Elves

Avalon 1.3 The Way of Dreams part 3 of 3

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

In the wee hours of the morning, Lockhart woke up in the nursing home, still sitting in his wheelchair. The nurses had not even bothered to put him to bed. He wiped the bit of drool that fell from his mouth and looked out the window at the night sky. It looked the same as it looked in his dream. He let out one small laugh before he felt like crying. Being young again and adventuring in time was a nice dream, but only a dream.

Lockhart tried to push himself closer to the window, but his old arms were too spindly and frail. He did cry a little because he felt so alone. He lived in Virginia and his children were all in Michigan. They never came to see him in any case. His ex-wife saw to that. She lived in a retirement community in Florida where she spent the last of his money. Even the people from the office never came by, not even Boston. He was alone. He wanted to die.

~~~*~~~

“I didn’t ask to be young again,” Lincoln yelled and did that annoying thing of raising his hands like he was oh, so innocent. “I was happy like we were.”

“I wasn’t,” Alexis responded with that inevitable curl of her lip.

“Okay. I got that impression. But I was comfortable.”

“God knows I wouldn’t want to shake you out of your comfort zone.”

“Alexis.” Lincoln reached out but Alexis pulled away.

“Don’t touch me,” she said. “Right now, I hate you.” She never pulled her punches and never said she was sorry.

“I despise you.” He always had to one-up her.

~~~*~~~

Boston closed the door to the conference room. She got to the heart of the building, but there was no way out for her. The alien virus had gotten loose. It affected the minds of every male on duty and Boston felt scared senseless. She feared they would find her. She heard the door.

“Boston.” The call sounded sweet and sickly.

Boston scooted under the table and heard the men come in. They were all men, she knew, young and old.

“Boston.

She tried to make herself small.

“Here.” One of the young ones got behind her and leaned over to look under the table. She got caught. She tried to run, but they stopped her. They tore her clothes off. She was going to be gang raped. The infected men laughed about it, but she screamed.

~~~*~~~

Captain Decker’s hands were tied behind his back. His ankles were tied together, and he found himself suspended upside-down from one of the towers of the Brooklyn Bridge. Lieutenant Harper slowly started cutting the man’s rope.

“What are you doing?” The panic filled in Decker’s voice. He was not the best with heights, though he went through parachute training when he qualified for Special Forces.

“I can’t help it,” Harper called down to him. “I have no control over my hands.” Her voice sounded just as fearful. She saw him suspended from the edge of a cliff. Every time she cut a strand he dropped a little. She was going to murder the man and she couldn’t stop herself. “Help me, please.” She cried out, but she had no control. Everything ran out of her control except her tears.

Decker screamed at her. “Let me up. I’m going to kill you. Let me up.” He looked down and had to hold onto his stomach and his bladder.

~~~*~~~

Doctor Procter came awake, but he felt groggy. Something tugged at his mind, and for a change, it was not the darkness. He imagined all sorts of frightening scenarios, but they all paled when compared to the darkness so they could find no foothold in his dreams. He squinted.

Mingus and his son sat side by side, staring off into the wilderness. Doctor Procter could not tell from his angle, but he guessed they were frozen in place, seeing nothing. A figure stood beside them. It appeared human shaped, but the Doctor guessed it was not human because it looked dark from head to foot, despite standing squarely in the firelight.

He heard noises behind. Doctor Procter sat up a little and turned his head to look. The humans wailed, cried, shouted nonsense at each other and appeared to be in pain. He checked. He did not care about that. He did not hate the humans, but somehow, he could not bring himself to care about them either. He blamed the darkness. He knew. Soon it would overtake him completely.

He turned again to observe the person hiding in the night. He guessed it was the bogyman. He heard they hid in closets and under beds to work their terrible work. They hid because they had to be solid to work and feed on the trauma. That, of course, made them vulnerable, but as long as the sleepers remained unaware of their presence, they could feast.

Doctor Procter thought about that. He lived, no stranger to fear, but he never felt attracted to it before. He used to fear things like bogies. Now, he felt he understood a little. Fear, hate, and anguish were very powerful emotions and very nourishing in a way. “No.” He whispered that out loud through cracked lips and with a gravelly voice. The bogy ignored him. Things were coming to a head.

Doctor Procter turned his head again to watch. He saw Captain Decker and Lieutenant Harper grab their rifles. Lockhart also grabbed his shotgun. Boston screamed, “Kill me, kill me!” Lincoln and Alexis had each other by the throat. The humans were all going to kill each other, and something of the Doctor rose-up.

“No!” The Doctor shouted. He tore off his glove and extended his blackened hand out toward the bogy. The bogy lost all concentration, and a sound of fear escaped its own lips.

Doctor Procter reached out with his hand. His feet would not move, but the darkness began to move from his hand all on its own. Doctor Procter knew it would not leave him, but the darkness would gladly absorb another if given the chance. He looked at his own arm. The darkness had swallowed his hand and climbed all the way passed his elbow to disappear beneath his sleeve. Doctor Procter did not want to look closer.

The bogyman’s eyes appeared in the dark. They were wide and full of a fear far greater than even the fear it instilled in some humans that drove those humans insane. It might have escaped if it returned to its insubstantial, spiritual nature, but for the moment, it stood frozen by its fear. That was all the time Lockhart needed.

The shotgun blast hit the bogy dead center, and the marines were not far behind. They each shot several bullets into the figure. The man in the dark collapsed while Doctor Procter quickly stuffed his hand back into his glove. Roland shook himself awake at that point and with hardly a thought, he pulled his sword and chopped the bogy head off. Curiously, there was no blood, just the stump of a neck where the head had once been. The head rolled into the rocks. Roland began to hack the limbs apart and Mingus joined him in tossing those limbs out into the bushes below as far apart from each other as possible.

“A bogy can heal and reconstitute,” Mingus said. Lockhart and Captain Decker stepped up to help but Mingus waved them off. “Don’t touch. Bogys are powerful spirits. Being spiritual creatures ourselves offers us some protection. For you humans, though, I’m afraid even a touch might give you nightmares for the rest of your lives.” Given the nightmares already experienced that night, Lockhart and Decker needed no more inducement to back away.

After the deed was done, Mingus and Roland washed themselves with water and dirt in a ritual washing. Then they sat down and while Mingus built up the fire, the others gathered around. No surprise that no one felt like sleeping.

“You see,” Mingus continued his thought. “The bogy man is now broken to pieces and scattered more than far enough away to prevent a rebuilding of the body before sunrise. Once the sun is up, the light will burn away the body remains. Otherwise, if the bogy rebuilt itself, we would have to fight this battle all over again tomorrow night.”

“I see,” Lieutenant Harper said, and once she said that no one felt like talking for a long time. Boston stayed in tears or sniffled most of that time, and she would not let anyone hold her to comfort her. She did not want anyone to touch her. Captain Decker and Lieutenant Harper simply looked at each other and looked away again and again. Lockhart got lost in his own thoughts, and while Lincoln and Alexis sat beside each other, they did not touch or comfort each other or even hold hands, as was their norm. Only Doctor Procter seemed unconcerned with it all, and he began to snore.

When the sun started to rise, the words finally came. It is remarkable how a little sunlight and talking about it can make the shadows of the worst nightmares fade, and these were the worst. They were the kind that clung to the mind even after waking up. Still, it did not take long for everyone to start feeling better, and even Boston cracked a smile. Then they heard the scream, the kind some call blood curdling.

It took a minute to find the head of the bogy. It got trapped between two rocks on the edge of the ledge and the sunlight touched it. The head steamed and screamed, and the eyes opened and looked around. Fortunately, it did not last long as it caught on fire and soon became little more than steam, ash, and dust to be blown away on the wind.

Alexis covered her eyes. She did not want to look. Boston got right up to the edge and stared straight into that face until the end. Then Alexis spoke.

“We have to find a better way of dealing with these things other than shooting them full of holes.”

“You realize, now that you said that, in the next time zone we will probably need the guns more than ever,” Lockhart teased.

Alexis wrinkled her nose in disapproval of Lockhart’s words. She looked at Lincoln, but he seemed busy getting their things together. She felt a brief stab in her heart as she remembered the nightmare once more. Things were not right between them, yet.

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

Monday

Back to our normal 2 weeks per episode. Avalon 1.4 Sticks and Stones will see trouble fall from the sky, and some bones will be broken. Until then, Happy Reading.

*

Avalon 1.2 Beasts in the Night part 2 of 3

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

“Are you all right?” Lockhart voiced his first concern when he arrived, Captain Decker beside him. The women nodded. “We wait until the light is better before we investigate,” he decided, and Mingus, Roland and Captain Decker saw the wisdom in that.

Back in camp, they made what breakfast they could out of the leftover deer and greens, and Lincoln distracted them all by suggesting they pack the camp and be prepared to move out quickly, just in case. The way he phrased it the others could hardly argue.

The sun had come well up by the time Lockhart, Mingus, Roland, Captain Decker, and Boston made for the faint wisps of smoke that still trailed into the sky. Lieutenant Harper wanted to go with them, but Captain Decker ordered her to stay and defend the camp.

“Yes, sir,” Katie responded, but she did not sound too happy about it.

Boston started out front. She thought for a second that only she could pinpoint the location, but then she saw the smoke, remembered the roar, and slipped back to a safer place between Lockhart and Roland. They had to separate a little when they got to the trees at the bottom of the hill. Boston immediately came across a great, old tree that got torn up by the roots. Lockhart pointed out several smaller, young trees that looked broken and crushed to the ground, like they had been stepped on.

“This is not good,” Mingus said. He examined the trees and bushes that were burnt and singed. Some of the trees still smoked, though none were outright burning.

“Over here,” Roland called.

They found the ghoul sitting with his back to a tree, dying. He bled, Boston guessed, though it looked more like slimy green and purple sauce than blood. The ghoul looked up at them and made a sound that could only have been laughter. Boston felt the hair rise on the back of her neck at that sound.

“This is definitely not good,” Mingus said.

“Your unicorn?” Captain Decker asked, but Boston shook her head. That was no unicorn sound she heard in the night.

The ghoul looked up at the captain and laughed at the word unicorn. The captain responded by shooting the ghoul. It deflated and compressed and left a green smudge on the dirt while the captain spoke.

“Mercy killing.”

“We might have gotten some information.” Lockhart scolded the man. Mingus mitigated.

“No, we wouldn’t.”

They started back up the hill to the camp when another roar could be heard in the distance. Fortunately, it seemed some distance away.

“I hope that’s a dragon,” Roland spoke softly, and Boston looked at the man, believing he must be crazy.

“A dragon spirit would be better,” Mingus heard his son with his good elf ears and responded.

“And if it is not?” Lockhart asked.

“Definitely not good.” Mingus said it again.

~~~*~~~

The travelers arrived at what looked to them like the first real village they had seen. Instead of tents, they found makeshift dwellings built of bamboo and grasses. They looked crude, to be sure, and easily taken down, but solid enough. They were also easily burned from the look of some of them.

“Strangers. Strangers!” One man saw them, yelled in panic, and ran off. A few women screamed and ran into their huts. Lockhart halted their progress somewhere near the middle of the village, a village deserted by the time they stopped.

“Nothing like a first-class welcome,” he said.

“Why are they afraid of us?” Boston wondered out loud.

“They are certainly afraid of something,” Roland added.

“Some people are just afraid of anything they don’t understand,” Lincoln suggested, and Lieutenant Harper stepped up to agree, but Mingus spoke first.

“No, they are just rabbits. Scared rabbits. So, son-in-law, welcome home.”

“Father!” Alexis objected, but Lincoln just ignored the elf.

Six elderly men appeared at the end of the row of houses. They did not look too brave. They came forward in a group where they might not have come by themselves. The eldest spoke when they were near. “Are you of the goddess or of the beast?”

“Neither.” Lockhart spoke plainly enough. “We are travelers and seek only shelter for the night. We will move on tomorrow.”

The men turned to each other and began a whispered argument.

“Tell me about the goddess,” Lieutenant Harper butted in, and the men paused so the eldest could speak again.

“Nagi-di is the goddess of our village. Some say she has sent the beast because she is angry with us. Others say a jealous, rival god sent the beast. We have prayed every day and made offerings to the goddess for her help, but we do not know if she has abandoned us. Please, are you the help, or have you come to kill all that the beast has not destroyed?”

“We are here to help,” Alexis spoke up, and Lockhart turned on her.

“What is it with you and Boston? You are not permitted to offer bread or help or anything else that commits this group in any way without asking permission. Is that clear?” He was not happy.

 Alexis dropped her eyes but said nothing as Mingus stepped forward with a question. “What kind of beast?”

The men took one look at Mingus and took a big step back, but to their credit, they did not turn and run. They simply appeared afraid to answer. A boy came around the corner and pushed right passed the men. He looked like a young man of about fifteen and one of the men yelled at him.

“Keng!”

But Keng ignored the man, ran right up to Boston, and gave her a big hug. “You guys got here just in time,” Keng said. He let go of Boston and turned toward Mingus. “It’s a bogy beast,” he said. “I was beginning to think it would be the end for us all, but here you are.”

“But if the beast is the end of the story, we might mess things up if we help.” Lincoln felt concerned about changing time.

“Maybe,” Keng admitted. “But I don’t think it is supposed to be here. I haven’t seen its master, but you know they are never far away.”

“Master?” Lockhart asked.

Keng looked at the man and paused before he smiled. “Not the masters, like that. I mean the bogy man.”

“What is a bogy beast?” Captain Decker wanted to know.

“A bogy man’s dog,” Mingus answered.

“A lesser spirit, up to twenty feet tall or long with razor sharp claws and teeth and it breathes fire. Nearly impossible to kill, the database says. It does look sort of like a bear.” Boston added the last for Lieutenant Harper.

“Definitely not good,” Mingus added under his breath.

“So, you will stay and help?” Keng asked. He looked up at Lockhart again and Lockhart reluctantly nodded.

“But my first duty is to get this crew home,” he said. “If it becomes impossible, we are out of here.”

“Understood.” Keng turned to the men. “They will stay and help, but we need to treat them well while they are here.”

The man who yelled at Keng stepped free of the group and slapped Keng in the ear, hard. “You have no business telling your elders what to do.”  He immediately turned to the travelers. “You are welcome here, and Nagi’s blessing be upon you.”

“Come out, come out.” Other men yelled. “They are sent by the goddess and are here to help.”

Alexis stepped up to Keng to make sure that he was all right. Boston moved up, too, but her lips were moving. “Come out, come out wherever you are and meet the young lady who fell from a star.”

Keng had a hand on his ear, but he smiled on hearing that.

The travelers set up camp in the middle of the village. The people brought some of their food but did not stand around to stare. They especially avoided the elves and some, no doubt, felt the elves were as dangerous as the beast. One of the elder men commented on this.

“How is it that the spirits of the earth do your bidding? Are they safe?”

“We have a common goal,” Lockhart said, with a sideways look at Mingus. “And no, they are not safe, but they will help.”

“But you have them so well trained,” another man commented. Roland had to step in front of his father to prevent an incident.

“So, tell me, do we have to hunt the beast?”

The two elders looked at each other, surprised at being asked such a question. “Why, no,” one finally said. “It has come to the village twice in the night.

“Though it did not come last night,” the other said, thoughtfully.

“Yes, something must have distracted it,” the first concluded.

“Us,” Lockhart said. “Only a ghoul got in the way.”

Not long after that, they heard the not too distant roar.

Avalon 1.0 Neverland part 3 of 5

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

“Pan!” A young boy burst from the trees, all out of breath. He could not have been more than ten, and he looked all American, or rather Anglo-American, complete with freckles. Pan had the same European look about him.

“Tomma, what is it?”

“Ramina,” the boy said. “We couldn’t stop her.” With that, Tomma put his hands on his knees; but he let his eyes wander around to see this strange group of people Pan had mentioned. Pan called them friends, but Tomma did not look too sure.

“Pan.” A girl’s voice called out, and as she ran up, she showed no sign of being at all tired. Bluebell fluttered up into the girl’s face and turned her nose up. “Oh, a Fee,” Ramina shouted, and reached up to grab the fairy, but Bluebell made a dash for the safety of Boston’s shoulder.

“Ramina.” An exasperated sounding Pan did not have to say more.

“You don’t think I am going to let you go off adventuring without me, do you?” Ramina responded. The girl had to be Pan’s age or maybe closer to twelve or thirteen. She was beginning to show signs that she was developing little bumps and curves.

“It’s a wonder your father lets you go out so far from home at your age, or are we talking real lost boys?” Captain Decker stood up by the fire and checked his weapons in anticipation of a future fight.

“No,” Pan responded. “Our village is that way.” He pointed. “But in this age, children need to grow up fast. I’m eleven. Ramina is only ten, Tomma’s twin.” Everyone looked again and saw Ramina staring at Pan, wiggling her hips ever so slightly, like she was listening to some music no one else could hear. She also looked like she was thinking thoughts for which she was way too young.

Three boys came in and huddled around Tomma, uncertain of what to make of the strangers. “Where’s the Duba?” Pan asked.

“Where do you think?” One of the boys answered and pointed behind with his thumb. Sure enough, in the growing light they saw a boy significantly fatter than the others. He worked his arms like a true runner, but his legs staggered. When he arrived, he fell to his face, and smiled.

“Okay.” Pan clapped his hands like Alice to get everyone’s attention. “Here’s the story. Captain Hook has kidnapped a great lady. Are you ready to go and get her back?”

“Yeah. Okay.” The boys did not sound too sure. They sounded tired.

Honeysuckle chose that moment to come rushing back. “They are still at sea,” she said to Pan. “They won’t get to the village until the sun is high.” She pointed straight up.

“Well then, do we need to hurry?” Lincoln came out of his funk to ask.

“No,” Pan said flatly. “They are not cannibals, and they don’t practice human sacrifice. I imagine she will be all right until we get there.”

“And how far overland to the village?” Mingus asked.

“Half a day at most.” Pan shrugged. “Quicker than by sea in that canoe.”

“Then we stand down and let the boys get some rest. Four hours if Lincoln and Mingus can hold out,” Lockhart decided. “And Ramina can rest.” He smiled for the girl.

“Fairy.” The girl stared at Honeysuckle. Honeysuckle hid behind Pan, but he had a suggestion.

“Go sit on Lieutenant Harper, er, Katie’s shoulder and Ramina, you can visit but do not touch the fairies. Is that clear?”

Ramina’s face lit up. She rushed forward and kissed Pan on the cheek. “Yes. Thank you, shaman. Yes, oh yes.” She skipped over toward the women while Pan wiped the kiss off his cheek with the back of his sleeve.

“Shaman?” Lockhart asked.

“I get that a lot over the years—centuries.” Pan lay down by the fire and in a moment, he fell fast asleep. The other boys followed his example, though they bunched up for protection and warmth. and did not sleep quite so quickly, apart from Duba who began to snore.

“But my wife.” Lincoln spoke and Mingus spoke at the same time.

“But Alexis.”

“So, strike the camp,” Lockhart said. “Roland, would you mind finding us something for an early bite? Doctor Procter, you’ve been very quiet.”

“Eh?” Doctor Procter looked up at the man. “I was just wondering what the poor woman must be going through,” he said, and went to help take down the tents.

~~~*~~~

At that moment, Alexis was being tossed by the waves and trying hard not to throw up. She had a bag over her head. Throwing up would not have been pretty.

“But Hog, they will come for her,” Chodo whined.

“And they can have her,” Hog responded, with a smug sound in his voice. “By then we will have the secret of the breat.”

“But what if she won’t tell us the secret?” Shmee asked.

“Then we will make her tell,” Hog insisted, and he slapped his fist into his open palm.

“But what if they arrive before we can make her tell?” Chodo asked.

“A few people are not stronger than the whole village,” Hog responded.

“But she is a witch.” The truth of what bothered Shmee came out in the sound of his voice.

“Bah! Our Shaman can disarm a simple witch. You worry too much.”

“But what if Pan and the boys find out?” Chodo asked.

“Hmm.” A moment of silence followed, apart from the paddles and the sounds of the sea. “I will think. You paddle.” Hog sounded like Pan and the boys might be a problem.

When they arrived in the camp, Alexis had her hood removed. After stern warnings, her gag also got removed and her feet untied so she could walk to the central fire. They sat her down, untied her hands, but retied her feet so she would not be able to escape easily.

“Stay and watch her,” Hog told his companions, though to be sure, it did not take long before the whole village watched. “I will fetch the Shaman.”

Hog walked off and the people pressed in. Some thought to touch this strangely dressed woman. Shmee had to defend her. “Back away. She is a witch.”

“You will not hurt our people,” Chodo threatened her, but the people heard, backed up, and left her untouched.

“If you want me to make bread, the first thing I need is a bone. It should be a bone from a deer, as thick as your thumb and as long as your forearm.”

“How did you know we wanted breat?” Shmee asked.

“I know many things,” Alexis said, coyly. “And if you have no such bone, a stick might do, but it must be from an oak, the oldest, biggest tree you can find. It will take longer to make it the way I need it, but it will do.”

“I do not remember you using a bone or stick to make breat.” Chodo shook his head. “What do you need this bone-stick for?”

Alexis just looked at the man until he got uncomfortable. “I must have a new wand,” she said at last, though neither man appeared to know what a wand was. They thought about it as Hog came back.

“I have brought the shaman,” Hog said, and pointed at the man who followed him. “Now you make breat for my village.”

Alexis looked up as the shaman sat beside the fire. He looked ordinary enough apart from the red streak painted down each cheek. “Well?” She turned on Chodo and Shmee and they got up to fetch her a wand. “I need to be alone with your shaman for a few minutes,” she told Hog, and he looked willing, in order to find out what Chodo and Shmee were up to.

The elderly shaman just looked at her at first and tried to see what was inside of her. Alexis did not get ruffled or seemed bothered by the look, and that bothered the shaman. Alexis had seen such looks before, though not from one dressed in a loincloth in such chilly weather. The man only had a bearskin draped over his shoulders like a cape to keep him warm. He wore a necklace of trinkets, and he jangled it before her. She remained unmoved.

“Go.” The shaman finally spoke and waved his arm. All of the villagers that had gathered around the stranger separated, though to be sure, they only backed up a few feet and continued to stare.

“Do not be afraid.” Alexis remembered the words of the angel. “I will make bread for the village.”

“Will I be able to make more?” The shaman shot straight to the point.

Alexis shook her head. “Not unless you have the secret of the elves and can make the crackers.” She saw no reason to lie to the man. The man frowned.

“The goblins?” he asked.

“They would not like the name, but I suppose that is how you know them.”

The man’s face twisted as he thought hard. “There may be some advantage in that, knowing that it is enchanted. Call it a one-time gift of the gods.” he concluded his thoughts.

“Oh, I am always glad to help another person of magic,” Alexis said, to test a thought of her own. She judged by the look on the man’s face that he had no real magic of his own.

Avalon Pilot part II-3: Avalon

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Lockhart spoke as the door closed.  “I feel like I died.  I thought when I died I would get to be young again.”  Lincoln struggled to not throw up.  Boston looked around and grinned with all her might.

“If we died, we went to Heaven.”  Boston pointed at the castle, rubbed her shoe in the green grass and reveled in the fresh air and glorious colors everywhere she looked.  Somehow, the colors all seemed richer and brighter to her than they ever did back on drab old earth.  A field of ripe brown grain grew, not far away on her right, and a small sparkling blue river on her left flowed into the deep green sea not twenty yards to her rear.  It all felt too wonderful, and the castle, the most wonderful of all.  It looked like a veritable tapestry of colors with more spires, towers and keeps than she could count, all with flags fluttering in the cool breeze, and some of those towers shot right up into the clouds.  “I feel like I’m in Oz, you know, from black and white to color.”

“If it’s any consolation, I feel like I died too,” Glen said.  “But the feeling will pass, shortly.  And no, Boston, this isn’t Oz and it isn’t God’s heaven.  This is in the second heavens.”

“I don’t understand,” Lockhart admitted.

“Very simple.”  Glen motioned for Mister Bean to proceed.  The little one strutted up the path and the others fell in behind.  “The second heavens is my name for the place between Heaven and Earth.  It is where Aesgard, Olympus, the Golden City of the gods and all the other places of the gods used to be, including the places where the spirits of the dead were kept until the coming of the Christ, like Hades, you know.”

“This is the place between earth and heaven?”  Lincoln started to feel better.  “It must be small.  Thin like a line?”

Glen shook his head.  “Infinite and eternal as far as I know, and multi-layered, like a fine French pastry.  The isles of Avalon are called innumerable, but actually, they add up to very little compared to the vastness of it all.  Alice keeps the atmosphere and everything functioning well enough for this little part so we have a sanctuary for my little ones, and others across the various islands of the archipelago.”

“What do you mean she keeps the atmosphere?”  Lincoln took a deep breath and wondered.

“I mean the natural state of the second heavens is chaos.  It folds in and back on itself and even time is uncertain and in flux.  In order to have anything here that approximates earth and the natural laws of physics, it has to be carved out of the chaos and sustained.  Otherwise we would all be floating through an airless, ever changing and swirling mass of stuff the color of rainbow sherbet and with the consistency of something like cotton candy.”

“Hurry up.  Come on,” Boston interrupted.  She got excited.  “The Castle gate is opening.”

The others saw the gate opening but were presently huffing and puffing to get up the hill.  They paused to stare at the girl and Glen spoke.  “I’m fifty-seven, Lincoln is sixty-five, and Lockhart is sixty-eight, ready to retire.  We will get there.”

Boston frowned and ran ahead.

“I think it would be best if I let Lady Alice take it from here.”  Glen finished his thought and vanished from that spot.  Lady Alice met Boston as she ran inside the door to the castle courtyard.

“Thank you Mister Kalderoshineamotadecobean.  You did your job perfectly and brought them here safe and sound.”  Alice’s first thought was for her little one.  The little Bean grinned more broadly than a human face could possibly grin and marched off across the castle courtyard with a real swagger.  “Hello Boston dear.  It is good to see you again.”  Alice stepped up and gave Boston a kiss on each cheek, and Boston had a thought.  She spun around and saw Lockhart and Lincoln but no Glen.

“Glen?”  For all her reading and experience with the subject of the Kairos, she still felt uncertain about exactly how all these different lives of the Kairos actually worked, especially when an old man vanished and became a much younger woman, or traded places with her though time, or however he explained it.

“Yes, Glen is here.”  Alice touched her heart and responded with a very human smile.  “But not at the moment.  For now, he thought I would be best to explain.”

“Trouble?”  Lockhart picked up on something in Alice’s voice.  Once upon a time, he had been a police officer, and he still showed the instincts now and then.

“Eh?”  Lincoln originally worked with the CIA.  He had other virtues, though presently his thoughts were for his missing wife.

“If you will follow.”  Alice waved them forward and they crossed the courtyard.  They tried hard not to stare.

The yard overflowed with bustling little ones, all about on some errand or other.  Dwarfs, elves of light and dark, and others hard to categorize could be seen working and walking across the cobblestones.  Fairies and pixies of many different types and sizes fluttered through the air.  Two hobgoblins struggled with a barrel of something and tried to load it onto a wagon.  One big creature stood off in one corner, like an ogre or troll in the shadows.  The men did not want to look too close.  Boston, of course, delighted in all of it, and even clapped several times at the sights that came to her eyes.

At the back of the courtyard, they stepped through a gate and into a garden-like area.  It looked big and well groomed, but it seemed more nearly the size of a small forest than a garden.  The trees appeared to be placed randomly, like in an old growth forest, but the paths were clean of debris.

“One could get lost in this castle and wander for days without finding a door,” Lincoln remarked, quietly to himself.

“It has been known to happen.”  Alice heard, and threw the response over her shoulder.

They traveled through several buildings, several courtyards, and several gardens—all different—and came at last to the spring from which the small river flowed.  Boston guessed when she saw the naiad sunning herself.  She would have been more taken by the sight, however, if the naiad had not been lounging in a plastic lawn chair.

“Is nothing sacred?” Boston asked with a click of her tongue.

“Very little these days,” Alice sighed, and opened a door to a building which might have been called a cathedral back on Earth.  The building, a tower, contained only one room, all wood.  It looked like a construction as old as time itself.  The wood looked full of delicate carvings, the walls and floor full of intricate mosaics and the ceiling full of magnificent paintings all picturing the one hundred and twenty-one lifetimes of the Kairos, so far.  In the center of the room, there sat only one piece of furniture.  A three-pronged table held in its grasp a crystal that throbbed with a discernibly bright light.  The visitors found it otherwise impossible to tell where the rest of the light in the room came from, since there were no windows and no other visible doors but the one.  It seemed to Boston as if the building had been built around the light to trap the light inside for all eternity. Boston held her breath in that sacred space.

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

MONDAY

Lockhart, Lincoln, and Boston are introduced to the Heart of Time, Roland, and Doctor Procter, and everything in Boston’s mind is lovely until the middle of the night. They have to hurry. Until Monday, Happy Reading.

*

Avalon Pilot part II-2: Mission Team

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The woman marine arrived in the lunchroom first.  She saluted Colonel Weber and the captain who stood up to greet her.  The colonel went straight to the introductions.  “Lieutenant Harper.  Captain Decker.”

The captain stuck out his hand.  “Welcome to the monkey house.”

She shook the hand and responded with her name.  “Katie.”

“Sit,” the colonel said, and it sounded like an order so both complied, while one of the three men across the table spoke.

“Decker and Harper.  Sounds like a couple of cops from a cheap television show.”

Colonel Weber pointed at the speaker and continued with the introductions.  “Robert Lockhart is the assistant director of the so-called men in black organization.  Ben Lincoln is the one with the missing wife.  Of course, you know Doctor Emile “I am stealing your property” Roberts.”

“Sir.”  The lieutenant acknowledged each man and kept it business-like.  “Mind if I ask a few questions?”  The colonel waved as if to say be my guest, but good luck getting any straight answers.

“I read the briefing but I don’t exactly understand it.  I have heard of people who claimed to be reincarnated, but this sounds a bit more extensive than that.”

“And I hardly expected to find it in a briefing paper,” Captain Decker agreed.

“Not reincarnated,” Lockhart rubbed his unshaven chin as he spoke.  “He sometimes refers to himself as an experiment in time and genetics going back to the beginning of history.  And if the paper was accurate, you will find it says he also remembers the future.”

Lincoln touched Lockhart on the arm to quiet him and spoke to the marines.  “May I ask your security clearance?”

The colonel answered.  “Both Captain Decker and Lieutenant Harper are cleared all the way to the top.”

Lincoln rubbed his own chin.  “That might not be high enough.”

“That’s right.”  Lockhart grinned.  “There are some things it would be best if even we did not know about.  Isn’t that right, Emile?”

Doctor Roberts looked up.  He tried to keep a low profile in front of the colonel who kept threatening to arrest him, but he could not resist a response.  “Like Santa, spry little elf that he is,” he joked.

“Yes.”  Lieutenant Harper thought they were all kidding and tried to get back on topic.  “What does it mean when it refers to elves and dwarfs?  I assume that is code for something.”

Doctor Roberts went back to hiding and Lincoln said nothing, but Lockhart grinned more broadly and shook his head slowly.  The lieutenant reacted.

“You must be joking.  I stopped playing fairy princess when I was five and found out there are no such things.”

Before a more reasonable response could be made, the entrance of the women, who were laughing and having a wonderful time, interrupted them.  Colonel Weber and Captain Decker stood.  Lieutenant Harper also stood, though after what she just heard, she felt like it might have been safer to stay seated.  The colonel at least got to introduce the director, Roberta Brooks.

“Bobbi,” Bobbi said, as she shook their hands and took her seat.

Boston butted in front and took each hand in turn.  “Mary Riley, but everyone calls me Boston.”  She said it twice and went to sit next to Lockhart.

Mirowen nodded shyly at the marines but avoided shaking their hands.  “Mirowen.”  She went to sit beside Doctor Roberts.

“Mirowen?”  The captain asked, like he might be searching for a last name.

“Soon to be Roberts, I think.”  Lincoln sounded morose.  Mirowen’s presence underlined for him like nothing else that Alexis was missing.

“For now, just Mirowen.”  Lockhart kept grinning and raised his hand to point his thumb at the couple.  “She is an elf.”

Mirowen blushed, but she brushed back her hair to reveal her pointed ears.  She turned quickly to Doctor Roberts and he gave her a peck on the lips to reassure her.

At the sight of those ears, Lieutenant Harper sat.  When she sat, the captain sat with her, and barely in time to deal with what happened next.

“Hi, I’m the Princess, but people call me…”  The Princess paused and pretended to think about it before she concluded, “Princess.”  She smiled her dazzling smile.  “Right now I have to go home.  My husband owes me a footmassage, or something.”  She reached to take both the captain’s and the lieutenant’s hands.

“And where is home?” the Captain asked, while he unsuccessfully tried to keep his eyes from wandering up and down her curves.

“204 BC,” the Princess answered with a straight face.  “Now don’t let go,” she added, and vanished from that time and place so Glen could return to his own time and face his own dilemma.  The captain let go, but only for a second.

“Now.”  Glen smiled at the military people.  “Lovely to have you here.  Lovely to meet you both.  You can’t come.”

“Now, wait a minute,” Colonel Weber wanted to protest, but Glen cut him off.

“Despite your soldiers, you have no authority and no real power here.”  Glen walked around the table to the far wall, the only big, blank wall in the room.  “Be gone,” he mumbled.  “Before somebody drops a house on you.”

Once at the wall, Glen turned and looked around the room.  He had instructions.  “Bobbi, I guess you need to play hostess to Mister Smith when he gets back here on the Kargill ship, at least until I get back.  Emile and Mirowen, make a decision already.”  He took a deep breath and then paused to consider what he was about to do before he spoke.   “Letting ordinary mortals other than me and my immediate family into Avalon is not a common occurrence.  But Lincoln, you can come and fetch your wife.  Lockhart, you need to come to be the boss, and keep a tight rein on Lincoln.  Boston, you need to come to keep Lockhart from freaking out, and you need to behave yourself.”  Glen shook his finger at Boston while Lincoln, Lockhart and an excited Boston got up to stand beside him.  “That’s it.  Colonel Weber, Mirowen and Doctor Roberts better be here and untouched when I get back.”  And with that said, he turned again to the wall and spoke softly.

Emile took Mirowen’s hand and she looked at him, smiled broadly, and repeated an ancient rhyme.  “How many miles to Avalon?  Three score miles and ten.  Can I get there by candlelight?  Yes, and back again.”  Part of the wall turned momentarily dark.  A seven-foot-tall and seven-foot-wide space took on a shadowy look before it suddenly became as bright as a window facing into a sunny day.  An archaic archway formed around the space and it became an opening to another place, altogether.  The grass there looked green with life, and the castle in the background, high on a hill, looked positively medieval.  The aroma of life filled the stuffy conference room, and people sighed, softly.

In the foreground, a little creature stood and bowed most regally in Glen’s direction.  Several eyes shot toward Mirowen.  Mirowen kept up a glamour that made her look nearly human with only the pointed ears to give her away.  This creature in the archway was clearly not human, and Glen did not help when he named the thing.

“Kalderoshineamotadecobean.  Lovely to see you.”

“My Lord is always gracious.”

“Speaks sort of human,” Decker whispered to Harper, who did not hear him because, for some reason, she was crying.  “Bit of a shock though.  I can’t imagine an ogre.”

Glen invited his fellow travelers to cross the threshold, and he watched them closely as they went, before he turned once more to the room and spoke.  “Oh, and Mirowen, don’t worry.  I hope to be back long before the baby is born.”

Mirowen flushed as red as Boston’s red hair before Glen stepped through the wall and the entrance to Avalon snapped shut with a bright flash of light.

Golden Door Chapter 26 The Broken Heart, part 1 of 2

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Beth, Chris, David, and James all entered the annex room at roughly the same time. It looked much bigger than they expected for a small room off the main banquet hall in the Castle of Avalon. Then again, the banquet hall itself was a huge room, built to accommodate all the residents of a castle that was big enough to almost be a small city, with more rooms and buildings than could reasonably be counted.

The annex proved a long room, almost like a hall, with a big fireplace on one end and bookcases on the other. Along the long wall where the door was located, tapestries alternated with instruments of war, like swords and shields, long spears, and suits of armor. The other long wall appeared to be all windows, with two glass doors that let out to a stone-built balcony. Beyond the balcony, a sculpted garden stretched out to the horizon and the setting sun.

Mama hugged each of her children as they came in, while the lords and ladies of the dais went to sit at the semi-circular table on the fireplace end, though near the center of the room. When Mama went to join the dais, she sat in one of the two empty seats in the very center of the semi-circle. Everyone imagined the other empty seat would remain empty. It had to be for father, though the Kairos, Lady Alice might sit there.

Lady Goldenvein, the goblin queen sat to Mama’s left hand and took Mama’s hand to comfort her. Beside Goldenvein, her husband, Lord Deepdigger seemed deep in thought. Next came Lady Biggles and Lord Noen of the dwarfs, who spoke quietly with each other. To Mama’s right hand, after the empty chair, Lord Oak and Lady Ivy, king and queen of the fairies were followed by the elves, Lord Galadren, which is “Strongheart”, and his wife, Queen Lisel.

“Children.” Lady Lisel was the first to speak. “It seems it is time to talk with you.” She waved for them to come forward, and Beth, with a look to her brothers, came to the center of the room where seven chairs had been set up, facing the dais. Chris came with her and Davey and James, with a little push from behind, sat in the four chairs facing their mother and the table. The elders of the little ones sat behind the young people. Mrs. Aster of the Fairies sat behind Beth. Mrs. Copperpot of the dwarfs sat behind James. Professor Deathwalker of the “dark elves”, which is to say, “goblins”, sat behind the Chris. Inaros of Constantinople, the oldest elf on record, and one presently confined to a wheelchair, rolled up to sit behind David.

“Did you enjoy the day in Avalon?” Lady Ivy asked abruptly, and the children all nodded and smiled, but voiced nothing.

“I imagine you are wondering why you are here,” Lord Oak glanced at his wife and began, haltingly. He looked down to the table where he worried his hands. “Your father is fine, though fading, as you know… Lady Alice, one of your father’s future lifetimes may herself be too sick to attend…well…” He looked up to see the children nod, sadly. They understood, but said nothing, and Lord Oak looked away. He seemed at a loss for words. Strongheart, the elf king took up the telling.

“The plain truth is we need your help,” he said, bluntly, before he explained. “You see, at the beginning, when the steady progression of days turned to history, old Cronos and the Kairos got together to instill some small part of themselves in a common thread, like the threads of fate, only more so, not less. It was not yet woven, of course, because history was not yet written.” He stopped. It felt like he was giving a speech and he needed something to wet his lips.

“We call that thread the Heart of Time,” Lord Noen said, from the far end of the table.

“Think of it more like a crystal,” Lady Biggles added for her husband. “Think of it like a heart shaped crystal, red in the center inside, and glowing, like the beating of a real heart.”

“We all saw the Heart of Time,” Chris said, softly, and the others nodded. They saw it broken and knew it had missing pieces.

“Of course,” Lord Noen breathed, and Lady Biggles kindly patted his hand.

“As long as it was kept safe and beating, time continued in an orderly way,” Stongheart added.

“History is built on that,” Lord Oak said, trying to regain his place.

“Only now it is broken,” Goldenvein spoke in her chilling goblin voice.

“There are missing pieces,” Lord Oak continued.

“We must put the heart back together or things in life, in the world…” Lady Ivy interrupted her husband.

“In your world,” Goldenvein interrupted the interruption.

“…Will begin to fall apart,” Ivy finished.

“Alice by herself cannot hold life together, forever,” Lady Biggles added her two cents.

“History is in danger of being swallowed up in a confusion of time.” Lord Oak came to a stopping point, and everyone looked at the children to see if they were following along.

“I am very confused,” Beth admitted.

Davey took that as his chance. “I don’t understand,” he said, turning to the others.

“What are you suggesting?” Chris asked. He didn’t get it either, exactly, though he suspected something might fall on them.

James yawned while the people at the table looked at each other. He stepped into that moment of silence. “Where did the pieces of the heart go?”

Strongheart nodded, thinking the children were at least understanding something. He pointed at Professor Deathwalker. The others waited for the professor to speak.

Deathwalker stood behind Chris and pulled out a piece of paper. “Skipping over all the math and scientific rationale, blah, blah, blah,” he said, a comment which the members of the dais found funny for some reason. “The consensus is the pieces have moved into the future, a piece to each future life of the Kairos, whoever he or she might be.”

Golden Door Chapter 22 A Taste of Freedom, part 2 of 2

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Beth spied Mistletoe, crying, and she guessed the enchantment on her broke when she finally remembered to say the words, even though Mistletoe had not been there to hear the words spoken. Beth felt glad. She really wanted Mistletoe to be her friend, with Holly, of course, and the others who were all there comforting Mistletoe in her distress at having betrayed them.

Chris saw Heathfire and Broomwick sitting with an elf girl and thought about Silverstain. He hoped she was all right. David saw Floren sitting on a bench with a couple of older kids, and Owen and Alden sitting on the ground in a circle with some youngsters. James saw the youngsters, Picker, Poker and Grubby, and remembered they left Warthead outside to guard the gate to the courtyard. He hoped Warthead was all right, but then something definitely felt wrong. Picker, Poker and especially Grubby were quiet and behaving. Before he could voice his concern, they were all out the door and the door slammed shut behind them.

Several marines stood and pointed their rifles at the group. “You are under arrest,” the captain said. “You are surrounded, and my men have orders to shoot if you give any trouble.” He pointed out two machine guns set up on the perimeter where they pointed down on the courtyard. “Sit and keep quiet while we wait for the rest of your people.”

“Aren’t you supposed to read us our rights?” Chris couldn’t help himself. One soldier slapped his mouth.

“No telling what these men are seeing, or who they think we are,” Inaros said by way of caution, but he directed his voice, as elves can, so only the young people heard him.

Chris touched his bloody lip, but thought fast and grabbed Deathwalker, and dragged him to sit on a bench beside the wall. Mrs. Copperpot and Inaros followed the motion, so David and James went with them. Beth ran to give Mistletoe a hug, but that just made her cry harder.

“Captain,” one marine came up with his hand out. “I think it is starting to rain.”

The captain looked up at the dark sky. “I’m not surprised,” he said. “It’s been threatening since we got here.”

“Letting ordinary humans into the castle of Avalon is the last straw,” Deathwalker griped and shook his head.

“But how do we get away from them?” Mrs. Copperpot asked, and kindly did not add, “without the young people getting hurt.”

“I was thinking,” Chris spoke up. “Deathwalker and I could transition through the wall.”

“Not without a distraction,” Deathwalker said. “And that won’t help the others any.”

“You can do that?” David asked his brother, but Inaros spoke right away.

“David and I could run out before they could react, but not with the door closed.”

“We may be able to help with that,” Mrs. Copperpot said, and she turned to James. “Dear, how do you feel about deer?” James did not understand until she added, “I think a yearling with nice white spots.” James nodded, and one second, he was James, and the next a young deer stood in his place, and it tapped one front paw like it was anxious. Mrs. Copperpot quickly became a mother deer, and they seemed to come out from the bushes and stand by the door. Mrs. Copperpot even took her front hoof and scratched at the door, while James kept an eye on the marines.

“Hey, captain,” a marine noticed even as David practiced directing his voice to Beth.

“Beth. Come here right now. We need you to escape with us.” Beth looked across the courtyard and frowned at her brother, like she was not about to do what her twelve-year-old brother told her, and David should know better than to shout across the whole yard.

Inaros put some command in his directed voice. “Now!” and he made sure Mrs. Aster heard as well.

“Now,” Mrs. Aster insisted, and Beth reluctantly got up, still thinking it was her twelve-year-old brother being stupid. It had begun to drizzle, so Beth put her hands over her head against the rain and walked, slowly. Mrs. Aster chided her.

“Beth, your brothers are bright and have some good ideas. You have a terrible attitude. You should listen and pay attention to what is going on outside of your own mind. Like you should have listened to what the glorious one told you to say.” Beth felt properly scolded, but then the sky opened a little more and it began to rain.

“Marine,” the captain yelled just in time. The marine lowered his rifle. “We don’t shoot women and children,” the captain did some scolding of his own. “You two, get that gate open and let the deer out.”

As the marines opened the gate, the rain came harder. Shortly, there was a flash of lightning that lit up the courtyard and struck close. The thunder rolled across the courtyard.  People screamed and gave the appearance of panic as they stood up and ran around. Picker, Poker, Grubby, Owen and Alden were masters of wreaking havoc, but in this case, the fairies, especially Zinnia and Holly, gave them a contest. The marines were not concerned about their prisoners but determined to get them to settle down and be quiet. The captain began to look at the rooms at the back of the courtyard, under the colonnade walkway to see if they were suitable to hold the prisoners.

“Now,” someone said, though no one was sure exactly who.

Chris and Mister Walker leaned back and transitioned right through the courtyard wall. The two deer created a bit of a distraction of their own, hesitating on going out until a very small Inaros and David raced by and out the door. The deer followed. Mrs. Aster shot up to the top of the wall and became miffed that she had to shoot back down.

“Beth fly! Now, hurry!” Beth stared at the fairies in their distress. Even as her feet left the ground, it took another second for the words to penetrate. Then she glanced quickly at the marines and flew as fast as she could. One marine saw and took a shot, and fortunately missed as Beth topped the wall and raced out into the garden beyond, which proved more like a little forest. She did not get far, however, before Mrs. Aster really yelled at her.

“That is three times you have not been paying attention. You need to start paying attention to what is going on before you get everyone killed.” They reached the others, and the others heard. “Being a teenage girl is absolutely no excuse. You need to listen to your brothers and listen to your elders and keep up before you have everyone’s blood on your hands.” Mrs. Aster really steamed.

“I’m sorry,” Beth said to the fairy. “I’m sorry,” she told everyone else. “It’s just everything is so new and strange and different. It is not what I expected. I can’t keep up.” She began to cry, and Mrs. Aster looked to bite her tongue, like she wanted to say tears were no excuse and did not make anything better. But Chris stepped up to hug his sister.

“Okay. I’m stubborn and stupid,” he admitted the part he had not told his mother.

Then David was not about to miss out on a hug. And finally, James came up and tugged on Beth’s sleeve.

“We need to go,” James said.

“Young James is right,” Mrs. Copperpot agreed.

“Yes,” Inaros said, with a look to the sky, though all he could see was tree branches. “It is raining harder. We have temporary shelter under the trees, but it is beginning to come in torrents.”

“Well,” Deathwalker clapped his hands while Beth wiped her eyes. “We appear to have no choice. We must go to the tower.”

“We must do what we can,” Mrs. Aster agreed, reluctantly.

“Before the whole island reverts to the natural chaos of the second heavens,” Inaros said, and Mrs. Aster looked at him like she was not going to say that part.

They started to walk, and James spoke. “You mean we have to face—”

“Don’t say her name,” Mrs. Copperpot interrupted. “You say her name and she will hear us and know where we are and where we are going.”

James held his tongue, but David heard enough to worry.

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

MONDAY

Beth, Chris, David, and James, together again, enter the tower where the Heart of Time is kept. They must confront Ashtoreth. Monday. Until then, Happy Reading.

*

Golden Door Chapter 22 A Taste of Freedom, part 1 of 2

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Noen and Strongheart got their men ready to form a wall with a fist of men at the front to punch their way up the stairs. The elves brought all their globes to eye level and prepared to flash the lights in the faces of the ghouls as they ran with the hope that it would keep the enemy off balance or at least interfere with their aim. Between ducking and returning fire from behind a dozen obstacles, it took considerable time to organize the effort.

David came out of his sad state with the words, “I want to go home.”

“Me too,” James admitted.

“And you will,” Inaros assured them both. “As soon as we can get you and the women out of range of the ghouls. “David, are you ready to run fast?” David nodded, and as he thought about it, he almost grinned.

“Are we ready?” Strongheart shouted up and down the line.

“Ready as ever,” Noen mumbled at Strongheart’s shoulder, but he paused when he heard sudden moans, groans, and shouts in the ghoul line. The ghouls blocking the stairs suddenly began to fall, and they all heard Beth and Chris shout from the staircase. “Angel said, do not be afraid!” A great light, the combined lights from all the fairies shot across the underground room. The elf lights flared in response and added to the brightness, thought the elf lights seemed small by comparison. No one waited. Strongheart did not even have to yell, “Go!”

“Come along James.” Mrs. Copperpot took James’ hand like they were still strolling in the woods, but they put up glamours to make themselves appear like piles of lost and forgotten things and walked a spritely pace, slightly bent over to make themselves even smaller than they were. Inaros and David simply ran like the wind, and it seemed to James that two rockets flew by him on route to the stairs.

All the Lords of the Dias hugged their wives, but briefly. “We have to rout out the ghouls,” Lord Noen explained.

“Go to the antechamber on 2B,” Strongheart suggested to his wife. “You should be safe there for the time being.”

“Ashtoreth must be mad letting ghouls inside the castle wall,” Deepdigger growled.

“Her madness was never in doubt,” Lord Oak said. “Are we ready?”

Inaros spoke before the others could answer. “One for all, and all for one.” The elf, goblin, fairy, and dwarf looked at one another, nodded and yelled the charge as they raced back down the stairs and around the corner.

“This way,” Mother was at the top of the stairs on the third-floor landing. She had hugged Chris and Beth but was anxious to get away from the fighting. The children all wondered how their mother had the least idea where she was going since she had such poor eyesight, especially in the dark. The widely spaced torches could not be helping her much. Yet she led the crew to the second floor and turned right at the top of the stair, like the antechamber on 2B was as familiar as the living room.

“Everybody in,” Lady Lisel encouraged the group. The room proved a long hall, with tables along the walls with vases of flowers and bowls of fruit ripe and ready for eating. There were oriental rugs here and there across the wood floor, and sections of chairs with plenty of coffee tables, end tables and reading lamps, looking haphazard, but clearly organized. One long wall looked full of books, with a door at each end and a grandfather clock in the middle of the wall to break the uniform bookshelves. The short walls on each end had tapestries, beautiful and intricate in detail. One detailed the untarnished forest and fields and the other showed the shore and the sea, with water that looked wet enough to flood the room. The other long wall had tall windows, and several glass doors that led out onto a brick balcony, though no one could say exactly where they let out in the castle since from another perspective, the room was still two stories underground.

“I don’t like the look of that sky,” Mrs. Copperpot mused, as she looked out those windows, and the elders agreed with her. The young people, meanwhile, thought to inform the various women on the disposition of their children and friends. Chris had a hard time talking about Silverstain. Mother stood right there to hold Lady Goldenvein’s hands and comfort her.

“I’m sure she will be all right,” Mother said.

“I don’t know,” Chris admitted his own serious concern, and Beth balked.

“We left them all in the courtyard,” she said. “We can’t just abandon them.”

“Who knows what might be attacking them even now,” Chris agreed.

“Worried about Silverstain?” Deathwalker asked Chris, gently.

Chris kept a straight face as he turned his eyes toward the others, and in particular Beth, in case she should get the notion he had a girlfriend. “And Redeyes and the others.”

“And Grubby,” James said.

“Oren, Alden, Floren and Mickey O’Mac,” David named them all.

“And Warthead,” James added.

“I am sure the ogre is just fine,” Mrs. Copperpot smiled for James.

“Still, the young people have a point. We might fetch them,” Mrs. Aster agreed.

“And we will be moving away from the fighting,” Deathwalker pointed out.

“But the children don’t have to go,” Mother said.

“Actually, the children are the ones who must go,” Mrs. Aster countered.

“The young people know the children and will follow them,” Deathwalker explained. “Where we might have fallen under the enchantment.”

“The young ones might not trust us, in case we are enchanted,” Mrs. Copperpot agreed.

They all looked at Inaros, and he spouted, “2B or not 2B …” Deathwalker and Mrs. Aster took him by the arm and dragged him out the door. The children and Mrs. Copperpot followed.

“We’ll be right back,” Beth assured her mother.

“Hey David.” Chris put on his frightening aspect complete with cat eyes, little horns, sharp teeth, claw-like hands, and serpent tongue. He tapped his brother on the shoulder. David turned and screamed, and then he hit his brother while Chris ducked and laughed.

James immediately put on a glamour of his lion and roared at Chris, but he just made David scream louder.

“Chris!” Beth interrupted them. She started glowing slightly against the darkness of the stairwell and floated over to get between them and shake her finger at them all. “Cut it out.”

“So much for the element of surprise,” Deathwalker said from the top of the stairs.

“If you are finished playing around, we have to try to be quiet,” Mrs. Aster added.

The boys all got quiet by then, staring at their sister. Beth nodded and floated to the top of the stairs. David turned and raced to the top in a second, so he could grin and say to his brothers, “What took you so long.”

“Hush now,” Mrs. Copperpot hushed them when they all arrived on the first floor and walked down the hall to the courtyard door. “Quietly,” Mrs. Copperpot added when they arrived. Deathwalker gave her a look that said he knew that much. He cracked the unlocked door and stuck his head out, Mrs. Aster floating over his shoulder where she could see for herself. Everyone sat there, quietly, on park benches or on the ground, now and then looking up at the overcast sky. The dome over the castle kept out the weather, but it looked to be pouring up there. In fact, it looked like the whole island might be tearing apart.

Golden Door Chapter 21 Guards in the Deep, part 2 of 2

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“She wouldn’t,” Mrs. Copperpot looked dumbfounded. “She let ghouls into the castle? That is the most awful, ridiculous, never should happen thing I can imagine.”

“To me!” Strongheart stepped out the door, and the elves and dwarfs came running.

“Maybe a full hundred,” one of the elves reported.

“We have to stick together,” Noen said as he and Strongheart began to yell orders and set their warriors in battle formation.

The women paused at the door, except for Queen Ivy. She went to James with a word. “Let me have Seabass a minute.” James hardly knew what to say in the face of all that beauty. He held out the cat and was surprised Seabass went willingly to this stranger, though he supposed after a time in close quarters she was no longer a stranger. Ivy assured James when he saw Seabass go invisible. “Your kitty is fine and should be safe.”

“Can you make me invisible?” James asked, and Ivy let out a smile as Mrs. Copperpot grabbed James’ hand and pulled him to the door.

“What’s Wrong?” David asked his mama. She said nothing but turned first to lady Goldenvein.

“I am sure Deepdigger is fine.” She patted the goblin’s hand as she took the Lady’s arm.

Goldenvein nodded, stood, and looked like she might be holding back tears. “And your children,” she said. “I know you are worried about them.” Mama said nothing as the two women came out from behind the table, arm in arm, but David thought the look on his mother’s face was far more frightening than the goblin face.

“David,” Inaros called, and David went to him.

“We will have to fight our way back to the stairs as a unit,” Strongheart said, and he dressed his troops once more while he waited on the scouts he sent out.

Inaros willingly sacrificed his knees as he knelt to talk to David and more face to face with James. “Ghouls can make you see things that aren’t there. They say where there is one, there are ten, and where there are ten, there are a hundred.”

“A hundred ghouls?” David spouted, but he did try to keep his voice down.

“Maybe not. We don’t know. But you have to be careful about what you sense. They can fool your ears as easily as your eyes.” James looked up and Inaros caught the unasked question in the young man’s face. “I don’t know about touch and smell. I tried not to ever get that close to one, and I certainly never tasted one.” Inaros leaned on his cane to get back up. David helped him.

Two elves and two dwarfs showed up at the front and one of the elves spoke. “They are coming down the stairs and out from behind the piles of forgotten things. It looks like a whole compliment.”

“There aren’t that many,” one of the dwarfs objected. “We should make for the stairs.”

Noen smelled something. He scooped some dirt off the floor and tossed it at the dwarfs with a few words. One of the dwarf scouts revealed himself to be a seven foot, green creature with big, sharp teeth and claws. It did not live long. David and James watched, fascinated, while the ghoul deflated and shrank and seemed to melt until there was only a green and purple smudge left on the floor. Mama did not watch. She covered her eyes.

“Now, with care” Strongheart said, and they started to move. “Women and children keep to the middle.” That was not always possible as they had to navigate now and then around the support poles and the occasional pile of forgotten stuff. A few ghouls braved the elves and dwarfs that formed a circle around the women and children, but those ghouls were quickly shot down. The dwarfs had crossbows. The elves had regular bows, but they were uncanny marksmen.

Shy of the stairs, all of the torches in the room went out.

“Get down. Hit the dirt.” Noen and Strongheart yelled at the same time. A number of elves and dwarfs leaned over the women and children, and just in time. Some hundred arrows came in their direction. The elf armor and dwarf chain rejected most of them, but some took a hit and were wounded, a few badly.

“To cover!” Strongheart yelled. Noen did not yell. He already scurried behind a support beam. James David, Inaros and Mrs. Copperpot got behind a pile of forgotten stuff even as elf lights, little globes of pure light, began to rise toward the ceiling and the second volley of arrows came from the ghouls.

James saw the grin on David’s face, a poor imitation of Chris’ grin, but he also saw the wide, unblinking eyes so he knew it was a grin of fear, not happiness. James felt it, but distracted himself by examining the pile, curious as to what stuff might be forgotten. There were lots of clothes in that pile. James pulled out some broken guitar strings and one pick. He also pulled out a number of disposable butane lighters, a few of which still had some life in them. He stuck two working ones in his pocket and dug deeper beneath the clothes. He found a cheap plastic ring with a spider on top and slipped it on his finger.

 “I remember these. Halloween rings.” He held it up to his brother. “Hey, Davey. Look what I found.” David looked briefly, but his expression did not change much before he went right back to grinning and staring off into space. “Earth to Davey,” James mumbled.

“Mexican standoff,” Noen shouted from behind his pole.

“They stick their heads up and we can pick them off,” Strongheart shouted back, and James looked to the side because Strongheart crouched just on the other side of Mrs. Copperpot.

“They outnumber us,” Inaros leaned over and said to the elf Lord. “They can wait us out.”

“And how long can you keep those fairy globes aloft?” Noen shouted back.

Strongheart paused to stroke his chin. He felt surprised the ghouls were not already trying to attack the globes, magically. Maybe the ghouls knew the globes took energy which would become exhausted in time and they were content to conserve their own energy and wait things out. “You need to come here. Be prepared when the lights flash.” Strongheart yelled and lowered the globe he controlled to eye level. Several nearby elves saw what he did and lowered their globes as well. He waved to his men and gave some kind of signal. “One, two, three, go.” Strongheart yelled and all the globes at eye level flashed like photographer’s bulbs, guaranteed to give any watching ghouls a vision of spots and hopefully a headache.

Noen moved fast and arrived before the arrows started again. “We have to find a way to get to those stairs,” he said.

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Strongheart quipped.

“I mentioned we needed an elevator in this tower,” Mrs. Copperpot said, grumpily. “Too bad no one listens to old ladies, no matter how well she cooks.”

“We listen good grandmother,” Noen said. “But right now, that is not helping.”

“James. David.”

James heard the voice and turned to look. It looked like his dad, standing off to the side, waving to him like he wanted him to go quietly in that direction.

David looked and shouted, “Dad!” He tried to get up, but James grabbed him and yelled at him.

“It isn’t Dad. It’s a ghoul.”

Normally, David would have broken James’ grip in no time, but this time, for some reason, James found more than enough strength to hold his brother back. Inaros noticed when David shouted. He squinted, and it did not seem to James that he was seeing James’ and David’s father. Mrs. Copperpot looked and said, “James, don’t be fooled.”

Strongheart looked and shot an arrow with the words, “God forgive me.”

Noen let lose a crossbow bolt and said, “Aye.”

David saw his father struck with both deadly projectiles and Dad reached a hand to his chest. He saw his father transform into a ghoul and begin to melt. David stopped struggling and put his head in his hands. James marveled at his own strength and looked again at the cheap plastic spider ring on his finger. He let his imagination run for a bit.

“They have compromised our flank,” Noen noted the obvious.

“What can we do?” Mrs. Copperpot asked, a bit of worry in her voice.

“Pray for a miracle,” Inaros responded. “That was what Captain Van Dyke always said.”

Golden Door Chapter 21 Guards in the Deep, part 1 of 2

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Strongheart and Inaros guided David, Floren, Alden, Oren, and the elves safely to the Bailiff’s Courtyard. Mickey O’Mac stayed off to the side most of the way where he could keep an eye out for possible intruders or obstacles, but they found the way easy going and saw no sign of activity.

“Too easy,” Mickey decided. “We dare not let down our guard.”

“Most of the Castle under the Sea has been emptied,” Strongheart said. “And with the air bubble in place, the mermaids and water sprites seldom visit. Most of what is here is up on the castle walls looking for you on the outside.”

“And here we are on the inside,” Inaros said with a big elf grin. “I take it the women are in the deepest rooms.”

“Yes,” Strongheart nodded. “The fourth floor down, in a small room off the area that is one wide open, room but for the basement column supports. It is the room where they keep the forgotten things. There is bedrock beneath them so they can’t dig out and the bedrock is enchanted so the dark elves like Lady Goldenvein can’t go to ground and escape.”

“Go to ground?” David wondered.

“Dark elves, trolls and such avoid the light,” Floren explained quietly in David’s ear. “The sun can even turn some to stone, so when the sun comes up, they sink into the ground and they can move through the dirt and rocks until they find a cave, or maybe a basement, or anyway a place where they can rest until nightfall.”

“How can they make their flesh move through solid matter?” David’s scientific curiosity started acting up.

Floren scrunched up her face. There were all sorts of possible answers. Magic was a good one, but one David would never accept on face value. In the end, Floren told him, “Let us just say the flesh of the little ones is more flexible in one way or another than the mud and dust flesh of normal mortal humans.”

“Boy.” Inaros spoke and David looked up. “We have to go now and rescue your mother.”

“Is my father here?” David asked. He presently thought of his father and had in that moment the slightest glimpse of what it might be like to have responsibility for all these little ones, as Floren called them. He thought, no wonder his father lived so many lifetimes. One life could not possibly handle them all.

“Your father is somewhere, I am sure, but ladies first.” Inaros kept one hand on his cane and held his other hand out so David could step up beside him. David imagined the old man would need help with the stairs, assuming there were stairs.

“Floren.” Strongheart also spoke, but to his daughter. “You need to keep Oren and Alden here. You should be safe if you stay quiet in the courtyard.”

“Quiet? Oren and Alden? Father, by myself?” Floren certainly sounded like a teenager.

“I’ll stay and help,” Micky decided.

“Two of my soldiers will stay with you, so you boys better behave until we come and get you.” Strongheart gave them a stern look before he turned with Inaros, David, and a dozen elf warriors and went into the tower. David heard Floren behind him until the door closed.

“Sit! Stay!”

Mrs. Copperpot said Warthead had to stay outside the gate and not come into the courtyard. “All the halls in the castle have an enchantment that stretches them to accommodate to the big ones, like ogres,” she explained for James. “But Warthead is too young. Picker, Poker, and Grubby, you too. Stay here.”

“Hey!” Grubby protested.

“Will four of my men be enough?” Lord Noen asked.

“I’ll stay and help,” Pug volunteered. “My world is full of forest and grasslands. You know I am not much for buildings and underground positively gives me the creeps.”

“Thank you,” Mrs. Copperpot thanked the gnome before she turned to the boys with the kind of fire in her eyes that caused the big ogre to look at his feet and caused Picker and Poker to look away. “Four guards had better be enough.” Grubby also looked away, but he whistled softly as if to say he was not listening. “Now, come along James.” Mrs. Copperpot held out her hand for him.

James moved under the old dwarf’s protective wing, but he could not help the words that came out in his softest voice. “I’m too young for this, too.”

When Lord Noen led them in they saw the light from the torches in the hall reflected off good steel and heard the voice of Strongheart. “Friend or foe? Whom do you serve?”

Lord Noen signaled his dwarfs to put down their weapons. “We serve the Kairos. Strongheart?”

“Noen?” Strongheart stepped out from the shadows down the hall. “It is good to see you free of that wicked one’s domination.”

“More like damnation,” Noen said with a ruddy grin that sprang up beneath his full beard. “I must say, I am glad to see you. I can use the help setting the women free. No telling what is down there or what kind of guards she may have in this place.”

Strongheart returned the smile and gave the shorter man a hearty slap on the back. He did not say anything, but he looked like he would not mind having a band of dwarfs at his back.

“James!” David noticed first and shouted.

“Quiet,” Inaros scolded, and David nodded, but nothing would keep him from his brother. He hugged James and James, not the touching type, nevertheless hugged him back.

“You won’t believe what happened to me,” David began, still too loud.

“Quiet,” Mrs. Copperpot repeated the word. “You will just have to tell him later. Right now, we need to be quiet.” She hushed David and David quieted.

“Later,” David whispered.

“Me too,” James agreed. At least, unlike Davey, James always seemed to whisper.

They came to the stairs, and it would be four long flights down. They stopped on each floor and looked around but found nothing and no one. David at least hoped that was a good sign, but Inaros and Mrs. Copperpot looked more worried at each stop. At the bottom of the stairs, they came to a wide room with pillars spaced equally in every direction. The pillars made it impossible to tell how big the room really was, but James and David got a good idea from the echo, especially when Inaros placed his hand over David’s mouth.

Strongheart signaled with his hands. He placed several elves to guard the stairs and along the path without a word. Noen mirrored him with his dwarfs. The last two elves and two dwarfs they told to guard the door and then tried to figure the lock. Strongheart risked a whisper.

“They are in here?”

Inaros put his hand to the door as if feeling for what might be inside. He nodded while Noen took a great whiff of air with his bulbous dwarf nose and whispered, “Yes, and I smell something else, too. We best hurry.”

Mrs. Copperpot grabbed Inaros’ hand, and Strongheart and Noen added what they had as well so the old dwarf woman could use her cooking spoon to the greatest effect. Nothing happened at first and Inaros gritted his teeth and leaned into it. Then the lock popped with a great sound that echoed everywhere. The door opened but squeaked, loudly every inch of the way. Whatever might be in that big basement room certainly knew they were there, and where they were, too.

The women all sat around a table, playing Rook, and sipping tea. It seemed a small room, but there were mats, pillows, and blankets on the floor, and a bathroom behind a back door. There also appeared to be a sink and stove in the corner with clean dishes in the drain. In all, the women made it work.

David saw his mama quietly watching the game. She sat between the goblin and the bearded dwarf wife. David felt amazed his mother was not totally freaking out, but she stood so he could run to her, and hug his mama, and cry a little. Noen went straight to his wife, Lady Biggles. Strongheart also caught Lady Lisel in a big hug and added a brief kiss. Lady Goldenvein, the dark elf stayed seated, but Ivy, the Fairy Queen stood and dropped Seabass the cat from her lap.

“Oak?” Ivy asked.

“No sign of him yet,” Inaros said. “But Beth is with him, and Chris is with Deepdigger.”

Seabass went straight to James and let out a “meow.” He had always been a verbal cat, and James picked him right up and heard him softy purr.

“We must go,” Lord Noen said to everyone, even as they heard a word shouted from the distant stairs.

“Ghouls!”

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MONDAY

David and James with the women need to escape the ghouls and get to a place of safety. But the place of safety turns out to not be so safe. Until Monday, Happy Reading

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