In The Valley of Shadows: Chapter Seventy – One
Inanna was ready to learn.
They began their journey, on foot, three hours before the sun rose. When
they reached ritual complex the sun was still low in the eastern sky but could
not be seen as the dense fog and misty weather used hues of whites, greens, and
yellows to paint the landscape with blurry images.
The length and breadth of the British Isles had been built with the
power of arcane magic which is the very reason Abigail brought Inanna here, to
the Avebury stones.
As a descent of the heathens that once ruled this land Abigail was
genetically connected to the ancient pagan powers beneath her feet and the
energy being emitted from the ground on which they now stood charged the air
around them like an electrical storm and the young Obeah drew the power toward
her as if she were a lightning rod. Inanna wasn’t the only one being drenched
in the endowment the ancestors.
The Guardian unbuckled the baby carrier and set Assyrian down near a
large stone forming the outer circle next to his brother. Immediately, his
attention was drawn to a cobweb saturated with heavy drops of drew, under the
weight of the morning mist some of the glistening strands fell free of the
formation and swayed gently in soft aurorean breeze. The rest of the web
collapsed when Assyrian touched it. With the power of thought and his
interpretation of geometry Adam reconstructed the elaborate orb structure made
of silk. The web was quickly forgotten as Assyrian became distracted by the
lazy flight of the bumble bee; today he was going to learn the natural
consequences of petting bees. As his fist closed around the honey-making insect
he was stung. The only reason the entire bee population wasn’t wiped off both
the northern and southern hemisphere was because Inanna had become hyper aware
of the twins’ raw abilities, the missing flight from their flight or fight
response, and the potential devastation resulting from their knee jerk
retaliations.
The rough, undressed sarsen stones that made up the ritual complex that
they had travelled so far to reach is the largest stone circle in the world and
the grandest ceremonial site in Britain.
These megalithic rings were the source of great mystic powers and hours
passed as Inanna received the unspoken instructions from the immortal witch,
finally left alone the young African priestess roamed the grounds of the
massive ceremonial stones reviewing notes from the lessons just learned and
shifting through the latent but powerful energy still contained within the ring
and, not surprisingly, she chose to acquire the malevolent powers of nature and
in response to her call a gentle breeze, barely noticeable, began to wrap
itself around the great ring.
When the quartet gathered the children and walked away the soft whisper
of wind went with them.
Being in the center of hundreds of prehistoric sites spreading for miles
in all directions was energizing for both Abigail and Inanna, however the long
journey on foot carrying children who were also being feed by the energy left
by the elders was beginning to take its toll, especially since it seemed that
the boys were getting stronger by the minute and wielding powers years beyond
their natural development of forethought and impulse control..
The abbey was nearly two hours to the north yet the ringing of the cast
iron bells could clearly be heard over the backdrop of the splattering rain and
the roar of the vehicles that zipped by on the A road and it was their chiming
that roused Logan from sleep. It had taken them a day and a half to get here,
they still had a ways to go and Logan was exhausted.
While some believed that the stakes at Woodhenge were just the remains
of an ancient farmer’s fence being encased by the Durrington Walls which was
already a permanent structure when Stonehenge was being built Inanna and anyone
else who knew better understood that the complex timber structure was much more
significant than that.
After spending the several hours among the ruins of wood they headed
east to the Neolithic monument that lay 980 yards away.
The swirling winds never left the perimeter of the Obeah and as
Stonehenge grew larger by their approach the soft blowing of the wind became
stronger and coiled tighter. Logan put her baby down to sweep her hair into a
bun to keep it out of her face. The flat landscape around them shimmered and
flew away as the dense forest that once was … was once again.
The walkway circling the stones and the people being herded along it
faded from view as the ancient stones seemed to grow before their eyes. The
wind became stronger and coiled tighter. Mighty oaks replaced the busy highway
and then began swaying in submission to the forces of nature.
From between two stones two smaller dust devils began to spin. Both Logan
and The Guardian stopped walking and put the children down. As the twin swirls
of wind began moving toward them as if footsteps The Guardian drew her weapon
and stepped forward. The shadowy forms at the base of the dust devils began to
take shape: feet, legs, thighs. The wind became stronger and coiled tighter. Inanna
quickened her pace and marched forward with determination, her Guardian marched
at her side.
The twin dusters moving away from the giant slabs spiraled up and fused
together, forming hands, arms, and chest as the legs on the spoondrift figure
became solid. Seized by the storm Inanna’s long, thick, kinky hair began to
spin until it was in synch with the howling wind circling above her.
The debris
ripped from the earth fed the approaching duster: shoulders, neck and head.
Like the tip of a finger, the whirling column of the cloud extended downward to
tangle itself within the whirling strains of the obeah’s hair. Inanna became the
axis of a tornado and the approaching figure formed of the dust of the ground opened
his eyes and smiled while the dirt spinning around him covered his nudeness
with leather.
The smallest particles of dust caught within the wrath of the wind
ignited, burst into sparks, cooled as flakes of iron and cloaked the wizard in
mail and armor. As if drawn to a lodestone, large flecks of ferrous infused
loam swirled around the outstretched hands of the one approaching until he held
his staff in one hand and a sword in the other. His long atramentous hair and
dark red cape whipped and whirled in the wild wind and his angry bluish-purple
eyes spun like the air around him.
He said only one word as he looked down and smiled upon Inanna.
“Bana-phrionnsa.”
As the screaming tempest of his pupil quieted the storm behind Myrddin
grew. The black rolling clouds that smothered the ground sounded like thunder, however
the clamor had nothing to do with the weather … it was the announcement of war
steeds. All the horse were as black as the wizard’s hair and clad in blazing
red barding with champron’s made of gold.
When the mist dissipated and the dust settled flurries began to fall
upon the army was assembled behind Myrddin the Deadly and the only thing that
stood between them and the Southern Lands of Cerhwor was a three days ride.
A storm indeed was coming. And that storm was Inanna.
***
One of the most amazing things about being a writer is stumbling upon
another artist who has not been influenced by your work but had the exact same
idea as you did but expressed it in an entirely different way. I belong to a
group on Facebook called The State of Black Science Fiction and I swear when I
saw this posted, even though I believe this is Storm, I got dizzy, because this
is exactly how I imagined her hair, the swirling wind, her power.
The artist who created this amazing piece of work is a creator named
Jason Reeves. His
portfolio can be viewed here:
The Stonehenge image was painted by John Constable on canvas in 1826
Pretty cool uh? Have a good day guys! ttyl
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