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Authors: Celia Stander
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shocked into silence. The woman in front of her was a stranger. Her body carried an aura of contained power, her eyes were wells of ancient wisdom.
A fleeting memory washed over her, of herself as a young girl, standing in a glade near her home, arms outstretched and hair whirling in the wind. She was surrounded by small forest animals and Nagwa sat on her shoulder. Then came the more recent memory of power surging through her body as she defended herself in a London alley.
“I’m listening,” Keira said and sat back in her chair.
Victoria nodded in approval and began again. “We are the Guardians of the Akasha.”
“There is a name for this?” Keira asked. “I’m not just some—freak of nature?”
“Of course not,” Victoria replied. “Everything in the universe has a name; a purpose. Everything is connected. Akasha literally means ‘space,’ and that is what we do. Who we are. Everything around us, from the smallest atom to the biggest planet is connected through the Akasha. We see it, feel it and work with it.”
“What do you mean?” Keira asked.
“How do you call the wind?” Victoria asked in return.
Keira hesitated, she wasn’t even sure herself how she did it.
“And that is not the only thing you are able to do, is it? You can draw energy from your environment and use it to defend yourself. I bet it manifests as heat in your hands, doesn’t it?”
“How do you know this?” Keira whispered.
“I followed you one day, a long time ago. I saw you go into the woods and call the little folk and the wind to you. Your friend, the raven—”
“Nagwa,” Keira interrupted.
“Is that his name now?” Victoria smiled. “Well, initiates are able to manipulate the elements only after years of intensive training. You have been able to do it by yourself, since a very young age. And you also communicate with animals. It is rare members of the Families who manifest powers beyond the manipulation of space and energy, and those powers are different for each individual. We haven’t yet been able to explain why or how this happens.”
Keira closed her eyes; she had to remind herself to keep on breathing. She listened to Victoria explain how she had been protected and watched over, ever since she was a child.
Victoria spoke about the history of the Wilde Family and of her own role as their leader. Their lineage could be traced back for centuries.
“Wildes have rubbed shoulders with barbarian leaders and with kings; with empresses and prophets. We have fled persecution during the witch trials and joined the Holy Crusade. Through all of this, our High Priestesses have kept a record of our history and built their knowledge to, above all, protect the Akasha against those who wish to use it for their own gain.”
Victoria told Keira of all the other Families around the world who kept in touch with each other through the Council.
“Each of the Elders has specific responsibilities,” Victoria explained. “Mine include training initiates who have been identified by the Families as having magickal abilities. They are sent from all over the world to a school at the castle, where we are going to now.”
“A school? They get training?”
“Yes,” Victoria said. She knew what was coming.
“How could you!” Keira shouted. “Why didn’t you tell me? Do you have any idea the hell I’ve been through? Do you even know what it would have meant to me, to know that I’m not alone, to know that I belong somewhere, with people who are like me?” Her voice trembled as she strove to control her emotions.
In a rush, that sense of exclusion and complete aloneness returned. That feeling that haunted her throughout her childhood. She had known and accepted that she was different from her friends, that she could do things she couldn’t even explain to herself. But she had been able to push that aside and concentrate on the job of being normal, always trying her damnedest to fit in with society’s
A fleeting memory washed over her, of herself as a young girl, standing in a glade near her home, arms outstretched and hair whirling in the wind. She was surrounded by small forest animals and Nagwa sat on her shoulder. Then came the more recent memory of power surging through her body as she defended herself in a London alley.
“I’m listening,” Keira said and sat back in her chair.
Victoria nodded in approval and began again. “We are the Guardians of the Akasha.”
“There is a name for this?” Keira asked. “I’m not just some—freak of nature?”
“Of course not,” Victoria replied. “Everything in the universe has a name; a purpose. Everything is connected. Akasha literally means ‘space,’ and that is what we do. Who we are. Everything around us, from the smallest atom to the biggest planet is connected through the Akasha. We see it, feel it and work with it.”
“What do you mean?” Keira asked.
“How do you call the wind?” Victoria asked in return.
Keira hesitated, she wasn’t even sure herself how she did it.
“And that is not the only thing you are able to do, is it? You can draw energy from your environment and use it to defend yourself. I bet it manifests as heat in your hands, doesn’t it?”
“How do you know this?” Keira whispered.
“I followed you one day, a long time ago. I saw you go into the woods and call the little folk and the wind to you. Your friend, the raven—”
“Nagwa,” Keira interrupted.
“Is that his name now?” Victoria smiled. “Well, initiates are able to manipulate the elements only after years of intensive training. You have been able to do it by yourself, since a very young age. And you also communicate with animals. It is rare members of the Families who manifest powers beyond the manipulation of space and energy, and those powers are different for each individual. We haven’t yet been able to explain why or how this happens.”
Keira closed her eyes; she had to remind herself to keep on breathing. She listened to Victoria explain how she had been protected and watched over, ever since she was a child.
Victoria spoke about the history of the Wilde Family and of her own role as their leader. Their lineage could be traced back for centuries.
“Wildes have rubbed shoulders with barbarian leaders and with kings; with empresses and prophets. We have fled persecution during the witch trials and joined the Holy Crusade. Through all of this, our High Priestesses have kept a record of our history and built their knowledge to, above all, protect the Akasha against those who wish to use it for their own gain.”
Victoria told Keira of all the other Families around the world who kept in touch with each other through the Council.
“Each of the Elders has specific responsibilities,” Victoria explained. “Mine include training initiates who have been identified by the Families as having magickal abilities. They are sent from all over the world to a school at the castle, where we are going to now.”
“A school? They get training?”
“Yes,” Victoria said. She knew what was coming.
“How could you!” Keira shouted. “Why didn’t you tell me? Do you have any idea the hell I’ve been through? Do you even know what it would have meant to me, to know that I’m not alone, to know that I belong somewhere, with people who are like me?” Her voice trembled as she strove to control her emotions.
In a rush, that sense of exclusion and complete aloneness returned. That feeling that haunted her throughout her childhood. She had known and accepted that she was different from her friends, that she could do things she couldn’t even explain to herself. But she had been able to push that aside and concentrate on the job of being normal, always trying her damnedest to fit in with society’s
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