LUCID

CHAPTER 22

We joined Kat, Rey, and Arlo on the boat the next day.

It was a day for long discussions, all aimed at preparing me mentally and emotionally for my trip into the Void.

But we took our time – enjoyed the sailing – toured around a couple of the islands. There was only a light breeze but the boat cruised effortlessly wherever it was steered towards. Ember and I did some swimming – Kat and Rey stayed on board, saying they weren't too partial to getting their fur wet (what is it with cat-creatures?), but Arlo joined us, and boy could he swim... like a seal!

We listened to some of Kat and Rey's personal memories and stories of Sayan – it helped me to build a picture of her in my mind. Arlo was key to this – he channeled the most recent memories and transferred them to me – this way I got to feel that I knew her myself, remembered how she looked, how she talked, sensed her personality as best I could. It was better than any photo or video might have been.

Ember helped me to embed the frequencies of Kat and Rey and their family into my own 'aura', and I found myself tuning to the emotional spirit of the Feline race in a way I never could have imagined. I felt their ancient spirit and the love and compassion that defines them. With this, I was sure to be able to distinguish Sayan's frequency from every other.

We kept the conversation positive – no talk of all the dreadful things I might encounter in the domain of the Durge – there was no way to prepare for that more than I'd done already. Kat kept reminding me of the vision of the Pleiadian woman in my dream – 'friends in high places' – and told me I could trust that I was being protected in some way from higher up.

And I learned a song that was taught to all Felines from a young age – a melody that would be instantly recognizable to Sayan, and so help me in helping her to tune her psyche back to her origins, if she should be so deeply lost she'd forgotten herself. Rey sang the words but they were impossible for me to reproduce – I had to make do with just the melody. It was a strange tune, and quite difficult to learn, even for a musician like myself. The way it sounded, words and melody alike, was akin to a lilting song being played backward, without altering its recognizable structure or pleasantness. We sang it together over and over and over until it was firmly fixed in my mind.

The day drifted by as effortlessly as the boat sailed across the water. The sun eventually passed its apex in the sky and we headed back towards the mainland and moored for the evening in the bay.

We ate on deck, drank wine to more of Reys singing – he was enormously talented – and kept the mood mellow and light.

As the evening drew in and dusk settled, other people came to their boats, lighting up the decks with fairy-lights, lanterns and candles. The bay rang out with the sound of their laughter and music and chatter – it felt almost as if the whole town had come out to join us in the bay as way of a send-off for me.

I leaned over the railings and let my hand brush through the water, attracting a shoal of small fish that reacted to my frequency. Everything about this moment was perfect, and I could appreciate that, without forgetting that everything wasn't perfect back in my other life, and wouldn't be perfect tomorrow – but that was tomorrow. I could have dwelled on that, about what was to come, filled up my heart with concern about the unknown, broken the peace of the moment... but I refrained. This moment was meditation in purest form – awareness of the 'eternal here and now'.

Some people on a boat nearby started singing a soft, repeating air – a two-part melodic structure that asked a question then answered it. A second group on another boat picked it up and joined in... then another. Before long it seemed the entire bay was filled with that simple, gentle piece of music – rhythmically repeating like a chant, never rising to a crescendo, never breaking into a chorus, never disturbing the harmony of the evening mood. I heard Kat, Rey and Arlo join in too. Ember came over to me smiling and snuggled into my arms.