Phantom Regency
Chapter 18

I will not leave you powerless. If you follow me and no other, I will pour out my energy upon you. The Phantom Realm overlaps what you call reality. You can touch it and exercise my powers. To all the powers are given. My will and purpose will energize each power. Once it will be the power of intervention, again it will be the power of voice, once again it will be the power of dreams. Once it will be the power of understanding, again it will be the power of phantom sense, once again it will be the power of restoration. Once it will be the power of insight, again it will be the power of counsel, once again it will be the power of courage. I freely give my powers to you, freely give them to the galaxy.

-From the Sayings of the Sky Man

Ailan sat in the parlor of his home. Eamor, Talon, Halen, Averil, and two others sat in a semicircle in front of him. He had been teaching them for the last hour or so.

Ailan resumed reading from a book on his lap, “A true follower of mine will never be alone. My powers and wisdom are always near. Seek me, speak to me and unchain yourself from the worlds and their greed. Do this and you will never be defeated. I will welcome you as a champion when you pass on to the Phantom Realm.” He looked up. “Wonderful words, are they not? Meditate for a moment on what you have just heard.”

He paused and looked at each of his pupils in turn. His face was upturned in an almost permanent smile. He had been teaching them daily for the last four months since Eamor’s arrival.

“Morrlena.” He addressed a tall, middle-aged woman. She had blonde hair streaked with gray. “Tell me what steps we can make to tap in to Sky Man’s power.”

“As he says, we speak to him and ask him to give it to us. We also practice the Phantom Powers with each other, giving one another encouragement and feedback”

“Very good. We endeavor to make this a safe place to do just that.” Ailan said. “Talon.”

“Yes, teacher.”

“What of the wisdom of Sky Man? How do we get it for our normal lives?”

“Well,” Talon answered, “I think we mostly just ask for it, and trust him to know best.”

“Yes, but steps can we take? Swift.” He addressed a smallish boy. He looked barely twelve, but was nearing his nineteenth birthday. He was Dale and Lily’s son.

Swift replied, “First of all we read and study the Sayings of Sky Man to know him better. Also, I’ve found that if I sit in silence after I speak to him. I feel his answer in my heart. If we believe he is real and loves us and wants to help us, it’s only natural to want to hear from him every day.”

“Good, we are out of time. Eamor, will you speak to Sky Man on our behalf?”

Eamor relaxed back into his chair and drew a deep breath. “Sky Man, friend and master, speak to us inside our hearts and let us live out the truths of your sayings daily. Give Talon and Halen and the team strength and courage tomorrow. Keep them safe and bring Old Red safely back to me. Speak to him now. Let him feel your presence and power in his heart. May it ever be so.”

“May it ever be so,” they all responded.

Eamor talked to Talon on the way out. “I wish I was going with you.”

“Yes, I wish you were, too. I think you’re a better pilot than Halen anyway,” Talon replied, poking Halen as he walked by.

“Hey!” Halen exclaimed, “Don’t forget my lesson at seven.”

“I’ll be there.”

Swift walked up to Talon, “I’d like lessons as well.”

Talon eyed the small young man. “What skills do you have?”

In answer, Swift did a standing backflip, landing in a crouching, fighting stance.

Talon raised his hands in fake surrender. “Well, all right. I think I can work with that. Let’s talk after I get back.”

“Sure, thanks,” Swift said trotting off.

Eamor waved at him then turned to Talon, “Have you practiced your power of intervention much?” They began walking side by side through the picturesque neighborhoods of Somdartown. The houses were all made from the native Blackwood trees.

“No, I’ve gotten discouraged. I can’t control it well enough. I accidentally destroyed Morlenna’s holo phone yesterday. I’m speaking to Sky Man about it. It will come to me sooner or later. Have you heard from Mya?”

Mya had gone to Vorgan City for two weeks to help with an orphanage the Watchers were opening there. “No, nothing today. I really miss her,” Eamor said

“So,” Talon added with a gleam in his eye, “When are you going to make your move? You’ve been ‘friends’ long enough. I’d have kissed her by now.”

“You would have.” Eamor laughed. “I don’t know. It’s such a big deal. I want to wait on word from Sky Man. But what about you? You’ve been all starry-eyed around Averil. When are you going to make your move?”

“I did. A couple weeks ago,” Talon shared.

Eamor glanced at him.

“She said no.” Talon laughed to himself briefly. “Said she had to brush up on her hand to hand combat skills first. Seriously though, she just gave me the runaround about not being ready.”

Eamor smiled. “Well Talon, you need to make sure you are ready. She’s quite the little fireball. I don’t know that you could keep up,” Eamor frowned and struck a more serious tone. “Actually, she has left a lot behind. She still has some hurts inside. She wanted a hero to take her away from her old life. She thought it would be me, but I never came back. I think she’s going to need time.”

“Or maybe she just doesn’t like me.”

“Well, at least I manage to put up with you.” He punched Talon playfully in the arm.

That evening Talon was awaiting Halen for his combat lesson. They had been working with sparring swords for several weeks in preparation for the raid on the Dread Nest. Halen had been training with Talon and was almost as strong now. They met at the community center. The town elders were all followers of Sky Man. They graciously met the Watchers’ every need.

Halen walked in. He had his pink kerchief in hand. His eyes were red.

“You okay?” Talon asked.

“Fabulous.” Halen said, his tone indicating the opposite. He slumped down on a bench.

Talon sat next to him.

“This was my mother’s. It’s the only thing left from my past.” He paused for a few seconds and took a deep breath. “Jaythun did an extensive search for her. She grew up in Terminal City. My father was killed when I was a baby. My mom disappeared when I was twelve. I always assumed she had died, but I really have no idea. Guess I couldn’t stomach the fact that she may have left me.”

“What did Jaythun replace?”

“Not a thing. No trace of her. I think I would have been okay either way. But to get nothing…” He fell silent.

“I guess closure would have been good,” Talon said. “My family is still alive. All I get from them is a mail-gram on holidays. Haven’t seen them in years. I guess I just…” He realized he was just filling the silence.

Halen finally stirred. “Let’s go.”

They began stretching and warming up.

“So, it begins tomorrow. We are really going to do this,” Halen said with a little trepidation in his voice.

“Yes. Hard to believe in a few months we’ll be raiding the Nexus.”

“If all goes according to plan,” Halen said, doubt creeping into his voice.

“Well, it is Sky Man’s plan,” Talon replied, “Is this engineer of yours really gonna be able to pull it off?

“Old Red is the best.” Halen replied, “If Eamor can create an interface that will tie in four cylinders, that crazy old coot can make it work. I just hope he’s still alive.”

“I hardly think Sky Man would have told Eamor to rescue him if he wasn’t.”

“True. I guess I just… Anyway, are you ready to start?” They began sparring.

Early the next morning as they were preparing to launch the operation, Averil approached Talon and Halen. She was wearing a pink jumpsuit. She had grown her hair out and had gathered it into a large ponytail at the top of her head.

“May Sky Man go with you,” she said solemnly.

“I trust he will. Speak to him of us,” Halen responded. “He patted Talon on the back. “Got to get the boat warmed up.” He trotted off.

“Are you okay?” Talon asked Averil, noticing she was pale and shaky.

“Yes, I guess I might be a little… kind of… you know… afraid. I don’t want anything to happen to you… to all of you I mean,” she added sheepishly. She poked him playfully in the ribs.

“Quit talking like I’m going away forever. I’ll be back in a flash. No amount of pirates can keep me from my future. Sky Man is with me.” He grabbed her by each shoulder. There was an awkward moment when they almost hugged. Averil shook off his grip and walked away.

After a few paces she turned and waved. He waved back and headed toward the Skyboat. She watched him walk away just as she had watched Eamor all those years before. A tear escaped her eye and ran down her face.

“Talon,” She whispered.

“Talon”

Talon awoke and found himself in a brightly lit room. His head was spinning. He heard a voice.

“Talon! Talon! It’s me. It’s Averil. Can you hear me?”

His vision faded again. He spent what seemed like days half awake and fading back into unconsciousness. Sometimes when he awoke, Averil would be there. She was so kind, so concerned. Eamor and Ailan were almost always there as well. He seemed to be hooked up to a hundred tubes and wires.

What went wrong on the raid?

He wondered if he would ever recover. He wondered how badly he was hurt. What would it be like to slip into the Phantom Realm and leave this life behind? The writings of the Regents contained only speculation of what lay beyond.

One day, Ailan and Eamor were there when he regained consciousness. He was still too frail to speak but he nodded weakly when he saw them.

“Talon, you are dying. I hope you can understand me. You suffered massive injuries to your internal organs. There is nothing more medicine can do. I have experienced the power of Sky Man healing bodies before – the power of restoration according to the Sayings of the Sky Man. Eamor is willing to try to exert phantom power on your behalf. If you are able, speak to Sky Man. Ask for help.” Ailan reached down and grabbed his hand. Talon nodded again weakly.

Eamor approached the side of the bed. He closed his eyes. His lips moved silently. He focused his mind on the Phantom Realm. He reached out for power, much as he did when he used power as a weapon. This time he focused the power on his love for his friend.

Ailan gasped when he saw Eamor’s hands begin to glow. Eamor reached out and touched Talon in the chest. Sparks of white-hot energy danced across the room. An explosion of crackling, yellow-green lightning emitted from Talon. Everything went silent and still. Eamor slumped limply to the ground.

Ailan looked down from Talon to Eamor just as he was stirring. He groaned weakly. Ailan touched his shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“I think so. Aaah! I have never been more spent. I can hardly move,” Eamor groaned.

“Just stay there a while.” Ailan said. Just then he felt a strong hand grip his shoulder. He whirled around to see Talon sitting up and smiling.

“Ailan! It worked. I felt phantom energy all through my body. All the wounds got so hot. I thought I was on fire. It was amazing.”

Ailan helped Eamor to his feet. Talon grabbed Eamor. “Thank you my friend.”

“Thank Sky Man,” Eamor replied.

“What happened? Did we fail?” Talon asked.

“You were attacked by a pirate in an armored suit. Beat you to a pulp. Apparently, your ion gun failed. They managed to rescue you and get you out.”

“Did we get Old Red? Is he here?”

“You better believe it. And he is ornery as ever. Let’s go see him.”

They left the small hospital to cheers from the gathered Watchers. Talon was welcomed and encouraged by all. Averil was there, but she stayed on the outskirts of the crowd. She was so glad Talon was okay, but confused by the lack of peace in her heart.

A little later, Talon and Eamor caught up with Red at Ailan’s house.

Red looked older than ever. His golden beads were gone. Instead his neatly combed beard was spread out over his torso and his hair cascaded down his back. The old engineer looked up from the couch as they entered. “Hey Mongoose…er, Eamor. Sorry.”

“That’s okay Red. Meet Talon,” Eamor replied.

Talon extended his hand. Red stood and grabbed him at the elbow and locked arms. “I’ll never forget what you done. Whatever ship you lead, you got an engineer. Best danged ol’ engineer you ever met. I’ll tell you I… Uh…”

“I was glad to do it. For all your service to Eamor we are all grateful.”

Red let go of his hand and turned away. He said quietly, “I didn’t really know what I was doin’. I never done nothin’ good with my life… ’cept talk to Sky Man now and then.”

Eamor stepped over and laid an arm across his shoulder. “He heard everything you said… and everything you didn’t say. He was watching when you protected me and helped me. His destiny for you was always intertwined with mine.”

There was a great celebration that night. Everyone was amazed at Talon’s healing by the power of Sky Man. They also rejoiced in the completion of the first operation. They were on their way to restoring the Regency and fulfilling the will of Sky Man.

During the party, Old Red grabbed Eamor. “Mongoose! This is great. It has been way too many moons since I was so free, literally and otherwise.”

“It’s good to have you back in my life,” Eamor replied.

“About that. That feller Jay-thon or whatever, he was talkin’ about building ships with four cylinders. I hate to break it to you but that’s impossible.”

“I know it has been tried unsuccessfully. But Sky Man commands it, so it must happen. It seems that He’s telling me that it has to do with proper synchronization. Phantom energy has a rhythm to it. Only a Regent can ever experience it. With my help, we can merge the rhythm of all the cylinders. We’ll have plenty of time to work it out when we get to our new home. Excuse me, I need to see Ailan.” Eamor had seen his mentor enter.

“Okay. Glad to be with you now, Mongoose. I owe Sky Man big time.”

“I will speak to Him of you.” Eamor replied, hugging the old engineer.

Eamor approached Ailan. Jaythun was with him.

“I dreamed of the young Regent again last night. I feel like I need to meet him soon. Even before we make any more moves,” he said to them.

“Okay,” Jaythun responded. He was humbled in Eamor’s presence now. Ever since the night at the garden with Mya, Eamor spoke with more assurance and presence. It seemed that he had taken up his authority as Regent. For all his other faults, Jaythun recognized it. He continued, “I just don’t see how we can pull that off. You can’t just walk up to the palace and demand an audience.”

“Sky Man will have to tell us how.”

“I already know how.” Ailan shared with a twinkle in his eye. They looked at him puzzled. “I have a man on the inside.”