Nigkala Tales Pt. 16: Riders of the storm

"Should I take it?"

"Yes."

When we went through the small temple back to the lake, we walked a mile to the east, to a hill overlooking the lake. Hugeng clapped, and the illusion disappeared.

"The first thing I will do is to teach you how to see my residence through the illusion." He clapped again, and it was a hill again. "The illusion is so good you can even climb it. So begin by using your spiritual sense to see."

Not only did I use the spiritual sense I developed under Inanna, but I also used the air sense from An, and the rock sense from Everest. I found that each of these saw different things, but they all showed me something was here. The rock sense was the clearest about the hidden structure, and the air sense gave me a feel how it affected the nearby air. But the spiritual sense was the most blurred. I described each of these to Hugeng, and he was impressed at how much I learned.

"That blurring is a shroud hiding what lies behind it. You need to see it as a separate thing, so that you can see beyond it."

"Let me try." I calmed my mind, and used my spiritual sense, but with the knowledge that there was something in front of what I sought. I recalled that Sumerian book of magic describing this situation, but for a magical sense. I tried the same techniques, but on a spiritual basis. I soon found the blur as a distinct field in the shape of the hill, and behind it the building my rock sense saw. I described this, and opened my eyes.

I still saw the hill. "Drat. The hill is still there. Give me a few moments." I focused on my eyes, willing them to see the truth within the hill, using my knowledge of the spiritual blockage to sight. "It is beginning to come through. I can see vague outlines of the building." I continued to will it, and even added in my rock knowledge. "Woah! That did the trick. I can now see both the hill and the building, and I know that both have their reality."

"That was quick. Can you walk the path into the building?"

I realized this was a test to see if I could choose the reality I walked in. So, I imagined myself walking on the path, and then started walking. When I came to the hill, I could feel the resistance as I passed through it, but it didn't stop me. Once I passed all the way beneath the hill, I stopped and turned around.

"Tada! I made it."

"You indeed have talent. Most who come here take weeks to achieve what you have done in minutes. Still, I could see your struggle. Each day, I want you to spend an hour passing in and out of the hill, and alternating with climbing up it. I want you to be able to choose your path on a whim. But enough for now, come inside, and I will show you your room."

It was clear this building was built with his dragon form in mind. The rooms were large, and the ceilings high. After putting my things away, he took me on a little tour. First with his house, then we circled the lake, and he showed me several buildings and natural features. At one point, something caught my eye.

"Hey, something glinted over there in the grass."

"Oh? Quite unlikely."

"Let me take a quick look." As I headed to where I saw the glint, I used my spirit sense to see if there was anything of note. There I saw not a glint, but a very soft and tiny glow. As I neared, it resolved into several even softer glows. It was tricky seeing with both my regular eyes and my spirit eyes, but I made do, and found the source of the glint. It was a piece of scale I had cut off during our fight. I picked it up and went to the next one. Several more times I picked a piece up, and finally I gave a careful look and saw no more. I returned to him.

"What did you find?"

"These." I held out my hands and showed the scales I picked up. He immediately recognized them.

Looking about, he said, "Yes, this is where we fought. Bring these back to the house, as they retain a tiny portion of my essence."

As we entered, he directed me to place scales into a jar on the bureau in my room. "What shall we do for the rest of the day?"

"I have no plans, but you can practice on the path sight."

"Hmm, that will take an hour, but what of the remaining time? Would you object if I did some exercise? And that lake looks wonderful. May I swim in it?"

"You are full of energy. Exercise will be fine. In fact, as the training from the language teacher and I will be focused on your mind, it is best you care for your body as well. As to swimming, know that it is a holy lake."

"Okay. I will not go in."

"Actually, you may, but first you must ritually cleanse yourself. I will teach you how, right now, and then I shall join you in the lake."

"Okay. I'll be right back." I quickly went to my room and undressed. I folded the Qipao and placed it on the bureau. Then I returned to Hugeng. "I am ready."

"Naked?"

"Why not. At my home, I usually swim naked, and I am not bothered by being naked. Besides, the only things to wear are those very nice clothes. Will it be a problem?"

"For you, I don't think so."

"But for you? Well, if that is the case, we can have sex later."

"Right. Moving on. The cleansing ritual. You must clear your mind of impure thoughts. You must have inner peace before you can enter it. Your mind must be in balance, or it will reject you. The more you push it, the harder it will reject you. I have even once seen it toss a stubborn soldier over twenty feet. Do you understand how to cleanse yourself?"

"Yes."

"The let's go swimming."

We both walked outside, and as I went, I meditated to rid myself of worries and to set my mind at peace. For the impurities, I thought about what I had recently done, and what Inanna would think of it. I came to the realization that she seemed to think I was doing what she wanted, as she rarely asked me to do anything, and often chatted about what I had done. She also often called me daughter, so I suspected she cared deeply for me. In that knowledge, I didn't even slow down as I came to the edge of the lake, but calmly walked in. I felt no barrier at all, so I began to swim in the lake. When I looked to see where he was, I saw him at the edge, leaning on nothing. I swam back to him and got out.

"What is the problem?"

"Impure thoughts."

"Anything I can help with?"

"They are about you, and last night."

"I take it you desire more of me?"

"Yes, but that is keeping me out. Why is it not keeping you out?"

"It is true I have lots of sexual thoughts, but for Inanna, they are not impure, but holy. I often have sex for her, and she chooses to let me be with whom I will. As for you, think not of what we shall do tonight, but rather the swimming we may do now. Focus on the competitions we shall have in the water. I shall wait for you on the far side." I then ran to the lake, jumped, and dove in. I surfaced fifty feet away, took a deep breath, and proceeded to swim underwater until I needed another breath. In this way, I crossed the lake. After a bit, I swam about this end of the lake, back and forth. I kept my spiritual sense out, so I would see him arrive. It took him nearly half an hour. I swam over to him, being sure to only have my head out of the water.

When I actually saw him, I almost didn't recognize him. Then I did. He was in dragon form. "Shall we compete in some way? Perhaps we can compete by diving, or seeing how fast we can swim, or some such?"

"In this form, I am too fast for you, but diving could be interesting. We could pretend we are treasure hunting."

"Then we need some treasure. Hold out your hands."

He gave me a quizzical look, but complied. I focused, and summoned a granite puzzle box with an open lid. His eyes got big.

I said, "Not finished. That is just to hold the treasure." Next, I summoned various small value gems to fill it with. Then I closed the lid. Once closed, I said, "Wait here, and look away from the lake. Try not to notice where I drop it." I swam towards the middle, but about a third to the left edge. I dropped it there and returned to the center before heading back to him.

"Now, without cheating, find where I dropped it. I will go with you, and when you say so, we will both dive and look for it."

"What do you mean cheating?"

"Don't use what you sensed as I placed it. Your knowledge of the lake is fair game, as are your senses. Let's begin." I was curious, and followed him, trying to figure out his plan. He surprised me by going below the surface, and let out a high-pitched chirp. That was soon followed by another, but at a different frequency. Sonar. I was impressed. When he suddenly dived, I was hard-pressed to follow. I used my spirit sense to see him, and I used my rock sense at a coarse level, so I could detect the bottom of the lake, but not any details. Turns out it wouldn't have mattered, as he passed me on his way back up, I sensed his happiness, and my brief touch of rock sense showed he carried something. So I followed him up.

I surfaced to see him smiling. When he felt me arrive, he turned to face me and lifted the chest out of the water.

"That was fun."

"I didn't know you had sonar."

"Some do, others do not. Those who live with water usually do."

"You want to drop it, and I find it?"

"Sure."

"I'll swim to shore, and when you are ready, call or get me." I had barely reached the shore when he was there.

"That was fast. Ready?"

"Go find it. I'll follow you this time."

I opened up my rock sense, and learned that he was sneaky. There were many rocks at the bottom of the lake, and he had moved many around. I could not use the little memory of the floor that I had to find it. So instead, I focused on what kind of rocks they were. Aha! I found them, hidden with some other granite rocks. But the gems did not match. I swam directly over it, grabbed a large breath, then instead of swimming down, I summoned the weight of gold to make me sink quickly. As I also made myself as streamlined as possible, I went down quickly. Just before I got to the floor, I released the excess weight. I then lifted the rocks off that lay atop the box. Grabbing it, I summoned the weight of pumice, and shot up. I helped by kicking my legs, but I don't think that added much. When I burst forth, I let all but a small amount of the pumice weight leave, keeping only enough for offsetting the box.

"Looks like you know a few tricks also."

"Yeah. In addition to sensing rocks, I can differentiate them. So finding jewels on the bottom wasn't so hard."

"Definitely useful for treasure hunting. I am curious how you went down and up so quickly."

"That is another aspect of the mountain's power. I can summon the properties of rock as well. I summoned the weight of gold, and I went down as fast as if I were made of gold. Likewise, I rose with the speed of pumice."

"Handy, that. And you can summon the rock itself, also."

"Yes. That took weeks of practice before I was able to shape it reliably, and longer to summon the purity of gems. I've had years since then to summon different jewels, and also jewelry. I'm still working on the natural or handmade appearance, but machine-made over-perfection I have achieved."

"Over-perfection?"

"Yes. Machines can turn out vast quantities of the same thing again and again. When they do, the items lose that personal, crafted touch, because they are often geometrically perfect, and their welds, their solder, or other joining is uniform, not crafted. Such items are valued less than crafted stuff. Likewise, mankind can make a number of gems artificially. So I had to learn how to place impurities into the gems I summon, so they are valued as dug from the Earth and not made in some lab."

"You say these detect as real? Not magically summoned?"

"I don't know. We don't have a way to detect that, as far as I know, so it has never come up. If you find out, I would love to know, but no need to worry about it. I use most of the wealth I summon on charity. My own job and investments mean I won't need to worry about having enough to live. Besides, explaining the mineral wealth I get, gets complicated. Explaining the mineral wealth that charities get is much easier, especially when you know gem dealers around the world who don't ask too many questions. I always do it through an intermediary, so they will not learn who I am."

"What if they capture your minion?"

"My minions don't even know what I look like, and will also identify me as a man."

"Ha! There is no way they could mistake your voice as a man's."

Smiling, I lowered my voice to my secret other identity, George Holt, and said, "Are you sure they would not? I worked hard to perfect my lower voice."

"Great balls of fire! You are chock-full of surprises."

Back in my normal voice, I said, "I felt my acting career was being too limited, so I created a male-actor costume, and worked to perfect my masculine mannerisms. When I sprung it on my agent, he had no clue. The only one who knows me better is my husband, and he helped me create the persona. With it, I began a second career, but in parts no one would consider me for, before. Eventually, I allowed the secret to escape, and it became an open secret within the industry. That I had perpetrated such a disguise impressed many. But it also offended a few. I felt it was worth it, as I got work that was far more varied ever since. I still do bit-parts as a man, because sometimes the story needs a man. Also, they love to spring me on those new to the business." I smiled at some memories of such surprises.

"I loved it when a new lady tried to get laid by me. Learning I was also a woman was a shock, but to then learn how talented I was with my tongue, was an even greater one. She left confused, but satisfied, as only having several orgasms will do."

"You are indeed naughty."

"Yet, I am also nice, because I leave them sated. If they want more sex with me, Inanna is happiest."

We continued to play for two hours before Hugeng said it was time for lunch. As I walked out of the lake, I called on An's power to dry me off. We entered, and I was surprised to see a small staff setting out lunch just outside his house. They were clearly surprised at my nakedness, as well.

"Your staff?"

"Yes... Hmm, I think you best get dressed."

"Very well." I just walked confidently past them to my room, where I got dressed and returned. The staff had finished, and only one stood by, should we have any request.

"There are several families that live nearby that serve me. In turn, I protect them, and support them."

"We, too, keep a staff at home. While the local police do the protecting, our taxes pay them. We also support our staff in our own way."

"You have that kind of wealth?"

"I portray a very popular character, which pays well. I also, am sought after because of my acting skills. My husband, though playing lesser parts, is also desired for his skill. Together, we make enough for ourselves, our future, and them. I have never needed to use my divine gifts to pay our way."

"Self-sufficiency is good."

"Speaking of which, if I am to be here more than a day or two, I will need suitable clothing to work out in. these fancy outfits are wonderful for official business, but not suitable for everyday use."

"Quite true. However, clothes in your size will not be easily found."

"That should not be an issue. I have been making my own clothes for a long time. If I have the cloth and tools, I can make my own outfits. If a given style is desired, a good picture or sample would be all I need. Likewise, shoes, the two pairs I have are not designed for rough use. Neither will last long, I suspect, if I wear them every day. I also can make shoes if I have leather."

Looking to the staff, Hugeng ordered cloth, leather, and tools to make clothes to be acquired and presented to me. The staff person nodded.

"You mentioned I should keep my body fit while you two train my mind. Running and swimming are good, and I can do weightlifting. But what would be even nicer is competition. Could we spar? Having a partner I can go all out on will help me get stronger, and also it is more fulfilling than solo exercise."

"Indeed, it is. While I can handle you well enough, you would keep me on my toes, especially with your sneaky tricks. Therefore, you will exercise your mind in the morning, and we will exercise your body in the afternoon."

We continued to speak about my schedule, what there was to do, and how things worked in his domain. I was surprised to learn that the lake also healed, and that it had a very strong spiritual presence. He told me that its strength was spread across the entire lake, so it seemed very weak in any part, but as a whole, it was great. After lunch, we went out to spar.

When we were far enough from the house, I called a stop.

"Why stop here?"

"I don't want my clothes to be ruined." I summoned a tall stone table with thick sides at the top. I undressed and folded my clothes and put them on it, and also my shoes. I summoned the mountain's power for density, hardness, and strength. "There. We are far enough away; my nakedness won't be an issue for your staff. Let us continue."

He mumbled, "Not for the staff, but perhaps for me." I started to sway my hips and emphasize my femininity.

We walked a bit more, when he said he was ready. I replied I was ready, as well. I stopped teasing him with my body, and we began with simple warm-up sparring. Then, we went faster and harder.

Finally, he said, "Go full out, and see how long you last."

Having heard his comment the other day about needing hours, I decided I would see if I could summon endurance from the mountain. I did my best, but he was clearly better. He was also stronger, but I nearly matched his fighting speed. After two hours at this level, I decided the mountain had supplied endurance, as I didn't feel as tired as I thought I should feel. I also felt it was time to up my game, maybe. It depended on me pulling off a novel idea.

What I had in mind, was summoning An's power into me, not as an attack, but as an augmentation. Lightning is electricity, and nerves send electrical impulses. So I tried to summon An's power as lightning nerves. The idea was to speed up my nervous system, so I could control my muscles faster and thus become faster than him. It worked, but after a few moments, Hugeng called a stop.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Your body. Glowing lines suddenly appeared."

I looked down at myself, realized what was happening, smiled and said, "Wow. That's an impressive sight."

"Why are you smiling?"

"Because I just did something I wasn't sure would work."

"And that is?"

"I summoned An's power to make my nerves fast like lightning. Apparently, they glow like lightning, as well. Let's resume and see how well you deal with someone who, at least for now, is faster."

"This should prove interesting. Okay. Resume." Immediately he attacked, hoping to catch me off guard, but I expected it. After the third hour, he called another stop.

"It is time to slow down. Dinner will happen soon."

"Okay. It seems I am faster with this augmentation than you in human form. May I see your speed in dragon form? Perhaps a quick run around the lake?"

"You have me curious. I am much faster in dragon form, but how much faster are you? Let's find out." He changed to dragon form, and said, "One, two, three." On three, he started running, so I ran to follow him. I quickly felt like I was going maybe twice as fast as normal, but he was clearly the faster. As the run was nearly four miles around, by the time I was halfway, he was nearly finished. Not wanting to lose, I decided to teleport across the lake.

The next moment, I was there, and I saw him coming at me. At the same time, he saw me and looked quite surprised. In another minute, he finally came to me and stopped, breathing quickly. My own labored breath had already settled.