau, kicuke ni
kimvn, kicuke ni feyentun, vill ni piuque meu manumeimi, vill antu mo Cai
manumaeimi ta mi cume duam-This is the way our ancestors did it, this is
God's command, this is our wisdom, this is our belief, and with all out
heart we thank the Gods every day for their will."
The sound of great blows of thunder interrupted Lilitu's essence's
arguments. A strange wind that came from nowhere invaded the Dream. "This is
the realm of our Dream, our Lord almighty. We are the Dreamer, we are the
Dancer of Time, together as just one being made of love and honor, with love
as our sign; we follow the path of God. And He will bring peace; there will
be no more anger, and death will be a thing of the past."
Lilitu's gaze was fire. "You upstart children! You cannot defeat me. I am
the eternal night!!! I am Lilitu!!! I have always existed!!! I am the mother
of all!!! I am forever!!! Do you hear me??? I am all your fears come true!!!
I am your absent father and your eternal mother, your precious love; even
your teacher!!! I am your master!!! You are mine now, and I am forever!!! I
am that I am!!!" She shuddered right on top of then-but she couldn't touch
the Elena-Corazon Negro being. Not anymore.
"It is time for you to go, Lilitu," the Elena-Corazon Negro creature said
pointing a bright finger toward her. "Leave this place at once, never to
return!" Disembodied voices rose from the shadows; indistinct, muffled
screams overlapped each other. The moaning souls of hundred of individuals
invaded the Dream.
"NO!!!" Lilitu screamed once more as her soul began to fade away.
"Surrender, Lilitu! Leave this world or you will suffer a worse punishment
than even you can dream up," the Elena-Corazon Negro being said once more.
The Darkness surrounding Lilitu's psyche froze as the light illuminated the
environment. The dark shapes quickly disappeared away from the light and the
fury of the whirlwind. Furious, Lilitu tried to move. But she could not.
Lilitu's soul was forced back, her eyes and mouth spitting hatred. "You
delude yourselves, children. You have not won today... as you will one day
learn... you have lost!!!" she yelled as she abandoned the Dream in the form
of a huge black fireball, which flew away, crashing against the remaining
shadows, howling like a demon out of hell.
The Elena-Corazon Negro being's gaze narrowed as Lilitu left. Then, their
single mouth ordered again, "Close your gate, Dream! Close it now!"
========
At the barn...
Connor MacLeod raised his head from the ground and spit out dirt. He felt
drained, lost, and hurt. He'd thought taking the Kurgan's Quickening had
been bad, but the Kurgan had merely been strong. This woman, Livia, was
evil, and he felt her power course through him like poison in his blood. He
closed his eyes and took long, gasping breaths, as though he'd been running
a long distance, while he struggled to push Livia's soul deep, where it
would not affect him, try to overcome him.
Duncan MacLeod sat up, cursing in Gaelic. In spite of all his efforts, all
the mortals he'd shot, the bastards had gotten past him-fired from above,
actually-and shot Corazon Negro. He hadn't been able to stop them; he'd
failed, they'd all-- He heard Elena crooning softly nearby and thought,
damn, she's mourning him. But she wasn't. Because when he turned to look he
saw that Corazon Negro was alive, and out of his trance. If he was alive,
then they had to have won. Hadn't they?
When Corazon Negro came back to consciousness, his head was resting on
Elena's lap. They were both sprawled on the ground and she was stroking his
brow. Quetzalcohuatl's mask lay to one side.
"Are you all right?" she asked softly, sinking her gray eye into his
leopard's gaze.
"Yes, my love," he said, almost whispering. "Are you unhurt?"
Elena blinked, then smiled. "I-I think so."
A shadow blocked the starlight as Duncan stood over them. "Is it over?" the
Scot asked.
Corazon Negro smiled up at her. "Lilitu is out of the Dream."
"She is? Does that mean-"
"We did it, brother." Corazon Negro interrupted. Then to Elena he said,
"Thank you for your help."
"I'd do anything for you, husband," Elena said kissing him deeply.
Then they both looked at the statues of the Gods, lying like broken dolls on
the tables.
"Is it finally over?" whispered Elena.
Corazon Negro shook his head as Duncan helped Elena, then him, to his feet.
He felt dizzy, weak, but elated. But it wasn't over. "No. Our part of the
fight is over-Lilitu won't have time to send anyone else. Now all depends on
Zarach and the others. They still have to kill Lilitu's physical body.
Behead her. Only then it will be over." As he said these words, he saw out
of the corner of his eye Connor MacLeod, climbing out through the secret
passage, then nothing more as the blackness overtook him.
Elena nodded, supporting him on his way down, then caressed his forehead as
he faded away. "Be safe, my love. We won't let anything happen to you."
Connor came closer and looked at the couple on the floor. "Will he be all
right?"
"Yes," she answered. "Thanks to the two of you."
"It was a team effort," Duncan said, shaking his head. "And for a while
there, I thought we'd lost."
"But we didn't," Connor said, but his voice shook, and Duncan studied him
for a long moment.
"What happened out there, Connor? You look ..."
"Bad Quickening," the elder Highlander said, shaking his head. "Ask Elena."
Elena merely smiled, and Duncan opened his mouth to ask, but Connor
interrupted him. "Enough about us. I hope the others can kill Lilitu. She'll
be well protected."
Elena shrugged, as Connor looked her over. "He wanted you in the Dream. With
him. Were you there?"
"Yes, and I can tell you about it. A little, anyway," Elena answered.
"Good." Connor looked around. "If he can't walk, we'll put him in that
wheelbarrow and bring him back to the cabin. I could use a drink."
"Scotch, of course," Elena said.
Connor smiled. "Of course."
========
THE ENDGAME
"And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven,
saying Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power,
unto the Lord our God,
for true and righteous are his judgments, for He hath judged
the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication,
and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand."
Revelations 19:1,2
The Revelation of John
Island of Nod
Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean
March 30, 2013
Inside the cave, the tangle of lines drew suddenly into a sharp focus. With
a cry of denial, Lilitu shrank back from both the realization and the figure
before her-the image that was not a Goddess-was never her soul. But rather
herself.
Angrily she kicked away from the Dream, twisting, calling the Moon's name
over and over again. Already she feared it was too late. Millennia of
rationalization and self-deceit unraveled. The new Goddess found herself
grasping desperately at the retreat of what she'd considered her unlimited
power.
The Dreamer had cast her out of her reign!
She plunged deeper into the dark well of madness, seeking the comforting
sands of oblivion in its depths. Lilitu knelt at the very bottom of that
well, frantically sifting through fistfuls of the sands of forgetfulness,
seeking to unearth some shard of memory that had escaped the ravages of
time. Some proof. Some vindication.
She tried to dredge up the day she became Immortal-a day that had changed
her life irrevocably. The day that she had first awakened to her own magical
nature. Nothing.
She tried to conjure up the images of those last tense hours before her
first death, before she herself died and was reborn into the sacred society
of Immortals. Only more unraveling threads appeared. Nothing Lilitu could
get a grip of.
Already, some sense of the monstrous truth loomed over her, but she would
not turn to face it. A birth that was no birth but her own. A death that was
no death but her own. A child that was no true child, but the awakened flame
of her own magical self, her alter ego, her avatar. That mystic part of
herself that was so brutally snuffed out in her transformation. Ground out
beneath the heel of the oblivion, the God-slayer.
In those final moments, staring directly into the deepest recesses of that
shining well, that brilliant hole between the worlds, Lilitu had the most
peculiar impression. She thought, if only for an instant, that the entire
world she knew-a world unambiguously bounded by somber crypts and chantry
walls, by power and hierarchies, by ritual formulae and an unbroken line of
victims, their eyes bright and round as saucers-that her carefully ordered
world was only a sad, tattered sort of pasteboard backdrop. That only the
thinnest and most hastily constructed veneer protected the inhabitants of
this world from the ravenous scrutiny of the divine.
The last thing she heard before the Dream closed forever for her was the
Dreamer's voice, purring quietly, monstrously to her. "It is time for you to
go, Lilitu. Leave the Dream, for all eternity."
She opened her eyes to see the Dream being closed to her, forever. She
frowned and then howled with rage. The red gaze clouded her mind for an
instant. She was Lilitu. She was the new Goddess. She was what she was!
But then she recovered her focus. Not everything was lost. She was still
Lilitu. Her body was still the vessel of unlimited power. Even defeated in
the spiritual realm, she was still a new Goddess, more powerful than any
member of the Ancient Gathering.
A chill invaded her soul. Now she could feel them, coming toward her. The
Ancient Gathering approached the island like a meteor of vengeance.
Without the Dream to escape into, she would have to fight.
========
Torquemada glided across the chamber, advancing precisely three-foot lengths
into the room. He stopped, pivoted smoothly to the north. His body inclined
forward at the waist, bowing in the direction of his church in Spain. His
very gesture was an exact replica from an ancient and intricately
choreographed ritual.
Cartiphilus was seated on the floor at the far side of the room. He faced
the open doorway. He had certainly noted Torquemada's approach, but he made
no motion, to rise, or even to acknowledge the newcomer.
After a moment, the former Centurion looked hard into the face of the
Inquisitor. Cartiphilus knew Torquemada aspired to take Lilitu's place. But
he was not even one step closer to fulfilling that aspiration. With the
Ancient Gathering coming, it was foolishness to think of anything else but
survival.
Vlad had failed. Rasputin had failed. Most likely, Livia and Caligula had
failed too; otherwise, news of the Dreamer's death would have arrived by
now. Cartiphilus' job was to make sure he survived long enough to get the
chance to battle the Ancient Gathering. He was not accustomed to being in
the company of failed men.
Cartiphilus gaze grew hard. "Yes?"
"Your pardon, Cartiphilus," Torquemada said advancing toward him. For a
moment, he seemed to hesitate. "What is your plan?" he finished awkwardly.
"To survive," Cartiphilus' patience was beginning to wear. "The troops are
in formation."
"I wonder if the troops would make any difference against the Ancient
Gathering. The battle in New York lasted just a minute-" Torquemada said.
"This is not New York, Inquisitor," Cartiphilus interrupted him. "New
equipment has arrived to help our boys; helmets with a heads-up display,
with the ability to display video and thermal imaging, maps and other
tactical data. Squad-Automatic-Weapons up to 35% lighter than the
Pulse-Rifles Vlad used in the UN. Chameleon camouflage." The former
Centurion shrugged, and then continued. "Medical monitors that show body
temperature, hydration, sleep status, and more. The uniforms repel water,
breathe and protect against NBC agents. An air-conditioning system that
would be good from 0-120 degrees Fahrenheit. This time, the Ancient
Gathering is about to meet their match."
"Yes but-" Torquemada's voice faltered.
"Do you want to escape?" Cartiphilus asked patiently.
"Surely you realize." Torquemada began, but broke off midsentence.
"Oh, I see."
The tone of this last pronouncement carried a far greater threat that the
words themselves. "What is it that you see, Cartiphilus?"
"This is not treachery after all, is it? It is your loyalty. Your loyalty to
Mother. Yes, I had things quite backwards. Thank you for pointing out my
error. This put things under a very different light."
"But without the other Headless Children." Torquemada let that thought hang
too.
A slight smile stole over Cartiphilus' features before he could suppress it.
"Let the dead rest, Torquemada. You would do well to look to the safety of
your soul."
"Beyond this island," Torquemada said, "lies enemy territory. Surely you
realize what is at stake here."
Cartiphilus stood. "We can hold the Ancient Gathering at bay. We will hold
them at bay. But we will do it the right way. We will not embroil other
powers-Lilitu's powers-in our struggle."
"What?"
"Lilitu lost most of her powers. Somehow, the Dreamer cast her away from the
Dream. Do not ask me how I know this, I just know. Mother is still powerful,
but not as before. This time, it's up to us to make the last stand."
Cartiphilus put a hand on Torquemada's shoulder and steered him toward the
doorway. "You look weary. Go. Pray. Get some nourishment for your soul."
As Cartiphilus closed the chamber door behind, he whispered. "Cocksucker."
========