**********The Atlantean Legacy*********: November 2011

Monday, November 7, 2011

Please enjoy this sample from the sequel to The Atlantean Legacy.(Working title: The Atlantean Chronicles: Book II which I am now in the process of writing!)

PROLOGUE

Shamisé leaned heavily on the door jam. Her red-rimmed eyes glistened with tears. An older woman, standing inside the door, stared tight-lipped at the disheveled younger female.
“You! You come seeking my counsel--after all these years? Why would I let you into my home after all the pain you’ve inflicted on me, on our family?”
Shamisé slid down to her knees, leaning back on her heels. “Tameri, I know I don’t deserve your help--or your forgiveness.” Hands in supplication, head bowed, she begged, “I have nowhere else to turn. I want to make amends; may I begin with you…please?”
Waiting for a response, she wondered to herself, “Will Tameri ever be able to forgive me, this woman I so callously hurt, this woman I once called Mother?” She flinched remembering how without so much as a backward glance she had cut all family ties with the sharpened edges of her anger and flew into the arms of the Dark One. But she must not forget, she was Shamisé, daughter of the High Priest and Priestess, and, although it was hard to recognize now, she was also the reincarnation of Akana. Perhaps this alone would be enough to gain a foothold in Tameri’s life again. Perhaps she would let her back in.
Tameri considered the figure before her on her doorstep. “Shamisé, look at me.” She lifted her head up at Tameri’s angry face. “I am still your mother. I grew you in my body for nine moons; nothing will ever change that. I loved you deeply as a child. Because of this tie, this duty I take very seriously, I will help you. But if you show any sign, any inkling at all of insincerity in your desire to make amends and heal, I will banish you from my life forever! This is the only chance I will give you. Is this understood?”
With a meek sniffle, Shamisé shook her head.
“You have no idea the damage you have wreaked upon me, your father, your Aunt Eva, and her daughter, your cousin, Alicae, but this is what I am willing to do. You will sit and you will listen to me. There is much you need to know, much you need to understand. You may not leave until I am through and I have said you may go. I will be in total control here. Can you agree to this?”
“Yes,” the bleary-eyed woman nodded.
Satisfied for the moment, Tameri motioned for Shamisé to stand up and come inside. She pointed to a chair for her visitor to take as she closed the door behind her. She brushed her long skirt and sat down. A servant quietly slipped in and asked if she needed anything.
“Yes, thank you, Sheriti; bring us some tea and a little food. I think we may be here for quite some time…” Eyeing Shamisé suspiciously, Sheriti bowed and left the room to fetch sustenance for the women.
Tameri stared hard at her visitor. “I want you to know the real story of your parents’ lives and all we have had to do in our transition to this country. And I want—I need to understand just who you are and why you did what you did. Then perhaps I can forgive you. But you must first forgive yourself, Shamisé, if you can. Look now here into this crystal bowl of water.” The blessed and sparkling holy water sat on a low table between the two women. “Watch and you will see this story play out before you as I tell you the tale.”
Shamisé did as she was told. Her mother began singing an old chant that she had known from the island that she had sung often to her as a young child.
Moving now, we sing.
We go.
Moving now, we sing.
Moving now, we sing, we go.
Moving now we go.

Her beautiful full voice was mesmerizing, capturing her daughter’s thoughts, refusing to release them.

Building up, we sing.
We go.
Building up, we sing.
Building up, we sing, we go.
Building up, we go.

The music danced around Shamisé’s brain; she swayed as visions formed in the water.
Lifting up, we sing.
We go.
Lifting up, we sing.
Lifting up, we sing, we go.
Lifting up, we go.
Tameri’s words swirled through her daughter’s mind.
Releasing now, we sing.
We go.
Releasing now, we sing.
Releasing now, we sing, we go.
Releasing now, we GO!”

The mother’s voice had become the daughter’s voice; the story, their story, intertwined, playing out before them…

Chapter 9 (cont'd)

Kahotep awoke first. He examined the back of her head, admiring her bountiful curls. Unable to resist, he wrapped one of her sweaty dark ringlets around his finger. Feeling the tug on her hair, she stirred and turned over to face him, gracing him with a sleepy smile. He returned her smile and whispered in her ear so as not to break the spell too quickly. “So, my Sweet Lady, what would be your pleasure for the rest of the afternoon?”

“Well, besides you…” she traced the outline of his hand that was now resting on her breast, “I would...like to drive the shuttlecraft!” A mischievous grin adorned her face.

“Well, it seems you are awake,” he grinned back at her. “So, do you have any experience driving?”

“Absolutely none,” she answered honestly. “I’ve only ridden the public shuttlecrafts. I’ve never had an opportunity to learn to drive. But I always wanted to.”

“Well, it’s time you get some experience then. All right, Lady, I will teach you!" They jumped enthusiastically out of bed, dressed, and raced to the craft.

Akana climbed into the pilot’s seat. Her chair seemed too big for her and she could barely see up over the control panel. Kahotep joined her in the seat next to her as her co-pilot. “The first thing you need to do is to sign in,” he began, “so tell the craft your name, that you are the pilot, and then instruct it to adjust to you.”

Excitedly, she complied. “I am Akana of Atlantis,” she told the craft. “I am the pilot of this shuttlecraft. Please make adjustments to accommodate for me.”

“Welcome, Akana of Atlantis! We will make our adjustments now,” a pleasant voice from the shuttlecraft replied.

Her seat moved slightly forward then back, then to the right and left. It raised up and down then finally rested in a position that greatly improved the fit of her chair, as well as her view out the windshield. Immediately, a seatbelt closed across her lap.

“Push the green button that is lit up here on the console between us,” her co-pilot instructed. This she did. A holographic map of the area appeared at a forty-five degree angle in front of her.

“You can see where the cabin is—here.” Kahotep pointed to the three-dimensional version of the cabin. Now if you touch it thus,” he touched the image of the cabin on the map and it immediately enlarged, “you can bring it in closer. Touch it twice and it’ll return to its former size. You can do this with any part of the map. Now—where do you want to go?”

“I’d like to explore the area first, until I get used to piloting.”

“All right then, let’s map out a small path. Lightly trace the direction on the hologram where you want to go then hit the blue button on the console. This will lock in your program.”

She drew about a five mile trail around the trees in the forest then pushed the glowing blue button.

“OK, now what?”

“Now you need to use voice commands,” he said. “Tell the craft to follow your plans.”

“Please follow the path I have indicated,” she told the computer.

Gently, the craft began to rise. It slowly followed the directions that she had just mapped out. Then it gently landed back on the shuttleport.

“Well done! Now, do you want to drive without programming it first, Kana?”

“Of course. What do I do?”

“Use your voice commands to get the craft to ascend, then trace the path you want it to follow with your finger.”

“Now?”

“Sure, I think you’re ready. And I’m here to back you up.”

She took a deep calming breath. “Ascend!” she commanded.

Slowly, the craft rose up as directed. It hovered high above the shuttleport and turned southwest as Akana traced her outstretched palm through the holographic map. To speed up, she merely had to trace faster, so she experimented. The movement was a little jerky at first, but she quickly assimilated her new skill and smoothed out the ride. She let out a big hoot as she sped the vehicle around in ever tighter concentric loops.

“So you’ve never driven before, you say?” Kahotep asked in disbelief.

“Not ever, and was that a mistake!” she replied. “This is great!”

“So where are we heading, Speedster?”

She grinned. “I want to see the crystal cave.”

“Oh, nothing like a little challenge for your first flight out, is there, dear?” Kahotep laughed.

“Not at all,” she replied.

The shuttle was now heading toward the active volcano on the northeast corner of the island. She touched the map and an enlarged view appeared. She found what she was looking for—a shelf along the inside rim where they could land the craft. She decreased the size of the volcano on the map back to normal then smoothly guided the craft to a safe landing onto the ledge.

The door on the craft lifted up and they carefully emerged. After assuring themselves they were on solid ground, they both looked around. The ledge was packed down smoothly, apparently used over the years as a landing strip for others wanting access to the cave. Over the ledge, very far below, lava flowed freely. The smell of sulfur permeated the air.

They made their way to the inside edge of the rim, up against the wall of the mountain, to the opening in the cave. She had pilfered a couple of lightsticks from the craft and handed one to Kahotep.

She got on her hands and knees and easily crawled through the cave entrance. Kahotep crawled in after her. Once they made it through about a three-foot tunnel, they stood up. Their lightsticks illuminated the way as they stepped carefully down a softly sloping path. After about two hundred feet it opened up into a large cavern. Their lightsticks revealed a grotto encrusted with jeweled crystal treasures.

“Oooh, Kahotep! I’ve heard about this cave, but I never would have imagined this!”

The cave was actually a huge geode that had been formed millions of years before from cooled molten lava. The walls were thickly covered with a wondrous display of sparkling crystals. Even more astounding were the long spear strands of quartz crystals that stretched across the entire cave, each about the width of a grown man. Akana approached one to examine it more closely; she was dwarfed by its size.