Thirty - Two
“No, you’re wrong Edgar,” Elizabeth said with conviction. “His powers are far greater and more developed than any of us thought possible. He has to declare now whether or not he is going to become a member of the Convocation. An unallied power such as his could be as much of a danger to us as Devlin currently presents. In my opinion we’ve been lucky so far, that's it, just plain lucky!”
“To force him to choose now could very easily bring the wrong answer. He holds me responsible for Cindy’s death. Right or wrong, that’s what he’s thinking. I don’t know if he would choose to be with us at this point in time. When I practiced law during one of my lifetimes, there was a basic tenet that no lawyer that was any good would violate, ‘Never ask a question that you don’t already know the answer to. We do NOT know the answer to that question, and how he’ll answer for sure right now.”
“He told me that you said he could create life,” Rebecca interrupted. “How? I know we can control; and manipulate energy, but only the Ancient One can create life!”
They sat back in the comfortable chairs in the conservatory, where they were discussing what had happened during the night. The sun had risen three hours ago. The doctor had arrived to pronounce Cindy dead from an apparent heart attack, but the autopsy would tell for sure. Edgar was insistent that no autopsy need to be performed nor would be performed. The paramedics arrived and removed her body to the county morgue. Valerie had gone upstairs to their room and found Evan asleep on the bed. The giant dog that was the head Watcher by his side. Evan had taken to calling him ‘Big Guy’. A light breakfast had been served and cleared away. They were no closer to ending this argument than when it started.
“According to the Book, and since I don’t have the Book in front of me, I will only paraphrase, ‘And it will come to pass, that once every cycle of the Casting Down, the Ancient One, blessed be His name throughout the Universe for all eternity, shall chose and confer upon one of the race, the True Power. Via this selection and the conferring of the True Power, the Chosen One shall have power over men and beasts of this world and every world where-in he travels. The Chosen One shall have the Power to command that which belongs to the Ancient One, blessed be his name throughout the Universe for all eternity. No man, nor beast shall be able to oppose the Chosen One, for all men and beasts shall be compelled to obey and abide by the choice of the Ancient One, blessed be his name throughout the Universe for all eternity.’
“From the line, ‘and the Chosen One shall have the Power to command that which belongs to the Ancient One’, it has been debated and then agreed upon that those powers extend to the powers to create and/or give life. I believe that Evan does have that power. He just hasn’t found the key to open that power for his personal use yet.”
“Then that was how he was able to defeat the demon,” Elizabeth speculated. “When it looked like the demon was killing Evan, and the demon had won, Evan was merely searching for the key to those powers that will help at the time within himself.”
“Yes, I think so too. Evan told me that at the Seventh Gate, Lord Marrukk told him that the True Powers would not be revealed or released as it were, until Evan had found the ‘keys’ which he himself possessed. I believe that the ‘keys’ are released or unlocked through emotional stress. He must have thought he was going to die, and that fear or the drive to live, gave him the key to the commandment which gives him power over the men and beasts of this world. The demon was in this world, so he could defeat him.”
“But surely seeing his wife killed in front of him would have been a stresser to unlock that key and grant him the right to life,” Rebecca stated.
“You would think so,” and Edgar thought for a moment before he continued, “But we don’t really know for certain exactly how he felt towards Cindy.”
“Certainly he still loved her,” Rebecca said emphatically. “If he didn't, why would he have gone to the Crystal Cave? We all knew it was a trap.”
“It might not be true love any more,” Elizabeth said, “It might just have been a deep feeling of responsibility for an innocent bystander. He might have done the same for any one of us. I think it’s part of his personality and compassion that he would have done the same for anybody who was pulled into the Crystal Cave.”
I apologize for eavesdropping, Valerie said in each of their minds, but I may be able to help.
“How?” Rebecca asked, startled.
There were no barriers, Valerie answered.
“That’s perfectly fine dear,” Elizabeth reassured, “go ahead. Anything you could tell us could be very important.”
“First,” Edgar interrupted, “how is Evan?”
I’m not sure. He is lying unmoving in bed, and the way the Big Guy keeps looking at him and me when I come near the bed, I kind of think he’s traveling looking for answers rather than sleeping.
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“Did he say anything to you when you got up to the room?” Edgar inquired.
He blames himself for her death, and not being able to save Cindy, and in allowing her involvement to have occurred at all. He should have foreseen the potential for further trouble and given her more money to get out of Vegas for a while. The self condemnation is blocking everything else right now. We need for him to get over this stage quickly, and move on.
We need to do this quickly considering the clock is running out on us, Cleopatra said to Edgar and Valerie.
We all agree on this point, Edgar answered Cleo and Valerie. “You were about to tell us something, dear,” Elizabeth prompted. Evan and Cindy were married seventeen years ago, but after three years of marriage, on their wedding anniversary she walked out on him. She filed for a Reno divorce. Her note when she left, she didn’t find him exciting any more. Judy, the wife of his best friend David, told me that Evan searched for her for a few years. Hoping that if he found her he could talk her into coming home. Then one day he tells David he’s done looking for her. Just like that he was over her and was finished. Evan had told David about his luck with magic and making it really work. David was convinced that Evan had tried some magic thing and it turned out badly, and that was why the sudden stopping of the search. Then in Vegas he figured that she worked for Caesar’s palace, and either saw him or heard all the talk about our group. She showed up simply because he had a lot of money now. He threw a handful of cash that he had in his pocket from gambling that night. He told her that he never wanted to see her again, to him she was dead, and the money was just buying her headstone. While I believe he would always care about her welfare, I think the love was finally gone. She had hurt him just too many times.
“That may be it then,” Edgar said. “He did not truly love Cindy anymore. I think if it had been Valerie in that place the key would have opened immediately to give her life. You may have been sleeping out in the desert, but the walls of the Winnebago are not that thick or sound proof.”
If they could have seen Valerie, they would have seen her blush deeply.
“One of the things you said,” Rebecca said in the short lull in the conversation, “was that no man nor beast could oppose the Chosen One. All would be compelled to do his bidding and obey, has me very worried. If we have no say in the matter of obeying him, then why does he have to join us? Shouldn’t we have to join him?”
“Again that might be a separate key. So far I have never felt compelled to obey him or follow him blindly,” Edgar said softly. “I just don’t think He has that power yet.”
But he will someday,” Elizabeth stressed. “He has to be made to join us immediately, before he becomes more powerful.” They were all silent for a few moments. “What about you Valerie, will you join us and our cause?”
I will not go against Evan. He is my Other, as I am his.
You totally love him, don’t you? Cleopatra asked her.
Yes.
Does he love you?
I believe he does, Yes! I’m certain he does.
You understand that a blind love can be more dangerous and painful than a love not returned.
Mine is not a blind love, Valerie said with a touch of anger in her words. I still make my own decisions, but now is not the time for there division or derision between the two of us. That just seems stupid right now.
A valid point, if it is true.
You gain strength and power from Edgar, just as he does from you. Without one another you are not as whole, as complete and as capable. Think about it and you know I’m right.
What’s going on Cleo, Edgar asked in their minds. Valerie heard Cleo's response and she understood that they were being as transparent as possible to gain her trust. They were all one, a family. Each needing the other.
“What’s going on?” Rebecca demanded. “What are you talking about?”
“In a minute, please,” Edgar said gently.
“She can be made to join, even if Evan won’t,” Rebecca said quickly. “No!” Edgar said, anger raising the sound of his voice for the first time. We are not Devlin and we will not employ his type of actions.” If you were to move against me, or try to coerce me into joining, Valerie said with an icy bite to her voice, do you really believe that even the combined power of the Convocation could save you from what Evan might do in return? He is the Chosen One and even without all the keys, you wouldn’t be able to stand before his wrath.
“Nobody is going to compel you to do anything you chose not to do, just as we won’t for Evan to join us,” Elizabeth said as reassuring as possible. “Becca is young. She’s only sixty-two, still a child learning when to seek and when to listen. She did not mean to threaten you. Coerced cooperation is worse than an enemy, and unfortunately, Becca has yet to learn this fact.”
If sixty-two is still a child, Valerie thought to herself, then I must be an infant. Then she understood that she was just that, an infant in her own knowledge and abilities. An infant in her understanding of the universe and a hindrance to Evan until she can grow up.
While I can not promise you that I or Evan will join the Convocation, Valerie told them, I will promise you this, we will fight to our deaths to keep the Dark Gate from opening and for Devlin’s ultimate destruction. Cindy’s death sealed this promise and has only reinforced this determination. If this promise is not enough for you, then I’m sorry for this is all I will do at this point in time.
“That is more than enough,” Edgar answered. “It tells us that for now we still fight for a common goal. As before, my pledge to aid in whatever manner possible still holds. The rest will happen as it should in the normal course of time.”
“As Edgar is the head of the Convocation,” Elizabeth started, “so you have the aid of all its members, mine especially.”
‘The normal course of time,’ Valerie remembered hearing those very words at the Seventh Gate, and of the Lord telling Evan that time will never be the same again if the Dark Gate is opened. She prayed to the Ancient One that they would be able to succeed. The Gate has to remain sealed.