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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 3245830" data-attributes="member: 8530">Chapter One-hundred-twenty-one, “Minerva’s Dreams“, Saturday June 10th, 1882, 10:30 P.M. Emily puttered across the wood floor of her very own room and opened the window. Even in her long white nightgown it was easy for her to climb onto the windowsill and sit so everything but her backside was actually outside. "Hello Diana," she said in a friendly way to the waxing moon as she dangled her legs in the air. The pale moonlight threw strange shadows across the ranch, far away toward the hill where she and Ellen had watched the sun set in a blaze of red, orange and purple. She had never been in such an open place at night; it was amazing to look away and away across the land and over the trees and see so many stars above that they almost blocked out the black sky. Deep down there was a little ache that missed her family in Chicago. It was a little lonely all alone in the large room with no one to send her to bed with kisses and wishes for sweet dreams. But there was a family here too; big and warm and wanting her. And the land was waiting too, calling for her to come roam over it and learn its secrets. Anyone watching outside would have seen the ghostly apparition in the window for about a quarter of an hour before it folded on itself and slipped back in the window. Emily left the window open as she climbed into the big bed and stretched out to take up as much room as she could before she fell asleep.Across town, Chester hears the sound of several boots running in the direction of Marshall's Office. He steps towards the door to see four dwarves who he recognizes from his visit to the Last Ditch Mine in March. They looks exhausted and presumes they may have run the entire distance from their mine three miles away. He gestures for them to come inside and takes out a pitcher of water as they tell him what has transpired. The one named Svein has the best English and says that the Mine was just attacked. The group had just returned from the rally in town at the Comique when eight human riders with dark hoods over their heads rode up to the mine. The men blew up their supply shed with dynamite and then shot and killed both of the mules. They told Vidkin that if he didn't withdraw from the Mayor's race they'd kill his workers next time instead of just his livestock.Chester slams his hand on the desk. "Damn them. You were right to tell me about this. Do you have a place in town to stay? It'll be harder for those riders to hassle you here than out at the mine. This can't happen if the town is going to succeed. The Marshall's going to have to hear this. Let's go." Chester leads the dwarves to Berg's home. He knocks on the door. "Mitch? It's Chester. I have some bad news."Berg appears to have been reading in bed, as he is in his nightclothes and the oil lamp beside the bed is lit with a book beside it.  He lets in Chester and the dwarves and hears what they have to say. He says, "Okay Chet, why don't you go back to the office. It sounds like whoever it is doesn't like the slate of candidates and with you, Helen and Neil all running it is probably best if Eddie and I go check this out instead. It's entirely possible that with the ultimatum having been given the threat is passed for tonight at least, since the soonest he could potentially withdraw from the race is tomorrow." Svein translates and Vidkin says something in return. Svein says, "He states that he has no desire to withdraw. He has never backed down from a threat before." Berg says, "I understand but maybe this time he should seriously consider it. He may be the frontrunner but his not being able to speak either English or Spanish would still make it difficult for him to get elected. The outlaws told him to withdraw from the mayor's race, they didn't say anything about Town Council. He could be substituted for a candidate on one of the other Party's tickets and the two years on the council would give him invaluable experience and the time to enhance his linguistic skills for a serious run for mayor next time." Svien translates and then translates back Vidkin's comment of "He will think over what you have said." Berg says "There's actually no rush if the outlaws didn't give you a timetable. When that reporter asks you about what happened tell him what was said and say that you will make a decision by the time of Thursday's Mayoral debate. If they read that in the paper it should hold off the outlaws from further violence against your mine until then. By then we will have hopefully caught them, so it will be a moot point.""OK. I don't agree that Mr. Vidkin should stop running for mayor. But it's not my head on the line."  Berg says, "You're right. It isn't, deputy. Go back to the office. Who knows who else our mysterious riders will be visiting tonight."   Chester nods and leaves for the office.  The night passes without any further incident. Without thinking about where she is going, Minerva had found her way to Nanuet’s grove, wraps her cloak about her and falls asleep. The pale round face of Diana illuminates Minerva’s struggle as she battles with her personal demons. Events that have come to pass flit through the troubled woman’s mind like the moving pictures of a nickelodeon. “The murder of her father. ... " I am too late....They killed him.” She feels the rage of Mars coursing through her veins as she extracts her revenge, Blood is everywhere, death is all around her. “I'm not sure how many died. It doesn't matter. I am sorry Papa.” The day she arrived in Promise City. “The gods have lead us here Luna. This is the Promised City.” Nanuet lying half dead in the street, she overcome with fear. She holds him in her arms and cries out. “Please do not take him from me. I cannot bear to lose him.”  The feeling of power as their gods combine their strength and channel their healing power through her.  She rises up on her knees and facing Nanuet takes his hands excitedly. “And then there is what happened when I healed you. I have never done that before! I have never felt that way before! Do you know what it means? It's meaning is NOT clear to me." The start of their courtship, the Goddess led us here, Nanuet, I will trust that she has her reasons, Senor but I believe that you are one of them."  Nanuet returns the smile and then speaks. "I know we are bound, if by nothing else then by fate.”  Their bonding ceremony “I love you, Nanuet.” "I feel as though I have been waiting for you all my life. It is the Fates that have brought us together, but it is love that will hold us together. “I want you to teach me the ways of love tonight, mi Amor. Will you do that?” "You have already shown me the ways of love Minerva, but if you are asking for me to take you to bed my love, yes, I am honored." As she dreams her breath quickens and a soft moan escapes her as she relives the ceremony. He does not flinch, and enforces his iron will, determined to be patient and gentle with his uninitiated lover. He stands perfectly still while she dips her finger in the oil and places it on his brow- “for wisdom to keep your thoughts clear; she says in a soft voice. His heart -“to keep it open to the love you will give and receive this night; she says with a slight tremble in her voice. and when she anoints his body on other secret places, sacred to the gods – “as a sign of their blessing and to insure their favor” he is no longer able to contain his passion. Images from her previous journey through the Veil of Dreams streak through her mind. She is standing before the dark warrior who guards the path “Why have you brought me here?” she asks. “It is time for you to choose.” He responds in a deep, yet gentle voice. She gazes beyond him to the right. There lies a well-trod path trampled smooth by the passage of many who have come before. She turns and studies the path to her left. It is much more treacherous, not much more than an empty streambed it is strewn with rocks and brambles and yet not so overgrown that it is impossible to navigate, She musses. Minerva raises her eyes and questioningly meets the steady gaze of the ancient eleven warrior. “It is for you to choose.” He saysLost in sleep and unable to rouse herself from the painful memories, she engages in a tug-o’ war with the gods as they attempt to pull her spirit through the Veil of Dreams once more. She kicks off the cloak that protects her from the chill of the night and leaps up in her sleep, “I made my choice! You had no right to take him from me!” she yells out. Momentarily confused, she looks about to locate the source of her voice and is not surprised to see herself standing on the desert floor below shaking her fist at the heavens. Unlike the anger emanating from her physical being in the Arizona desert, her spirit self is overcome with sorrow as she surveys the twisting, unkempt path that the old warrior had stood before when last she visited this plane.   A soft golden light streams through the trees that surround the path and the goddess Minerva steps forward from nowhere. “It is difficult to see where the path you have chosen leads. You knew that it would be treacherous and difficult to navigate yet you chose it in spite of that warning. Would you go back now and lose all knowledge of the love that you hold so dear?” Sarcasm drips from the anguished woman’s tongue as she quotes Shakespeare. “It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? That is cold comfort, Mother.” “Do not lose faith in me, Daughter. I would not bring you to ruin.” “But why then did you bond me with him and then tear him from my side so cruelly?” “I had only just begun to understand what it means to be loved by another.” She whimpers and falls to her knees grasping the hem of the goddess gown as she pleads with the apparition. She looks up at her goddess, the torment evident in her posture and voice. “Why are you punishing me?” “I am not punishing you, child. What was done was done to save you. For before you came to Promise City, you had suffered a bitter loss and had chosen the dark path of destruction and despair. Only a bonding of such magnitude as the one that you shared with the elf held enough power to open your heart to the light again, to force you to live again. I created you in my image.” She says gently touching the priestess, face. “and have endowed you with many of my traits, but you are not a god, Minerva. You are a mortal work in progress subject to mortal faults and weaknesses. The molding of your destiny cannot be accomplished without some pain. How are you to teach love to others if you do not understand the scope and depth of its strength and sorrow, until you have lived with the burden and the joy that love endows upon it’s bearer? Until you learn to embrace each aspect of it fully, you will be incapable of serving the people whom the gods have placed in your care. You cannot preach what you do not know.” “I do not take pleasure in your pain.” the goddess continues, caressing the girls dark tresses. “You are young and your emotions run strong, but I promise you that it will ease with the passing of time and that you will love once again. Nanuet was your first love. He will always be a part of you and you will draw upon the lessons that he taught you, but he was not meant to be the final destination, He is the door that leads to the journey’s start. Your eyes have not yet been opened to the ONE who is meant for you. “Tears stream freely down Minerva’s face as she is both comforted and saddened by her goddess’s words. “I thought that you had abandoned me.” “I will never abandon you, child. You must trust me. You are destined to do great deeds but you cannot accomplish them alone. You must draw your strength from the love that surrounds you.” The goddess says pointing down to the lone man in the desert who guards Minerva’s physical being. “Trust in those that tread the path with you. The path that you have chosen. It has led you to Promise City and to your new friends for a purpose greater than yourself. Nanuet has walked the path with you for a time but he is not the path and although he has enriched your life with his presence he has also served a less obvious purpose as well. “The boy.” Minerva whispers, remembering the Bishop’s words. “The goddess places her hand on the young priestess shoulder and turns her around so that they are face to face. “Yes. The boy. He was sent to help heal the rift between the humans and the non-humans. The rift has widened and as a result a great evil has risen up from the darkness and is feeding upon the blood of the innocent and turning them to the dark path. The boy is special; He is part of both the human and the non-human worlds. He will aid you in your task of healing the rift and driving out the evil.” “Your will be done.” Minerva says as the goddess embraces her. She awakens to find herself standing in the moonlight, and falls sobbing to the ground. A final conversation with Nanuet floods through her mind and she is filled with a profound sense of relief, and a renewed sense of purpose. "Oh, I have no doubt that gods exist, Nanuet. They have placed themselves in my path even when I did not desire it… but perhaps they put these obstacles before me to strengthen my resolve."Jake is rescued from his pensiveness when he notices that Minerva is moving. She kicks off her cloak and leaps to her feet. Jake's hand flashes to his ever present Colt and draws it, hammer back and ready to fire. However, the threat to Minerva is not apparent. Whatever she is looking towards, remains unseen by Jake. He stands, stretching muscles that have grown complacent sitting down for the first part of the evening. He strains his eyes but still does not see what she is looking at. Then she falls to her knees. Jake takes a few steps forward and starts to call out her name but ceases when he sees the young woman look up, as if someone were standing before her. He glances around, noticing nothing, hearing nothing. Hesitant to holster his weapon, he looks for any sign of someone or something that she may be reacting with. Again she stands, and her arms surround empty air as if someone where standing there in her embrace. Finally she falls to the ground, and her body shakes as if sobbing. Jake takes a few more reluctant steps towards her and pauses. Again, nothing is apparently there, with no real threat to her safety that he can ascertain he slowly lowers himself on his blanket. After a time he gently returns the hammer to the safe position and places his pistol back into its home. Dreams, he thinks, the poor woman is haunted by dreams. The dreams of a priestess are not likely the kind to be interrupted or trifled with. He suppresses a shudder and continues his vigil over her.Minerva sits on the desert floor and cries softly for a time. Once the tears have washed away her sorrow she sits quietly upon the warm desert floor, gazing up at the softly smiling face of Diana. Her faith restored she is once again filled with feelings of joy and peace. She smiles serenely back up at the benevolent goddess and bruising the sand from her skirt stands facing her. In quick fluid movements she drops her clothes to the ground and raises her arms to the heavens displaying the gift of her beauty to those who created her as she chants in a high clear voice filled with unmistakable joy and celebration. Once the ceremony of thanksgiving is complete she bends down to retrieve her clothes. She slips into her skirt and unhurriedly begins to button her blouse she stops half way up as she suddenly recalls looking down from the Veil of Dreams to see a lone man sitting against a slender tree. Just when Jake thinks Minerva's dreams are over, and just as he begins to lose himself in his own thoughts again, she stands one more time. What is she... he thinks to himself but the thought is never completed as she quickly disrobes. "Teaches me, I should have got a front row seat," he says quietly to himself. He silently enjoys the rest of her performance. A smile comes to the priestess' lips as she remembers the words of her goddess. You must draw your strength from the love that surrounds you.” The goddess says pointing down to the lone man in the desert who guards Minerva’s physical being. “Trust in those that tread the path with you She finishes buttoning her blouse, picks up her boots and cloak and walks barefoot up the hill. "Evening, Jake. Lovely night to be out in the desert, is it not?"  "Yes. The wonderful thing about the untamed Arizona Territory is that you never know what beauties will be revealed to you in the wilderness." He has a small smile on his face and is twirling his hat on the finger of his left hand. Minerva grins back at him. "Si, You never know what or who you will find wandering in the desert night." She kneels and kisses his cheek. "Gracias Jake." She slips on her boots and makes her way back home.  "Pleasant dreams, Senorita."   After Minerva leaves the grove and goes back to her house, Jake makes his way home as well and finds no difficulty falling asleep.</blockquote>

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