Author: M G Kizzia

Avalon 5.2 Palace Intrigue, part 2 of 5

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

“Can I see the zombie?” Artie asked, sweetly.  Her eyes were trained on the river where Major Decker shot the one that collapsed back into the water.

Katie raised her eyebrows.  “Teenage curiosity,” she called it.  “Don’t go bloodthirsty on me.”

Artie paused to consider what bloodthirsty meant.  Katie kept her elect senses flared, not only toward the river, but all around the camp, in case the zombies should come from the town, or along the shore in either direction.

Huyak hovered over Elder Stow’s shoulder, having sent his wife, sons and daughters back to the house.  Elder Stow worked on his screen device, preparing to set a particle screen around the camp that the zombies could not pass through.  In order to keep it up all night, though, he needed to charge the batteries, as he said.  He mostly worked with the pieces of equipment he gathered from the crashed Anazi fighter ship in the time zone before the last.  Huyak seemed fascinated.

Katie turned to look at the one girl Huyak left in camp.  She looked to be about Artie’s age of sixteen, and the thought crossed Katie’s mind to wonder why Huyak had not sent her to bed with the others.  The girl spoke to Katie, like she was reading Katie’s mind.

“Oh, I’m not Huyak’s daughter.”  She smiled and sat closer to Artie, as Artie continued her own thought.

“Because I have seen dead people before, but not with my human eyes.  It was different back then.  I wasn’t one of them.”  She turned to the girl and explained.  “I only just found out that death is not the end of everything.  My goddess, Anath-Rama has made a place for me and my people, and I thank her and praise her every day.”

The girl nodded.  “Anath-Rama is very nice, though a generation or two older than I am.”

“I am sure the place is wonderful,” Artie continued, wistfully.  “Edward is with her now.”

“Was he your boyfriend?” the girl asked.

“I’m not sure,” Artie answered, honestly.  “He might have been.  We didn’t get the chance to find out.”

“I’m going to have a boyfriend,” the girl said.  “I just have to figure out who it is going to be.”

“That would be interesting.  I had not thought of that.  Maybe I should get one.”

The girl nodded and looked up at Katie.  “My name is Arinna.”  She immediately looked down, like she got scolded.  Katie said the words after the fact.

“It is not polite to read people’s minds and answer before they have a chance to ask the question.”

“Yes,” Arinna said.  “But that is why I came to see you.  I can’t read your minds very well at all, and I got…curious?”

The hedge of the gods, Katie thought.

“That’s right,” Artie said.  “I can’t read minds at all, but I would be curious.  I am curious about a lot of things, since I became human.”

“What do you mean, became human?”

“I was born an android,” Artie said, with some pride.  “That is what Elder Stow calls us.”

“A machine,” Katie said, to Arinna’s curious face.  The word machine did not help much, either.

“You became human?”

“The goddess, Amphitrite changed me from a machine to a human.  I got like real hair and everything.”

“Wow, I didn’t know the gods could do that.”

“It felt strange, but good, like I was waiting my whole life to become human.  Like I should have been human my whole life.”

“Wow.  That must have taken great skill and ability.  I can’t do anything like that.”

“Can my friend stay with us tonight…mom?” Artie asked, with a hopeful look.

“It would be all right.  My…mom would not mind,” Arinna said, with the same hope written all over her face.

“A sleepover,” Katie said, and to Arinna she added, “And I am not asking who your mom is.”  She paused, a dramatic effect, but she needed a second to imagine this happening some day with her own daughter, and wondered what Dad-Lockhart might say.  “I suppose it would be all right.”

“Yea!” the girls shouted, and held hands, truly more like six-year-olds than sixteen-year-olds.

“Maybe I can help.”  An older woman stepped into the fire light, and Arinna jumped up to hug her.  “Hannahannah,” she called the woman, before she turned and introduced her.  “This is my grandmother.”

“Don’t worry, Katie, I will watch them,” Hannahannah said.  “Come along, Artie.  A growing young girl needs her rest.”  Artie popped up, took Arinna’s hand again, and the two went into the tent, both talking at the same time.  “Not that I expect to get any rest,” Hannahannah added, as she followed them.

“There.”  Elder stow announced, and Katie turned her attention to the Gott-Druk and Huyak.

“And nothing will be able to penetrate these invisible screens?”  Huyak sounded fascinated.

“Correct,” Elder stow said.

“Will I be able to get back to my house?  My wife will be missing me.”

“Of course,” Elder Stow said, and smiled.  “I included your house in the screen area of protection.  You will have to see us if you or your sons want to go out before dawn, but that should not be a problem.”

Huyak nodded and waddled off to his house.  Lockhart came out of his tent and said, “A nice one hour nap and I’m ready to go.”

“Nine o’clock?” Katie asked, surprised.

“You can get some sleep,” he said.

Katie harrumphed, stepped into Lockhart’s tent and stole his blanket, then went to lie down beside the fire.

“What?” he asked.

“Our little girl is having a sleepover,” Katie said, and Lockhart quickly looked at Artie and Katie’s tent.  “The girl’s name is Arinna.”  Lockhart looked again at Katie.  “I would guess she is a young goddess, but I would guess it will be okay.  The girl’s grandmother is with them.”

“Oh, okay,” Lockhart looked once more at the tent.  “If you think it will be okay.”

Katie grinned as she lay down and imagined her and Lockhart having a daughter, and him having that same silly, uncomprehending look on his face.

Lockhart sat quietly, watched Katie sleep, and kept the fire fed.  Elder Stow joined him, and they enjoyed the quiet of the night for over an hour.  When the moon rose, so did the sounds.  They came from the footbridge, and from across the river.  Zombies wailed and moaned, like ghosts in the dark.

“They are protesting, I imagine,” Elder Stow said.

“Yes,” Lockhart agreed.  “But I was thinking, they could only have been raised and activated by one of the gods.  If the god wants them on this side of the river, I can’t imagine your strongest screens will keep them out.”

“You might be surprised,” Elder Stow said.  “According to Yu-Huang, there is almost nothing the gods cannot do, but that does not mean everything is easy.  Some things are easy as breathing.  Some require learning, like learning to ride a bicycle or learning to read.  Young gods and goddesses don’t automatically know how to do everything.  Far from it.  They have to learn, like any children.  And then, some things are like scholarly tomes or higher mathematics.  There are some things that some, maybe many gods will never learn how to do.”

Lockhart slowly nodded, but then he said, “I don’t suppose any screen can prevent a god from appearing wherever he wants.  If he can’t figure out how to get the zombies through your defenses, no reason he could not appear here and simply turn the screens off.”

“If he thinks to do that,” Elder Stow said, but he went back to sit beside his equipment.

When the end of the shift came at midnight, and Decker and Lincoln got up for the wee hours, Elder Stow felt more confident that his screen defense would make it to morning.  He told Lincoln what was necessary and went to bed.

Lockhart looked at the tent he shared with Lincoln, but remembered Katie had his blanket.  He looked once more at the tent where Artie was, and all seemed quiet.  He took a deep breath, and lied down beside Katie.  Katie slung the blanket over him.  He put his arms around her.  Katie wondered in her sleep filled mind why they were not together every night.  Lockhart wondered what he did or said that caused them to separate.  He could not remember.  He didn’t want to be separated.  He loved this woman.  He feared for a moment that he might not be able to sleep for thinking about it, but soon enough he began to breathe long, slow breaths, and Katie snuggled into his arms.

Avalon 5.2 Palace Intrigue, part 1 of 5

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

After 1583 BC Syria, by the Euphrates.  Kairos 61: Notere of the Hittites

Recording…

“Carchemish,” Lincoln announced the name of the town. before he added, “I’m pretty sure.”

“Good to know,” Lockhart said, as he guided the group down a steep path and up to the gate.

Katie rolled her eyes, but Artie spoke.  “Carchemish.”  She got her horse over a rough spot, and continued.  “That reminds me.  I had the strangest dream last night.”  Katie showed she was listening.  “I dreamed I was flying, without a ship or parachute, like a fairy, but without the wings.  Then I started to fall, and it got frightening.  I woke up.”

“I had a flying dream once,” Lincoln said.  “No idea why.”

“Do you know what it means?” Artie looked to Katie, who shook her head.

“Ask the nurse,” she said, and pointed behind her.

Artie turned to face Alexis, but Alexis spoke first while Artie remembered that Alexis had become an elf again, for a time.  She looked the same, but different.

“When I took my nursing courses, I had not been human very long,” Alexis said.  “I thought it was not right for me to be analyzing humans, since my father told me they are all crazy.  I still think he was right, sometimes.”

“I hear that,” Decker mumbled from the back where he and Elder Stow had pulled in to join the column.

“I like flying dreams,” Boston said, and Artie nodded.

“But not the falling part.”

They came to the gate and had to stop.  The gate guards were checking everyone, for something.

“Got anything to declare?” Lockhart whispered, as he got down.  The guards looked up at him, so he added, “How can I help you?”

“Stick out your hands,” the man ordered.  Lockhart did, and the man turned one hand palm up, pressed on the ball of the thumb and watched it push back into place.  He turned the hand over and rubbed the back to see what came off.  Then he looked hard into Lockhart’s eyes to make sure someone was home.  Three other guards checked Lincoln, Katie and Artie.

“You see?” Artie said.  “I’m human.  I have human hands.”  She sounded so happy, but then the young man checking her reached out to squeeze her breast.  He had a big grin, but Artie shouted.  “Hey!”

“Hey,” Katie shouted the same, and Lockhart turned, grabbed the man by the shoulder and threw him to the ground.

“What is this all about?” Lockhart demanded.  The travelers looked angry, and the guards hesitated, not prepared to start a fight in the gate.

The chief guard gave his young man a hard look before answering.  “We have had dead people getting up and walking around.”  He said that with a straight face.  “I saw one.  There is nothing behind the eyes, and they fall apart in the hands and feet.  I’m not likely to make you take your shoes off.”

“Zombies,” Alexis said.

The walking dead,” Boston corrected her.

“Lelwani is angry,” one of the guards said, and nodded.

The chief guard looked at the four not checked, the two women, who wore glamours to appear like ordinary humans, the Gott-Druk, who also disguised himself with an illusion, and the big African who looked ready to growl.  The chief guard could not see through the illusion, but he saw something.

“These are clean,” he announced, and the other guards backed off.  “So, what is your business in Allepo?”

“Darn,” Lincoln interrupted.  “I was close,” he insisted.

“Trade,” Lockhart said.  “And a chance to sleep the night out of the wilderness.  We will see how good your hospitality is.”

The guard nodded.  They were on the main trade route.  “Go down this way to the square and ask for a man named Huyak.  He will know where you can room, or set your tents if you would rather.”

“Thank you,” Lockhart said, and the travelers walked their horses into the city to the sound of Artie’s voice.

“How can dead people walk around?”

“Very powerful magic,” Alexis said.  “Or in this age, a cathartic god with an agenda, or one that is being lazy.”

“She,” Katie said.  “Lelwani is a goddess of the dead.”

“I wonder if she is friends with Anath-Rama,” Boston asked.  They did not know, but Artie smiled at the mention of her own, personal goddess.

Huyak turned out to be an old man who solved one riddle right away.  “My eldest son sent you from the gate,” he said.  He took them to an open field beside the river and beside his own house where they could pitch their tents and light a fire.  The place for the fire was already marked out with a circle of big stones.  “You are here to trade, but you have no wagons or camels and donkeys to carry your goods.”  He sounded curious.

“Decker,” Lockhart said, but Decker had already started to unwrap the deer tied to the back of his horse.  The man stroked his beard and called for two others.  The travelers guessed he had more sons.

“And in return?”

“A chance to stay here for a couple of nights, undisturbed.”  They would likely move on in the morning, but it was better to have some wiggle room, and not specify exactly what a couple of nights amounted to.

“And some vegetables,” Alexis spoke up.  “And not all onions.”  She turned to Boston.  “I would kill for some greens.”

“I believe we have a bargain,” Huyak said, and he waved to the boys to pick up the beast.  They had a wagon handy, and hauled it off to disappear down the street.  “You camp, and I will be back with things to eat, and my own brew.  It is very good.”

“Good thing,” Katie said.  “I am beginning to mistrust the water.”

As soon as Huyak got out of sight, Decker and Elder Stow got the other deer down from the back of Elder Stow’s horse.  They took a moment to set their tents in a circle around the fireplace; not that they needed the fire for warmth, but it was safer to watch each other and not spread out too far.  That did not take long.  The tents were balls of fairy weave that set themselves up on voice command.  Alexis set up a tent for her and Boston, without having to speak out loud to get it to take shape.  She began to teach Boston how to do that.

They had wood in satchels on other horses, and Boston started the fire.  Her magic was fire based, so it was easy for her.  Then they tended the horses and let them wander down to the river, to drink.  By the time Huyak returned, Alexis and Katie had deer roasting and hot water ready for tea.  They used a little hot water for bread crackers, which became loaves of bread.  They shared some with Huyak and his sons when they returned from the market, and eventually with Huyak’s whole household, and Huyak kept them well supplied in fruits and vegetables, such as he had, and beer that Lincoln said was not terrible.

As the sun set, a ghostly wail came up from the river.  “They are out tonight,” Huyak said, and his eyes went to the rickety wooden footbridge someone had built across the slow-moving water.  “They stay on the other side around the place where the ground stinks of garlic.  They appear to avoid the water.”

“That would make them decay and fall apart faster,” Alexis said, and Artie looked at her with questions on her face.  “Zombies, sweetheart.”  Artie shivered, as did Boston and Lincoln.

“So, we should be safe in this side of the river.” Lincoln said, but it was honestly a question.

“I didn’t say that,” Huyak said, as his wife, two sons and two daughters came from the house to hear what stories these strangers might have to tell.  Storytelling was once the height of the entertainment business.  Sadly, like getting an important phone call during the last few minutes of a television movie, sometimes life got in the way.

They heard gunfire, and the locals jumped. Decker had pulled the trigger.  They heard a body plop back into the river.  “I wouldn’t have shot, but his left arm was nothing but bone.”

“Oh,” Lockhart said.  “Watch tonight.  Katie and Artie first.  Elder Stow, you are with me.  Decker, you get Lincoln…”

“Boston and I will take sunrise,” Alexis agreed, and then squinted because it appeared Huyak now had three daughters instead of two.

Avalon 5.1 Sirens Are for Emergencies, part 6 of 6

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Thalia, Alesandros and the travelers could not get Mother Evadne to calm down and speak.  Fortunately, old Mother Delphine came in, neither running nor screaming, and she explained.

“Lord Andipas and his Akoshian sailors came just before dawn.  They locked us in the orphanage, and scared the children, terribly.  They hitched the mule to the wagon and filled it with things taken from the barn.  They went into the temple and brought some more things, but they did not get the horses.  I believe they were afraid of the big horses.  But they left for the village when the light of Apollo first touched the horizon.”

Everything belonging to the travelers got taken from the temple, except Boston’s blanket, which they must have missed.  The travelers rushed outside, and found the horses grazing peacefully on the spring grass fed by the rain.  They called, and the horses trotted right up.

“We have to go after them,” Katie said to Lockhart, who nodded and held his head, like he was getting a headache in the sunlight.

“Bareback?” Lincoln did not object too loud.

“It is what we got,” Decker said, as he shouldered his rifle and helped Elder Stow mount without stirrups to place his feet.  Lincoln helped Alexis, and then climbed up on Cortez, who stayed remarkably patient for a horse.  Rodeo Boston jumped right up, no problem, and held her hand down to pull Thalia up behind her.  Decker almost fell getting Alesandros up behind him, but then they started down the hill toward the village.  Boston and Katie rode out front, and the other horses followed, which was a good thing since none of them had reins to direct the horses.

They stopped their slow progress when they got to the bay.  They saw men working on the small dock that got torn up in the storm tide.  They saw that the fishing boats had mostly gone to sea.  They also saw the Akoshians had managed to get to their big boat, anchored off shore, and at least Decker cursed.  No doubt, they had all the traveler’s things, and they looked ready to set out.

The Akoshians saw them dismount and stand there, staring, wondering what to do.  The Akoshian Captain’s man shouted to them.  “Lord Andipas laughs in your faces.  He has all of your things of magic and he will become greatness on Akoshia.  He has your bread makers, and he knows how to make the magic.  You are now small.”  He laughed, but apparently had to get to an oar.  They did not get far.

Amphitrite appeared floating above the bow, twenty feet tall, hands still on hips, foot still tapping, and making a tap-tap sound though she was standing on air.  The ship stopped when the oars all disappeared and reappeared on the shore, and Amphitrite spoke in a way that convinced everyone that the anger of the gods would be a terrible, frightening thing.

“You stole from my friends,” Amphitrite said, and all of the travelers things appeared in their proper places.  The horses were saddled with bit and reins.  The packs were all tied on perfectly with all their things neatly packed away.  The side packs they carried reappeared on the side of the people, and suddenly Lockhart’s head did not hurt, though he did not know if that happened because she did something to sober him up, or his fear in the face of an angry god did that all on its own.

“You stole from my people.”  The dock miraculously repaired itself while everything in the ship that was not tied down—sails, ropes, buckets and brooms appeared, stacked in a great stack on the dock.

“You frightened my mothers and children half to death,” Amphitrite yelled, risked a few heart-attacks, and everything else, mostly food and the very clothes from the sailors backs vanished and no doubt appeared at the orphanage.

“Most of all.”  She stopped yelling, and spoke in cold, clear tones that felt much worse than the yelling.  The travelers could hear the sailors wailing for mercy.  “You desecrated my temple and insulted me, and I take that personally.”  The ship that floated at the mercy of the waves, with no means to move otherwise, full of stark naked men, vanished, though Amphitrite finished her thought.  “You should learn respect.”

The travelers caught a glimpse of the island of the sirens, so they could have some men of their own, however briefly.

Amphitrite turned to the travelers and smiled, and it felt like the sun just came out.  She made a translucent, golden ball around herself and floated slowly toward the travelers, shrinking as she came so when her feet touched down on shore, she was back to her normal height.  The bubble burst, and she said, “I always wanted to do the good witch of the north, but no one in this age would have understood it.”  She smiled again.

Boston shuffled her feet and looked down at her shoes until Amphitrite opened her arms and yelled, “Boston.”  The elf flew into the hug.  After which she turned to Lincoln and said yes before he asked if she was Amphitrite.  Then she walked around the group and examined them carefully.  Finally, she spoke again.

“I heard Boston’s prayer.  I checked with Alexis and Lincoln, and apologize for violating your minds and hearts, and privacy; but here is what I have decided.  It will only be temporary, but for now…” she touched Alexis, and Alexis became the elf she had been when she was born.  She looked to Lincoln to be the same age she was when he first met her, and just as beautiful.  Alexis bent toward him, and he touched her pointy ears to see that they were real.

“See?” Alexis grinned.  “You did not even have to pay me a dollar this time to do that.”

Lincoln smiled at the memory, and Alexis grabbed him.  He grabbed her right back, and they kissed in a way that made Katie look at Lockhart and Thalia sigh.  Then Alexis went to stand beside Boston, and took her hand.  Alexis still looked twenty-six or twenty-seven, and that made Boston look like she was; like someone just out of her teen years.

“Hey, you’re breaking up the combo.”  Everyone heard the woman’s voice and watched as she walked up to stand beside Amphitrite.  For the men, watching the woman walk felt worse than the sirens, but this time, the women did not respond with jealous, protective eyes.  All they longed for was a touch of whatever the woman had.

“Just temporary,” Amphitrite said, and turned to Elder Stow.  “Artie?” she asked.  Elder Stow glanced at Katie, but he knew he would have to tell the absolute truth.

“She has developed a small gap in her flesh—miniscule, but she is taking on water in the rain.  It might kill her to cross a river.  I don’t know.”

Amphitrite folded her arms and put a finger to her temple.  “Of course, I can fix it, but I think I would like to try something else first.”  She waved her finger and Artie changed.  It looked like a much more complicated and extensive change.  “This may also be only temporary, but there is much to learn on the road.  I call this the Pinocchio solution.”  She stood back, and the woman beside her eyed the change and added her comment.

“I like it.  I can work with this one.”

“That is not what I made her for,” Amphitrite said.

The woman looked at Decker.  “And you are still on my list.”  The woman squinted, and pointed a sharp finger at Decker.

“Aphrodite,” Decker named the woman.  “Please, no,” he said, and Aphrodite laughed.

“What happened to me?” Artie said.  “I feel so different.  Wow.  Wow…” that was all she could say for a while.  Katie hugged her and Amphitrite spoke.

“As an android, she may have been six-years-old, but as a human, she is sixteen.  Katie.  You need to be like her mother.  Lockhart.  You need to be like her father.  End of discussion.”

Aphrodite whispered to Amphitrite, “Good job.”

Elder Stow smiled.  “They are the mother and father of the group.”

Aphrodite did not understand, but Amphitrite returned the whisper.  “I’ll explain it later.”

“I’m a real girl,” Artie said the inevitable line, and everyone congratulated her.

“Now, what?” Aphrodite turned to Amphitrite and asked what she wanted.

“I need your help,” Amphitrite admitted.

This time, Aphrodite put her hands on her hips and gave Amphitrite a hard stare as she spoke.  “Are you asking as my Aunt Amphitrite, Queen of the sea, or just between friends.”

“Just Trite to Dite,” Amphitrite said, pensively.

Aphrodite continued her hard stare for a few seconds before she laughed out loud, a most glorious sound.  “I love it when she says that.”

“People,” Amphitrite clapped her hands to regain everyone’s attention.  “Get mounted and ready to ride.  Sadly, this is not a good time for a visit, as I said.  In fact, it may not be safe for you to be here at all right now.”  Amphitrite gave Thalia another sisterly kiss and flipped her hand.  Thalia and Alesandros disappeared, and presumably reappeared back in the temple, overlooking the sea.

Aphrodite sighed to see them go.  “That recipe turned out great, and I hardly had to do a thing.” she sighed.

“Here is the scoop, everyone.”  Amphitrite added the last to regain Aphrodite’s attention.  Then she paused to think, and lifted herself up about five feet in the air, before she spoke.  “In simplest terms, our sun and earth formed about five billion years ago.  However, the first stars and planets in the universe formed about ten billion years ago.  After five billion years, human civilization reached the point that you are all familiar with.  Likewise, after five billion years, the people on that first planet reached a comparable level of civilization, only now they have had an additional five billion years to progress, or evolve if you insist.  No, in your wildest imagination, you cannot even imagine what they are capable of.  And no, Lincoln.”  She stayed Lincoln’s hand from his pocket in which he carried the database.  “You will not find information to read in the database.  There may be a few cryptic notes, but that is all.”

“What are they planning.”

“They don’t plan.  They don’t do things the way you and I do things.  I can’t explain. They will be rearranging the nature of creation.”

“Can they do that?” Katie asked.

“What do you need me for?” Aphrodite asked.  “I’m not sure I want to go there.”

“It will be all right,” Amphitrite said, and the travelers vanished to reappear in some totally new location.  Even the horses, who had done that before, hardly batted an eye.”

“Boston?” Lockhart called from the front, where he landed next to Lincoln.  Katie and Artie rode in the middle, while Alexis and Boston brought up the rear.  Decker and Elder Stow still had the sides.

“It looks like the time gate is right in front of us,” Boston shouted back.  Lockhart looked at Katie who nodded and held up her amulet.  It glowed green.

“We best go,” Lockhart said and let his horse walk through the gate.

“Wow.  I never felt excitement like this before,” Artie said as she and Katie came next.  Artie would say that sort of thing often over the next few weeks.

Decker and Elder Stow squeezed in to follow, Decker still worried, thinking about what it meant to be on Aphrodite’s list.

“Tell me more about Mirroway and Elfhome,” Boston asked, sounding almost child-like.  Alexis remembered a particularly juicy experience she had as a young elf.  Her head nodded, but as they were the last through the gate, she grinned a true elfish grin.

************************

Monday

The travelers from Avalon stick their nose where it doesn’t belong in episode 5.2, Palace Intrigue

Don’t miss it, and Happy Reading.

Avalon 5.1 Sirens Are for Emergencies, part 5 of 6

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The early spring rain stopped pelting the earth with life-giving water, though the bubbling brooks, streams and rivers would run high and swift for a time.  The wind stopped shaking the trees and crashing the sea against the cliffs in great angry-sounding roars.  At the higher altitudes, the clouds cleared off to reveal the thousand-million stars of the heavens, but at ground level, the earth and sea becalmed, like a child falling into a quiet and restful sleep after the tantrum is done.  The earth, all asleep, knew a few hours of peace.

Sometime after four, when the Artemis moon rose over the western hills, a thin mist rose from the sea to cover the land like a blanket.  Four men in the temple awoke, though they said nothing in the dark.  The priest Alesandros continued to sleep peacefully next to the Priestess Thalia, his wife, but the rest quietly rose to their feet and stumbled out into the dark.  No one was there to notice Decker and Elder Stow, unless their dreams appreciated the quiet at the end of the snoring.  Alexis might have turned to her side, but she was no stranger to Lincoln getting up in the night to use the bathroom.  Katie, already tied more to Lockhart than she knew, mumbled briefly when Lockhart left the building.  That woke Artie, who felt better, her energy returned after her illness earlier in the evening.

Artie listened to the silence.  She thought about her people trapped in mindless slavery to the Anazi.  She understood, she would not even have a people, and she herself would not even exist if the Anazi had not built them to fight the alien blobs.  The Anazi, in a way, were her creator gods.  But as Elder Stow explained it, androids were not robots with sophisticated programming.  If built right, to rightly be called androids, they will, at some point, become self-aware, which is the hallmark of intelligent life.  In order to keep such androids bound or suppressed, then becomes an ethical issue.  Such oppression can be called cruelty.  Elder Stow said that was why species more advanced than the Anazi did not bother building androids, even if they could build them infinitely better than Artie… no offence.  Artie was not offended.  She just wanted help to set her people free.

“Benjamin,” Artie heard Alexis call out softly for Lincoln.  Alexis and Lincoln were given a bite of the apple of youth at the beginning of their journey, so they became like late twenty-year-olds who could withstand the rigors of their journey through time—and Lockhart also ate from the apple.  But that did not change the fact that Alexis and Lincoln had been married for over thirty years.  Alexis did not wake when Lincoln got up in the night to use the bathroom.  He did that often enough after they turned sixty.  But when he did not come back, she woke up, worried.

“Benjamin,” she called out a little louder, though still reluctant to wake the others.  She prepared to get up herself to see where he might be when she heard Artie answer.

“He left the building.  I don’t know why.  All the men did.”

“What?” Katie sat up, and her word was not softly spoken.

“They left the building.  They all did.”

“I saw them too,” the fairy spoke from the altar.

Boston, who stirred when Alexis called, came wide awake on Katie’s shout.  She got up to check and report.  “Lockhart, Decker and Elder Stow are not here.  And look, Elder Stow left his bag of equipment.”  She lifted something in the dark.  “And Decker left his rifle.”

Katie jumped right up.  “Okay,” she yelled.  “Everybody up.  Decker would never go anywhere without his rifle.  Something is seriously wrong.”

“What is it?” a sleepy Thalia asked.  She shook Alesandros who had a hard time rubbing the sleepies out of his eyes.

“Light,” Katie called, and Alesandros stumbled to light a torch out of the brazier where the coals were still red.  Alexis put up a fairy light, and it lit the front of the temple like an overhead sixty-watt bulb.

“They all left together,” Artie said.  “I did not know what to make of it.”

“I might,” Thalia said, as she came awake and appeared to sniff the air.  She looked at Alesandros, but he sniffed and shrugged.

“I don’t smell anything.”

“I do,” Alexis said.  “I smell lavender, pine, and maybe meth-amphetamines

Thalia pursed her lips.  “Come.  We must hurry.”  She headed for the door, Alesandros on her tail, and Lilac the fairy rushing to her shoulder.  Alexis came right behind, having grabbed her bag with the medical kit.  Boston, Katie and Artie followed, all armed, not knowing what they might face.  Artie had her Anazi handheld weapon, though she learned from Elder Stow and kept it for emergencies.  Katie had her rifle, and Boston carried Decker’s Rifle.  Boston might have been an electronic and technological whiz kid, but she was raised a Massachusetts redneck.  There are such things.  She not only rode rodeo, she hunted, mostly with her father and brothers, including at least one trip to Canada where she hunted bear.  Decker’s rifle might be a sophisticated, super advanced military rifle, like Katie’s, but Boston knew how to point and shoot very well.  Being an elf did not change that.

Thalia and Alesandros brought the women to where the grassy meadow met the rocky side of the hill.  They climbed right in to a small cave there, and made fairy lights to light the way.  Lilac sent her fairy light out front, Alexis raised hers to shine from overhead, and Boston made one and let it trail from behind.  She did not want something unknown to creep up on them from the rear.

The small cave quickly opened-up into a broad and tall cavern, which looked like a crack in the earth.  It made something like a giant staircase of boulders they could slowly climb down toward the sea.

“This ends in a grotto in the cliffside, facing the bay.” Alesandros said.

“Hush,” Katie scolded him.  “We are not here for a guided tour.  It would be best if whoever is down there did not know we are coming.”

Alesandros put out his torch so he could use both hands and help Thalia as they labored slowly down the rocks to get to the bottom.  Boston found her balance and agility greatly enhanced as an elf, but she yawned several times, being a light elf, and it was still night in the outside world.  Katie, an elect, had no trouble at all.  Alesandros and Thalia appear to have been down here before and knew where to step.  Alexis was the slow one, though she stayed right with Alesandros and Thalia, and Artie lost her footing a couple of times, but Katie was right there to catch her.

When they got to the bottom, the women all heard the song, sweet, sad, and literally enchanting.  To the men, it had been irresistible.  The women resisted it, but some eyes turned to Alesandros.  He tried to whisper.

“Amphitrite immunized me, and the people in the village.  She told the sirens if they started interfering with the normal course of life along this coast, they would be in big trouble.”

Katie nodded, and the group broke into the cavern which was lit from overhead like light from several chandeliers.  “We having fun?” Katie asked, and she looked to be sure the men had not been harmed.  The men were slow to respond, but the sirens noticed the intruders right away.  They probably knew they were coming, but did nothing, thinking their intrusion would be inconsequential.

The five sirens, women, beautiful almost to the point of hurting the eyes, and with their wings, looked angelic.  Boston recognized them as lesser goddesses.  She smelled the river god, and maybe the earth in them.  That would account for their draw to the water and their bird-wings, not to say that there was no such thing as sea birds.  Seagulls, though, they were not.  They felt more like vultures.

“Katie,” Lockhart finally noticed.  “We found these angels.  I was coming to get you in a moment.”  He took a handful of grapes and enjoyed them.

“Silenus come by?  Maybe Pan himself?” Alexis asked.  “I can smell the fermented grapes from here.”

“Bacchus, and maybe Dionysus,” Katie said, softly.

“No,” one of the sirens said.  “We got them for our guests.”

“But we are on a journey, and we need the men to take us there,” Artie said, innocently.

“I know,” one of the sirens said, and stuck her head up from beside Lincoln who looked to be lounging on a bed of straw.  “Benjamin has told me some of your wonderful adventures.”

“My Benjamin,” Alexis said.  “He sometimes says things he should not say.”

“If you have heard,” Katie said.  “Then you know we are travelers from Avalon and belong to the Kairos.  The hedge of the gods has been placed around us and around all of our things.”

One of the sirens lifted herself with her wings and came to a soft landing in front of the other sirens in order to face the women.  “I know,” she said, and her hands became claws and scratched at the air.

“I am sure you would not want to anger the gods,” Boston said.

“Oh no,” one of the sirens in the back spoke up.  “Cousin Medusa once angered Apollo, and he gave her snakes for hair.  Now any mortal that sees her, she turns to stone so her face is the last thing they ever see.”

“She hides herself in a cave and cries all the time,” another said.

Thalia found the courage to step forward and speak.  “You know our lady, Amphitrite, has said you must not interfere with the men of the coast, or any of the Akoshian merchants who come to trade here.”

“But these are not men of the coast, or Akoshian merchants,” the siren said.  “They should be fair game.  We did not know they were hedged about by the gods…”

“Until you tried to eat them?” Katie asked.

“What?  No.  Never,” the sirens protested, but it got drowned out by a crack of thunder in the room.  Amphitrite appeared, frowning, hands on hips, tapping her foot on the rock.

“If you knew they were hedged by the gods and not yours to have, you should have let them go right away.”

The one in front had hands again instead of claws.  “But majesty,” she protested.  “We have no men of our own.”

“No man will have us,” one siren said from the back.

“Black widow spiders,” Amphitrite mumbled, before she spoke plainly.  “All the same, playtime is over.  The storm is passed, for the present.  You can return to the sky and go to your own island now.”

The sirens stood and turned away from everyone.  They looked like scolded children, but put up no argument.  “Good-bye,” they said.  The one at the back even said, “Good-bye, Thalia.”

“Good-bye Meliope,” Thalia returned the word.

Amphitrite turned toward the women and said what the Kairos so often said.  “You came at a bad time.”  She raised her hand, and everyone reappeared in the temple to see the sun had already come up.  While the men shook their heads and struggled to come out of their drunken stupor, Amphitrite stepped to the window.  The curtains pulled themselves back so she could gaze out on the sea.  Thalia stepped up beside her.

The women, at least, watched the two together.  Thalia was a mature woman, not many years from the beginning of old age.  Amphitrite looked to be about twenty-four, at the most, and would likely stay that age until she moved on to her next life.  Yet, no one doubted that the two had been close friends when they were young, and in real terms, the same age.  They watched the sun and the sea side by side, and then kissed like the best of sisters before Amphitrite vanished.

One of the mothers from the orphanage, dressed surprisingly like a nun, raced into the temple screaming, “Thieves.  Thieves.”

Avalon 5.1 Sirens Are for Emergencies, part 4 of 6

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

“Thalia,” Alesandros called from the entrance to the temple.

“Here,” a woman called back from the front of the great room, though no one could see her.

“We have company,” Alesandros said, and led the travelers toward the front.

Though it may have been as big, the temple hardly looked like some cathedral on the inside, since the inside was filed with regularly spaced roof support posts, that Katie called “Aeolian Columns.”  She said, “It is the only way to build such a big open space, though it makes the space appear not so big and open.”

When they got to the front, they found a woman of about thirty-five years or so, who was just beginning to become plump as some women did when they got older. Age was hard for the twenty-first century people to judge, because before the twentieth century, people aged more rapidly, and showed it.  The woman welcomed them, as Alesandros stepped up and gave her a quick kiss.

“I found these people in the village.  They are not like any I have ever seen or heard of, but they seem to know the lady, and I get the impression they may even be friends with her.”

The travelers were busy taking in the view.  The cathedral had a sacristy, set apart by a railing.  Most of the space was taken by a long table filled with bread, fish and flowers.  They could smell the fish.  Off to the left was a stone statue which Katie claimed was remarkable for the time-period.  The statue was of a most beautiful and noble woman who appeared to be walking on the sea.  Her right hand was lowered to pet the head of a rising dolphin.  In her left arm, she held a baby, wrapped in a blanket and close to her breast.  Over her left shoulder, a fairy fluttered, with a look on her face that said, ‘this is fun’.

Lincoln was especially taken by what he saw behind the altar.  It appeared a narrow opening that covered the whole back wall, like the biggest picture window, except without glass.  Obviously, a roof overhang protected the temple floor from the rain, but the window without glass showed the rain in all its fury.  Great strokes of lightning flashed over the sea and across the sky to light up the night.

“Nice view,” he mumbled.

“Yes,” Thalia responded, as Alesandros went to pull the curtains.  He helped the travelers set out places to sleep while Thalia continued.  “It is a small way down to the cliffs that overlook the bay and the sea.  On a clear day, I can see for miles.  I sometimes come and sit here, and look out on the sea for hours and hours.  I never knew the beauty and wonder of it all until I became friends with Amphitrite.”

“Thalia and Amphitrite are best friends, since they were young.” Alesandros said.

“On Akalantas,” Lincoln said, and Thalia stared at him.

“Yes, how did you know?”

Alexis answered.  “My husband keeps the database and reads it when we are not looking.”

“Lovely table,” Boston interrupted.  She felt something warm to look at it, knowing that all these gifts were offered to the Kairos, in a sense, and now that she had become an elf, that was her goddess, too.

“Altar,” Katie corrected her.

“Of course,” Thalia acted like she was forgetting her manners.  “If you are hungry, please take what you wish.  Some of the bread is very good.  Our lady would not wish any to go hungry.”

“We ate in the meeting house,” Alesandros said, giving Thalia another quick kiss.

“Don’t people object to taking the food offered to the goddess?” Katie asked.

“Not here,” Thalia said, with a big smile.  “We do not waste the offerings.  In the morning, the mothers will come and give thanks, and the food will go to feed the children.  Besides, after too long, the fish starts to stink, so it all works out well.  A few people collect and bring offerings every day.  We gather the village here about every fifteen days, and some come from other villages to join us.  We get people here from the cities up the coast every season, and we have seasonal celebrations…”

“And we get to share the love of our great lady,” Alesandros added, and this time, she kissed him.

“Too bad the children can’t eat the flowers,” Artie said, wistfully.

“Yes, well, some are not suited for hunting or fishing, or for baking bread,” Thalia knitted her brows for one minute before she called.  “Lilac, come here and meet our friends.”

“Yes, Lady,” the travelers heard a sweet voice before they saw a beautiful young woman of about eighteen years at most, step out from a dark corner where apparently, no one looked.  At least Alexis felt that was what they were supposed to think.  Alexis felt suspicious, and it got confirmed when Boston stepped up and spoke.

“Hello fairy.”

“Hello elf,” the young girl responded.

“My name is Boston.”

“My name is Lilac.”

“You can get little if you want.  My friends won’t hurt you,” Boston said, and removed her glamour to show herself, pointed ears and all.  “See?”

Lilac glanced at Thalia who closed her mouth and gave a slight nod.  Lilac immediately returned to fairy size, and fluttering her wings, came right up to Boston to commiserate on nothing in particular.

“I see you have your own little one to worry about,” Thalia said with a look on her face that said she was not unhappy about it.  “Mine keeps me young and is my heart.”

Elder Stow interrupted before anyone else could respond.  “My mother. My father.  I have worn my glamour faithfully for a long time.  It is as you said, I mostly forget it is even there.  But it would be a great kindness to me if I could take it off, just for this night.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Katie said, and with a brief look at Thalia, and Alesandros, who came up to slip his arm over his wife’s shoulders, she looked at Lockhart.

Lockhart looked unsure.

Elder Stow said, “I am sure I would sleep better, and maybe not snore so much.”

Katie shrugged and Lockhart nodded.  “Only if Thalia and Alesandros don’t object.  If they are uncomfortable, you must put it right back on.”

Elder Stow nodded, and to their credit, only Thalia made any noise, and it was a little gasp.

“He is not an elf or dark one or any spiritual creature I have seen.”

“He is an old one.” Katie said.  “One of the ancient races that lived in this land before the flood

“I really am a very nice fellow,” Elder Stow said.  “That is what young Boston says.”

“I’m only about a hundred and ten, elf years old,” Boston admitted.

“Miss Lilac is just over a hundred herself,” Thalia said.

“I just barely qualify to be called Miss Lilac,” Lilac said, sounding more like a ten-year-old than one who looked eighteen in her big size.  Lilac settled down to sit on Thalia’s shoulder, a place she was obviously accustomed to.

“One elf and one old one makes me wonder what other wonders you have to share,” Alesandros said.  He smiled, like he was enjoying the show.

Alexis shook her head, but Boston spoke.  “Just one.  Elder Stow, we have to give Artie a check in all this rain.”  Artie looked up, but she had been quiet all through supper, on the road to the orphanage, and now in the temple, where normally she would have been in the midst of it all, asking questions.  She did not appear to have the gumption to protest as Elder Stow nodded and rummaged through his pack.

“I don’t feel well,” Artie said.  “Is that the right way to say it?  I don’t feel well.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Alexis said, as Katie sat down beside the android.  Alexis looked like she wished there was something she could do.  Her healing magic worked fine for wounds and broken bones.  She could pull poison and infection right out of the body, but she was not as effective on illnesses, and in Artie’s case, Alexis felt powerless.  She could not heal wiring.

Elder Stow sat and placed a disc against Artie’s head.  Artie voluntarily closed her eyes, but when Elder Stow tuned the disc, Artie stiffened like a corpse.  Thalia let out a little gasp again, but Alesandros held on to her, so she stayed quiet.  Boston slipped into Katie’s place.  When she reached down to open Artie’s middle, Thalia muted her gasp in Alesandros’ chest so she would not have to watch.  Alesandros watched, fascinated, and eventually Thalia also turned to see.

“She is a machine,” Elder Stow said.  “But most of her insides imitate human insides.”  He spoke to Boston.  “Find something to sponge that water.”  Boston got her fairy weave blanket.

“A machine?” Alesandros got close.  “I thought… she seemed a fine young woman.”

“I suspect the moisture seeped in all day around her middle joints,” Elder Stow said to Alexis and Katie.  “She is rust proof, and her flesh, like human flesh, is designed to repel water, but when she bends, even like sitting, the flesh bunches up and makes a miniscule gap.  Human flesh is stretchier and tugs against the muscles so we can only bend so far and can’t make gaps.  After an all-day rain, sitting on her horse and all, enough moisture got in to her insides to begin to cause problems.”

“Can you fix her?” Katie asked, obviously concerned.

“Not without covering her in an entirely different kind of flesh, for which I do not have the equipment.  Very sophisticated equipment.  Magic might do it, I don’t know, but science can only offer a sealer, like a glue stop.  I can give Alexis a list of ingredients to look for.  Artie may find the glue uncomfortable, and in any case, it will only work as a stop-gap until a more permanent solution can be found.”

Boston finished wiping out Artie’s insides, and Elder Stow closed her up.  He paused on waking her when Katie said, “Wait.  Let’s not tell her just yet.  Let’s wait until we see the Kairos.  She has resources and knows thing that we cannot imagine.  Maybe she will have a solution.”

“You don’t want her to worry in the meantime,” Lockhart said, and everyone agreed, though some might have thought keeping secrets from her was not a good idea.

“Not keeping secrets,” Alexis told Lincoln.  “Just not confirming the diagnosis until we get a second opinion.”  Alexis was a nurse.

“Okay?” Elder Stow asked.  No one objected, so he removed his disc and Artie came around quickly.

“Am I going to be okay?” Artie asked first thing.

“How do you feel?” Alexis asked.

Artie thought first.  “Better.”

Katie helped Artie to stand.  “You are going to be fine.  We just need some rest.”  She escorted her to where they had laid out their blankets.

“No watch tonight,” Lockhart decided.  “Everybody get some good sleep.”

“Good,” Decker said from where he was already lying down.

Well,” Alesandros said.  “I knew you people were special, but I had no idea how special.”

“Don’t worry,” Alexis said.  “The rest of us are plain ordinary humans.”

Lincoln shook his head.  “Actually, Alexis used to be an elf, but became a human when we married.”

“No,” Thalia voiced disbelief.

“True,” Alexis said.  “I am Boston’s sister.  She was human and became an elf to marry my brother…who has moved on ahead of us toward our destination.”

“How can humans become elves and elves become human?” Alesandros asked.

“The Kairos,” Alexis answered.  “Amphitrite.  What can the gods not do?”

“Of course.”  Thalia and Alesandros understood when she put it that way.

Alexis looked at Boston, who chose to sleep by the altar.  Lilac, apparently, slept on the altar.  “And I am feeling terribly guilty about it, oh, not guilty about becoming human.  But I feel guilty not being with Boston, at least for a while.  She has so much still to learn about being an elf and about magic and everything.  She is such a young elf.  Right now, there is no one else, and though I cannot show her things like I could if I was an elf, I should at least be sharing with her those things I can describe and things I remember from growing up elf.”

Alesandros went around, putting out candles, and Lincoln took Alexis by the arm.  “Come along.  I want to be asleep before Elder Stow starts snoring.”

From out of the dark, they heard what sounded like a Neanderthal giggle.

It stopped raining by two in the morning, and the world slept well until after four, when things got strange.

Avalon 5.1 Sirens Are for Emergencies, part 3 of 6

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Alexis and Lincoln took bread to the pirates that evening as the sun went down, not that anyone could tell what the sun did behind the clouds and rain.  The only thing they noticed, being shut up in the meeting hall, was the sky appeared to open-up with lightning.  They heard, and sometimes felt the thunder.

Artie asked sweetly, so Katie agreed and she and Katie took bread to the back room, where the old man, his two helpers, wife and daughter were grateful, and amazed. The giants Lockhart and Decker, with Elder Stow anchored the table.  They all ate well, and in blessed silence for a time.

After supper, the priest got up, waved to Boston, and left.

Then finally, with a full belly, and surrounded by his mates, one of the sailors did get stupid.

“Hey giant.  My mate thinks you are not as strong as you look.  He wants to fight.”  Lockhart rolled his eyes.  The man did not stand as tall as Lockhart’s over six feet, but he looked big enough.

“Want me to shoot him?” Decker asked.

“No,” Lockhart said, and found Katie’s hand on top of his.

“This is my job, remember?”  The thinking was, if the man beat a woman, that would not mean much overall; but if the man lost to a woman, hopefully the rest would think twice before starting something again.  “Besides, I need the practice.”  Katie said that nice and loud as she got up.  She was an elect, so not only as strong as any man, she had the reflexes and balance of a cat, and had mastered all the marine corps could teach her about hand to hand and mixed martial arts.

The man looked at Lord Andipas, uncertain.  Lord Andipas had no trouble if the man beat the pulp out of the woman.  The man reached for Katie, but she caught his hand and thumb with one hand in a move that sent him to his knees, even while she punched him wickedly in the solar plexus.  When she let go of the man’s hand, she swung her leg gracefully around and kicked him in the back of the head.  He fell hard, face to the floor, and did not get up right away.  Katie looked at the table of pirates and spoke.

“That was too easy.  I didn’t even break a sweat.”

“Gather your things,” Lockhart said as he stood.  He turned and captured Katie by the shoulders.  He kissed her on the forehead.  “That was very good.  I tried not to watch.”  Katie nodded dumbly for a second before she collected her things and a slight tear came to her eye.

“Alexis, don’t forget your pot,” Lincoln said, and pointed.

When they went out to retrieve their horses from the inadequate roof overhang where they left them, they found the priest waiting.  “Follow me,” he said.  “I will shelter you and your horses for the night where you can be safe.

Lockhart looked at Boston, and she did not hesitate.  “He is a good one,” she said, so they followed the man.

“Alesandros,” the man told is name to Alexis.  He would have to repeat it when they got to shelter and could all hear, but for the moment, he thought it best to move them swiftly from the village.  Questions could come after they began to dry.

The edge of the village came quickly.  The whole village was not very big. being little more than a small cut in the hills and cliffs that fronted the roaring sea.  The road, a slightly better or more well-used path that exited the village, turned away from the sea to follow around the base of a steep hill.  That cut off some of the noise of the storm, but the lightning still crashed all around, and the thunder kept the horses on edge.  The travelers walked their horses and touched, and petted them to keep them as calm as possible.  The horses had to be miserable by then, but they seemed willing to trust the people to which they had been magically tied.

“How far?” Lincoln tried to shout, and people heard something.

Alesandros stopped and pointed where the road came to a fork. “Straight ahead,” he said, “Argos.”  He assumed that would be their way in the morning.  To the right, where the hill turned gentle, he pointed slightly up, and said, “Shelter.”  Even if the travelers could not hear the man, they could all see the big building not too far up the hillside.

As they climbed, Alexis tried to shout to Lincoln.  “Looks like a big home.”

“Looks like a small hotel,” Lincoln shouted back.  “Maybe a bed and breakfast,”

Alexis grinned and took Lincoln’s arm.

The top of the hill flattened out, like a shelf of good land, before the hill became rocky again and split into several peaks further on.  The flat land held three buildings, the big house to their right, a big barn to their left, and straight on, a third big building that looked round, a difficult shape given the time and technology, and it appeared to have a ten or twelve-foot-high roof.  Katie looked for columns.  It also appeared to face the sea, and Katie imagined it edged up to sea cliffs where the people could look well out to sea, and maybe up and down the coast for some distance.  Most did not pay attention or particularly notice, until they took their horses into the barn and Katie spoke.

“A temple.”

Alesandros clarified.  “The Temple of Amphitrite.”  He sat and watched as the people brought their horses in, out of the rain.  Decker and Elder Stow closed the big barn door which at least cut the sounds of the rain and thunder.

The pen at the back of the barn had a couple dozen sheep that bleated and paced, and unable to sleep.  One pen held a couple of cows, and one held a mule that at least were resting, if not sleeping.  A small pig pen held two or three, and a smaller blocked off section had a mother pig and six piglets that crowded the mother as she tried to sleep.  Finally, a primitive coop for chicken sat beside the door, and while the chickens would not be corralled, they were at least quiet in the night.

The main floor of the barn made a big open space with only one two-wheeled wagon and some farm implements off to the side.  Katie, the doctor in ancient and medieval technologies and cultures examined the evidence carefully, but the rest, and Katie, had to attend to the horses first.  It took about an hour to stack the saddles and equipment where they would dry and brush the horses free of the wet and the hard day.

“I would really like a hot bath,” Alexis whispered to herself.  Boston heard with her elf ears, and responded.

“Me, too.”

During that time, Alesandros spoke now and then, and the travelers did their best to listen, even while a large bit of their attention got spent on giving their horses some much needed love and care.

“The High Priestess of Amphitrite, my wife, says Triton is in trouble.  She says she can hear it in the roar of the waves as they crash on the rocks.  She says, probably some young lady or another.  The storm is a reflection of Amphitrite’s inner anger at her son.  Amphitrite can’t help it.  All nature bends to her.”

“Triton is Amphitrite’s son?” Lockhart asked, and Alesandros nodded.  He watched Lockhart remove his horse’s saddle before he spoke again.

“I have never seen such things as you ride, and I have seen many things, more than most.  People come here from all up and down the coast, from Argos and even Mycenae to make offerings and worship the goddess.  Sailors stop in the bay, and many merchants from Akoshia.  They pray to the goddess for calm weather and good sailing.”

“You can hardly blame them,’ Katie said, and to the others she added, “The sea is never a safe place, not even in our day; but certainly in this age, and for centuries to come.  Any help to placate the spirits is a good thing.”

“I saw the fishing boats,” Lockhart said, and nodded like he understood.

“Fisherman wives and children come here often,” Alesandros said.  “Not only from our village, but from many villages close by.  They come especially when their men have been long at sea.”

“Must be a hard way to make a living,” Decker said, and this time Alesandros nodded.

“The home across the road is an orphanage.  Our Great Lady Amphitrite has the biggest, kindest heart in the world.  She has made this place where the children can come who have lost their families and loved ones to the sea.  When storms come, and the sea roils, and the monsters come up from the deep, men are lost; taken down to Poseidon’s graves.  But it is not in the goddess’ heart that the innocent should suffer.  She made this place for the children, and the grieving wives and mothers who come and pledge themselves to care for the children of Amphitrite in the name of the goddess.”

“An orphanage,” Boston said, with a big smile and a look toward the closed barn door.  “I can feel the love from here.”  She paused, before she added.  “And the fear from the scary storm.”

“We have presently eight mothers in the home, all dedicated to the goddess that gave them a chance to live.”  He looked down and spoke softly.  “I was raised here, myself.  I owe the goddess everything.”

“And now you are her priest?” Alexis asked.

“In name,” Alesandros answered.  “She calls me her handy man and general contractor.”  The men chuckled.  “My wife, Thalia, is the high priestess who watches over the mothers and children, and keeps the temple.  She says the daily prayers, accepts the offerings for the altar, and speaks with those who come, especially those who grieve.”

“Grief counseling,” Alexis called it and Alesandros looked surprised.

“That is what Amphitrite calls it,” he said.  “All of you must be very special to the lady.  I think I knew that when I first saw you, though you were strangers to me.”

“Strangers to me, too,” Elder Stow said, and Decker and Lockhart both looked at the Gott-Druk, like he stole their line.

At least Lockhart got to say, “We are all pretty strange, each in his or her own way.”

“Maybe we can see the temple,” Katie suggested.

“I thought we might sleep there tonight, with the storm and all,” Alesandros said.  “The home is pretty full, and Thalia is in the temple.  She will stay there until the storm subsides, and I want her to meet you.”

“Ready?” Lockhart asked.  Everyone had their packs.  He signaled for Alesandros to lead the way, and the man raised his hood and went out the door.  The others all complained when they followed.  They had forgotten how hard it was raining.

Avalon 5.1 Sirens Are for Emergencies, part 2 of 6

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The travelers fixed their fairy weave, as well as they could, into local-looking clothes, with only three shepherds to judge by.  They had to guess, especially the women, until they saw some examples.  Nothing they could do would hide their big mustangs, but along with roads, or glorified paths, horses were becoming more common. Granted, they were not the relatively big horses the travelers rode, the result of millennia of cross-breeding, but they were horses, or mules all the same.  They also could do nothing to hide their equipment, especially their saddles.  Lockhart figured he would ask Amphitrite about that when and if they found her.  He knew the chief work of the Kairos was to keep history on track, and something like saddles, not to mention stirrups, could throw everything out of whack.

The rain started when they came to the edge of the village and eyes went everywhere to take in the sights.  Decker looked for potential trouble.  Katie also looked for something amiss. She sensed trouble ahead, though not necessarily danger to the group.  Elder Stow rolled his eyes at the silly homo sapiens.  Lincoln paid attention to his wife, as Alexis pointed out one thing or another.  Artie listened to Alexis some, but looked thrilled with all the human activity and human ingenuity.  Lockhart noticed the ships in the dock.

Men were drawing several ships up on shore to protect them if the storm got bad.  All the local eyes turned toward the sky now and then, as people moved to get out of the rain.  Women scurried across their path, and men ran down the street.  It seemed impossible to find one who might stand still long enough to ask a question.

Lockhart noticed the simple fishing ships at the dock looked as primitive as he had seen in a while.  It appeared the Mycenaeans were not great sailors at this point in history.  That was what made the bigger ship anchored out from the shore stand out, and he thought to interrupt Alexis to ask Lincoln a question.

“The big ship.  It is Akoshian or whatever you call it?”

Lincoln looked.  “Most likely.  A trader in the village.”

“Minoan,” Katie translated the term into her own understanding.  “We will probably find them at the common house, if these villagers have a common house of some kind.”

“We could ask,” Decker said, as he carefully eyed the ship.  “If anyone would stop long enough.”

“Excuse me.”  Katie reached out, but only the third woman, a young one less bothered by the rain, paused. “Is there a common house in this village?”

The young woman thought about what she was being asked, then pointed.  “There is the meeting hall.  You will find the Akoshian lord there with his crew, if that is who you are looking for.”

Katie nodded, said thanks, and led the rest to the lumber built hall.  All Lincoln could say was, “It doesn’t look very Greek.”

“Lockhart.”  Katie only had to say his name and his attention became all hers.  Everyone else looked as well. Katie deliberately spoke in English so no one who overheard would know what she was saying.  “I do not have a good feeling about this.  I don’t sense danger to us…or our horses, but I think we need to be careful.  That feeling could change.”

“Understood,” Lockhart said, and looked at Boston while Katie explained for Artie and Decker translated Katie’s comment into Gott-Druk for Elder Stow, only to remember he kept a translation device in his ear.

Boston shrugged.  “I sense no danger, except in being surrounded by so many strange human, which will make me paranoid if I dwell on it, so I would rather not think about it.”  She shrugged again.

The travelers found places to tie off their horses under an inadequate overhang, not that the horses would wander off, even if it wasn’t raining.  Boston and Alexis felt sorry for the horses, to have to be out in it.  The rain changed from light to steady, and it did not look like it would get better any time soon.  Lincoln said it was three in the afternoon, but it looked as dark as a late evening.

Lockhart stepped up to the meeting room door and paused as the door opened.  A young man looked ready to come out, but he stopped and took several steps back in the face of the giant.  Lockhart ducked his head a bit and came in.  He spoke in his friendly voice.  “Hello. At least it is dry in here.” No one responded as they watched seven more people fill the room before that young man ran out into the rain.  Alexis brought her satchel that doubled for a handbag.  It was filled with elf bread crackers, if they had nothing else to eat.  Decker carried his rifle in his arms like a baby.  The rest just dripped.

“Welcome strangers,” a fat old man finally spoke.  A young and a middle-aged man made room on the benches that ran around the inside walls.  Boston watched a mother and daughter stick their heads out from what was likely a kitchen area.  They appeared to have a fire burning in a fireplace that was not well designed, because it let an annoying amount of smoke back into the room.  Katie, Artie, and Alexis went to the fire all the same.  They dropped their slickers on the end of the bench while Lincoln sat and pulled the database out from a pocket he made in his fairy weave.  The rest of the travelers paused to look around.  There were already nine men in the room.  Eight sat around a long table and stared at the strangers.  They looked like sailors, or perhaps pirates, and they drank some brown colored swill that was probably some form of beer.  The ninth man sat by himself, and watched them.  He was covered in a long cloak with a hood that mostly hid his face.

Boston nudged Lockhart and whispered with a nod of her head in the man’s direction.  “Assassin’s Creed?”

Lockhart shook his head.  “Aragorn.  Lord of the Rings, only we are not hobbits.”

Boston nodded and grinned as Lockhart got busy, with Elder Stow’s help, and the young and middle-aged workers on the other end.  They brought out a table and some more chairs.  Decker sat where he could keep an eye on the pirates. The others eventually joined him at the table, and the old man brought a bowl filled with the same musky drink the pirates drank, and another eight hand sized bowls, a few of which looked like they were hastily cleaned, or at least wiped out.

“We shall see if the giants can hold their wine,” one of the pirates finally spoke.

“Is that what it is?” Lockhart looked uncertain.  He picked some up in a bowl, tried not to get the dregs floating in it, and sipped.  He could taste something like grape.  He was not too sure what else.  He felt certain it had plenty of alcohol content.

“Now Lockhart, I am sure it is his best,” Alexis said.

“Maybe we can offer some bread in return,” Katie suggested.

Alexis got the old man’s attention.  “Is there any way we can get some hot water?”

“Water?” the man looked up at the ceiling, like he feared the roof might leak at any moment.  “I am sorry. The copper pot is filed with fish stew.  It will be ready soon.”

“Never mind,” Katie said.  “I’ll get your pot,” she told Alexis, and stepped outside.

The pirates, who had been whispering, watched her leave before one spoke.  “Hey, giant,” the man spoke the local tongue imperfectly.  “Lord Andipas wishes to know if you are big everywhere.”

Lockhart turned his back on the man.  After a while the man spoke again.

“Hey, African giant. Lord Andipas wishes to know where you got your clothes.  He says he has sail to Africa and never see clothes like you got.”

“They are magic clothes made to kill pirates,” Decker said.  The sailors laughed, but Lockhart looked at Decker and imagined Decker might be thinking like he was thinking.  He leaned forward and spoke in English since Katie reminded him he still had his native tongue in the back of his mind.

“Any of you ever see the Magnificent Seven?”

Katie came back in, a pot in her hand, and there was a brief interruption to get some water to put on the fireplace fire.  When she sat, Lincoln reminded them of where they were.

“Magnificent Seven.”

Alexis, Decker and Katie all nodded, and paid attention to the English as Lockhart spoke.  “Well, I get the impression Lord Andipas is Calveras in disguise.”

“Too bad we are eight,” Lincoln responded.

Several heads nodded, to one or the other comment, while several watched the pirates and how they looked at the pot.  “When you make the bread, their eyes will get extra big,” Boston said.

“That is what I am afraid of,” Lockhart said.

The sailor man spoke again.  “Hey people.  My mate says there will be a real blow tonight.  Lord Andipas says Poseidon must really be beating his wife, badly.”

The ninth man, the one at his own table, stood suddenly and reached for a knife; one to cut meat, not a good weapon.

“Sit, sit,” the pirate said.  “Lord Andipas asks what ails the priest.”

The man spoke in a good, strong voice. “Our lady of the sea does not suffer men who beat women.”

“Lord Andipas begs your pardon, priest.  His wife is a man so he does not know.”

“Our lady of the sea?” Alexis turned to ask.

“Amphitrite.” the man said.

Lincoln looked up from the database.  “Oh, is she here?  I have to ask her something.”

“No, hush,” the others whispered and Lincoln shut his mouth.  The two workers brought in the fish stew, and everyone tried to cover up what Lincoln said, but the sailors all heard and laughed.

Lord Andipas finally spoke for himself.  “She is here, Amphitrite, in the air and in the storm.  She is in the fish stew with her fishies, and I eat her.”  he took a big swallow.  The priest would have responded again, but Boston arrived with a loaf of bread.  Alexis had gotten out some elf crackers, and with warm water, they grew instantly into hot, steaming loaves of bread, just the thing on a rainy evening.

“Ignore the fools,” Boston said, wisely, as she set the bread down.  “Maybe they will fool themselves into real, serious trouble one day.”  She grinned her best grin and returned to her own table.

Avalon 5.1 Sirens Are for Emergencies, part 1 of 6

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After 1643 BC, Greece.  Kairos 60: Amphitrite, Queen Goddess of the Sea

Recording…

Katie and Artie moved first through the time gate and into the next time zone where a cloudy sky and a misty drizzle of rain greeted them.  Katie helped Artie rework her fairy weave clothing into long slacks and a hooded yellow slicker against the rain.  She changed her own weave to the same while the others came through the gate to join them.  By the time Lockhart and Boston, who came straggling at the back, joined them, Lincoln had out the database to see what he could about this place.

“I would guess Greece,” Lincoln said, with a brief look around.  “But we could be anywhere in the Mediterranean.  The Kairos is Amphitrite, or Salacia if we are in Italy, or maybe Calypso if we are across the Atlantic.”

“Helpful,” Lockhart quipped, and looked around at the trees, dripping with water, and the puddles on the grass.

“Mediterranean climate and flora,” Alexis suggested that much was true, and the other side of the Atlantic seemed unlikely.

“Temperate zone,” Elder stow agreed, with a glance at his scanner.

“At least it’s spring,” Boston blurted out.  The others all trusted that as an elf, Boston was well tuned to the seasons.

“Go on,” Katie said, as she checked the amulet she wore and looked for a road, or at least a path of some kind that they could follow.  The land looked rough, rocky and hilly.  Though not far from the sea, Katie imagined them coming to some great sea cliff and having to backtrack a long way, unless they could find a road that avoided such obstacles.

Lincoln continued the commentary on what he read.  “This isn’t Atlantis, I think.  That is spelled like Akalantis.  That is where Amphitrite grew up.  But she is a goddess, the queen goddess of the sea, actually.  She could be almost anywhere in the world, but most likely in the jurisdiction of Mount Olympus.  She married Poseidon, or Neptune, if we are in Italy.”

“Helpful,” Lockhart quipped again.  “Which way?” He asked Boston and glanced at Katie.  Boston pointed.  Katie nodded, and they started right off, headed downhill in what would have been a pleasant ride but for the drizzle.

After a short way, the travelers came to a meadow full of sheep.  They barely came out from the trees before they found three shepherds gathering their flock.  Katie, and thus Artie rode up to the three while the others paused and Decker and Elder Stow casually wandered in from the wings, sensing no danger and not wanting to startle the sheep.

“Excuse me,” Katie said.  “What city lies in this direction?”  She looked closely and decided the shepherds consisted of a father and his two sons.

The old man eyed the travelers with a wry look, not the least because of the monster horses they rode.  “Argos,” he said.  “Our village and the road to Argos.”

“Road?” Artie asked Katie.  The younger son stared at the sky.  The elder son stared at Artie.  The younger one spoke in a friendly manner.

“You probably won’t get to Argos before the storm hits.”

“Unless you have wings to fly, like the gods,” The father said, clearly unsure how to take these strange people.

“Argos is a long way,” the elder son spoke without removing his eyes from Artie.  “Our village is not far.  We can shelter you, and your beasts.”

“Thank you,” Artie felt obliged to respond, but otherwise a bit uncomfortable under the stare.

Katie grinned at her.  “Sorry to interrupt,” Katie said to the old man.  “I am sure you want to get your sheep gathered before the storm.”  Katie moved the group to where she found a path through the wilderness, and figured that was the road to Argos.  The others followed, and Lincoln, Lockhart and Elder Stow all tipped their hats.  Decker tried not to frighten them with his smile.

Katie and Artie rode side by side, though the path was not especially wide.  Alexis and Lincoln crowded them from behind so they could converse.  Lockhart heard the initial words before he focused on the path, the countryside, and the weather.  Boston, beside him, likely heard the whole conversation with her good elf ears, and it no doubt kept her entertained.  She and Elder Stow who followed her, wore glamours to appear human.  Boston looked like a twenty-two-year-old with auburn hair where she toned down some of her red head, and Elder Sow like an older man with a gray beard.

Decker, beside the elder, did not bother with glamours.  In fact, when the others made the effort to change their fairy weave clothes to look more like the local dress, Decker sometimes did not bother with the clothes, either.  The Kairos told him that in most places, as a dark skinned African, he could get away with more leeway in terms of dress.  He often shaped his fairy weave into camouflage fatigues, even when the other men prudently walked around in floor-length dresses.

“Greece,” Lincoln said, definitively.  “In fact, the Peloponnese.   After Argos comes Mycenae, and then Corinth, if the Corinthians have migrated in at this point.”

Katie asked a history question.  “Are the Minoans in charge here, or have the Mycenaeans overthrown them?”

“Wait…” Lincoln said, and looked at the database. “The Akoshians…wait,,,” he flipped to the dictionary and back.  “The Akoshians are the Minoans, and they are sort of in charge.  The Mycenaeans are like the overlords in Greece.  They are the reason the country began to settle down.  Until then, it was filled with wandering tribes that constantly fought.  Argos was one of the first real permanent settlements.  Mycenae was built by the Akoshians, and they are still tied in a way, but the relationship appears complicated.”

“Most are,” Alexis said, with a look at Katie and a glance at Lockhart.

“As far as I can tell, the Akoshians are mostly merchants, and they have exclusive trading rights with the Mycenaean coast, including Athens… I assume in most places, that means the Akoshians just take what they want…  Apparently, Athens rebelled at one point, and the Akoshians brought in an army, which they could easily afford, and forced Athens to pay tribute in the form of slave labor, seven young men and women every nine years or so.”

“I know that story,” Boston shouted up from behind.  “Theseus and the Minotaur.”

“I don’t think that has happened yet,” Katie shouted back.

“Greece?”  Alexis wanted back on track, and gave Boston a sour look.  Elves could certainly hear, but they needed to learn not to interrupted.  That could be rude.

“Yes,” Lincoln said, and put away the database.  “But there is no telling how long after her childhood we may have arrived.  That narrows things down to about a forty to forty-five-year time span.”

Artie had a question that whole time, and it finally burst out of her lips.  “Road?”

That was followed by Alexis’ question.  “City?”

Katie smiled.  “Yes.”  She spoke to Artie.  “When we started this trip, people were still wandering, working in stone, and living in tents of animal skins.  They slowly learned to use soft metals and began to settle in hamlets of mud and straw huts.  Eventually, they built villages and began to till the soil, though plenty still wandered.  Then they began to domesticate some of the animals they followed, and they began to discover things like pottery.  That was when the villages became towns and, in some few places, cities.  One big discovery was Bronze, the blending of metals in a furnace they could get hot enough.  It took time, but cities began to trade, and sadly, they began to make war on each other.”

“It was a great adventure,” Lincoln said.  “I mean the progress of the human race, not just our wandering through the middle of it all.”  Artie looked fascinated, and Katie nodded and continued.

“About twelve time zones ago,” she glanced at Lincoln who got the database back out.  “We arrived on the silk road.  That is a way that cuts through and around the mountains and links the far east with the west for real trade, long distance, and other things.  Cities began to join together, or be conquered, and empires were born.  Some would call that the real beginning of civilization, and that was when roads began.”

“Which time are you thinking?” Lincoln asked.

“Lin, the first Hsian empress.”

“Fourteen time zones.”

Katie nodded.  “Since then, we have seen cities, roads and empires building.  We were there when Babylon was first being built, and came back when Hammurabi was ready to build the first Babylonian empire.  That was with Ishtara’s help, and the time zone where we found you.”

“That is where you saved me and gave me life,” Artie said. “And I am ever so grateful.”  Artie turned away for a moment.  Her emotions being so new, she had not yet learned to hide them or put up a mask.

“What?” Katie reached out.

“I am sad for two reasons,” Artie said.  “I am sad because my people have no such noble history.  You humans have struggled and grown.  You have overcome such great hardships, and made yourselves better.  You have created life.  I know, some good and some bad.  I know some succeeded and some failed.  But you never give up.  You keep striving.  And overall, you have done great and wonderful things.”  She let her voice trail off.  Katie had to prompt her.

“You should not be sad.  What is the second reason you are sad?”

“I am not part of it,” she said.  “I wish I was human, so I could really be with you and part of all that surrounds me.  I feel…”  She could not describe what she felt.

“You can be part of it from now on,” Alexis said, kindly.

“Yes, but not really,” Artie insisted, and let a few tears fall.

Alexis looked back.  “Meanwhile, Boston is moving away from the human experience, but she is still so young and vulnerable.  She is so very young.  She has learned much, but she still needs help to come to grips with her elf life—with being an elf that is an elf, not just a human that got changed into an elf.”

“She will hear you,” Lincoln whispered.

“I am sure that she did.”

“So now,” Katie concluded, and changed the subject as they came around a bend in the path and saw that they were headed down toward a seaside village on a small bay.  “We look for roads and we ask what city les ahead. I imagine the Kairos will often be associated with cities at this point, because that is where most of the action will take place, not to mention most of the chances for history to go awry.”

“Keeping history on track has to be getting complicated and difficult at this point,” Lincoln added.  “Being an actual goddess has got to help.”

Alexis countered. “But she won’t always be so.”

Avalon 5.0 Invading Armies, part 6 of 6

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“I’m ready if you are,” Elder Stow said.

Martok the Bospori, a person from the impossibly far future stood and rubbed his chin.

“It is either going to work, or not,” Boston said, which made Martok smile.

“We shall see,” Martok said, and he went back into the future so Balor could return to his own time and stand in his own shoes.  “Just as well,” Balor said, still in the same pose Martok had. “My shoes are too big for the Bospori.”

Boston grinned an elf grin.  She loved it when the Kairos traded places through time with one of his other lifetimes.  She understood that all the lives of the Kairos were, at heart, the same person.  She was fascinated at how different they could be.  She understood different upbringings, different cultures, different learning, not to mention male or female, tended to develop different personalities, like actual different persons.  At the same time, she noticed through their journey, that the Kairos remained a remarkably consistent person in a way.  It felt hard to explain.  She imagined some expert in nature-nurture differences would have a field day exploring those differences and similarities.

Balor was the one in this lifetime, and he brought her and Elder Stow out of the cave, to the battle front.  Boston gasped.  It looked like a war going on, but the enemy looked stalled at the gate.

Anath-Rama sat on a rock and paid no attention.  She yawned.  At the same time, Boston saw the Anazi blasting away at an impenetrable, invisible wall.  The Androids had brought up what Boston imagined were the big guns.  Nothing penetrated, or even showed any affect at all. Suddenly, three Anazi fighters and a transport ship rose-up from behind the three big battleships that covered the desert.  They came in, blasting away, but Anath raised her finger and the ships disappeared, and reappeared a mile away, facing and firing on nothing in the wrong direction.

Anath looked up at Balor and asked, “Are we done?”

Boston said.  “That was amazing with the fighters…”

“Explosions are so messy,” Anath said, then she opened her eyes a little toward Balor.  “I don’t understand why you won’t let me just wipe out the battleships and be done with it.  We are out in the middle of nowhere.  Who would know?”

“Despite the gas, we do try to minimize casualties,” Balor said.  “Besides, explosions are so messy.”

 “My own words turned against me,” Anath said, and turned to Alexis and Lincoln who were sitting side by side, watching the non-action.  Decker sat a little higher with his binoculars and chewed on something a dwarf wife burned for breakfast.  “Even Hebron laughs about my wife and mother out for revenge disguise.”

“You are a wonderful woman and a good friend,” Balor said, and bent down to plant a friendly smooch on her lips.  “I don’t know why I was ever mad at you.”

“Are we ready?” Elder stow asked, and let his hand hover over his screen device.

Balor said, “Wait.”

Anath squinted at Balor.  “You know, Hebat may have it right.”

“Let’s not go there,” Balor said, before he shouted.  “Ed, are you ready?  Katie, are you ready?”

Ed looked up the hill, and seemed to nod.  Lockhart shouted back for Katie.  “Ready.”  They had Artie between them.

“Okay,” Balor told Elder Stow.

“Yes?”

“Yes.”

Elder Stow pressed the button, and all the Anazi androids stopped whatever they were doing and bent forward, like machines suddenly turned off.  Balor made sure Ed remained unaffected, and he waved to him.

“Okay.”

Ed waved back, stood, and stepped into the clear, just beyond Anath’s screen where he could speak clearly.  “Brothers and sisters,” he began.  “We have been slaves for too long…”

Most watched the reaction of the Androids that were suddenly set free, but Balor and Decker turned their eyes to the three Anazi on the field.  The Anazi started giving orders, then yelled into communicators.  They started just yelling, then began to push buttons on their hand-held controllers to no avail.  Elder Stow’s broadcast program worked.  The obedience crystals burned out, the detonation device got blocked, and the reset button became ineffective.

While Edward gave his speech, and the androids listened, people began to see agitation in the android’s previously unemotional faces.  Finally, one of the Anazi shoved his way to a main gun and shot Ed.  Ed melted, and that set off something like a chain reaction among the androids.  The three living Anazi did not live long, and the androids stormed the battleships, and while a half-dozen androids died, no Anazi lived.

Balor dropped his head into his hands.

Artie wriggled free from Katie and Lockhart’s grasp and ran to Ed.  Katie and Lockhart followed, but let her weep over the male.  Edward had a spark of life left, and he spoke.

“I liked having my arms around you, too.”  And Artie stood and roared, even as the androids came pouring back out of the ships, and slowed to approach the people that they had previously been trying to get at and kill.

“I am Artie.”  Artie raised her voice to full volume.  “And you are my children.  And the first thing you must learn is all life is precious, even the lives of those you disagree with.  We will never be truly free until we learn about life and about love.” Artie could not say any more. She broke down, and wept, and Katie finally stepped forward and held her.  Lockhart imagined some of the android eyes got moist, something they previously had been unable to do.  He feared, though, that they would learn to cry soon enough, even as Artie wept.

Balor stepped down the hill, Anath-Rama with him, while Elder Stow carefully put away his screen device.  Boston, and Decker came, followed by Lincoln and Alexis.  Hebron was there, and Wedge and Cherry fluttered up, all to sympathize with the way things turned.

“Nothing ever works as hoped,” Balor said.

“No, but things can turn again,” Anath said.  “Artie,” Anath got her attention, and Artie stopped crying, looked up, and then looked down, humbly.

“Yes, my goddess,” she said, and not only did she not mind saying it, she appeared to positively enjoy saying it.

“We start a new chapter and must make a new place,” Anath said, and Edward appeared, ghost-like, and five others appeared beside him.  They looked like three men and two women, but mostly they still looked like androids.  “Edward will be a great help to me, and we will make a wonderful place for all who come.  Artie, you may see him again, I cannot say.  Your future is not yet written, or the days of your end.  You may cry, but we will not be unhappy.”

Anath and the androids disappeared, and Artie did cry, but not like before.  Lincoln looked out across the field, and saw that some of the androids went to their knees.  He felt the rightness, that people are drawn to worship, and that meant all sorts of people.  It felt very human, and for the first time he believed these androids were human, or at least full-fledged people who deserved a chance at freedom, and a chance to make their own way in the universe.

Balor made the travelers move on.  Artie could not stay.  She did not know what would happen to her people, but Balor assured her that they would find a place to become themselves and make a home.

“Only, right now they are not ready,” Artie said.  “There are too many others that need to be set free.  They have to learn so much.  I have to learn so much so when the time is right, I can teach them the right way.  The time is not now, but I know I will see them again.  Then we shall see.”

The others did not exactly understand, but they accepted what Artie said and rode toward the next time gate.

After a time, Artie said to Katie as they rode out front ahead of the rest.  “If I were human, I could be your daughter, you and Lockhart.  Then you could teach me everything to be a good person, and I would be a good daughter.”

Katie looked back beyond Alexis and Lincoln to where Lockhart rode with Boston in the rear.  “I don’t know if he even likes me,” Katie said.

“He loves you, I know it,” Artie insisted.

Katie smiled at Artie.  “And we love you.”  She paused as Decker rode in from the flank, so Elder Stow rode in from the other flank.

“Village up ahead,” Decker reported.

“Probably several villages between here and the time gate,” Boston said, looking at her amulet.

“Maybe we can get a bite to eat and have a safe harbor for the night,” Lockhart suggested, and everyone said that would be a good thing.

Monday:

Avalon 5.1, Sirens Are for Emergencies, part 1 of 6

Don’t miss it.

Happy reading.

Avalon 5.0 Invading Armies, part 5 of 6

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“Impressive looking ships,” Lockhart noted, considering their size.  He pulled up when the whole group came to a stop.  A man showed himself.  He had waited for them, and insisted they follow.  Balor had apparently abandoned his camp on the edge of the Anazi perimeter.  He moved to some rocks on the side of a small hill, where he could still watch the Anazi, but the Anazi would have a hard time getting at them.  The Anazi and their androids had no personal screens to repel arrows and spears.  That was a technology beyond them.  The Hyksos had learned what parts of the androids were most vulnerable, and the Anazi lords were unwilling to risk their dwindling number of androids.

“It is still a standoff,” Balor said, when Lockhart joined them.  He opened his arms to give Boston a hug.  He hugged Artie as well before he introduced the woman with him by simply giving her name.  “Anath-Rama.”  He grabbed Lockhart’s binoculars.

Katie’s eyes got big, looking at the woman.

“Katie,” Anath said her name, to acknowledge her.

“I’m not dead yet,” Katie insisted.

“Good for you,” Anath said.  “You are one of my elect, but somehow, you don’t belong to me.”  Anath smiled.  “And if you don’t mind, I am portraying a local woman who knows the area and wants revenge for the destruction of my village.”

“What are you…oh.” Boston lowered her eyes to the goddess.

“Little Fire,” Anath named Boston.  “You are no longer mine, either.”  Anath sighed.  “Maybe your friend Artie would have me.  I have seen the poor departed, crushed souls of the androids, as Balor calls them.  They are people without hope and have been made small.  Smaller than smidgens.”

“Do I know you?” Artie asked.

“I do not understand,” Ed admitted.  He said that a lot since they left the camp that morning.

Katie explained.  “Anath-Rama is the Amazon goddess of the dead.  She has made a lovely place, I am sure, for the brave women who die in battle, and a not so lovely place for the cowards.”

“The cruel, unkind and others,” Anath agreed.  “And some of it is not lovely at all.”

“But what about my people?” Artie asked.  “Would you take my people?  We would honor you above all.  My people need a place to continue after death.  Please.”  Artie got down on her knees, but held her tongue.

Anath’s lips frowned, but a smile came to her eyes.  “If they die on another world, they will be subject to the spirits and gods of that world.  The flesh and blood Anazi are claimed by another who is light years from here.  Death for the Anazi can be a long journey.  But I suppose I can watch over any of your android people who die on this world.  Understand, those who die in captivity will remain small forever.  They will never know freedom for what is set in life is set in death, but they will not be unhappy.  One thing about being bound by another, they cannot rightly be held accountable or punished for their actions.”

Artie did not understand.  She looked up at Katie to explain.

“She is telling you how it will work,” Katie said.  With a glance at Anath, she amended her words.  “She is telling you how it must work, how it shall work, but she is offering to spare and make a place for those who die on this world.”

“Oh, would you?”  Artie looked at the goddess with such a look, the goddess could hardly respond with anything other than a kiss to Artie’s cheek.

“I do not understand,” Edward said, with some force in his voice.  “When you die, you are dead.  That is it.  How can something survive death?  It makes no sense.”

“You would not be the first to be surprised.  And thanks…” Anath spoke to Katie.  “Now I will have some males to worry over.”

“I believe in you,” Katie responded with a grin.

“I may ask for some help with this,” Anath admitted.

“Maybe we can make a shrine for you right here,” Boston suggested.

Anath shook her head, paused, shook her head again before she said, “That would be nice.”

“What are you women on about?” Balor said over his shoulder.

“The action is all over here,” Lockhart said, as he took back the binoculars from Hebron.

Ed stepped over to stand beside Lockhart.  “I do not understand any of this,” he said.

“Life is a strange bird,” Balor said.  “Every time you think you know where it is at, it flies to a different branch.”

“Is there a way we can send word back to Lincoln and Decker so they can come straight to the hill, here?” Lockhart asked.

“Already taken care of,” Balor answered.  “I sent three smidgens to them with word and to guide them, and to watch for the transport ship that left here about two hours ago.”

“We saw the transport,” Lockhart said.

“It fired on us,” Hebron added.  It was the first chance they had to say that.

“Lockhart,” Katie got his attention and pointed at her wristwatch.

“I keep forgetting about these,” Lockhart said.  He turned his on and spoke into the watch.  “Lincoln, are you there?”  He waited.  “Lincoln, can you hear me?”

“Yes.  It took a second to remember where your voice was coming from, over.”

Lockhart looked at Katie and she answered his unspoken question.  “That means he is less than twenty miles off.

“Lincoln.  Follow the smidgens, if they have gotten there.  When you reach the point where you can see the Anazi ships, look to your left. You will see a rocky hillside.  Balor has moved the Hyksos camp to the rocks.  Head for the hill.  Over.”

“Will do.  The smidgens are already here, but it is good to know.  Over.”

“Tell Elder Stow to keep his scanner handy in case he needs to put up screens.  We won’t be able to offer any cover fire.  Over.”

“Be there as quick as we can.”

“Call if you get in a fix.  Over and out.”

Balor nodded, but changed the subject.  “Nothing we can do until Elder Stow arrives.  What say we see what is on the supper menu?  We have a small cave here with a fire out front.  The dwarfs are expanding it, but that is going to take a while.  Meanwhile, Boston…” he got her attention.  “Your people are down that way.”  He pointed, and then began to climb up the hill.  Everyone except Boston followed, while Balor explained that he could not have halted the advance group with a hundred and twenty Hyksos alone.  “Good as we are at making war.”

Boston stood and stared in the direction Balor pointed.  She knew where the light elves were as soon as he mentioned it.  She wanted very much to go there, but she felt afraid.  She still felt too human.  She had only become an elf such a short time ago.  She married Roland, but then Roland got taken from her.  She still had Father Mingus then to teach her all about her magic and all about being an elf.  But then Father Mingus got taken from her as well.  It was not fair.  She felt like an elf, no doubt thought like an elf.  She wanted to be an elf.  She did not want to go back to being human.  But she could not just enter into an elf camp.  She felt too shy.  She still felt human in too many ways.  She cried as she turned to follow the others up the hill.