ROTU: Chapter Fifty

Shamira's eyes flew open. She grabbed her abdomen where blood was seeping from the wounds the Magi had given her. She winced as she tried to stand and looked around in a panic at her stone cage, placing her hand on the wall.

Jalena…

"Do not worry, Master Shamira. Time here will synchronize with that of the outside," a man said as he stepped out from a shadowed corner. His white shaggy hair and short beard shone as brightly as his ice-blue stare, contrasting his brown skin. "You will be able to return to your battle in a moment. Rest assured; things are transpiring as they are meant to." He watched her with patient eyes as she tried to make sense of things.

"I am inside the pyramid?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"You tell me," the man smiled. "You asked for help, did you not?"

"Who are you?"

"I have taken many forms and names during my years on this planet, but for our encounter, you can call me Hermes. However, a title does little to represent the spirit within." he waved his hand casually. "What is more important than the label is being the expression of the whole of that which you are."

"I do not understand what this is about." She held her hand tight to her abdomen to slow the blood flow as she hobbled closer to the man.

"Do you feel whole beneath the surface, Master Shamira?"

Hermes's question was met with silence.

"Your name is known and respected by your people. Their perceptions hold you as a great warrior, but this is the opposite of how you feel inside, which is fragmented. You only identify with the surface labels that have been granted to you, but they do not penetrate the depth of your being. Am I wrong?"

"You are not wrong," she said quietly.

"So, the trick is to get the surface to authentically represent the wholeness inside, or," his gaze dropped to her stomach, "you will continue to bleed."

Shamira winced as she pressed her hand tighter and looked around. "I am unable to heal myself like I heal others."

"Because you do not know your truth and thus are not whole. It is only then that you will direct the power to heal inward. Otherwise, you will continue to demonstrate only surface behavior that appeases others but masks the fragmentation within."

He reached out to touch the middle of Shamira's forehead. A light lingered where his finger rested.

"Mend the fragments, then aspects of yourself that you have buried in pain will become whole once more. When this occurs, you will surpass the reality you see before you, much like the technique of Lumanthrú." He nodded. "You understand this conceptually, warrior, you just have not enjoyed the process."

"Enjoy what—my pain?" Shamira asked in confusion. She rubbed her forehead to ease the pounding.

"Pain is a part of reality that serves to move you to greater awareness. Denying it will only block you from your truth, so perhaps the idea of enjoying it sounds too harsh. However, appreciating what it taught you might be a better way to say what I mean. With understanding and the appreciation that it will lead you to gain what has been lost, the pain can be released."

Hermes waved his hand out to the side as he turned to reveal a ship behind him resting on a large stone slab.

Shamira hobbled to the ship and reached out a bloodied hand to touch it. A white glow shone beneath her touch along the silver-blue surface.

Hermes approached her. "It is time that you return to yourself, Master Shamira. You have punished yourself long enough. Mentally imagine where you want to be."

Shamira closed her eyes and imagined herself behind the controls of the ship. Immediately, panic started to grip her as flashes of the wreck she experienced long ago swallowed her mind, like so many times before.

"Stay here," Hermes said as he turned Shamira to face him. He placed two fingers on her forehead and placed his other palm in front of her. "Feel and then let go."

Tears fell from Shamira's eyes as she allowed her emotions to move through her.

Hermes gave voice to the resistance as it arose. "Dependency on Master Jalena."

Shamira gasped. Her brow furrowed.

"Stay with it," Hermes encouraged. "Failure to protect…shame in forgetting yourself…jealousy of her power…and fear…of not being deserving of the honor she has granted you."

Shamira's breath caught as her face twisted in grief.

"Do not dismiss the grief, Shamira," Hermes's voice was stern. "Stay here and breathe as it moves through you." White light filled Hermes's gaze. "Now bring your power forth and release into the light that which has bound you. Every illusioned fragment," his voice softened, "for that is all it is—illusion."

As Shamira transmuted her pain by seeing herself at her highest potential, the light within her peaked. A feeling she had not felt in a long time surged through her. Light spilled from beneath her eyelids as the silver markings of her Reserve formed along her skin automatically.   She felt the pain of her body leave as her healing charisma returned to a level that surpassed her prior skill.

"Now open your eyes."

Shamira opened her eyes and gazed down at her body. The wound on her abdomen had healed completely within the white light that now pulsed around her. She touched her face and neck slowly, feeling the smoothness of her skin that returned as her scars completely vanished.

Hermes chuckled as she gasped in surprise. She grabbed him tightly to her.

"Seems so much easier with your guidance."

"That's what old masters are for," he said as he released her.

"What am I to do?"

"I think you already know," he said. He stepped back. "Let's just say that I think Drasúl's allies will regret suppressing your power for all those years."

Shamira grinned and bowed as Hermes's form slowly faded into a lingering white light.

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