Avalon 1.4 Sticks and Stones part 6 of 6

September 10, 2025July 27, 2025M G Kizzia Leave a comment

Alexis had her wand out by then and barely responded in time before the Balok tried the other weapon. Alexis put up a magical shield and while it deflected the heat ray, the ray was powerful enough to knock her back on her rump. She screamed again while Mingus searched frantically for a weapon that might be effective. He found a big stone.

The Balok pulled in its legs and began to slither forward. It moved fast, but Doctor Procter reacted faster. He had his wand out and managed a magical freeze ray of his own. The Balok shrieked in pain and fell to the ground where it began to whip about. Mingus struggled, mumbled something about the beast keeping still, but finally managed to bring his rock down on the Balok head. He managed a glancing blow at first, but the second and third strikes were more accurate. The Balok head became mush from blow after blow as Mingus pounded it into the dirt. Alexis looked away.

Only moments later, Saphira and Katie ran up. The marine went immediately to make sure the Balok was dead while Saphira put her hands on her knees and caught her breath.

“I’m older than I look,” Saphira said.

Alexis looked. Alexis counted her age as twenty-five, or so, and Katie Harper could not have been that much older; certainly under thirty. Saphira was what? “Maybe thirty-five?” Alexis said.

“In my day, thirty-five is old. I should be fat with a dozen kids to do the running for me.”

“Do you have any children?” Alexis asked, the subject being on her mind.

Saphira nodded but said nothing as they saw Captain Decker in the distance. He walked leaning on Coramel’s sons, and Roland walked quietly beside him. Decker had some frostbite, but nothing serious. Lincoln, Lockhart, and Coramel came last, carrying Boston on a stretcher made from two tree branches and fairy weave. Boston complained even as she giggled.

“Ouch. Stop wiggling. Lockhart, I’m supposed to be pushing you around in a wheelchair, you old man. Ouch, it hurts when I laugh. This is embarrassing.”

Alexis immediately went to her, and they put her down on the edge of the camp where Alexis could spend considerable time healing and knitting Boston’s bones.

~~~*~~~

It turned high noon when they all stopped to eat and rest. Alexis and Boston needed the rest. Doctor Procter said he felt better, but he did not look too well, and he kept his distance with the excuse that he did not want them to catch whatever he had. Lockhart stayed beside Boston the whole time. Her bones were completely restored, but her muscles were sore. She would need some recovery time. Alexis stayed beside Lincoln and hooked her arm through his but said nothing. She just smiled. Mingus watched them and frowned. Roland had his eyes on Lockhart and Boston who were laughing and having a good time.

“Wonders,” Coramel said. “This cooking, this bread, things flying through the sky, serpent people and stick people. The things I have seen.”

“The things you felt.” Saphira spoke in a voice of great concern. She sat down beside the hunter and pressed her hip to his. She took both of his once frostbitten hands in hers and drew them to her chest. She sat in leather armor, but it was the thought that counted. “Are you feeling warm now?”

Coramel slowly grinned. How should he answer that question?

“You have no idea how grateful I am for your help.”

“I am glad,” Coramel said, as he took back his hands. His toes were still itching their way back to life.

“Boys.” Saphira turned on them. “How old are you, anyway?”

“Eighteen summers,” one answered brightly. The other sounded glum.

“Just sixteen.”

Saphira thought for a minute before she decided. “This could work.” Everyone knew what she was thinking, but they all had the good sense not to say anything.

“Lieutenant.” Captain Decker pulled her aside to where they could speak in private. “Are you getting all this?”

“The recorder is working. My pin camera is working. I am sure it will all be there when we get back.”

Captain Decker gritted his teeth. “Any ideas how we can transmit the data we have already collected? There has to be some way out of this zoo.”

Lieutenant Harper just shook her head. His mind simply would not accept the truth. “I’ll keep working on it,” she promised. “Meanwhile, relax. We just saved the human race.”

“Just this time zone full of flakes,” he said.

“Yes sir,” Lieutenant Harper agreed and quickly stepped back to the others. Katie was not sure where she fit in with this group of travelers, misfits, explorers, adventurers, and miracle workers, but she knew the marines were not it. She would never be the same, even if Captain Decker never changed.

Alexis looked again at the stick people. She saw such innocence and goodness in them. Not one of them had a hidden agenda. She was not sure if they knew how to lie. She wanted to be reconciled to them, to say we humans are not so bad. She wanted to wish them luck and say good-bye to the children, only she could not imagine a way to do that. They were withdrawn from the travelers, and Alexis could not blame them.

Alexis stared when the woman appeared. She had to be seven or eight feet tall and she stood between her and the stick people to block her vision. Tiamut, the goddess, growled and she did not look happy.

“You!” She pointed at the humans in the camp. Everyone stood and grabbed their weapons, not that they would have been effective against the goddess. “I could have made good use of those creatures, but you destroyed them all like you destroyed my servants.” She pointed her finger at Saphira but took them all in her gaze.

Tiamut paused. They watched her facial expression turn from anger to clever, and that felt worse. “Come,” she said. Mingus, Roland, Doctor Procter, and Alexis disappeared and reappeared a few feet from the goddess. Alexis was right in front of her, looking up into that terrible face and she felt the shiver travel all the way down her spine to her soul.

Tiamut walked once around Alexis to examine her like a person might examine a prize animal. The others either could not move or did not dare. “You did not begin as a human. How is it you came into this state?”

Alexis felt compelled to answer. “My god changed me so I could be with my husband.”

Tiamut glanced briefly at Doctor Procter. “Better than making more half-breeds,” she said. “But I have a job for you spirits of the trees. I would have you back.” She waved her hand and Alexis transformed back into the elf she had been at birth.

“No.” Saphira heard the word escape her lips and felt something surge out from her deepest insides. A force, linked to the very forces by which all things were made, covered Alexis. Alexis immediately changed back to a human woman, and Tiamut’s anger returned.

“How did you do that?” she yelled. She did not really ask. She waved her hand again, but Alexis stubbornly refused to become an elf. “How are you doing that?” Tiamut’s words became mingled with astonishment.

The goddess Astarte chose that moment to appear at Saphira’s back. She also stood inhumanly tall, more than tall enough to look over Saphira’s head. She placed both of her hands on Saphira’s shoulders in a sign of assurance. Two young men also appeared with Astarte, one on each side. They were twins, though the one to Astarte’s left squinted, like he might need glasses.

Tiamut paused. Her face became so distorted it became hard to make out her facial features. Her mouth opened wide, and the travelers saw pin pricks of light in that deep darkness, like people might see stars in the night sky. A roar of frustration came from that maw, loud enough to make everyone throw their hands to their ears. With a wave of Tiamut’s hand, the ship behind her, all the stick people and their children turned instantly to dust. And Tiamut disappeared.

Astarte leaned forward and whispered in Saphira’s ear. “I’m sorry.” Then she and the twins vanished. Everyone could breathe again, but Alexis was the first to go to tears.

It took some time before they were ready to go. Saphira, Coramel and his sons stayed to help clean up, and Coramel had the lone comment that whole time.

“It is like they never were.”

At last, Saphira turned to Doctor Procter. “What is your direction?”

Doctor Procter’s hands shook, and he kept shaking his head now and then like a man trying to throw off the rain, but he managed to get out the amulet and point. Saphira nodded. She would head the other way.

“I’m sorry you won’t get a chance to see the future Sodom,” she said. “We are headed in the other direction.”

“Eh?” Lockhart wanted to know what she might be thinking.

“We have to check the crash site to be sure there were no survivors.”

“I can’t imagine anything survived that crash,” Captain Decker offered, and Saphira nodded.

“Still—” She started to speak but Boston interrupted.

Boston had gotten to her feet and stared at the big pile of dust that the wind had not yet taken. “All that work for nothing,” she said.

“Not for nothing,” Lockhart assured her.

“Besides, you work for me, remember?” Saphira said.

“Yes, lady.” Boston turned and practiced the curtsey the way she had seen Mirowen the elf curtsey in her overalls. Boston knew she was not as graceful, but Roland at least smiled for her. It would be a while yet before anyone else could smile.

“So, that’s it?” Katie Harper looked to Lockhart who caught her eyes and nodded. Saphira started to already move off into the tall grass, flanked by her men. Katie yelled. “Who was that woman?”

Saphira turned to walk backwards and shouted. “Astarte.”

“And the young twins?”

“Enlil and Enki. Enki needs glasses.” Saphira smiled before she added a last thought. “At least I should sleep well tonight.” Then Saphira and her three men got swallowed up by the grasslands.

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

Monday

Episode 1.5 Little Packages will be posted in one week but in 4 (four) parts which means there will be a Thursday post! Don’t miss it. Until next week, Happy Reading.

Avalon 1.4 Sticks and Stones part 2 of 6

September 2, 2025July 27, 2025M G Kizzia Leave a comment

“Those men that we killed.” Alexis shook her head and folded her hands as she walked. Saphira noted the stress and turned to walk backwards so she could address everyone.

“Those weren’t men. The last vestige of independent thought had long since vanished, or else they would have turned around and fled the minute they saw they were way outgunned.” Boston and Lincoln both looked at her, Boston with eyebrows raised and Lincoln with eyebrows knitted. Both knew their bullets had taken down some of the attackers. “Tiamut can do that,” Saphira finished and saw both faces relax ever so slightly.

“You are a hard woman,” Alexis said, and Saphira just gave her a sideways glance without denying it. “I get the impression you don’t like people very much.”

“It has been a hard life,” Saphira admitted, and then she held her tongue for a second as they stepped out from the forest and on to the grasslands. “To be honest, my last two lives were male and three out of the last four. And Iris did not live very long so she hardly counts.”

“She counts,” Boston insisted.

Saphira frowned. “The truth is I don’t think I know how to be soft. The Baldies killed my family. I married, but they killed my husband, too. I have had to support myself and my children by selling my services.” She flashed a brief grin. “That’s not always so bad.”

“As a warrior? Huntress, I mean.”

“No. As a woman.”

Alexis looked up at her with an expression that clearly said, “I don’t understand.” So Saphira stopped and turned to face everyone. Half were already listening in, so she figured, what the heck. “I’m a hooker. I’m a prostitute. I make my living inviting men to spend the night. Okay?” She lowered her voice as she turned and started walking again. “It was either that or marry a Sodomite.”

“Sodomite?” Alexis asked. Saphira did not answer right away. She looked behind and saw that Boston and Katie Harper had moved up close while the men kept their distance and pretended they had not heard. She shook her head and then she spoke.

“Sure. With most of the men in the settlement killed off, Tiamut encouraged others to take advantage of that. There are Jokantites, Amelikites, Hamerites, but mostly Sodomites.”

“You live in Sodom?” Boston asked.

“Not this early,” Saphira answered. “But I have no doubt it will be called that one day.”

They walked in silence for another hour before Captain Decker reported smoke in the distance. By then the sun had started to set and they thought to camp in the wilderness. Mingus and Roland picked out a spot behind a secluded hill and they set up their tents and invited Saphira to sleep in the tent with Katie and Boston.

“No need to cramp people,” Lincoln spoke up. “It is plenty warm out here. You can stay in the tent with Alexis and I’ll stay by the fire. I am not sure after last night I will get much sleep, anyway.” Saphira looked at Alexis who kept looking at her, but neither spoke at that point. In the end, most of them slept out under the stars.

Alexis did not sleep well at first. Lincoln turned his back on her and she could not get comfortable. She did not mind at all when Saphira spoke.

“Still thinking about those men?” Alexis shook her head. “Lincoln?” Saphira tried again and saw a few tears fall. “You know he loves you, right?”

“I’m not so sure anymore.”

“Please!” Saphira scoffed. “I like to think I know something about love, given my profession.” Saphira shifted to her stomach and propped up her head to face the woman. “No, actually it is probably because of the time I spent with Astarte.”

“The goddess?” Lieutenant Harper sat straight up. Obviously, she was not asleep, either. Saphira nodded and the Lieutenant had to ask, “What’s she like?”

“Oh, very good,” Saphira said. “As good as Tiamut isn’t.”

“Tiamut?” Boston opened her eyes as well. Saphira placed a hand over Boston’s mouth.

“Hush. It isn’t good to talk about them. You never know when they might be listening in.” But then Alexis started to cry, and the women did their best to comfort her. Not much helped. Alexis wanted to cry and was not in the mood to be comforted just yet. Saphira finished the conversation with, “Maybe all he needs is a little time. He is a good man. My husband was a good man and I lost him all too soon. You hang on to Lincoln. There aren’t many good men out there.”

With that, Lincoln rolled over to his back. Alexis took hold of him, like a child might hold a teddy bear. She curled up and snuggled into his shoulder. Of course, he began to snore, but that only made Alexis smile. She soon fell asleep. Boston had already gone to sleep, and Katie was not far behind. Saphira sighed and wondered if she should count sheep.

In the small hours of the night, while Mingus went on guard at one end of the camp and Lockhart watched the other end, Saphira walked up to Lockhart and plopped down on the grass.

“Can’t sleep?”

Saphira shook her head. “I need some hot sex to sleep well.”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

“I wasn’t suggesting—” Saphira looked up at Lockhart. “Not seriously anyway.”

“So what then?”

Saphira shrugged. “Alexis and Lincoln are having problems.”

“I noticed.”

“I just spent the last hour with Alexis. They love each other so much but being young again is proving a hard adjustment.” Saphira stopped speaking and Lockhart simply nodded. They watched the stars for a while before Lockhart spoke again.

“What do you think we will find tomorrow?”

Saphira shrugged. “Hopefully, people who have fixed their problem and left in the night. If not, maybe some stick people. I ran into them years earlier.” She shrugged again.

“Stick people?”

Saphira stood and shrugged a third time. “I better go before my suggestions become serious.” She walked back to the fire aware and pleased that his eyes followed her the whole way. She had to lie down and stare into space to settle her thoughts. “Gods, I want to go there,” she said to herself, before she closed her eyes. She was speaking of the stars.

~~~*~~~

“Let me see,” Saphira insisted and reached out for the binoculars.

“Hold on,” Lieutenant Harper groused. “You’re as bad as Boston.” She slipped them from her neck and handed them over.

“Which is why I get them next,” Boston said.

“There are children down there,” Saphira confirmed. “This is much bigger than the stick ship I ran into before. I think that might have been a scout ship.” She handed the binoculars to Boston though Alexis wanted a look as well.

“We’ve been spotted,” Roland said and pointed.

“Where?’ Captain Decker turned his own binoculars to get a look.

“Come on,” Saphira stood.

“Is it safe?” Lincoln asked.

Saphira nodded. “Last time I got the impression that they had no weapons. I’m not even sure they know what weapons are.”

Alexis skipped her turn with the binoculars and joined Saphira in the march down that little hill. She wondered what grace the Kairos might show to what appeared to be refugees. Saphira spoke in an alien tongue, but the travelers understood full well what she said.

“Hey! You can’t park here. I told your people last time. This world is off limits.”

Alexis rolled her eyes but smiled.

Several stick people came up to meet the travelers. They clapped their hands in a kind of nervous twitch. They did look like logs and had no shoulders or neck between the trunk and head and no hips at all. They were skinny as well, anorexic maybe, and their eyes were so close together it was a wonder they could manage stereoscopic vision. They were brown, like the color of wood except their arms and legs, which were gray. Those two arms and two legs looked human shaped with elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles but they were truly thin as sticks. The six toes on each foot and four fingers on each hand, one being a thumb, looked like twigs. It was a wonder they could hold themselves up with those spindly appendages.

Lockhart extended his hand, but Saphira interrupted, speaking in her own tongue. “No, no. Don’t do that. They are like petrified wood—like steel. They might lose at arm wrestling, but in a handshake, they would crush your flesh without realizing what they are doing.”

Alexis wondered again. She now had three languages in her head. The English never went away, only now she had an overlay of Saphira’s tongue and the sounds of the stick people. She had to think about that last one, though, to frame her question. “What happened?”

The stick people looked at each other before one of them answered. “We were attacked.”

“Who is the leader of this ship?” Lockhart asked his question.

“I am.” One of the stick people answered and he let out a wail and began to bob up and down. The sound and action got picked up by others until it had spread its way all around the refugee camp.

“Who attacked you?” Lockhart continued when he could.

After a while, the leader settled down and answered. “They call themselves Balok.”

Saphira suddenly interrupted with a string of words, or actually only one word in many languages: the primal language of Shinar, Pan’s, Iris’, Keng’s and Ranear’s languages. She spouted in her own language, and in English, and not a nice word. “Let me see,” she insisted and began to walk straight for the ship. The others followed including the Stick leader and his people.

“Balok?” Alexis caught up.

“Think of the serpent in the Garden of Eden.”

Avalon 1.4 Sticks and Stones part 1 of 6

September 1, 2025July 27, 2025M G Kizzia Leave a comment

After 4400 BC, the Dead Sea wilderness. Kairos 11: Saphira the Huntress

Recording …

The travelers walked in silence in the early hours. They moved through rugged, tree filled country of the sort that Mingus called bokarus friendly. Alexis could not worry about that. She tried to draw close to Lincoln several times while they walked, but he turned away from her. He remained pleasant, but not the husband she knew and needed.

At ten, Lieutenant Harper pointed to the sky. Something spewed smoke and moved rapidly overhead. They all saw it, and after a breath, they all heard it as well. It did not move low enough in the sky to vanish quickly, but it appeared low enough to see it was a ship of some kind and not a natural phenomenon.

“Man-made?” Captain Decker asked.

“No. No way.” Lincoln, Boston, and Alexis all responded together. They had some experience with such things.

“Not in this day and age,” Lieutenant Harper added. She looked at the captain and wondered if the man would ever admit the truth. He still occasionally tinkered with the transmitter as if the area 51 receivers were just around the corner.

Lockhart looked torn for a minute. This was the province of his men in black, only not this time, he decided. “Not our concern,” he said. “Keep walking.”

An hour later, they heard the distant howl of the bokarus behind them. They knew they were not forgotten. Scant minutes after that, Boston pulled up short and let out a little shriek.

A person in leather armor blocked their way. That person had the expected stone-tipped spear, but along with the leather armor, the person also had the first bow and arrows they had seen. Most surprising, the knife on the hip looked made of copper, not simply stone.

“You’re going the wrong way.” The warrior spoke, and at once, they knew this was a woman. She took off her leather helmet and shook out her long dark brown hair that carried hints of gray, and she stared at them through dark brown eyes. “The action is all that way.” She pointed behind them and off to their right. Most looked, of course, but saw nothing among the trees.

“Lower your guns,” Lockhart decided, though even Captain Decker’s gun had already been lowered. “We don’t appear to be on the hit list.”

“You are a warrior?” Alexis asked.

“A huntress,” the woman answered, and motioned them to follow.

Doctor Procter pointed in the direction from which the huntress came. The travelers felt inclined to continue their journey before Boston had a thought.

“Saphira?” she asked.

“Yes, Boston,” Saphira answered, and the travelers turned to follow in her wake.

They moved silently while Boston moved up front for a change. She had another question. “What are we hunting?”

“Baldies.”

“What kind of animals are they? Are they in the database? I never heard of them.”

“Shh!” Saphira responded with a grin and pointed at Captain Decker. It took a minute for Boston to figure out Saphira meant bald men. The captain shaved his head.

When the group stopped, Saphira signaled for everyone to get down as she stuffed her hair back into her helmet. “Listen close,” she said. “The men across the clearing are no longer human. They are mindless robots designed for one purpose: to kill. The last bit of humanity was taken from them a long time ago, so don’t worry, whatever you do.”

“Some disease?” Alexis asked.

“Like mad cow? No. Worse.” By then Saphira was ready. Without further explanation, she stepped to the edge of the clearing in the woods.

Captain Decker got out his binoculars and pointed across the clearing. “Baldies straight ahead.” He caught the reference.

“Spread out,” Lockhart responded. “Prepare for a firefight.”

Lincoln and Boston got out their pistols. Captain Decker and Lieutenant Harper took the flanks with their superior firepower. Lockhart pulled his pistol and imagined the shotgun would be back-up in case they got close. He stayed in the center of the group where Alexis pulled her wood and bone wands and considered them. The bone had dried and become workable, but still crude. The wood aged fast. She felt a bit surprised when her father reached over and took the wooden one. Her father rarely used a wand and never carried one. Mingus then nudged Doctor Procter and he got out his wand as well, but he looked like he had no intention of using it. Roland, of course, had his bow.

Saphira spoke loudly so her words would carry to the other end of the field. “Here I am. Your three friends are dead. You could be next.” It did not take much coaxing. Apparently, they were waiting for her and thought they had her in a trap. Twenty bald headed, wild-eyed men, naked and sweating broke from the trees. If they had any self-will at all, the baldies might have wondered why their prey did not run away. Instead, Saphira fell to the ground and lay out as flat as she could to get out of the way.

No one needed to say fire. The guns blared from cover until the people came out from behind their trees and bushes. Roland got an arrow in one of the last and Lockhart swung around his shotgun for the very last. That one fell ten feet from Saphira who spun around, propped herself up on her elbows.

“Thank you,” she said.

No one else felt like speaking. Twenty men lay dead on the field. Alexis put her wand away. She had not used it. She felt like crying, but instead she gave Lockhart a long, hard, accusing look for cursing them with this eventuality.

Even as Saphira stood and brushed herself off, a very tall and lean woman appeared on the field in the midst of the dead. She appeared out of thin air, so the travelers knew she was a goddess. And she did not look happy.

“Tiamut.” Saphira named the goddess who looked briefly at Saphira before she finished her examination of the bodies. Some of the men were only wounded, but they were made useless for the goddess’ purposes.

“I see you found some friends.” Tiamut finally spoke. It came out, a chilling voice. “Friends from the future. A future that feels wrong to me.” She stretched out her hand and Lockhart’s shotgun appeared in the goddess’ hands. “Some interesting accessories, though.” The goddess lifted the gun to her shoulder and pointed it at Saphira. Saphira flinched before the goddess pointed down and shot the head off one of the wounded men.

“I had in mind to send these men back to your settlement,” Tiamut said. “Now that will not be.” She shrugged and tossed away the shotgun like it hardly mattered. The gun thumped against the earth. “I must think on this future and these guns and such things. There may be something workable there after all.” She smiled and added a last thought before she vanished. “You have a traitor among you.” Everyone breathed when the goddess disappeared, but they looked carefully at each other while Lockhart retrieved the shotgun and checked it to be sure it had not been damaged.

“Tiamut.” Boston spoke before she reached for her database. Saphira nodded so Boston finished her question. “Goddess of what?”

“Chaos,” Saphira answered. “Not a good enemy. These men were hers. And for the record, she might claim there is a traitor even if there isn’t, just to get you suspecting and not trusting each other.”

“But I thought Marduk or Assur or someone like that killed Tiamut.” Lieutenant Harper spoke up.

“Shh!” Saphira turned on the Lieutenant and her words were sharp. “They haven’t even been born yet. You need to watch what you say as much as what you do.” Lieutenant Harper looked appropriately humbled and felt grateful when Lockhart stepped up and changed the subject.

“So, we saw a ship of some kind fly overhead a few hours ago. It looked to be in distress.”

Saphira nodded to indicate she saw it too, and she turned to lead the way.

Avalon 2.10: Lunch and Stories

June 17, 2013M G Kizzia Leave a comment

While on the trail for Alexis and Mingus, the travelers first found the Kairos, Eliyawe, a skinny young girl in a mini skirt with nice long legs that she obviously liked to show off, who seemed to be suffering from ADHD, at the least. She had several men and women with her, as well as a floating coffin, but had yet to get through the introductions without interrupting herself.

###

“Boys,” Eliyawe’s voice grabbed their attention again. “Leave the fisherman alone. I want you to meet Roland, the hunter.”

“Hello,” they said before they ran to the horses. “What are these? Where did you get them? Which is the fastest? Can I have one?”

“Children, come and sit.” Eliyawe made them sit down where Elder Stow was building a fire. “Now behave so we can have a nice lunch.” Eliyawe turned to Boston and rolled her eyes in a very Boston-like manner. “Boys,” she said with a liberal dose of sarcasm.

“I understand,” Boston said and rolled her eyes in return.

Roland provided a deer, but it took time to cook. Elder Stow made a small force field around them so they could let the horses out to graze without worrying about them watering. Katie and Boston argued a bit about the cooking. Lincoln sounded morose when he talked.

“Alexis is a great cook.”

“And I am sure we will enjoy her cooking when we get her back,” Lockhart said. And he explained to Eliyawe and the others what they were doing. They expected to catch up, soon. Lincoln threw the grass he had yanked out of the ground, but he said nothing.

“Maybe we could help them?” Elias suggested with a look at his wife. Eliyawe squinted at him.

“I thought you were my husband,” she said. He nodded.

“So how far ahead of you do you figure,” Elias spoke to Lockhart and Eliyawe grinned and took her husband’s arm.

“Sometime this afternoon.” Lockhart said, but he looked at Roland for confirmation.

“Sooner than that,” Roland said. “I think they saw the Kairos coming from in front of them and with us following they scooted out between us and are hold up somewhere in the rocks there where the hills really start to rise.”

“What?” Lincoln sat straight up to look.

“Relax,” Lockhart held him back.

“So who is in the box?” Decker changed the subject when he could not suppress his curiosity any longer. He slept in an Agdaline box for 500 years, so he was curious.

“Osiris,” Elias answered and Eliyawe nodded.

“We are returning him to Egypt,” she said. “The nymphs of the swamps of Lebanon are doing penance and carrying the coffin.

“Nymphs?” The men reacted. Jonas and Elias looked embarrassed for some reason.

“Osiris?” Katie also reacted. “You mean, the Osiris?”

“Hey.” Lincoln looked at Elyawe with sudden curiosity. “Which ding dong the Witch is dead?”

“Tiamut,” Eliyawe said. “Set planned the whole thing so Osiris would snuff it away from Egypt. The Masters are working for Tiamut, more or less. They seeded the streams with the drug. Tiamut was hoping the gods would go crazy, but it just put them all to sleep for a time. Some universal default or something would be my guess.”

Atonas could not contain himself any longer. “You slew Chaos? You killed the great and terrible goddess?” He fell at Eliyawe’s feet and dared not lift his eyes.

“Not me,” Eliyawe said. “All I did was stab her in her big toe. Broke my best sword, too, and dern, it was my new one.” Eliyawe shrugged. “You want the slayer of Tiamut, look to Marduk and Assur.”

“The Marduk and Assur?” Katie started again but several people yelled at her in case she said something about the future that was best not to mention.

“I like that phrase, “The” Marduk and Assur,” Assur said. “But it would be better to say “The” Assur and Marduk.”

“Yes,” Marduk ignored his brother and spoke in feigned humility. “I slew chaos for all time.”

“Ha! I slew Chaos.” Assur countered, but Marduk had already jumped to his feet.

“There she was, a true titan, terrible to behold, but I found the courage to rise up into her face, the very face of death. I brought my great sword down upon her head and cut her in two so her brains leaked out. And by the fire in my loins, I set her mind ablaze until it became but ash to blow away on the wind.”

“Ha!” Assur had a counter story. “I rose up to her great maw that was swallowing the light itself and looked big and dark enough to swallow the very sun. I smote her breast and cut off the paps that fed the world with destruction. I bore a great hole in her chest and tore out her heart. This I crushed with my bare hands.”

“Her heart was only about this big,” Marduk pinched his fingers together to show how small it was.

“It was not.”

“It was too.”

Eliyawe whistled and Marduk and Assur fell silent. “Actually, Tiamut was about to step on me and squish me like a bug, and my boys found the courage to finish the job. Thanks for saving my life, boys.”

“Aw, hush. Think nothing of it. You are more than welcome. The least we could do.”

“Twins,” Lincoln said. “Identical.”

“So which is older?”

“Hey!” Eliyawe intervened before the argument started. “They were both born at exactly the same time, joined together at the top of their heads. Doctor Mishka had a hard time separating them. She had to re-grow the skulls and do some dermal regeneration and stimulate the hair follicles and voila! Better then a plate in their heads.” Eliyawe smiled until she saw Marduk open his mouth. “And they both got an equal number of brain cells down to the micro-nano level, so there.” Eliyawe stuck her tongue out at the boys.

Elias got Atonas back up and sat him between himself and Jonas. Jonas had to lean over to speak. “You know, I still only understand about one in three words your wife says. Very disturbing.”

“Ha!” Elias said in imitation of Assur. “What is really disturbing is I am starting to understand the most of it.” Eliyawe tightened her grip on Elias’ arm and robbed her head against his shoulder like a kitty All that was missing was the purr.

They all heard a click. Captain Decker had his rifle at hand. “Lunch is over,” he said. “Time to get our missing travelers.”

“Thank you.” Lincoln stood straight up.

###