The Otherkind Book One:Heart

~*~ 15 ~*~

~*~ 15 ~*~

"I'll start with a story."

I looked at him feeling disappointed but didn't let it show.

"A long time ago, a very long time ago, a Guardian was assigned to a very beautiful young woman."

"You and me?"

"I'll get to us in a bit. First there are things I need to tell you. There are rules, taboo's even that Guardians must follow. Indeed, all Otherkind. One of them being, never must a Guardian fall in love with a human, whether they are their charge or not. Ever."

He looked away quiet for a moment and then continued on with his story. "Time went by and no matter how hard this Guardian tried, he couldn't help what he was feeling, even with the penalty of the 'utter-death' hanging over him." He saw my quizzical look.

"The utter-death is another kind of death, a second death." Pausing a moment he looked at the sky and then back at the wood in his hands. "Its effects are permanent. It means a soul gets recycled, losing everything it had ever gained in karma. Like starting over with nothing. Bottom rung of the ladder on a very long upward climb. The soul that goes through this does it alone with no option of ever finding a soul mate. It's like coming back as only half, never again feeling whole. It severs all ties that bind. But we'll leave that alone for now, I'll get back to it in a little bit."

His fingers were working the piece of wood nimbly and skillfully. Waiting patiently for him to continue I watched him.

"Anyway, this young woman, she was very beautiful, charming, witty, and oh did she have a fiery temper! Pure vixen." He smiled at me then, a soft tender smile. "And what was even more incredible was this young woman had eyes only for someone whom she should not have.

See? In the 'Before Times' this would not have been such a problem because all were allowed to choose their mate of their choice from any realm they wished.

This is going to get complicated Rowan, but see, the problems began occurring when some began experimenting. The hand of the Under-dark is all over that one, but we'll leave that alone for now as well. It's too complex. Anyway, numerous scientific experimentations became the catalyst for the Guild to set forth a new set of rules to protect the Earth realm."

"From?"

"From being overrun by the Under-dark completely. It would have made Earth more like a laboratory run amok than a place of learning as it had been set up to be. In came the new rules decried by the Guild. 'Common Times' as it's called now became enforced. Mixed marriages of intergalactic races, or 'Otherkind' as all our races combined are called, were no longer allowed because of the hell the Under-dark had been creating. Did you know the record keeping of all the inbreeding and scientific experimentations the Under-dark had been doing were kept, and you learn of them still today."

"I do?"

"Sure. Where do you think your mythologies come from, think of multiple gods and of others who are half human and half animal." he smiled. "It's like this," he held up his stick "what is, what you can see, it's really not what is real. It's limited by your five senses. You can only see this—" he moved the bit of wood closer to me. "But I can see all that." and he spread his arm out in a wide arc, and then tapped his heart. "There is more, so much more and I am not going to be able to answer all things now, but I will try."

"And us?"

"Us." he repeated softly.

I watched him.

"Us—" he whispered looking off to the horizon. "First I have to give you more of the past so you can understand the now, for they are directly linked together."