The Cappy Chronicle

Orien, the man whose face Asha had unwittingly embroidered into her artwork, stood on a hilltop surveying his surroundings. His dark hair was unkept and fell to his shoulders; the green eyes that had twinkled at Asha were now serious and alert.

Such a short time ago he had faced the enemy and slain three of their members. He had done it to protect Asha, and to protect her gift. The gift she was not even aware she had. Orien knew that Asha’s survival was necessary if the ”United Light“ were ever to sway victory in their favour. Ironic that it should be a woman who held the key to this. In his world women were not respected, unlike the world Asha inhabited. In Asha’s world women were seen as complete equals with men, but here in the in-between realms of the Mida world they still held the place of medieval times.

Orien scanned the horizon in all directions, searching with both his inner and outer senses for danger. At the same time his eyes searched, so did his mind send probes out to locate consciousness in the region. Mostly he picked up the frequencies of animals and those plants that were sentient. In the far distance he sensed humans but they posed no threat to him.

Satisfied Orien returned to his camp. With a flick of his mind he started a fire to keep him warm. He knew he didn’t need to use this old fashioned method for heat but he enjoyed the company of the flames and often used them as a springboard to other mental states.

Staring into the flickering fire he turned his thoughts to Asha. Her hair was the same colour as the flames and she had a similar fiery intensity in her blue eyes. Orien pondered on the only woman who had ever been gifted with the powers that lay inherent within all of the United. Why had she been chosen and what part was she to play?

Mesmerised by the flames he chuckled as he looked out at her through her tapestry, seeing the fear and confusion on her lovely face. He stretched out his mind to reach hers, but she had slammed shut the doors of inner perception and he could not, as yet, reach her. Not while she was awake and aware.

He was aware of the spacecar before he heard its electronic buzz. The minds within it had sent their feeble, unprotected thoughts scrambling out in all directions for anyone with the ability to pick them up. Orien merely had to think of the fire as extinguished and it was. Whilst not in danger, he still didn’t want his presence widely known.

Orien had no need for sophisticated nano-electronic devices and clothing to help him. Everything he needed he could accomplish with the power of his mind alone. Scanning the occupants of the spacecar he realised they were merely joyriders out for an evening flight.

In the darkness he turned his thoughts back to Asha. This took slightly more concentration than the joyriders as Asha lived in a different spacetime realm - an alternate reality to the one Orien normally inhabited. He could, of course, travel back and forth mentally across the multitude of dimensions with ease, but never physically without some form of pain or loss. So it had been when he’d transmuted himself into Asha’s bedroom, just in time to save her gift and her sanity. The pain had been intense and he had almost left it too late, arriving just as the Dark-master had located the amplification device buried in her soft skin. The United Light had taken a risk, implanting the device in Asha. Although it was designed to amplify her gift and make her slowly aware of her powers, it also alerted the dark lodge to her abilities and whereabouts. He, Orien, had been assigned to protect her and he had almost failed at the first sign of trouble.

At this recollection, he became aware of an incoming thoughtform. Clearing his mind of Asha and the circumstances of the attack on her, he tuned his frequency to match the incoming message. It was from one of the light-masters.

“Orien, you did well to slay the enemies but what of the woman now? Is she safe?”

Orien gathered the mental matter of his answer, focussed his intent and projected his reply to the specific frequency of the master addressing him. This was a private conversation – not one to be overheard by others.

“I was nearly too late. You should not have left it to the last minute to assign me as her protector. She’d had the device for five days before you arranged any protection. She could have been killed at any time during the delay. Why leave it so long?” Orien’s thoughts did not carry an emotional tone – they were created purely from mental matter, standing free of hidden currents. He stated the facts as he saw them.

“We had our reasons, Orien. The woman was safe enough until that evening when we called you. But she now requires your constant attention until she learns to harness her powers and focus her gift. For now she will wallow in confusion and fear. You must ensure she does not succumb to it.”

“What can I do? I cannot spare all my time to watch over her. It is not my job to nursemaid her.” Orien was not angry or annoyed, he merely projected the truth as he saw it to the light-master. “I do not even inhabit the same reality as Asha.”

“Ah, you call her by her name. You recognise her as a person not just a woman I see. This is good. The United have been most surprised that the gift is so strong in a female, some have even fought against accepting her role, but I see you do not. You are indeed the best possible one to teach her.”

“Teach her?” This time Orien did project some emotion along with the thought. Surprise and disbelief mingled with the tenuous thread of mindstuff he sent probing out to the other waiting mind.

“Yes, Orien. You must teach her. You must protect her. But you must be wary and cautious. Don’t let her know too much at once or it could drive her mad. She already balances on a delicate edge between sanity and madness, such as it exists in her dimension. We give you a mission, a task of vital importance for the future of all the realities and dimensions of consciousness. Do not fail us, Orien, or you fail us all.”