Young Adult Fiction

Avalon 2.10: Born To Be Wild

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After 3383 BC in Caana/Southern Lebanon  Kairos life 30: Eliyawe

Recording…

            The travelers exited the time gate by the sea of Galilee and headed north, which was unexpected.  Lincoln had read from the database that Eliyawe lived her whole life not too far east of Salem, about where Bethlehem would be one day.  He suggested they might come out near the Dead Sea, or travel too it from the north, but that was not the case.  They were headed toward Lebanon instead, and Lincoln was searching the database to find out why.

            This was hot, dry country, full of sand even as far in the past as they were.  But it was also grasslands, suitable for simple agriculture and animal husbandry, and still sparsely populated enough so families could do very well.  They saw smoke rise from a village up ahead, but first they came to a small stream that ran into the lake.

            Boston got down and walked to the water.  She was thirsty because she was still healing.  The others and the horses waited, all having had their fill on tributaries of the Danube in the last time zone.  They took the time to look around while Elder Stow got out his scanner to get a reading on the water.  It was their habit to check the streams and ponds before drinking, just to be safe, and though they all had the necessary equipment in their bags to do so, they found it easier, and more accurate to let the Gott-Druk do it for them.

            The reading took a moment and Boston sipped a little from her hand until Elder Stow shouted, “Hold!”

            “What?”  Boston froze and looked at the Elder while other heads also turned.

            “There is something in the water.  A very complex molecule.  Give me a moment.”  Boston dropped the water from her hand and backed up.  “Ah!”  Elder Stow smiled.  “Lysergic acid diethylamide.  Not what anyone would expect.”

            “LSD?”  Lincoln spouted even as Boston started to throw-up.  Roland was right there to hold her.  Katie commented.

            “Looks like those Gaian healing chits are still doing their job, ejecting the poison.”

            Lockhart got down from his horse to hold on to Roland’s and Boston’s horses.  “Yes, but that has to be painful.”  Boston was holding her stomach where she had been wounded.  “Keep the horses back,” he added.

            “But I thought air and light were enemies of LSD,” Lincoln spoke up.  “And in the water it has to be terribly diluted.”

            “A derivative,” Elder Stow suggested, “with added properties the scanner is still analyzing.  It can occur naturally in some forms of mold that attack certain grains like rye and barley.”

            “Common grains to this part of the world,” Katie said.

            “Look.”  Captain Decker had his binoculars out and interrupted everyone as he pointed.

            Katie Harper got her binoculars and took a look before she handed them to Lockhart.  There were rabbits, a whole warren on a rise beside the stream, but they were fighting each other, and drawing blood.  Several looked dead.”

            “Madness,” Elder Stow breathed.

            “And more madness up ahead, I’ll bet,” Lincoln handed the binoculars back to Decker.

            “We are ready.” Roland helped a shaky Boston get up on Honey’s back, and they rode on, eyes open.

            They found cattle outside the village chasing their tails.  “I’ve seen this in Africa,” Lincoln reported.  “There is a kind of fly that crawls inside a cow’s ear to lay its eggs.  The larva eat the cow’s brains.  They will collapse from exhaustion after a while.”

            “But no such flies here,” Katie said.  “I hope,” and suddenly her ear itched.

            They saw no people at all when they first entered the village.  They paused at the center only when they heard yelling.  Two naked men came from behind a building and ran across the village center without so much as noticing the strangers.  They were followed by a half-dozen almost equally naked women with hoes and pitchforks.  Only one of the women stopped, turned and stared at them like she was trying to bring the picture into focus.  When she did, she screamed which got the attention of the others.

            “Monsters!”  The woman screamed the word and pointed at the travelers up on their horses.  The other women all dropped their farm-implements and scattered.  The men ran off across the open field.

            No one said anything.  What could they say?  Boston said she was feeling better and as far as she knew she was not hallucinating.  Lockhart mentioned the Gaian chits again, but otherwise they simply moved on.

            Outside the village, where it edged up to the sea of Galilee, there was a fisherman who waved to them and kept a big smile on his face. “Friend,” he said.  “Friend.”  It was Elder Stow who realized the man was speaking in English.

 ###

Avalon 2.10:  Friend … Next Time

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Avalon 2.9 Morning Surprise

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            It seems the imps and elves, goblins and dwarfs are all on the march to rescue Flern and her company.  That doesn’t get rid of a hundred Jaccar warriors, but it does make a big difference on which side has the advantage.   

###

            Katie and Lockhart sat quietly side by side and looked out over the grass as the sun rose behind them and a bit off to their right hand.  “Late fall.”  She took a big whiff of air and Lockhart nodded.

            Goldenwing was asleep, up in his tree branch.  Riah was also asleep beside her lady.  Roland slept at last when it was clear Boston was going to make a full recovery.  Decker slept fitfully, as did Lincoln.  Lincoln was probably dreaming about his missing wife, Alexis.  They could not imagine what Decker was dreaming about after five hundred years in stasis.  Elder Stow appeared asleep, but it was sometimes hard for the humans to honestly judge the Gott-Druk.  The gnomes, all on the far side of the horses, snored, and some loudly.  They might be good help with the horses, but not worth much on guard duty.

            It was up to Lockhart and Katie in the early morning, but all that changed in a second when they heard a sound with which they were all too familiar.

            “Bokarus.”  Lockhart mouthed the word even as people jumped to their feet.

            The Bokarus came screaming toward them, flying in his horrendous, ghostly form.  Vinnu screamed and this time Gunder appeared to want to join her.  But the Bokarus merely buzzed them and continued out over the river.

            “To the high ground!”  Roland shouted and others echoed the words.  Roland carried Boston to the top of the riverbank and then returned to help Flern and Riah carry Kined.  The rest were on their own.

            “Get up,” Lockhart yelled as he grabed Vilder’s hand, pulled and reached again for Pinn.  Everyone scrambled when the bokarus came again and brought a great wave of the river with him.  He shot out over the grassy field and began to circle around the field, faster and faster.

            Thrud, who was a bit slow in the morning was soaked, but at least no one was damaged by the water, or dragged under.  Katie, Riah and Flern stood side by side and wondered what the bokarus was doing. 

            “The wind created by that flying pest is almost a tornado,” Captain Decker said as he checked his rifle just in case the bokarus should solidify for a moment.  Lincoln could only nod, and he actually wished his father-in-law was there to strike the creature with a fireball.

            The grass beneath the bokarus bent and broke, and some of it began to rise up in sheets.  It took a second to realize why the sheets. 

            “Jaccar!”  Lockhart shouted.  The bokarus had removed their camouflage and likely undid an entire night of inching closer and closer.  The ones exposed that were still across the way turned and ran back to the rise and the Jaccar camp.  But the ones near imagined no alternative but to pull their knives and attack.  Guns went off.  The Jaccar fell.  The last one was hit with an arrow from Riah even as Lockhart pulled the trigger on his shotgun.  Then it was over and the bokarus was nowhere to be seen.

            “It did us a favor?”  Katie asked, confusion in her eyes.

            “No,” Lockhart shook his head.  “It just did not want to Jaccar to get its prey.”

            Katie looked at Riah and then Roland, and Roland responded and pointed at Lockhart, “What he said.”

            “Lockhart.  I promise I will do something about that bokarus just as soon as I can,” Flern said, and  Riah, Goldenwing and Pigot, who had just come tumbling up, all gasped.  The gods never made promises.  Roland just nodded and smiled.  This Kairos was fully human and as unpredictable as ever.

            “Lockhart.  How are we going to get out of this?” Lincoln asked with some exasperation in his voice.  “There are still eighty or more over there.  Eventually they will figure some way to get at us.”

            “Yes,” Elder Stow said, but he sounded a bit put off.  “How are we going to get out of this?”

            Lockhart had no ready answer, but that was fine because he disappeared from that spot and immediately reappeared on the rise overlooking the Jaccar camp.  There was a man there, crooked to look at, and he did not appear to be happy.  Lockhart had learned from past experience about unhappy gods.  He thought it best to hold his tongue.

            “You cheat.”  The god spit at him with his words.  “You killed twenty and none has gotten close enough to touch you but for that red headed witch.  And you healed her with more witchery.  You cheat.”

            Lockhart said nothing.

            “Too bad I can’t deal with you like I want.  The others have set a hedge around you and your group, even the elder among you.  And I can’t touch the Kai-gross either, nor any of hers.  It isn’t fair.”

            Lockhart looked down on the Jaccar camp.  The Jaccar did not seem to be aware that anyone was on the hill.  The god followed Lockhart’s eyes down the hill and frowned before he waved his hand and all the Jaccar and their horses disappeared.  “She will get her whole army killed before the battle even starts if I let her.  The Traveler may be her undoing and I will not be able to help her out.”  The crooked god ground his teeth.  “I suggest you leave before I think of a way to ruin your life.”  And he vanished while Lockhart turned and made the slow walk back to the others on the beach.

            They stayed one more day with Flern, to see Kined and Boston fully recovered.  “No Boston,” Flern said.  “Those healing chits were not designed for your specific genetic signature.  They will die out soon enough and you haven’t the means to grow more.  Besides, they were specifically programmed so they might not do you any good except against maybe another poison arrow in the next few days.”

            “Darn.”

            “Let us hope we won’t have to test it,” Roland added.

            “And you won’t tell me?”  Katie looked at Lockhart, but he shook his head.

            “Just one of the gods.”  That was all he ever said.  “It is hard to know sometimes.  I can see that now.  Some things the Kairos just has to find out for himself.”

            “Herself.”

            “That too.” 

            It was not until they were a half-day away, headed toward the next time gate that Lockhart finally relented.”

            “Let’s just say he is a god and he has an army.”

            Katie had to think before her eyes lit up.  “Ah!  Too bad we don’t have a Hulk.”

###

            The next time zone finds poison everywhere – the kind that causes temporary insanity, and it is in the water.  The days are hot and sweaty, and the travelers don’t have much clean water, but somehow they have to find the Kairos and hope she isn’t under the influence, and if she is, they have to hope there isn’t the usual crisis looming.

Avalon 2.10:  Born To Be Wild … Next Time

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Avalon 2.9 In the Night, Dark and Light

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            Black Sea snake.  I understand at sea they were sometimes confused with sea serpents, but they were not made to survive rifles and a double barreled shotgun.  But the travelers have virtues that most people in 3420 BC cannot imagine, and some that people in the twenty-first century might not imagine, like Gaian healing chits.  Hopefully they are transferable and will work.  Slow poison is not a good way to die.

###

            The sun fell to the western horizon, but it would be some time before they knew if the healing chits of the Gaian would be effective on Boston and Kined.  Flern stayed beside Kined and Roland stayed beside Boston, but Flern made Riah get up and help the others.  They were planning something.

            Once the dark was well along, with the moon near new so it was very dark, Riah, Elder Stow, Captain Decker and Lieutenant Harper moved slowly across the grass.  Goldenwing flew between them to keep them informed of their progress until they stopped where they formed a wall against the Jaccar camp.  Once they were set, Goldenwing flew back to start the others.

            Vilder and Pinn made three trips to the wagons where they got weapons to arm their group and plenty of rope so they could tie off the horses close to hand.  The others went after the horses that had wandered some distance as they grazed for two days.  The horses did tend to come near the wagons at nightfall, but not so much on this third night and some were afraid they might wander away altogether, 

            Kiren and Thrud caught two fairly quickly while Lockhart watched with his shotgun ready.  Gunder and Vinnu had a bit more trouble with Flern’s and Riah’s horses, not the least because Gunder kept having to remind Vinnu to be quiet.  Lincoln stayed with them, his pistol near to hand.

            It took most of the night, but between them thy managed to catch the nine horses ridden by the four couples and Riah, their elf guide.  Godenwing needed no horse.  He preferred to travel in his small fairy size and needed no more than a horse’s mane to rest in.  They did not find the six draft horses they had trained to pull the wagons, however, and expressed their fears.

            “Well, one good thing,” Gunder kept saying, “The Jaccar won’t be able to take the wagons either without the horses.”

            “I am sure they have gone back to the wild,” Kiren said.  He had been with Flern when they caught the horses and broke them to their task, but that was only a few months ago.

            Vilder shook his head.  “They may have just wandered out of range.”

            “I would have thought the draft horses would have stayed closest to the wagons,” Pinn said.

            Vilder shook his head again, but before he could speak there was a brilliant flash of light out over the grass.  It was far brighter and illuminated far more of the land than any eldritch fire or fairy light could hope.  There were gunshots before Goldenwing came racing back to the beach.

            “The Jaccar were trying to get to the wagons just as the friends of my Lady said they would.”  Lockhart got up quickly, prepared to run out to join the fight, but he stopped on Goldenwing’s word.  “Stay giant.  Your friends and weapons made short work of those few Jaccar.”  And the great light went out.  Moments later, Lockhart and Lincoln heard Katie and Elder Stow arguing. 

            “I did not know you had infra-red glasses,” Elder Stow sounded defensive.

            “Night goggles,” Katie responded.  “Standard issue for an assignment like this.”

            “As is the blast of light.”

            “I understand.  Just warn us next time before you pull out a new technological wonder.”

            “Yes.”  Lockhart could hear the strain in Elder Stow’s voice.  “Mother.”

            “You alright?”  Lincoln wondered as they climbed down the riverbank to the beach.

            “Seeing spots,” Captain Decker said with no other comment.

            “Hey, where are the draft horses?”  Riah was concerned to notice and ask.

            “If there were six, my people will bring them along, shortly.”  The voice came out of the dark before a man some three feet tall stepped into the firelight.  Three guns were immediately pointed at the man along with two bronze swords in the hands of Vilder and Gunder.  “Am I right to assume the Kairos is among you?”  That helped lower the guns and swords and Lockhart spoke.

            “She is with her husband.”  He pointed.

            “Shhh.”  Katie came up beside Lockhart.  “Boston and Kined are better and Flern is asleep.”

            Several eyes looked over into the shadowed area where they could just make out Flern resting on Kined’s chest and Roland still holding tight but tenderly to Boston’s hands.

            The guns and swords went all the way down as Pinn stepped up.  “We thank you, er … “

            “Pigot, and gnome is the general designation.”

            “Imp still,” a woman’s voice joined the party.  She was hardly two and a half feet tall and probably would not have topped three feet even if she was not so old and bent over.  “There’s imps and ogres all around, trolls and goblins underground, dwarves in the middle are ready to fight while elves and fairies live in the light.  All the sprits, too many to stand rest secure in the Kairos’ hand.  That’s called poetry.  I invented that.  What you got to eat around here?”

            “You invented poetry?”  Katie was stunned.

            “Well, Toth and that kid, Braggi helped some.”

            “We have elf bread,” Lincoln suggested.

            “And left over deer stew with something in it that used to be green.  Ouch.”  Kiren said ouch because Thrud, the cook hit him.

            “Please excuse Madam Livia,” Pigot spoke while the old imp scrambled down to the beach.  “She sees things and some think it has addled her brain.”

            “Addled my foot,” the old imp mumbled before she spoke up.  “Once an imp, always an imp.  That is an old and well known expression I just made up.”

            “Sees things?”  Katie wondered if this imp might be a seer, like the seers among the Amazons.

            The woman paused as she pulled up a ladle of the stew and turned up her nose.  “Sure.  Thirty goblins moving down the mountains in the dark.  Some fifty dwarfs marching through the hills and three dozen elves rowing down the river all planning to meet up with this caravan and bring the gold home.  I can see you will have to let me do the cooking.”

            “Bronze.”

            “Eh?”

            “We are bringing bronze home, not gold,” Pinn explained.

            “I think she means the stuff you value,” Pigot said.

            “So, do you need all six of those horses?”

            “Pigot smurf,” Captain Decker mumbled as he sat and enjoyed his stew and bread.  The others settled down and Riah went back to sit beside Flern and Kined.

            “Seriously.  There’s good eating on one of those horses.  Ever had horse bacon?  Makes my mouth water to think of it.”

            “Yes we need the horses!”  Vinnu yelled.  She was uncomfortable around the sprites and still was not even sure about Riah and Goldenwing.  She buried her face in big Gunder’s chest.  He didn’t mind.

            “Fogbottom,” the old imp swore as she pulled out leaves, whole branches and all sorts of spices from unknown pockets and unseen pouches.  “Might at least make this edible.”  She began to add them to the stew as the gnomes brought in the draft horses.

 ###

Avalon 2.9  Morning Surprise.

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Avalon 2.9 Healings

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            Obstacles and enemies overcome, and it looks like the travelers may have an open route to the young couples trapped on the riverbank.  Getting them out of there safely is a whole other proposition, especially when there are wounded who do not look at all well.

###

            Everyone looked up when they heard the loud cracks in the distance.  “What is that?”  Vinnu asked.  She was easily spooked and said she felt claustrophobic being trapped between the Jaccar warriors and the Danube.

            Flern stood slowly and walked toward the sounds.  “The cavalry,” she said, and then thought to offer a better explanation.  “Friends of mine, and maybe help to get out of this mess.”  Vilder and Pinn stepped up to flank Flern and they waited, but not for long.

            “Flern?”  The call came from a man on horseback.  Flern waved as the man stopped and dismounted.

            “Lockhart.  Good to see you.  You don’t want to be here.”

            “Lady!”  Roland interrupted and came up quickly.  He dismounted before his horse completely stopped and untied Boston’s stretcher from the back.  He floated it gently towards the waiting trio.  “Lady.  It’s Boston.  She’s been shot.”  Boston was presently delirious with fever.

            “Let me see.”  Flern stepped up as Roland butted in front of Lockhart and stepped down on the small beach. 

            “Elder Stow got the arrow out of her middle, but she appears to be getting worse, not better.  Is it an infection?  Is Alexis near?”

            “Bring her,” Flern said, but as she turned, Kined spoke up.

            “Flern!”  He called to her and lifted a hand to reach for her.

            “He has a bad fever,” Riah reported.

            “Make a place,” Flern said, and Vilder and Pinn helped so Flern could set Boston beside Kined.  “My husband took an arrow in the leg.  Doctor Mishka treated the wound so it can’t be an infection.  I don’t know what to do.”  Flern looked up at Thrud and Kiren, Gunder and Vinnu, but they were keeping back, wary of these strangers.

            “Slow poison?”  Pinn suggested.  “That is all we could think of.”  She looked up at Vilder who nodded. 

            “What is the situation?”  Katie asked as she, Lincoln and Lockhart came up.  Captain Decker was already in among the trees that grew along the riverbank, trying to see some evidence of the enemy.  There were campfires, but well behind a rise in the grasslands.

            While Roland and Riah passed some unspoken elfish words, eye to eye, Flern squeezed Kined’s hand and stood.  “Katie.  We got bronze.”  She pointed to the idle wagons out in the field. 

            “What?  No.”  Katie, the group expert in ancient cultures and technologies was impressed.  This was a big step in the development of civilization.

            Flern just nodded and fought the tears in her eyes.  “We got it to arm our people against the Jaccar.  Our village is captive to the Wicca.”  She broke down and fell on Kined.  “We have only been married a month.  I don’t want to lose him.”

            Lockhart looked at Elder Stow who was the last to vacate the edge of the grasses for the beach.  He just shook his head, sadly, to say there was nothing he could do against slow poison.

            “Alexis could pull it out the way she and Anenki’s daughter did back in that time zone,” Lincoln said.  “Maybe one of the gods?”  He looked at Flern but she sadly shook her head.

            “The gods are not permitted to interfere or Mother Vrya or Artemis would have done so.  And as for me, this is not exactly time threatening.  These are human problems and must be solved in a human way.”  Flern sniffed.  “Or not.”

            Goldenwing chose that moment to rush up.  He fluttered briefly out over the river and returned  “My lady,” he said.  “Beware.”  The water began to roll, and close to shore.  “Black sea snake.”  And the snake rose out of the water some fifteen feet in the air to hover over those on the riverbank.  It began to weave and spread its cobra-like head in preparation for feeding.  The mouth was easily big enough to swallow a person whole.

            Thrud, Vinnu and Lincoln all screamed, and Lincoln added, “I hate snakes.”  But then the snake struck.  It dropped straight toward Vinnu and big Gunder was barely able to pull her out of the way in time for the snake to eat dirt.  The snake tried to move laterally with the young woman, but there were several, sudden loud cracks, and the snakes eye poured out blood.  It squirmed more rapidly than its strike, and even as Lockhart unloaded his shotgun which turned the snake’s neck to mush, the head caught him in the shoulder, bowled him over and scratched his forearm.

            As the snake sank back into the water to die, Katie knelt down.  “Robert.  Are you all right?” 

            “Just a scratch.”  He tried to shrug it off.

            “Oh,” Riah spoke up before Roland could.  “But they are deadly poisonous.”

            Elder Stow shook his head.  “You would think being so big and all they would not need poison.”

            “Wait,” Lincoln and Pinn both spoke at the same time and pointed.  Something green and pussy formed in the cut on Lockhart’s arm.  It dripped to the ground, and then the cut began to close.

            “How is that possible?”  Vilder asked and looked at Pinn.

            “Yes!”  Flern saw and jumped up even as Lockhart explained.

            “I must still have plenty of functioning Gaian healing chits.”

            “And what are Gaian healing chits?”

            Flern took over the explanation as she examined Lockhart’s vanishing wound and his hands.  “The Gaian are humans from a parallel universe and more advanced technologically than you, Elder.  Far more advanced.  The chits are organic and microscopic and were given to Lockhart to heal his crippled back and legs.”

            “They liberated me from my wheelchair,” Lockhart confessed.

            “Lockhart.”  Flern got his attention as she made him get up and follow her to Boston.  Roland looked up at them with tears in the corners of his eyes.

            “She is passing into a coma,” he said. 

            “Do you love Boston?”  Flern asked.    

            “Yes,” Roland said, but Flern was talking to Lockhart.

            “You know I do.”

            “I don’t know if yours can be reprogrammed.  You don’t really have the seeds to grow more when yours are gone, but here is what you must do.  Think about how much you care about Boston and want to see her well.  You want the poison and infection out of her and her wound healed.  You must think that very hard and think that some of your chits go to your pinky finger.  I am going to try a transfer.”

            “Will that work?”  Lincoln was the one who asked what everyone wondered.

            Flern became flustered.  “I don’t know.  I just don’t know what else to do.”

            “I’m thinking,” Lockhart said and held out his hand. 

            “Unwrap her,” Flern told Roland and she pulled out her long knife.  Boston’s wound had festered under the bandage.  It was yellowed and wrinkled like it was too long in the tub.  Flern cut it and set it to bleeding again.  Most chose not to watch.  Then she brought Lockhart’s hand close and told him to keep thinking about healing Boston.  She gave his pinky finger a poke and a few drops of blood dripped into Boston’s wound.

            “Clean bandage.  Cover her back up,” Flern said, before she turned back to Kined and began to cry.  He was delirious, not yet at the coma stage.  She imagined it took longer for the poison to travel up from his leg.

            Lockhart leaned over to comfort her.  “I have another pinky, you know.”

###

Avalon 2.9  In the Night, Dark and Light … Next Time

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Avalon 2.9 Overstepping Boundaries

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            What have the Jaccar got against red hair?  Boston took an arrow in the middle and is laid out on a stretcher.  Decker has identified the young people on the riverbank as well as the Jaccar warriors surrounding them.  The travelers all feel the need to get to those young people and help, but it may not be so easy breaking through the enemy lines.

###

            Thrud was cooking again, though it was hard to do it well and stay behind the trees.  Her husband Kiren kept an eye out in case there was more moving grass.  Goldenwing, in his normal, small fairy size, stayed up a treetop.  He wanted to watch the field, but also the distant rise where the hundred Jaccar warriors remained hidden and were no doubt planning their next move.

            Riah the elf stayed with Flern, her mistress, and together they hovered over Kined,.Flern had immediately gone away from that place so Doctor Mishka could come and tend Kined’s wound properly.  She got the arrow out easily enough, but the hole in Kined’s thigh bled a lot, even through the doctor’s stitches.  Now Kined was sleeping because of the potion the Doctor cooked up and all Flern could do was sit and hold his hand and fret.

            “What are we going to do?”  Vinnu looked up at Gunder’s face.  He looked at Vilder and Pinn, the leaders of the expedition, not counting Flern, of course.

            “I still say we should have made barges to carry the wagons as far as we could downriver before we needed to turn inland,” Gunder said.

            “Too late for that now,” Pinn replied.

            “Besides,” Vilder spoke up he tossed a pebble out into the river.  “Flern was right about that.    All that bronze would have been too heavy for any barges we could build..”

            “But what if the Jaccar get the bronze?  How will we ever set our village free?”  Vinnu was thinking which was not necessarily a good sign.  “The wagons are just sitting out in the grass begging to be stolen.”

            “Not to mention all of our horses grazing, just out of reach,” Pinn added.

            “They probably will get the bronze,”  Gunder rubbed Vinnu’s back gently.  “But only after they kill Flern and the rest of us.”

            Vilder gave Gunder a look to suggest he was not helping.  “The object is to figure out some way to prevent that from happening.  We can sneak out after dark and arm ourselves from the wagons so maybe we can defend ourselves, but it is still ten to one against us and the Jaccar have us trapped here against the river.”

            “Hush,”  Pinn said.  “Think.”  And then Thrud spoke up.

            “Supper’s ready.”

###

 

            Roland tied Boston and her floating stretcher to the back of his horse like he would a travois.  Elder Stow rode to one side of Boston and Lincoln rode to the other side to be sure Boston did not fall off in transit.  Roland did not want to move her at all, at first.  The wound in her gut was severe, but Boston insisted they help Flern, and at present she was sleeping, and with the Gott-Druk’s anti-gravity disc holding her up so she did not bump and drag across the ground he decided she might not even know she was moving.   

            Captain Decker took the lead, though he confessed seeing things from the air was different from seeing things on the ground.  They understood, but started right out in a straight line for the river.  He said it was not far and they ought to reach the young people by nightfall, but he could not guarantee that because it might be slow going.  There would be streams and small rivers to cross where all of the water from the Carpathian mountains drained down into the Danube.  Still, he reasoned the riverside was the only way to approach Flern and her people and avoid the hundred or so warriors he saw camped out on the grasslands.

            “It would not have done any good,” Lockhart spoke softly to Katie who rode beside him.  “This is the way we would have had to go anyway, more or less.”

            “But what do we do when we get there?”  Katie asked.  “What is to prevent us from becoming trapped against the river with Flern?”

            Lockhart shook his head.  “I don’t know, but Decker, mister move on as soon as possible picked this route.  I have to assume he has some plan in mind.”

            “I don’t know.  He has changed since the eagle became his totem and he spent several centuries in that Agdaline sleeper.”

            “Changed,” Lockhart nodded.  “But still a former Navy Seal now assigned to the Marines, like special assignment.  He thinks military and I don’t suppose that has changed.”  After a moment he had a question.  “So how is it a Seal gets reassigned to the regular Marines?”

            “State Department,” Katie responded quietly.  “Embassy service available for other special assignments.”

            “Like this one, working for Colonel Weber and the area 51 crowd?” 

            Katie nodded.   “The Marine uniform is something like a disguise.”

            “And you, Lieutenant?”

            Katie frowned before she grinned, and she only grinned because she saw Robert was smiling at her.  “Pentagon, straight out of graduate school, and overdue for a promotion.  But I guess the Pentagon does not have much call for a specialist in ancient cultures and technologies.  Neither did area 51, until now.”

            “Well I am glad you are here.”

            “Me too.  I mean I am glad to be here, too.”

            They were smiling at each other when Decker rode by.  “We are supposed to be keeping our eyes open for the enemy,” he said, and rode up to Roland.  Katie and Lockhart both turned their heads to watch.  Decker pointed to the woods by the Danube.  They had come up on a small tributary.  Roland nodded and turned to the Gott-Druk.  Elder Stow got out some piece of equipment and after a quick look he also nodded.  Decker waved to them all and started up the small river away from the Danube, riding at a good pace.  They followed.

            It was a short distance before Decker turned the troop to cross the tributary.  The water in that place was slow and meandering, and not too deep.  The horses swam it easily enough and Boston stayed above it the whole time.  She had a bit of a fever by then and getting soaked would not have helped.

            Once on the other side, Decker picked up the pace and rode them angling back toward the Danube.  When he saw a place where the trees stretched out to cover some of the plains, he turned them in.  Roland rode through that small bit of woods to the other side and took Boston with him.  He pulled his bow and unsnapped his sword and knife, just in case.

            “What is going on?”  Boston asked without opening her eyes.

            “Hush,” Roland said.  “Some more of those men.  They probably had the same idea we had, to sneak up on the Kairos from the flank, er, side.”

            “I know what a fllank is,” Boston said and rolled to her side before she immediately returned to lie on her back with an expression of pain on her face.  Roland just stared at her.  The concern showed on his face.

            Lockhart and the others had tied off their horses and had their weapons ready.  Elder Stow still had that sonic device.  He had yet to show a real weapon of any consequence, though no one doubted he had one.  But Lockhart imagined the sonic device would work well on the horses, so he did not say anything.  Besides, they could hear the horses moving slowly through the bushes by the river. 

            A rock outcropping caused the horsemen to vacate their cover and move to the grasses.  There they became open season.  When they were close, Captain Decker said nothing, he just opened fire.  Lockhart and Katie might have wanted to talk first, but they had no choice but to join Decker in the slaughter.  It did not take long to down eight men, and three of the horses were down as well.

            “Jaccar,” Lincoln named the men when the firing stopped.  “According to the database they were probably under the spell of the Wicca and unable to do anything but follow orders.”

            “You mean enchanted?”  Katie used the word.

            Lincoln nodded as Decker spoke.  “So it was kill or be killed.”

            “Fair enough,” Lockhart said with a glance in Katie’s direction.  Then he exploded.  “But next time you ask me and share your information.  This is my decision.  And we don’t kill if there is any possible way to avoid it, is that clear?”

            Decker straightened up.  “Yes, sir.”  He added the sir softly, but he understood.

 ###

Avalon 2.9  Healings … Next Time

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Avalon 2.9: Dead and Wounded

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            Bronze.  Four young couples are desperately trying to get the newly discovered bonze weapons home to help liberate their village from the conquering Jaccar, only now they are trapped on a riverbank of the Danube by a hundred Jaccar warriors who want no less that to kill them all.  Little do the Jaccar know, the wagons now sitting idly beyond the reach of the couples are filled with weapons presently more precious than gold … and the travelers are riding right into the middle of it all.

###

            Boston was examining the amulet to check their direction when Roland shouted.  She was slow to react and the result was an arrow in her  gut.  She screamed her surprise before she moaned and doubled over in her saddle.  Roland quickly pulled her to the side and out of sight from the incoming arrows.

            The others dismounted rapidly and stared hard off into the forest, except Elder Stow who floated over to where Roland was gingerly helping Boston to the ground.  Captain Decker and Katie fired their rifles at the same time, before Lockhart could pull his revolver and wave them toward the trees.

            “Go,” he said.  “Lincoln, help me get the horses.”  He preferred not to watch Katie head into danger.

            “Hey Lockhart,” Boston called softly.  Her lips hardly moved and her eyes were half shut against the pain.  “Why am I always the lucky one?”  She tried to laugh, but that just made her grit her teeth and squeeze her eyes shut.

            Elder Stow leaned over her with that miraculous piece of equipment he once used on Katie and Lockhart.  As the equipment softly hummed, the arrow pulled itself out from the wound.  Then the wound slowly closed, or most of it anyway. 

            “I am sorry, my Father.  I have nothing that will really heal her.  I am no physician.  I can only hope she will recover and heal the old fashioned way, and she should, barring infection.”

            Roland cradled Boston’s head as he looked first at the Gott-Druk and then at Lockhart while tears came up into his eyes.  At last he lifted his head and howled a word into the air.  “Alexis.”  He called for his sister whose magic was especially healing magic.

            “Alexis.”  Lincoln could not help but add his voice in a call for his wife.  The difference was Lincoln’s voice was a mere human shout of frustration while the elf’s voice carried, who knew how far.

###

            Katie put her back to a tree and looked over at Decker who knelt by another tree.  Katie signaled with her hand that there were two just out from Decker’s position.  Decker signaled back that she was facing a third.  The men were bobbing up and down and craning their necks this way and that to see the trail the group had been following through the forest.  They were looking for movement and listening for the sound of horses attempting a quick getaway.  One man even had an arrow ready on his string.  Decker pointed.  Katie called out.  

              “We have no quarrel with you.  Can we talk?”  She did not get to finish her thought as the nearness of their voices caused the three men to abandon their bows, lift their spears, draw their knives and charge, screaming.

            Captain Decker pumped his fist.  Katie and Decker burst out from their hiding places.  A few quick shots and all three men lay dead a few feet away.  It all happened so suddenly, there was no time to think about it.

            “They were determined to try and kill us,” Decker said as he checked the bodies.  “I have no idea why.”

              Katie said nothing.  Elect, Marine lieutenant, impossible situation thousands of years from home all meant nothing.  She did not like the killing.

            Beyond that point, the forest petered out and it was all grasslands to the horizon.  Decker stepped out on to the grass.  Katie followed warily.  There were horses near and Katie thought about what Decker said.  She decided she wanted some clue as to why the men attacked.

            “I wonder if there are others.” Katie asked out loud.  “It may be tribal dress, but those three are dressed the same, almost like a uniform.”

            Decker nodded.  “I’ll have a look see,” he said and sat cross-legged on the grass outside the shadow of the trees.  He put his rifle in his lap, placed his hands on his knees and closed his eyes.

            Katie thought to call the others while she waited with one eye on the surrounding area, just in case.  She looked at her wristwatch and took a moment to remember how it worked.  “Robert?”  She had to wait a minute for a response.

            “Katie?  I forgot we had these wrist communicators.”

            “How is Boston?”

            “Elder Stow got the arrow out and the wound is mostly sealed, but he fears infection from the filthy arrowhead.  He has pretty much ruled out poison, which is a good thing.  Roland is with her.  Lincoln has the horses.”

            “Three here, all dead,” Katie glanced around and something in the back of her mind said there was something about the horses.  “They were all dressed the same, like uniforms even though I know we are way too early in history for such a thing.  Decker is meditating to see if his eagle eye can find more of them.”  Katie heard a sound and caught some movement from the corner of her eye.  “Out here there are grasslands for as far as I can see.  I recommend we move out on to the grasses and away from the forest where we can hardly see around the next tree.”  Her mouth paused as her mind screamed.  There were four horses.  She spun and grabbed the man’s knife hand before he could stab her in the back.  They tussled for a second which startled the horses and sent them scurrying out on to the grass.   The man tried to force the knife, but Katie was stronger.  He tried to punch her, but her foot caught the man first in the belly and sent him staggering back.

            Katie pulled her own knife rather than her gun.  She thought a prisoner might be more useful than another dead man.  He came at her again, and she blocked his copper knife with her American steel.  A few more stabs like that and the copper would snap.  Katie looked into the man’s eyes and wondered what was driving him.  What she saw was wild, bloodshot eyes that did not look entirely in focus.  He caught her look and spoke.

            “Give me the girl with the red hair.  She must die.”

            “What?”  Katie easily countered the man’s next move, and noticed his reactions were not the swiftest.

            “The red hair girl must die.  The Wicca has commanded.”

            Katie stepped up and cut the man’s forearm so he dropped his knife, but he managed to shove her back and retrieved his knife from the ground with his other hand.

            “Who is the Wicca?”

            “She is the great and mighty Wicca.  It is her great desire that the one with the red hair die.”  He charged again, and again Katie easily countered, and got her fist into the man’s face.  He staggered, but he would not fall.  He was sweating like a man with a fever.  He screamed, abandon all sense and ran toward her to tackle her, but there was a gunshot.  He spun once and plummeted to the ground.

            Katie glanced at Decker thinking it was him before Lockhart stepped from the woods.  Lincoln and the horses followed.  Elder Stow and Roland came last with Boston on a stretcher that Roland had hastily constructed.  They did not have to carry the stretcher, however, because Elder Stow rigged up his anti-gravity device to carry it on an even keel over the rough ground.

            “Perhaps if she does not jiggle around so much she may heal faster,” Elder Stow suggested. 

            “Alexis,” Roland was still calling and looking off to the horizon, but now the call was a mere whisper of desperation.

            “Robert, I was trying to take him alive,” Katie complained.

            “Sorry,” Lockhart said.  “But the Kairos, my boss said do not hesitate with anyone who is trying to kill you, and I agree.”

            Katie looked down.  “I suppose I might have had to kill him myself.  I don’t think he would have stopped until he was dead or unconscious, and I imagine it is not as easy to knock someone out as it appears in the movies.”

            “You are right about that,” Lincoln said.

            “A berserker?”  Lockhart saw the look in the man’s face and eyes and wondered

            Katie shook her head.  “Slow to react.  More like he was on drugs and maybe could not help himself.”

            “Enchanted?”  Boston suggested, though her voice sounded weak and far away.

            Katie nodded that time.  “Maybe enchanted.  Maybe enchanted by that Wicca person.”

            The others said nothing for a time.  What could they say?  It was not every day total strangers tried to kill them without any provocation and for no known reason.

            Captain Decker took that moment to stir and everyone came close to hear about what he saw, if anything.

            “Eight young people are trapped against the bank of a big river.  I assume the Kairos is one of them since they have a couple of elves with them.  Three wagons, horses hobbled, but they are surrounded by about a hundred men dressed like these.”

            “Flern.”  Lincoln pulled out the database.  “The Kairos is a she,” he clarified.  “If it is a really big river, it is probably the Danube.”

            Captain Decker nodded and got up on his horse.  The others followed and even Elder Stow got up on Boston’s horse, Honey, and with only a small moan of protest.

 ###

Avalon 2.9  Overstepping Boundaries … Next Time

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Avalon 2.9: The Army of Invention

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

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After 3440 BC in the Ukraine.  Kairos life 29: Flern

Recording…

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            Flern felt cold hands on the back of her neck.  She shrieked and jumped.  Thrud looked up from her cooking and laughed.  Vinnu, who was leaning back comfortably in Big Gunder’s arms while he leaned against a tree hid her smile.  The boys, Gunder and Kiren knew better than to smile at all, much as they might have liked.  Flern frowned, but as she looked up, Kined bent down and kissed her.  That was fine.  She was suddenly not mad anymore.  Flern and Kined had been married for almost a whole month.

            “Where is Vilder?” Kined asked as he grabbed the seat next to his wife.  Flern took his hand and smiled at her own thoughts.

            “He took Pinn past the trees to the little beach on the river,” Kiren said as he patted Thrud’s butt gently to move her over in order to snitch a pinch of the deer to taste test.

            “It’s not done yet,” Thrud protested.

            “Seems we need to throw a bucket of water on those two,” Gunder spoke up while Vinnu squirmed into a more comfortable position in his arms.

            “The river is cold,” Kined suggested, but with a look at Flern he verbalized, “The Danube,” before he finished his thought.  “Maybe we could throw them in.”

            “You’re talking about Vilder and Pinn?”  Vinnu was half-listening as usual.  No one answered her.

            “So where are Riah and Goldenwing?” Kiren asked as he retook his seat to wait for the deer to be done.  Flern said nothing.  She merely looked at Kined, let go of his hand, took his arm and inched up close beside him.  Kined tried to look serious.

            “Let me see.”  He concentrated despite Flern’s attempt to tickle him.

            Thrud spoke an aside to Vinnu.  “Riah and Goldenwing might as well pair off, too.”

            “But we are all married, not just paired off,” Vinnu responded, not quite sure what Thrud was suggesting, but by then Thrud eyed Flern who ignored her friend to focus on her husband.

            “Er!” Kined started to speak but first he had to peal Flern’s free hand off his knee.  “Riah and Goldenwing went out to hunt and scout ahead for when we leave in the morning.  They are – wait.  What?”  Kined jumped up and shoved Flern to the ground in the process.  Flern let out a shout of protest even as an arrow struck Kined in the thigh.  Kiren jumped up and Gunder deposited Vinnu on her rump in the grass as he leapt to help.

            Goldenwing the fairy zoomed up and got big so the others would be protected behind him and his golden armor.  “To the river!” he shouted as a second arrow hit the log Flern and Kined had been using as a seat.  Goldenwing pulled his bow from some invisible pocket, but Riah already had hers out and the elf maid was coming on faster than any human could possibly run.  She let two arrows fly in the span of a single breath and a grass carpet out in the open field began to rise before it fell back to the dirt to never move again.

            “To the woods by the river,” Goldenwing shouted again as he readied his bow and Riah came up huffing and puffing from her run.  She was elf fast, but she was not fairy fast.

            “Kined!”  Flern yelled her concern as Gunder and Kiren helped Kined walk to the river.  She stuck her head up, but there was another arrow.  It fell short, but Flern put her head right back down.  This time Riah and Goldenwing shot together and another grass rug stopped moving.

            “Now.”  Riah nudged Flern with her foot, but everyone paused when they heard the sound of thunder coming on fast.  Flern stood, but someone stood in front of her.  It was Vrya, the Aesgard goddess of love and war. 

            “My son,” Vrya said and touched Flern’s face gently.  “Even when you are my daughter.”  The goddess smiled and another figure appeared.

            “I don’t belong here,” Artemis said.  “I just came to tell you if you have to escape across the river I could maybe help.”

            “I invite you,” Vrya also smiled for the Olympian.  “As my sister among the Amazon, you are welcome to kill as many of these men as you wish.”  And with that word more than a hundred horsemen came into view, in a full charge.  Goldenwing and Riah could only stare in awe as the two goddesses looked at each other before they let loose a virtual rain of arrows on the oncoming horsemen.  It was only moments before those horses turned toward a distant rise they could hide behind.  They abandoned their dead and wounded as they rode for their lives.

            The goddesses stopped firing at once and their bows disappeared as they turned toward Flern.  Vrya slipped one arm around Flern’s shoulder and Artemis slipped her arm over from the other side.  In this way, the goddesses turned Flern toward the river and spoke as they walked.  Goldenwing, fairy small again sat on Riah’s shoulder and they followed.  The cooking fire with the deer still cooking away also followed them to the riverbank.

            “I shouldn’t be here,” Vrya said.

            “I really shouldn’t be here,” Artemis repeated herself with a nod.

            “But maybe if these Jaccar think we are still here, they won’t try another charge.”

            “I can’t speak for the ones in the grass.”  Artemis glanced around.  It was all grasslands apart from the trees that lined the riverbank.  The three wagons that carried the bronze making equipment and bronze weapons that Flern and her friends were trying to get home to liberate their village from these very Jaccar sat idle in the grass.  All of the horses Flern and her crew rode and with which they pulled the wagons also grazed essentially undisturbed by what just happened.

            “Of course,” Vrya spoke again as they stepped behind the trees.  “Since I am not really here, you will have to find your own way out of this mess.”  She kissed Flern on the cheek and vanished.

            Artemis turned to face Flern.  “Sorry about your man getting shot.  Probably another reason why I don’t want one.”  Artemis smiled for Flern like it was some kind of inside joke.  “But seriously, if you decide to cross the river, I will help.”

            Flern looked back across the grass toward the rise that hid the Jaccar.  “It may come to that, but first I have to do everything I can to keep the bronze from falling into Jaccar hands.  They are a terror with stone and copper.  With bronze they would be unstoppable.”

            Artemis merely nodded and planted her own more tentative kiss on Flern’s cheek before she vanished as well.

            Flern paused and looked around.  She was at the bottom of the four foot river bank beneath the trees.  The deer was still cooking at the top of the bank, above her shoulder in a slight clearing among the woods that she never noticed before.  Kined grinned for her though his pain and the others all looked at her, including Vilder and Pinn who had obviously dressed quickly.  Flern frowned again.

            “Okay,” she said.  “How do we get out of this one and keep the bronze out of Jaccar hands?”  That was all she could say before she stepped over to Kined to hug him and cry all over him. 

###

Avalon 2.9:  Dead and Wounded … Next Time

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Avalon 2.8: The Journey

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            Serious war, maybe nuclear looks to be on the horizon, hovering disaster over the poor human race, still living with sticks and stones.  The Kairos has to do something, and meanwhile he has to depend on the travelers to get his people to safety, if any place is really safe.  For the travelers, though, their main job is to get safely back to the twenty-first century, and they understand that sometimes it means they have to move on to the next time gate as quickly as possible.  Sometimes sticking around won’t help, it will just get them all killed.

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            There were ninety three people on the journey that originally started somewhere along the coast of Colombia, South America.  Several died along the way, but there were still a number of older people who were not in the best of shape to be making such a journey.  There was not much the travelers could do when the jungle was thick and passage became a matter of cutting a way through, but when they crossed the meadows and open spaces, which was about half of the first day, they let the older ones ride, and then of course all of the children wanted a ride.  Boston and Lincoln did not mind leading the horses so Lockhart and Katie, Roland and Decker could keep their weapons ready.

            They camped that night at the edge of the trees and in the morning they awoke to a thick mist and a slight rain.  It rained on and off the second day and that made everyone cranky and short tempered.  They stopped early and with the help of Roland and Boston, and Maya of course, they got some good fires burning.  But no one really dried off much and that night they all went to bed early and miserable.

            The sun came out on the third morning and Maya said they were getting close to their destination.  She suggested they might arrive by evening if all went well.  Naturally, within an hour they found their way blocked by some thirty men carrying spears and sporting sharp stone knives.

              The men in the traveling group, which numbered about the same as the opposition, grabbed whatever weapons they had and presented a wall against the locals.  It was obvious Otapec’s people had faced this sort of confrontation before in their long journey.  Thus the two groups of warriors stared at each other, spear to spear and eye to eye.  The people were like statues trying to stare each other down when Decker, Lockhart, Katie and Roland stepped between them.  Lincoln and Boston were a bit delayed because of the horses, but Maya was not slow to arrive.

            “No!”  She shouted at everyone, and the men who blocked the path took a few steps back as she revealed a smidgen of her divinity, before one stepped forward and pleaded.

            “But this is our land.”  The man whined. 

            “Enough people have died,” Maya said softly.

            One idiot who might have been inspired by fear, threw a spear at the travelers.  Maya had her screen up so the spear bounced off that invisible wall and fell harmlessly to the ground.  It did not matter.  No one else was watching.  Instead, they had their eyes on Maya and the man who appeared out of nowhere beside her.  Then the man changed into another man and gave the goddess a kiss.

            “Opi,” Maya smiled.

            “Lockhart, you have a visitor.” Otapec said with a sly look over his shoulder.  It was only a moment before a great snout stuck out from the trees.  The dragon spoke, in the Agdaline tongue of course so no one but Otapec, Maya and the travelers understood what the creature said.

            “Mama.  Hurting.”  The other people all took a big step back because it sounded something like a roar to them.

            “Puff,” Katie said.

            “No fire.  No harm.”  Lockhart spoke quickly as Puff crawled up slowly.  The whole lower half of the worm had first and second degree burns, an oddity on a dragon.

            “What is that smell?”  Boston asked.

            “Leakage,” Otapec said as he left that place and Kartesh once again stepped into his world.   “I’m no healer.  Maya.”  Kartesh stepped to the invisible wall and spoke in Agdaline.  “Friend.  Friend.”

            Puff glanced at her through the tear in its eye.  Lockhart reached out to touch Puff’s nose.            “But I have to keep an eye on these hunters,” Maya said.

            “What hunters?”  Decker asked.  The men that had confronted them were presently running all out across the meadow and away from the travelers and their pet dragon.

            Maya caught up in a second and with Kartesh they healed the wound in the dragon’s side while Kartesh explained something about dragon anatomy.  “Their peculiar digestive system produces a mix of gases, mostly hydrogen, that collects in a bladder that runs the whole length of the worm body.  The hydrogen helps them go aloft, like a balloon, but like the old Zeppelins Doctor Mishka is so familiar with, the gas is highly flammable.  They have to expel some now and then to keep from getting bloated.  They have two things, like bones in the throat, that ignites the gas like a cigarette lighter when expelled.”

            “Why don’t they blow up?”  Lincoln asked.

            “A simple flap,” Kartesh answered.  “Not unlike the one you have that lets you breathe into your lungs but swallow into your stomach.  It prevents the flame from riding back into the bladder.”

            “So if they breathe too much fire they might have a hard time getting off the ground.  Boston was thinking.

            “Yes, but for most the sensation of being bloated is worse.  They hibernate when well fed, sometimes for years.  You can imagine how bloated they get and how much they need to expel when they first awake.  That is why it is not wise to wake a sleeping dragon.”

            “There,” Maya said, smiled and stepped back to examine her handiwork.

            “She will still need healing time.  Some of the burns were very severe, but it won’t be so painful.”

            Puff suddenly opened his mouth with all those teeth.  Lockhart snatched his hand back and wondered what on earth he was thinking to get as close as he was, but only a tongue came out and gave Lockhart a warm and wet lick.  Luckily, the kiss was smeared on Maya’s invisible wall which was still up.

            Opi came back and gave Maya a big kiss before he kissed his children and spoke to the travelers.  “Lockhart, I’m sorry.  I imprinted Maya on the dragon’s mind so she will be her Mama now, and my children will be like dragon babies to Puff.  Dragons naturally avoid flaming each other.  Meanwhile, things are just too complicated now.  Maya will bring the people the rest of the way, and by nightfall.  Your way is North, the way those tribesmen went, so keep your eyes open.”

            “Can’t we help?”  Katie asked.  Otapec shook his head.

            “I will be moving instantly south to try and keep the Sevarese and Pendratti from destroying each other in some cataclysmic way.”

            “My people?”  Elder Stow asked as he lifted from the ground to hover in flying position, ready to go. 

            Otapec asked a question in return.  “Are you learning anything?”

            Elder Stow paused to think.  “That human life on this earth is as you say, complicated, and not so easy.  And maybe some respect for my family group, but I would hesitate to say that.”

            Otapec nodded.  “Your people are best kept out of it for as long as possible.  When war erupts and the Pendratti face the Sevarese and Blueblood alliance it gets bad out there for a long time.”

            “But my people recover.”  Elder Stow made a statement, but it sounded like a question.

            Otapec nodded again.  “As do the Elenar and many of the other, lesser people that get involved, but there is silence in space for hundreds of years except for the homeless Agdaline ships moving slower than light with their dragon guardians.”  Otapec drew in his breath slowly like one who hated killing, death and destruction 

            “Mount up,” Lockhart commanded, and everyone complied. 

            “I will be transporting about twenty miles south so you will find the gate much nearer than you might think.  Blessings,” he said as he became someone else and vanished from that place.

            Boston pulled out the amulet and checked.  They would also be at their destination by dark.

            “Good-bye.”  Kuican shouted from his mother’s arms, and everyone said the same and waved.

            “Chac.  Take care of your sister, Ixchel.”  Katie shouted back.

            “I have two sisters now,” Chac shouted, and they understood that Puff would slither along beside them

            “Good-bye Puff,” Lockhart yelled before they moved out of earshot.

            Puff made an unintelligible sound and let out a bit of fire which barely warmed the grass.  It was a pitiful thing, but the dragon would heal.

###     

            Bronze was the first true wonder material of the ancient world.  Unfortunately for Flern, she had to travel a long way to get some weapons and now needs to travel a long way home.  This gives the Jaccar warriors who have her village enslaved time to find her and stop her.  The travelers just escaped out of one potential conflict only to get embroiled in another.  It is has Lincoln has said.  The Kairos tends to live in the midst of the hurricane. 

Avalon 2.9:  Army of Invention … Monday …  

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Avalon 2.8 Flight

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            So the Pendratti want the travelers for some unknown “experiments,” but there is a Gott-Druk presence on the planet as well, and they don’t appear to be Pendratti friends, especially after they find Elder Stow with the travelers.  Before hostilities can break out, however, a young dragon interrupts everyone.  This suggests there are Agdaline around as well.  It also suggests things are heating up.

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            Once they returned to the elders on the hill who appeared to be unmoved, eyes staring, mouths open exactly as they last saw them, and Otapec praised and hugged his children for being good, and Maya collected Kuican to sit in her lap, Otapec finally got around to the introductions.

            “This is Lincoln, the one who knows more than you can imagine.  He is the one in search of his wife – a trail that is not easy to follow.  Beside him are his friends and fellow travelers.  The one with fire red hair is Mary Riley that everyone calls Boston.  In truth, though, she is the witch, Little Fire.  Her betrothed is the spirit of the earth, Roland.  The Gott-Druk is Elder Stow, pledged to be good in my hearing.”  Otapec paused only a second to stare at the Gott-Druk.  “He is like the others, from the far future and trying to get home.  The one with the yellow hair is Katie.  She is an elect, one in a million, and could have beaten Shushak in a fair fight.”  Maya smiled.  The elders gasped.  They knew who Shushak was.  Otapec turned to Katie.  “Of course, Shushak did not fight fair.  And by the way, if you are tired of the Marines you can come to work for me.”

            Katie smiled.  She knew she had to be invited.  “I would like that.”

            “Of course that means Lockhart will be your boss.”

            Katie paused and looked at Lockhart before she responded.  “I would not mind.”

            Otapec went on.  “Captain Decker you know.  But what you do not know is he is Farsight, the man of the eagle.”  Otapec turned to Lockhart.  “He cannot really see what is ahead, especially through the trees or behind the rocks, but he should have the skies covered.”  Lockhart nodded as Otapec introduced him last.  “And the leader of this migration back to the future is Quetzalcoatl, the man of the feathered serpent.  Note the beard and scruffy look.”

            “Quetzalcoatl?”  Katie asked.

            “Mesoamerican feathered serpent god,” Lincoln explained.

            “I know that.  But Quetzalcoatl?”

            Otapec nodded.  “I just figured that out.  Though he goes away, he will come again.”

            “Clever,” Lockhart said and did not object.  He turned instead to Boston.  “Hey Little Fire.”  He waited.  “Boston.”

            “Sir?”  Boston whipped her head to look.  She was busy holding Roland’s hand.

            “Why don’t you light the bonfire?”

            “Good idea,” Otapec said as he sought a seat next to Maya.  That was not easy to do.  Ixchel had squeezed between her mother and Katie.  Kuican was wiggling in his mother’s lap.  Only Chac was being good, but that was because he wanted to see Boston light the big fire.

            “Just think about it as a done deal,” Roland encouraged, but Boston was a bit miffed by his words.  She was starting to think of herself as beyond the beginner stage, even if not very far beyond.  And perhaps like a growing child, she wanted to do it herself.  She pulled out her wand and focused for a second before one wave of the wand sent a torrent of flame toward the piled wood.  It was enough to singe the end of her own wand.  Chac appropriately said, “Wow!”  Roland had something else to say.

            “I would mention that it helps if you calm your spirit first, but you would probably be mad at me for saying it.”  In the empathy that the little spirits of the earth generally show, he caught her unhappiness with not being allowed to do it herself.

            Boston looked at the elf, her brow furrowed.  But then she lifted herself with her toes and put her lips on his.  Chac appropriately said, “Eww,” and returned to sit with the others.

            That night it was deer and corn, and everyone was happy.  Katie asked if Lockhart named his dragon pet.

            “Puff,” he said.  “I was going to name it Bob but that name is already taken.”  He took Katie’s hand.  Boston and Roland were holding hands as well.

            “Opi,” Maya took Otapec’s hand and placed it to her belly.

            “It’s too early for there to be any movement,” Otapec said.

            “Who said I wanted you to feel the baby?”

            “Hey,” Lincoln interrupted.  He was into the database and ignoring the lovers lest he become morose about his missing wife.  “It says you are taking these people to Veracruz.”

            “That general area,” Otapec said as he slowly took his hand back.  “These Shemsu are the remnants of Qito’s people who fled north the last time the Agdaline were in town.  They will increase in numbers over the next 1500 years, and without much intermarriage with the natives, but by then they will form the foundation of the Olmec culture.”

            Lincoln switched off the database and spoke.  “Fifteen hundred years, maybe, but I can’t imagine they will still be pure blooded in four thousand years.”

            “They won’t,” Otapec admitted.  “But there will be enough to build the pyramids so well known in the Yucatan and Guatemala as well as the stone structures in Mexico.”

            “You mean the Mayan pyramids?”  Boston asked.

            Maya looked at Otapec.  “My own people?”  She looked shocked and thrilled by the idea.

            “Shh!”  Otapec scolded Boston.

            “And the feathered serpent?”  Lockhart asked.

            “Prominent, with Decker’s helmeted marine head.”  Otapec smiled.  Decker did not flinch.  “After all, it was all they could see for five hundred years.”

            “The colossal heads!” Katie shouted her revelation, though she did not intend to shout.

            “Incoming.”  This time Decker and Elder Stow spoke at the same time, and everyone stopped to watch.  Eleven perfect and spherical lights came down below the clouds and wound their way slowly across the horizon.  It was impossible for the people to know how big those ships were, but the travelers had seen them on the ground and knew in the vastness of space, while the Agdaline slept in their cryogenic chambers, they carried dragons who roamed the halls and guarded the sleepers against intruders.

            “They will park near the scout ship, the ship Puff came from,” Otapec said as he slipped his arm around his wife.

            “Pendratti, my people and now Agdaline,” Elder Stow said.  “Looks like things are getting complicated.”

            “Looks like,” Otapec agreed.

###

            In the early morning just before the sun broke above the horizon, Lockhart’s sleep was rudely interrupted by the sound of a siren.  Elder Stow had sensors on the horizon, just in case.  Captain Decker was also up and rousing the travelers.  Opi and Maya were already helping the people get up and ready to flee.  This did not appear to be a visit.  These were one and two man fighter ships.

            Maya must have waved her hand.  The fires all went out and the tents were all packed and ready to go in an eye blink.  Lockhart found himself lying on the dew filled grass.  “I guess I might as well get up,” he said, and he saw the people streaming toward the far woods.

            “Boston,” Lockhart yelled when he caught up.  “A glamour would be nice to make them think they are hitting the target.”

            Boston looked at Roland.  Roland shook his head.  “Even our magic combined could not conjure something like that.”

            “Good idea,” Otapec said as he and Maya ran up.  Maya waved her hand and the camp appeared on the hillside just like it was before dawn.

            “The people images will replay the last hour and react naturally when attacked.  They will run for the woods everywhere except this direction, and some will appear to die when hit.”  She smiled at her own good thinking. Roland and Boston could only stare, mouths open at how easy such a thing was for a goddess.

            The people moved through the jungle, but Lockhart, Decker, Katie and Otapec stayed by the edge to watch.  The fighters were sleek and swift, and they knew how to dive bomb.

            “Not Balok,” Decker said, though he knew the Balok were no more.  “Certainly not Agdaline,” he added.  There were some explosions as the fighters shot some air-to-ground missiles.  They were not content to let their laser-like weapons set the tents and field on fire.

            “What is that?”  Katie pointed.  It was small but coming on fast.

            “Puff,” Lockhart saw.  “No.  Get away from there.”  He raised his voice but he knew the dragon would not hear him.

            Puff fried the first fighter, though he took a laser shot to the middle.  One of the fighters turned and managed another prolonged shot at the tail.  Despite all the fire-proof feathers, Puff clearly felt it.  His back quarter was fried.  He squirmed like a worm caught in the sun, and in this way he collided with the third fighter.  That fighter plummeted to the ground and exploded while Puff rushed off, terribly burnt and bleeding.

            “Will he survive?”  Katie asked.

            “I don’t know.”  Otapec could only shake his head while the last of the fighters shot for home.  “I expected a Pendratti reaction but not this quickly, only –“  He let his voice go silent while he put a hand to his chin.

            “Only what?”  Lockhart asked.

            “Only they were not Pendratti fighters.  They were Sevarese.  That makes four species right here, right now.  If the Elenar and Bluebloods show up we could have a full scale war break out, and that would not be good.”

            “What can we do?”  Katie asked.

            “Help the people reach the Coatzacoalcos River and settle there.  Let Boston and Roland and Decker, you take one side of the migration.  Lockhart, you, Katie and Lincoln take the other.  Tell Elder Stow to monitor the skies, and remind Maya she needs to keep her screen like a dome over the people when you cross open ground.  There are some native tribes between here and there, and while I don’t expect hostilities, you never know.  Some firepower to guard the flanks will be most useful.”

            “What will you be doing?”  Katie asked.

            “I will be trying to send people off planet before a real war breaks out and goes nuclear.”  Suddenly, Otapec was no longer standing there.  It was another lifetime of the Kairos, but they were not sure exactly who as he vanished immediately.

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Avalon 2.8:  The Journey … Next Time

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Avalon 2.8 Visitors

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            The travelers get Captain Decker back, even if they are still chasing Lincoln’s wife, Alexis, and her father Mingus.  What is more they appeared to have landed in a friendly group of natives.  Ordinary travelers might expect to relax and rest, but they know this is a lifetime of the Kairos where trouble and danger are the norm.  Besides, there are walking and talking reptiles out there, somewhere.

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            After the awakening, Katie kept one eye on Decker.  The others seemed unconcerned.  They stepped over to Otapec’s fire and told stories and laughed, but Lieutenant Harper felt she needed one eye on her Captain.  He had been out of it for a long time. 

            The man said little after he awoke, but then Decker was a person of few words so that was no surprise.  He saw to his horse, the one that was tied to him by the Kairos – the one he named after Colonel Weber.  Decker was all business with the horse, but Katie imagined if the horse had been a dog it would have licked his face.  After that, Decker hardly paid any attention to Elder Stow, as if having the Gott-Druk around was no big deal.  He also did not appear surprised to hear that Alexis and her father Mingus were missing again.

            “The more things change,” he spoke in clichés and sat by the fire to meditate.  That was the oddest thing of all.  Katie had no idea the hard boiled Navy Seal even knew what meditation was.

            “People.”  Otapec got everyone’s attention.  The elders of the natives and the Shemsu were approaching and it was time for introductions.  To no one’s surprise, the elders all bowed to Maya first of all though she blushed and turned her eyes to her Opi.  Otapec just smiled for her and opened his mouth when Decker finally had something to say.

            “Incoming,” and he added, “The more things change.”  Fortunately, he did not finish that cliché.  He could not as the sound of retro rockets echoed across the field.  A shuttle was coming in for a landing.

            Everyone grabbed their weapons while Maya strictly charged Chac and Ixchel to keep Kuican in the circle of the elders.  When they were ready, Otapec lead the troop down the hill to see the visitors, and he whispered in Maya’s ear as they went.

            “No!”  Maya spoke as if she was shocked to hear what Otapec suggested, but she said no more.

            They had to stand and wait for a while. 

            “System shut down,” Lincoln suggested.

            “Scanning the area for hostiles,” Lockhart offered.

            “Only us,” Decker quipped and gave his rifle the quick once over to be sure it had not been damaged in his five hundred year absence. 

            Finally the hatch of the shuttle came down and six Pendratti came out from the inside.  The four that looked military escorted the two the travelers had met in the jungle.  They young one was still juggling some sort of equipment.  The older gray one was smiling again.

            “And see?”  The gray one spoke.  “Here are exactly the ones we are looking for.  This matter should be resolved easily enough.  Bring them inside.”

            The young one smiled this time and showed all of his sharp teeth while he fiddled with some controls on his equipment.  Lockhart, Lincoln, Katie and Boston all stiffened.  They began to move toward the ramp and Maya reacted.

            “No!”  She shouted and gave a curious look to her husband who stood quietly, arms folded, watching.  The connection with whatever had the travelers in its grasp broke instantly, and the people stopped moving.  Boston and Lincoln backed up a step.

            Elder Stow and Decker had something else in mind, but Decker was quicker.  He put several bullets in that piece of equipment, and fortunately he was a good enough shot not to harm the Pendratti holding it.  The startled Pendratti dropped it and it shattered against the shuttle ramp.  The gray one frowned, but the guards all drew their weapons.  One overreacted or panicked and pulled the trigger.  A blast of some kind struck a screen a few feet in front of the travelers where it was completely stopped.  Maya looked at Opi, again.

            “My husband is so smart,” she said softly before all words were silenced by the roar of a second, smaller shuttle that rocketed to a landing less than a hundred feet from the Pendratti shuttle.  No one was surprised when three Gott-Druk emerged holding tight to weapons of their own.

            Elder Stow stepped forward before the guns started firing and he shouted as loud as he could.  “I said these people are under my protection.”  He looked at the elder Pendratti.  “And the reason I repeat myself is because you seem to have trouble with your hearing.”  That appeared to make the Pendratti elder angry, but the Gott-Druk who saw him and heard him relaxed a little.

            All this while, Otapec stood still and said nothing.  Maya looked at him again and started to ask a question.  “Should I –“

            “Yes.”  Otapec interrupted.  “Keep it right where it is.” Otapec heard something and he knew what kind of creature made such a sound.  Even as Elder Stow threw his hands up and the Pendratti and Gott-Druk sounded ready to get into a great argument, a five foot wide head stuck out from the trees right between the two ships and two arguing parties.  A roar was followed by a burst of flame.

            Both Pendratti and Gott-Druk darted for the safety of their ships.  The fire headed straight for the travelers but was stopped by Maya’s screen which she kept in place as instructed. Still, the travelers all stepped back except for Lockhart who curiously stepped forward.

            “Do no harm!  No Fire!”  Lockhart yelled in the Agdaline language which he dredged up from some back corner of his mind.  “No harm.  No fire.”

            The worm inched out from the trees and Katie remarked, “Why it is still full of feathers like a baby.”

            “Baby,” Lockhart said the word in the Agdaline language and repeated himself once more.  “No fire, baby.  No harm.”  The dragon dropped its chin to the ground and then slowly slithered forward as Otapec finally spoke.

            “This kind doesn’t have much in the way of legs or arms.  It truly is more worm-like.”

            “But aren’t feathers dangerous for fire breathers?”  Katie asked.

            “Not real feathers despite the look and feel.  They are more like asbestos, fire-proof and toxic if taken in large doses, by the way.”

            “But I thought the Agdaline ejected the adults in space before landing.”  Boston looked at Otapec who crossed his arms again as he spoke to her. 

            “They trap one or two in the airlock to release when they set down just in case their reception is not so friendly.”  He stepped up to his wife and kissed the back of her neck.  She wiggled, but was occupied with something.

            The worm reached Lockhart who repeated the word, “Baby.”  He reached out his hand and Maya’s shield gave way at the hand so Lockhart could stroke the dragon’s nose.  The dragon purred, a deep, throbbing sound.  It was not the lyrical song of the babies, but only because this one was larger and more mature.   

            Otapec whispered in Maya’s ear and she spoke.  “Find deer.  Eat deer.” Maya said, and Lincoln looked back toward the horses.

            “I hope it knows what deer is.”

            “Go.”  Lockhart said.  “Fly.”  He looked at Otapec who nodded.  They might not have much in the way of legs and arms, but there was nothing wrong with their wings.  The dragon rose up in a bit of a whirlwind and flew off without looking back.  After that, the Pendratti were the first to leave.  The Gott-Druk followed.

            “Well!”  Captain Decker said as he shouldered his rifle.  “I guess you will all have to tell me what I missed after all.”  He stared for a moment at Elder Stow before he stared more deliberately at Lieutenant Harper.

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Avalon 2.8 Flight … Next Time

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