return to Table of Contents

Chapter 8
The Raid

These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name…  Mark 16:17  NLT

     The day of the raid arrived. Gerard handed them snug sweatshirts, sweatpants and sneakers.
     “Make sure you can move freely in them. You must move quickly at times, and the footing may be tricky.”
     They headed out at dark.
     "We’ll arrive at the enemy nest around midnight. Many of them will be home. They try to rest and re-charge every day. We will try to disrupt them from doing that. The weaker we can keep them the less they can attack anyone."
     "But what do they do?" Isabella asked.
     "They try to flow fear, depression, hopelessness... anything to turn you back," Gerard answered. "If they can paralyze you enough with any of these, they will try to fly around behind you and attach themselves between your shoulder blades with their talons and continuously flow directly into you. You don’t want to be in that state. You need a lot of truth, usually from others, to be set free. But don't worry, I will protect you from that happening, at least on this raid. When you are on your own, you must be strong enough in the flows to prevent it. The purpose of this raid is to train you in the ways of the enemy so you can handle him on your own. And, by the way, you will meet other trainees."
     The four were excited by this news and were keen to meet them.
     "Maybe we could journey together when we leave the Centers," Kamiko suggested.
     "No," Gerard responded, "each group is at a different point in their bonding and training."
     They traveled on for a while in silence, their way lit by small flashlights, not daring to use the Beat to light their way since the enemy would be able to sense it. They wondered how they would do on the raid. They had practiced the flows, but never against an enemy.
     "When we arrive, you will pair off. You will be responsible to help each other. Direct your flow against the enemy whenever you see one. They can’t stay long in your flow. Try to keep them engulfed in it since it weakens them. If you experience any negative emotions that means you are in the flow of one of them. You must counter with your own flow. Yours is stronger if you let the truth of your flow negate theirs. They will try to paralyze you into inaction. Don't let this happen. If it happens to your partner, find where the flow is coming from and let your flow come against theirs. If it happens and no one is around, hopefully I will be able to help. But I may be helping others, and I can't be two places at once. I will come as soon as possible.
     "Watch each other’s backs, literally. That’s where they will try to attach themselves, but it’s difficult for them to do in these group settings. They prefer when you are alone."
     These words didn’t cheer the four friends. The rest of the trip was completed in silence. After a lengthy, hard walk on a rocky path, they reached the nest: a cave part way up a cliff.
     "They can’t knock you off the cliff. They don't have enough physical form to do that. They are mostly a darkness, but they can screech."
     "But you said they could attach themselves to you with their talons," Devan remarked.
     "Yes, but it’s more sensed inwardly than felt outwardly," Gerard answered, "which is worse."
     The way Gerard said it told the four he must have experienced it at some time in his life. This didn’t cheer them either. Two groups from other Centers joined them. The trainees in the other groups were nervous too. They had only a brief time to talk and share stories before time for the raid.
     With more than a little help from the leaders, the trainees scaled the cliff using hand and toe holds carved from previous raids. Waiting until all were gathered at the mouth of the cave, a leader of one of the other groups gave the command to begin sensing the Beat. The golden glowing from fifteen bodies illuminated a large chamber with tunnels connected to it. Leif became aware of dark masses at the roof of the chamber stirring in agitation as the light bathed them in its golden glow. The chamber filled with forms flying rapidly and emitting loud, harsh screeches.
     "Try to direct your flow on them!" Leif heard Gerard say.
     Streams of red shot through the chamber. The Dark Forms shot back their own thin, pale red streams.
     I'm in a shoot-out in a bad movie, Leif thought.
     One of the pale red streams hit him for the first time, temporarily paralyzing him. Fear froze him, an irrational fear because he knew he wasn't that afraid. Yet it was real to him, real enough that all he wanted to do was turn and run.
     "Leif, remember the Great Truths!" Gerard shouted at him. "Send it against the enemy's flow."
     Leif let his Sensing send forth the Second Great Truth flow, for he believed the Source was stronger than the enemy, though Leif didn't think he himself was. When Leif's flow hit the enemy, it screeched loudly and fled. The fear Leif had was gone, and in its place, was a tremendous sense of exhilaration. The Truths do work! He flowed with renewed vigor. He saw Devan under attack by a flow he sensed as extreme loneliness. Leif shot forth a First Great Truth flow and the enemy fled. In the next few minutes Leif was briefly hit with various negative emotions from enemy shots. Each time he fought it off. The enemy grew weaker and fewer, for after a few hits they would fly out the cave entrance too weak to fight any longer.
     The other trainees were also doing well, Leif observed, as he fought alongside them. After they had cleared the main chamber they began clearing the tunnels. Fewer enemy were in them. The enemy knew from past raids the burning flows from the raiders could be joined together and be more intense and focused within the narrower confines of the tunnels. The flows ceased when no more enemy could be discerned. "All clear" rang from various parts of the chamber as the raiders re-assembled.
     One of the groups called out from one of the tunnels, "We've located a Constructor."
    "Oh no," Gerard groaned.
     Leif watched in amazement while the group brought into the chamber a middle-aged woman. Her clothes were somewhat disheveled. Probably from the climb, Leif thought. What disturbed him was how normal she looked.
     "The enemy is vanquished!" she shouted. "None can stand before me!"
     Leif and the other trainees stared at her. The group leaders did not.
     "What's going on?" Isabella asked.
     "What you are looking at," Gerard noted, "is a Constructor, your other enemy in Beyond, and a greater danger than the Dark Forms."
     Leif groaned inwardly. And just when I was feeling so good about myself, he thought.

next chapter