The Claiming of the Children (The Veil of Death) Read online

  The Claiming of the Children

  The Veil of Death series

  D. K. Manning

  Text copyright © 2014 D. K. Manning

  All Rights Reserved

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to the Immortal Children who are bound to mortality and attached to the planet called Earth.

  Books in The Veil of Death Series

  The Claiming of the Children

  Book One: The Protector of Memories

  “Some books leave us free and some books make us free.”

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  MOUNT OLYMPUS[i]

  “My daughters! My daughters! Oh Zeus. My daughters!” Eurynome[ii] shouted as the Four Seasons – Guardians to Mount Olympus – opened the shimmering golden gates. She ran across the main courtyard, stopped beside the central fountain and searched for Zeus.[iii]

  The whisperings of Instinct told her where Zeus’s presence could be found and casting her sights over toward the eastern corner of the Universe, she gazed upon the image of Zeus standing at one of the twelve windows within the Throne Room of Mount Olympus’s Eastern Tower.

  Eurynome watched Zeus’s shifting energies of blues, silvery-greys and sparkling whites but not a flicker of acknowledgement to her presence did Zeus create.

  “Zeus,” she called. “Your wife Hera is hosting a party upon the Earth. But it is only your children who are the guests within it.”

  Eurynome waited for Zeus to signal that she had the right to access the Easter Tower.

  She knew with absolute certainty that even if her words had not managed to reach Zeus’s senses, then her echoes piercing the airwaves would have.

  But no signal arrived.

  She witnessed not the electrical threads of yellowy-oranges that left her sight momentarily dazzled. She heard not the sound that she loathed the most; an explosion of thundery shards. Their noise seared into the depths of her hearing and whilst her energies regained balance, Eurynome’s senses would be left within a state of deafness.

  The longer Eurynome stood and waited, the stronger Annoyance grew within its strength.

  She was wasting precious moments on rules and regulations. Such things that Eurynome considered to be nonsense? In fact if her friend Hindsight was with her right now - she would be telling Eurynome to ignore such nonsense. Abandoning all notions of rules & regulations, she ran toward the Eastern Tower and using the distance of the courtyard to her advantage, Eurynome shouted out words of accusations toward Zeus’s wife, Hera.

  “We must stop the party that has but began upon the Earth! Hera is its hostess and her intentions are to harm the children within it!”

  She arrived at the entrance, stepped not over its threshold but waited until the echoes from her words wrapped themselves around the mighty Mother of Earth.[iv]

  Eurynome then climbed the spiral staircase of the whitest of marble, glided along Mother-of-Pearl’s corridor until she reached the archway made from thunderbolts and lightning; the entrance into Zeus’s vast and majestic Throne Room.

  ∞

  Those who see the Throne Room for the first time take not a step onto its flooring because it is carved from the purest of white marbled stone.

  Such is its whiteness you believe that you gaze upon a carpet of cloud. Reflections from both light and shadow determine how deep, billowy or tempest the whiteness shifts within the marble – adding to the illusion that clouds are what you think you see - so not a movement would you make.

  So… what do you do?

  Turn your back and forever wonder ‘what if’?

  Stay still?

  So still that eventually Mother-of-Pearl has gathered you within her arms and you are now a part of her corridor like the others before you?

  Or do you dare to take a step forward unto the clouds?

  If you chose the latter, then a breath of air will be escaping your lips because solid marble sits beneath your feet, not that of cloud.

  But that breath of air is so quickly stolen by Magnificence.

  You can see forever and quite rightly so your senses believe that you stand within a place that has no boundary or barrier.

  But!

  What does your hand now feel?

  A wall and such is its density you wonder how you had missed it. You see the granite that makes up the circular wall of the Eastern Tower and marvel at the cleverness of Earth.

  How she tricks you with her resources.

  Ah!

  But how Splendour outruns that of Magnificence - she does not steal only your breath away but one beat of your heart!

  You gaze upon an arched window - and another… and another.

  Twelve arched windows you count and instinct demands that your vision moves upwards but when you do, you cannot see where the windows end, for they soar so high.

  Dizziness takes hold of your senses and throws them into a frenzy of awe and confusion.

  Each window has numerous carvings and sculptures within and around its arch: An infinite amount of designs that represent all Immortal Beings who exist within the Universe.

  The wisest of souls avert their eyes before Obsession takes hold and you become lost forever within its Thirst: Counting over and over – over and over… every design, pattern and symbol and when you have finished your counting and memorising – our flighty Goddess of Memory will play her favourite game with you: Lost and Found! – Found and Lost!

  ∞

  Eurynome remained at the Throne Room’s entrance and stared at the continued stillness of Zeus. Has he heard not my words? Has he felt not the echoes of my distress?

  “Zeus!” She called and fast approached him.

  “I dare not move.” Zeus whispered to Eurynome the moment he felt her presence by his side. “Look to the stars.” He told her.

  Eurynome looked to the Gallery of Stars and saw the stars within the constellation of Athena.[v] flickering – dimming – fading.

  “This is your wife’s doing,” she whispered. “An invitation has just made itself known unto me.”

  It was an invitation woven from the finest of spider’s silk and its green lettering hovered and glistened before the sight of Zeus.

  The Party of your Life!

  I, Hera, Goddess of Marriage & Family - invite you to rejoice with me and my husband the renewal of our Marriage Vows.

  The three daughters of Eurynome will grace us with their presence and attend to all guests until the end!

  Each will shower unto you their gifts of Joy, Laughter and Merriment until Energy herself needs her sleep!

  Offerings of Love, Dance, Music, Song, Wine and Amber Nectar will flow freely and abundantly.

  Dress Code: The Human Body. Venue: Mother Earth.

  Time: Now until Eternity

  Eurynome watched as Zeus read the lettering and after he had, she told him. “The children see not the reality of the situation. They dance in one of Earth’s meadows but believe that they are within a majestic ballroom.”

  She pointed toward the Earth and explained to him the illusion that Hera had managed to create.

  “Your wife has crafted a barrier of such strength and trapped the children within it. They believe that time is one moment when in fact mortal months are passing them by. Try as I might Zeus, I have yet to succeeded in piercing, shattering or entering through the barrier to warn them that they need to soar away from the
Earth before they become attached to her.”

  Zeus stared down at the meadow that his immortal children saw so differently to the mortals.

  ∞

  The immortal children danced, laughed and sang within the enjoyment of a party. They saw no meadow, stream or blade of grass; no goats grazing or any of the mortal ‘human beings’ who mingled within the meadow.

  They truly believed themselves to be within a grand ballroom heavily adorned with framed paintings and murals that depicted the landscapes and creatures of the planet called Earth. They heard not the sounds of bird song but that of instrumental music, laughter and good cheer. Food weighed down the tables; goat meat, fish and fruits of the forest tickled their senses and caressed their taste buds.

  ∞

  The mortals saw only the trees, stream and meadow -and when a goat disappeared, a search would ensue for the wolf believed to be the hunter of their livestock.

  And if by chance a mortal did see one of the immortal beings – it would be to look upon a person whose body flickered with a multitude of colours and electrical threads.

  With terror they would flee; refusing to go back to the meadow that they claimed ‘to be haunted’.

  ∞

  Zeus studied the barrier and realised from where Hera had sourced the material to craft such an illusion. “My wife dares to steal a thread from the fabric of life?”

  He was about to unleash a thunder bolt and send it crashing into the barrier but sighting more threads, he narrowed his eyes in anger as he realised that that was not all that Hera had stolen.

  She had stolen an electrical thread from the memory of every single one of the children and woven it into the barrier.

  His wife had even manipulated the party down to the finest of details as to who would be the last guests to leave it; Eurynome’s daughters – the Three Graces, creators of the lightest of energies - joy, laughter and merriment; comfort, kindness, compassion and grace.

  Zeus turned and looked at Eurynome and as he stared into her eyes that were the colours of ocean blues and fresh river greens he promised to her that his wife would be severely punished for her crimes.

  Eurynome nodded her head to acknowledge his words and when she spoke hers, she ensured that they were filled with the forces from Cold Dread.

  “Your wife has bound my three daughters into an Attendance Ruling. She has them imprisoned so that her party can be filled with the joys of laughter, dance, music and song.” She turned away from Zeus in anger and settled her gaze unto the echoes of the words that she had just spoken. And when she had manipulated them into one thousand frozen icicles, she instructed them to wait for her command.

  Zeus looked down into the party. “Which human being is my wife?” He asked her.

  “Your wife has already transformed herself into another creature and is walking the Earth. Hera would rather be bound to mortality than meet her punishment for what she has done unto every single Immortal Child.”

  “I will find her,” Zeus said and turned his attentions upon the invitation.

  If the lettering woven within the cobweb had come from his wife’s life-force then he would seek the scent of her Jealousy.

  But when Zeus touched the pale-green thread, the cobweb and its lettering disintegrated. “You dare to taunt me with your games of jealousy.” Zeus whispered to the absence of his wife.

  He knelt down, collected up some of the green coloured particles and rubbed them between his fingertips; what materials had his wife used if not from her Self?

  He now sighted his own energies of blues, silvery-greys and whites within the green and this told him that his wife had broken the seal of her promise – the promise to never harm the Immortal Children. She had used the seal of that promise and crafted her party invitations with it.

  “Hera!” Zeus shouted out his wife’s name. “Hera! You dare to feast your Jealousy on the children? I command you to the Realm of the Universe. Meet thy punishment!”

  Zeus waited… and waited.

  But still Hera did not answer his commands.

  He unleashed a rage of thunderbolts and lightning and sent them crashing over the Earth.

  His wife might ignore his words but she would not dare ignore his rage.

  But the continued absence of Hera told Zeus that that was what Hera was intent on doing.

  “So be it.” Zeus said and was about to transform into a golden eagle to seek out his wife and bring her back to Mount Olympus but something flickered over toward his left.

  He sent out a shard of thunder and commanded a surge of electricity to capture what he assumed to be his wife. But what he saw was not that of his wife’s presence but that of Athena’s stars and they were doing something far worse than flickering.

  They had burst and crumbled.

  Particles of stardust sparkled, dazzled and soared. Their colours shone with speckles of silvery-white light, slate-grey, green and blue.

  A claim rippled throughout the Universe and made itself known:

  As is the ruling of the Universe those who mark deep my earth become a part of it. Rejoice! Athena. Rejoice! You are free from the Dance of the Cosmos. Enjoy your life as it lives within the Cycle of my Reincarnation.

  Zeus snatched up a shard from thunder and an electrical surge from lightning (all but a sliver) and created a small silver cup.

  He collected up his daughter’s stardust before it crumbled down to the Earth and as he did so; his rage grew within him at the knowledge that whilst his daughter’s stardust fell, there was nothing that he could do until all particles were safely held within the vessel of the small silver cup.

  “Eurynome. You must do something whilst I cannot.”

  She rushed over toward the centre of the floor.

  “Athena needs your protection.” Eurynome whispered to Athena’s mother; the Keeper of Wisdom and sent it rippling throughout the Universe.

  And when Eurynome had passed between two of the twelve golden eagle statues circling the floor’s centre, she stood upon the raised edging of lightning and oak leaf that circled the portal: The viewpoint over Earth.

  ∞

  Athena stood motionless: The costume that had been of such lightness and breathability was now an unbearable heaviness. She tried to transform out of it but discovered that she could not.

  Pain consumed her as the vessel of the human body tightened and set around her immortal life-force. She fell onto the grass of the meadow and tried to cast out the pain that seared within her body.

  But every time Athena cried out, the pain did not lessen.

  She crawled upon hands and knees and sought cover within the tallness of the grass.

  Athena had realised that there was nothing she could do but wait until she could withstand this construction that she had become imprisoned within.

  An oak tree shaded Athena’s body when the Sun’s rays were at their hottest.

  The blades of grass became softer so that her skin would feel only the gentleness of velvet.

  The wild flowers interwove their stems with the petals to a degree of thickness that cushioned her naked body.

  The days and nights ebbed and flowed.

  Then… when the pain finally reached a level of tolerance that she could live with, Athena uncurled her body, used the oak tree to support her as she stood to look at the environment that was alien to her.

  She glanced at the trees, grass and flowers.

  And then when she sighted a stream flowing nearby, she walked toward it - and continued to do so until the body that she was encased within, was waist deep within the clear and trickling waters of the stream.

  Her bare feet stood upon a substance that felt sticky and yet smooth.

  The reeds and roots growing on the river bed tickling her feet, ankles and toes.

  Athena stared back at her reflection and realised that her appearance was that of the human body she had transformed into, before attending Hera’s party.

  But whereas that had been but a
costume, this was of flesh, tissue, muscle, bone and blood and she could not sight the colours of her life-force within this human body… this body that was by far more than just a party dress.

  Athena peered closer at the surface of the water and stared deep into her eyes. “There I am,” she said when sighting the trickling of white light within the depths of greys and blues.

  A thunder storm lit up the sky.

  Her body jumped at the sudden noise and she became all too aware at how vulnerable this new body of hers was against the creator who had created it; Mother Earth.

  Looking up toward the sky, she discovered that it was the energies of her mother’s Wisdom that was creating the thunder storm and not that of Mother Earth.

  Sadness consumed Athena at the knowledge that when this body of hers was to die and she entered into her second mortal lifetime, all memories of the Universe and her mother would be forgotten.

  Despair replaced her sadness and it cut deep into the depths of her inner turmoil. Loneliness stung the freshly made cuts as realisation flooded into her; I will no more remember my own existence. Who I am… from where I come from? Memories travel not the cycle of Earth’s reincarnation.

  Athena made her way out of the stream and sat down upon the bank. Putting her head into her hands, she wept at what Hera had done.

  “You have brought about the extinction of thy true Self.”

  A bolt of thunder crashed over the meadow.

  Athena looked up once more to sight her mother and when she did a trickling of silvery-white light surrounded her body and as quickly as the light arrived, it vanished.

  Calmness returned to the sky.

  Athena stood and stared down at her body for it was protected within a suit of armour forged from her mother’s Wisdom.