Storyteller

Avalon 3.12: part 2 of 5, Opium Dealers

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

“What kind of a name is Puzziya?” Lincoln asked.

Puzziya spoke over his shoulder from where he was riding behind Lincoln, once they convinced him to get up on the beast. “Hattic?” he said, not sure what he was being asked.

Lockhart helped the man get down. Lincoln turned his head toward Katie and said, “Sounds Hittite?”

“Hattian,” Katie shook her head. “Though it sounds Luwian. The Hattians lived in this land long before the Hittites arrived. The Indo-European peoples are just now moving to the edge of the area, Hittites, Luwians, Hurrians, Mitanni and so on. The Hyskos are being pushed out of southern Syria and Lebanon, like dominoes, but that will all take the next five hundred years or so. The Hattians, or Hattic are the people already in the land, and they refuse to move, so they sort of get absorbed by the Hittites. Some believe the Hittites form a ruling class over top, but then the Luwian language becomes widespread in the south and west of Anatolia and—”Barak Scenery

“We got the picture,” Decker interrupted. “And we got company.”

Men were coming from the huts and buildings on the high ground overlooking the endless poppy field. Puzziya went running to the men and told them all about the beast of Lelwani and the death of Hatusti. He pointed over and over at Alexis, Mingus, Elder Stow and the rest, and no doubt said something about people of power, which the travelers were getting used to.

The inevitable delegation of men came with questions. “Puzziya says you caused the beast of Lelwani to sleep among the poppies, but Puzziya may have been confused. Perhaps it was a simple beast of Inara, lady of Inar. Perhaps an ordinary, hungry wolf?”

“Inara, goddess of the wild animals,” Lincoln read from the database.

“It was neither a creature of Lelwani nor a beast of Inara,” Alexis said. “But a man, who for three nights when the moon is full, becomes a wild and ravenous wolf, driven to kill and eat men.”

“The full moon is tonight,” one of the men spouted, but the first speaker scoffed.

“You speak of a werewolf, but there are no such things, just stories to frighten children. And there are no Were people here.”

“But I saw with my own eyes,” Puzziya defended his story, but the man was not listening. He was already examining the horses and equipment the people carried with his own eyes.

barak puzzy man 5“I am Ulwazzi,” the man said. “Come. The day is hot. You may eat and rest with us this evening, and sleep safe under the moon.” He laughed and led the way to the side of one of the bigger buildings where he suggested they make their camp. There was a pen beside the building which had several horses penned up.

“I don’t know if our big mustangs may hurt their ponies,” Decker said.

“Horse is not one to get along well with others,” Mingus agreed.

“Father, you named your horse?” Alexis asked.

“My horse’s name is horse. That’s it.” Mingus responded grumpily.

“Double watch tonight,” Lockhart decided. “One to watch for the wolf and the other to keep an eye on the horses.”

“Maybe triple watch,” Katie suggested. “The third to watch the camp and our equipment. I didn’t like the way Ulwazzi was looking at our things.”

“Mingus, Roland and Boston, keep your glamours up while we are here.”

“Yes,” Roland said, “And how would he know there are no Were people around here?”barak camp

Lockhart nodded to Katie. “Triple watch,” he said. “Mingus, Roland and Boston watch separately so we have your ears available all through the night.”

“Boss!” Boston objected and grabbed her husband like she did not want to let go.

“Elder Stow, please take the middle watch so we have your scanner available in the night.”

“Would you like me to set a screen around our camp that the wolf cannot break through.”

Lockhart shook his head. “But set one for quick activation, in case we need it.”

“Boss,” Boston came up with her eyes on her amulet. “We got way off track coming here,” she said. “We should be moving in that direction.” she pointed.

“I know. But I figure if this is the night of the moon, it isn’t a matter of if the wolf will come, but when. It has followed us through every time gate, but it has hunted Puzziya, and I imagine it will want to finish that hunt. Wolfy has his scent.”

“You mean Bob,” Boston said. Lockhart looked at Alexis

“Bob,” she said, as if everyone knew it.

“Bob,” Katie said and shrugged.

###

Cooking fire 2

About an hour before sunset, Puzziya was sent to fetch the travelers for a supper made especially for the strangers.

“But I heard talking about your horses, and Ulwazzi was extra interested in the things you call sadlies.”

“Saddles,” Lincoln corrected the man.

Puzziya nodded. “They mean to have them, and I do not know what to do.”

Decker spoke up. “I think Mingus and I may stay and watch things here.”

“Perhaps I should stay,” Elder Stow suggested.

“Elder Stow,” Alexis got his attention. “This may be a chance to have some more vegetables, and a little less meat. I’m looking forward to it.”

Hadj mingus“Can you detect opiates in the food?” Lockhart asked Mingus.

“Yes, what are you suggesting?”

“Nothing, necessarily,” Lockhart said, “But my old police instincts are flaring, like some part of this operation may not be strictly legal.”

As they went inside, Roland asked Decker how Ulwazzi knew anything about saddles.

“Maybe he just saw them and judged their usefulness,” Decker said, and Roland offered a thought.

“We will have to watch that to not mess up history by introducing saddles too soon.”

Decker said nothing. He just checked his rifle.

Inside, Mingus went straight for the table that had been set up. He checked for Opiates by tasting everything. Alexis scolded him, but he said it was the only sure way. The meat and vegetables were fine, he said, but the coarse grained bread was soaked in the stuff. After Mingus tried it, he excused himself and went outside. Alexis got out her wand and a golden mist spread out around the table and settled on the bread.barak puzzy man 3

“So, Ulwazzi, what is the idea?” Lockhart kept his voice calm, while Boston reached into her side pack, around her Beretta, to pull out some bread crackers.

Ulwazzi’s eyes were big on being discovered, and they got even bigger when Boston heated up some water in her hand to turn the crackers into fresh, steaming bread. “I do not understand such things you are doing?” Ulwazzi said, feigning innocence.

The travelers sat while Boston and Alexis made a big plate’s worth of food for Decker and Roland.

“What about Father?” Boston asked.

“He will be busy for a while,” Alexis said, and she tried not to grin. Outside, Mingus was singing away and trying hard to keep his feet from dancing. “Opiates have a strange affect on elves,” she explained. “It liberates that portion of the brain where the music is stored. He should be all right in a few hours.”

“I should have some of that,” Boston said with an elf grin.

“You don’t need it,” Alexis responded with a bit of a grin of her own. “Obviously, you have music in your head all the time without drugs, and dance and wiggle even when there is no music playing.”

Alexis“True,” Boston agreed.

“It wouldn’t be so bad,” Decker said. “If he could carry a tune.”

Alexis got snippy. “Despite the P. R., not all elves are happy-go-lucky little sprites who like to sing and dance at the drop of a hat.”

Roland wisely kept his mouth shut.

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

Tomorrow, the third post, bringing the first half of the story to a stopping point.  Serious things happen in tomorrows post including the werewolf attack.  Don’t miss it

werewolf 1

Avalon 3.12: The Moon Goes Down, part 1 of 5

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

After 2508 in Eastern Anatolia. Kairos lifetime 45: Barak in the wilderness

Recording …

The night sky was cloud covered so neither the moon nor stars could be seen. The rain was not pouring, but certainly dribbling enough to dampen everyone’s mood. Only Roland and Boston kept smiling. The rest of the group might have imagined there was something about elves that made them immune to the weather, but Mingus was miserable enough.

“You could call this a dark and stormy night,” Roland suggested.

Boston turned her head and shouted. “It was a dark and stormy night.” She giggled while the others moaned, and Mingus came riding back from the point. He stopped beside Lockhart and Katie, but Lincoln and Alexis listened in.Barak dark night 3

“I think the edge of the poppy field is just up ahead. Anyway, there are trees like the edge of a forest.”

“Thank god.” That was the general consensus.

“And for the record,” Mingus continued. “There’s no point in putting my son and that girl up front. They could lead us in circles and not care one bit.” He turned his horse and rode out again to the point, hopefully to find a campsite.

“I bet Roland and Boston would still be smiling, too,” Katie said.

Alexis turned her head. “You mean his son and that girl.”

“I remember,” Lincoln mused. “That girl was a television show back when.” Alexis nodded.

“I’m sorry everyone,” Lockhart spoke up and apologized for the tenth time. “I did not want to camp in the middle of a poppy field, but I never imagined it was the biggest field in recorded history.”

“Somebody call Guinness,” Katie said.

“Are you getting sarcastic because of the rain?” Lockhart asked.

“No, you,” Katie said. “I am learning from you. I am getting to be just like you.” It was hard to tell if she thought that was a good thing or a bad thing.Barak dark night 2

“Not true,” Lockhart objected. “I am getting a lot from you.” Then he did not want to talk about it.

The travelers finally stopped in a clearing just inside the trees. That was still too close to the poppies for Lockhart, but the others assured him the opium was not going to leak out of the plants in the night. “Okay,” Alexis finally could not lie to the man. “I secretes a little liquid at night, but it cannot even be seen unless there is plenty of light, like moonlight.”

“So we should move further away?” Lincoln asked.

“No,” Alexis assured her husband that as long as they stayed out of the field, they would be fine. “I mean, it isn’t airborne. Just don’t wander around the field touching the plants and then licking your fingers. Opiates are basic medical stuff.” She said the last to satisfy how she knew what she was talking about.

“Actually, Opium has already been medical stuff for at least a thousand years, as pain killer and like an anesthetic. Also used by priests in ritual practices, or so the text books say.”

“Doctor Katie, ancient civilizations and technologies,” Lockhart said with a smile

“The plants haven’t had generations of selective breeding, either,” Katie added a bit more to the discussion. “I can’t imagine even in its raw form it is very strong.”

Barak opium“Now, don’t go all twenty-first century know-it-all,” Mingus interrupted. “These people are certainly capable of some selective breeding, especially when there is a good market for the product.”

“A field that size certainly suggests a good market,” Alexis agreed with her father.

“Who would have thunk it,” Decker said. “A bunch of cavemen getting high.”

“Decker!” Several people protested, and Katie tried to straighten out her superior officer.

“There is a twenty-first century know-it-all. We left the stone age almost from the beginning and went through an age of copper and soft metals. Now we are in the bronze age, and we will be for a couple of thousand years, but anyway. The point is these people are hardly stone age cavemen.” Decker put his hands up like he was not going to argue the point, but he pointed at Elder Stow and the Gott-Druk took that as an invitation to speak.

“My people, and the Elenar—especially the Elenar knew all about the poppy seeds in the before time. I also have an historical record of sorts, though it is not detailed and I have already seen where it is quite wrong on several rather important points. Still, assuming it is accurate in this case, we cultivated the poppy’s in the before time and may well have bred them for potency. The opiates affect our physiology the same as they affect any human.”

“Not elves,” Mingus said, and then wanted to take it back.

“How does opium affect elves?” Lincoln was curious, but Mingus shut his mouth, and Alexis showed deference to her father. She would not even tell her husband about Opium and elves.

People began to settle in to sleep. Lockhart called for one person, short watch through the night. He had no reason to believe they were in any particular danger that night, in the rain. He exempted Boston and Roland, who were in their own world and already resting in their tent, as far as anyone knew. Everyone else slept under the tarp they made by splicing their fairy weave tents together, temporarily. They did not need to sleep inside. It was hot out. It had been a warm rain.bonfire

Lockhart was about ready to doze off when he heard shouting out among the poppies. Someone was shouting at them, and drawing closer. Decker had his ever present rifle, but Katie spoke.

“I sense no evil intent.” As an elect, her senses were refined to feel out an enemy miles away. Decker, a trained navy seal had some pretty refined senses as well. All the same, he kept the rifle in his hands. Mingus, the elder elf, settled it.

“I sense fear, overwhelming, and near screaming panic. Even if this one means us harm, he is in no position to do us harm.”

Every eye went up when they heard the great howl of the wolf in the distance. Roland and Boston came out of their tent, rubbing their eyes, and looking like they had not really slept in a week, while Decker spoke.

“I’m guessing the moon is full tonight.” He pointed at the clouds and drizzle of rain.

“But is it the first moon, the middle moon, or the last moon?” Katie asked.

Alexis did not care. She had her wand out and grabbed Roland’s free hand. His other arm was around Boston, to hold her up while she tried to get her eyes open. Elder Stow shot a flare out over the poppies, but the only thing they saw was the man as he burst out of the field and collapsed in front of their fire. Katie and Lockhart went to him, while Alexis began to chant.

Moon 3“Surround, around, and swallow it down…” It was not very good poetry, but easy to understand. She was causing the opiate poppy seeds to be attracted to the wolf and get in its mouth and up its nose. Each verse ended with the refrain, “Sleep, sleep, sleep,” and she was drawing on the magic of Roland and Boston as well as her own. The spell was seriously strong.

They heard a growl in the distance followed by a kind of whimpering howl, and then nothing. Roland and Boston were both asleep by the time Alexis finished. They fell to the ground where they held on to each other. Alexis sat to get her breath as Mingus made a comment for Decker.

“I trust we will be safe tonight.”

“As long as it doesn’t snow,” Decker said, drawing on a childhood memory.

Lincoln, Katie and Lockhart were only then getting some story out of their visitor.

“Hatusti, my friend and I—I am Puzziya—we came out from the camp in the hills to test the poppies in the night under the moon to see if they were ready to harvest.” The man had a scarf over his mouth and nose, and gloves on his hand. “Hatusti was good at knowing such things. But when we got deep into the field and the sun went to rest, the clouds came and it began to rain. The rain was light and not hard, so we prayed to Nerik of the storms and waited, thinking the rain will soon go and the sky will clear. We waited a long time, but the storm god did not answer us.”barakpuzzy man 6

“We were ready to return to the camp in the mountain, when the answer came in the form of the great beast of the mountain, the servant of Lelwani. My friend, Hatusti was taken, and I am ashamed. While Hatusti was being eaten, I ran. I thought of nothing but to run away. I might have run to the end of the world and fallen off the cliff if I did not see your light. I saw your fire. I came to this place. I am ashamed.”

Alexis stood by then and summed up her work. “With a full belly, a sleep spell and plenty of opiate poppy seeds, the wolf will sleep. It will probably wake in the morning when it returns to being a man, but I assume we will be gone by then.”

“Your brother and that girl are back in their tent, asleep,” Mingus said, and to Alexis’ look, he added, “I should have left the girl out in the dirt.” He turned his back on everyone, lest they see the lie in his face. He dragged Roland into the tent and carried Boston gently to lay her beside his son. Decker and Elder Stow saw, and though Decker would never say anything, Elder Stow let out his full grin and said, “Family.”

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

Be sure and check in tomorrow for the second post in Avalon, episode 3.12, The Moon Goes Down

moon 4

Avalon 3.11: part 5 of 5, Wedding Day

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Hathor sat in the front on the aisle next to Teti, Anak, and Mother Nephthys. Mingus sat beside Nephthys and left a seat empty for Decker, the best man, if he should need it. That was on the groom’s side Horus sat on the other side of the aisle next to his friends Lockhart and Katie, with Sakhmet squeezed between them on the bride’s side. Lincoln was beside Katie and had a seat open for the maid of honor, Alexis, if she wanted it. Everyone else, gods and little spirits, sat behind.Teti wedding 3

They waited until sundown for the ceremony so the dark elves and others could join in the festivities. That was not a problem, because it took all day to shape Boston’s fairy weave into a bridal gown she liked. Hathor kept trying to change the color to pink because it matched Boston’s red hair so well. Teti finally explained that white was traditional, and let Hathor read a small bit of her mind concerning the matter. Hathor’s eyes got big and said, “Oh,” more than once. Teti could not swear that Hathor did not see more than Teti intended.

Finally, Boston had her flowers and said she was ready. They only had to tell her she was beautiful for the millionth time.

Elder Stow acted as usher, and when they were ready, he went to sit behind Horus. Lenanni and Mia got to be the flower girls. They joined Elder Stow on the bride’s side where Kotemmi, now cured, watched them. The priestess of Mehit helped, a lovely girl who kept glancing at Sakhmet and for some reason could not stop crying.

Teti makeup 1Ankar was the ring bearer, and he made Koteph walk for one of the few times in his five years of life. They sat behind Teti on the groom’s side where Kidrash and her husband corralled them with their own children.

Decker was good and hardly complained. He only once suggested that Roland was doomed, and otherwise stood at his military best, in his fairy weave imitation full dress marine uniform with his gold leafs proudly on display. Roland, beside him, kept nervously fiddling with the bow tie on his fairy weave tux.

Roland almost lost it when Isis came at sundown. She walked from behind to not cause a scene, and stood facing the congregation at the very front. She looked about thirty-five or so, a mature woman, but she could not help appearing supremely beautiful and supremely powerful. Hathor was a beauty beyond reckoning, but it was easy to see where she got her looks. Teti wondered how they might look side by side, mother and daughter, if they both appeared to be twenty-five or so. Then she figured Aunt Isis put on a few years because of the stress over caring for Osiris.

By contrast, Mother Nephthys made herself appear more like a fifty-year-old. “Mother?” Teti started to speak, but Nephthys hushed her, and then knowing her daughter’s mind, said, “I am just the right age for a grandmother. Hush.”Teti wedding 2

Lincoln pulled out the database and started the wedding march music. Alexis walked in, slowly, while everyone stood. Boston came after, with Lockhart to give her away. Mother Nephthys started to cry, and Teti almost joined her, but then Lockhart kissed Boston on the forehead and put her in Roland’s hands and sat. Roland and Boston knelt before the goddess, and everyone else sat and quieted.

“We are gathered here today … “ Isis began, and did a perfect job, of course. Thoth even praised the little sermon and said it was succinct and not one word too many. When she got to the part that said, “Do you Roland—“ Roland interrupted.

“I do.”

“And do you Mary Riley—”

“I do,” Boston said.

###

Teti wedding 1That evening, Teti explained to the women, even while they were going back for seconds on cake, that the wine was a gift from Silenus, “For that red headed girl that he liked so much.” Roland and Boston made their way to the hastily erected hut out in the field the travelers had crossed four days earlier. It would be their honeymoon suite, and they were very happy, but first they were interrupted by an apparition.

“The wraith,” Roland said as he went to stand in front of Boston. “From Tetamon’s days.”

“Can’t be,” Boston said, but she tried to see over Roland’s shoulder.

“You are mine, little spirits of life,” the wraith said in her glee filed, but frightening voice. “I waited for your happy day.” The wraith cackled and began to suck out their life and joy like a dementor straight from Azkaban It did not get far before forty pounds of wildcat let out a roar much bigger than its size would Teti Bast 4suggest. A moment later, a streak of white light came racing across the fields.

The wraith looked at the cat and knew it was in trouble. Then it saw what the white light represented and it let out a high pitched wail. The people at the reception looked up at the roar, The wail woke those who left the reception to go to bed.

Suddenly, there were gods and goddesses all over the front of the honeymoon house yard, but the wraith was fleeing for its life across the wastes, headed for the desert where it might find a place to hide.Teti unicorn

“Like Mut,” Boston said. “It was so focused on getting us alone, it had no idea what was actually going on here.” Then she turned to the unicorn, glowing as bright as ever. It tapped its front hooves three time in the dirt, while several young goddesses gushed over the creature. “Goodbye,” Boston said, and felt very sad, while the unicorn reared up and took off back across the field. Boston looked at the gods and goddesses, and especially Ma’at, who caught the bouquet, and confessed that she wished Thoth might notice her some day. Boston did not know, but she saw that Katie had to hold her tongue. “Good-bye,” she said to them all. “Thank you for coming,” and then her mouth got busy kissing Roland, and they went over the threshold and closed the door.

Bast, the wildcat laid down on the doorstep to be sure they were not disturbed in the night.

Teti Bast 3Back at the reception, Decker asked. “So we get to leave in the morning?”

“Dear, no,” Mother Nephthys said. “Give them a few days at least.”

“How about a week?” Alexis asked.

“How about a few days,” Mingus said then he shook a finger at his daughter. “You could learn from your brother. You might have married one of your own kind.”

Alexis looked at Lincoln and he shook his head. “I would not make a good elf,” he admitted, and was a bit put off with the speed with which everyone agreed with him, especially Mingus.

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

Be sure and return next Monday for the final episode in Avalon, season three: episode 3.12 The Moon Goes Down.

moon 5

Avalon 3.11: part 4 of 5, Preparations

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

“Lady Mut, they are here,” Kotemmi said, and Sakhmet took to the air. She grabbed Alexis and Katie and raced for the door. Teti also rose up, caught Boston around the waist and told Kidrash to grab on to her free hand. They got half-way to the outside when Sakhmet came back in to snatch Kidrash.

Teti Mut 1Then Mut appeared, and the great stone doors of her sister’s temple slammed shut, but Boston was facing the rear, and with her head now cleared, she let her magic out. Every torch and candle in the place flared, and the braziers exploded. Teti also blew on the doors and they dropped like they were hit with a battering ram. Sakhmet got out first, but Teti also made it to the outside as Mut looked confused with the fireworks and temporary hurricane force wind.

Teti landed on her feet, moaned, and held her tummy like she pulled a muscle. Alexis ran to her, but Mut came to the door of the temple and opened her mouth. Whatever she had in mind to speak was drowned out by the lion’s roar. Sakhmet was in danger of losing it. Katie had been hurt and Sakhmet loved her adopted mother that much.

“Mehit. You and I have no quarrel,” Mut said. “It is these interlopers from time and this Kairos that must be removed.”

“And who told you that?” Katie asked, feeling somewhat recovered. She was concerned to keep Sakhmet from overreacting and reached out to stroke the lion’s fur. No one had been seriously hurt, yet, and Kidrash was doing a good job keeping the people back.egypt lioness

Mut ignored Katie and could not help wagging her tongue at Sakhmet. “Fine guards you have at your temple. They were so easily manipulated.”

Sakhmet turned again into a woman when Katie stroked her fur, but she had something to say. “I should have eaten them.”

“Woman.” there was an interruption. A distinguished looking gentleman stepped around the corner and there was fire in his eyes. “You are so involved in yourself, you have no idea what is happening here.”

Mut looked at the speaker, but mostly looked puzzled.

“I have come for a wedding,” the man said. “And your sister, whose temple you have violated, has come with me.” Nut appeared beside the gentleman and tapped her foot in disapproval.

“As have we,” a young man added and he came around the side of a building with the most beautiful young woman anyone might imagine. The young man straightened his glasses as he looked at the gentleman, and Mut opened her mouth as wide as the temple door, but said nothing.

“Son, do you have something to tell her first?” the gentleman asked.

“Yes. These travelers out of time are permitted to travel anywhere in our lands where their travels may take them, and you are not to interfere. In fact, the least hint or thought that you may interfere will be held in judgment against you, even forever. I have decreed.”

Teti Mut 2“Now, woman,” the gentleman spoke again after giving Nut a look of reassurance. “Go home.” Mut closed her mouth with a “clack” of her teeth. “I am not telling or debating or any such thing. I am saying, go home and be there when I arrive.” He waved his hand and Mut vanished. The people watching did not imagine she had any choice in the matter.

Kotemmi took that moment to stagger out from inside the temple. Her hair bun was collapsed, her dress covered with soot and ash, and she looked totally dazed and confused. She caught a glimpse of Nut, her true goddess, and fainted.

“Papi Amun, I am so gad you could come,” Teti said as the gods came to her. “Horus the brave, please do not frighten the men with your strength.” Horus pushed his glasses up and chuckled. “Cousin.” Teti reached out for the woman, and Boston stared at the woman, dumbfounded by her beauty. But Alexis was preoccupied and spoke.

“Teti needs to be home in her bed. She stressed herself badly saving us, and needs time to heal. I think the baby is all right.”

“The baby is fine,” the woman said in a voice as beautiful as the rest of her, and they all found themselves in Teti’s greatly expanded room, and Teti on her wonderfully improved bed.

“Cousin,” Teti reached for the woman’s hand. “Let me tell you about washers and dryers.”

###

Teti party 2Anak kept saying this was the best dream he ever had. Lockhart and Lincoln agreed, but they pointed a lot and tried to remember all the names. Most were little ones—elves, dwarfs, a few dark elves and the like, but some were lesser spirits and some were gods, disguised as well as the gods could disguise themselves. Horus did well blending into the travelers, but with his glasses, he was a natural, while at the same time, those who knew about glasses did not doubt who he was.

“I must say,” Horus spoke as he clapped along. “Teti’s little ones make wonderful music.”

“They do,” Lincoln agreed. “Even if I don’t recognize any of the instruments.”

“Katie could name them,” Lockhart said, and Lincoln and Horus looked at the man and both secretly agreed that he was next.

“Over here.” the men looked up to where Decker was guiding Elder Stow to a seat.

“My father,” Elder Stow shouted and waved at Lockhart when he got close. “I shpoke with the Lady Nephthys. She shaid I could have a beer without a hangover.”

“Very good,” Lockhart said.Stow 3

“How much has he had?” Lincoln asked

“Just the one cup,” Decker said “As far as I know.”

“Sh-good,” Elder Stow grinned a grin as wide as his Neanderthal face. “Shis very good.” Then the others had to catch him as he fell over and began to snore. They laid him out and the musicians came over to incorporate his regular snoring in their songs.

Once seated again, Decker added his thought. “I heard three lovely ladies are going to dance for us.” He did his best to remember the names. “Neith, Wadjet, and her sister.” He snapped his fingers before he came up with the name, “Nekhbet, or something like that. Do you know them?”

“All warrior women,” Horus nodded.

“I got that impression,” Decker said, and he sounded interested.

Horus pushed up his glasses and looked at the man. “Neith is the ancient goddess, and as far as I know she is asexual, and doesn’t care about that sort of thing. Wadjet is the cobra of the delta and moves well, maybe slithers well, but she is seriously gay. Nekhbet is the vulture who likes her dead meat well aged, but I hear she goes both ways if you are interested.”

###

Teti party 1“I wonder what the men are doing,” Boston craned her neck toward the back as if somehow she could look through the wall to the outside.

“Now it starts,” Teti said with a grin.

“You will wonder that your whole married life,” Alexis said.

“That’s all they talked about the last bridal shower I went to,” Katie agreed.

“Men!” the dwarf queen said in a voice that made the others laugh.

“Here they are, fresh from the oven,” Hathor said, as she and Nephthys came in carrying trays full of food, and everyone went straight for the brownies.

“Wherever did you discover this marvelous chocolate, the elf queen asked, and the fairy queen, the goblin queen, Serket and Seshat agreed.

“Not to mention the sugar,” Alexis added.

“Trade secret I’m afraid,” Teti said, and everyone knew that meant not to pry into the business of the Kairos. “But for Boston, I thought a little taste of home might be nice.”Teti a2

“Won’t your mother be surprised when you bring home a husband,” Nephthys said sweetly.

Hathor nodded and added a thought. “You would think her daughter becoming an elf would be enough to get used to.”

“I’m practicing my glamours to appear human, like I used to look,” Boston said, and craned her neck again to say she really did wonder what the men were doing.

Avalon 3.11: part 3 of 5, Red and Yellow Hair

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

In the morning, Teti, Katie, Sakhmet, Boston, and Alexis headed for town to shop. There was not much to get, and not really any shops to speak of. There were workers in wood, clay, and metal, but nothing that would transfer well into the future, unless they could find something in gold or silver. Sadly, Thinis had to import everything metal, and that was mostly copper and a crude sort of bronze.

To be honest, most people made what they needed for themselves, or with the help of neighbors, and shortly the shopping trip became a time for visiting Teti’s friends, old and new. Kidrash, the fisherman’s wife, was one of her oldest and dearest friends. Kotemmi was another.

“But she gave herself to the temple of Nut, goddess of the sky, who was once married to Geb, the earth, and whose sister Mut is supposedly married to Amun, but is not so secretly sleeping with Set for the past five hundred or so years,” Teti explained.Teti market 5

“Horus kicked Set out of the two lands some time ago,” Sakhmet said, happily.

“You mean, glasses?” Alexis asked, and she put her hand to her face to show what she meant.

“That’s the one,” Sakhmet confirmed and Boston giggled as Alexis dragged Boston to look at the linen, mostly white, which was used for clothes, sails, blankets, doors and windows, and almost everything.

“I swear,” Kidrash said as they stopped to wait. “Teti, you were irreverent as a child and you haven’t grown one bit.”

“I am,” Teti nodded. “But it is hard, sometimes, given the company.” She nudged Sakhmet and Sakhmet nodded, vigorously.

“Sakhmetet,” Kidrash rolled her eyes and called the girl as she knew her to be Teti’s cousin from Abydos. She scolded them as if they were making a joke, and nudged Teti.. “Your cousin is as bad as you,” she said. “Just don’t be that way around Kotemmi. She takes her worship seriously.”

“So do most of the gods,” Teti admitted. “But sometimes it is all too serious for me. My father, one of them anyway,” Teti winked at Katie. “He said life is too important to be taken seriously.”

Teti guardThey all had to think about that for a minute, while they fingered what vegetables were in the market. Boston screamed. Alexis threw her arm out to protect Boston, but the three big men had spears and were not inclined to stop.

“Red hair. I wonder if it is red everywhere,” one man said

Katie said something else. “Stay here,” and she meant it.

One kick to the knee, and Katie put the first man down, possibly with a broken knee. The second one was quick. He poked at her with his spear, but she dodged and grabbed the shaft, stepped in, while her foot found his middle. He let out a great “Oof,” and she doubled the affect by ramming the butt end of his own spear into his stomach. Then she twisted the weapon to block the third man’s spear.

The man paused. Katie said, “Run,” and the man did as some of the men in the market came up to grab the two on the ground and chase the third.

Sakhmet ran up and threw her arms around Katie, and praised her to no end. They were both happy until one of the men in the market mentioned that the disruptive element were guards from the temple of Mehit, the lion goddess.

“Mine?” Sakhmet got mad, and would have said much more and done who knows what if Katie had not hushed her and calmed her down.

###

Boston 7When they arrived at the temple of Nut, Kotemmi came out to greet them. “Priestess,” Kidrash bowed. The others said hello, but minded their own business, except Sakhmet, who peeked over Kotemmi’s shoulder in an effort to see the temple inside.

“Red and Yellow hair,” Kotemmi said in a suspicious voice. “People told me, but I would not believe it until I saw with my own eyes.” Teti and Katie at least wondered what Kotemmi was suspicious about. Boston modeled her head.Katie 3

“And it is really red,” she said, knowing the rest of her appearance was a glamour imitating humanity.

“Don’t push it,” Alexis said an aside while Sakhmet all but leaned into the temple.

“So how is Nut’s sister, Mut these days, if you know?” she asked. “Most of us don’t get to see her much since she has been skipping down to Kush and Nubia to visit, you-know-who.” Kotemmi raised both eyebrows as she tried to make sense of what Sakhmet was saying. She was about to respond, when another priestess came and whispered in her ear.

“But come. Everything is prepared,” Kotemmi said, and they followed her into the dark.

Teti templeTeti took a good look at the candles, torches and braziers that gave light to the stifling gloom of the temple, and she wondered why the sky goddess didn’t have the roof removed to present herself. She supposed it would ruin all the food laid out on the altar if it ever rained. Teti caught the chanting from somewhere in a room behind the altar, and thought nothing of it. It was what priestesses did, but then Katie went stiff and her eyes glazed over. Boston fought it and let out a sharp sound. Sakhmet looked up from where Kotemmi was kneeling in front of a big statue meant to represent the goddess, Nut. It was like Sakhmet was preoccupied with trying to figure out how the sculptor got it all wrong. And Alexis moved.

With her wand in hand, Alexis stepped behind the altar and shot something into the back room. The sound from there became a muffled protest, like the woman’s tongue was glued to the teeth and the lips were glued shut. Then things got serious.

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

The second half of Avalon, episode 3.11 will post on Monday and Tuesday of next week.  Don’t miss it, the Festival of Marriage.

Teti wedding 4

Avalon 3.11: part 2 of 5, Evening

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Two hours later, the travelers came to her front yard. Teti went out to face them, and she caused them to stop and face her. Her hand was still up to shade her eyes, and with her other hand on her hip, she spoke sharply. “Who are you to tromp across my fields on great, unclean beasts.

“Simple travelers,” Mingus said. “Please forgive our ignorance.”

“And a fine looking young couple traveling with you. Are you married?”

“Not yet,” Boston lamented.

“Well, you should be,” Teti said with a grin against the sun. “Maybe we can work something out while you are here.” Before anyone could respond, the others caught up. “Great! How do you expect me to get any grain at all out of that field with you tromping all over it?”Teti a1

“We are very sorry,” Alexis apologized as Decker came in from the wing to where everyone had stopped.

“We are looking for a woman named Teti,” Lincoln said, and added an aside for the others. “Teti is normally a man’s name. The woman should be Tetifer or something.”

“I know who you mean. The lion killer, or maybe the peacemaker if she is around to overhear.”

“Yes, that’s her,” Lincoln said, but he checked the database to be triple sure.

“Does your village have a name?” Katie asked to be polite when the woman blocking their way looked like she was not going to say where they could find Teti.

“Thinis,” Teti answered. “That ridge you came over is full of graves. The great god of war, Anhur is buried there. So is Narmer, the first ruler of the two lands, and many Pharaohs who came after. In the village you will find the temple of Anhur as well as the shrine of Sakhmet, the lion goddess we call Mehit. Perhaps you intend to go and pay your respects?”

“Thinis,” Katie breathed the name deeply. “A city lost in legend.”

“It would be good to see our Sakhmet again,” Lockhart was on a different track.

“Beauty. Love.” Anak came up from the river when he saw the travelers stop at the house. “Welcome friends,” he said as he went to Teti and slipped his arm protectively around her. Mother Nephthys chose that moment to stick her head out the door. little Mia holding her dress.Teti fam 1

“Tell your friends there is room in the barn for their horses and plenty for supper. Come on in.”

“Anak, my husband,” Teti said. “Allow me to introduce my friends. The three elves in front are Mingus, Boston and Roland. The humans behind them are Major Decker, Captain Katie Harper, Lockhart, Alexis and Lincoln. The floating old one is Elder Stow. They are friends from the far future.”

“Forgive my wife,” Anak said. “She sometimes says things that make little sense.”

The travelers smiled and Lockhart spoke up. “But that is the charm,” he said.

“I knew it,” Boston shouted. She got down and ran up, but then paused before she gave Teti a gentle hug around the baby. Teti smiled for her.

“Let us get you married,” Teti said. “Then maybe you can get in this condition.”

Boston looked at Roland and disguised nothing in her look. “Oh, I hope so,” she said.

###

Teti night 2After a fine supper of beef, onion and local bread, Teti and Nephthys excused themselves to put the children to bed. Ankar wanted to stay up, but he was nine, and told their visitors would still be there in the morning. Lenanni wanted to stay up when Ankar protested, but she was glad enough to go to bed. Koteph was half-asleep during supper, and Mia was young enough to still be good. With that, it did not take long to tuck them all in and then Teti turned to her mother with a question.

“Do you think your sister might be wiling to marry young Boston and Roland?”

“Elves have their own ways. It is not generally so formal,” Nephthys responded.

“I know, but Boston has not been an elf for very long. She was raised human and still has human memories and some human dreams.”

“Yes, I know. Roman Catholic. White dresses and flowers and rings.”

Teti paused and tapped her cheek. “I suppose we should have a bridal shower first. Maybe tomorrow, or the day after to have a day to prepare. Then the wedding the next day, unless the men throw Roland a bachelor party. They may need a day to recover.”

“There is a lot to be said for eloping, the way elves usually do it.” Mother Nephthys said, but she smiled. “In the future, people make everything so complicated, but I am looking forward to it.”

“Good. But what can I possibly give her for her shower?”

Mother Nephthys patted her daughter’s hand gently. “You have already given her Roland. Let that be enough.”sakhmet 1

Teti nodded, but still she tried to think of something as they rejoined the others. There was a knock on the door.

“I’ll get it,” Anak stood, and as a kindness to him, it never occurred to him how his small house became big enough for all of those people to be there, comfortably. “Can I help you?” He asked.

“I came to see my mom and dad,” the woman at the door said. Anak stepped aside and the woman came in and immediately squeezed herself between Lockhart and Katie. “So when are you two going to finally get married?” the woman asked. Katie and Lockhart passed a glance over the woman’s head and then gave her a loving hug and squeeze. Sakhmet found some tears.

Avalon 3.11: Festival of Marriage, part 1 of 5

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After 2563 BC, Egypt. Kairos lifetime 44: Teti, the Lion in the Sky

Recording …

“Egypt,” Lincoln said. “Definitely Egypt.”

“I think even the horses could have told you that much,” Lockhart said.

“The big blue river was a bit of a giveaway,” Katie agreed.

“Personally, I was convinced by the sand crowding in toward the water,” Alexis turned her head back to look at Katie.nile river 2

Decker, who was riding alongside the group, looked at the group of jokers and pointed across the river. “It was the Jackals that convinced me.”

“It was the smell that convinced me,” Boston said from the front, having heard everything with those good elf ears of hers.

“Okay,” Lincoln surrendered. “I’ll dig a little and find out better where we might be.” He turned to the database to read.

Elder Stow came in from the riverside where he had been floating across the water. His eyes were glued to his newly recharged instruments. He slowed when he got close and ventured to speak. “Of course it is only a guess, but I think we may have returned to Egypt.”

###

Teti irrigationTeti stopped long enough to wipe the sweat from her brow. Her husband, Anak was slowly lowering the big bucket into the river, lifting it by leaning on the far end of the pole, turning it so the bucket was over the land, and puling the rope so the bucket dropped the water at the head of the irrigation ditch. From that spot, the water spread out to cover the field. The irrigation system was a wonder Teti put together some years ago. It meant the difference between life and death these last dry years. The flood stopped coming the way it used to and the fields needed as much help as they could get, especially since the tax men took most of it for the pharaoh’s court and his bloated bureaucracy.

“Teti,” Anak got her attention. “I heard your irrigation system has gotten all the way to Thebes, and been praised by one and all.” Talking was Anak’s way of taking a breather.

Teti nodded. “I only wish I had invented the automatic washer and dryer,” she said, took her rock and pounded on Koteph’s pants. Her third child—second son, was a five-year-old terror on his clothes.

“Why the frown,” Anak asked.

“I’m thinking of the drought,” she said, changing the subject. “We didn’t exactly get any help from the pharaoh.”

“No, but we aren’t any worse off for trying.” he tried to see the positive side of everything.

“That is because they haven’t figured out who we are yet.” Teti paused, and lightened up on hitting the Teti 3pants for fear that she would put a hole in the pants before Koteph did. She thought a washer with an agitator would really help.

“Maybe the women of Nut will succeed in opening the sky and bring the rains to help.”

“Sisters of Nut,” Teti mumbled, and named them like they were medieval nuns. “They have no control over the weather. The Ra wants to bake us and there is no escape.” Teti stood. She was tired of the sun. She was also miserably pregnant. She gathered the clothes in her basket and her frown deepened.

“I’ll be home in a little while,” Anak said.

Teti tried to smile, but she just couldn’t. She reached her home and got pittance from her children. Ankar accepted a brief hug. Koteph ran by with his friends and yelled, “Hi!” on the way past. At least I have my girls, Teti thought, and she hugged seven-year old Lenanni and got down to hug her three-year-old, Mia who was holding tight to Lenanni’s hand.

“Want a sister,” Mia said with a pat on Teti’s belly. Teti smiled, but already knew it was going to be another son. Last of all, Teti gave a pat to her forty-pound beast of a cat.

“Mother Bast, were the girls good today?” The cat said nothing as she began to clean a paw. “I know,” Teti responded all the same with a look over her shoulder at the boys. “But boys in this culture don’t have to behave.” She moaned and stood. “Mother!” She called.

Teti home 2Mother Nephthys came running out of the house, wiping her hands on an apron. “Is it time?” she asked.

“No mother,” Teti responded. “I’m only seven months. I’m just starting to feel it in my knees when I stand.”

Mother Nephthys grinned and reached to pick up Mia. “I like them when they are little.” Lenanni looked at her grandmother, and mother Nephthys responded. “You are all little to me.” Then she added a last thought. “Friends of yours on the horizon.” Teti looked south and shaded her eyes for a good look. She could not see anyone, so she rose up in the air, about ten feet above the ground and caught sight of Roland, Boston and Mingus leading the rest.

Teti twirled once, slowly, before she settled back down to the ground. She wanted to be sure no one noticed. Koteph and his friends saw, but to them it was no big deal. No one believed them, so they stopped talking about it some months ago.

Avalon 3.1: part 4 of 7, Down Inside

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Lockhart and Lincoln got into a small shouting match in the morning. Which one was up and why didn’t they see the body being removed. Decker, Roland and Elder Stow ignored them and followed the trail of the frozen body. There were tracks. Roland called them goblin tracks, and at least one troll. They lead to where the tree line ended and they faced a stone wall, a cliff, not more than fifteen feet high, but which lead to the peaks above.

Alexis, Boston and Katie stayed out of it. They wisely packed up the camp and were ready to go as soon as the men came back. It was still much too cold to stay at that elevation, and it looked like it was threatening snow.

When the travelers reached the cliff face, Elder Stow asked everyone to keep back for a minute while he turned on his scanner. He estimated about five feet of rock face and a big open cavern behind. He brought out his sonic device and tried to find the right frequency to bring down the wall. A couple of rocks fell from the top of the cliff, but the wall remained unchanged. He tried his weapon and turned it up until it looked hot enough to melt the rocks, but still no effect. He tried several other devices before he backed away.

“It must be protected by a very powerful bit of magic,” he said.

“Let me try.” Boston was the first to ride up and get out her wand. She couldn’t do anything to make an opening, but Alexis was right behind her. Alexis tried several things that Boston, the beginner, would not necessarily know. Finally she called.

“Roland.”cliff face in snow

He came up and tried one thing, and then added his magic to Alexis. Boston also joined her magic to the group, but the three of them together had no effect. The rock wall remained unmoved and looked like it had never been touched.

Lockhart, Katie and Decker were discussing if they could extract enough shotgun shells from the never empty weapon to cobble together into something like dynamite, when Lincoln pushed his horse all the way up to the wall. “My turn,” he said, though the others ignored him thinking, what could he do? Lincoln dismounted and stepped up to where he put his hand right through the wall.

“A glamour,” Alexis breathed.

“A work of art,” Roland agreed.

“I figured it out when the technology and magic were unable to do anything. We had a wall in front of the caves in Emotep’s day, but not nearly as sophisticated as this one, I bet.” He got back up on his horse and rode through the illusion of a cliff. The others slowly followed.

Immediately, the travelers felt warmed. It was still chilly underground where the sun never visited, but it was not nearly as cold as outside. The freezing wind that blew down from the glacier could no longer reach them.

“Where to?” Lockhart asked.

Roland and Alexis made fairy globes of light and let them rise up into the air to illuminate the cavern. Boston wanted to make one as well, but she imagined her pitiful little light would not be much help. It soon became clear that despite the completely natural look of the cave, they were in an entrance hall. There were a half-dozen or more tunnels that lead from the cave into the heart of the mountain.

Major Decker and Captain Harper got out their military lanterns, the ones with a spotlight on the front. They had those alien batteries in them that would keep them running for several days before they needed a recharge in the sun. They looked down several tunnels and also noted several burn spots in the far wall where Elder Stow’s weapon breached the glamour at the front door. They were all kind enough not to point that out to the Elder.

“I’m not getting clear information underground,” Elder Stow spoke up. He had his scanner out and shook it once like maybe it was not being honest with him. “I’m picking up a number of carbon based forms, but which one is the body of the ghost, I couldn’t say.”

“Just track our journey,” Lockhart said. “If we have to, we may need to back out the way we came in.”

“That I can do.”underground tunnels

After examining the tunnels, Roland made his recommendation. “We need to stick to the troll tunnels since they are the only ones big enough to accommodate the horses.” He got down from his horse. “I assume leaving the horses here would be an invitation to the goblins to make horse bacon.” He straightened the fairy weave tent turned horse blanket. “I recommend keeping the blankets on the horses for now and softening their steps. Let me show you.” He separated four small pieces of fairy weave and made them expand and thicken as he caused them to wrap around the horse’s hooves. They became like horse slippers that would protect the horse against rough passages and sharp rocks and at the same time deaden the clip, clip sound of their gate. Everyone did the same.

They determined they had two choices, tunnels that were clearly troll worked. Elder Stow said there were lots of something living down one passage. Lincoln insisted they take the other one.

“Okay,” Lockhart said. “We take the Lincoln Tunnel and maybe end up in New York City. But from here on, only speak if necessary, and whisper.”

Roland took the lead as always. He brought his fairy light down from the ceiling so it could illuminate the way. Boston came next and was followed by Captain Decker and his lantern. He used the spotlight to light up the passages that broke off from the main tunnel. Alexis and Lincoln came next, in front of Katie who carried her lantern and used it in much the same way as Decker. Elder Stow was behind her with his eyes glued to his scanner, and Lockhart covered the rear where Alexis had her fairy light floating along a few yards behind.

For all their efforts, the group made plenty of sound. Lockhart imagined any goblins or whatever would have no trouble knowing exactly where they were. He tried not to think about it. From the first, Lockhart was not comfortable with all of the so-called little ones or little spirits that answered to the Kairos. There was something unnatural about the most natural people. Then again, certain aliens he encountered in the years since did not exactly leave him sleeping nights. They were all what he called inhuman, and he more than once admitted he was xenophobic. He couldn’t help it.

Lockhart looked at the Neanderthal that floated along unconcerned in front of him. He knew that Elder Stow was not a bad person, and he had come to believe the Gott-Druk would keep his word, but there was something about him that simply made Lockhart uncomfortable. That was doubly so to see the Neanderthal in a space suit. Reality was weird, he thought. Who needed fantasy?

cave tunnel

He thought of the first time he met the Kairos. The Storyteller, Glen was a freshman at a small college in Michigan where he did not seem to be succeeding. Lockhart was a young police officer in town, and newly married. There were Gott-Druk there, too, working on a formula they planned to dump into the local reservoir that would completely destroy human will power. His sister took a long time to get over her exposure to the stuff. He remembered that adventure was a wild ride. That was where he first met the Princess, and some other lifetimes of the Kairos. Of course, after that he could not exactly go back to writing traffic tickets.

He went to work for Jax and the Men in Black. He moved his wife to Virginia, and they had children, but his wife never adjusted. She eventually left him and poisoned the children against him. So now he was looking at Katie Harper. He knew he was going to marry the woman, but it wasn’t going to be an easy thing to do .He figured he had to purge some of his old feelings first. That was some ground to cover. Heck, he first met the Kairos over forty years ago, five thousand years in the future.

Lockhart grinned. It was usually the Kairos who said things like that.

“So Bonesplitter. Do you think we can get some good eating off the horse?”

Lockhart was startled to hear a voice so close to his side. He looked and saw the outline of a figure, but was glad the lighting was so dim. Bonesplitter, an obvious troll, and a big one, simply grunted and reached for the horse.

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

Here ends the first half of episode 3.1. The second half of episode 3.1 will be posted Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (April 13, 14, and 15) of next week, same blog time, same blog channel.

Avalon 3.1: part 3 of 7, Down in the Cold

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People recovered quickly enough and the horses did not wander too far. They might be haunted by the memory of what the furies forced them to face, but there would be no visible scars. Elder Stow called it insidious as they started off again.

They found Carthair the ghost waiting for them at the edge of the trees. “It wasn’t safe with Hades lurking about,” he said.

“I’m glad you made it,” Decker was gracious, Roland less so.

“We need to get to the other side of this mountain, but we don’t know the passes. On our own, we would be going blind. Can you show us the way or not?”

“I can,” the ghost said. “Follow.”

Roland, Boston and Decker stayed up front, even in the forest where the path was impossible to discern. Lockhart and Lincoln both expressed concern about the direction, but the ghost seemed to know where he was going so the concern was muted.

After they exited the woods, they came to a field of ice. It was an impossibly large field that Lincoln eventually identified it as a glacier. The wind was wicked cold on the glacier, especially when it blew in the face. Even the horses turned their heads away.

“We are probably walking on the top of an ancient forest,” Alexis said,Alpine glacier

Lincoln shook his head. “If there were trees once, they would be terribly stunted at this height, and we are still going up.”

“Here, it is here,” Carthair shouted and flew ahead. Roland spurred his horse to keep up and only managed to stop in time.

“Keep back!” Roland yelled and backed his horse away. It was a crevasse in the ice, thirty feet deep, that came to a point at the bottom. To fall down there would be certain death, even if you managed not to break any bones.

“It is here,” Carthair said. “My body.” He wailed a frightening wail, very Dickens-like, and everyone heard. Then he began to cry.

“He’s crying,” Boston said over her shoulder to no one in particular

Decker did not hesitate to dismount and get his rope from the saddle. He tied the rope to his saddle horn and was ready to back slowly to the crevasse when Elder Stow interrupted.

“No. let me.” Elder Stow floated out over the crevasse while he kept his eyes trained on an instrument. “I see flesh, carbon, certainly not moving. I imagine it is our ghost friend, but I suppose some animal might have wandered too close to the edge. Let us see.” He floated down into the crevasse and the travelers became concerned. The whole thing had to be unstable. They knew the break in the glacial ice could close up at any moment or the walls could crumble at a sound.

glacier crevasseLincoln turned to Alexis when he lost sight of the Elder. “I would not have guessed he would risk himself to fetch a human, much less a dead body.”

Katie responded first. “I think our brief time under the curse of the Furies had a serious effect.”

“On everyone,” Lockhart spoke softly.

Alexis responded with another thought. “Carthair deserves the right to be taken home and be buried with his people. I think Elder Stow understands that concept very well.”

“There is a human body here.” Elder Stow’s voice came out of the wrist communicators they all wore. Somehow he figured out how to tune his communicator to the system. “It is frozen and not in good shape. I am going to have to cut it loose.”

“Don’t use the sonic device,” Lincoln spoke to his wrist. “The vibrations might bring a ton of ice down on your head.”

“Use your heat ray,” Lockhart said. To him, all such advanced weapons were heat rays. “Low setting. Try and melt the ice around him to get him free. We can send the rope down to bring him up.”

Elder Stow looked at the sonic device in his hand. He put it away without mentioning it, and got out his weapon. Even on the lowest setting, it did not take long to cut the body free from the ice to which it had become glued. The body remained frozen, and plenty of ice still covered the head, back and feet, but it was moveable. Elder Stow attached a gravity disc and navigated back up to the surface,

Boston took a moment to check her amulet. The direction was north, off to their right. She could not imagine the Alpine path went over a glacier, but what did she know.

“Carthair. Which way?” she asked.

Carthair pointed back down the way they had come. “The path winds through the forest down below.”

Boston frowned. This whole trip up the ice flow was nothing but a detour. She was ready to say something when Elder Stow and the body breached the surface and Carthair disappeared. The Elder moved immediately to Decker who was standing with the rope ready and too close to the edge. He backed up and together they tied off the body. Once Decker shortened the lead, he was ready to go. The body would float behind him.

“Which way?” Lockhart asked.

Boston turned her frown on him. “Back down the way we came. The path goes through the forest we were in.”

No one complained, and Lincoln voiced a thought. “Good. It is too cold up here in the wind. I’m not sure the horses could have gone much further on the ice.”

It had taken several hours to climb as high as they did over the ice. It took an equal number of hours to exit the glacier, even if it was downhill, as Lockhart called it. When they reached the forest, they looked more closely. It seemed to only be pine trees, not too close together and perhaps not as tall as they might have been. That suggested they were still very high up,

At the edge of the forest where the trees thinned out, there was room to set up tents and build a fire. The trees would help some with the frigid wind, especially for the horses. They were worried about the horses, and were presently using their tents reshaped into horse blankets.snow alpine forest

“We need a big fire,” Lockhart said. “And we will have to tend it for warmth all night. I’m afraid any sleep will have to be gotten out here. We dare not take the horse blankets.”

Elder Stow got out his tent, but when he opened it, he opened it all the way, like a tarp. He set this up between several trees where it would block the worst of the wind that was blowing off the glacier above.

Once the fire was roaring, Lockhart, Katie, Decker and Lincoln took a closer look at Carthair’s body. The man had taken an arrow in his stomach. They concluded he must have run up on to the glacial ice to try and escape whoever attacked him.

“The crevasse was likely covered with snow,” Lincoln concluded. “He probably stepped right in it.” The others nodded, but then they went back to the fire. It was too cold to do anything else.

Somehow, in the middle of the night, Carthair’s body got untied and the body was stolen.

Avalon 3.1: part 2 of 7, Hunters On the Road

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“Where to?” Lockhart asked, not that they had much choice on that narrow mountain path. It was either up or down.

“Up,” Boston answered with a careful look at the amulet. She would not look at Roland. She held on to her virtue in the night, but just barely. She knew it would not be long and all she could think was then the unicorn would not visit her, if she ever saw it again.

Roland was not looking at her, either. He was focused on the ghost and repeated what the ghost said. “Up.”

“Good enough,” Lockhart said and they started up into the snow filled heights.

Carthair floated along beside Decker when he was on the wing. “I am not at all comfortable with the Elder Stow,” he said. Elder Stow tended to float along on the other side of the column when there was room. When the way got narrow, Decker and the Elder slipped in behind Roland and Boston, in front of Alexis and Lincoln. Carthair stayed beside Decker’s right hand, and when it got really narrow and they had to travel in single file, he stayed right there, even if it meant floating out over the edge of a cliff.

“Gott-Druk. Neanderthal. Elder race,” Decker said.

“Yes,” Carthair agreed. “The people I don’t mind, but you have two witches and a light elf. The elf worries me. Elves sometimes escort dead people to their resting place, and I’m afraid he might take me to the wrong one.”

Decker said nothing, but he indicated that he understood. He would not want to die and be escorted to the wrong place.

When the travelers came to the top of a particularly treacherous climb, they found a wide and long stretch of relatively even ground. They also found a man there walking in their direction.

“Hello,” Boston called.horseback snowy forest

“Hello, witch,” the man shouted. He was frowning. “Bitch,” he added., and when he got close he began to insult her. “Coward. What are you, too good and pure?”

“Now wait a minute,” Roland started to object as the others crowded up to join them.

“Baby stealer.” He turned on Roland. “The imps were right. You must be cursed. Your whole family.” The man frowned at Alexis and then Lincoln. “Attracted to morons, I would say. Oh, and look you got an old one to drag around.” He looked at Elder Stow. “Kill you in a blink of an eye with all his fancy gadgets. Without them he is just a grubby caveman. And a ghost lover. Where is that fool of a ghost, anyway?” Decker could only shrug while Alexis interrupted.

“Can we help you? If you are headed down the way we came it is slick with ice, you should be careful.”

The man stared at Alexis for a second before his face blurred and his features became unstable. It took a few more seconds for the face and feature to stabilize, but then the man had a broad grin and kind, sparkling eyes.

“Good of you to say. Very kind of you.” The man’s smile enlarged to fill his face and Alexis could only imagine if he had the beard he might model for Santa Clause. “I am sure that is a virtue for which Lincoln loves you well.” He turned to Roland. “And you, young elf. You should marry that girl before she slips away. That would be a tragedy my other half would like well. And Elder Stow.” He turned again. “All of you, really, I feel if you stick together and help each other as you have been doing, you just might get home in one piece.” He looked at Lockhart. “By the way, I suppose you don’t exactly know where that young Lucas might be.”

“No,” Lockhart responded. “Not exactly.”

“No, I can see you don’t know exactly, and he may well be on the other side of the mountains as you suppose. Still.” The man disappeared and reappeared behind them and their horses. “I am presently charged to look for him, so I am looking.” He started down the way the travelers had come up, and he began to whistle.

Those who dismounted got back up on their horses, with Decker adding a bit of commentary. “Weird, again.”

“Janus,” Katie named the man.

“Eh?” Lockhart wondered.

“Two faces, like comedy and tragedy.”

“We are headed more or less across this open field,” Boston reported, checking the amulet and again not looking at Roland.

“What does the ghost say?” Lockhart asked.

“Not here,” Roland reported.

“I hope the bugger didn’t get himself lost,” Decker added.

alps in the snowSnow covered the field and muffled the sounds of their passage. The sky was cloudy all day but whether that was because the clouds were low in the sky or because they were high in the mountains was not clear. They were glad it did not start snowing.

“It is honestly hard to tell which way to go without our ghost guide,” Katie spoke quietly. There was something about the snow that encouraged stillness and quiet.

“I am iffy on the ghost guide, though it is impossible here to see the trail, if the trail still exists. It was never much of a road to begin with, even lower down.”

“Company,” Decker got their attention, and again the travelers stopped to greet three lovely ladies, in bare feet in the snow.

“Welcome,” Alexis tried, but the women weren’t buying it.

“Why are you hiding Lucas,” the first woman said.

“He must come with us,” the second woman said.

“We will make you tell us where he is,” the third woman said, and the travelers all felt that their minds were on fire. Every evil thought, every bit of wrongdoing, every mistake they ever made came crashing into consciousness. It was torture. They were tormented even with the good in their lives which was twisted to appear wicked.

Several travelers screamed. They all abandoned their horses and rolled on the ground in agony. Lockhart remembered one of those beauties bending over him with a grin of pleasure. The next thing he remembered someone hand held his and patted it gently.

“What?” Lockhart tried to sit up. “What happened.”

It was a man who let go of his hand and answered. “The furies got a bit zealous and the hedge the gods put around you rose up and slapped them.”

“Gave them a taste of their own medicine,” a woman said. “Ha! They will be in recovery for a while.”

“What?” Lockhart sat up quickly and counted heads.

“All will recover,” the man said. He stood over Lockhart. “I like these people. I claim them.”

“Hello? They are not dead,” the woman countered.

Lockhart watched Decker struggle to his feet while Katie crawled to him.

“But when they die, I put in my claim now. The furies won’t be hampered when they are dead.”

“You do and I’ll find all three of them husbands.”

“You wouldn’t. That would ruin them.”

“Yes and wait for the children.”

“So maybe I’ll take them now.”

“You do and I will find you a wife.” The woman grinned. “Besides. Hedge.”

“Oh, yeah. I guess I have to wait.” The man vanished. Katie arrived by Lockhart and leaned on his shoulders to get to her feet.

“Who was that man?” Katie asked.

“Hades,” the woman answered and then spoke off subject with a glimpse at Lockhart. “Katie, you have Amazon instincts. You can initiate things.”

Katie shook her head with an equally quick glimpse at Lockhart. “It doesn’t work that way in my world.”

“Yes,” the woman responded. “Some of the future things I have to think about,” and she vanished.

“Who was that woman?” Lockhart asked.

“Aphrodite,” Decker said before he went off to collect horses and think about what being on her list might mean.

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

Be sure and return tomorrow for part 3 of 7, Down in the Cold.