Shadows of Destiny: Journeys of Power

By David Noakes

Traversing the Rainbow: Saodat's Journey into Power
Join Saodat, Danny, and Nalini on an extraordinary odyssey through parallel universes, where shadow walking unveils unimaginable secrets. In London, they encounter a network of vampires entangled in the shadowy world of identity documents. With newfound knowledge and artifacts in hand, they return home, ready to embrace their destinies. But as Saodat's powers grow, their adventures take a mystical turn, leading them through vibrant chakras and dreamscapes.
Requiem for an Undead Sorceress: Love, Loss, and Betrayal
As Danny's group embarks on a journey filled with shadows, they stumble upon a sinister sorcerer's deadly plot. Meanwhile, secrets of Mary-Anne's tragic fate surface, sparking a quest for redemption and justice. Together, they explore the realms of magic, spirits, and the bonds that tie them all. Amidst dreams and ethereal encounters, they face demons, uncover ancient traditions, and awaken to their true potential.
The Mandala of the Pool of the Moon: A Gift of race
Witness the cleansing of a tainted soul as Mary-Anne confronts her past and navigates the realm of the dead with the enigmatic Ahriman. Surrounded by friends, they explore diverse magical traditions, unlocking the secrets of Dreamtime beings and luminous dragons. Forgiveness and celebration merge in a heartwarming Christmas gathering, revealing the enduring power of love and magic.
Winterblade and Fimbulwinter
As unusual weather descends upon London, a quest for a powerful artifact unfolds. With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, Danny, Nalini, Saodat, and Mary-Anne summon their abilities to confront ancient spirits and avert catastrophe. Secrets of sentient swords, battles involving Dreamtime beings, and the intervention by Lord Four Elements set the stage for an extraordinary showdown.
Ahriman's Epiphany
Dark forces threaten the very essence of children's souls, plunging our heroes into a mission to rescue and restore. Armed with newfound powers, they confront the malevolent Alchemist and his fortress of evil. Demons are unleashed, spells are cast, and the very fabric of existence trembles. In a world where dreams and reality intertwine, they embark on a perilous journey, with Ahriman and the goddess Kali becoming involved.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Noakes
• Release date: Sep 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9798201860363

David Noakes

David Noakes read Law at Pembroke College, Oxford, and practised as a solicitor until called into full-time ministry in 1975. From 1985 until 1991 he served in ministry with Clifford Hill, becoming leader of the PWM ministry team and subsequently a Trustee of Prophetic Word Ministries. He was for a number of years a visiting teacher for Ellel Ministries; and he is a member of Love Never Fails, a group of ministries working together to express love and support and to uphold Biblical truth concerning the Jewish nation. David is also an Advisory Board member of the European Coalition for Israel, which works in the European Parliament to support the nation of Israel. For many years he was a member and Elder of Marlow Christian Fellowship, but David is now based in South Dorset and commits his time to an itinerant teaching ministry, which has as its chief emphases God’s purposes for the nation of Israel, together with the need for preparation of the Church for the days to come. He is a Trustee and was until recently Chairman of the Board of Hatikvah Film Trust, a ministry which produces film documentaries designed to make known Biblical truth concerning the Jewish people and the Land of Israel. David is the author of “The Biblical Basis of Intercession”; a co-author of “Blessing the Church?”, a study of the development of the Charismatic Renewal movement; and also a co-author of a book “Israel, His People, His Land, his Story” published by the Love Never Fails group of ministries which is a Biblically-based refutation of the false teachings of Replacement Theology. He has been married for 44 years to Valerie, and they have three adult married children.

Book preview

Following on from the events in Avenging Angels, Danny, Nalini and Saodat attempt to settle down and give Danila and Katya as normal an upbringing as they can. Fate has other ideas.

Step into a realm where shadows hold secrets, and dreams unveil extraordinary powers. Join Saodat, Danny, Nalini, and their enigmatic guide, Lukeios, as they traverse diverse universes, battling sorcerers, unlocking ancient artifacts, and harnessing the forces of the Dreamtime. As they journey through realms filled with mystic wonders, they discover the true nature of immortals and their own latent abilities. From vampires meddling in identity documents to a sorcerer's sinister plot, this epic saga weaves a tapestry of magic, redemption, and revelations. With each instalment, Shadows of Destiny: Journeys of Power immerses readers in a world where dreams and reality collide, and where the bonds of friendship and the pursuit of justice defy the boundaries of time and space. Shadows are places where gods, demons and other entities that amuse themselves with games in which mortals are pawns.

Shadows of Destiny:

Journeys of Power

by

David Noakes

Published by:

David Noakes on Smashwords

Copyright 2022 by David Noakes

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

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Table of Contents

Traversing the Rainbow: Saodat's Journey into Power

London

Energy Imbalance

Imladril

Durathror and Ahriman

Durathror And Ra’anor

Attuning Saodat

Requiem for an Undead Sorceress: Love, Loss, and Betrayal

Breakfast the Third Day

The Murder Scene

Dr Moon

Walkers Discover the Bodies

Lunch with Lukeios and Elanor

The Beach, Auditors and Records.

Afternoon Energy Balancing

Dinner

Fight in the Docklands

Energy Sharing

The Next Full Moon

Back at the Beach

Those Who Seek Power, Those Whom Power Seeks

Following Mary-Anne

Preparing for Death

Breakfast on the Boardwalk

Lunch with Guests

The Mandala of the Pool of the Moon: A Gift of Grace

A Gift of Grace

The Tapestry of the Song Lines

Back in Brisbane

Winterblade and Fimbulwinter

Storm Front

Back at the hotel

Returning Home

Ahriman’s Christmas

Ahriman's Epiphany

Traversing the Rainbow: Saodat's Journey into Power

This takes place in mid November, two months after the events of The Angel of Pain.

Settling In

The phone rang while we were eating breakfast. Nalini answered it.

That was Liz. Nalini announced when she returned. Lukeios will be dropping in soon. He wants to take everyone to London this morning to sort out identity papers for Saodat and the girls.

Isn’t that the middle of the night in London? I asked.

Yes, but whoever Lukeios wants us to meet will be working late. So eat up, and each of you pack a day pack.

Cool. From Danila. We go shadow walking.

It’s 0635 now. Saodat announced the time military style. Can you girls be ready in twenty minutes?

Da. Danila replied. We need coats if we going to London. Is winter.

November in Brisbane is late spring, with temperatures in the high twenties to low thirties Celsius. There is no daylight saving, so the sun rises just before 5 AM. Most people here get up not long after sunrise. London would be quite different.

Phil, Liz, Lukeios and Elanor all arrived not long after seven. They entered our foyer and removed the shoes. Lukeios was an Egyptian looking man dressed in yellow slacks and a lavender shirt along with a pair of stout walking shoes. Elanor was an African looking woman dressed in a red and white top, pale blue slacks, and good walking shoes. Phil was slender young man with dusky skin, round face, curly dark brown hair, tawny yellow eyes and bulbous nose and fleshy lips, a mixture of Greek and Middle Eastern features. He was wearing black trousers with black walking boots, a dark crimson shirt, and a long jacket in silvery grey. Liz was part Murry aboriginal, with brown skin, round face with shoulder length black hair with a vivid scarlet streak. She was dressed similarly to Phil, except her top was dark red with a large eagle's head on the front, and her coat was dark green.

We walked from my house. Liz announced. It’s going to be a warm day.

I trust you are all settling in. Lukeios added. If you are ready, we should go.

Is it a long walk? Saodat asked.

We’ll take the short route. Lukeios replied. About half an hour. I’ll do the shadow shifting.

Shadows in this sense refer to the infinite number of universes that writhe and twist about each other like a ball of worms. We can travel to adjacent universes, selecting a path to a destination that might be in our original universe or could be in another. You measure the trip by the number of shifts you need to make to reach your destination.

Taking the short route means selecting safe shadows on the direct path to our destination. There would be completely different landscapes juxtaposed as you switched from one shadow to the next. The alternative travel method is the scenic route, where you pick a theme such as gravel roads with shady trees, and then select those shadows in the general direction of your destination. It would be an easier walk, but could take several times as long as the direct route.

We were all dressed for walking, with day packs for essentials we might need along the way. You never know what you might find lurking in a strange universe. Lukeios gathered us together in our foyer. Follow me.

We stepped forward, and the Foyer was wiped away in a rainbow smear, stepping onto a beach of blue sand. We could hear gentle waves lapping against the shore, and the air was filled with the salty scent of the sea. The sky was lavender, the sun orange. We appeared to be on a small island in the midst of a sea that stretched to the horizon in all directions.

We left footprints in the sand for perhaps ten meters before that shadow was wiped away in a rainbow smear and we walked upon packed earth strewn with crystals. The sky was a deep, brilliant purple, the sun slightly greenish, the air was thick with the scent of fresh-cut oranges. Dotted here and there were bulbous, cactus like plants that seemed to be made of crystal and reflected the sun in myriad colors.

We walked another eight to ten meters and the crystals vanished into a rainbow smear and another universe faded in. This was a barren, rocky ground spotted with jagged rocks and craters. The landscape reminded me of Mars, only darker red. The air was thin and dry, but breathable. Even the sky was orange red. All we could hear was the howling of the wind. Lukeios was selecting for shadows that would be safe for us to walk through, but they might not be safe if we stayed too long.

That universe vanished in a rainbow smear and an icy world appeared. The sky was dark, lit by auroras. There were howling sounds from some distance away. We could dimly make out mountains and snow-covered objects that might have been pine trees. We left our boot prints in the snow for eight to ten meters before a rainbow smear took us away.

We stepped only a flat, grass covered landscape. The sky was deep blue with a golden sun near the zenith and fluffy pinkish clouds. The grasslands seemed to be devoid of other life, and stretched to the horizon. There was a suggestion of mountain ridges in the far distance.

We stepped from our sixth rainbow smear to walk upon a post-apocalyptic wasteland with barley identifiable ruins of once great cities. The sky was orange-yellow with darker brown clouds streaked with red. It did not look inviting.

By my reckoning Lukeios shifted shadows twenty-seven times before we reached our destination.

London

We walked out of a rainbow smear into the foyer of a large building. The reception desk was manned by a male and female both dressed in black with white shirts. Their faces were pallid. They greeted Lukeios with ‘sir’ and had him sign us all in. Janice will guide you to Stephany’s office.

Stephany’s office was seven floors up. Stephany was dressed in dark red, an old-fashioned dress suggesting early 1900s. Lukeios, good to see you again. How are you Elanor? I do not recognize your companions.

You know Phil as my son Palomedes, and this is his partner Liz, … Lukeios introduced everyone. Finishing with Saodat, Katya and Danila were rescued from a dysfunctional shadow Earth. We need to establish identities for them, and get them with residency rights in Australia.

"Yes, you always bring interesting cases. I detect Slavic accents. I think a starting point would be to create identities in one of the Baltic states. Then the three can migrate into the EU, Poland or Germany. The Schengen zone gives them rights to reside anywhere in the EU. But you want to migrate to Australia. I think British passports would be simpler, though they are more expensive. The British and German governments can fast track their documents when they need.

Now, with British passports you will be able to go into the Australian embassy and apply to emigrate to Australia. A British passport should make that application quick and simple, but it could still take a few months. There are documents that have to be sent to Australia. If you are happy to wait in London for a few months, this is what I would recommend.

They are all residing in Australia, and the children should be going to school. Can you do anything to expedite that step?

We can, but I cannot deliver this week. We are looking at three weeks minimum, possibly four. At that point the three of you will have all the right papers to fly to Australia and reside there as residents. Not citizens, but permanent residents. The Australian government will offer you citizenship within two years of arriving, subject to good behavior. Will that meet your needs?

Yes, thank you, that’s what I am looking for. I know you can’t just produce valid documents in an instant. What sort of cost will this come to?

To the point, Stephany smiled, a new identity in a Baltic state is seven thousand pounds, a British passport will be fifteen thousand pounds, and the immigration papers with permanent residency will be eight thousand pounds. So thirty thousand pounds per person, a total of ninety thousand pounds. I hope that is within your expectations?

No problem. Nalini replied. How do you want payment? Cash, gold, gems, bank transfers?

Bank transfer to our Swiss bank would be preferable. Stephany replied.

A payment schedule was arranged, with Lukeios promising to check in with Stephany every week. Stephany asked a number of questions of Saodat, Katya and Danila, made careful note of the answers. One item we all agreed on was that Saodat and the girls would adopt my surname Piekowski.

Finally Stephany sat back. All right, I have all the information I need, I will get this started immediately. It is always good doing business with you Lukeios.

Stephany chatted for a few minutes with us, and then ushered us to the door. When it opened, Janice was there waiting to convey us to the foyer.

Lukeios gathered us together and we walked out of the foyer via a rainbow smear. Twenty-nine shifts later we arrived in the foyer of our home, where we took off our shoes before entering the rest of the house. I do not think we used any of the shadows we had selected on the way out, but shadows are constantly moving. What was a near shadow ten minutes ago might not be near now.

Why were they working so late? Nalini asked. And what sort of a business is it? How illegal is what they are doing?

I think the governments would claim you what they do is illegal. Lukeios opined. But consider that if you live for sixty years and still look like a twenty year old, you will need new identity papers. And there are literally thousands of immortals or semi-immortals in this world, they all need those services from time to time. And most governments can fast track identity documents when required.

What’s the difference between immortals and semi-immortals? Saodat asked.

True immortals cannot be killed. Some call them Eternals. Semi immortals are those who can live a very long time, but they can be killed.

I don’t suppose you can tell us how they get those papers? Saodat asked.

No, each identity needs to be managed slightly differently from any other. They have to update registers, computer databases, whatever stores the identity data. Lukeios shrugged. Each government has different requirements.

They were all quite pallid, and had a strong sense of power and danger. I commented. What sort of immortals are they?

The ones you met could be classified as vampires. They are not what the movies depict, but they will live a very long time. Back in the fifteen hundreds the highest-ranking vampires formed a council, known as the High Table, to set out rules of behavior to enable them to live amongst humans without being detected. Do not forget the church was persecuting witches and vampires at the time. At some point they got into the identity documents business. The more the mortals placed rules around identity and passports and migration, the more immortals needed an organization that could manufacture identities and the associated documents. It doesn’t come cheap, as you have seen. But most immortals are quite wealthy.

So was Dracula real. As a vampire. I asked.

That depends on which shadow you are in. I am not sure about this shadow, I do not keep track of that.

Does that mean we are immortal too? Danila asked that via her translation spell.

Not yet. Lukeios answered. But as you develop you will find that your life expectancy becomes longer and longer. You will grow into power, and your power will grow. You will all likely become semi-immortal.

She mentioned something about living in London and flying to Australia. Saodat said. But we are back home in Brisbane.

Normally you would be living in London and when your migration papers came through you would book a plane trip to Australia. Since we are not creating Australian Citizenship for you, you will need to enter Australia as a migrant. Which means we will go to London to collect your papers, and then book a flight to Australia for the three of you.

Can I ask why we are not creating Australian Citizenship for us?

"Well, it would cost a lot more, but the real reason is that any of the identities they create may be discovered to be faulty later. The more you do things officially, the less chance of something coming unstuck. That is what they tell me, anyway.

Now, I am afraid I have things to do, so Elanor and I will take our leave. We will be back next week.

Life returned to a semblance of normality. The Australian school year starts in February, and it was now November. We enrolled both girls in full time English classes, and school for next February. Saodat enrolled in part time English classes, but her English was good. She also took driving lessons, a prerequisite for obtaining a driver’s license. Saodat could drive, but until she could obtain her id documents she would not be able to apply for a driver’s license. Katya and Danila had to wait until their sixteenth birthdays.

Energy Imbalance

I am not sure why, but I have aches and pains and I feel shaky. Saodat told us a few hours after her energy balancing.

Nalini and I scrutinized her aura. While Nalini and I had a structure like a four-leaf clover within our auras, Saodat had a structure that resembled a three-leaf clover with a very small fourth loop.

Nalini explained what we could see. I think you need energy balancing again.

We formed a small ring with Nalini, then me, then Saodat, as per the order within the Mandala. Twenty minutes later Saodat was back to normal, and there was a four-leaf clover structure within her aura.

Saodat and I drove to pick up the girls from school. We were still waiting for the girls to appear when Saodat said Oh, I’m getting that out of balance feeling coming back.

Unfortunate. We can do energy balancing again when we get home, if you can hold off that long.

I can wait for a while; it isn’t strong yet. I enjoy our energy balancing, but this could get old very quickly.

At least it works. We will try to find a better solution, but I don’t know how long this will take.

Mmm. I guess I will just have to go with the flow. She laughed. Every three hours, that’s going to be six times a day, more if I wake during the night.

In the meantime, we’ll just have to work at enjoying every time.

We did another set of energy exercises late in the evening, showered together and piled into bed. I was lying on my back, Saodat and Nalini were sprawled across me, one on my left, the other on my right. We were all still mind linked from our last set of energy exercises, and with the energies flowing we drifted off to sleep quickly.

Focus on the café and become lucid.

I became lucid, and looked about. I was in the Dreaming according to our mentors, but this was also known as the Astral Realm and the Spirit Realm. I think most people go there when they dream, but if they are not lucid then they have no control of what happens to them, and they will not be able to remember much of it.

I was standing beside Nalini, who was seated at an outdoor café. I sat opposite her and we debated going to look for Saodat and the girls when Saodat appeared. She greeted us and sat on a chair that appeared.

Where did you get to? Nalini asked. We’ve been waiting for you for a while.

"I was being chased by something invisible, and I was fleeing through shadow. I wasn’t lucid. Then I remembered to become lucid by waking into the dream and banished it. After that I came here.

I am accustomed to the equipment I used in the army to create a lucid state. Without that, when I fall asleep, I am not lucid until I remember to wake into my dream.

That will come with practice, Nalini explained, as you build energy and build the habit. Danny has been doing this for about seventeen years, I’ve been doing it for nearly forty. Give it time.

Before I met you two, I rarely talked in Lucid dreams; I never met with others either, unless we used special equipment to share one dream. Talking reminds me of that, because in the few dreams I shared, my voice sounded strange, tinny.

Our voices sounded normal, though our verbal communication had to be by some other means. Nalini replied Nothing here is physical, though it is all real none the less. We perceive that we are talking using sound because that’s what we’re familiar with. But the sounds aren’t actually sound, they’re something else. We are really communicating by something like telepathy.

Nalini was dressed in black slacks and an emerald top with an image of a prowling jaguar. Her hair was shoulder length and purple. Her dark skin complemented her yellow eyes. Saodat was dressed in black jeans and a black t-shirt bearing an image of a rearing, snarling bear on a yellow background. Her hair was short, coppery-red, and her eyes dark. I was wearing dark blue jeans and a pale blue t-shirt with a swooping eagle image on the front. I also have Slavic features, with blue eyes and bright blue hair.

To my right there was a stone building that looked as if the entire wall had been removed, revealing a series of adjacent rooms. Each room was a café that sprawled onto the pavement. However, it appeared to be sketched in, and lacking details, as if a painting had come to life. If I tried to look hard at it, it also blurred and flowed. I knew not to do that. The trick was to look without staring, and let the form suggest itself. Next to it, on either side, were two more cafés. Beyond them were more, stretching as far as I could see in both directions.

The tables and chairs had spilled across the pavement and onto the cobbled street, blocking a good two thirds of the width of the street. The tables and chairs continued along the street, though each café had unique, subtle variations in the decor and design of the tables and chairs. I estimated there must be a hundred tables here in front of our café, each with four to six seats. I guessed there might have been a thousand cafés, each with a hundred tables - one hundred thousand tables, seats for half a million people.

On my left was the remainder of the street with people walking by. Well, almost. If I left my awareness of them at a peripheral level, they were modern pedestrians walking past a street of outdoor cafés. If I looked directly at them, I noticed that some glided, some walked, while some moved with a gait that suggested they possessed several sets of kneecaps. Some had heads and faces of animals, others multiple sets of arms or legs. Some changed shape as they moved, now proto-human with two arms and two legs, now three arms and a frog like head, now a goat like creature which walked on its hind legs. Their clothing ranged from all ages of history, as well as fur, feathers, scales, and naked skin.

There were no cars, but quite a few large leafy European trees. On the far side of the street an ornamental park stretched out, full of trees, flowering shrubs, meandering brooks and paths. It ran along the street in both directions as far as I could see. In the distance behind the park were sandstone buildings with a Gothic cathedral look to them. This was the university, the focal hub of this region of the spirit world. None of us know the real name of the university nor the town that services it. It seems to have many names. Nalini sometimes refers to it as Dreaming Cambridge because it reminds her of Cambridge University in her shadow.

The sky was white, with a few grey clouds. There did not seem to be any sun. None of us can recall ever seeing the sun here. The table between us felt real - dark marble on a wrought iron frame, and there was a carafe of water on it, along with three glasses, and three cups of coffee. I tasted mine - it was hot and quite good, black and strong, with brown tinted foam of the crema on the surface. Nalini was drinking a macchiato, almost a long black like mine, but stained with a dash of cream. Saodat’s was a strong, sweet espresso.

Saodat sipped hers. Coffee’s good - just how I like it.

It should be. Nalini said with a smile. We can taste anything we are familiar with. Anything we’re not familiar with will either taste like something else, or have no taste.

Saodat nodded. "I know what I like, so this tastes the way I like.

It’s still a little weird to me that you two are sharing my lucid dream. I mean, we used lucid dreaming for skill training, but we were always told it was inside our heads. People I would know might appear in the dream, but they were constructs. We had some specialized equipment to allow us to share a lucid dream. Even then, only those who shared were real, everything else was a construct, a projection of our subconscious we were told.

Saodat plucked a pair of dice from thin air, rolled them on the table. They were incised with symbols instead of dots. Both dice showed an eye, the left and right eye of Horus. I’m dreaming. She remarked with a sly grin.

Erm, how does the dice show that? I asked.

My subconscious always knows when I’m dreaming. They taught us to have some token, something that would behave differently in dreaming, so we could always test when we were dreaming. They told us our subconscious always knows. The dice are weighted, they should never land showing the eye in waking, only when I’m dreaming. She sighed, adding I don’t have these any more, but they are still with me in dreaming.

Since you can shadow walk, you should be able to find your dice, where ever they’ve gone; as long as they haven’t been destroyed.

That’s good to know, Danny, but I don’t need them now. I can simply ask myself if I’m dreaming, and I know the answer.

Did you know, the dreaming guides advise us to carry a piece of rock crystal with us, and look at it in dreaming. Only in dreaming it will glow with a soft light. But as you progress, you discover you always know, and you don’t need it. Nalini noted.

I didn’t know that, but I think it’s the same as my dice. Saodat remarked. It doesn’t look entirely real, does it? There is not enough detail. I never noticed that when I was using the equipment in the army.

No, there isn’t enough detail. Nalini replied.

There are other places we’ve visited that are fixed, and hyper real. They’re maintained by powerful spirit beings. Keeping somewhere like this fixed is a waste of good energy. I commented.

What do you mean by hyper real?

I had to laugh at my inability to explain this. It feels much more real than waking. You have to experience these places to understand.

"Speaking of powerful sorcerers and spirit beings, I have decided we should visit some of the places