Rhuna- New Horizons Read online

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  Rhuna: New Horizons

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  Copyright © 2017 Barbara Underwood

  Barbara Underwood asserts the moral rights to be identified as the author of this work.

  While some of the events are based loosely on historical incidents, this novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters, businesses, organisations and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination, or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the author.

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  Table of Contents

  Rhuna: New Horizons

  About the Author

  More Books by the Author

  Dedicated to my mother

  The Story so far…

  Rhuna’s unhappy childhood on the small and isolated island of Chinza came to a dramatic end when she met a man from the fabled land of Atlán who recognized her Atlan heritage. She had grown up without a father, mocked by her mother’s brown-skinned people for being pale-skinned and strange. Now, this mysterious man from Atlán answered all the questions that had plagued her, and told her about the special abilities unique to the Atlan people.

  He showed Rhuna how Atlans can transform elements, such as sand to stone and metal to gold by the power of their minds, and then demonstrated the summoning of visions by means of the Gazing of the Waters. But the native people of Chinza harboured great fear and hatred of the pale Atlans with uncanny powers, and before long, Rhuna was forced to flee for her life.

  Tozar, the man from Atlán, took her away from the island one climactic night, bringing her to safety on an island where Atlan ways were accepted, and where she attended an Atlan school. Rhuna spent her adolescence on this tropical island of Medíz, taking in the wealth of Atlan knowledge and developing her inherent Atlan powers. When she matured to adulthood, she journeyed to the greatly anticipated land of Atlán where Tozar awaited her.

  In the majestic capital city of Atlán, Rhuna found happiness as Tozar’s wife, and continued her studies to become an Atlan Master. She regularly attended the meetings at the High Council building where Tozar was a member of the governing body, and where citizens brought their problems to be discussed and solved.

  Rhuna’s idyllic life was marred only by the return of an infamous and dreaded former Atlan Master who misused his Atlan powers, causing fear and suffering for many across the entire Atlan Empire. Exchanging his traditionally white Atlan Master’s Robe for a black one to express his defiance and opposition to Atlan principles, he became known as The Dark Master.

  During her studies, it became apparent that Rhuna’s powers transcended those of even the most skilled Atlan Masters, especially with regard to summoning visions. At first without intention, Rhuna received mental visions of the Dark Master’s activities which other Atlan Masters were unable to summon by means of the Gazing of the Waters. Her special skills were needed to entrap the Dark Master and end his reign of terror among the citizens of Atlán.

  Although the Dark Master died inside an inescapable pyramid, he threatened to return in some way. Many years later, when Rhuna and Tozar have a teenage daughter named Lozira, strange events in the faraway Atlan colony of Safu remind them of the Dark Master. The reports heard by the High Council of Atlán, of which Rhuna had also become a member alongside Tozar, prompted Rhuna to volunteer for a special assignment. Leaving Tozar behind, she journeyed to Safu with Lozira, expecting a pleasant cultural and recreational experience while attending to formalities on behalf of the High Council of Atlán.

  Rhuna quickly discovered that the Dark Master had many followers who operated in secrecy, even avoiding detection by the Gazing of the Waters in certain cases. A second group of Atlans called ‘The Observers’ also worked in secret to spy on the Dark One’s followers in an attempt to thwart their plans. One of The Observers called Aradin approaches Rhuna to reveal everything to her, thereby drawing her into a complicated web of secrets.

  Rhuna’s plight over keeping The Observers’ secrets by not reporting her findings accurately to Tozar and the High Council of Atlán was complicated further when she fell in love with Aradin. Enduring deep anguish over this personal matter, she nevertheless continued to find ways to stop the Dark Master’s followers from harming the most vulnerable people of Safu. Using her Atlan powers, she also helped these poor people in practical ways, while working secretly with The Observers.

  In a secret chamber of a pyramid, Rhuna becomes charged with extra cosmic energy, making her Atlan powers grow tenfold, and completely beyond her control at first. This leads to the unintentional killing of one of the Dark One’s followers who led a double life as an upstanding citizen. Tozar and the High Council of Atlán, lacking information and revealing visions of events in Safu, are forced to believe that Rhuna has lost her mind and must come home.

  As dramatic events unravel, Rhuna sends her daughter home to Atlán while she remains in Safu with Aradin. The Dark One’s followers were defeated, and Rhuna began a new life in a beautiful home in Safu. Her happiness was twofold when she and Aradin had a child, and then when Rhuna received a visit from her father who she had believed was killed by the Dark Master after he met her mother on the island of Chinza.

  Her father, Damell, taught her how to control her new powers, as well as how to project onto the Astral Plane to acquire knowledge by means other than mental visions and the Gazing of the Waters. During this time of apparent peace and happiness, Lozira runs away from Tozar and embarks on the long journey to Safu by herself.

  Although Rhuna was delighted to see her grown daughter again, her happiness was marred by The Observers’ discovery of new activity by more followers of the Dark Master. Black Magic curses causing accidents and illness plagued the population of Safu as well as merchants from the neighbouring land of Ubanti. The Ubanti know about the special powers of the Atlans, and despite Rhuna’s meeting with the Queen of Ubanti, the Atlans of Safu are unable to convince their neighbours of their innocence.

  With her father’s help, Rhuna investigated the activities of the new group of Dark Ones, observing them from the Astral Plane. She discovered that the leader of the Dark Master’s followers was a man she knew in Atlán who had strayed from Atlan principles, and was leading a double life as an Atlan citizen in Safu. While working with The Observers and her father to stop this new wave of Black Magic afflicting innocent people, Rhuna is unaware that Lozira had met Goram, the leader of the Dark Ones, and fallen in love with him.

  When Rhuna finally found out about her daughter’s involvement with Goram, it was too late to change Lozira’s mind, and not even the revelation of Goram’s true secret identity could stop her love. Despite being the leader of the Dark Ones, Rhuna silently concludes that Goram is not thoroughly bad, and appeals to him personally to end his affair with Lozira.

  Tozar, still in Atlán, also observed Lozira’s affair with Goram by means of the Gazing of the Waters, and in desperation arranged for assassins to kill Goram. Rhuna arrived in time to save his life with her special power, but Lozira was deeply traumatized by the event.

  Distracted by these concerns over her daughter, Rhuna and her family and friends were taken by surprise when the
Ubanti Army invaded Safu to kill the Atlans whom they held responsible for the Black Magic curses on their people.

  Rhuna fled Safu along with hundreds of other Atlans, wandering through the wilderness with the Ubanti Army in pursuit. Goram saved them all from the Army with his Black Magic powers, but he was not welcome to join the Atlans in another Atlan colony. The only destination left to him was the faraway former Atlan colony of Varappa, and as Lozira was determined to go with him, Rhuna and her family, along with a few former followers of the Dark One, embarked on the long sea voyage.

  Part One

  (The Commander)

  Rhuna let the salty wind whip her hair around her face as she stepped up to the ship’s railing and looked out across the sea. She looked back at the receding shore where she had spent the past lunar cycle in a primitive campsite waiting to be rescued and taken to a strange new land. She felt the tall ship glide smoothly on the calm water, and as she put her hands on the rail, she noticed how hard and solid it felt.

  Since boarding the unusual wooden vessel, Rhuna’s turbulent emotions continually swayed from ecstatic relief to forlorn hopelessness as she remembered the events that culminated in her people’s forced exile into the wilderness. She turned her head into the gentle oncoming wind, and thought she could smell the new land already. Her thoughts reeled as her senses became overloaded with new sights, sounds and smells.

  “Big sea!” Shandi exclaimed as she pointed at the blue horizon in the direction the ship was taking them. Rhuna looked at the chubby face of her small daughter who had been wrapped snugly to her side with a swaddling cloth as she carried her meagre belongings on board.

  “Yes, Honey Cakes, a big sea,” Rhuna replied absently, stroking the little girl’s hair. She thought about the long sea voyage to Varappa, and then the haunting words spoken by Shandi earlier that morning once again sent a chill through her body.

  “What did you mean when you said ‘dead man’?” she asked her young daughter, already knowing that she did not yet possess the vocabulary to give a proper answer.

  Shandi’s head swiveled around until she saw Voyager of the Ocean on the opposite side of the deck, giving directions to his crew as they lowered the last sacks of supplies down a trapdoor.

  “Dead man,” she repeated in a normal and level tone as she pointed to the man who led the flotilla of ships that had traversed the seas for two lunar cycles to rescue the exiled group of Atlans.

  Shandi’s big brown eyes suddenly lit up as she looked behind Rhuna.

  “Din-Din!” she squealed with delight, reaching out to her father with both arms. Rhuna quickly disentangled the child from the makeshift sling on her hip so that she could be held by Aradin.

  “I have to tell you about Shandi’s latest vision…or whatever it is…” Rhuna mumbled softly as she handed their daughter over to Aradin. She waited for him to make the usual funny sounds and facial expressions to make Shandi giggle, and when they had settled into a comfortable embrace, Rhuna began to tell her husband what Shandi had said.

  “She definitely meant him? Voyager of the Ocean?” Aradin asked puzzled. “But we still don’t know what it means,” he said as his brow creased with the effort to understand his daughter’s ability to foresee future events.

  “It could be more of an insight, rather than foreseeing the future,” Rhuna offered hopefully, repeating her father’s observation. Aradin nodded and then sighed deeply, squeezing Shandi and then kissing her forehead.

  “We have a long voyage together on this ship ahead of us,” Aradin said, gazing across to the far horizon. “We’ll figure it out sooner or later.”

  Rhuna nodded in silent agreement and then let out a heaving sigh.

  “I should be happy that we’ve been rescued, that we’re all safe and well.” Rhuna looked around her at the ship’s heavy wooden masts, deck planks and railings. “I’ve never seen a ship like this before, and if Varappa is also very different,” she wavered and looked at Aradin for reassurance.

  “Yes, it’s very different in many ways, but we’ll find a nice home like we had in Safu!” he said smiling brightly. “Our future will be even better than in Safu, you’ll see!” he said confidently.

  Rhuna remembered the quality she most treasured about her husband, and leaned across to kiss his unshaven face. Aradin responded by embracing her firmly and speaking words of reassurance.

  “My Guests!” hollered Voyager of the Ocean as he strode briskly towards Rhuna and Aradin with open arms. “Welcome aboard my ship! May it carry you safely to your destination,” he said with a flourish of gesticulating arms and hands.

  “The supplies are stored, and my crew instructed,” he said clapping his hands together. “Now let us become properly acquainted!”

  Rhuna observed the unusual man with intense scrutiny, searching for the familiarity she had sensed on the beach early that morning. His beak-like nose and penetrating dark eyes appeared foreign to her, and yet she continued to feel a vague recognition whenever he moved and spoke.

  “Permit me to introduce my Deputy,” he said with a wave of his arm, beckoning a stout man to join them. “This is Namzu Toma, who is authorized to navigate and command all crew aboard my fleet.”

  Rhuna allowed her husband to greet him first with the customary handshake, reminding her that even in lands very different and distant from Atlán, some Atlan traditions were deeply entrenched. She noted the Deputy’s bulging, wide-set eyes, and then felt his rough, calloused hand firmly grip hers in greeting.

  “You don’t have an Atlan formal name?” Rhuna queried.

  “In my youth I was given one, but formal Atlan names are becoming less popular in Varappa,” he answered.

  “What good fortune for my Deputy,” exclaimed Voyager of the Ocean stepping forward and slapping Namzu Toma on the back of his meaty shoulder. “The formal Atlan name bestowed upon him as a child was Dancing on the Breeze! Can you imagine this hulk of a man dancing on the breeze like a butterfly?” Voyager of the Ocean released a roar of laughter and slapped his Deputy on the back once more.

  Namzu Toma nodded jerkily and his lips twitched as if attempting a smile.

  “Anything you require, anything you would like to know about the ship and our voyage, this is the man to approach,” Voyager of the Ocean continued in a cheery tone. “As for me, you may address me as Commander!” he said smugly.

  Rhuna observed Namzu Toma’s face harden as he glowered at Voyager of the Ocean, and despite the warmth of the day, she felt a chill race down her back.

  The arrival of two elderly Atlan men broke the silent, icy exchange between Commander and Deputy, and Rhuna quickly introduced the men.

  “My father, Avenger of Justice,” Rhuna said using Damell’s formal Atlan name. Damell gave both the Commander and his Deputy a friendly greeting, and then expressed his gratitude for the safe passage to Varappa.

  “My father has journeyed to many faraway lands and gained much knowledge and wisdom,” Rhuna said proudly, and then saw Damell’s clear blue eyes twinkle as he smiled at her.

  A gust of warm sea breeze ruffled Damell’s light grey hair, and then swept Rhuna’s long untied hair across her face. She tasted salt and seaweed as she brushed her hair out of her face with her fingers.

  Damell proceeded to introduce the second elderly man next to him, whose white head nodded in greeting as he shook hands with the Commander and his Deputy.

  “May I introduce Possessor of Discernment,” Damell said. “Once my teacher, and he still surpasses me in knowledge and wisdom!”

  “Wha-wa!” squeaked Shandi happily, reaching towards the white-haired man with a happy smile.

  “She means “white hair” but “wa-wa is easier!” Rhuna explained with a laugh.

  Possessor of Discernment chuckled delightedly, patted Shandi on the head and then turned back towards the men to explain his position.

  “As the descendant of the keepers of The Secret of the Pyramids of Safu, I am the last and currently the sole vessel of thi
s secret knowledge, and I had planned to remain in Safu, where I resided my entire life, alongside the Pyramids…”

  “I persuaded him to come with us, of course!” interrupted Rhuna.

  “What an interesting group of people I have had the privilege of rescuing from the wilderness!” said the Commander with a wide grin. “Let us be seated and recount your fate, so that I may understand your predicament more fully,” he said as he led the way through a low and narrow door.

  Rhuna was surprised that the ship’s interior appeared so spacious and comfortable. A colourful thick rug covered the entire floor, and a variety of seating cushions had been placed in a circle. As she walked towards one of the cushions, she heard the creak of floor boards under her feet, and then sensed a gentle swell as the ship headed into deeper waters.

  “Sit!” commanded their host. “Partake of fresh water and crispened bread!” He ordered cheerily as he seated himself opposite Rhuna.

  Several crew members Rhuna had not seen before emerged from a small door on the opposite side of the room, and she noted that some of them were young women, all with exotic dark hair and brown skin. She watched them closely as they handed around trays of bread and then drinking vessels, while a young man carried a large and heavy urn of water. Rhuna took a small piece of crisp bread and carefully tasted it, savouring the unfamiliar texture of such hardened bread.

  Rhuna chewed and swallowed the tasty morsel, and then looked up to see the Commander’s penetrating stare. She gasped as she felt his eyes cut through her like a sharp knife, and while he continued to stare, Rhuna quickly gulped down some water.

  “Tell me…is it true that some Atlan Masters, such as you yourself… are able to transform even water to stone?” asked the Commander, his eyes still boring through to her inner being.