The Set of the Soul: An Allegory for the New Age

By Lilly Ann Bay

Twelve companions are brought together to fulfill a formidable quest. Their only chance of success lies in the equal participation of all twelve members in order to overcome an evil entity within their midst. Their journey is fraught with adventure and twists at each step of the way. The final battle will take place in the ruins of an ancient city. Can a group of twelve work together and win the day? The continuation of their world as they know it depends on the outcome.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Apr 10, 2019
• ISBN: 9781982215958

Lilly Ann Bay

Lilly Ann Bay is a retired teacher and reading specialist. She worked with children who struggled with their learning and with children who were English Second Language learners. Lilly Ann continues to mentor children who can benefit from additional help with their classroom work, and with adults who are learning and practicing the English Language.

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Copyright © 2019 Lilly Ann Bay.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Balboa Press

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9822-1596-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-1594-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9822-1595-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018913543

Balboa Press rev. date: 04/08/2019

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35

Chapter 36

Chapter 37

Chapter 38

Chapter 39

Chapter 40

Chapter 41

Epilogue

About the Author

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank my husband for his patience and for his support throughout this project. I would also like to thank Elsi Mackay for her editing skills and input. This story would not have been the story it has become without her help. I would also like to thank my family and friends who have always been unfailing in their support. Finally, I would like to thank my sister of the heart who was the first one to read the story at its very beginning and who never stopped cheering me onward.

Like the winds of the seas are the ways of fate,

As we voyage along through life:

It’s the set of a soul

That decides its goal,

And not the calm or the strife.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

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PROLOGUE

In the cloudy early morning hours, the slight glow of the crescent moon backlit an ominous black mass. The dark mass, there and yet not there, swirled about in the sky like an enraged thunderhead blotting out the tiny pinpricks of starlight. Consumed by an ever-increasing appetite, the need to satiate its hunger left a foul trail of increasing desperation in its wake.

Deep within the recesses of the tarry mass, four immense red eyes swiveled about, unblinking and intently focused in the separate directions of the compass, analyzing ... evaluating ... searching, scanning, seeking. Hunting. It constantly changed in shape and size as long twisting tentacles of sooty black smoke crept out from its outer border. Ah, there. And there. The immense red eyes glowed with malevolent satisfaction as the cloud thinned out and began to feed.

The past is but the beginning of a beginning, and all that is or has been is but the twilight of the dawn.

Herbert George Wells

CHAPTER 1

Linnet’s eyes flew open, abruptly jarred from sleep by the sound of large restless toenails click clacking across the roughly hewn floor boards. Her dog, Bear, was pacing rapidly back and forth across the bedroom floor. She had never felt this kind of energy from her normally calm and gentle companion. For a moment, she lay in bed watching him, then rubbed her eyes and sat up. Her eyes met his. The massive dog stood still as he turned his woolly head to look directly into her eyes.

Once Bear was certain that he had the girl’s attention, he turned his head to stare out of the bedroom window. He turned back, seeking Linnet’s eyes for a count of ten heartbeats, and then went back to pacing. As she puzzled over Bear’s obvious unease, Linnet became aware of demanding scratching coming from the other side of the closed bedroom door. Sleep was completely forgotten as Linnet jumped to her feet, landing on the icy packed-dirt floor. Clearly something had her two normally steady and impassive dogs restless and uneasy.

Shivering in the crisp early spring morning air, Linnet quickly dressed in her soft leather riding pants, doeskin jerkin and buckskin riding boots, tying her thick auburn hair into a braid behind her head. Then, she gathered her bow and quiver of arrows, slinging them across her shoulder to land snugly at her back. She took a moment to throw some cold water onto her face to wash the sleep from her eyes before she left the bedroom.

Bear came behind Linnet and prodded her in the small of her back with his nose to suggest that she wasn’t moving fast enough. As she turned the door handle, Sukki, a tall graceful cross of wild dog and hunting dog, pushed her way into the bedroom. She almost knocked Linnet from her feet by twirling and circling about. Bear solemnly paced behind as they all left the sparsely furnished cabin. Linnet checked the immediate surroundings cautiously. Seeing nothing untoward, she turned and walked behind the cabin to a small shelter, where her mare Llamari was stabled during the night. As Linnet and her two companions entered the dimly lit enclosure, she was surprised to see her mare impatiently stamping her lightly feathered feet as if to say, What took you so long?

Linnet led the graceful mare out of the cramped shelter and into the still cool air of the morning. Llamari was shivering, and there was a decidedly wild look in her eyes. Outside the enclosure, the mare’s long flowing mane and tail immediately caught the same gentle breeze that was ruffling the leaves of the trembling aspen trees around them. Even the trees seemed to be disquieted this morning. Linnet looked at her animals, baffled.

I don’t understand what has gotten all of you so upset. This looks like it is going to be a glorious spring day!

The two great dogs stared back at her for a moment. Then they took their places standing quietly on either side of the trembling mare. As always, the big dogs’ presence calmed and soothed Llamari. Her nostrils flared as she blew white steamy breath into the cool air. Linnet began to groom the horse with long steady strokes of the brush, talking quietly to the mare while she worked. Gradually, the horse’s puffing subsided into the gentle rhythms of relaxed breathing. Her coat was a delicate white in the sunshine, darkening in the shadows to a color more like that of morning mist.

Knowing that Llamari would continue to stand quietly while the two dogs remained beside her, Linnet put down the rough bristled brush. She left the horse’s side to once more scout around the rest of the property. She still hadn’t found the source of the high anxiety in her animal companions. Standing motionless, Linnet extended all her senses the way her grandmother had taught her to do, trying to determine if and where something was out of place.

She looked quizzically back at the animals. I still can’t find anything unusual, she remarked aloud to the morning sunshine. She collected the rest of her tools for grooming the mare. A good curry and combing would work wonders for settling the mare’s frazzled nerves. In truth, Linnet needed the rhythm and routine as much as the mare. It gave her something habitual to do while her mind raced around trying to decide her next step. The animals’ distress was not to be taken lightly or dismissed, but without any overt signs of trouble, she had no idea how best to act on their obvious disquiet. Should she stay where she was, or take flight immediately? The animals seemed to feel that it was time to go, but she had no desire to run right into whatever the problem might be. If she decided to go, which direction was the right one to travel in?

Linnet continued to talk soothingly to her mare as she began to gently comb out the tangles in the long mane and tail. In the ritual grooming, both morning and evening, Linnet always paid particular attention to the mare’s long curling mane, as well as her thick alabaster colored tail. Their flow was beautiful to behold when they were untangled. Unfortunately, they were both so long that the hair picked up just about everything the horse passed by. By the day’s end there could be a multitude of twigs and leaves and, if it had been raining, clumps of dirt caught up in the long hair. After the mare spent time in her shelter, there would be strands of hay and straw entangled in her mane and tail. Without constant attention, it soon became an issue that only could be resolved by cutting the hair with her sharp knife, and that was something Linnet wanted to avoid if possible.

Next Linnet carefully brushed out the lightly feathered feet. She lifted each hoof in turn to check for small stones that sometimes became caught in the tender underside. This meticulous care was a bonding ritual that they both enjoyed. Linnet rarely neglected it. Her strong strokes finally achieved the desired effect and the mare was visibly calmer when she was done. She had just begun to put the grooming implements into the saddlebag when the horse suddenly side stepped. She turned her head and gave Linnet a soft nosed nudge between her shoulders. The surprised girl was propelled toward the rough wooden shelter.

The horse’s message was echoed by the fully focused dogs who were rapidly pacing in tandem. They travelled in a triangular pattern between the rough cabin, the horse shelter, and their two companions. The intense and utter silence of the dogs gave Linnet the impetus she needed for further action. It also added to the increasingly uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She continued to puzzle over the events of the early morning as she hurried toward the small wooden cabin. The animals seem to be telling me to move right now. I’d better put our belongings into the saddle panniers and get Bear’s dogcart packed. She struggled to think clearly as she sorted through the things they might need if their traveling was extended.

She quickly had her meager possessions and provisions carefully packed in the dog cart. When Linnet and her grandmother had travelled these roads together, there had been more than one occasion to be grateful for the additional carrying space that Bear’s two-wheeled dog cart provided. The red leather harness, a gift of gratitude to Linnet’s grandmother, allowed Bear to use his well-muscled chest to pull the cart. Linnet’s grandmother, a gifted healer, had kept the man from being permanently crippled after a serious accident. In this manner, Linnet and her grandmother gained most of their possessions. Few people had coins to pay for the help given to them. The two-wheeled cart had come from a carpenter, whose son had been saved from a fever and sickness of the bowels. Even Bear had been a gift as a small ball of wriggling black wool. It was almost inconceivable that such a comically small puppy had grown up to be such a large, stoic, and loyal protector. The two wheels made the cart easy to manoeuvre, and Linnet was mindful of the heavy load she asked Bear to pull. She knew the great dog was always willing to do whatever was asked of him. He would die in the traces before refusing her. She looked one more time through the tidy two-room cabin and then through Llamari’s shelter.

I wonder if I will ever be back? she murmured aloud. The unbidden words surprised Linnet as she completed her final preparations. She shook her head to clear it from her growing uneasiness as she hitched Bear to his dogcart. She blessed the animal again for his calm and steady nature. His size meant the cart could be packed with cookware, dried food, medicines and even a small amount of bedding. Her final step was to cover everything with a waxed canvas that would repel any rain and keep her bedding, in particular, dry.

Linnet had just climbed into Llamari’s saddle, when a soft whooing sound drew her attention to a pine bough at the level of her head. Seated on her mare, Linnet found herself staring into the eyes of the great gray owl Myrridyn. An extraordinary giant iridescent blue dragonfly rested on top of the owl’s head. The soft brindled feathers that circled Myrridyn’s bright yellow eyes drew Linnet’s focus into their pitch-black centers creating a strong telepathic bond. The owl amplified the message of the elemental dragonfly Linnet had named Oona, and a series of pictures began to flash across Linnet’s inner vision. They showed the ground they were now standing on, shaking and buckling. Sudden deep rifts were opening up in the ground engulfing the village and beyond. The shaking ground tumbled down houses turning them all into rubble. The villagers were frantically trying to stay upright, as they ran to avoid the crumbling homes while the ground bucked beneath their feet. The extent of the destruction was devastating.

The sky above them filled with a shadow so black that it was a complete absence of light and color. As it hovered eerily above the destruction, four red glowing eyes could be dimly made out. Winding tendrils of black smoke drifted down from the inky cloud as lightning flashed. The misty tendrils seemed to completely penetrate the villagers in their growing agony. As the tentacles of smoke touched people, they immediately recoiled as if they had been doused in acid. Each time this happened, a sense of malicious satisfaction emanated from the pitiless blackness above. This was immediately followed by a bitter acrid smell and a transmitted need for more.

The pictures abruptly stopped. Linnet sat completely still for a moment, then shook her head to clear it. She needed to return her attention to her outer senses. The pictures had been so compelling that she was surprised to see that nothing about her had changed. This, then, was the reason for her animal companions’ agitation and their wish to be away from this place. Their more finely honed instincts had alerted them to the impending danger. Linnet paused for a moment still undecided, even though the dogs were impatiently waiting, and Llamari was beginning to dance beneath her.

Should I try to rouse the villagers and warn them of what is to come? She agonized, her thoughts in turmoil. How will they respond to me? I am an outcast now Nana has gone. My gift was never accepted as being the same as hers, because it works in a slightly different way. The villagers barely tolerate my presence. Why should they concern me now? She knew that her grandmother would have frowned severely at this last line of reasoning.

It’s not as though I can give them any proof that would be accepted. Why should I be put into the stockade while they wait to see if what I have said is true or not? And if I am right, I will likely be branded as a black witch and blamed for what happens. Her jumbled thoughts spiraled in ever-tighter circles. Nothing provided a final solution for her dilemma, but it didn’t feel right to not even try. Then she deepened her thoughts and enlarged her considerations. I will be condemning Bear, Sukki, Llamari and even Myrridyn because they will never leave me, even though they feel the need to go desperately. Oona must have had a reason to warn us.

With that thought, she wheeled Llamari around and started down the road away from the village and toward the ancient forest. Sukki loped down the road in front of them, while Bear followed the mare, pulling the dogcart behind him. Myrridyn did his best to keep watch while flying in the now warming morning air currents above their heads.

Linnet’s short history of twelve years streamed through her mind as the companions travelled away from the only real home she had ever known. She had been the youngest of eleven sons and daughters. Her over-extended and weary mother had given up the toddler to the care of her