Chronicles of Kulkantzi

CHAPTER 5: The Manifestation

"The guardians had already revealed so much within a short period that Alex struggled to take it all in at once.

He was still concerned as the amulet was giving off a red-coloured glow.

‘’Someone very close to your heart is in grave danger,’’ Yum Wey said.

‘’Concentrate. Listen.’’

‘’To summon your powers, you must always look within yourself.’’

Alex focused his energy for a few seconds. All he got were screams and noise. He paused for a few seconds to filter out all the noise. Then he heard it.

‘’Serena?’’ his eyebrows raised. ‘’Oh, my goodness, she must be in trouble.’’

‘’Go,’’ Cetzel declared, with a smile. ‘'We shall meet again soon.’’

Nodding, Alex closed his eyes briefly and imagined himself on the upper surface of the temple. His body became transparent for a few seconds, flashed, disappeared, and reappeared in its normal form. He repeated the process twice but met the same disappointing end.

‘’What am I doing wrong?’’ he asked in frustration. ‘’Why can’t I teleport?’’

‘’Young Master,’’ said Yum Balam softly. ‘’The power of teleportation can only work when your mind is freed from all burdens that weigh it down like a millstone.’’

‘’But... the other powers worked,’’ protested Alex.

‘’Yes indeed, young master. The abilities you have so far are those that work from within a short distance.’’

‘’To teleport, the mind has to be light, like the wind. Look within yourself once more. What do you see? What are your fears? Confront them. Only you can.’’

‘’How can I do that, lord guardian? I don’t do Yoga and stuff like that.’’

‘’Mind over body, young master. Mind over body,’’ Yum Balam replied gently.

‘’Mind over body,’’ Alex replied as he closed his eyes again, maintaining a meditative posture. He could see his fears, worries, and pains in his mind's eyes. He also saw spiders, tall buildings, failure, and other objects he could not explain.

‘’Focus. Use your imagination,’’ he heard a voice calling out from a distance.

Alex pictured himself on the surface. He could see the sunshine, El Castillo, and the surroundings. In an instant, he disappeared only to reappear right next to the pyramid, a few meters from where the excursion bus had been parked.

‘’Thank you, guardians,’’ he whispered to himself. 

Nobody was in sight, but he could hear the sounds of police sirens approaching from a distance. Escorting the police cars was a van from the K9 unit.

‘’Dogs?’’ he said, lifting his eyebrows. ‘’They must have dispatched a search party for me.’’

‘’Serena! I need to reach her quickly.’’

With the speed of light, he bolted away and within seconds, arrived at the crash site. He saw, to his horror, that the excursion bus had already tipped over the edge of the cliff.

‘’My goodness, I’m late! I must catch them before they hit the rocks below.’’

Leaping from the cliff in a burst of speed, he realized, to his delight, that his body defied gravity. Within a second, he was on the ground, staring upwards at the bus in a free fall.

‘’I must stop it. But how?’’ he wondered. Immediately he remembered his lessons.

‘’Mind over body,’’ he muttered under his breath.

Focusing his concentration, he launched himself like a rocket in an upward thrust towards the plummeting vehicle. As his upward force collided with the downward momentum of the bus, its descent halted abruptly, hovering at some feet above the jagged rocks below.

Silence.

‘’What happened? Are we dead?’’ someone asked.

The driver, his hands still gripping the steering wheel, looked pale but relieved. "I-I don't know," he stammered. "It's like something... or someone... stopped us."

Straining against the enormous weight, Alex focused all his newfound power, channelling it into lifting the bus to safety, and back onto solid ground.

There was a brief silence as everyone was still in shock over what just happened.

‘’Is everyone okay?’’ Alice called out.

Everyone in the vehicle was too occupied, checking up on one another, totally ignoring her.

‘’Who’s that standing in front of the bus?’’ Ryan asked suddenly, pointing.

At that moment, Alex sensed that he was about to be spotted. He teleported immediately from the scene.