The Circle Of Ten

Imminent

"I am done with this, this false pretense of divinity," declared Ohas angrily as she paced the marbled floor of Fayala's Shrine. "You saw what those ... monsters did to my brother, his wife and ... my little ... Miriam," she moaned choking back a sob.

  Fayala had tried to console her friend but finally relented to just giving her space and time to release her anger.

Ohas suddenly glared at a Mira, "they killed them, and put them in a, a, a ... jar!"

"Ohas, please," said Mira reaching out to her.

"Please, please what!" Yelled Ohas backing away, "what were they going to do with them, cut them up into little pieces, study them!"

Then turning to Fayala, Ohas raised her arm and pointed at her ... "I want their bodies back, we should not have ... left them," Ohas fell to her knees and wept, "they were all I had in this world."

Mira and Fayala looked on at their forlorn friend. Fayala considered using her telepathic ability to calm and relieve her of the emotional pain, but instinctively she knew Ohas had to work her way through this.

"I agree sister," signed Mira. "We must let Ohas experience this grief. The best we can do is to be here with her and support her."

  Mira slowly walked over to where Ohas knelt and crouched down beside her. She put an arm around her shoulder, Ohas did not resist and she let Mira pull her close. She needed the warmth and sympathy Mira was offering, she was tired, hurt and emotionally drained. Mira wrapped her other arm around Ohas and embraced her. Ohas responded by letting all of her heartache pour out in a gut wrenching sob that brought Mira to tears as they shared her sorrow and cried together.

Fayala stood, it upset her to see her Sisters so hurt, she wanted to empathize with them but all she could feel was anger, anger at the Miorpeans who so callously took the lives of the humans, her humans, and a dear friend's young niece. She felt her core begin to heat up as rage and destructive impulses fed her primal instinct for revenge. With each breath the fire in her lower abdomen grew hotter and when she exhaled,  the heated air burned as it flowed from her nostrils. The deeper her breath the fierier her core became and gradually she felt the dark, malevolent physical change begin to come over her. "No, no not now ..." She whispered.

Fayala relaxed and concentrated, slowing her breathing,  restricting the air coming into her body seemed to calm the fire in her gut. She had limited her air intake to a point at which she thought she might pass out but ultimately succeeded in quieting the rage within her.

"Are you alight," asked Mira looking at her with concern.

"Yes," replied Fayala. "Yes I am fine ... now."

Mira still held Ohas in her arms. "What was that, there was this strange shimmer around you, your skin was getting dark and it became warm."

Fayala breathed deeply for the first time in several minutes, "remember when I turned Bidar into ashes."

Mira's eyes opened wide, "do we need to do something."

"No, I just need to control my ... anger," replied a despondent Fayala. "At least for now."

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Idiyanale had not felt so alone since she was human. She was never really comfortable around people and did not mind being the outsider because that meant she did not have to converse with anyone or know them and interact with them. Idiyanale was a shy and reserved young girl who always had her head down, her hair in her face, never making eye contact.

She was as bewildered as anyone as to why the Sisters had selected her for the gift, the wonderful gift that made her part of an exclusive group of strong women that accepted her as she was. The gift transformed her from being a singularly lonely person to an intimate member of a group, always present, always accepting, always there.

Now she was being punished for her unfortunate conversation with the Sister, Mira. The punishment was to be locked out of the telepathic connection that was the Circle of Ten. Suddenly, she was totally alone again. Neither her servants nor her humans could replace that sense of belonging, the continual conversing, sharing and knowing that was the Circle of Ten. She had begged to be let back in but was ignored. Forlorn, she sat in her shrine, tears of sadness rolled down her cheeks, how long can this misery last she thought to herself.

Then she felt a presence, not the Circle, but someone familiar. Her tears turned into a cry of joy. "Who is there, who is it?" She asked excitedly.

"Idiyanale my dear friend... it is I, Sativia ... Come to me, I have need of you."

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Ceraon knew Sativia could have dispensed with him as easily crushing a flower in her hand. She had somehow accessed the psychic potential of his mind and increased it tenfold with hers. He now felt the incredible telekinetic power she could wield. He saw how easily she incapacitated Melete who was one of the strongest Miorpeans he knew and Aphaea was taken down with little more than an afterthought.

All of this he could see and perceive because she allowed it. After his initial panic at having control of his body seized it was Sativia that kept him conscious and aware. She comforted him if it can be called that, she even conversed with him as he drifted in a void of her making, within his body, his brain.

Sativia allowed him access to parts of her consciousness so that he might better understand her intentions. In doing so she created an emotional connection with Ceraon similar to what Fayala would form between young couples seeking her blessing. Conversely Ceraon warned Sativa that she must expose her body, his body, to the sun for energy when he sensed she was becoming physically drained. Sativia realized that he could have kept that secret and let her weaken allowing Melete to recover and even suppress her.

  As a result Sativia opened a mental link letting him sense her fondness for him and even her desire to be with him, "What did you mean when you said I was beautiful,"  She asked him.

Ceraon was caught off guard by the question and reflecting on his current circumstances knew his existence might be in the balance depending on his answer. However, he was not afraid because all he needed to do was state what he honestly felt, "I meant that you are a wondrous being,  strong, intelligent, and welcoming. The day I saw you in your shrine I thought you were the most beautiful being I had ever seen."

     It was then that he realized Sativa had knelt next to Melete and placed her hand on the unconscious Miorpeans forehead,  thumb and finger resting on her temples.  In her other hand she held her old body. She no longer needed the power of the Circle, she would not die and in fact, if everything goes as planned she would live on for a very long time.