Avalon

Avalon 2.9 Healings

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            Obstacles and enemies overcome, and it looks like the travelers may have an open route to the young couples trapped on the riverbank.  Getting them out of there safely is a whole other proposition, especially when there are wounded who do not look at all well.

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            Everyone looked up when they heard the loud cracks in the distance.  “What is that?”  Vinnu asked.  She was easily spooked and said she felt claustrophobic being trapped between the Jaccar warriors and the Danube.

            Flern stood slowly and walked toward the sounds.  “The cavalry,” she said, and then thought to offer a better explanation.  “Friends of mine, and maybe help to get out of this mess.”  Vilder and Pinn stepped up to flank Flern and they waited, but not for long.

            “Flern?”  The call came from a man on horseback.  Flern waved as the man stopped and dismounted.

            “Lockhart.  Good to see you.  You don’t want to be here.”

            “Lady!”  Roland interrupted and came up quickly.  He dismounted before his horse completely stopped and untied Boston’s stretcher from the back.  He floated it gently towards the waiting trio.  “Lady.  It’s Boston.  She’s been shot.”  Boston was presently delirious with fever.

            “Let me see.”  Flern stepped up as Roland butted in front of Lockhart and stepped down on the small beach. 

            “Elder Stow got the arrow out of her middle, but she appears to be getting worse, not better.  Is it an infection?  Is Alexis near?”

            “Bring her,” Flern said, but as she turned, Kined spoke up.

            “Flern!”  He called to her and lifted a hand to reach for her.

            “He has a bad fever,” Riah reported.

            “Make a place,” Flern said, and Vilder and Pinn helped so Flern could set Boston beside Kined.  “My husband took an arrow in the leg.  Doctor Mishka treated the wound so it can’t be an infection.  I don’t know what to do.”  Flern looked up at Thrud and Kiren, Gunder and Vinnu, but they were keeping back, wary of these strangers.

            “Slow poison?”  Pinn suggested.  “That is all we could think of.”  She looked up at Vilder who nodded. 

            “What is the situation?”  Katie asked as she, Lincoln and Lockhart came up.  Captain Decker was already in among the trees that grew along the riverbank, trying to see some evidence of the enemy.  There were campfires, but well behind a rise in the grasslands.

            While Roland and Riah passed some unspoken elfish words, eye to eye, Flern squeezed Kined’s hand and stood.  “Katie.  We got bronze.”  She pointed to the idle wagons out in the field. 

            “What?  No.”  Katie, the group expert in ancient cultures and technologies was impressed.  This was a big step in the development of civilization.

            Flern just nodded and fought the tears in her eyes.  “We got it to arm our people against the Jaccar.  Our village is captive to the Wicca.”  She broke down and fell on Kined.  “We have only been married a month.  I don’t want to lose him.”

            Lockhart looked at Elder Stow who was the last to vacate the edge of the grasses for the beach.  He just shook his head, sadly, to say there was nothing he could do against slow poison.

            “Alexis could pull it out the way she and Anenki’s daughter did back in that time zone,” Lincoln said.  “Maybe one of the gods?”  He looked at Flern but she sadly shook her head.

            “The gods are not permitted to interfere or Mother Vrya or Artemis would have done so.  And as for me, this is not exactly time threatening.  These are human problems and must be solved in a human way.”  Flern sniffed.  “Or not.”

            Goldenwing chose that moment to rush up.  He fluttered briefly out over the river and returned  “My lady,” he said.  “Beware.”  The water began to roll, and close to shore.  “Black sea snake.”  And the snake rose out of the water some fifteen feet in the air to hover over those on the riverbank.  It began to weave and spread its cobra-like head in preparation for feeding.  The mouth was easily big enough to swallow a person whole.

            Thrud, Vinnu and Lincoln all screamed, and Lincoln added, “I hate snakes.”  But then the snake struck.  It dropped straight toward Vinnu and big Gunder was barely able to pull her out of the way in time for the snake to eat dirt.  The snake tried to move laterally with the young woman, but there were several, sudden loud cracks, and the snakes eye poured out blood.  It squirmed more rapidly than its strike, and even as Lockhart unloaded his shotgun which turned the snake’s neck to mush, the head caught him in the shoulder, bowled him over and scratched his forearm.

            As the snake sank back into the water to die, Katie knelt down.  “Robert.  Are you all right?” 

            “Just a scratch.”  He tried to shrug it off.

            “Oh,” Riah spoke up before Roland could.  “But they are deadly poisonous.”

            Elder Stow shook his head.  “You would think being so big and all they would not need poison.”

            “Wait,” Lincoln and Pinn both spoke at the same time and pointed.  Something green and pussy formed in the cut on Lockhart’s arm.  It dripped to the ground, and then the cut began to close.

            “How is that possible?”  Vilder asked and looked at Pinn.

            “Yes!”  Flern saw and jumped up even as Lockhart explained.

            “I must still have plenty of functioning Gaian healing chits.”

            “And what are Gaian healing chits?”

            Flern took over the explanation as she examined Lockhart’s vanishing wound and his hands.  “The Gaian are humans from a parallel universe and more advanced technologically than you, Elder.  Far more advanced.  The chits are organic and microscopic and were given to Lockhart to heal his crippled back and legs.”

            “They liberated me from my wheelchair,” Lockhart confessed.

            “Lockhart.”  Flern got his attention as she made him get up and follow her to Boston.  Roland looked up at them with tears in the corners of his eyes.

            “She is passing into a coma,” he said. 

            “Do you love Boston?”  Flern asked.    

            “Yes,” Roland said, but Flern was talking to Lockhart.

            “You know I do.”

            “I don’t know if yours can be reprogrammed.  You don’t really have the seeds to grow more when yours are gone, but here is what you must do.  Think about how much you care about Boston and want to see her well.  You want the poison and infection out of her and her wound healed.  You must think that very hard and think that some of your chits go to your pinky finger.  I am going to try a transfer.”

            “Will that work?”  Lincoln was the one who asked what everyone wondered.

            Flern became flustered.  “I don’t know.  I just don’t know what else to do.”

            “I’m thinking,” Lockhart said and held out his hand. 

            “Unwrap her,” Flern told Roland and she pulled out her long knife.  Boston’s wound had festered under the bandage.  It was yellowed and wrinkled like it was too long in the tub.  Flern cut it and set it to bleeding again.  Most chose not to watch.  Then she brought Lockhart’s hand close and told him to keep thinking about healing Boston.  She gave his pinky finger a poke and a few drops of blood dripped into Boston’s wound.

            “Clean bandage.  Cover her back up,” Flern said, before she turned back to Kined and began to cry.  He was delirious, not yet at the coma stage.  She imagined it took longer for the poison to travel up from his leg.

            Lockhart leaned over to comfort her.  “I have another pinky, you know.”

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Avalon 2.9  In the Night, Dark and Light … Next Time

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Avalon 2.9 Overstepping Boundaries

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            What have the Jaccar got against red hair?  Boston took an arrow in the middle and is laid out on a stretcher.  Decker has identified the young people on the riverbank as well as the Jaccar warriors surrounding them.  The travelers all feel the need to get to those young people and help, but it may not be so easy breaking through the enemy lines.

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            Thrud was cooking again, though it was hard to do it well and stay behind the trees.  Her husband Kiren kept an eye out in case there was more moving grass.  Goldenwing, in his normal, small fairy size, stayed up a treetop.  He wanted to watch the field, but also the distant rise where the hundred Jaccar warriors remained hidden and were no doubt planning their next move.

            Riah the elf stayed with Flern, her mistress, and together they hovered over Kined,.Flern had immediately gone away from that place so Doctor Mishka could come and tend Kined’s wound properly.  She got the arrow out easily enough, but the hole in Kined’s thigh bled a lot, even through the doctor’s stitches.  Now Kined was sleeping because of the potion the Doctor cooked up and all Flern could do was sit and hold his hand and fret.

            “What are we going to do?”  Vinnu looked up at Gunder’s face.  He looked at Vilder and Pinn, the leaders of the expedition, not counting Flern, of course.

            “I still say we should have made barges to carry the wagons as far as we could downriver before we needed to turn inland,” Gunder said.

            “Too late for that now,” Pinn replied.

            “Besides,” Vilder spoke up he tossed a pebble out into the river.  “Flern was right about that.    All that bronze would have been too heavy for any barges we could build..”

            “But what if the Jaccar get the bronze?  How will we ever set our village free?”  Vinnu was thinking which was not necessarily a good sign.  “The wagons are just sitting out in the grass begging to be stolen.”

            “Not to mention all of our horses grazing, just out of reach,” Pinn added.

            “They probably will get the bronze,”  Gunder rubbed Vinnu’s back gently.  “But only after they kill Flern and the rest of us.”

            Vilder gave Gunder a look to suggest he was not helping.  “The object is to figure out some way to prevent that from happening.  We can sneak out after dark and arm ourselves from the wagons so maybe we can defend ourselves, but it is still ten to one against us and the Jaccar have us trapped here against the river.”

            “Hush,”  Pinn said.  “Think.”  And then Thrud spoke up.

            “Supper’s ready.”

###

 

            Roland tied Boston and her floating stretcher to the back of his horse like he would a travois.  Elder Stow rode to one side of Boston and Lincoln rode to the other side to be sure Boston did not fall off in transit.  Roland did not want to move her at all, at first.  The wound in her gut was severe, but Boston insisted they help Flern, and at present she was sleeping, and with the Gott-Druk’s anti-gravity disc holding her up so she did not bump and drag across the ground he decided she might not even know she was moving.   

            Captain Decker took the lead, though he confessed seeing things from the air was different from seeing things on the ground.  They understood, but started right out in a straight line for the river.  He said it was not far and they ought to reach the young people by nightfall, but he could not guarantee that because it might be slow going.  There would be streams and small rivers to cross where all of the water from the Carpathian mountains drained down into the Danube.  Still, he reasoned the riverside was the only way to approach Flern and her people and avoid the hundred or so warriors he saw camped out on the grasslands.

            “It would not have done any good,” Lockhart spoke softly to Katie who rode beside him.  “This is the way we would have had to go anyway, more or less.”

            “But what do we do when we get there?”  Katie asked.  “What is to prevent us from becoming trapped against the river with Flern?”

            Lockhart shook his head.  “I don’t know, but Decker, mister move on as soon as possible picked this route.  I have to assume he has some plan in mind.”

            “I don’t know.  He has changed since the eagle became his totem and he spent several centuries in that Agdaline sleeper.”

            “Changed,” Lockhart nodded.  “But still a former Navy Seal now assigned to the Marines, like special assignment.  He thinks military and I don’t suppose that has changed.”  After a moment he had a question.  “So how is it a Seal gets reassigned to the regular Marines?”

            “State Department,” Katie responded quietly.  “Embassy service available for other special assignments.”

            “Like this one, working for Colonel Weber and the area 51 crowd?” 

            Katie nodded.   “The Marine uniform is something like a disguise.”

            “And you, Lieutenant?”

            Katie frowned before she grinned, and she only grinned because she saw Robert was smiling at her.  “Pentagon, straight out of graduate school, and overdue for a promotion.  But I guess the Pentagon does not have much call for a specialist in ancient cultures and technologies.  Neither did area 51, until now.”

            “Well I am glad you are here.”

            “Me too.  I mean I am glad to be here, too.”

            They were smiling at each other when Decker rode by.  “We are supposed to be keeping our eyes open for the enemy,” he said, and rode up to Roland.  Katie and Lockhart both turned their heads to watch.  Decker pointed to the woods by the Danube.  They had come up on a small tributary.  Roland nodded and turned to the Gott-Druk.  Elder Stow got out some piece of equipment and after a quick look he also nodded.  Decker waved to them all and started up the small river away from the Danube, riding at a good pace.  They followed.

            It was a short distance before Decker turned the troop to cross the tributary.  The water in that place was slow and meandering, and not too deep.  The horses swam it easily enough and Boston stayed above it the whole time.  She had a bit of a fever by then and getting soaked would not have helped.

            Once on the other side, Decker picked up the pace and rode them angling back toward the Danube.  When he saw a place where the trees stretched out to cover some of the plains, he turned them in.  Roland rode through that small bit of woods to the other side and took Boston with him.  He pulled his bow and unsnapped his sword and knife, just in case.

            “What is going on?”  Boston asked without opening her eyes.

            “Hush,” Roland said.  “Some more of those men.  They probably had the same idea we had, to sneak up on the Kairos from the flank, er, side.”

            “I know what a fllank is,” Boston said and rolled to her side before she immediately returned to lie on her back with an expression of pain on her face.  Roland just stared at her.  The concern showed on his face.

            Lockhart and the others had tied off their horses and had their weapons ready.  Elder Stow still had that sonic device.  He had yet to show a real weapon of any consequence, though no one doubted he had one.  But Lockhart imagined the sonic device would work well on the horses, so he did not say anything.  Besides, they could hear the horses moving slowly through the bushes by the river. 

            A rock outcropping caused the horsemen to vacate their cover and move to the grasses.  There they became open season.  When they were close, Captain Decker said nothing, he just opened fire.  Lockhart and Katie might have wanted to talk first, but they had no choice but to join Decker in the slaughter.  It did not take long to down eight men, and three of the horses were down as well.

            “Jaccar,” Lincoln named the men when the firing stopped.  “According to the database they were probably under the spell of the Wicca and unable to do anything but follow orders.”

            “You mean enchanted?”  Katie used the word.

            Lincoln nodded as Decker spoke.  “So it was kill or be killed.”

            “Fair enough,” Lockhart said with a glance in Katie’s direction.  Then he exploded.  “But next time you ask me and share your information.  This is my decision.  And we don’t kill if there is any possible way to avoid it, is that clear?”

            Decker straightened up.  “Yes, sir.”  He added the sir softly, but he understood.

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Avalon 2.9  Healings … Next Time

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Avalon 2.9: Dead and Wounded

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            Bronze.  Four young couples are desperately trying to get the newly discovered bonze weapons home to help liberate their village from the conquering Jaccar, only now they are trapped on a riverbank of the Danube by a hundred Jaccar warriors who want no less that to kill them all.  Little do the Jaccar know, the wagons now sitting idly beyond the reach of the couples are filled with weapons presently more precious than gold … and the travelers are riding right into the middle of it all.

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            Boston was examining the amulet to check their direction when Roland shouted.  She was slow to react and the result was an arrow in her  gut.  She screamed her surprise before she moaned and doubled over in her saddle.  Roland quickly pulled her to the side and out of sight from the incoming arrows.

            The others dismounted rapidly and stared hard off into the forest, except Elder Stow who floated over to where Roland was gingerly helping Boston to the ground.  Captain Decker and Katie fired their rifles at the same time, before Lockhart could pull his revolver and wave them toward the trees.

            “Go,” he said.  “Lincoln, help me get the horses.”  He preferred not to watch Katie head into danger.

            “Hey Lockhart,” Boston called softly.  Her lips hardly moved and her eyes were half shut against the pain.  “Why am I always the lucky one?”  She tried to laugh, but that just made her grit her teeth and squeeze her eyes shut.

            Elder Stow leaned over her with that miraculous piece of equipment he once used on Katie and Lockhart.  As the equipment softly hummed, the arrow pulled itself out from the wound.  Then the wound slowly closed, or most of it anyway. 

            “I am sorry, my Father.  I have nothing that will really heal her.  I am no physician.  I can only hope she will recover and heal the old fashioned way, and she should, barring infection.”

            Roland cradled Boston’s head as he looked first at the Gott-Druk and then at Lockhart while tears came up into his eyes.  At last he lifted his head and howled a word into the air.  “Alexis.”  He called for his sister whose magic was especially healing magic.

            “Alexis.”  Lincoln could not help but add his voice in a call for his wife.  The difference was Lincoln’s voice was a mere human shout of frustration while the elf’s voice carried, who knew how far.

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            Katie put her back to a tree and looked over at Decker who knelt by another tree.  Katie signaled with her hand that there were two just out from Decker’s position.  Decker signaled back that she was facing a third.  The men were bobbing up and down and craning their necks this way and that to see the trail the group had been following through the forest.  They were looking for movement and listening for the sound of horses attempting a quick getaway.  One man even had an arrow ready on his string.  Decker pointed.  Katie called out.  

              “We have no quarrel with you.  Can we talk?”  She did not get to finish her thought as the nearness of their voices caused the three men to abandon their bows, lift their spears, draw their knives and charge, screaming.

            Captain Decker pumped his fist.  Katie and Decker burst out from their hiding places.  A few quick shots and all three men lay dead a few feet away.  It all happened so suddenly, there was no time to think about it.

            “They were determined to try and kill us,” Decker said as he checked the bodies.  “I have no idea why.”

              Katie said nothing.  Elect, Marine lieutenant, impossible situation thousands of years from home all meant nothing.  She did not like the killing.

            Beyond that point, the forest petered out and it was all grasslands to the horizon.  Decker stepped out on to the grass.  Katie followed warily.  There were horses near and Katie thought about what Decker said.  She decided she wanted some clue as to why the men attacked.

            “I wonder if there are others.” Katie asked out loud.  “It may be tribal dress, but those three are dressed the same, almost like a uniform.”

            Decker nodded.  “I’ll have a look see,” he said and sat cross-legged on the grass outside the shadow of the trees.  He put his rifle in his lap, placed his hands on his knees and closed his eyes.

            Katie thought to call the others while she waited with one eye on the surrounding area, just in case.  She looked at her wristwatch and took a moment to remember how it worked.  “Robert?”  She had to wait a minute for a response.

            “Katie?  I forgot we had these wrist communicators.”

            “How is Boston?”

            “Elder Stow got the arrow out and the wound is mostly sealed, but he fears infection from the filthy arrowhead.  He has pretty much ruled out poison, which is a good thing.  Roland is with her.  Lincoln has the horses.”

            “Three here, all dead,” Katie glanced around and something in the back of her mind said there was something about the horses.  “They were all dressed the same, like uniforms even though I know we are way too early in history for such a thing.  Decker is meditating to see if his eagle eye can find more of them.”  Katie heard a sound and caught some movement from the corner of her eye.  “Out here there are grasslands for as far as I can see.  I recommend we move out on to the grasses and away from the forest where we can hardly see around the next tree.”  Her mouth paused as her mind screamed.  There were four horses.  She spun and grabbed the man’s knife hand before he could stab her in the back.  They tussled for a second which startled the horses and sent them scurrying out on to the grass.   The man tried to force the knife, but Katie was stronger.  He tried to punch her, but her foot caught the man first in the belly and sent him staggering back.

            Katie pulled her own knife rather than her gun.  She thought a prisoner might be more useful than another dead man.  He came at her again, and she blocked his copper knife with her American steel.  A few more stabs like that and the copper would snap.  Katie looked into the man’s eyes and wondered what was driving him.  What she saw was wild, bloodshot eyes that did not look entirely in focus.  He caught her look and spoke.

            “Give me the girl with the red hair.  She must die.”

            “What?”  Katie easily countered the man’s next move, and noticed his reactions were not the swiftest.

            “The red hair girl must die.  The Wicca has commanded.”

            Katie stepped up and cut the man’s forearm so he dropped his knife, but he managed to shove her back and retrieved his knife from the ground with his other hand.

            “Who is the Wicca?”

            “She is the great and mighty Wicca.  It is her great desire that the one with the red hair die.”  He charged again, and again Katie easily countered, and got her fist into the man’s face.  He staggered, but he would not fall.  He was sweating like a man with a fever.  He screamed, abandon all sense and ran toward her to tackle her, but there was a gunshot.  He spun once and plummeted to the ground.

            Katie glanced at Decker thinking it was him before Lockhart stepped from the woods.  Lincoln and the horses followed.  Elder Stow and Roland came last with Boston on a stretcher that Roland had hastily constructed.  They did not have to carry the stretcher, however, because Elder Stow rigged up his anti-gravity device to carry it on an even keel over the rough ground.

            “Perhaps if she does not jiggle around so much she may heal faster,” Elder Stow suggested. 

            “Alexis,” Roland was still calling and looking off to the horizon, but now the call was a mere whisper of desperation.

            “Robert, I was trying to take him alive,” Katie complained.

            “Sorry,” Lockhart said.  “But the Kairos, my boss said do not hesitate with anyone who is trying to kill you, and I agree.”

            Katie looked down.  “I suppose I might have had to kill him myself.  I don’t think he would have stopped until he was dead or unconscious, and I imagine it is not as easy to knock someone out as it appears in the movies.”

            “You are right about that,” Lincoln said.

            “A berserker?”  Lockhart saw the look in the man’s face and eyes and wondered

            Katie shook her head.  “Slow to react.  More like he was on drugs and maybe could not help himself.”

            “Enchanted?”  Boston suggested, though her voice sounded weak and far away.

            Katie nodded that time.  “Maybe enchanted.  Maybe enchanted by that Wicca person.”

            The others said nothing for a time.  What could they say?  It was not every day total strangers tried to kill them without any provocation and for no known reason.

            Captain Decker took that moment to stir and everyone came close to hear about what he saw, if anything.

            “Eight young people are trapped against the bank of a big river.  I assume the Kairos is one of them since they have a couple of elves with them.  Three wagons, horses hobbled, but they are surrounded by about a hundred men dressed like these.”

            “Flern.”  Lincoln pulled out the database.  “The Kairos is a she,” he clarified.  “If it is a really big river, it is probably the Danube.”

            Captain Decker nodded and got up on his horse.  The others followed and even Elder Stow got up on Boston’s horse, Honey, and with only a small moan of protest.

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Avalon 2.9  Overstepping Boundaries … Next Time

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Avalon 2.9: The Army of Invention

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

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After 3440 BC in the Ukraine.  Kairos life 29: Flern

Recording…

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            Flern felt cold hands on the back of her neck.  She shrieked and jumped.  Thrud looked up from her cooking and laughed.  Vinnu, who was leaning back comfortably in Big Gunder’s arms while he leaned against a tree hid her smile.  The boys, Gunder and Kiren knew better than to smile at all, much as they might have liked.  Flern frowned, but as she looked up, Kined bent down and kissed her.  That was fine.  She was suddenly not mad anymore.  Flern and Kined had been married for almost a whole month.

            “Where is Vilder?” Kined asked as he grabbed the seat next to his wife.  Flern took his hand and smiled at her own thoughts.

            “He took Pinn past the trees to the little beach on the river,” Kiren said as he patted Thrud’s butt gently to move her over in order to snitch a pinch of the deer to taste test.

            “It’s not done yet,” Thrud protested.

            “Seems we need to throw a bucket of water on those two,” Gunder spoke up while Vinnu squirmed into a more comfortable position in his arms.

            “The river is cold,” Kined suggested, but with a look at Flern he verbalized, “The Danube,” before he finished his thought.  “Maybe we could throw them in.”

            “You’re talking about Vilder and Pinn?”  Vinnu was half-listening as usual.  No one answered her.

            “So where are Riah and Goldenwing?” Kiren asked as he retook his seat to wait for the deer to be done.  Flern said nothing.  She merely looked at Kined, let go of his hand, took his arm and inched up close beside him.  Kined tried to look serious.

            “Let me see.”  He concentrated despite Flern’s attempt to tickle him.

            Thrud spoke an aside to Vinnu.  “Riah and Goldenwing might as well pair off, too.”

            “But we are all married, not just paired off,” Vinnu responded, not quite sure what Thrud was suggesting, but by then Thrud eyed Flern who ignored her friend to focus on her husband.

            “Er!” Kined started to speak but first he had to peal Flern’s free hand off his knee.  “Riah and Goldenwing went out to hunt and scout ahead for when we leave in the morning.  They are – wait.  What?”  Kined jumped up and shoved Flern to the ground in the process.  Flern let out a shout of protest even as an arrow struck Kined in the thigh.  Kiren jumped up and Gunder deposited Vinnu on her rump in the grass as he leapt to help.

            Goldenwing the fairy zoomed up and got big so the others would be protected behind him and his golden armor.  “To the river!” he shouted as a second arrow hit the log Flern and Kined had been using as a seat.  Goldenwing pulled his bow from some invisible pocket, but Riah already had hers out and the elf maid was coming on faster than any human could possibly run.  She let two arrows fly in the span of a single breath and a grass carpet out in the open field began to rise before it fell back to the dirt to never move again.

            “To the woods by the river,” Goldenwing shouted again as he readied his bow and Riah came up huffing and puffing from her run.  She was elf fast, but she was not fairy fast.

            “Kined!”  Flern yelled her concern as Gunder and Kiren helped Kined walk to the river.  She stuck her head up, but there was another arrow.  It fell short, but Flern put her head right back down.  This time Riah and Goldenwing shot together and another grass rug stopped moving.

            “Now.”  Riah nudged Flern with her foot, but everyone paused when they heard the sound of thunder coming on fast.  Flern stood, but someone stood in front of her.  It was Vrya, the Aesgard goddess of love and war. 

            “My son,” Vrya said and touched Flern’s face gently.  “Even when you are my daughter.”  The goddess smiled and another figure appeared.

            “I don’t belong here,” Artemis said.  “I just came to tell you if you have to escape across the river I could maybe help.”

            “I invite you,” Vrya also smiled for the Olympian.  “As my sister among the Amazon, you are welcome to kill as many of these men as you wish.”  And with that word more than a hundred horsemen came into view, in a full charge.  Goldenwing and Riah could only stare in awe as the two goddesses looked at each other before they let loose a virtual rain of arrows on the oncoming horsemen.  It was only moments before those horses turned toward a distant rise they could hide behind.  They abandoned their dead and wounded as they rode for their lives.

            The goddesses stopped firing at once and their bows disappeared as they turned toward Flern.  Vrya slipped one arm around Flern’s shoulder and Artemis slipped her arm over from the other side.  In this way, the goddesses turned Flern toward the river and spoke as they walked.  Goldenwing, fairy small again sat on Riah’s shoulder and they followed.  The cooking fire with the deer still cooking away also followed them to the riverbank.

            “I shouldn’t be here,” Vrya said.

            “I really shouldn’t be here,” Artemis repeated herself with a nod.

            “But maybe if these Jaccar think we are still here, they won’t try another charge.”

            “I can’t speak for the ones in the grass.”  Artemis glanced around.  It was all grasslands apart from the trees that lined the riverbank.  The three wagons that carried the bronze making equipment and bronze weapons that Flern and her friends were trying to get home to liberate their village from these very Jaccar sat idle in the grass.  All of the horses Flern and her crew rode and with which they pulled the wagons also grazed essentially undisturbed by what just happened.

            “Of course,” Vrya spoke again as they stepped behind the trees.  “Since I am not really here, you will have to find your own way out of this mess.”  She kissed Flern on the cheek and vanished.

            Artemis turned to face Flern.  “Sorry about your man getting shot.  Probably another reason why I don’t want one.”  Artemis smiled for Flern like it was some kind of inside joke.  “But seriously, if you decide to cross the river, I will help.”

            Flern looked back across the grass toward the rise that hid the Jaccar.  “It may come to that, but first I have to do everything I can to keep the bronze from falling into Jaccar hands.  They are a terror with stone and copper.  With bronze they would be unstoppable.”

            Artemis merely nodded and planted her own more tentative kiss on Flern’s cheek before she vanished as well.

            Flern paused and looked around.  She was at the bottom of the four foot river bank beneath the trees.  The deer was still cooking at the top of the bank, above her shoulder in a slight clearing among the woods that she never noticed before.  Kined grinned for her though his pain and the others all looked at her, including Vilder and Pinn who had obviously dressed quickly.  Flern frowned again.

            “Okay,” she said.  “How do we get out of this one and keep the bronze out of Jaccar hands?”  That was all she could say before she stepped over to Kined to hug him and cry all over him. 

###

Avalon 2.9:  Dead and Wounded … Next Time

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Avalon 2.8: The Journey

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            Serious war, maybe nuclear looks to be on the horizon, hovering disaster over the poor human race, still living with sticks and stones.  The Kairos has to do something, and meanwhile he has to depend on the travelers to get his people to safety, if any place is really safe.  For the travelers, though, their main job is to get safely back to the twenty-first century, and they understand that sometimes it means they have to move on to the next time gate as quickly as possible.  Sometimes sticking around won’t help, it will just get them all killed.

###

            There were ninety three people on the journey that originally started somewhere along the coast of Colombia, South America.  Several died along the way, but there were still a number of older people who were not in the best of shape to be making such a journey.  There was not much the travelers could do when the jungle was thick and passage became a matter of cutting a way through, but when they crossed the meadows and open spaces, which was about half of the first day, they let the older ones ride, and then of course all of the children wanted a ride.  Boston and Lincoln did not mind leading the horses so Lockhart and Katie, Roland and Decker could keep their weapons ready.

            They camped that night at the edge of the trees and in the morning they awoke to a thick mist and a slight rain.  It rained on and off the second day and that made everyone cranky and short tempered.  They stopped early and with the help of Roland and Boston, and Maya of course, they got some good fires burning.  But no one really dried off much and that night they all went to bed early and miserable.

            The sun came out on the third morning and Maya said they were getting close to their destination.  She suggested they might arrive by evening if all went well.  Naturally, within an hour they found their way blocked by some thirty men carrying spears and sporting sharp stone knives.

              The men in the traveling group, which numbered about the same as the opposition, grabbed whatever weapons they had and presented a wall against the locals.  It was obvious Otapec’s people had faced this sort of confrontation before in their long journey.  Thus the two groups of warriors stared at each other, spear to spear and eye to eye.  The people were like statues trying to stare each other down when Decker, Lockhart, Katie and Roland stepped between them.  Lincoln and Boston were a bit delayed because of the horses, but Maya was not slow to arrive.

            “No!”  She shouted at everyone, and the men who blocked the path took a few steps back as she revealed a smidgen of her divinity, before one stepped forward and pleaded.

            “But this is our land.”  The man whined. 

            “Enough people have died,” Maya said softly.

            One idiot who might have been inspired by fear, threw a spear at the travelers.  Maya had her screen up so the spear bounced off that invisible wall and fell harmlessly to the ground.  It did not matter.  No one else was watching.  Instead, they had their eyes on Maya and the man who appeared out of nowhere beside her.  Then the man changed into another man and gave the goddess a kiss.

            “Opi,” Maya smiled.

            “Lockhart, you have a visitor.” Otapec said with a sly look over his shoulder.  It was only a moment before a great snout stuck out from the trees.  The dragon spoke, in the Agdaline tongue of course so no one but Otapec, Maya and the travelers understood what the creature said.

            “Mama.  Hurting.”  The other people all took a big step back because it sounded something like a roar to them.

            “Puff,” Katie said.

            “No fire.  No harm.”  Lockhart spoke quickly as Puff crawled up slowly.  The whole lower half of the worm had first and second degree burns, an oddity on a dragon.

            “What is that smell?”  Boston asked.

            “Leakage,” Otapec said as he left that place and Kartesh once again stepped into his world.   “I’m no healer.  Maya.”  Kartesh stepped to the invisible wall and spoke in Agdaline.  “Friend.  Friend.”

            Puff glanced at her through the tear in its eye.  Lockhart reached out to touch Puff’s nose.            “But I have to keep an eye on these hunters,” Maya said.

            “What hunters?”  Decker asked.  The men that had confronted them were presently running all out across the meadow and away from the travelers and their pet dragon.

            Maya caught up in a second and with Kartesh they healed the wound in the dragon’s side while Kartesh explained something about dragon anatomy.  “Their peculiar digestive system produces a mix of gases, mostly hydrogen, that collects in a bladder that runs the whole length of the worm body.  The hydrogen helps them go aloft, like a balloon, but like the old Zeppelins Doctor Mishka is so familiar with, the gas is highly flammable.  They have to expel some now and then to keep from getting bloated.  They have two things, like bones in the throat, that ignites the gas like a cigarette lighter when expelled.”

            “Why don’t they blow up?”  Lincoln asked.

            “A simple flap,” Kartesh answered.  “Not unlike the one you have that lets you breathe into your lungs but swallow into your stomach.  It prevents the flame from riding back into the bladder.”

            “So if they breathe too much fire they might have a hard time getting off the ground.  Boston was thinking.

            “Yes, but for most the sensation of being bloated is worse.  They hibernate when well fed, sometimes for years.  You can imagine how bloated they get and how much they need to expel when they first awake.  That is why it is not wise to wake a sleeping dragon.”

            “There,” Maya said, smiled and stepped back to examine her handiwork.

            “She will still need healing time.  Some of the burns were very severe, but it won’t be so painful.”

            Puff suddenly opened his mouth with all those teeth.  Lockhart snatched his hand back and wondered what on earth he was thinking to get as close as he was, but only a tongue came out and gave Lockhart a warm and wet lick.  Luckily, the kiss was smeared on Maya’s invisible wall which was still up.

            Opi came back and gave Maya a big kiss before he kissed his children and spoke to the travelers.  “Lockhart, I’m sorry.  I imprinted Maya on the dragon’s mind so she will be her Mama now, and my children will be like dragon babies to Puff.  Dragons naturally avoid flaming each other.  Meanwhile, things are just too complicated now.  Maya will bring the people the rest of the way, and by nightfall.  Your way is North, the way those tribesmen went, so keep your eyes open.”

            “Can’t we help?”  Katie asked.  Otapec shook his head.

            “I will be moving instantly south to try and keep the Sevarese and Pendratti from destroying each other in some cataclysmic way.”

            “My people?”  Elder Stow asked as he lifted from the ground to hover in flying position, ready to go. 

            Otapec asked a question in return.  “Are you learning anything?”

            Elder Stow paused to think.  “That human life on this earth is as you say, complicated, and not so easy.  And maybe some respect for my family group, but I would hesitate to say that.”

            Otapec nodded.  “Your people are best kept out of it for as long as possible.  When war erupts and the Pendratti face the Sevarese and Blueblood alliance it gets bad out there for a long time.”

            “But my people recover.”  Elder Stow made a statement, but it sounded like a question.

            Otapec nodded again.  “As do the Elenar and many of the other, lesser people that get involved, but there is silence in space for hundreds of years except for the homeless Agdaline ships moving slower than light with their dragon guardians.”  Otapec drew in his breath slowly like one who hated killing, death and destruction 

            “Mount up,” Lockhart commanded, and everyone complied. 

            “I will be transporting about twenty miles south so you will find the gate much nearer than you might think.  Blessings,” he said as he became someone else and vanished from that place.

            Boston pulled out the amulet and checked.  They would also be at their destination by dark.

            “Good-bye.”  Kuican shouted from his mother’s arms, and everyone said the same and waved.

            “Chac.  Take care of your sister, Ixchel.”  Katie shouted back.

            “I have two sisters now,” Chac shouted, and they understood that Puff would slither along beside them

            “Good-bye Puff,” Lockhart yelled before they moved out of earshot.

            Puff made an unintelligible sound and let out a bit of fire which barely warmed the grass.  It was a pitiful thing, but the dragon would heal.

###     

            Bronze was the first true wonder material of the ancient world.  Unfortunately for Flern, she had to travel a long way to get some weapons and now needs to travel a long way home.  This gives the Jaccar warriors who have her village enslaved time to find her and stop her.  The travelers just escaped out of one potential conflict only to get embroiled in another.  It is has Lincoln has said.  The Kairos tends to live in the midst of the hurricane. 

Avalon 2.9:  Army of Invention … Monday …  

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Avalon 2.8 Flight

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            So the Pendratti want the travelers for some unknown “experiments,” but there is a Gott-Druk presence on the planet as well, and they don’t appear to be Pendratti friends, especially after they find Elder Stow with the travelers.  Before hostilities can break out, however, a young dragon interrupts everyone.  This suggests there are Agdaline around as well.  It also suggests things are heating up.

###

            Once they returned to the elders on the hill who appeared to be unmoved, eyes staring, mouths open exactly as they last saw them, and Otapec praised and hugged his children for being good, and Maya collected Kuican to sit in her lap, Otapec finally got around to the introductions.

            “This is Lincoln, the one who knows more than you can imagine.  He is the one in search of his wife – a trail that is not easy to follow.  Beside him are his friends and fellow travelers.  The one with fire red hair is Mary Riley that everyone calls Boston.  In truth, though, she is the witch, Little Fire.  Her betrothed is the spirit of the earth, Roland.  The Gott-Druk is Elder Stow, pledged to be good in my hearing.”  Otapec paused only a second to stare at the Gott-Druk.  “He is like the others, from the far future and trying to get home.  The one with the yellow hair is Katie.  She is an elect, one in a million, and could have beaten Shushak in a fair fight.”  Maya smiled.  The elders gasped.  They knew who Shushak was.  Otapec turned to Katie.  “Of course, Shushak did not fight fair.  And by the way, if you are tired of the Marines you can come to work for me.”

            Katie smiled.  She knew she had to be invited.  “I would like that.”

            “Of course that means Lockhart will be your boss.”

            Katie paused and looked at Lockhart before she responded.  “I would not mind.”

            Otapec went on.  “Captain Decker you know.  But what you do not know is he is Farsight, the man of the eagle.”  Otapec turned to Lockhart.  “He cannot really see what is ahead, especially through the trees or behind the rocks, but he should have the skies covered.”  Lockhart nodded as Otapec introduced him last.  “And the leader of this migration back to the future is Quetzalcoatl, the man of the feathered serpent.  Note the beard and scruffy look.”

            “Quetzalcoatl?”  Katie asked.

            “Mesoamerican feathered serpent god,” Lincoln explained.

            “I know that.  But Quetzalcoatl?”

            Otapec nodded.  “I just figured that out.  Though he goes away, he will come again.”

            “Clever,” Lockhart said and did not object.  He turned instead to Boston.  “Hey Little Fire.”  He waited.  “Boston.”

            “Sir?”  Boston whipped her head to look.  She was busy holding Roland’s hand.

            “Why don’t you light the bonfire?”

            “Good idea,” Otapec said as he sought a seat next to Maya.  That was not easy to do.  Ixchel had squeezed between her mother and Katie.  Kuican was wiggling in his mother’s lap.  Only Chac was being good, but that was because he wanted to see Boston light the big fire.

            “Just think about it as a done deal,” Roland encouraged, but Boston was a bit miffed by his words.  She was starting to think of herself as beyond the beginner stage, even if not very far beyond.  And perhaps like a growing child, she wanted to do it herself.  She pulled out her wand and focused for a second before one wave of the wand sent a torrent of flame toward the piled wood.  It was enough to singe the end of her own wand.  Chac appropriately said, “Wow!”  Roland had something else to say.

            “I would mention that it helps if you calm your spirit first, but you would probably be mad at me for saying it.”  In the empathy that the little spirits of the earth generally show, he caught her unhappiness with not being allowed to do it herself.

            Boston looked at the elf, her brow furrowed.  But then she lifted herself with her toes and put her lips on his.  Chac appropriately said, “Eww,” and returned to sit with the others.

            That night it was deer and corn, and everyone was happy.  Katie asked if Lockhart named his dragon pet.

            “Puff,” he said.  “I was going to name it Bob but that name is already taken.”  He took Katie’s hand.  Boston and Roland were holding hands as well.

            “Opi,” Maya took Otapec’s hand and placed it to her belly.

            “It’s too early for there to be any movement,” Otapec said.

            “Who said I wanted you to feel the baby?”

            “Hey,” Lincoln interrupted.  He was into the database and ignoring the lovers lest he become morose about his missing wife.  “It says you are taking these people to Veracruz.”

            “That general area,” Otapec said as he slowly took his hand back.  “These Shemsu are the remnants of Qito’s people who fled north the last time the Agdaline were in town.  They will increase in numbers over the next 1500 years, and without much intermarriage with the natives, but by then they will form the foundation of the Olmec culture.”

            Lincoln switched off the database and spoke.  “Fifteen hundred years, maybe, but I can’t imagine they will still be pure blooded in four thousand years.”

            “They won’t,” Otapec admitted.  “But there will be enough to build the pyramids so well known in the Yucatan and Guatemala as well as the stone structures in Mexico.”

            “You mean the Mayan pyramids?”  Boston asked.

            Maya looked at Otapec.  “My own people?”  She looked shocked and thrilled by the idea.

            “Shh!”  Otapec scolded Boston.

            “And the feathered serpent?”  Lockhart asked.

            “Prominent, with Decker’s helmeted marine head.”  Otapec smiled.  Decker did not flinch.  “After all, it was all they could see for five hundred years.”

            “The colossal heads!” Katie shouted her revelation, though she did not intend to shout.

            “Incoming.”  This time Decker and Elder Stow spoke at the same time, and everyone stopped to watch.  Eleven perfect and spherical lights came down below the clouds and wound their way slowly across the horizon.  It was impossible for the people to know how big those ships were, but the travelers had seen them on the ground and knew in the vastness of space, while the Agdaline slept in their cryogenic chambers, they carried dragons who roamed the halls and guarded the sleepers against intruders.

            “They will park near the scout ship, the ship Puff came from,” Otapec said as he slipped his arm around his wife.

            “Pendratti, my people and now Agdaline,” Elder Stow said.  “Looks like things are getting complicated.”

            “Looks like,” Otapec agreed.

###

            In the early morning just before the sun broke above the horizon, Lockhart’s sleep was rudely interrupted by the sound of a siren.  Elder Stow had sensors on the horizon, just in case.  Captain Decker was also up and rousing the travelers.  Opi and Maya were already helping the people get up and ready to flee.  This did not appear to be a visit.  These were one and two man fighter ships.

            Maya must have waved her hand.  The fires all went out and the tents were all packed and ready to go in an eye blink.  Lockhart found himself lying on the dew filled grass.  “I guess I might as well get up,” he said, and he saw the people streaming toward the far woods.

            “Boston,” Lockhart yelled when he caught up.  “A glamour would be nice to make them think they are hitting the target.”

            Boston looked at Roland.  Roland shook his head.  “Even our magic combined could not conjure something like that.”

            “Good idea,” Otapec said as he and Maya ran up.  Maya waved her hand and the camp appeared on the hillside just like it was before dawn.

            “The people images will replay the last hour and react naturally when attacked.  They will run for the woods everywhere except this direction, and some will appear to die when hit.”  She smiled at her own good thinking. Roland and Boston could only stare, mouths open at how easy such a thing was for a goddess.

            The people moved through the jungle, but Lockhart, Decker, Katie and Otapec stayed by the edge to watch.  The fighters were sleek and swift, and they knew how to dive bomb.

            “Not Balok,” Decker said, though he knew the Balok were no more.  “Certainly not Agdaline,” he added.  There were some explosions as the fighters shot some air-to-ground missiles.  They were not content to let their laser-like weapons set the tents and field on fire.

            “What is that?”  Katie pointed.  It was small but coming on fast.

            “Puff,” Lockhart saw.  “No.  Get away from there.”  He raised his voice but he knew the dragon would not hear him.

            Puff fried the first fighter, though he took a laser shot to the middle.  One of the fighters turned and managed another prolonged shot at the tail.  Despite all the fire-proof feathers, Puff clearly felt it.  His back quarter was fried.  He squirmed like a worm caught in the sun, and in this way he collided with the third fighter.  That fighter plummeted to the ground and exploded while Puff rushed off, terribly burnt and bleeding.

            “Will he survive?”  Katie asked.

            “I don’t know.”  Otapec could only shake his head while the last of the fighters shot for home.  “I expected a Pendratti reaction but not this quickly, only –“  He let his voice go silent while he put a hand to his chin.

            “Only what?”  Lockhart asked.

            “Only they were not Pendratti fighters.  They were Sevarese.  That makes four species right here, right now.  If the Elenar and Bluebloods show up we could have a full scale war break out, and that would not be good.”

            “What can we do?”  Katie asked.

            “Help the people reach the Coatzacoalcos River and settle there.  Let Boston and Roland and Decker, you take one side of the migration.  Lockhart, you, Katie and Lincoln take the other.  Tell Elder Stow to monitor the skies, and remind Maya she needs to keep her screen like a dome over the people when you cross open ground.  There are some native tribes between here and there, and while I don’t expect hostilities, you never know.  Some firepower to guard the flanks will be most useful.”

            “What will you be doing?”  Katie asked.

            “I will be trying to send people off planet before a real war breaks out and goes nuclear.”  Suddenly, Otapec was no longer standing there.  It was another lifetime of the Kairos, but they were not sure exactly who as he vanished immediately.

###

Avalon 2.8:  The Journey … Next Time

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Avalon 2.8 Visitors

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            The travelers get Captain Decker back, even if they are still chasing Lincoln’s wife, Alexis, and her father Mingus.  What is more they appeared to have landed in a friendly group of natives.  Ordinary travelers might expect to relax and rest, but they know this is a lifetime of the Kairos where trouble and danger are the norm.  Besides, there are walking and talking reptiles out there, somewhere.

###

            After the awakening, Katie kept one eye on Decker.  The others seemed unconcerned.  They stepped over to Otapec’s fire and told stories and laughed, but Lieutenant Harper felt she needed one eye on her Captain.  He had been out of it for a long time. 

            The man said little after he awoke, but then Decker was a person of few words so that was no surprise.  He saw to his horse, the one that was tied to him by the Kairos – the one he named after Colonel Weber.  Decker was all business with the horse, but Katie imagined if the horse had been a dog it would have licked his face.  After that, Decker hardly paid any attention to Elder Stow, as if having the Gott-Druk around was no big deal.  He also did not appear surprised to hear that Alexis and her father Mingus were missing again.

            “The more things change,” he spoke in clichés and sat by the fire to meditate.  That was the oddest thing of all.  Katie had no idea the hard boiled Navy Seal even knew what meditation was.

            “People.”  Otapec got everyone’s attention.  The elders of the natives and the Shemsu were approaching and it was time for introductions.  To no one’s surprise, the elders all bowed to Maya first of all though she blushed and turned her eyes to her Opi.  Otapec just smiled for her and opened his mouth when Decker finally had something to say.

            “Incoming,” and he added, “The more things change.”  Fortunately, he did not finish that cliché.  He could not as the sound of retro rockets echoed across the field.  A shuttle was coming in for a landing.

            Everyone grabbed their weapons while Maya strictly charged Chac and Ixchel to keep Kuican in the circle of the elders.  When they were ready, Otapec lead the troop down the hill to see the visitors, and he whispered in Maya’s ear as they went.

            “No!”  Maya spoke as if she was shocked to hear what Otapec suggested, but she said no more.

            They had to stand and wait for a while. 

            “System shut down,” Lincoln suggested.

            “Scanning the area for hostiles,” Lockhart offered.

            “Only us,” Decker quipped and gave his rifle the quick once over to be sure it had not been damaged in his five hundred year absence. 

            Finally the hatch of the shuttle came down and six Pendratti came out from the inside.  The four that looked military escorted the two the travelers had met in the jungle.  They young one was still juggling some sort of equipment.  The older gray one was smiling again.

            “And see?”  The gray one spoke.  “Here are exactly the ones we are looking for.  This matter should be resolved easily enough.  Bring them inside.”

            The young one smiled this time and showed all of his sharp teeth while he fiddled with some controls on his equipment.  Lockhart, Lincoln, Katie and Boston all stiffened.  They began to move toward the ramp and Maya reacted.

            “No!”  She shouted and gave a curious look to her husband who stood quietly, arms folded, watching.  The connection with whatever had the travelers in its grasp broke instantly, and the people stopped moving.  Boston and Lincoln backed up a step.

            Elder Stow and Decker had something else in mind, but Decker was quicker.  He put several bullets in that piece of equipment, and fortunately he was a good enough shot not to harm the Pendratti holding it.  The startled Pendratti dropped it and it shattered against the shuttle ramp.  The gray one frowned, but the guards all drew their weapons.  One overreacted or panicked and pulled the trigger.  A blast of some kind struck a screen a few feet in front of the travelers where it was completely stopped.  Maya looked at Opi, again.

            “My husband is so smart,” she said softly before all words were silenced by the roar of a second, smaller shuttle that rocketed to a landing less than a hundred feet from the Pendratti shuttle.  No one was surprised when three Gott-Druk emerged holding tight to weapons of their own.

            Elder Stow stepped forward before the guns started firing and he shouted as loud as he could.  “I said these people are under my protection.”  He looked at the elder Pendratti.  “And the reason I repeat myself is because you seem to have trouble with your hearing.”  That appeared to make the Pendratti elder angry, but the Gott-Druk who saw him and heard him relaxed a little.

            All this while, Otapec stood still and said nothing.  Maya looked at him again and started to ask a question.  “Should I –“

            “Yes.”  Otapec interrupted.  “Keep it right where it is.” Otapec heard something and he knew what kind of creature made such a sound.  Even as Elder Stow threw his hands up and the Pendratti and Gott-Druk sounded ready to get into a great argument, a five foot wide head stuck out from the trees right between the two ships and two arguing parties.  A roar was followed by a burst of flame.

            Both Pendratti and Gott-Druk darted for the safety of their ships.  The fire headed straight for the travelers but was stopped by Maya’s screen which she kept in place as instructed. Still, the travelers all stepped back except for Lockhart who curiously stepped forward.

            “Do no harm!  No Fire!”  Lockhart yelled in the Agdaline language which he dredged up from some back corner of his mind.  “No harm.  No fire.”

            The worm inched out from the trees and Katie remarked, “Why it is still full of feathers like a baby.”

            “Baby,” Lockhart said the word in the Agdaline language and repeated himself once more.  “No fire, baby.  No harm.”  The dragon dropped its chin to the ground and then slowly slithered forward as Otapec finally spoke.

            “This kind doesn’t have much in the way of legs or arms.  It truly is more worm-like.”

            “But aren’t feathers dangerous for fire breathers?”  Katie asked.

            “Not real feathers despite the look and feel.  They are more like asbestos, fire-proof and toxic if taken in large doses, by the way.”

            “But I thought the Agdaline ejected the adults in space before landing.”  Boston looked at Otapec who crossed his arms again as he spoke to her. 

            “They trap one or two in the airlock to release when they set down just in case their reception is not so friendly.”  He stepped up to his wife and kissed the back of her neck.  She wiggled, but was occupied with something.

            The worm reached Lockhart who repeated the word, “Baby.”  He reached out his hand and Maya’s shield gave way at the hand so Lockhart could stroke the dragon’s nose.  The dragon purred, a deep, throbbing sound.  It was not the lyrical song of the babies, but only because this one was larger and more mature.   

            Otapec whispered in Maya’s ear and she spoke.  “Find deer.  Eat deer.” Maya said, and Lincoln looked back toward the horses.

            “I hope it knows what deer is.”

            “Go.”  Lockhart said.  “Fly.”  He looked at Otapec who nodded.  They might not have much in the way of legs and arms, but there was nothing wrong with their wings.  The dragon rose up in a bit of a whirlwind and flew off without looking back.  After that, the Pendratti were the first to leave.  The Gott-Druk followed.

            “Well!”  Captain Decker said as he shouldered his rifle.  “I guess you will all have to tell me what I missed after all.”  He stared for a moment at Elder Stow before he stared more deliberately at Lieutenant Harper.

###

Avalon 2.8 Flight … Next Time

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Avalon 2.8: Revivals

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            The walking and talking reptiles don’t appear to respect any species but their own, but at least the Kairos and his wife are glad to see the travelers.  Otapec claims to have treats and surprises for them as well, whatever they may be.

###

            There was a big bonfire built and ready to light, which suggested the travelers were expected.  Otapec, Maya and their children were separated from the others in the camp by some distance.  Lockhart imagined that was to give the travelers room to set their own tents, but he suspected there was also more to it.

            “We had a strange encounter coming in,” Lincoln spoke as he unsaddled his horse.

            “Pendratti.”  Elder Stow spoke up.  “I have only seen them in paintings and pictures which is why I was slow to recognize them.”  He turned to Katie.  “My apologies, Mother.  I would have claimed to be your protector sooner if I knew.”

            “Pendratti,” Otapec interrupted and laid his hand gently on Decker’s horse.  “And there are Gott-Druk somewhere around here as well, but we will speak of that later.”

            “Opi!”  Maya called.  She stopped to scoop up a four-year-old in a tent door, but otherwise she was bouncing up and down in excitement and anticipation and heading slowly to the big tent set back against some trees.

            “Yes, my love,” Otapec responded as he watched his ten-year old son and seven-year-old daughter run up with a trail of children behind them.  Otapec introduced them.  “Chac, my eldest.   He is the good rain that feeds the crops.  Ixchel, my beautiful daughter is the rainbow that follows the rain.  She takes after her mother.  And the little one struggling in his mother’s arms is Kuican.”

            “What is Kuican?” Boston asked.

            “The wind, I think.  I don’t think he slept until he was three.”

            “Opi,”  Maya called from the big tent.  She was grinning but impatient.

             “Bring the horses.  Maya has invented a special treat.”   Otapec waved to the group and stepped over to join his wife.

            The travelers did not know what to think and more than one member of the group eyed Lockhart who continued to shrug as he brought his horse to the big tent.

            Maya grinned like a school girl when she handed Kuican to Otapec and threw the front flap of the tent straight up.  If she did not exactly say, “Ta Da!” it was near enough.  The odd tent was much bigger on the inside than the outside suggested, and it was absolutely filled with corn.

            “Corn!”  Lincoln and Boston both said the word out loud.

            “Maize,” Maya said with a slight frown at Otapec.  Apparently they discussed it.

            “Just invented?” Katie asked Maya who said nothing but nodded her head, vigorously.

            “Hey, now we can make tortillas,” Lockhart grinned.

            Otapec matched the grin.  “Now we can make whisky.  I remember that one.”

            “What one?” Boston asked as she began to shuck some corn to feed her horse.

            Otapec forced Chac and Ixchel to each take a four-year-old hand and he began to help.

            Maya apologized and waved her hand.  A whole bushel was immediately cleaned and Boston reacted.

            “Wow, that was some magic.”

            Otapec shook his head and Maya just smiled a sparkling smile.  Otapec slipped his arm around his wife’s shoulder and squeezed her from the side.  She giggled before he spoke.  “You do know the horses will still mostly graze.”  He explained to his wife.  “Like human beings, they do best with a varied diet.”

            “Oh,” she nodded and waved for the children to follow their father as she broke free of his embrace and stepped up to Katie.

            “So what is this other surprise?”  Lockhart asked out loud, now that the horses were settled for the moment.  Two horses had in fact already found the nearby stream where they were contentedly slaking their thirst.  Otapec said nothing, but waved for them all to follow, which they did at a leisurely pace.

            “You are an elect,” Maya said first thing when she reached Katie.  Katie wondered how the woman knew.  “I have never met an elect before, except Zoe,” Maya said.  “But she had already been made a goddess by then so that did not count.”

            “You met Zoe?”

            “Oh yes, years ago.  She came by to ask if I would join the Amazon council if needed.  Of course I said I would.”  She glanced at Opi and smiled, and Otapec smiled in return, though he did not see her.  It was like there was an invisible thread connecting the two, so when Maya was happy, Otapec was happy.  Katie glanced back at Lockhart and smiled for him.  He saw and gave her a funky, foolish grin in return, and Maya spoke again.

            “You will have to work on that.”  Katie just nodded, and then was a bit surprised when Maya grabbed her hand and placed it on her belly.  “I would not mind if my daughter was one of the elect.”

            “You’re pregnant?  Number four?”  Maya just nodded.  “You and Opi?  But wait, how many years ago did Zoe visit you?”  Katie stopped walking so Maya stopped to face her

            “Oh, many, many years.”

            “You and Opi?”

            “Yes.  As a fertility goddess it is hard for me to not be pregnant.”

            Katie pulled her hand away slowly.  Then she had a thought.  “But won’t he grow old?”

            Maya shook her head.  “He is old enough to be a respected elder, but young enough to be a wonderful lover.  I will keep him as he is.”

            “For as long as you can,” Katie said.  She knew that even the gods could not prevent the Kairos from dying when it was time for him, or her to be reborn.

            “For as long as I can,” Maya agreed and a few tears came up into her eyes.  When they dropped to the ground, the grass grew a little taller and flowers came up. 

            Katie had a change of heart and gave Maya a big hug and a sisterly kiss.  “Let’s go see what all the commotion is about.”  Maya wiped her eyes, brought her smile back out as well as she could and followed.

            The others were all standing around the sarcophagus, waiting.  Lincoln turned to Katie and shouted.  “Lieutenant Harper, it’s Captain Decker.”

            Otapec was also waiting, but for Maya who stepped right up and took his hands where the sarcophagus was between them.  Otapec smiled for her, and she returned a genuine smile as Otapec went away and Kartesh of the Shemsu came to take his place.  Kartesh squeezed Maya’s hands before she let go.

            “Hello, old friend.”

            “Dear old friend,” Maya responded.

            Lockhart noticed that many of the dark-skinned natives came up and fell to their knees in the face of Kartesh.  “These Shemsu are mine by default,” Kartesh admitted, but her hands were manipulating the Agdaline controls and shutting down the sleep chamber so Decker could be awakened.  The lid popped open and Decker stirred.

            “Damn,” the man said, and “Ouch.”  He had been terribly wounded all those time zones in the past, and cryogenic sleep did nothing to heal him.  Kartesh made him lay as straight as he could in that little Agdaline box and Maya stepped over to stand beside her. 

            “I am not a healer by trade,” Kartesh admitted.

            “Nor am I,” Maya said, but the two goddesses placed their flat hands about eight inches above Decker.  The inside of the sleep chamber began to glow, and then Decker began to glow.

            “No,” Kartesh opened the conversation over Decker’s glowing body.  “You are Opi’s little woman.”

            “And proud of it,” Maya responded with her best grin.  “And that is little fertility woman if you don’t mind.”

            “Not any longer.  It is little Corn Woman now.”

            It did not take long, whatever the women did, and Decker wanted to sit up.  Kartesh gave Maya a kiss on the cheek much as Katie had and vanished to be replaced by Doctor Mishka.  She came complete with her little black doctor’s bag and would not let Decker do more than sit while she examined him.

            “But Doc., I feel fine now.”

            “Sit.  Stay.”  Mishka spoke to him like a dog.  “And that is Colonel Kolchenkov to you, Captain, not Doc.”

            Decker stayed until she finished and put her stethoscope back in her little black bag.  She turned to Maya with a word.  “So when were you going to tell me you were pregnant, and then  she and her little black bag vanished and Otapec finally came back to help Decker stand.  The man was wobbly after his five hundred year sleep, but some food and real rest would do wonders.  Then Otapec stepped up to Maya with a stern look on his face.  Maya looked down at her feet, like the goddess was afraid to look into his mortal, human eyes.  But he just caught her up in an embrace and kissed her like tomorrow might never come. 

            Some “Oooed,” some “Ahhed.”  Some couples looked at each other with unasked questions in their eyes.  Chac turned his head to protest.  “Mom!  Dad!”  Ixchel stared and did not know what to think.  Kuican pulled his hands free of his siblings and reached out with the words, “Me too.”

###

Avalon 2.8  Visitors … Next Time

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Avalon 2.8: Encounters

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

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After 3498 BC, somewhere between Guatemala and the Yucatan.  Kairos life 28:  Otapec.

Recording…

            The jungle they traveled through was not too thick at ground level, but the canopy above cast their journey into shadows, and there were other, deeper shadows moving among the trees.  Roland and Boston thought it best to stop and watch as the shadows stopped with them.  Lincoln, who was not paying attention would have run into them, but his horse knew better.  Elder Stow watched Lincoln’s horse buck as it stopped and he laughed.  The Gott-Druk had not laughed much since joining the group, but he was learning. 

            “What’s up?”  Lockhart’s voice spoke softly from the rear.  Katie got busy retrieving her rifle.

            “Not men,” Roland said.  “I do not recognize the scent.”

            “Let me try,” Boston said.  She was all excited because in the last time zone, when she was under the spell of the genii, she did all sorts of magic that she never imagined she was capable of doing.  She pulled out the leg bone of a doe that Roland was helping her carefully shape into a proper wand, and she focused.  The tree branch lifted and they saw two reptiles, clothed and standing upright like ordinary people, and they were arguing.

            “But are they tagged?”  Everyone heard that because the gray reptile raised his voice.

            “Yes, sir.  Yes, but can’t we find a way to bring one of them now?  The supreme one would be most pleased.”

            “There will be time for experimentation later.”

            “But sir.”

            “No!  We haven’t the room nor the capacity.”  He turned toward the travelers and saw the branch lifted.  “We have been seen,” he said and stepped out to face them all.  The one with the electronic equipment followed, and Boston was glad because she could not have held up the branch much longer.

            “Can we help you?”  Lockhart said, or hoped that was what he said.  The language of these reptiles was all tongue slurps and guttural growls.  The human tongue and vocal chords were not designed to make those sounds.  Of course, thanks to the gift of the Kairos, they heard the whole conversation like it was in English, but being able to respond was another matter.

            “Remarkable.”  The gray one stepped up.  “It is almost as if this one is trying to speak.”

            “Sir,” the other interrupted.  “My equipment is unable to get a lock on this one.”  He referred to Roland, the elf, but before the gray one could respond, Elder Stow pushed up between Lockhart and Boston.

            “These are under my protection,” he said in his own Gott-Druk language.  The gray one squinted and put something like an ear bud in one ear.  He tapped the box on his belt. 

            “Ah, yes,” he said.  “One of the lesser helpers against the Balok all those years ago.”

            “From the lesser ship that followed us?” The other suggested, but it was like a question.  The gray one made a face, stuck out his tongue and snarled which Katie interpreted as he did not care if he was or wasn’t.

            “I said, these are under my protection,” Elder Stow repeated himself.

            “Yes, I heard.”  He turned to his colleague.  “Notice how the less intelligent feel the need to repeat what has already been plainly stated.”

            “I wonder if these beasts have a form of communication.”  The other pointed at the horses.

            “Worth finding out,” the gray one responded.  “Beasts of burden, certainly, and the first we have seen in this unsophisticated place.”

            Lockhart tried again, this time in the Gott-Druk tongue.  “Can we help you?”

            Again, the gray one turned to the other, and this time he showed his great rows of very sharp teeth.  Katie and Boston both imagined it was a reptile kind of smile.  Lincoln was not so sure.  “You see?”  The gray one spoke.  “They are capable of learning.  This world might not be the total waste we imagined.  It would take a great deal of time and energy, but the natives can be trained.”

            “We need to get this information to the supreme one,” the other said with a hint of excitement.

            “Quite right,” the gray one agreed and placed a claw on the shoulder of his companion.  They turned their backs on the travelers and stepped back into the trees.  A moment later, something like a real flying saucer, though a very small one like a scout ship lifted into the sky.

            “That was weird.”  Lockhart said what everyone felt.

            “This way.”  Boston had the amulet out and pointed their direction.  They had to dismount and walk the horses because the jungle got thick again.

###

            On a small hill in a wild meadow there were a number of shelters which one might call tents if one wanted to be kind.  There were also a number of camp fires, children running free, women cooking and men lazing about.  It might have been a scene from anywhere at any point in history, and certainly fit 3450 BC Central America, but for two things.  Half of these people looked more African than Native American.  They were dark skinned and had none of the expected slightly Asian look about them.  Then also they carried a stone sarcophagus with them and with no visible means to move it.  How it came to be in that meadow, no scientist in our day could ever explain.

            One woman, beautiful and young looked up from the meat in the fire when her middle-aged, gray haired man came up to her.  She kissed him because she wanted to.  He kissed her because he loved her.

            “Your friends are near,” the woman said.

            “Then perhaps we should go and greet them,” the man responded, but the woman shook her head and made him sit down and share the meal.  When they were done, she took his arm and walked him to the meadow’s edge as six horses emerged from the jungle.

            “Hey, Lockhart.”  The man waved.

            “Otapec?”  Lincoln asked.  He had the database out and was trying to read.  It was something he had not really been able to do in the jungle.  Otapec nodded and smiled until the woman tugged on his sleeve.

            “Opi, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends.”

            Otapec patted the woman’s hand, gently and introduced the travelers.  Lastly he introduced his wife, Maya.

            “Hello Maya.”  Boston said.  “My real name is Mary Riley, but everyone just calls me Boston.”

            Maya did not respond as expected.  In fact she reminded the travelers of the reptiles in the jungle as she turned and spoke only to Otapec.  “You are right, she is a dear one.”

            “Come,”  Otapec waved for everyone to follow.  He turned to walk and the travelers dismounted and fell in line.  Otapec spoke up.  “Maya has made a treat for the horses, and then I have a surprise for you as well.”

            Katie looked at Lockhart, but all he could do was shrug.

###

Avalon 2.8:  Revivals … Next Time

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Avalon 2.7: Death and Life

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            The travelers did their best to lead the defense of the camp, but unless they got help, divine help, it will be a short lived defense.  Fortunately, the compulsion laid on the gnomes allowed them to set Beltain’s mind free of the control of the Djin, even if only for a moment.  It is enough for the Kairos to reach back I time and bring the goddess into the present.  Divine help arrived.

###

            Up on the hill, Roland and Gnumma were completely taken in by the events transpiring in the camps.  Roland did not see his father sneak away.  Once it appeared that his ruse would work, Mingus quietly shuffled off.  Elder Stow saw, but said nothing.

            “Look at Boston,” Roland said with some pride in his voice.  “That is really some powerful magic.”

            “Not bad for one made of mud and blood,” Gnumma agreed.

            The light went out and Roland drew in his breath, sharply.  “Father?”  He was afraid Boston might have been seriously hurt.

            “Gone,” Elder Stow spoke at last.  “I was surprised you did not go with him.”

            “What?”

            “I figured as exhausted as he was, he went to see if he could help.”

            “Father!”  Roland turned and shouted, but there was no answer.  Before he could follow up, a stroke of lightning hit the center of the Aramean camp.  “The Djin!”  Roland shouted and again drew his breath in, sharply.

            “No, boy,” Gnumma explained.  “That bolt went from the ground into the sky.  I would guess our ruse worked and the Kairos is restored.  No telling which life she borrowed.  One of the gods, I suppose.  But I would say she burned the bottom of that Djin and now I think the Djin is running for his life.”  He pointed and the cloud over the camp rapidly cleared.

###

            Down in the camp, the combatants paused at the lightning.  They trembled when they got a look at Zoe, and a few fainted.  The glow around her was very different, and in a way much stronger than the bit of sunlight Boston had produced.  This glow said holy, awesome power of the sort that men and women might be inclined to worship.  It also said you have really made me mad, and the men trembled, not for their lives, but for fear as to which hell she might cast them into; and they did not doubt that she could.

            “Go home!”  Zoe shouted in a voice that demanded a hearing and demanded obedience.  “Go back to the camps you came from.” She waved her hand and the attackers all disappeared at once.  Whether they reappeared in their respective camps or were sent all of the way back to Caana, Syria and Lebanon remained to be seen.

            “Katie!”  Zoe called and Katie ran up.  By her own volition she went to one knee.

            “Queen of Queens,” Katie said.

            Zoe frowned, but only a little.  “Would you get up, you’re embarrassing Beltain.”

            “I know.  I remember myself, but your way is to keep history moving in the right direction.  There are many women here who need to see this.”

            Zoe thought for a second.  “One point for you, but really, you can get up now.”

            Katie did and spoke frankly.  “I am worried about Boston.”

            “Boston is fine,” Zoe said, but before she could add, thanks to Alexis, Lockhart ran up from one direction and Lincoln from the other.  Star and the Sybil also approached, but much more carefully.  The Sybil especially was in tears.

            “Quickly.”  Zoe spoke quietly to the travelers before the others arrived.  “I have taken away the genii’s ability to sap the will.  He will not be able to put you under again, but he lives and I have no doubt he will follow you into the future.  Let us hope he has learned his lesson.”

            “The Djin is from the future?”  Lockhart asked.  Zoe nodded as Lincoln spoke.

            “Odelion.”  They all remembered the encounter with a Djin in Odelion’s day, but they all thought it was local.  They would have thought the same this time if Zoe had not said otherwise.

            “Now, I must go and speak to the leaders in the other camps.  Men have died, and if they try anything so stupid again, more men will die.  They must trust Beltain and be grateful for what she shares.  That is all.”

            Star came up, mouth open but without words.  Zoe acknowledged her.  “Hunter.”  Star fell to both knees and trembled, and more so when Zoe laid her hand gently on the girl’s head.  “My best friend Artemis is not native to this jurisdiction, though I do convince her one day to take part ownership in a temple in Ephesus.  Still, the little sparks of her spirit do tend to get around.”  Zoe spoke tenderly and let out a precious bit of laughter before she took back her hand.

            “Sybil.”  Zoe acknowledged the woman who fell all the way to her face before her goddess, the Queen of all her goddesses.  Zoe’s tone was not quite so tender.  Rather, it was stern but not unkind.  “Always speak the truth or say nothing at all,” she said, before she added, “Later,” and vanished. 

            “Boston?”  Lockhart asked.

            “She is fine.  Alexis is with her,” Katie said and paused for all of a second before she shouted, “Alexis!”  Lincoln’s shout was one second behind, but he ran faster.  Two women were there, helping Boston to sit up.  Boston immediately put her hand to her head like she had a whopper of a headache.  Lincoln noticed, but he could not hold back the shout.

            “Where is Alexis?”

            The women were shocked, but looked up at Katie and one answered.  “A man came for her.  He brought two beasts, and the two of them got up on the backs of the beasts and went off in that direction.”  She pointed.  Lockhart and Katie noticed.  Lincoln just went into a string of invectives which, fortunately for the locals, was mostly in English.

            It was not long after that when the Sybil guided them back to Beltain’s tent.  Star was particularly anxious to see if the priestess was alright.  They found Beltain at the tent door and were a bit surprised by her first words.  “Did you bring Gorman with you?”

            Lockhart shook his head.  “He is still with the men on the perimeter.  But I don’t think he has stopped smiling yet, if that is any consolation.”

            Beltain got a look on her face, but refrained from swearing by simply saying, “What Lincoln said.”  She heard all the swearing.  In fact, Roland later insisted he heard it all the way up on the hill behind Elder Stow’s screens.  “So how many did we lose?”  No one answered her, because the Sybil shrieked and threw her hands over her eyes.  There was a flash of light and a man appeared facing Beltain.

            “I need Doctor Mishka,” the man said.  “It is urgent.”

            “Ask much?”  Beltain responded.

            “The babies are due.  She is in labor, but something is wrong  They are joined together, here.”  Enlil put his hand to the top of his head.

            “Enlil, these are my friends.”  Beltain would have to think for a minute.  This was not good.

            “Hello.”  Enlil barely turned his head before he made his demand.  “The doctor?”

            Beltain looked around.  “Star, tell Gorman to wait for me.  I wasn’t finished.”  Star nodded.  “Anath, be sure these people get whatever food and supplies they require.  I will be back.”  The Sybil nodded as well, though she never uncovered her eyes.  Beltain took Enlil’s hand and said one more thing.  “Doctor when we get there.  Here and now you get me.”

            With that Enlil actually took a moment to look around.  He spoke to Lockhart.  “Not much of a war.”

            “War!”  Beltain tried not to spit.  “I should invent football.  Boys are stupid.”  The word “stupid” floated on the wind as Enlil and Beltain vanished

            Lincoln looked up.  “What did she mean boys are stupid?  We are not stupid, are we?”

            Katie, Boston, Star and the Sybil answered in unison.  “Yes.”

###

            In ancient days there were a few places on the earth where the human race met with … “visitors,” like the place of the Lion where the Shemsu people built those three great pyramids in Egypt.  In the new world, that common ground was the jungle that covered the Yucatan, Guatemala and southern Mexico.  One alien landing can keep the Kairos busy trying to limit alien contact and influence on human development and history.  But when the travelers arrive in the next time zone, they find four species, and they are picking sides and talking war.  For the late Neolithic humans caught in the middle, contact will be explosive; a struggle just to survive.

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Avalon 2.8:  Encounters … Next Time

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