Roland nosed his mount forward, wary, eyes wide open.  He came to a clearing.  There were a few trees there, but several had been crushed and Roland guessed this was where the Elenar ship landed.  “Hello!” he called.  He got the expected answer, but it was from behind a tree.

            “Are you friend or foe?”

            Roland instantly recognized the voice.  “Alexis.”

            Alexis walked her horse into the open and mounted.  “How do you know my name?”

            “You don’t know me?”  Roland had to be sure.  If she was enchanted, sudden information contrary to what she had been told might be as dangerous as waking a sleep-walker.

            “I have never seen you before,” Alexis confirmed his fear.  “But I see you are an elf, like my father, and a wise one to have up a glamour to make you appear human in this place.  Perhaps you know my father.  Mingus is his name.”

            “Yes, I know your father.  We have been close all of my life.  Is he near?”

            “No,” Alexis said.  “He is in the camp and probably being very cross right now for my sneaking away.  The geis of the Kairos came upon him as it fell on all of the little spirits who were near.  They took the alien ship behind the forbidden wall so it might be fixed.  I snuck away because I was curious to see it, but I see it has already been taken behind the wall and the geis has been removed.  That is why I said my father is likely cross with me, for sneaking off.”

            “Alexis, can you take me to your father?”

            Alexis paused.  “I like your face,” she said.  “You remind me of someone I love very much, only I cannot think of who.”

            “It will come to you.  Remember my face whenever you wonder where your father is taking you.  Whenever something does not feel right, think of me and it will come to you.”

            “What a strange suggestion.”

            “So can you take me to your father?”

            “I think not.  You see, we are escaping from the terrible thing that is following us.  Father will not explain it, but he says it wants to take my life and I am much too young to be destroyed in that way.  You see, that was why I asked if you were friend or foe.  I believe you are friend, but I feel for safety sake it is best not to take any chances.”  With that word, a mist came up from the ground and enveloped Alexis.  It spread out and would have enveloped Roland, too, if he did not turn around and move away quickly.  He knew there was no way he could follow his sister or even find her when she did not want to be followed or found, so he thought it best to report back to the others.  Unfortunately, the others were just then returning to Cophu’s house.

            “I was afraid this would happen,” Cophu spoke calmly but they could all see his frustration beneath the surface.  “The wall makes you turn back the way you came and won’t let you leave.”

            Ranna smiled since it seemed impossible for her husband to do so.  “Well, I am glad to have you back.  I enjoy the company, and so do the children, but where is Roland?”  She looked up at Boston

            Boston turned her head to look back while Lincoln spoke.  “He probably made it through the wall.”

            “Chaos said she had no use for the elf,” Katie added.

            Ranna walked up to Boston as Boston dismounted and she helped the woman walk to the house.  “I am sure he will come back,” she said.  Boston said nothing and managed not to cry.

            “People!”  There was a sound of thunder which startled the horses badly but certainly got their attention.  It was Tiamut and she had two people with her that caused them all to stare.  “These do not belong here.  I assume they are yours,” Tiamut said.  “And I trust you had a pleasant journey.”  The goddess vanished but let her laughter linger.  Clearly she thought it was funny.

            One of the men was naked, filthy, bruised, cut in any number of places and showed only fear and distrust in his eyes.  “The werewolf,” Katie said as she stepped up beside Lockhart.

            The other, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, eyed a pile of equipment Tiamut left half-way between him and the travelers.  He was the Gott-Druk from the future that followed them since the days of Odelion.  He rushed for his things, but Lockhart drew his police pistol and shouted.

            “Don’t you dare.”  The Gott-Druk stopped, his hand outstretched but still too far from his things to touch.  Lockhart noticed Katie drew her pistol a smidgen faster than he did.  He nodded to her, and she stepped up and used her foot to move everything a bit further from the spaceman.

            “Careful,” it was Cophu who shouted as he came trotting up with a shoulder bag.  “I made this for when my Shemsu people left this place to travel to the young cities along the Tigris and Euphrates.  Now, you see, Tiamut has us trapped and will not let us leave.”  He handed a bit of bread to Katie without explanation before he bent down and carefully examined everything in the pile.  He put it piece by piece into the bag.

            “Yes,” Lincoln stepped up having finally calmed his and Captain Decker’s and Boston’s horses.  “And she won’t let us leave either.”

            “Ahhh!”  The Gott-Druk reacted when Cophu touched a particular piece.  Cophu had made sure it was shut down, but with that reaction he looked more closely.

            “No need to go invisible now,” he said.

            “It has other properties,” the Gott-Druk said.

            “Yes, of course.”  Cophu turned it on and considered the readout.  He held it up to Lincoln and then waved it past Lockhart and Harper.  “I see.  Good little scanner.”  He shut it off again and put it in the bag.  The Gott-Druk responded by tossing his hands in the air and grunting.  “No doubt how he followed your trail through the various gates,” Cophu added.

            “Neanderthal, got a name?”  Katie asked and Lincoln and Lockhart spoke at the same time.

            “Gott-Druk.”

            “Elder Stow,” the Gott-Druk responded.

            “Katie Harper, Robert Lockhart, Benjamin Lincoln, and Cophu,” Katie made the introductions.  “Boston is the redhead that went inside with Cophu’s wife, Ranna.”

            “Elder?”  Lockhart interrupted with a question.

            “Yes,” Cophu answered for the Gott-Druk.  “They travel in small groups and their ships are designed that way.  The Captain and first mate are called “Father and Mother,” the officers are “Elders and Youngers,” and the crew are their children, at least in name.  It is all very familial.”

            “Actually, Father and Mother share equal duties in captaining a ship,” Elder Stow said.

            “Indeed,” Cophu went back to his last few pieces.

            There was an awkward moment of silence until Cophu finished, stood and spoke again.

             “Elder Stow, why are you here?”

            “You are the one they call the Watcher?  You are the one who sometimes becomes other people in time?”

            “I am.”

            “I have watched you.”

            “I have watched you watching me, even when you thought you were invisible.”

            The Gott-Druk considered this before he dipped his head in a small bow and spoke.  “It was some years ago when my children and I found ourselves in a whirlwind that picked us up from our place and deposited us in the deep past.  At first I feared we landed before the flood, but I soon came to see the land was dominated by humans.  We avoided them.  We lived apart until one of my children discovered a door to another time.  We moved then, not knowing if we were going forward or backward in time until we came at last to the island world where we found ancient people – our people.  We set ourselves to help them become masters of that world, but you intervened and my children were killed.  After that, I followed you having scanned and isolated your being.  At first I was seeking a way to destroy you, but then you helped my people against the ghoulish ones and I became very confused.”

            “Their job is to find their way home,” Cophu said.  “And not interfere with history if they can help it.”

            “So I have perceived,” Elder Stow said.  “You are seeking to return to the future where I also belong.  I would rather go with you than follow you.”  He looked at Lockhart.  “You are the father of your tribe.  May I be as one of your children.”  He bowed his head and waited.  Everyone turned to look at Lockhart.  Based on the encounter he had with the Gott-Druk in the future, Lockhart did not trust this one.  Add to that the fact that they killed Stow’s crew and it was not advisable.  But then, it might be better to know where this one was and stranding him in the past was out of the question.

            “Human parents in my day have a saying for their children,” Lockhart said.  “We’ll see.”  He was not going to commit to a yes or no since as far as he knew the matter was moot.  They could not escape Jericho anymore than Cohpu or his Shemsu people could escape.

            “Fair enough for now,” Cophu said, and he looked up as Boston came tumbling back out of the house and Katie used the bread and tried to coax the wolfman to move toward the house at the same time.  The wolfman stepped back again when Boston yelled out.

            “Roland!”  Roland was still some distance away, but coming on.

 

Avalon 2.2:  Escape … Next Time

            Lockhart explained for Katie, and Roland if he did not know.  “The Elenar are one of the two primary elder races that survived the flood by moving out into space using Agdaline technology.  The Elenar are like proto-humans or Cro-Magnon.  The Neanderthals, that is the Gott-Druk you have already met.

            “And this is an Elenar ship?”  Katie was just checking.  When Lockhart nodded she asked her real question.  “Why don’t they repair it themselves?”

            “They lost a section of the bulkhead,” Cophu interrupted.  “Space got their engineering staff and most of the technical staff as well.  They still have their pilot and he can take the rest of the crew home if they have a working ship.”

            “Will you be able to fix it?” Boston wondered.

            “Replacing the bulkhead is easy.  We just use some of their inner walls and double reinforce them.  My little ones about have that done already.  And as far as I can tell, the actual explosion that blew out the bulkhead did not really damage any of their systems.  I’ll spend tomorrow doing a systems check, but I expect no problems.”  He looked over at the ship where the fires burned and the sound of the night shift could be heard in the clang of metal against metal.

            “Where is home?”  Lockhart had his head pointed up at the stars.

            “About there.”  Cophu pointed at a star, though it was hard to tell exactly which star since after the rain the sky had turned perfectly clear and cloudless and it was covered with millions of stars.

            “These are the same stars Abraham looked at,” Lincoln mused.  “And he was told his seed would number more than the stars in the heavens.  Looking at this sky I can understand why that was so hard to believe.”

            “If you don’t mind,” Cophu gave Lincoln a hard stare.  “That has not happened yet so I would appreciate you keeping such things to yourself.”

            “Right, sorry.”

            “We have broken that rule a few times so far.  Sorry.”  Boston apologized for them all as Ranna came out from the house.

            “All asleep,” she announced quietly.  She stepped over to the fire and sat beside Cophu.  She took his hand which he was happy to give her.  “I thought the boys would never get to sleep with all the excitement today.”

            Lockhart looked at Katie.  It was the first time he looked at her all evening.  She did not seem to notice, but when he turned back to the fire, she looked at him.  “Well, we have had some excitement today as well,” Lockhart said.  “We should also get to sleep if we hope to get an early start in the morning.”  He got up, said goodnight and went to the tent he shared with Roland.  Katie stood as well.

            “Coming Boston?”  Boston let go of Roland’s hand and followed.  Lincoln had his own tent at his insistence, but sometimes he slept by the fire.

            Cophu said nothing.  He did not want to jinx them.  He took Ranna quietly into the house and to bed.

            Come the dawn, there was quiet down by the Elenar ship.  The travelers packed quickly and as quietly as they could, but were not surprised to find Cophu and Ranna up to see them off.  The two held each other in the morning mist, and Ranna whispered in Cophu’s ear.

            “Will they be able to get through?”

            “I don’t think so,” Cophu admitted while he smiled and waved.

            “The trail is clear enough,” Boston said from the front.  “All we have to do is follow the trench made by all those ogres that dragged in the Elenar ship.”

            “I just hope none of those ogres stuck around after the job was done,” Lincoln said.  Boston and Roland looked back and Katie and Lockhart looked up as well.  “What?  It’s my job to say things like that.”

            “So when do you think we will reach the wall of Chaos?”  Katie asked quietly.

            “We should feel it, like coming in.  You remember, that static electricity feeling,” Lockhart answered with equal quiet, and then they rode in silence.

            The way was in truth easy to where Roland only had to ride out front a few times to check sounds in the distance.  It was all farm fields at first, mostly wheat and some rye.  The sky remained clear, and the sun came out so it got warm, but not too hot.  In all, it was a pleasant ride and all went well until Roland called the group to halt.

            “Hold your horses quiet,” Roland said softly.  He had his elf ears tuned to something.  He turned after a moment and looked at Lincoln.  “It sounds like a horse up ahead, but you better let me check it out first.”

            “That’s an order.”  Lockhart quickly spoke from the rear.  Lincoln turned with his face full of hope that it might be Alexis, but he was good and waited.  Boston, who was up front, kept her eyes on Roland for as long as she could.  She shrieked.  It startled everyone.

            “He vanished,” she said, and raced forward.  With one “damn,” from Lockhart since the others were obliged to follow her.

            “Roland?  Roland?”  Boston began to call out as she rode.

            “Roland?”  Lockhart added his voice to the call and Lincoln and Katie echoed him, but at last he forced Boston to halt.  “We may have passed him,” he said.  “We might need to turn around and check off the trail for signs of him.”

            “No.  I looked at the grain on either side as we went by.  It hasn’t been disturbed.”  Boston was in a fretful state.

            “I have to say I checked, too.” Katie spoke up.  “If he left the trail, I missed it.”

            “Wait,” Lincoln made Boston pause.  She already had her horse turned.  “What is that?”  He pointed.  It was the Elenar ship.  It could be seen even if the houses near it were still hidden by the grain.

            “We can’t have gotten turned around,” Lockhart said.  Again, Boston did not wait.  She turned away from sight of the ship and spurred her horse to a run.  Again the others were obliged to follow.

            “Roland!  Roland!”  She called, but there was no answer, and in less than ten minutes they were back at Lincoln’s spot, staring at the distant ship.

            “But we never turned around.” Katie insisted and no one argued.

            “Roland!”  Boston stood up in her stirrups and shouted as loud as she could.

            “Look here,” Katie was being practical.  Lincoln looked as did Lockhart, but Lockhart kept one eye on Boston.  “I can see where our tracks galloped off from here.”  Katie pointed in the direction that would take them away from the ship.

            “What does the amulet say?”  Lockhart asked.

            Boston paused.  She pulled it out and stared at it.  She looked up and looked bewildered and a little afraid.  “It doesn’t say anything.”

            “Tiamut’s wall,” Lincoln said.  “Apparently she did not want the elf.”

 

Avalon 2.2:  Forgotten and Unexpected … Next Time

 

            The sun was just rising when a man stepped out of the house next door and found six large and strange beasts in his barn and seven strange people sitting around a table out front having a breakfast fit for a king and a pleasant conversation besides.  He responded as anyone might.

            “Hey!  What the Hell are you doing on my property.  Who are you people?”

            AhnYani and KimKeri got up immediately and Roland ventured a comment.  “Don’t look.”

            The others were distracted, but only for a second as AhnYani and KimKeri began to glow with power and holiness.  The man fell to his knees as they neared, and he threw his hands to his trembling face to cover his eyes.  He looked afraid for his life, but all KimKeri did was bend down and kiss the man on his balding forehead.

            “Love your wife and be content,” she said.  “And stay away from the prostitutes.”

            “What’s wrong with the prostitutes?” AhnYani wondered.  KimKeri just grabbed AhnYani’s hand and brought her back to the table.  The man stood like one in a trance and went back inside his house.

            “That was very interesting,” Lincoln said.

            “I can’t eat another bite,” Lockhart suggested, and KimKeri looked at him and nodded to his wisdom.

            “We should go,” she agreed and the table and all vanished while the travelers readied their horses.

            The walk through town was uneventful.  There were times Katie imagined the goddesses made them invisible, but then there were times when they were clearly seen.  People gaped at them, jaws wide open, but no one imagined getting in their way, and probably would have let them pass without incident even if they were not being escorted by goddesses.

            When they reached the other side of the city, there were some small open fields, like public parks, and the architecture changed.  Most of the city was wood structures with thatch or clay and wood roofs that had a post-neolithic look about them.  Here, the houses were stone, and stone without mortar to hold them together, no less.  The stones looked to be fitted perfectly like they were machine crafted and surely nothing primitive.

            “These are Shemsu people, like Qito’s people,” Lincoln explained as he read from the database.

            “So they know how to work the stones,” Katie surmised.

            “And levitate them into place,” Lincoln nodded.

            “Probably built the city walls,” Boston suggested.

            “No doubt,” Lincoln agreed as they moved through a gate in that wall.  They had reached the other side of the city. 

            A small group of huts extended beyond the wall, well into the fields the people farmed like a hamlet.  “Just as well,” Lockhart verbalized his own thoughts as he looked back at the massive stones in that wall.  “I would rather have the wall between us and the city people.”  Katie, who walked beside him, nodded.

            In the very last house, as far from the city as one could go, they found two boys, seven-year-old twins   They were having a contest to see who could hold the stone in the air the longest, using only their minds, of course.  When the travelers became visible, the stone plummeted to the earth because the travelers were not all strangers.

            “KimKeri!” The boys shouted and ran up for hugs, and Kimkeri hugged them like a mother might hug her own.  They hugged her back with equal fervor before they turned to AhnYani.

            “AhnYani!”  They shouted her name in unison, too, and the goddess grabbed them and tossed them both up in the air – about twenty feet.  She caught them, of course, as they plummeted like their stone, screaming their joy and giggling like babies.  It had to be better than a roller coaster.

            “Ranna,” KimKeri called ahead toward the house.  A little girl of maybe five years came out first, and she ran as well as she could, her arms outstretched, but she caught her foot on a stone and fell.  She skinned her knee and looked up at KimKeri with tears in her eyes.  KimKeri was there and picked up the girl before the travelers could blink.  The girl’s skinned knee was instantly healed and, there is no other way to say it, KimKeri mothered all over the girl.

            A round but good looking woman came from the house with a two-year-old on her hip.  “Ladies,” she said with a slight, temporary lowering of her eyes.

            “You have company,” KimKeri pointed as she came up and exchanged kisses on the cheek.

            AhnYani bounced up with the two boys, one in each hand.  “They are Cophu’s friends from the future.”

            The woman looked at the travelers for the first time and gave them the same sort of reception she gave the goddesses.  She lowered her eyes for a moment and dipped her head ever so slightly before she spoke.

            “My husband is out retrieving some great thing, I know not.  It is outside the wall Chaos erected so he had to ask his little ones to bring it in.  He says he must fix it for the ones from far away.”  Ranna took her free hand and waved it at the sky.  “While we wait, you are welcome here.  We do not have much, but you are welcome to share in all that we have.”

            Lockhart and Katie stepped up and with a look at the side of the house, the others nodded and went to tie their horses off while Lockhart spoke.  “It seems to me if you have these two lovely ladies as friends you have everything a person could want.”

            Katie put her hand up to pat his shoulder, to encourage him.  She thought that was very well said.

            “But we see so little of our friends,” Ranna replied as she gave AhnYani the same sort of kiss on her cheek.

            “Chaos does keep us busy,” KimKeri admitted.  “El and his court can be very demanding.”

            AhnYani said nothing,  She was busy tickling the two-year-old while the five-year-old hid in KimKeri’s shoulder.

            “What are these wonderful beasts.” The boys were right there with Boston, Roland and Lincoln who looked trapped into answering.  The two boys had the three grown-ups surrounded.  Lockhart laughed at the sight as Katie spoke.

            “Chaos has threatened to use us as well, be we hope to move on in the morning.”  She looked at Lockhart to be sure and he nodded.

            “That may not be so easy,” Ranna said.  “Even Cophu is trapped by the wall outside the wall that Chaos has put up.”

            “You mean Tiamut?”  Lincoln escaped the boys and caught up with the conversation.  The two goddesses and Ranna looked at him and frowned.  Even Lockhart and Katie had avoided that name, even if just on principle. 

            “Best not to say her name,” KimKeri said.

            “She will hear you,” AhnYani whispered.

            “Ah, but here comes Cophu now,” KimKeri pointed toward a rise in the distance.  All the people could see was something was coming and it looked terribly big.

            “The ship we saw plummeting to the ground when we first arrived,” Katie said, and her hand went again to touch Lockhart’s upper arm as if vying for his attention.

            “Not a stick ship, nor Agdaline nor Balok,” Lockhart said and he looked at Katie who quickly removed her hand.

            “No, don’t you dare,” KimKeri said, firmly, but she was talking to AhnYani and did not explain what she was talking about.

            Lockhart, Katie and Lincoln watched for a moment before they turned to figure out overnight accommodations for the horses.  They pitched their tents, not wishing to crowd the home where six already crowded in.  They built a fire, and KimKeri and AhnYani provided a late afternoon feast before they said their good-byes.  It was actually several hours before Cophu arrived, and when he did he was not in a good mood at first.

 

Avalon 2.2:  The Wall … Next Time

            The travelers settled in for a bite to eat.  With Boston’s careful tending, the fire roared well for such a wet and dreary night.  The priest watched and tried the bread, but was non-committal about it all.  He stayed quiet and appeared content to listen while the travelers talked among themselves.  Roland and Boston sometimes whispered to each other.  Katie and Lockhart included Lincoln in their conversation. 

            The rain drifted away at sunset, though the cloudy night would take some time to clear.  Lincoln suggested they might see the stars by midnight, and Lockhart was ready to set the watch through the night when a group of twenty or more men arrived and Asspurbinal the priest stood to greet them.  This was what he had been waiting for.

            “Now I think you will give me everything from the future,” the priest said.  “Including your clothes that you change with a word, as I have seen.”

            The travelers stood, their weapons ready.  The men were armed with spears and clubs and several held torches against the dark.  Roland pulled his sword, pointed it at the priest and let him feel how sharp it was while Lockhart spoke.

            “Don’t make us kill all these men,” Lockhart said.  “Because we would have to kill you first.”

            “The future is not for you to take,” Boston added as she pulled her Beretta and stood close to Roland’s side.

            The priest touched the sword, looked at the travelers and thought about it while the men in the street awaited orders.  In that moment of hesitation, a woman appeared in their midst.  She was seven feet tall and glowed in the dark with an awesome presence that made her hard to look at directly.  The men stepped back and several ran.  The priest trembled and fell to his face.  The travelers recognized her and growled, having met her before.  Katie named her.

            “Tiamut.”

            “Marine,” Tiamut responded and reached out her hand.  Lockhart’s shotgun broke free of his grip and flew to the woman.  She shouldered the weapon, not expertly, but well enough to turn it on the crowd of men.  She shot three of them before they scattered and vanished back into the darkness of the city.  “I have to get one of these,” Tiamut said and tossed the weapon back to Lockhart.

            “Do you expect our thanks?”  Boston asked.

            “Elf lover,” Tiamut turned her eyes on the redhead.  “What a disgusting thought.  I like it.” 

            “Mistress,” Asspurbinal the priest could barely manage the word through a throat constricted by fear.  Tiamut bent down to him as if to whisper, though her words were loud enough for all to hear.

            “These people are mine.  You leave them alone.  Now I suggest you run for your life.”  She backed up to watch.

            The priest looked up once at the travelers, dared not look at the goddess, leapt to his feet and ran off screaming into the night.

            “We are not yours,” Lockhart said.

            “But you are,” Tiamut turned on him.  “I have a mind to keep you for a time.  Maybe not the elf.  I have no use for such.”

            “But our journey,” Lincoln was afraid to protest too strongly.  He was learning that in the ancient days it was not wise to cross the gods.  They were all learning.

            Tiamut looked at him which caused him to look away.  “Yes, your human wife and her elf father.  They were wise enough to perceive my wall outside the wall and went around.  But no, you will never see them again, not the father you fear nor the abomination you married.”

            “But my wife,” Lincoln started to speak, but Tiamut interrupted.

            “My priest is unscrupulous, greedy, manipulative and full of many such admirable qualities, but do not worry, I will set a guard for the night.  Now you must sleep and rest while I decide how I will use you.”  She waved her hand and the travelers fell to the ground where they were.  As they fell into a fitful, nightmare-filled sleep they heard the laughter of Tiamut, goddess of chaos, float away on the wind.

            Katie was the first to wake, and she found herself very comfortable in Lockhart’s arms.  In a way, she hated to wake him.  After the rough start to the night, everyone slept wonderfully well, or at least she did.  Lockhart looked to be very comfortable as well.

            “Robert,” Katie backed up a bit and shook him.  With that sound, Roland sat up on the other side of the fire.  As Katie and Lockhart separated with looks of uncertainty, Boston pulled Roland back down so she could snuggle a bit more.  She wasn’t finished sleeping.

            Lincoln in the middle had his arms around two unknown women and both Katie and Lockhart were surprised to see such a smile on Lincoln’s face.  Everyone was fully dressed, but Lincoln was grinning as wide as his face could go.

            “He is dreaming about his wife,” the blond woman spoke up. 

            “She must be very nice,” the dark haired woman added, and since the two women were awake they both sat up and then stood up.

            “I’m KimKeri,” the blond intoned in a voice deep and filled with promise.

            “I’m AhnYani,” the dark haired, well tanned woman spoke in a devil-may-care tone.

            “Young goddesses of love,” Roland was up again, and this time he stood and bowed.

            “Of the lesser variety,” AhnYani sighed like a child who was not allowed out to play.

            “And just as trapped here as you,” KimKeri also sighed like a woman who only wanted to satisfy her man.  The men heard that, but so did the women.  Katie and Boston both stepped in front of Lockhart and Roland.

            “Don’t fret,” KimKeri continued.  “We have no interest in your men.  We were sent to guard you in the night.  That is all.”

            “But our mistress did not say anything about the day.”  AhnYani spoke with glee in her voice and a twinkle in her eye.  “If we happen to be going to visit our friend Cophu, I suppose we can’t help it if you happen to follow us.”

            “Give us a minute to get our horses saddled and ready,” Lockhart replied.  He had no doubt in his mind these lesser goddesses meant what they said.

            “More than a minute,” KimKeri said.  She waved her arm and a table full of food and all sorts of delicacies appeared.  “I would hardly be worthy of the name, goddess of satisfaction if I let you go hungry.”  She waved her other arm.  “And grain for the horses.  Let them enjoy the morning.”

            “And what are you goddess of?” Katie asked AhnYani as she stepped up beside Lockhart.  Without thinking, Katie slipped her arm around the man’s waist.  He let his fall across her shoulder.  They turned their heads to each other and let their lips touch.  Then at once they separated, though it was clear that they both needed to think about what just happened.

            “Wait a minute,” Boston shouted and turned Roland to face her.  She kissed him, she did not just touch his lips, and to be fair he kissed her right back.

            “Now, AhnYani that will be quite enough,” KimKeri scolded.  “Spontaneity.  She is spontaneous joy and love,” KimKeri described her friend as she looked down at Lincoln.  He was stirring, still dreaming before he bolted upright.

            “Alexis!”  He looked around and saw Roland and Boston, the two strange women, the table filled with breakfast and Lockhart and Katie Harper who seemed to have no eyes for anything but each other, but no Alexis.  “What is going on?”

 

Avalon 2.2:  Goddesses … Next Time

 

After 3852 BC in Jericho.  Kairos life 22: Cophu of the Shemsu

Recording… 

 

            The travelers paused at the edge of the rise despite the rain and looked across the fields to the city wall.  It was mammoth, built of standing stones, and the gates looked formidable as well.

            “Bigger than anything we have seen so far.”  Roland’s voice carried through the weather.  He had the ability to make himself heard, if necessary.

            “One of Anenki’s cities come to fruition?”  Boston asked.  Roland shook his head, but Lincoln who was on the other side of her spoke up.  He had the database and was trying to read it and keep it dry at the same time.  He was not entirely successful.

            “This is older.  I think it is Jericho.  If we entered Cophu’s life early on, it has to be Jericho.”

            “Well, wherever we are, we better move,” Lockhart shouted.  “This wind is picking up.  Huh?”  He looked at Katie who nudged him on the shoulder and pointed to the sky.  There was a ship of some kind and it looked to be in distress.  They all saw it.  It was coming down through the low clouds, probably hoping to land on the other side of the city.  A stroke of lightning flashed across the sky, and the ship was gone without even telltale smoke to mark its passage.

            Lockhart said nothing and nudged his horse down the rise.  The others followed and immediately they all felt like they were passing through a gate or invisible wall of some sort.  It was an electrical tingle that touched the edges of their skin and the smell of ozone was strong. 

            “Keep moving,” Lockhart said.  They would discuss it later. 

            There was no neat path through the farmland, but they went single file through the wheat to minimize the damage.  When they arrived at the actual double-door gate in that massive stone wall, they found it shut fast.  There did not appear to be anyone around.

            “No lock to shoot,” Lockhart commented and watched as Roland got down from his horse.  Boston held the reigns while Roland studied the situation.  Lincoln and Katie tried to fend off the rain, Lincoln to keep the database dry and Katie to keep her weapon dry.  Captain Decker’s horse pranced nervously every time the lightning struck, but Lincoln kept it under control.  Lockhart sat like a stone in the saddle, but inside he felt like Decker’s horse.

            Roland raised his hands and thrust them at the door three times, hard.  They all heard the boom, boom, boom.  “Open up.”  Roland shouted.  He could make himself heard.

            They waited.

            Finally, Roland picked up some mud and spread it horizontally across both doors of the gate.  When he was satisfied with his work, he paused to concentrate.  Suddenly, he lifted his hands straight up and shoved, like he was lifting something terribly heavy and throwing it away.  Then he threw his shoulder into the place where the doors met.  Lockhart leapt to help, and in a few seconds, they had the doors open wide enough to squeeze through.  The big piece of lumber that had kept the doors locked was a few feet away.

            Roland grabbed one door and tugged as hard as he could while Lockhart tugged on the other.  Lincoln pushed his horse in and brought Decker’s horse along.  Boston followed with Roland’s horse in tow.  Katie came last.  She had taken a moment to stow her rifle and get out her pistol, just in case.  There were men in the plaza beyond the gate, and they looked afraid.  Fear, she knew, could sometimes cause people to react foolishly.

            “Friend, friend.”  Katie shouted, not sure if she was heard through the rain or understood.  Lockhart understood something.

            “Roland, you need to appear more human here.”  He turned to the group while Roland turned his back on the men in the plaza in order to affect a glamour to give himself the right look.  “Dismount.  We need to walk the horses.”  He took the reins for his horse and Captain Decker’s horse.  “Lincoln, search the database for any relevant information on this city.”

            “We go through it, I think,”  Boston spoke up after she examined the amulet.  “We might have gone around.”  Boston looked at the men while the others looked around the plaza.  “Excuse me.”  Boston handed her reins to Roland and stepped up to the men who huddled together.  Lockhart almost stopped her, but at the last second turned to Lincoln.

            “Got to get out of this rain,” he said, and that was what Boston asked the men.  One of the men reached out and touched Boston’s red hair.  Katie raised her pistol and the motion caused two other men to look in her direction.  Her blond hair was probably not a whole lot better.  But then one of the elder men stepped forward.

            “This way,” he said, and the group followed that man through a back street to what appeared to be a barn.  There was room for the horses and the group immediately began to strip them and brush them free of the wet.  The older man and one other stayed to watch.  The rest probably went back to the gate.

            “Thank you.”  Katie spoke to the men while Roland found some hay for the horses to chew.  Lincoln pulled out a fairy weave tent and made it into an awning that extended out from the barn door.  He had in mind to make a fire right there, but away from the barn if possible.

            “You are of the gods?”  The elderly man asked.  Clearly he did not understand everything he saw, but began to doubt that these people were divine.  They were soaking wet and behaved like anyone who stood for too long out in the rain.

            “No,” Boston started to answer but Lockhart hushed her with a wave of his hand.

            “We are ordinary people but we come from tomorrow.  We have accidentally fallen back into today.  We are trying to get back to tomorrow.”  Lockhart spent a long time figuring out how to say that in a way a post-Neolithic copper and soft metals civilization might understand.

            “You are from the future?”  The old man understood very well.

            “Yes,” Lockhart affirmed, though he hated the idea of saying they were trying to get back to the future.

            The old man turned to the man beside him and whispered.  That man ran off into the rain.  Then he turned to the group.  “Welcome to Jericho.  May I see the future?”

            Lockhart shook his head.  “Not advisable.”

            Lincoln spoke up.  “Keep your eyes open.  I am sure you will see some things.”  The man nodded and watched while the travelers cared for their animals, found a dry wood pile  in the back of the barn and started Lincoln’s fire out front.  They also found some lumber to sit on to keep their pants dry and off the wet ground.

            “I would recommend staying the night here near the horses,” Katie said as she sat down beside Lockhart.

            Lockhart was studying the old man but Katie’s words shook him awake.  “My name is Lockhart, and these are my companions.  Katie Harper, Lincoln, Boston and Roland.”

            “I am Asspurbinal, priest of Tiamut.”

            On the word, Tiamut, Lincoln and Katie retrieved their high powered rifles and Lockhart drew and cradled his shotgun.  Roland checked his blades, including his sword, and Boston spoke.

            “I second the idea that we stay here near the horses tonight.”

 ###

Avalon 2.2:  Chaos Inside and Out … Next Time

 

            Everyone heard the baby cry in the wilderness and eyes went wide when that cry dropped to a guttural, thunderous roar.  It was only moments before Roland’s elf eyes spied the night creatures on the road.  There were three of them.  They came to the edge of the clearing in front of Phoenix’ house and paused in the face of the barricade.       

            Phoenix let three globes of fire and light escape her hands.  They drifted slowly into the sky and acted like flares, suddenly setting the whole scene to light.  The night creatures spread out as if to approach the barricade on all three sides, but Katie and Lincoln did not wait.  They opened up with their high powered rifles, set to multi-shot.  They saw the bullets strike home, but it hardly slowed the night creatures as they charged.

            Lincoln kept up continuous fire until the creature leapt over the boxes.  It knocked two aside and crushed one and headed straight for Phoenix.  But when the creature came down from the top of the barricade, it felt Baran’s spear penetrate its throat and pop out the back of its head.  Alone, Baran might not have penetrated the skin, but the creature’s own weight killed it.  It collapsed, even as Baran’s shaft snapped and Baran was knocked to the ground with a broken rib.

            Katie also kept up her fire, but when the second night creature leapt the barricade, Lockhart managed two slugs from his shotgun.  It was not as effective as the big spear point, but it caused the night creature to stop and shake its head when it hit the dirt.  Katie spun and finished the work with six rapid-fire shots to the back of the creature’s head.

            Boston only had her Beretta, but she kept up a continual stream of fire as Roland beside her fired Lockhart’s police pistol.  The third creature was leaking blood from multiple holes when it leapt over the barrels.  Roland added his knife which he shoved deep into the creature’s hide.  The creature hardly slowed as it bumped the elf out of the way.  Roland fell back into Boston before he turned and covered her.

            Phoenix rose up and the fire danced in her eyes.  It focused in her hands, shot fire straight to the night creature’s head and turned the head to a charcoal cinder in a flash.  Everyone had to look away from the light.  Everyone felt the heat, and Baran, Roland and Lincoln all sustained first degree burns just being near.  But then it was over.

            Phoenix collapsed and had a hard time catching her breath.  Baran dragged himself to her, one hand holding his rib cage.  Boston and Katie met where Phoenix gasped and tried to help her to her feet, but Phoenix was too drained.  Then they heard the growl and every eye turned to see the rear guard.  Night creatures always sent a scout out front on a hunt and always had one in reserve.

            Katie, Lincoln, Lockhart and Boston all lifted their guns, but that was where they stopped.  No one could move, or take their eyes from the creature who sat and seemed to have gotten the message that there was no hurry.  Even Baran was stuck to the ground and only Phoenix could drag herself to the barricade for a good look.  The creature saw her, but paused to lick its paw like a disinterested cat.

            Curiously, in that moment a cat came to the edge of the clearing.  It was much bigger than a housecat – more bobcat size – but it had the look of a housecat.  It sat, front legs straight to the ground to watch the show and otherwise it remained still, apart from a small twitch in the tail.

            The night creature took note, but ignored the cat.  It looked ready to charge, but first that lioness they all heard earlier in the night came bounding right past the watching cat and headed straight for the night creature.  The creature ignored the lion.  Either it was unaware of the danger or it had dealt with lions before and found them inconsequential.  That was a mistake.

            The lioness roared as it sank its fangs into the back of the night creature’s neck.  The night creature looked surprised, if it can be said a creature can look that way.  It tried to bite off the lioness’ front paw, but its terrible jaw simply passed through the paw like it might have chomped down on smoke.  The lioness’ back legs reached from underneath and took the night creature to its back.  The lioness ripped out a huge chunk of the back of the creature’s neck in the process.  Then it tore out the night creature’s throat.

### 

Avalon 2.1:  Intervention … Next Time …

 

 

            “People.”  Roland reigned back to the others and everyone came to a halt.  The trail was not much of a trail.  It was more of a bank along a stream tributary of the Nile with a few broken branches and trampled ferns.  There were no wagons yet to speak of, and hardly the cattle and oxen to keep a clear path between villages, much less out to the outlying farms.  These were still stick farmers, punching holes in the silt deposited after the regular floods and gently planting their seed.

            Lockhart moved up to the front and Katie came up alongside Boston.  The walkers were two men and a woman in between.  The woman waved to the travelers, but Lockhart held his tongue.  It was Lincoln who spoke.

            “Phoenix?” he shouted.

            The woman nodded and when they were near enough, the old man yelled out, “Patmas!”

            “Thomen!”  One of the men waved and yelled back and named the elderly man who was barely on his horse.

            “You’re going the wrong way,” Phoenix said as she stopped in front of the group.

            “No, you are,” Lockhart responded.  “As near as we can figure, the night creatures are on the way to your house.”

            Somehow, Thomen had gotten down from Captain Decker’s horse and run to his old friend.  “Patmas, did you see me up on that great beast?”

            “How do you figure?”  Phoenix asked, and Roland explained what they saw in Thomen’s house.

            “Katie thinks Set may be involved,” Boston shouted from behind.

            “He wouldn’t dare,” Phoenix said with a sideways look at the young man beside her.  Then she added an unexpected word in English.  “Shit!”  She grabbed the young man’s hand, got up on the back of Captain Decker’s horse and dragged the young man up behind her.  He did not look too happy, but he clearly trusted Phoenix completely.

            “Lincoln and Lockhart,” Phoenix started giving orders.  “Get the old men up behind you.  We have to ride.”  Phoenix did not look too steady in the saddle, but she knew how it worked. And once the old men were up and holding on, she brought her animal to a quick trot.  The others easily kept up having ridden by then for a number of days.

            Half-way to their destination they passed the charred corpse of a night creature.  It was burnt so badly, it was almost unrecognizable.  “Yesterday.”  Phoenix shouted over her shoulder but said no more as she had to pay attention to stay in the saddle.  Patmas picked up the story and whispered in Lockhart’s ear.

            “We were headed back to the village, and though it was just dark, the moon made good light.  The creature surprised us.  Phoenix used the fires of Aton such as I have never seen.  The side of my face is red and I still see spots.”  Lockhart nodded.  Sunburn did not surprise him given the charred condition of the creature.  “But she collapsed,” Patmas said.  “We might have lost her if that kind woman and that elf had not stopped to help.”

            “Elf and kind woman?”  Lockhart glanced at Lincoln, but Lincoln was preoccupied trying to keep Thomen from falling.  The man was leaning precipitously. 

            “Yes,”  Patmas concluded.  “But they left before Phoenix could wake up and thank them.”

            Lockhart just nodded again and glanced once more in Lincoln’s direction.  Lincoln had not heard.

            When they arrived at the farm house, Phoenix got straight down and ran into the house.  The sun was setting.  By the time she came out with children in tow, Thomen and Patmas were back on firm ground, Lincoln and Boston lead the horses to tie them off in the trees where they hoped they would not become night creature appetizers.  Phoenix put the children in the hands of the old men.

            “Take them to Soteri’s,” she said, glanced at the sun and added, “Run.”  She turned then at last and introduced her young man.  “My husband, Baran.”

            “Good to meet you,” Katie responded for them all.  Lockhart and Roland were already trying to figure some way to set up a barricade at the front of the house.  They had no illusions that any barricade would stop a night creature, but they hoped to slow them enough to get off a good shot.

            “Here you go,” Lincoln and Boston came up with arms full of wood from the wood pile.  It was around the back, carefully quartered so it stacked well.  They just had to move it to the front.  With boxes, barrels and most of the furniture from the inside, they built something of a fort outside the front door.  Then, with the windows and doors open in case the creatures broke into the house to get at them from the rear, they were as ready as they could be.

            Roland hovered over Boston, but she had her pistol out and her eyes and ears open against the encroaching dark.  Lincoln, with Captain Decker’s rifle took the middle with Phoenix and Baran, who clutched his hunting spear.  Lincoln wanted to hear about this woman and her elf.

            Lockhart was inclined to pace.  Katie tried to get him to sit still, but gave up after a while.  “How long will we keep watch?”  she wondered.

            “All of us.  All night if necessary,” he responded.

            The night passed slowly.  The sounds of the Nile delta made more than one of them uncomfortable, but they had to stay awake and aware and they had to depend on their ears in the dark.  They had built several small fires out away from their fort, but the light from them was not great, and they tended to burn down quickly.  Roland was swift enough to keep the fires fed.  He was not fairy fast, but far faster than any human or presumed night creature.  Still, the waiting by contrast felt extra slow.  Everyone’s nerves began to tighten, and more than once Lincoln rubbed that tightening out of his stress stiff neck.

            Katie was never so aware that she was a complete stranger in this world, and utterly alone apart from her traveling companions.  Lincoln and Lockhart may have had some experience with these sorts of things in the past.  Certainly the Kairos knew them well enough.  And Boston, sweet girl that she was, probably dreamed about having such an adventure.  But Roland was an elf.  A month ago, if anyone said elves were real, she would have had them committed.   And more important than that, she was six thousand years from home.  She looked again at Lockhart and was glad he was there.  For the first time she also truly missed Decker.  With that thought, she put the rifle to her shoulder and strained her eyes and ears in the dark. 

            A distant roar made them all jump.  Baran said it was a lion.  Phoenix stayed quiet.  She was worried about the children.

            “I wish they would just get here,” Boston whispered.

            “I don’t,” Roland was honest about it.

 

Avalon 2.1  Defense of the Phoenix … Next Time …