Avalon 4.8 part 4 of 6 The Dark Underground

August 8, 2016July 30, 2016M G Kizzia 1 Comment

“No, not again,” Lockhart breathed at the entrance to the cave.

“Going over the mountain would take too long,” Nuwa spoke as she got down from behind Katie. Boston rode to the front as Decker and Elder Stow came in from the sides.

“Why do we always have to go underground?” Lockhart complained, but he took it well, even when Lincoln voiced his objection.

“All the goblins and trolls, and who know what nasty things live underground.”

“Maybe there are pixies to keep the bat population under control,” Boston said as she got down.

“Goblins eat rats,” Katie suggested.

“But there are deeper, darker things the dwarfs and goblins sometimes dig up,” Nuwa admitted. “As a dragon, I appreciate a deep cave filled with gold, but I make highways through the wilderness. Endless dark tunnels do not thrill me either.”

“You stay up front with us,” Larkhart suggested, having temporarily forgotten that Nuwa Dragon was a greater spirit, a power just shy of being a lesser goddess, and her natural form was a tremendous fire breathing, sharp clawed dragon. What would dare disturb them?

The travelers entered the cave in their pre-determined order. They had been in the underground enough in the past to have worked things out. Boston went up front with Lockhart and Katie watching. Boston put a fairy light overhead to light the way. It was not too difficult, if it was not all day, and they all had the lanterns for back-up. Lincoln and Alexis came in the middle where Alexis, being more experienced with magic, kept a center fairy light burning, even when the tunnel became narrow and the roof pressed in on them. Elder stow came behind them, scanner in hand. He kept track of their progress, could point to the larger, more navigable tunnels up ahead while he kept an eye on what might be following them—hopefully nothing. Mingus and Decker brought up the rear, where Mingus trailed them with a fireball light, and Decker held on to his rifle.

“These are goblin tunnels. We can travel troll ways for a while,” Nuwa said. Like the elves, she had the ability to direct her speech to the ones she was talking to so it did not echo up and down the whole tunnel.

“Troll roads,” Lockhart quietly corrected her, but he saw Katie put a hand to her ear so he refrained from asking what they charged. Nuwa dragon snickered, having caught the thought without his having to say it; and Lockhart thought the human sounding snicker was much easier on his nerves than the full throated dragon laugh he once heard.

Nuwa continued. “There is one narrow place where the goblin lair gives way to dwarf tunnels, but I can make it temporarily bigger for the horses.”

Lockhart nodded rather than talk out loud. Too bad there was nothing he could do about the horses clip-clop against the rocky floor. The horses all had new shoes. Somehow, Lady Alice managed to send them back from the future to Yadinel’s time, and Pluckman and his merry men managed to build a fire hot enough to shape them a little, as needed.

Lockhart looked back to where Lincoln was looking all around at the dark, wide eyed and quiet. Lincoln, with Katie helping, had taken on the job of keeping the horses hooves trimmed and the horses properly shoed. They all knew how to do it, having received the knowledge directly from the Kairos, Wlvn, all those centuries ago. But this was one of those things that needed to be practiced to be good. Lincoln, and Katie got plenty of practice.

After a short time, they came to a cavern. Boston reminded them that dark elves always had an entrance hall. This one had seven tunnels leading off in various directions. Most of them would go to goblin homes. At least one would go to the great hall, and one would lead to a back door of some kind. This particular hall also had a pile of bones in the center, and as they came into the cavern, they noticed bones scattered around.

“What happened here?” Alexis asked as Lincoln bent down to see how old the bones might be. Nuwa dragon and Lockhart, with his police training, were right there with him.

“These are fresh kills,” Lockhart said.

“Some troll bones,” Nuwa pointed out.

“What could do this to a troll?” Lincoln backed off and was glad to see the others were as prepared as they could be. Decker and Katie held their rifles and were looking around. Boston had out her wand and sidled up to Mingus for protection. Alexis had her wand out, but was peeking over Elder Stow’s shoulder. The Gott-Druk’s eyes were glued to his scanner.

“We need to move on, and quickly,” Nuwa said. “This way.”

“I’m picking up movement down that tunnel,” Elder Stow said.

“Good,” Nuwa responded. “I doubt your equipment could register a shadow.”

They walked with the fairy lights as bright as they could make them, and the lanterns on.

“What do you mean shadow?” Lincoln asked.

Nuwa explained. “I remember the Kairos referring to one as the shadow of death, as ‘in the valley of the shadow of death’. The goblins may have released one from the darkness. They hide in the dark because more than anything, sunlight is death to them. They don’t like any light. They are shapeless, formless masses of darkness, and they are hungry. They are not swarms of microscopic life, but you might think of them as the vashta nerada.

Katie went pale on hearing that, and Boston up front, hearing with her good elf ears, shouted, “Oh crap. Hurry.”

“What are vashta nerada?” Lincoln asked.

“I don’t think we want to know,” Alexis answered him.

They ran, and the horses sensed the fear and did not argue.

“Dark elves,” Nuwa said just before Boston shouted the same thing.

“Come on. Hurry,” one of the goblins echoed Boston. There were a dozen with torches, and six stepped to the side while the travelers passed. They intended to take the rear position, but as Mingus, who was in the back, passed them, one of the six screamed. The other five hurried, but a second and then a third fell even as the travelers broke out of the tunnel into the goblin great hall.

Mingus spun around in the entrance and made a ball of fire that filled the tunnel and pushed part way in. The goblins built up the fire in that place and people tried to relax.

The travelers held tight to their horse’s reigns as they moved into the sweltering heat of the hall. A tremendous bonfire shed light everywhere, and fires also burned in front of all eleven passages that let out into the darkness. Torches burned everywhere, quick to come to hand if needed, and the rest of the room was overcrowded with spirits of all sorts. Most were goblins, and a few were trolls, but the rest were a variety of spirits that the travelers had never seen and could not name.

“It’s like a red cross shelter during a flood,” Alexis suggested.

“Stay away from the unfamiliar ones,” Lockhart commanded, and looked at Mingus

“Even I cannot name them all,” Mingus admitted. “But then my dealings with the underground have never been great.” He looked at Alexis.

“I can name some,” she admitted, and then confessed. “I dated a dark elf when I was very young and rebellious.”

People smiled. Mingus frowned at her. Boston slapped a hand to her mouth and shouted again, “No way.”

“Humans. Horses.” A big goblin stepped up and stared hard at the travelers, but they had seen goblins at their worst and were not moved. Lockhart even complimented the goblin by calling the look a frightening face. He said it in such a calm voice, though, the goblin hardly knew what to say.

“Red hair. Yellow hair,” a second goblin stepped up and said, “follow me.”

Avalon 4.8: part 3 of 6, A Little Help

August 3, 2016July 30, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Thalia tromped through the woods and went around the rocks that jutted up here and there in the forest. She ignored everyone else. Nevah floated along, hardly making a sound in the forest, but she insisted on climbing over every rock outcropping she could find. Sometimes she hooted when she reached the top, and Phadon kept telling her to keep quiet. He tried to move stealthily through the leaves and underbrush, like he did not want to alert the whole neighborhood. He failed on every crumpled leaf and snapped twig. It did not matter in any case. Bezos tried to make extra noise because he would rather not startle a bear or a big cat or something. He had his hammer in his hand and occasionally rapped it against the trees. What is more, Anwanna was struggling to bring along the donkey, who complained. For some reason, the donkey thought the stop for lunch should have been the stop for the night.

“We are about to come out of the trees on to the rock ledges that should lead us up to the tower,” Thalia shouted back. She signaled the others to wait where they were while she jogged up ahead. She sensed something the others could not imagine.

Anwanna pulled up and raised his voice to answer her. “I take it we have made it past whatever traps he may have set for unwanted visitors.”

Bezos laughed and Nevah spoke. “Haven’t faced any traps yet.”

“What about the skeletons and bears and everything?” Anwanna wanted to protest.

“Just testing us, to see if he could scare us off,” Phadon gave the explanation.

“The fun is just beginning.” Nevah said, happily. Bezos nodded and grinned.

“You people have a strange sense of fun,” Anwanna suggested, and Phadon nodded again before he hushed everyone. It took a minute to figure out what he was hearing, but then a howl rang through the trees, and Phadon grabbed the donkey’s reigns.

“Hurry. Get to the rocks and out from the trees. Anwanna and Phadon were glad the donkey did not argue. Bezos pulled his axe while they ran. Nevah had the harder time as she tried to get her bow out. She had to pause at the edge of the woods to bend it and string it, but then she needed a bit of speed—not like elf speed, but faster than human speed, to catch up.

The wolves were right behind, about a dozen of them. Nevah spun around and put two down with two arrows, but two more reached the group. Phadon caught on with his spear when it was in mid-leap. Bezos gutted the other with his axe.

Two wolves circled the group to come up on Anwanna and the donkey. Anwanna screamed while the donkey let out a great bray and kicked. The wolves were wary.

“Use your knife,” Phadon yelled as he pulled his sword. The spear fell with the wolf.

Anwanna pulled his knife after a minute. He yelled like a madman, or a man afraid, and waved the weapon at the wolves. The wolves ignored him. They were concerned about how to bring down the donkey without being kicked.

Nevah shot another one, but it was not a perfect shot and imagined she only wounded the thing. They appeared to pause at the edge of the trees.

“Have they had enough?” Phadon wondered.

“Probably getting ready to rush us,” Bezos responded.

“Here they come,” Nevah yelled as she fired her arrow. Phadon raised his sword, and Bezos pulled his hammer to have a weapon in each hand. Phadon lost his sword in the neck of a wolf. Bezos lost his axe in a wolf head. Bezos swung his hammer and maybe busted a wolf shoulder but there was another one. Phadon and Nevah also faced another, and all they could do was grab their long knives.

They stood as three arrows came from behind them and the wolves went down. Bezos had the satisfaction of smashing the head of the one with a busted shoulder, but that was it. When Phadon and Neva turned to see who their benefactor might have been, they saw Thalia standing on a rock some twenty yards behind and above them, and four of the funniest looking, heavily bearded little men jogging to meet them. Thalia wore a cape that fluttered in the wind, and when she slipped her bow in a pocket of the cape, the cape was in no way restricted. It continued to flutter as she climbed down the rock. In fact, she bunched it up to drape it over her arm as she climbed, so Phadon was prompted to ask a question.

“What happened to the bow? I swear she was just holding a bow and arrows.”

“Ours is not to question,” Nevah told him.

“I’m all right,” Anwanna said, grumpily. Both wolves that faced him were down with arrows.

“We can see that,” Bezos grinned his grin, but helped Anwanna calm the donkey which was spooked by the wolves and now by the blood, everywhere.

The little men came up arguing about whose arrow hit which wolf closer to the heart. They retrieved and checked their arrows while the others could only stare. As they went by, three of them tipped their hats to Nevah and said, “Missy,” “Breedy,” and “Hobby-Gob.”

“Friends of yours?” Phadon asked.

Nevah shook her head and stared before she said, “but it gives me strange feelings to look at them. I don’t know why.”

“They’re dwarfs,” Thalia shouted, having heard Nevah’s comment. “Let me introduce you.” And she introduced her gang to the dwarfs Poogbara, Gildurien, Metikas, and Zed. “Chief Zed, I should say. We have been invited to spend the night.”

“Is it safe?” Anwanna wondered out loud.

“The only place that is safe,” Thalia answered. “They have a magical shield up against the sorcerer in the tower so he can’t raise up their long dead ancestors. Chief Zed has said we can get a good night’s sleep, and they will watch the land, the skies and the under-earth.”

“Sounds like an offer we can’t refuse,” Phadon said.

“To refuse would be rude, I think,” Nevah agreed.

“Ready.” Bezos had gathered his weapons and his pack, and the others hurried to get their things.

The dwarf home was not far. The trees on the surface shaded the work sheds and a great hall used now and then for feasts and celebrations, but most of the home was underground in the mines that honeycombed the mountain. The group had to stay on the surface, but that was all right. It was a chance to rest after the last weeks of struggle.

The sorcerers tower could be seen from the roof of the great hall, and they all climbed up to get a good look. The tower appeared to be about three days away, jutting into the sky on the edge of a mountain that smoked. Steam billowed out from the inside of the rocks there and made great clouds to be blown off by the wind. Presently, the tower and the clouds appeared golden as the sun began to set in the west.

“Do not be fooled,” Chief Zed said. “There is no gold in that mountain, only hot red rivers beneath the surface like the blood in the earth. Soon enough, you will see the sky and the tower turn red as the sun drops to the horizon. I think it is the color of the blood that shows before the darkness covers everything. If you are going there…” he paused to look at Thalia, “and I have no doubt that you are, you will find that even the moon and the stars cannot penetrate the smoke and steam. The darkness at night is utterly dark, a fitting place for the man and his wicked sorcery.”

Anwanna lowered his head and shed a few tears. Nevah slipped an arm around the man to comfort him, even as Phadon spoke.

“Nevah. You are being quiet this evening. I though you always had something to say.”

Nevah looked at the dwarf and lowered her own eyes. Thalia thought she better say something before Nevah joined Anwanna in his tears.

“Nevah is a breed, half-hobgoblin and half-human. The earth spirits do not think good thoughts about half-breeds since their god has made such a fuss about it and told them plainly that they are not permitted to mingle with human mortals in that way. Then, her spirit half is hobgoblin. Most earth spirits keep hobgoblins at arm’s length and do not trust them, and rightly so, since most are such terrible, manipulative schemers. So you see, Nevah has two strikes against her already, even without opening her mouth. Too bad, because Nevah is really a very nice young woman who tries very hard to be honest and good.” Nevah did start to weep softly as Chief Zed spoke.

“Since you have accepted her as a friend, my people will not have issue with her, as long as she keeps to her place among the humans.”

“Not a problem,” Thalia said. “Our path goes overland, but right now I say we go back down. I can smell the feast the dwarf wives are preparing, and Bezos is hungry.”

Phadon looked up from Nevah’s face, from where his hand reached out to touch her arm and comfort her as much as he could. “I believe Bezos is always hungry,” he said. Bezos nodded and grinned.

Avalon 4.8 part 2 of 6 Dragons

August 2, 2016July 29, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

“Ugh,” Boston sounded frustrated. “We are getting closer, but it is so slow. It is almost like Talia is moving away from us.”

“Thalia,” Mingus said.

“Thalia-Anath,” Lincoln corrected him, and Alexis smiled for her husband.

“So,” Lockhart interrupted before people started shouting. “Are we sure these are the Zagros Mountains?”

“Oh, yes,” Katie said, meaning to be helpful. “The north end of the mountains, I would guess. Not far from the Caspian Sea.”

“Lincoln?” Lockhart looked at Katie and frowned. She missed the whole point of his interrupting the others.

“Yes,” Lincoln confirmed. “This is not Syria. The mountains are too high.”

“If we have caught her in the middle of her quest for the amulet of peace and prosperity, we may be headed for trouble,” Mingus said.

“The Kairos? Trouble?” Lockhart joked and at least Katie laughed.

“But that is the trouble,” Boston shouted. “We can’t catch her anywhere if she won’t keep still.”

Lincoln had to add something, just to be contrary. “On the other hand, if we were in Syria, we would probably in the middle of a war. Take your pick.”

Lockhart frowned at everyone as they came to the edge of the woods. They came to a grassland that appeared to stretch all of the way to the distant hills. “The way looks good up ahead. Time to ride.” At least when the group rode, only the two side by side could talk. They mounted, even as Decker rode in from the flank, and Elder Stow joined them on the other side.

“Dragon,” Decker said, and Elder Stow pointed.

“Damn,” Lincoln looked all around the sky.

“The rocks?” Katie suggested.

“Back to the rock outcropping,” Lockhart shouted. “Tie the horses under the trees as near to the rocks as possible.” People turned around.

“I see it.” Lincoln pointed to a dot in the sky. No one doubted that the dot would get very big, very quickly.

“Decker. Elder Stow. Up in the trees. Protect the horses.” Lockhart gave instructions as they tied the horses to whatever low hanging branch they could find. “Lincoln, stay with the horses to cut them loose if things get too hot. Alexis, Mingus and Boston up on the rocks. Think of something. Katie, with me. We need to protect the magic makers.”

The dragon came in high, breathing fire that licked the tree tops. Everyone heard Elder Stow’s sonic device. Boston and Mingus covered their ears at the sound, while the air around the dragon waffled. It lost its stability and had to work hard to keep from crashing to the ground.

Decker and Katie opened up with their rifles, firing three-shot bursts. The dragon’s natural armor repelled most of the bullets, but there were some softer spots where bullets struck home. The rest of the bullets spanked and bruised the beast.

Alexis fired two arrows, empowered by both Mingus and Boston. One exploded by the dragon’s belly, and the other blew up against the wing, no doubt straining the muscles there. Lockhart stood, close as the dragon was. He shot buckshot into the dragon’s face and neck, and ducked as the dragon let out a short burst of flame.

The dragon rose up to get out of range. It circled the travelers once from overhead before it headed off back into the sky.

“I would say it lost interest,” Lockhart decided. “There must be easier prey out there.”

“They are smart,” Mingus countered. “They are perfectly capable of setting up an ambush.”

“We need to get out of the trees,” Lincoln said, as they untied their horses and walked them back to the wide open ground at the edge of the woods.

Katie was the only one who said something while they walked, and she merely whispered to Lockhart. “How dare you stand up like that in a dragon face.”

When they got to the edge of the forest, they got ready to ride, but Decker pointed and made them pause.

“We have company up ahead,” Decker reported.

Elder Stow quickly checked his scanner. “I’m picking up nothing. There are carbon traces, but I get no life forms.”

“We go look,” Lockhart said. It was an easy decision as they rode across a flat, open field. There were no trees, and the next set of rocks for hiding were much further on.

“Not good,” Katie managed to say before they started out. She was feeling uncomfortable about what might be in the distance, and Lockhart understood her elect instincts were acting up. Katie, Mingus and Boston actually pulled up first, though the others were not far behind.

“Dead people,” Boston called them, being able to see them clearly with her elf eyes.

Twenty skeletons blocked the way and started toward them when they stopped. Decker and Elder Stow came in from the flanks where a dozen more blocked each side. Lockhart was prepared to tell everyone to turn around, but Boston screamed once because they were behind as well. They rode into the middle of the trap.

Decker just looked at his rifle. What good was shooting a skeleton? Elder Stow tried his sonic device. The ones out front shook, but did not collapse. They kept coming, and the ones to their sides began to fire arrows, though they were still out of range.

“Forward,” Lockhart said. The ones there were closest, even with the temporary shaking.

“Alexis,” Mingus commanded her attention. Mingus and Boston gave the reigns of their horses to Lockhart and Katie. Lincoln took Alexis’ horse with his own, while Alexis went to join her family.

Boston put her hand on Mingus’ shoulder as Alexis took her hand. With three magics combined, Mingus started to throw out fireballs that exploded on contact. Bones went everywhere, and the group began to move forward at a good walking pace before the ones on the sides and at their back got close enough to make their arrows effective.

“We need to hurry.” Lincoln judged the tightening circle of skeletons.

“Boston. We need your flamethrower,” Mingus said, and he touched her shoulder. Alexis let go of Boston’s hand and touched her other shoulder. Boston got out her wand. The skeletons in front appeared to have enough self-awareness to understand it was pointless to get too close to the fire—or maybe it was the one pulling the strings. The exploding fireballs were devastating, but the flamethrower was unrelenting. With skeletons burning in front, people quickly mounted and rode the gauntlet. They made it past the burning bones without an arrow strike and almost celebrated before another two-dozen rose up again to their front. Some of them still had vestiges of flesh clinging to their bones.

“We must have stumbled into a graveyard,” Katie shouted. She felt helpless. For all her strength and fighting skill as an elect, she felt stymied. Her rifle and sidearm were useless. She might chop her way through with her Patton saber, but there were so many of them. She would probably collapse from exhaustion before she got everyone clear.

A strong light came from the edge of the group of travelers. Elder Stow had his weapon out. The skeletons in front of the group went to dust under the blast of Elder Stow’s hand weapon.

“I don’t know what I was saving this for,” Elder Stow said as the travelers began to ride to try and get beyond the reach of the fifty or so skeletons now coming up behind them. They came to a small rise in the field, and halted at the top of that rise. Down below, there were two or three hundred skeletons rising from their graves.

“Mingus, Boston and Alexis up front,” Lockhart said. “Elder Stow, let’s try to get the ones at our rear. Katie, Decker and Lincoln, Patton sabers.” They stood around the horses like people prepared to face the inevitable.

Something whistled in the wind.

“What is that sound?” Boston asked first, and Mingus looked up and all around. Something flew overhead, something invisible, though they felt the breeze, and they saw the skeletons behind get swallowed in a ball of flame a hundred times bigger and stronger than Mingus, Boston and Alexis could produce, even with every ounce of their combined magic.

“Dragon,” Katie guessed.

“Invisible dragon,” Lockhart did not disagree, though the thought was frightening.

“They are collapsing again,” Alexis reported from the front, and everyone watched as several hundred dead went back to being dead. All the same, they saw the dragon flame spray all across the field in front of them before the dragon became visible—the most enormous dragon they had ever seen. But it was one they had seen before, and they saw it quickly shrink as it came close. When it was no bigger than a person, it took the shape of a person, and Boston had to shout.

“Nuwa dragon.”

“Boston,” Nuwa responded with a smile, and open arms.

“Thank you for saving us.” Boston accepted the hug.

“Yes,” everyone agreed.

“It was nothing, literally. As soon as I showed up, the sorcerer withdrew in an attempt to hide. I am sure he has more tricks, but I hope he will keep them to himself as long as I am here. Shall we go find Thalia?”

“You ride with me,” Kartie said quickly.

“Oh man, speedy girl,” Boston complained. “I was going to ask her.”

“Which way?” Lockhart took Boston’s attention, and she pulled out her amulet. Boston pointed and Nuwa shook her head.

“That is a rough road; not one for horses. I know a shortcut.”

“Shortcut?” Lincoln asked.

“I do make roads for a living.” Nuwa smiled.

Avalon 4.8: part 1 of 6 Swords and the Sorcerer

August 1, 2016July 29, 2016M G Kizzia 1 Comment

After 1994 BC, The Silk Road, Kairos 54: Thalia-Anath, the Sword.

Recording …

Thalia sat by the fire and worked the stone against her sword. She shifted her whip back a bit from her hip, and noticed. Phadon sat across from her and kept staring, as usual. Thalia never imagined herself to be a woman worth garnering stares. She was tall enough to be a man; as tall as Doctor Mishka who claimed to be five-feet, eight-inches, and she had the broad shoulders and rather masculine-like muscles in her arms and legs as well. She supposed her face and rich green eyes might be worth a second look, and maybe her hair, which was such a light blonde it was virtually white. But most people took the hair to be the hair color of age and imagined she was much older than she actually was. In any case, a second look did not equate to stares.

“What?” she shot at the man. He blinked and shook his head slightly like one coming out of a trance.

“Sorry,” he said. “You are the most mysterious woman, Thalia-Anath. No one knows where you have come from or where you are going. The way you speak of the gods is the way most speak of friends and family, a mixture of love and blasphemy. I do not understand why everything for you in this world must be a challenge, like you have to fight and struggle through every day. And yet; you see life filled with more beauty and speak of things with astounding knowledge and understanding. Even the priests who fill the land between the rivers and the magi who walk the plateau and fill these mountains are amazed at your wisdom, even when you say things that make no earthly sense. You might be a queen worthy of all reverence, but you choose to live alone in the wilderness, just you and your sword, and your friend Nevah who you claim is a half-hobgoblin. I do not understand you, Thalia-Anath.”

“Just Thalia, please.” Thalia said. “Anath and I live in a guarded truce. She had my son Aqhat killed.”

“You had a son? I thought you were younger than that.”

“I am. He was Yadinel’s son, but it was me all the same. Some day you may hear the story. The scribes in Ugarit are collecting and writing down all the stories they gather from all the lands, including the stories of Gilgamesh, Etana, and Aqhat. I hear they are writing down the story of Eliyawe and the death of Tiamut, though they give all the credit to the twins, Marduk or Assur, depending on who is telling the story.”

“Why would they gather stories from all over?”

“To better understand the gods. Me and my big Sinuhe mouth put the idea in their heads.” Thalia sighed before she got serious. “You would do well to pay attention to how capricious the gods can be. Your devotion to Bael is honorable, but I doubt he is as devoted to you.”

“Do you see? How can you disparage the gods in that way? I do not understand you.”

“But I understand you, Bael-Phadon. In another world you would be called a paladin, or a knight in shining armor. You have come on this quest to honor your god, Bael. You are here to save the damsel in distress that is reported to be held prisoner by the evil sorcerer. You are driven to help the innocent, the weak and needy because you think that is what your god does and what he wants. You are a true believer, Bael-Phadon,” Thalia said, and she thought, and far be it from me to dissuade you from that notion. Bael keeps Asherah from her most evil impulses, and looks the other way when she dallies with Yam, but he honestly does not care about people all that much.

Phadon looked to the bushes when he heard the leaves crackle. Thalia was not worried. She knew who it was. Her elect senses stayed flared in the wilderness.

Nevah came marching in, singing. “It’s a small world after all. It’s a small—.”

“Hey!” Thalia was so sick of that song. Her Danna-self sang it once by accident more than twelve-hundred-years ago, and she still could not go anywhere in the earth without some of her little ones singing the thing. It was maddening.

Nevah kindly slapped her hand over her mouth for a second. “Sorry,” she said, and let her forked tongue out from between her very sharp teeth to lick her dry lips. Thalia waved her off as Bezos the barbarian came in behind her.

“Nice deer,” Phadon said.

Bezos grinned and dropped it by the fire. Who knew how far he carried it. He did not break a sweat. “Thanks,” he accepted the compliment and grinned as much as his teeth allowed. He was a six foot Cimmerian from the south end of the Caspian Sea, the same area Nevah came from, and when he got mad, he showed signs of ogre strength, though there was no ogre blood in him. He was too smart for an ogre, but not by much.

Despite her sharp teeth, forked tongue, two little horns that could not really be seen beneath her hair, and her brown eyes that flashed red in firelight, Nevah appeared human enough, if she kept her nails trimmed. She was a sweet, kind, loving soul who had the flaw of being sneaky and taking things that did not belong to her. Calling her a kleptomaniac was a kindness. Thief was probably more accurate, but she had no problem returning non-edible things. She said it gave her a chance to borrow it all over again. To be sure, she was willing to return the edible things as well, but people generally declined.

“I got it with only one arrow,” Nevah said proudly as she unstrung her bow. “But then a bear wanted to steal it.”

“I chased off the bear,” Bezos said with equal pride in his voice.

“I gave it a hot-foot,” Nevah admitted. She did not get much magic with her half-hobgoblin blood, but what little she had was fire based—that, and she could understand and communicate in any language, the legacy of her mother, Serpentelle, which helped Thalia immensely at times.

“So all we are missing is the magi,” Thalia said, as she went back to her sword. Thalia wore the armor of the Kairos, but her weapons were locally made. She knew she could call on her elf-made and god-blessed weapons any time, but mostly she lived local.

“Anwanna is over by the cliff meditating,” Phadon reported, as he drew his knife to help cut deer steaks for the fire. Bezos’ knife was dull, and his axe was not much good, though better than his hammer. The big man was a walking arsenal, but he had nothing to do a proper butcher job.

Phadon had a few weapons as well. He carried a sword, kept his knife clean and sharp, and walked with a spear like it was a staff. His armor was made of overlapping plates, like dragon scales. His helmet had no face or nose guard, but it protected his head well enough when he wore it.

Bezos wore bear skins, and seemed content with that. Nevah wore fairy weave which she kept stiff for the most part, like a kind of armor. She imitated Thalia’s short sleeves and fingerless gloves as well as her skirt and leather boots, but in front, she kept her blouse soft and low cut. She liked showing off her big breasts, which was again, the legacy of her mother.

Nevah built up the fire and looked toward the cliffs. Thalia put her sword down and stood. “I’ll fetch him,” she said of Anwanna, even as the man came running into the small clearing.

“Skeletons,” Anwanna yelled. “They are right behind me, and they are armed.”

Thalia grabbed her sword, and Phadon pulled his. Nevah grabbed Bezos’ axe, so Bezos reached for his big hammer, which was honestly like a club. Anwanna raced behind the others and tried to think how he might help. He was pretty useless in a fight, which is why he gathered the group for this quest. He knew the sorcerer, his brother, would not fight fair, so he figured he needed all the help he could get.

Phadon and Thalia began to hack off limbs as soon as the skeletons arrived. Swords were not the best choice against fleshless creatures, but it was all they had. Nevah’s axe was more effective, until it got stuck in a rib cage. Bezos and his hammer were the best, and he appeared to be grinning the whole time he smashed skeletons to pieces.

“This isn’t getting us anywhere,” Nevah shouted.

“There are too many of them,” Phadon admitted.

Thalia said nothing. She picked up one of the new sticks Nevah put on the fire. It was only lit at the end, but she waved it and the skeletons near her backed up to stay clear of the flames. Phadon saw and imitated her actions.

“Nevah, in the middle. Give them hot feet,” Thalia commanded. “Bezos, back us up and smash any that break through.” She considered saying something to Anwanna, but he was busy mumbling some incantation. Thalia hoped it was a good one. “Drive them to the cliff.”

Nevah gave it all she had and set a couple of skeletons on fire. She felt lucky they did not set the forest on fire.

“Spread out to corral them to the edge,” Thalia shouted, and she and Phadon tried to give the skeletons no place to escape. One by one, the skeletons began to fall over the edge, or they tripped, or they were accidentally pushed by the ones backing up. Bezos did not get many chances to smash strays, and he looked about ready to complain when Anwanna finished his chanting.

A great wind rose up. It made the bones rattle, but mostly it flowed right through the skeletons even as it put the fires out.

“Great,” Thalia said, but with her sword, Phadon’s sword, and Bezos’ hammer, they managed to drive the last of the skeletons over the edge. “Get down,” Thalia shouted over the rising wind.

“Find something to hold on to,” Phadon added.

“My hair,” Nevah complained, as she found herself partly crushed under the weight of Bezos.

“Help.” Anwanna started to lift off the ground, lifted by the very wind he created.

“Damn,” Thalia said. She grabbed the roots of the bush with one hand and her whip with the other. She snapped it around Anwanna’s ankle as he flew past, headed straight toward the cliff edge. She had to hold on and pray, but in only a moment, the wind stopped, utterly. Anwanna fell hard on to the lip of the cliff. Thalia pulled him back from the edge. Phadon breathed, and Nevah shoved Bezos off her legs.

Thalia rolled up her whip and snapped it back to her side while Nevah and Phadon peeked over the cliff edge. “Gone,” Phadon said.

“They got all busted up,” Nevah happily reported. “That is a tall cliff. They won’t be back.”

Thalia nodded. “Quote the raven, Nevah-more.”

Avalon 4.7 part 6 of 6 Toward the Future

July 27, 2016July 18, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The travelers stayed for the three days of feasting. It had become the custom for Yadinel and Mibdrus to meet once per year for three days. On the first day, they feasted outside the city in great tents Mibdrus set up in the fallow fields. That year, there was a slight delay as they waited for the Marzalotipan ship to leave. On the first day, Mibdrus always asked Yadinel to surrender the city, and Yadinel always declined. It was the tradition.

The second day of the feast was inside the city, in the great building with the threshing floor. It was where Yadinel always asked Mibdrus to withdraw his forces and leave the city in peace, and Mibdrus declined, as expected.

Katie and Lockhart had talked about the great building, being at the top of a hill the way it was. Lockhart said it had to be extra work for the city to bring all the grain up to be threshed. Yadinel nodded, but answered that in lean years, the grain and flour were rationed so hopefully no one would starve. The top of the hill, with limited access made it easier to defend. Lockhart nodded to the wisdom of that answer, but Katie had a very different question.

“Yes,” Yadinel whispered. “This is the very floor that David will buy and where Solomon will build the temple.” Then he said no more about it.

The third feast day was just below the threshing floor hill at the eastern gate. That was just up from where the Jebusite army had its camp. Yadinel pointed at the camp from the top of the wall. “Bethphage,” he called it. “On the direct road to Jericho and the side of the Mount of Olives. A bit off the road to your right you can see the growing village of Bethany. Right now it is mostly army wives and children, and what you might call other women with some enterprising men supplying goods for the troops. Of course, they aren’t called Bethphage and Bethany yet, but they will be in time.”

“So I have seen,” Katie responded. “Things take time, sometimes centuries to develop, but the seeds go back much further than most modern scholars imagine.”

“Like the foundation for the city of Jericho being laid by the Gott-Druk,” Lockhart suggested. Katie frowned, but was willing to nod. To be honest, modern scholars did not credit the Neaderthal with anything more than a few stray cave paintings.

Yadinel nodded for Katie, with a glance at Lockhart, Lincoln and Alexis. “And now I must go down much further than I care to imagine. Alexis and Katie, I would appreciate you making sure I don’t fall off or down the stairs.” They stepped up and took his arms, leaving Lockhart and Lincoln to follow. “I don’t climb the wall much these days, but usually Paghat is a good girl and helps her old man get down. Sorry she is not around.”

“You know where she is,” Alexis suggested, without actually saying she was off dallying with Mebdred. Yadinel nodded his head like a man who was honestly not happy about it but knew he had no choice.

“It is the same story every lifetime,” Yadinel said. “I always have to tell myself that the future is not in my hands. It belongs to the children, and I will be somewhere else.” Mingus and Boston met them at the bottom of the stairs. They came to say the feast was ready, but Yadinel was not finished speaking. “We do our best to raise our children well. We teach them right from wrong, about faith, and encourage them to love God and neighbor, but we cannot do it for them. At some point, we will move on and they will be alone, to face their own future. We cannot control that. While we are alive, we can encourage them to make good choices, but we cannot prevent them from making mistakes. In the end, all we can do is pray for them, that somehow, despite their mistakes, everything will work out for the best. Prayer and hope. That is all parents ever really have.”

“Everything is ready,” Boston said as she helped Yadinel from the stairs.

“Good,” he said, and smiled for her. “After two days of feasting, you wouldn’t think it, but I am actually hungry.”

###

Mingus rode quietly at the back of the column. He avoided talking to everyone. He heard and thought about what Yadinel said about children, and about how parents ultimately can’t control what their children will do. Parents can hope their children will turn out to be good people, but that is about all any parent can really hope for. Even among elves, where parents might live a thousand years, they will go over to the other side one day and leave the children to live their own lives. Mingus frowned.

It was a terrible thing to imagine children dying before their parents. That is what got this whole thing started. He could not imagine Alexis dying before him. No parent should have to be left to mourn and grieve for their child. Then again, Yadinel lost his son, Aqhat, but he went on, cared for his daughter, and did his work in this world. No one ever said life is easy.

Mingus looked forward to where Boston had ridden up to talk with Alexis and Lincoln. He had two daughters now, and they were both good people. He might not have liked their choices, but he had no power to force them to do what he wanted. They were good people and that was more than some could claim. Boston was a spunky child, still wet behind the wings as a fairy might say. Alexis was a fine and mature woman with children of her own, and even grandchildren. True, since she ate a bit of the apple of youth, she was presently about twenty-six, but being human, she would grow old fast. Humans aged too fast, but that was out of his hands.

His own god made Alexis human so she could marry that man and live with his life; the short or long of it. Deep down, Mingus trusted his god, or goddess as the case may be. Certainly Yadinel, not a tenth his age, was wiser and more knowledgeable and with a deeper and broader understanding of life than he could ever hope to know. Mingus felt he spent too many centuries in the Avalon history department and avoided life. Certainly his children believed that was the case.

Mingus looked down at the chattering dwarf at his feet. He grinned once to say he was listening, but he wondered if Pluckman Junior would ever take a breath.

He looked again at his daughters and thought that Elder Stow was right, as far as it went. He had a chance to get to know them as grown people, and to tell them he loved them. Thus far, he had failed miserably on that score. He knew he was the only one who needed to change, but that was not so easy. Life was not easy.

“So father says we are looking for a place to settle down, but it has got to have copper. We thought Golan might be a good place. It’s got nice, dark forests to hide in and all, but underneath there is tar and that oil stuff. We gotta have copper. Some tin would be nice to make some bronze, but copper is the good stuff. It shines up real nice. I just hope we can find somewhere that the goblins…er…dark elves haven’t already claimed.”

“No gold or silver?” Mingus asked.

“Nah. Can’t do nothing with that stuff. Too soft. Can’t make a good ax or sword or nothing to fight with.”

“You like to fight?”

“Well; hang around with the Kairos for a couple hundred years, and you better learn to fight. Like it or not. The Kairos never lives a quiet life.”

“The Timna valley might do, if we get that far,” Mingus said, and smiled again. For himself, though, he imagined he had been fighting too much. Maybe it was time to make peace, at least with his daughters.

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

Don’t miss next Monday, Avalon, episode 4.8 where the travelers meet up with the Swords and the Sorcerer. The Sink Road adventure awaits…

And I wish everyone Happy Reading

Avalon 4.7 part 5 of 6 Setting Things Straight

July 26, 2016July 17, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

It took three days for the little ones of the Kairos to locate the Marzalotipan ship and get them to land just out from the city gate. They set down on the fallow fields between the city and the Jebusite army. Mebdred arrived by then, but despite his urging, the Jebusite army took a giant step back from the unknown.

The travelers saddled up, and Yadinel and Paghat pledged to walk down the hill with them. A dozen city guards and Pluckman with a dozen dwarfs insisted on joining them. Alexis made Yadinel ride her horse while she walked the beast. Lincoln and Lockhart walked to either side of them where they could keep their eyes open. Decker and Elder Stow went to the flanks where they could watch for Jebusites or whoever else might interfere. Mingus rode out front, ostensibly for the same purpose, but honestly, he was not about to ride at the rear where Pluckman and his people were jabbering away and acting like they were headed for a picnic among the flowers. Paghat walked between Boston and Katie—one who lost her husband and one who had not yet gotten a husband. They talked quietly.

“Do you love him?” Boston needed to know. Paghat nodded without hesitation.

“He is big and strong, a true leader. And he is smart, and not afraid.” Paghat smiled. “And he makes me laugh.”

“But does he love you?” Katie asked with a glance back at Lockhart. “That is the important question.”

Paghat held up her hand. “Do you see this finger? I only have to wiggle it and he comes with his hat in his hands.”

Boston and Katie eyed each other. Katie was the one who spoke. “I’m not sure that qualifies for love.”

“Oh, don’t worry. He loves me well enough.” Paghat smiled again before she confessed. “I’m going to have his baby. I think I am pregnant.”

Katie just got her hand over Boston’s mouth before Boston shouted out the happy news. “Are you sure?” Katie asked.

Paghat shook her head. “But I think so. I feel it, if you know what I mean, and we have certainly tried well enough.” It looked like she could not stop grinning at that thought. “Besides,” she settled her mind. “I can’t exactly ask Doctor Mishka to examine me. Father would never forgive me. He and Mebdred’s father, Chief Mibdrus are the worst of enemies and have forbidden us from seeing each other. I’m afraid this may break father’s heart.”

Katie and Boston walked in silence before Katie added a thought. “Your father is a grown man. The Kairos can handle more than you think.”

“You won’t know unless you tell him,” Boston added, with one look back at Yadinel and Alexis. “I am sure it won’t be any more difficult than when Alexis told Father Mingus she was going to become human to marry Lincoln.”

Paghat nodded. “I will tell him if it proves true. I will have to tell him when I start to show. But I am afraid for him all the same. I will put it off as long as possible, so please don’t say anything.”

“Don’t worry. We are getting used to not saying everything we know,” Katie said, with a glance at Boston. “Some of us are even learning to tell little white lies, isn’t that right, Boston?”

“What? You mean me?” Boston sounded offended, but the offence was obviously fake.

###

Noodlegluk, Screek, Shloop and his mate Clack-Clack were all standing on the ramp, waiting patiently, but nervous. They had some wares out on display, in particular those items Mebdred and the travelers seemed interested in. Elder Stow was always in the market for something he could adapt to charge up his equipment. Alexis mentioned Dilodian silk. Mebdred had his eye on weapons, but that was expected.

Lockhart made sure everyone knew the rules going in. Mingus would translate for Yadinel and otherwise everyone else was to shut up. Elder Stow took Shloop aside to see what they could find. Alexis stepped off with Clack-Clack, and Katie, Paghat and Boston followed. Decker watched the weapons and imagined one big gun looked like a Blueblood weapon. It had a wide angle and stun setting, but he wasn’t exactly sure how it worked. Lincoln and Lockhart stayed back while Mingus and Yadinel stepped forward.

The conversation between Yadinel and Noodlgluk was brief, and Noodlgluk cried. Yadinel traded places briefly with Amun Junior and did something by divine fiat, but Yadinel came back in time for Mibdrus, his elders, and two dozen soldiers to appear on the edge of the woods. They were coming to see about this strange, giant ball that floated on air.

“Company,” Pluckman shouted out what everyone saw. The city guards looked ready, but relaxed. Pluckman’s dwarfs pulled their arrows and axes, set up a defensive line, and growled. Katie looked, but not at Mibdrus, and Decker, Father Mingus and Boston all looked a moment later.

Mebdred and some twenty men came from the trees off to the left, and it looked like they were charging, an enemy ready to do battle. People were going to get hurt, but Decker snatched up the Blueblood weapon and sprayed the group. They all fell, unconscious, he hoped.

Junior came back for a second to check before Yadinel returned and relaxed. Paghat ran into the field and began to wail, supposing Mebdred to be dead. In fact, he sat up by the time she arrived and began to fawn all over him. He looked like a man who might soak his injuries for all they were worth.

Yadinel sighed for the travelers as he hobbled to the end of the Marzalotipan ramp and hollered. “Paghat, get away from him. He may be poison or something.”

The travelers looked up at Mebdrus, who was certainly close enough to hear what Yadinel yelled. “Yes,” he also yelled, but he grinned the whole time like a bad actor. “Mebdred, leave that girl alone. She may have a hidden knife or something.”

The young people, which in this case was about twenty-seven and thirty-years-old, ignored their fathers and even pecked at the lips before they separated. Mebdrus arrived, and spoke. “What was that great flash of light to knock over my son and his friends?”

“Blueblood cannon, updated, I assume,” Decker admitted.

“And a very dangerous choice if you read the settings wrong,” Lincoln pointed out.

“Sorry,” Decker apologized to Yadinel. “Automatic reflex, but I figured it was better than bullets.”

Yadinel frowned, but only slightly. “The Marzalotipan will be leaving, and not coming back. Junior slipped the coordinates into the navigation system for a small Marzalotipan colony way out on the galactic rim.” He held up a hand to prevent people from speaking. “I mean further out on the rim than we are right here.”

“Bird people,” Mibdrus said, astonished as soon as he got a good look. “Good to know my son has not gone mad.”

“Mad is a relative concept,” Mingus said with a quick glance at Alexis.

“Yes,” Alexis caught the look. “Father is an expert on the subject.”

“Should we tell the young people what we have decided?” Mibdrus asked, but Yadinel shook his head.

“We dare not suggest such a thing yet. Too soon may ruin everything. We have our three-day feast and meeting without the young ones present, and I suspect by this time next year I may be called to move on to a new assignment, whatever that may be.”

“Called by your one god,” Mibdrus nodded. Everyone knew they were talking about Yadinel’s death. “But now I have brought only three hundred young men. I will take the five hundred home, so you see my army at the gate is getting smaller in anticipation.”

Yadinel nodded. “Good. The less men, the less chance blood gets spilled.” He turned to the travelers. “Mibdrus does not entirely trust me to keep the bargain, but as I tell him, it is Mebdred and Paghat who will keep the bargain.

Avalon 4.7 part 4 of 6 Paghat

July 25, 2016July 17, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

The travelers got to the gate by lunchtime, having successfully avoided the five-hundred-man army that was camped just far enough away to be out of sight from the city. Abandoned farm fields stood between the army and the city on the hill. The city itself appeared to have a good, solid wall. While the wall offered no protection for the people to work those fields, the city would not be easily overrun. The travelers supposed without the use of those fields, the people might be starved into submission, but it would not be easily taken.

Lockhart and Katie got down to stand in front of the gate. Lockhart banged on the big wooden door while Katie shaded her eyes and looked up at the battlements above. Lincoln shouted from his horse.

“Yadinel. We have come to see Yadinel.”

A man’s voice answered from above. “Lord Danel is in seclusion. He sees no one.”

A woman’s voice interrupted. “Why do you wish to see Yadinel?”

“We are old friends,” Alexis shouted, as they heard an all too familiar voice in response.

“Get that gate open,” the voice ordered. “Hop to it. Hurry,” the voice continued as the big gate slowly opened wide enough to get two horses in abreast.

“Pluckman,” Katie named the dwarf, and actually smiled while Lockhart turned to tell the others.

“It’s Pluckman and his gang.”

“I wonder how many stooges they have by now,” Decker mumbled.

“Sixty?” Elder Stow suggested.

“Maybe eighty by now,” Alexis suggested with a grin. “Those women folk keep pushing out the young ‘uns, you know.”

“Pluckman,” Boston ran up front and left her horse, Honey, for Father Mingus to bring inside. Boston paused before she bent down to hug the dwarf. He showed some signs of age, his hair graying, and his beard long, almost to the ground. Boston glanced at the woman, just shy of thirty, who stood a bit to the side and stared at the travelers, but Boston spoke to Pluckman. “How old are you now?”

Pluckman smiled broadly, not the least for being hugged by the pretty red-head, even if she was an elf. “I’m four-hundred-years old, but I still got plenty to go,” he said, nice and loud. “My great uncle Donner lived to be nearly eight hundred years, he did.”

“I thought Donner was one of Santa’s reindeer,” Lincoln said as he passed by.

“No surprise there,” Decker mumbled, without explaining.

Pluckman led the travelers to a big barn where they could stable their horses. There appeared to be dwarfs everywhere, but also some gnomes who knew all about the care and feeding of horses.

“This is the threshing floor,” Pluckman explained. “You can see there isn’t much grain here at the moment. Lord Danel lets us go out and glean the Jebusite fields after they get harvested, and I am not saying we steal Jebusite grain, mind you, but there’s plenty that has to eat here in old Salem town.”

“It is a wonder the Jebusites don’t starve,” Mingus suggested quietly to the group.

Once the horses were in good hands, the woman who followed them from the gate spoke one word. “Come.” She turned to walk, evidently used to being obeyed. Boston started to follow without question, but then stopped suddenly as a question came to her face. She turned to ask Mingus, but Pluckman answered.

“Lord Danel’s daughter, Princess Paghat.”

Father Mingus explained to Boston. “The children of the Kairos are to us like children of the king. We have used the terms prince and princess from the beginning, even though most human people do not yet know the terms. They have a special relationship and some authority over all the little ones, even to the third generation, that is, the grandchildren of the Kairos. We all feel the obligation to protect and defend them, and listen to them, even if we do not always do what they ask.”

Boston understood. When Paghat told her to come, she felt a compulsion that was by no means irresistible. Still, the travelers followed the woman and soon found a large home with a beautiful garden, not far from the main spring that gave water to the whole city. They found Yadinel, an old man, tending the flowers.

“Lockhart, good to see you with these old eyes,” Yadinel said. He turned and opened his arms for Boston. She hugged him carefully, since hugging the elderly seemed to be the theme for the day. “Katie, are you and Lockhart working things out?”

Katie glanced at Lockhart who preferred to stand, statue-like. “I am honestly trying,” she said. She did not explain what she was trying and she did not speak for Lockhart.

“Good, good,” Yadinel accepted whatever she was willing to offer in answer. “Father Mingus.” He turned to the elder elf. “Are you loving your daughters?”

Mingus dropped his head and echoed Katie’s words. “I am trying.” Lincoln hushed Alexis before she could say anything about just how trying he was.

“Good, good,” Yadinel said. “I have my own headstrong daughter to care for.”

“Father,” Paghat protested with her voice, but stepped up and kissed Yadinel’s cheek before she turned again to look at the travelers. “You are welcome to Salem and welcome to share whatever we have.”

“Yes, yes,” Yadinel said, and spoke to Paghat. “You best go tell Missus Rondel and the ladies that we have guests, I hope for the next several days at least. That means eight more at meal time, not that the dwarf ladies don’t already cook for an army.”

“Yes, Father. But more Jebusites are coming to the army camp. I saw from the top of the wall.”

Pluckman spoke up. “My guess is Mibdrus himself. That makes some eight-hundred men at arms, almost as many as we got men, women and children inside the city.”

“Paghat, go on and tell the ladies,” Yadinel said, and Paghat nodded and left so he had to shout after her. “And stay away from those Jebusites, especially that Mebdred fellow.”

“We met Mebdred,” Lincoln said.

“Don’t tell me, she and Mebdred…” Lockhart did not finish his thought. Yadinel let out a wry smile.

“Did you ever see The Fantastiks? The play in New York was performed for, I don’t know, twenty years or more.” A few heads nodded. “Well, Mebdred’s father Mibdrus and I have an agreement, to avoid as much bloodshed as possible. You see the wall. You must always keep the wall. But I don’t have long to live, then Paghat and Mebdred will be together and the city will become a Jebusite city. I can only pray that the Elohim will survive.”

“Elohim?” Katie was curious. “You worship El?”

Yadinel began to walk, slowly, almost staggering in his old age. He shook his head. “You must understand that history often repeats itself. Lord Melchizedek’s father was like Saul, the King. He turned the people to worship the Most-High god, but he stumbled, often. Lord Melchizedek was himself like King David. He was not perfect, but God approved, you might say. I play the part of Solomon, though my failure has not been infidelity. In my case, my son and wife have both been taken from me, and my daughter will marry the enemy, and the gods of infidelity will once again move into the city.”

“How old are you?” Boston got weepy, watching him struggle.

“I am fifty-seven,” he said, and quickly added, “You can’t judge with twenty-first century eyes. Fifty-seven is a good, long life in this day and age. For me especially. I don’t think I live more than sixty years right up through the middle ages. There may be a couple after Y1K, but honestly Doctor Mishka in the twentieth century is about the first to begin living longer than sixty years.”

“There are historical crisis points where the Kairos is needed,” Mingus explained. “He can’t age gracefully here if he is needed in ten or twenty years in China, Africa, or the Americas.”

“Even when I am young and healthy,” Yadinel nodded. “I will die when it is time to move on, sad as that may be. I am like everyone else in that respect. I have no control over when I die, and it can come at any time.”

People walked in silence for a while, not unlike a funeral procession, Boston imagined. Eventually, they got back to the threshing floor building, which turned out to be much bigger from the outside. There were any number of oversized rooms, all attached. The horses were in one room. The noise, like a raucous celebration, was coming from another great room, and Lincoln thought he better say something before his words got swallowed up by the noise.

“We ran into a Marzilotipan on the way here.”

Lockhart took up the story. “She said the Anazi have overrun her home world and she escaped. She is here seeking refuge and apparently she will trade any sort of advanced technology for some land.”

“A foolish idea,” Yadinel said. “Property and ownership is a fluid concept for the human race. Humans give land, and then change their minds.” They went in to lunch. The dwarfs were celebrating extra hard, and extra loud and wild for the arrival of their friends.

Avalon 4.7 part 3 of 6 Seeing is Not Believing

July 20, 2016July 15, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Alexis and Lincoln always had first watch. They went out in the evening, from sundown to about nine o’clock. There were often others awake at that time. Decker and Elder Stow learned to go to bed with the sun. They had the watch in the wee hours. But the others often stayed up in the early evening, at least for a while. Katie and Boston sometimes gave the horses some extra attention while Lockhart and Mingus discussed their progress and what they might expect up ahead. At this point, both agreed that they were closing in on the ghoul home location, whatever time zone that might be in. They had been attacked twice out of the last half-dozen time zones, though the attack in Rebecca’s time zone was curious because it did not strictly focus on the travelers.

“Still,” Mingus said. “Normally ghouls terrorize a community for months, but in secret, and one or two at a time before they move on. They don’t normally expose themselves like that in an all-out attack against a community.”

Lockhart was glad to get that much out of the Elder Elf who was otherwise not inclined to speak at all.

Sometimes, Katie and Lockhart spent the sundown to nine o’clock hours together, and often enough that included caring for the horses. That, of course, was back over those weeks after Roland was taken from them, and Mingus focused on teaching and training Boston like the young elf she was. Currently, Mingus hardly talked to Boston, and Boston spent much of that time in tears.

Mingus and Lockhart watched through the night, from roughly nine until midnight, while everyone else slept. Sometimes Katie stayed up a bit with Lockhart, but most of the time she was tired and needed at least her six hours. Lincoln and Alexis were not always careful to separate and walk the camp perimeter, but by the time Lockhart and Mingus got the duty, the dark generally closed in. They watched both ends of the camp so there was no time to discuss things.

On that evening, Alexis made a point of walking in front of her father and talking to Lincoln about making wild, passionate love under the moon. That did not put Mingus in a good mood. He kidnapped Alexis in the first place, which got this whole mess started, because she had the bad sense to become human and marry a human. He spent the next few hours stewing, and not paying attention to anything that was going on around him.

At midnight, Elder Stow and Major Decker took over. Again, they were careful to watch both sides of the camp so they spent little time together. Elder Stow’s scanner was a great help in those hours, which were often the darkest hours before the dawn. On that night, the scanner was not prepped to sound an alarm based on what his detectors might detect. He regularly watched it during his shift, but it was a quiet night, so when he went back to bed, he neglected to turn on the alarm function.

Elder Stow got up twenty minutes early that night. He wanted the time to talk to Mingus. He felt for the elder elf and thought a good word might help. He talked about the importance of family and the bonds that tied family into one unit. He said how he accepted the travelers were his family for the journey, and how he understood that it was important to do his part. He told Mingus how lucky he was to have actual family, or blood family as he called it, having two daughters in the group. He wanted to encourage the elder elf to do all he could for them and cherish the time he had been given with them. Elder Stow had family, both sons and daughters, but he never saw them. He missed them. Mingus was lucky, and he should take advantage of the time.

Mingus did not say much. He went to bed when he could, and Elder Stow sat up wondering if his talk did any good at all.

Three in the morning, Boston and Katie got up. They built up the fire and sat together, as they did at times, to watch the sun rise, or at least to see the horizon turn light. They were charged to get everyone up by six, and while it was not expected, they usually had whatever was available cooking for breakfast. To Lockhart’s delight, they had whatever might substitute for coffee boiling away.

On that particular morning, as the light first touched the horizon, they saw the last thing they expected or wanted. A whole army had moved up in the night, and it was camped on the plain about a hundred yards out from where they sat.

“I’ll get the others,” Katie said, and she went to wake everyone, though it was not quite six. Boston sat and watched as a half-dozen men, not dressed like common soldiers, but like elders or dignitaries of some kind, stepped out of the army camp, walked some distance from the camp. They stopped at a certain line. One reached out and his hand toward the travelers. Boston guessed the men did not come close enough in the night to wake anyone.

“Boston,” Lockhart called.

“Coming,” she answered. She stood facing the men who were staring at her. She removed her glamour of humanity, to their surprise, not that they could see her well at that distance in the dim light before sunrise. She turned and used some elf speed to race out of sight. She was behind the trees and rocks and at the campfire in the blink of an eye, and in fact, if those men all blinked, it might have looked like she disappeared.

“Decker says there is a route we can follow out of here,” Lockhart explained.

“I need to see your amulet so I can judge where we need to turn west.” He held out his hand.

“I haven’t taken this off since Doctor Procter gave it to me,” Boston said. She pulled it out and showed it to the marine, but she seriously did not want to take it off.

“Is that a settlement?” Decker asked. The amulet was not exactly clear, like an old road map after too many rain showers.

“Yes, I think so. But whether it is a town, a city, or a tent camp…” She shrugged.

“Salem is a city,” Lincoln spoke up. “I thought I was clear about that. Yadinel is king of Salem.”

“And this here?” Decker asked. Boston shrugged.

Alexis looked. “Bethany? Bethpage?”

“Bethlehem?” Lockhart asked.

“No. That would be further down,” Katie assured him.

Decker paused the discussion. “So this could be the main army camp. A place of tents as far as you can tell.”

“I know,” Boston said. “It is frustrating sometimes trying to interpret the thing.”

“Mine only shows minimal landmarks on the direct route to the gate from wherever we are,” Katie said. “It doesn’t show Salem at all at this point, because the direct route is mostly south.”

“Okay,” Lockhart made a decision. “Everyone needs to be packed and ready to move on short notice. I’ll try to buy some time to get packed. Right now, they only seem to be curious about who we are. My guess is Salem is probably their objective, but if we run, they will probably chase us, thinking we are an enemy. So Mingus, would you join Katie and I when we talk to them? I want someone who can recognize if they start lying.”

Mingus nodded and followed while the others began to pack the tents, but he said nothing.

Lockhart buckled the police belt that held his trusty revolver. He changed his fairy weave clothes to his normal slacks, shirt and boots, and grabbed his shotgun. Katie already had her gun belt on for her turn on watch. She also dressed in more modern shirt, shorts, and riding boots, and brought her rifle. Mingus came as is, but his magic was not limited to what he wore.

“Hello,” Lockhart spoke in a friendly manner as they approached the delegation from the army. Katie and Mingus both pushed out their senses and both concluded that the army, about three hundred men just rising in the morning, did not represent any hostile intent for the present.

“Just curious, for now,” Mingus guessed.

“Hello,” Lockhart repeated. “How can we help you?”

“We are not in need of help,” one of the elder men responded. “We did not expect to find people in the wilderness before the city.” There were, in fact, seven men facing the three. The two in the rear were young soldiers with spears, but the other five looked unarmed and had gray hair.

“We are simple travelers, passing through this fine land. I am Lockhart. This is Katie and Father Mingus. And you are?”

“You are a priest?” One old man stared at Mingus while others had different questions.

“You are Raphaite?” another asked.

“You are Elohim?” a third asked.

Katie whispered to Lockhart. “The Raphaite are giants. Elohim, children of the god El.”

Mingus gave a terse response. “I am an elder elf from the long march of Avalon.” He dropped his glamour and the men facing them all took a step back. At least none of them ran away screaming, this time.

One man stepped forward.

“I am Mibdrus, son of Jebus, King of Jericho and Chief of all of the people of Jebus.” They all heard the touch of fear in his voice. He looked around before his eyes settled on Katie who appeared the least threatening, even if she had strange yellow hair. “You have come upon my land without permission. You must account for yourselves to my satisfaction or by right I will claim you wives and daughters and all of your cattle.” He drew himself up to look as tall as possible. He looked back once to be sure his army was behind him.

“Jebusites,” Katie said.

“Interesting,” Lockhart said, before Mingus interrupted.

“You wouldn’t want my daughters. They are both witches.”

Lockhart continued. “Three days ago, we met a young man named Mebdred who claimed to be chief of all the Jebusite people and ruler of all this land.”

“Your son?” Katie guessed and asked, and the king nodded, even as he frowned.

“I would watch him,” Lockhart said. “It sounds like he is getting ahead of himself.”

Decker, Boston and Elder Stow came out from the trees, mounted, and trailing three horses. Boston had Father Mingus’ horse. Decker and Elder Stow had Katie’s and Lockhart’s horses. Elder Stow neglected to put on his glamour of humanity, which startled the delegation, again. Decker spoke.

“We are ready to go.”

Mingus turned to his horse while Katie added a thought. “We are travelers and we will be gone from this area in a couple of days.”

Lockhart added one further thought before he mounted. “It looks to me like your son wants to be chief and is impatient that you are living so long.”

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

The travelers are just trying to get to Salem, but there are obstacles. Aliens have landed in the wilderness. The travelers are being chased by a warrior and his men who would love to get their hands on some advanced alien weaponry. And just when the travelers think they have moved safely out of range, they run into an entire army of Jebusites. Don’t miss next week, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, for the conclusion of Avalon, episode 4.7 King After Melchizedek. Happy Reading.

Avalon 4.7 part 2 of 6 Jebusites and Marzalotipan

July 19, 2016July 15, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Lockhart yelled as soon as he got close enough. “Marzalotipan.” Katie glanced at him. She had her rifle out. Men were standing around the ramp, and they looked like soldiers, not a casual hunting party. They were eyeing the merchandise with some trepidation, except the big man who was talking to the birdman.

“Marzalotipn,” Lockhart yelled again, and the birdman turned to stare as Lockhart dismounted and grabbed his shotgun. Katie got down and told the others not to crowd in. She figured at least Decker would put the big human in his sights.

“You know my people?” the bird spoke through the translator because its own language could not be replicated by the human tongue and lips.

Lockhart stopped short. The bird had wing-like arms that ended in some sort of hands, feathers over much of its body, a beak-like nose and mouth, and sharp eyes that did not appear to miss much. Lockhart could not tell the difference based on his past encounters, but this appeared to be a bird-woman, or it sounded like one in the translator. The other two bird people looked younger, and he guessed they were male.

“Your people have been told that Earth is off limits for trade,” Lockhart said as he walked up and tried to strike a pose that projected readiness, but remained non-threatening.

“Why are you here?” Katie asked.

“A sad tale.” The Martzalotipan shed some tears. “Our home world has been overrun. So few have escaped. I, Noodlgluk, and my sons Screek and Shloop. Shloop’s mate, Clack-Clack is inside, deeply sorrowing.” The translator could only accommodate so much, but Katie and Lockhart got the gist of it, as the others moved up.

“Anazi?” Katie asked, kindly.

“Anazzizi,” Noodlgluk nodded.

“The Anazi sound like they have serious OCD issues. I’m guessing they have no tolerance for a bunch of free birds flying around the galaxy, arming whoever will pay them a good price.”

Lockhart picked up on Katie’s attitude. “I am sorry to hear about your world,” he said. “But this world is still off limits.”

“It is a sanctuary world. The Anazzi-azi cannot come here.”

“True,” Lockhart said, as he looked at the human who appeared to be following the conversation with great interest. “But you cannot trade here,” Lockhart got to the point. “Your technologically advanced weapons systems do not belong in the hands of these people. These people will learn to build their own systems soon enough.”

“But we trade only for land so we may have a place to live.”

The human grinned.

Katie responded to the grin. “I take it you claim this land.”

The man answered. “From here, south along both sides of the great river to the Sea of Salt is Jebusite land. My land. These talking birds have shown me some interesting things. I might be willing to trade some land for some of what I have seen.”

“It doesn’t work that way,” Katie said to the man and to the bird. “Reality is larger and more complicated than you think.”

Lockhart spoke to Noodlgluk. “No weapons of any kind, or even something that might be turned into a weapon.”

One of the bird sons stepped up, clicked off the translator, and said something to Noodlgluk. It was hard to follow, but clearly the Marzalotipan did not know that the travelers had been gifted to understand and be understood, no matter what. Lockhart contradicted the son.

“I would say you do have to listen to me,” he said. It came out in English, which even he was not expecting, but apparently the Marzalotipan understood perfectly what he was saying. “If you check your historical records concerning this world, you will find reference to us, no doubt hundreds of years ago. Now, we will take your concern to the Kairos, which is a name that should also be in your records. The Kairos will decide what you must do, and that decision will be without debate.”

Noodlgluk turned her translator back on. “And why should the Kairos decide what we can and cannot do?”

Lockhart found his words reverted to the local tongue. The Jebusite would understand them. “Check your records for the Kairos and then ask your questions. Boston, how far from the Kairos are we, travel time.”

“About two days, if we push it. Eighty or ninety miles. We have a couple of hours of daylight, then all day tomorrow and the next day and we should get there in the evening, or the following morning,” she said.

“We might need to camp and take the morning to finish the trip,” Lincoln suggested. He was consulting the database.

“It is my land,” the man protested, and his dozen soldiers moved a bit closer with their big spears on hearing his agitation. “Who is this Kairos and why should he decide?”

“Yadinel…” Lincoln only got out the name and the man’s agitation turned to violence. Lucky for Lincoln, Katie caught the fist and threw the man back to the ground. The man did not expect that.

“Don’t do something stupid,” Lockhart said, sharply.

“I would hate to have to kill you,” Decker added, his rifle ready.

“We have only just met,” Katie said and held out her hand to help the man back up. “Do you have a name?”

“Mebdred,” the man said, as he refused the hand and got up on his own. “Chief of the Jebusite people.”

“Chief Mebdred,” Lockhart said. “There will be no trade until the Kairos decides what is to be done about these refugees. If they stay, they may be allowed to trade for land at that point, but nothing before.” He turned to Noodlgluk. “Is that clear?”

Noodlgluk nodded, but who knew what her word was worth. In the past, the travelers found the Marzolatipan quick to forget the rules and justify doing what they wanted, rules or no rules.

“You could just tell them to pack up and leave,” Mingus suggested.

“I can’t,” Lockhart admitted. “It sounds like they have nowhere else to go, but I am not authorized to allow them to stay.” He mounted and so did Katie.

“I wonder if they have any more of that Dilodian silk,” Alexis said, as they rode quickly south. Lockhart pushed the group and the horses almost until dark. Then he had Katie and Decker pick a campsite they could defend.

“You don’t think Mebdred will follow us, do you?” Boston asked.

“That is exactly what I think, and I bet I am not the only one,” Lockhart answered.

Sure enough, about an hour before dawn, Mebdred and his dozen men showed up. Elder Stow set his scanner when he went on watch in the wee hours, and it went off when people got close.

“Nice alarm clock,” Decker groused, and looked over the hedge with his night goggles, to see how far away the men might be.

“That’s all right,” Lockhart said. “I figured we would leave as soon as Mebdred showed up, assuming he was coming.” They skipped breakfast on the promise of a fine lunch, saddled up and headed south along the Jordan River.

Lunch was the inevitable deer, taken from a herd that got between them and the river. Alexis complained about not having time to go fishing for something different in their diet. Of course, a whole deer was far more than they could eat, and they had no time to smoke it or prep it for travel. Lincoln suggested leaving the rest for Mebdred and his band of merry men, so they did, and moved well down the river in the early afternoon.

“We didn’t get as far as I thought we would,” Boston said as they camped for the night. “Trailblazing always takes longer than I think.”

“That’s okay,” Lockhart told her. “I think we have moved out of Mebdred’s range.” He looked at Lincoln and Lincoln nodded.

“Unless Mebdred wants to drive his men a second night without sleep,” he said.

They left early the next day just to be safe, and pushed south again, keeping the river to their left hand side. By early-afternoon, Boston moved them away from the river and toward the southwest. It was not long before they saw a familiar sight. Jericho rose up far off to their left. Boston suggested they go around it this time.

“Why?” Lincoln asked. “I have had dreams about Jericho, and wondered how it must have changed since we were here.” Alexis agreed with her husband.

“Sorry,” Katie said. “The Jebusites may have overrun the city, and going in might put us in Mebdred’s hands. Best avoided.”

After that, they turned almost due west and found a place among some rocks where they could shelter for the night.

“We are still ten miles out from where we should find the Kairos,” Boston said.

“I’m no help.” Katie said, looking at her own amulet. “This prototype only shows the line between the two gates when we first enter the time zone. I can extrapolate where the Kairos must be in the middle of the line, but since we have shifted significantly off the original line, my line has shifted too, to compensate.” She looked up. “I can take us from where we are to the next time gate, but where the Kairos might be, I could not say.”

“It’s all right,” Lockhart assured her. “I thought it best to follow the river as long as practical, and cut through the hills around Jericho. It was like two sides of a triangle, but faster overall since we avoided having to go over a few mountains.”

“Hopefully, there will be a reasonable road or well-traveled path between Jericho and the Kairos,” Lincoln added. “We should cover the ten miles before lunch.”

“The detectors are set,” Elder Stow reported, and people settled in for the night and some quiet conversation.

Katie spoke to Lockhart. “We have ridden pretty hard these last two days. I hope we can give the horses a rest when we find the Kairos.” Lockhart nodded.

Decker spoke to Lincoln. “It seems to me the time gates are getting farther apart as we move forward in time. I remember the two gates around the Tower of Babel were not more than about thirty miles apart. Here, they have to be at least two hundred miles apart.”

Lincoln responded. “I’m guessing as the world becomes more complex, the effective reach and contact range of the Kairos has expanded. It will probably expand some more when chariots and horses become more common, but not by much, and it will probably hover around the same size until the other side of the middle ages.”

Decker paused to consider before he agreed. “What I know is in the beginning it took three to four days walking to make it from one gate to the next. Now it can take three to four days ride just to get to the center. That would be six to eight days ride between gates.”

Boston talked to Alexis about Father Mingus. “I still can’t get him to say hardly anything at all.” She wanted to cry.

“Don’t you worry. Father has been stubborn, ornery, and rude my whole life. Right now he is being stubborn. He will come around to ornery. Soon enough he will get back to being just plain rude.”

“Alexis,” Boston sounded like she was scolding the woman. Then she sounded like she wanted to ask something serious. “Alexis?”

“What,” Alexis had to prompt.

“Don’t be mad at me. You know it isn’t my fault, the way he was treating me. I was grateful. There is so much to learn about being an elf that I never knew. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble between you and your father.”

Alexis smiled for her. “Don’t worry.” Alexis gave Boston’s hand a motherly pat. “I don’t blame you. It isn’t your fault. You and I can still be best friends.” Alexis changed her mind and reached out to hug Boston. Boston hugged her back and then found some tears.

Avalon 4.7: part 1 of 6 King after Melchizadek

July 18, 2016July 15, 2016M G Kizzia Leave a comment

After 2052 BC, Salem. Kairos 53: Yadinel, King of the Elohim

Recording …

The travelers went through the time gate and came out the other side seemingly unmoved in their location.

“I remember this rock,” Boston insisted. “This very rock.”

“Lincoln, did you check the horizon?” Lockhart asked.

Lincoln nodded. “It is the same horizon as far as I can tell.”

“How can you know this?” Elder Stow wondered.

“Way back, the very first time we stepped through a time gate, Lockhart and I heard the tower fall.”

“Babel,” Alexis explained. “The Tower of Babel fell as we were going through.”

“I looked back and checked the time zone. I thought I might catch a glimpse of the zone resetting itself,” Lincoln said. “Ever since then, I have gotten into the habit of checking the horizon every time we go through a gate.” He got out the database.

“Personally, I think it is a wonder you could focus on anything with Pluckman and his people all blabbering and shouting good-bye, and all,” Alexis said.

“Like munchkins,” Decker agreed, in his own way.

“Stop it,” Boston said. “I was starting to like all those dwarfs. They were cute and funny.”

“In an annoying sort of way,” Decker said.

“Like the forty-three stooges, maybe,” Lockhart agreed.

“Well, they aren’t here now,” Katie interrupted. “So we must have moved forward in time, even if we are still in the same place.” She looked at the back-up amulet she wore around her neck. “This way,” she said. “Same direction we were going.”

Lockhart rode up beside Katie. Decker and Elder Stow stayed in close while Lincoln read whatever information he could about the Kairos in this time zone. “Yadinel, the Elohim version of the name Daniel…” He read the myth before he gave some particulars. “He becomes king of Salem after Melchizadek and keeps the Jebusites out of the city as long as he is alive. But, of course, there is no telling when in his lifetime we have arrived. He could be a sage king with a long gray beard, or he could be a child. It says when he was young, he went with his older brothers to find out what happened to Sodom. It says Sodom was destroyed when an Anazi battleship broke up in the atmosphere overhead. The resulting explosion was atomic in proportion, but after one massive blast of radiation, the radiation dissipated with no long term effect.”

“Darn,” Boston complained. “I thought Sodom was destroyed by the wrath of God.”

“It was,” Alexis countered. “Don’t make the atheist mistake. God is not limited to divine fiat. Just because there is an explanation, that does not mean it isn’t the hand of God. I think God works through natural means and the natural world all the time.”

Boston swallowed. That was exactly what she was thinking, that somehow, if it was not some inexplicable miracle, it was not God.

“So what happened to Gomorrah?” Lockhart asked out of curiosity. “No one ever explains about Gomorrah.

Lincoln took a moment to find the information. “Plague. Fallout from the explosion killed plenty, and then some Anazi plague. A pox wiped out almost all the inhabitants of Gomorah and two other cities. The fifth city, Bela, was the only one that made it well enough to gather the survivors.”

“Pox?” Alexis asked.

“It doesn’t say what kind.”

Decker nodded and moved out to the flank. Elder stow took the other side, and Lockhart was glad that without the dwarfs dragging along, they could ride their horses. Over that day, they came down out of the high country and moved through a deep and wide valley. In the evening, they saw the sea of Galilee spread out in front of them.

###

The following morning, the travelers moved down the west side of the lake, the opposite direction to the way they went once before. “At least the water is drinkable this time,” Katie said. “Last time we came through here the water was full of hallucinogenic substances.”

“I remember,” Lockhart said, and looked back. Last time, Mingus had kidnapped Alexis and wiped her memory. This was the place where they got Alexis back and Alexis got her memory back. Mingus disappeared for several time zones, following with the back-up amulet that Katie now wore. This time, Mingus was plodding along, not saying anything. Even Boston had given up trying the get a word out of the elder elf.

Lockhart looked away to see what Elder Stow wanted. The Gott-Druk rode in, alternately looking at his scanner and the sky. That did not appear to be a good thing.

“Something overhead,” Elder Stow said. “It is very big and appears to be dropping through the atmosphere, but coming in on powered flight.”

“Trajectory?” Lincoln asked.

Elder Stow pointed the way they were headed. “Several miles down the sea side.”

“We probably should hurry up and maybe get there before dark,” Lockhart said.

They rode all out for a time, but finally had to walk the horses to rest them. Then Lockhart had another question.

“Lincoln. What might we be facing? The Anazi, whoever they are?””

“Them or the blobs.”

“What happened to the Bluebloods and Sevarese?” Katie asked.

“According to the database, after wiping out the Pendratti, and they are now extinct by the way, the Blueblood and Sevarese fought each other to near extinction.”

“So who are these Anazi?” Lockhart asked

“A minor player on the side of the Sevarese at the end. They helped the Sevarese wipe out the Bluebloods, and then turned on the few remaining Sevarese. They are now the big players in this backwater of the galaxy. Um…” Lincoln took a minute to read. “They are very central command structure oriented. Even ship captains have to ask permission, get approval for actions, and follow orders. Serious micro-management issues. Individual soldiers are hardly allowed to think at all.”

“They sound like ghouls,” Mingus spoke for the first time in two days.

“No, well they may be…Oh, I see what you mean.”

“The hundred ghouls have one central figure they are all connected with in some psychic way,” Boston explained what she knew. “The nine move on command of the tenth, and the ten move on command of the controller.”

“The controller doesn’t have very many tens left,” Lincoln sounded hopeful.

“forty or more, I would guess,” Lockhart said. “Time to ride.”

Another hour, and Elder Stow and Decker came back in from the outside edge. They made better time than expected. It was only mid-afternoon.

“The ship should be just up ahead,” Elder Stow reported. “Major Decker has a good idea about who it might be.”

People looked at Decker, but he smiled and said, “I’ll wait until we get there.”

Shortly the football stadium sized ship came into view. It was a ship of unfamiliar design, until they got close enough to see the ramp and the goods scattered about like sales racks from a department store. Alexis was the one who named the aliens.

“Marzalotipan.” It was not kindly said. The Marzilotipan were the worst sort of merchants and sales people. They dealt in advanced equipment, salvaged space parts, junk, weapons and weapons systems. and who knew what else? Earlier Marzilotipan made offers for their horses, so there were likely all sorts of animals or animal-like or plant-like things in the ship, not to mention alien diseases.

“They survived the war…wars?” Lockhart asked.

“And probably made a good profit selling to both sides,” Decker nodded and smiled again, like he guessed correctly.

“Well, they have been warned off this planet. Earth is off limits.” Lockhart spurred his horse forward and the others followed.

Storyteller Tales & Thoughts

Stories and reflections on storytelling

Avalon

Avalon 4.8 part 4 of 6 The Dark Underground

Avalon 4.8: part 3 of 6, A Little Help

Avalon 4.8 part 2 of 6 Dragons

Avalon 4.8: part 1 of 6 Swords and the Sorcerer

After 1994 BC, The Silk Road, Kairos 54: Thalia-Anath, the Sword.

Recording …

Avalon 4.7 part 6 of 6 Toward the Future

###

Avalon 4.7 part 5 of 6 Setting Things Straight

###

Avalon 4.7 part 4 of 6 Paghat

Avalon 4.7 part 3 of 6 Seeing is Not Believing

Avalon 4.7 part 2 of 6 Jebusites and Marzalotipan

Avalon 4.7: part 1 of 6 King after Melchizadek

After 2052 BC, Salem. Kairos 53: Yadinel, King of the Elohim

Recording …

###