Young Adult Fiction

Avalon 2.6: The Battle for Freedom

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            Apparently, getting out of the war zone did not get them out of the war.   The enemy is guarding the time gate.  There is no other way around it.  Someone is going to have to move or the travelers will never get home to the future.

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            Katie handed her binoculars to Boston as she spoke.  “If they charge, they will run into a wall of arrows here at the edge of the trees and we will be able to get behind them.  If they dig in we will be here a while picking them off one by one.”

            “And if they do both?  Won’t that put Ivy at risk on his own rear?” Lockhart asked.

            “I can see that,” Ivy said.  “But we can watch for that.  I think this is the most brilliant plan I ever heard of.  Who would think of circling around to hit the enemy from the front and rear at the same time?”

            “War is still a relatively new business in the world,” Lincoln suggested as he put down the binoculars he inherited from Decker.  “Anger, fighting, tribe on tribe sure, but tactics?  This scale of war is probably unknown.”

            Boston lingered.  She was looking at the gate, perfectly framed by two great oak trees.  She guessed one of the gods or titans caused the trees to grow and caused their branches to curve and meet overhead.  The space was three riders wide and twice as tall as a horse.  She could see the slight shimmer in the air under the cloud-filled sky.

            “Boston,” Lockhart called and she scooted down the glacial boulder that was their spy perch.  She knew the plan was good, but it was going to take some timing with untrained people.

            Ivy and Holly got a full hour to explain the idea to their people.  Elder Stow spent that time with the help of Gimble and Linnia pinpointing the lesser spirits among the enemy.  His powerful weapon would be needed to take out as many of them as possible.  When he mounted his horse he expressed his reservations.

            “They would be fools to charge us when they have the strong position.”

            “Then we must hope they are fools,” Linnia said, and then Holly and Ivy were ready.

            The travelers on horseback rode out from the trees at some speed.  They had to act like this was the first time they saw the enemy and also make it look like it took thirty yards or so to get their horses to stop the forward motion.  They wanted to get close enough to present a tempting morsel for the enemy to bite.  Immediately, the travelers began to fire their weapons and men and spirits in the flesh began to drop.  Elder Stow was more deliberate in selecting his targets, but hopefully no one noticed in the midst of the confusion made by the guns.

            It did not take long for the enemy to respond.  They charged full out.  Only a half-dozen men and a couple of spiritual creatures remained to guard the gate.

            The travelers turned their horses and rode.  They knew some of the spirits would outrun the men and only hoped they would not outrun the horses.  When they rode into the forest and turned again, they saw the devastating effect of their plan.  Holly brought twenty-five fee from one side and Ivy brought twenty-five from the other so they met at the rear of the charge.  The enemy became covered with volleys of arrows from the hundred Little Ones at the edge of the trees and fifty at their rear.  Some near the sides managed to scoot out from the trap, but they simply ran for their lives.  Half of the enemy lay on the field, dead and dying, and the two sides never actually met.

            The ones left by the time gate realized they were too exposed by the oaks.  They moved aside to take up residence in a cluster of nearby rocks.  It was a wise move, but it allowed an opening that Lockhart was quick to exploit. 

            “Ride!” he shouted, and the travelers rode full speed for the gate.  They shouted as they went.  “Good-bye, thank you, good luck.”  They zipped through the gate into a world of grass that stretched out before them in small, rolling hills that looked like waves at sea.  Lincoln was content to ride straight on until morning, but Lockhart and Katie knew better.  Roland also knew better so he turned back and Boston followed him, and that left Lincoln and Elder Stow in the rear and grumbling.

            A lesser spirit, a harbinger of death that would one day be called a banshee followed them and three men followed the banshee.  The travelers could not take their eyes off the men as the banshee spoke.  Those men aged at least fifty years in a matter of seconds.  Two fell to their knees in pain and clutched their chests.  One fell to his face like one already dead.

            “The two before you escaped before we came to guard this place,” the banshee whined in a voice that made the travelers open their eyes wide and grind their teeth.  “You will follow me down into the land of the dead.”

            “And where might that be?” Roland asked as he came up alongside Katie. 

            The Banshee paused, floated up about three feet in the air, let her head circle all the way around on her neck like a scene from the Exorcist, and she even turned green.  Clearly the banshee had no idea where it was.

            Elder Stow arrived and fired his weapon.  The banshee was caught in the middle and thrown back through the gate, and if it was not dead, it was near enough.  Meanwhile, the three old men struggled to get to their feet and Lockhart got down from his mount to confront them.

            “I don’t know if you can get back through the gate or not.  If you can, I do not know if you will become young again.  Only this much is certain, that we cannot stay here and we cannot take you with us.  If you can get through the gate, you must surrender yourselves, and hear me.  Domnu and her children hate you and will kill you all.  Tetamon and the gods will give your people land and homes and bless your children.  Make your own choice, which is it you want?

            Lockhart got back up on his horse and turned away.  He led the group into those grasslands and while Boston and Lincoln looked back, he never looked back.

###

            Once upon a time the world was full of grass, until the day it became overgrazed and began to dry.  That was when people moved in search of greener pastures.  Great and successive migrations eventually filled the place between the fertile Tigris and Euphrates rivers, but in Beltain’s day, keeping the various tribal groups from killing each other while on the road is the key to a successful migration,  and the headache.  The travelers from Avalon are not much help with this problem.  In fact, they get caught up in the problem, thanks to the thing that is following them.  It is big and powerful, cruel, and hidden in the clouds, and it has an irresistible agenda all its own.

Avalon 2.7:  New Blood … Next Time.

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Avalon 2.6: Traveling Mercies

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            When the travelers discovered they would be more of a hindrance than a help in the war, they reluctantly decide to more on.  Getting out of the war zone was good, but it hardly meant they were out of danger.

###

            The line of lights in the dark steadied for a moment and Katie wondered if it was some kind of ground machine, like a truck with side lights.  “Is it Gott-Druk?” she asked.

            “No,” Elder Stow said flatly.

            “How about a dragon hunting near the ground?” Lockhart wondered with a look at Lincoln.

            “Thanks!” Lincoln sat up straight.  “That is an image I won’t soon forget.”

            Gimble, the chief dwarf stood, squinted, and then let out a whistle guaranteed loud enough and shrill enough to crack a window.  The string of lights wavered, turned, and fluttered straight for them.  The humans might have been afraid if the little ones were not so relaxed about it.  When the lights arrived, it turned out to be fairies, as many as a hundred, and they went mostly for the trees for the night, but a number of them paused to examine the horses first.  Two, one golden lit male and one bluish lit female made a special effort to pause before each human face around that camp.  They hesitated in front of Elder Stow as well, but only very briefly.  They also hardly paused at the elves and dwarfs as if they knew what they were and had no real interest in them.

            “It is as we heard,” the female spoke.  “Humans and spirits working together.” 

            “Strange,” the male said.  “And the gods divided and alien creatures fighting beside the rest.”

            “We are not aliens,” Elder Stow spoke up loudly.  “Our genesis was on this world the same as the humans.  We have as much right to be here as they do.”

            “But you are no longer authorized to be on this world.  By decree of the gods, it is a human world now.”  Lockhart spoke the truth of it.

            Elder Stow got a little hot.  “But the gods have gone away, at least in our day.”

            “Hey!” Roland, Boston, Katie and Lincoln all spoke up.  “You are not to speak of future things like that.”

            Elder Stow paused and looked around the group and ended with a look at Katie.  “Mother.  My apologies.  I did not mean to speak out of turn.”

            “Accepted,” Katie said without hesitation.  Her eyes were on the blue glowing fairy.  “I knew a fairy once that was blue like you.  Her name was Bluebell.”

            The blue fairy rushed up to Katie’s face.  “My mother’s name was Bluebell,” she said. 

            “But it couldn’t be,” Katie shook her head, sadly.  “That was on the other side of the world and had to be almost nine hundred years ago.”

            “My mother lived to be over nine hundred.  I was born five hundred years ago two years ago.”

            “That makes you five hundred and two,” Lockhart suggested.

            “It does?  Well, that is a good thing, isn’t it?”

            “A good thing,” Lockhart agreed.

            “And we just arrived from the other side of the world,” the male added.

            “But I don’t know.  Mother avoided humans.  You see, she met some once shortly before she lost her Lord.  After that, she stayed away from the human world.”

            “But she met some?”

            “Yes.  One with hair like fire who was called Mary Riley, but her real name was Boston and one with hair of gold called Lieutenant Harper, but her real name was Katie.”

            “That’s my Bluebell!”  Boston shouted.  “I’m Boston.”

            “And Honeysuckle?” Katie thought of her special friend.

            “She was my mother,” the young male said.  He did something then that caused Katie to audibly gasp.  He got big, which is to say human sized.  His wings vanished and his fairy weave clothes grew with him to fit his new size.  Katie had forgotten fairies could do that.  “My name is Ivy, and my wife is Holly,” he said.  Holly got big, and she was as beautiful as everyone expected a fairy to be.

            Katie stood.  “I am Katie,” and she did what she did when she said good-bye to Bluebell and Honeysuckle.  She hugged each of the fairies in turn, this time to say hello.

            Captain Arturo rubbed his hands together.  “Good thing you are here.  We can use your help.”

            When the travelers set out in the morning, they had a hundred fairies with them to watch their rear, move way out on their flanks, scout ahead and spy from far overhead.  Elder Stow said he was honestly not sure of the range of the Gott-Druk scanners in the atmosphere, but he thought they might send a ship if they saw him traveling with humans, and especially if they picked up sign of the spirits with them.

            “Then again, in this mixed-up war, they might find that normal and ignore it,” he concluded.

            “Some little or lesser spirits might notice,” Captain Arturo admitted.  He was jogging beside Lockhart and was speaking with him, Katie and Ivy in his small form who sat on the neck of Lockhart’s horse and held on to the horse’s mane.  “Lesser spirits might have been a real problem with just my troop, but I have confidence now that we have the force to meet any such threat.”

            “Let us hope the force won’t be needed,” Lockhart responded.

            “I asked for this assignment,” Arturo admitted.  “But my Lord could only send me and my troop.  There were no others that could be spared.  I believe the retreating has ended now and the real fighting will begin.”

            “What?”  Lincoln looked back as if looking all the way to the burning woods.  “You mean there hasn’t been any real fighting yet?”

            “To be sure there has,” Arturo said.  “But most of our effort until now has been in an orderly retreat.  They landed at the place my Lord calls Normandy.  He brought the humans and us from that place step by step.  We carried what food we could and destroyed the rest.  We harried the enemy, but did not pitch battle.  Now the enemy men are starving and the rebellion of the spirits is wavering.  One good blow now and the enemy may fall apart.  If the elder race can be turned, all the better.”

            “Elder race?”  Katie had to be sure she understood.

            “The Gott-Druk,” Lockhart confirmed.

            Up front, Boston talked nonstop with Missus Holly who was small and rode in her horse’s mane and Linnia who jogged beside them.  Roland did his very best to ignore them.  They were all three talking when a troop of six fairies rushed back from the front.  They paused only long enough for a sentence before they rushed back to report to Lord Ivy.

            “The enemy is up ahead just standing there, doing nothing.”

            Boston got out her amulet and took a reading.  The time gate was less than a mile away and she turned and shouted back to the others.  “I bet they are guarding the time gate.”

###

Avalon 2.6:  The Battle for Freedom … Next Time

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Avalon 2.6: War is Hello

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            Alexis and her father Mingus are alive and well, all things considered, and Elder Stow, one of those dreaded Gott-Druk, is a prisoner of the elves.  Tsk, tsk.

###

            “I am sorry, young Lincoln.  I did not expect treachery.”  Elder Stow shook his head, sadly.

            “Captain.”  Tetamon called the elf to get off the floor.  The elf was shaking once he discovered that this particular Gott-Druk was with the friends of the Kairos.  Tetamon just looked at the elf for a minute before he spoke.  “You did your best in a confusing situation and that is all I can ask.  You brought the elder Gott-Druk here without harm, and you respected the elder of your own people.  Respect is never a bad thing.  Learn and grow.  Dismissed.”

            The elf had a tear in his eye as he left and realized that nothing bad was going to happen to him for messing up and letting the others get away.  He would work twice as hard after that to be sure he did twice as good a job.

            “But what about your people?” Boston asked.

            Elder Stow shrugged.  “Stupid and stubborn.  I may have planted some seeds.  Domnu has promised them the land of what you call Western Europe.  It is our old land, you know.  But as you humans say, you can’t make a deal with the devil and expect it to come out heavenly.”  Elder Stow shrugged again.  “I will say this also.  Her humans are starving.  Children are dying of hunger, and some females.  The men are grumbling and may rebel.  Who can say?”

            “We may turn the Gott-Druk,” Tetamon spoke up.  “The men may rebel, and every day we are seeing Little Ones repent their rebellion and switch sides.  But all of this will mean nothing if we cannot drive back the titans.  I have every hope that mother will be able to persuade the gods of Egypt.  If Amon, Ptah, Bast, Anubis, Wadjt and others come, they have the least claim on this land.  I am certain Aesgard will come in force and probably Olympus as well.  That should be plenty to turn back the titans, but then how we settle the claims between them may be another problem.”

            “What if the gods start fighting each other over the land?” Katie asked.

            “The whole earth might end up in a ball of flame,” Tetamon shrugged like the Gott-Druk.

            “But that didn’t happen in history,” Lincoln protested.  “If it had, we would not have been born.”

            “History is in flux,” Tetamon responded.  “What you say and what I remember about the future gives me hope that a solution will be found, but we still have to find it.  I can’t just sit back and assume it will all work out.  My memories of the future and your lives are uncertain right now.  It can all be changed.”

            “So it is possible we might never exist,” Lockhart summed things up, and Tetamon nodded.  “Sounds like this watching over history business is not so easy.”

            “Figuring out how to keep it from all falling apart can be hard,” Tetamon admitted.

            “How can we help?” Boston was first in line to volunteer.

            “I’m not sure we can,” Roland spoke to her.

            “That’s right,” Tetamon said.  “The best help right now is for you to move on.  That is one less thing for me to worry about.  I am just sorry you couldn’t come at a point in my life when I was alone and bored.”

            “Me too,” Boston said.

            “We do have Alexis and Mingus to follow now.  We should be hot on their trail and might catch them soon.”  Lockhart put a hand on Lincoln’s shoulder to encourage the man.

            Lincoln looked at his boss.  “Thanks.”

            They gathered the horses first thing in the morning and found them well groomed, well fed and rested.  They imagined it might give them an advantage in catching up to Alexis and Mingus and their worn out steeds.  Elder Stow grumbled at the prospect of riding again, but Decker’s horse did not seem to mind.  On the other hand, he was not the only one relieved to know they would be traveling away from the battle front.

            The elf Captain, Arturo and his troop were assigned to protect their flanks and rear.  That meant they could not move too swiftly with the horses, but in any case it was going to take them more than a day to reach the time gate.  Lincoln was mostly good about it.  Sometimes he cursed the pace saying they would never catch Alexis at that rate.  At other times, when he looked around at the devastated landscape. he worried that without help, Alexis and her father might have been captured again and end up lost in that time zone forever, or killed.  But mostly he was quiet, and that was fine with Elder Stow who had no conversation left in him.

            The forest they traveled through was thin, and even as they increased the distance from the actual fighting there were signs of burned trees and fallow fields.  The few huts they saw were all abandoned.  And there was a pall in the sky which probably meant it was going to snow again, but all it did was dampen everyone’s spirits.

            “I bet this place was once beautiful,” Katie whispered.

            “War is Hell,” Lockhart responded.

            Katie and Lockhart whispered from time to time as they brought up the rear, but it was not really about anything in particular.  Roland kept his peace most of the way, but an elf maid was assigned to run at the front of the group beside Boston and those two soon became involved in a real discussion.  Some of it was about Roland which was perhaps why he wisely remained silent.  Some of it was about magic, and the maid, Linnia became animated when she discovered that Boston had some abilities in that direction.  Most of it was about being an elf, about life and culture and work such as elves did in the grand scheme of the earth.  Boston got excited when the conversation turned to talk about Avalon.  Boston was interested, but not surprised to find out that one day on Avalon could be worth three or four days on earth, or a third of a day, depending.  It made sense in a twisted sort of second heavens kind of way.  She was also not surprised to find Linnia had only been there once as a young girl.  Boston imagined Avalon was a nice place to rest for a time, but not meant as a permanent residence to take the Little Ones out of the world altogether.

            They halted to camp for the night when Captain Arturo, Roland and Lockhart all agreed on a defensible position.  Katie confirmed the choice with a nod that neither Lockhart nor Roland missed.  Lockhart once relied on Decker’s counsel, but he was finding Katie could judge such matters just as well, and in some ways perhaps better, as a woman might see it.  Thus they stopped, gathered wood for a fire and Boston got to practice her little magic to start the fire.

            “The Amazons called me Little Fire,” Boston admitted after she calmed from her excitement at lighting the fire with magic alone.

            “And you are,” Linnia said.  “But it is enough.”  She smiled.  They were friends by then and would remain so no matter how many millennia ended up separating them.

            There was not much to put on the fire, but the travelers had plenty of elf bread.  The dwarfs complained and the ogre would not touch it, but no one starved.  For everyone’s safety, the Little Ones shared their meat with the ogre first.”

            “When the ogre is fed you are safe in your bed,” Boston repeated what the Kairos once told her.

            “That is very good,” Captain Arturo said.  “I will have to remember that.”

            “Isn’t it a well known expression among the elves?”

            “No,” Roland and Lincoln spoke together, and Roland added, “But it is now.”

            “But what is that?”  Katie took everyone’s attention as she pointed off into the dark.  A string of dim lights stretched across the horizon some distance from the camp, undulating up and down like a snake slithering through the air about five feet above the earth. 

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Avalon 2.6:  Traveling Mercies … Next Time

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Avalon 2.6: Lost and Found

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            So, is Elder Stow betraying the travelers?  Back in the days of the Kairos Odelion, the travelers killed his two “children” – crewmates who fell with him into the deep past; and the Gott-Druk are not known as a forgiving people.  On the other hand, the travelers are headed back into the future where he wants to go, and given some of the things he has seen, he understands it is not safe even for him to travel alone.  A truce seems in order.  But then, here he has a whole contingent of his own people to back him up, even if they are caught up in a war.  On the fourth hand …

###

            Mingus stood.  He intended to defend his daughter with every last shred of strength he had, and it might take his last shred.  Their jailer was a djin of the lesser spirit variety.  No little spirit could hope to match it, or her as Alexis kept insisting.  Even Mingus and Alexis combining their magic would not be enough.

            “Here is a change,” Alexis looked but stayed seated and let her sarcasm do the talking.  “A Gott-Druk who wants to talk to us.”

            “Must be the tenth.”

            “Oh, father.  An even dozen at least.”

            “In here,” the djin said in her grating voice that gave Alexis the shivers.

            “And where are the other prisoners?”  The Gott-Druk asked.

            The djin laughed, at least the others guessed it was a laugh.  “We don’t take prisoners.  These two with their horses are hostages, for now.”

            “So there are no other jailers around?”

            “What for?”  the djin asked.  “I got eyes and ears.  They can’t get passed me.”

            “Good to know,” Elder Stow said, and as soon as the djin unlocked the cage he fired some kind of weapon at the creature which vaporized her so fast she had no time to cry out.  He stepped into the cage and Mingus reacted.

            “Orange jumper.  You are the one from the future.  Are you here to kill us?”

            “No.”  Elder Stow said as he pulled a big piece of hand-held equipment from his vest pocket.  He scanned the two in the cage and read the readout.  “I came to talk some sense into my people.  They are on the wrong side of history here – not that I am an expert on earth history, but even I know that much.”

            “How did it go?” Alexis asked.

            Elder Stow shrugged.  “My people are naturally stubborn and some are stupid as well.  Stubborn and stupid is a powerful combination to try and overcome.  Here, swallow this.”  He held out something for Alexis, the size of a big pill.

            “Swallow what?”  Mingus asked.

            “Father can be stubborn, too,” Alexis said.

            “Electronic.”  Elder Stow handed it to the elder elf.  “It will pass in a day or two, but in the meanwhile she will appear on their scanners as Gott-Druk.”  Mingus hesitated.  “I already seeded your two horses,” Elder Stow added to suggest it would cause no harm.

            “Misty is alright?” Alexis stood with hope in her voice.

            “So far, kept as curiosities or perhaps because the powers feel they may need you with your horses to make the complete hostage package.”  Elder Stow shrugged.

            “Swallow this,” Mingus handed the thing to Alexis but kept his eyes on the Gott-Druk.  “How did you find us?”

            “Accident,” Elder Stow admitted while Alexis struggled to swallow.  “I found the horses first.  Of course you could only be Mingus and Alexis.  Lincoln, your husband speaks of you often, and your brother, though he speaks mostly to young Boston.

            Alexis swallowed.  “I have a husband?  You see, Father.  I said I had a husband only I couldn’t remember him.  But he is alive?”

            “Last I saw,” Elder Stow said.  “I hope they got picked up by the right side.”  He looked again at the scanner in his hand and tossed it to the floor, and broke it.  “They will see you from a distance as Gott-Druk, and your horses as well.  The elf does not show up on the scanner at all.  No surprise there.”

            “We must hurry,” Mingus said, and refused to look at his daughter.

            “But father?”  she was remembering some things, but only in bits and pieces. 

            “No, I will not speak of it.”

            “And he can be stubborn,” Alexis told Elder Stow.

            “But at least not stupid,” Elder Stow agreed and took the lead, pausing at the door only long enough to pull out whatever that powerful weapon was that killed the djin.

            They were in luck.  The horses were still saddled and looked untouched, though that was not good luck for the poor horses.  The Gott-Druk and two humans guarding the horses made them pause, but they appeared to be eyeing each other more than the horses or the approaches to the hastily erected pen.

            “Allow me,” Mingus said as he began to fade from sight.

            “Wait,” Elder Stow said.  He had twisted something on his weapon and pointed.  There was a bright flash and the Gott-Druk and two men collapsed.  “Unconscious,” Elder Stow said.  “At least mine are unconscious.  I can’t speak for the two humans.  They may be dead.”

            “Quickly,” Alexis rushed them forward, and the men argued.

            “You take my horse,” Mingus said.

            “No, you take it.”  It looked like they were passing a hot potato back and forth.  Clearly neither liked to ride.  Alexis had to step in.

            “Father, I’ll ride with you.  Gott-Druk, you take Misty.  He will follow us so all you have to do is hang on.”

            Neither man liked the solution, but they had no alternative to suggest.  Elder Stow changed the subject.  “Better go invisible,” he said, and mounted and twisted something on his wrist.  He vanished.  Mingus could still see him, but Alexis had to magically adjust her eyes to see.  Then she practiced her magical art on herself, her father and his horse to make them invisible as well.  She left a window open so Elder Stow could still see them.

            “But which way?” Mingus asked as they walked the horses out of the enclosure.  “They put bags over our heads when they brought us.”

            “And mine,” Elder Stow said as he looked again at his wrist.  “But my scanner kept recording the trail, and would no matter how big the bag.”  He pointed and started out.  Mingus quickly caught up, and they rode, all out when they could, for several hours.

            “We may be invisible to Gott-Druk and men, but not to the spirits.  We are certainly not invisible to the titans,” Mingus reminded his daughter.

            Since she sat behind her father and held on, she could whisper in his ear and did not have to shout to be heard.  “But maybe the others are looking for us.  Maybe my husband, whoever he is.  Maybe Tetamon will find us first.”

            They rode until Alexis called a halt.  Their horses had not been mistreated and had been fed something, but they had to be worn and sore from wearing their saddles for so long.  She made everyone get down and loosened the horse’s belts.  She knew if necessary she could tighten the belts again instantly by magic, but for now they walked the horses and gave them a much needed breather.

            “Good animals, these beasts of yours.  Loyal.  That is important,” Elder Stow remarked.

            “As the little spirits should be loyal to the Kairos.  You have no idea how distressing I find their rebellion.”

            “My people will probably be wiped out if they do not find some sense and switch sides,” Elder Stow agreed with the sentiment.

            “And what of the men?” Alexis said.  “They say Domnu has brought men, women and children to the continent to force their commitment to the cause, but in the process she has depopulated her islands.  If these people are wiped out, there will be no men left alive in all of her lands.”

            They all thought and walked in silence until Mingus finally signaled that they should prepare to ride again.  Alexis tightened the saddle belt on her father’s horse and went to tighten Misty’s.  Elder Stow gave her his attention and stepped back to give her room, and that is no doubt why he was taken unprepared by a number of elves, dwarfs and a rather ugly ogre who grabbed the Gott-Druk by the arms to prevent him from going for a weapon.

            “Wait,” Mingus yelled, and at the sight of the elder elf the troop did stop long enough to look.  Mingus mounted his horse.  “Hurry up, Alexis,” he said as he brought his horse up to where he could sprinkle some dust on the Gott-Druk.  “Just a temporary disabling of your many devices.  It should pass in a day or so.”  He grinned and turned to the elf Captain.  “Good work.  This one needs to go to Lord Tetamon as quickly as possible.  Treat him well, he has vital information for our side.  Now we have just one more job to finish our mission.”

            “Elder,” the Captain did not question his elder, though the dwarfs looked wary.

            “Hurry up, Alexis,” Mingus said again as he rode off at all speed before the dwarfs could speak up.  Alexis followed in his wake.

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Avalon 2.6:  War is Hello … Next Time

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Avalon 2.6: Escape and Discovery

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            Well, the rest of the travelers slept for at least half a night before and Elenar ship found them and the enemy came charging out of the wood with the sole desire of killing them and eating them.

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            Katie was the first to fire at the oncoming horde.  Lockhart’s first thought was for the horses.  “To the barn,” he yelled.

            “Back door!” Lincoln pointed at the barn and yelled back.

            “Our equipment!” Katie joined in the yelling and pointed to the house.

            “Damn,” Lockhart expressed himself.

            “We will pick you up out back.”  Roland finished the conversation.  To be sure, most of the camp was packed and ready to go.  Only Lockhart and Katie still had their bags in the house.

            “Come on,” Lockhart yelled at the three Elenar that had gone to their knees in firing position and were taking a toll on the attackers.  Arrows were beginning to come in their direction, and while they still fell short, they would not fall short for long.  “Come on,” Lockhart was a bit more insistent and got the leader’s attention.  Lockhart pointed to the house and the Elder nodded and barked orders.  They fell back to the house.

            Katie already had the bags in hand.  “Out the back,” he told her.  There was a window and she dove through it.  “Come. hurry.”  The Elenar were not sure what he had in mind, but they knew their three handguns, as advanced as they were, would not hold off this attack or even make much of a dent in it.

            Lockhart got out as Roland brought up his horse.  He mounted and put a hand down for the Elenar leader.  The leader did not look sure, but he took the hand and Lockhart hauled him up behind and told him to hold on.  The other two got up behind Roland and Lincoln and avoided the human female, though the one behind the elf looked very uncomfortable.

            They rode hard for the woods on the far side of the field, and Katie was glad she was not burdened with an extra rider.  It gave her the chance to turn, fire on the enemy as they rounded the building, and still turn again to catch up.  By then the Elenar ship came in to cover their retreat.  This enemy had no weapon to match the flying machine, but they did have some runners among the spirits that could race a horse.  Fortunately, the ship could target them even at that speed, and it was not long before three of those darting Elenar fighters joined the battle. 

            The riders found what appeared to be a natural path through the woods.  They revised their idea of natural when they discovered it led to a village.  It was a primitive, mobile village that was deserted some time ago.  They decided deserted rather than overrun because of the lack of bodies.

            “Who knows if that means anything, though,” Katie said when they stopped to check for pursuit.  “They may have eaten the dead.”

            “No bones,” Lincoln pointed out, and no one wanted to argue that even the bones might have been eaten by one group or the other.

            The Elenar all got down carefully.  They were shaken, frightened by the horses far more than by the enemy.

            “Invigorating,” the Elenar leader said and stepped aside to put his finger to his ear again.  “They have retreated back to the woods from whence they came.  Our ship has zeroed in on our position and will be here in a second, not that you would understand anything about flying in a ship or how it might find us,.”

            “Radar or geo-positioning?”  Lockhart asked, and the Elenar looked surprised.

            “Might be radio if they each have a micro transmitter, like sewn in a pocket, that could show them permanently on a grid,” Katie suggested.

             “But too easy to jam,” Lincoln said.  “Maybe they have a simple scanner on the ship that can track their life-signs.”

            “Who are you people?”  The Elenar asked as the ship appeared over the trees and set down in the adjacent field.

            “People who don’t belong here,” Lockhart said honestly enough. 

            “And there you are.”  They heard the woman before they saw her.  When she manifested, Katie’s face lit up. 

            “Artemis?”

            “Yes, my elect.”

            “Boston?” Lockhart voiced his first thought.

            “Safe,” Artemis said and she raised her arms and they vanished, horses and all.  They reappeared beside the entrance to a tunnel.  “The main cavern is about two miles in.  Tetamon set up a nine square mile area that does not appear to exist in the world so even the opposing titans cannot detect it.  Cheating, I know, but at least the refugees are safe for now.  Don’t be long.”  Artemis vanished down the hole and even the horses at full speed could not have kept up.

            “Curiouser and curiouser,” Katie said.

            “Lamps,” Lockhart said.  “We have a rabbit hole to negotiate.”

            “If it is big enough for trolls and ogres we can probably ride the whole way,” Roland said.

            “Comforting thought,” Lincoln frowned and they started into the tunnel.

            They walked the horses after one point in the tunnel narrowed.  In that way it took them an hour before they came out into the great cavern.  Gnomes were waiting for them and quickly relieved them of their horses.  It was an ordinary man who led them after that, straight to the chamber where Tetamon was waiting. 

            “Lockhart.”  Tetamon recognized them right away, and though they had never seen him before, they knew him once he spoke.  They also knew KimKeri and AhnYani and were pleased to see them safe and free of Jericho.

            Boston was still sleeping comfortably, but it was enough to see her.  They did not have to wake her.  That left them at liberty to ask about Elder Stow.

            “No trace of him,” Tetamon admitted.  “With so many competing powers on the field, even the gods are hampered in what they can do.  We retrieved Captain Decker’s horse.”

            “You did that,” AhnYani said with a joyful voice of praise.

            “Nameless did that,” Tetamon corrected.  “Wlvn plugged Nameless in when you first got your horses.  Nameless is still connected to them, not as strongly as you are connected, but certainly strong enough.”

            “But the Gott-Druk?” Lincoln asked.

            “I fear he may have gone to join his people,” Tetamon admitted what they all feared.

###

Avalon 2.6:  Lost and Found … Next Time

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Avalon 2.6: Underground

M G Kizzia 1 Comment

            So, while the main group of travelers are in the wild being attacked by the enemy, Boston has been captured by what she hopes are friendly folk, even if they are goblins, and a troll.

###

            “Now missy, we won’t hurt you, much.” One of the goblins spoke to Boston when her feet were safely on the ground.

            “That works out well,” Boston said and hoped her voice remained on an even keel.  She did not need to show the fear she was feeling.  “Because I have no intention of hurting you either.”

            “Hey chief,” a goblin spoke up.  “She is not afraid of us.”  The goblins all scratched their heads.  This was not the usual response from outsider humans and they were not sure how to take it.

            “Shredder,” the chief goblin called and the troll moved to the front.  Boston most certainly would have blanched at that, but something else caught her attention across the field so she did not have to look at the troll directly.

            “You expecting company?” she asked and pointed.  The goblins and troll all looked and the chief shouted.

            “Traitors!”

            Of course that got the attention of the traitors who immediately turned and attacked.  Boston pulled out her pistol and killed or wounded three of the enemy before the two sides met.  After that she dared not interfere because she thought she could tell the difference between the goblins and their distorted images in the enemy, but she could not be sure.  One horribly distorted looking creature broke through to attack her.  She was sure of that one and three bullets made short work of the beast, but then she had to wait for the fighting to be over, and only hoped her goblins won.

            Boston held Honey and patted his nose to keep him calm while the six goblins and one troll survivor of the attack came to fetch her.  “We have to get underground,” the chief said.

            “Going to have to back fill the tunnel now that they found it,” one goblin said.

            “How did they find it?”  the troll asked.

            “No telling,” a goblin answered as he lifted a bush to reveal a dark hole.

            Boston stopped and faced the darkness.  She held out her palm and tried to make a light again.  It was a meager thing, but she was not going into the dark with goblins and a troll even if they were on her side.

            “Save your little magic,” the chief said.  He reached inside and grabbed a torch, which Boston noticed was smokeless.  Several of the others also grabbed torches and they provided plenty of light.

            “That banger did not look like little magic to me,” one of the goblins said as they started down the tunnel.

            “No wonder she wasn’t afraid of us.” Another pointed his finger and said, “Bang!” 

            “Credit for four kills. ” The chief stroked his chin.  “That is impressive.”

            “Hey!  What is she doing now?   Why, she is crying.”  Boston was crying because she did not like killing things, even distorted wicked things.  Several of the goblins showed surprising sympathy.

            “We better watch this one, she’s tricky,” the chief said, but to be sure, Boston was also crying because she was exhausted.  They walked in silence for what seemed to her like forever, but finally they came out of the tunnels and into a tremendous cavern, one where she could not take in all the walls and where stalactites and stalagmites met in the middle and appeared like pillars holding up a great ceiling

            Honey followed the whole way though the tunnels, content as long as he was following Boston.  When they got to the big cavern, however, there were too many strangers and too much noise in that closed in space.  He balked and would not move forward until several of the smaller little ones came up and began to speak to him.  Curiously, it looked to Boston that he could understand what they were saying.  Equally curious was the fact that she could not, but she imagined talking to animals was not on the Kairos’ translation program.  As far as she was concerned, everyone else was speaking English, unless she deliberately thought about it.

            “Little Witch,” the goblins were anxious to keep moving.  No doubt they had to report in.

            “Give him some oats if you have any,” Boston said, not the least concerned that these little ones might have in mind to eat her horse.  There was something about them she trusted, and apparently Honey did as well.

            “And a good rub and rest,” one of the little ones spoke.  “We care for horses, even in the wild.  We know our business.”

            Boston nodded.  She was too tired to speak again.  She grabbed her pack and followed the goblins.  They were really dark elves, she reminded herself.  It all depended on how she looked at it, and for her, looking at them as dark elves was better than goblins.

            The huge cavern room was full of different species, and plenty of humans as well.  Boston saw human children running around within reach of an ogre’s arms and no one said anything.  The human families were obviously seeking shelter from the war and devastation above.  This underground life was not the best option, but better than the no option they would have above.

            “How long has this war been going on?” Boston asked.  She saw dwarfs bring in straw from some tunnel.  Fairies fluttered over to strike the straw with their wands.  The straw took shape, something like a bed and that was carried off by elves for distribution to the people.

            “More than a year,” the chief dark elf answered.  “Things are beginning to get hard, and the food a bit thin.”

            “Why have the gods permitted this?” 

            “Which ones?  There are four different claims on this land, well, three, but Domnu is the only one so far willing to take it by force if she can.”

            “Well three?”

            “Yes, The gods across the Mediterranean have no claim this far north, but the Kairos has hope that his mother may yet persuade some of those at Karnak to join the effort against the titans across the channel.”

            Which three?”

            “Aesgard, Olympus and Domnu who claims the throne of Vanheim even if everyone knows it is not hers to claim.”

            “I see,” Boston said as the chief goblin stepped aside.  They had arrived at a room off the main cavern.  There was a man who recognized her immediately.

            “Boston?”

            Boston said nothing, but went straight to hug the two women who stood at each side of the man.  She hugged KimKeri gently because KimKeri was very pregnant.  She fell into AhnYani’s arms and spoke.  “Roland, Katie, Lockhart and Lincoln are lost.  I got separated in the snow storm.  Elder Stow went invisible, and I don’t know where he went.  Please help.”

            KimKeri spoke to the man in the middle.  “Not before daylight,” she said as another woman appeared in the room and took Boston right from AhnYani’s arms.  She lifted Boston in her arms like a mother might cradle a baby.

            “We will get them come sunrise.  Don’t worry.”

            Boston squinted.  “Artemis?”  She had never been held by a real, full blood goddess before.

            Artemis smiled.  “Can’t have my little Amazon wall maker dying of exhaustion.”  She kissed Boston on the forehead and Boston immediately fell into the first truly relaxing and restful sleep she had since leaving the castle of Avalon.

###

Avalon 2.6:  Escape and Discovery … Next Time

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Avalon 2.6: Out in the Wilderness

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            The main group of travelers have discovered that Boston is missing, and Elder Stow as well.  And the communicators are useless due to the interference in the air.

###

            “Roland?”  Lockhart turned to the expert.

            Roland shook his head.  “I don’t think I could find her in the dark and snow and smoke.  We might try and just end up wandering for hours, and might get the rest of us separated.”

            “I’m thinking Elder Stow left our company on purpose,” Lincoln said again.

            “Possibly,” Lockhart agreed.  “But that does not explain why Boston is missing.”

            Katie said nothing.  She was slouching a little in her saddle and Lockhart was concerned.  “Boston has the amulet,” he said.  “Can we move on a bit further and maybe find some shelter, or do you need to rest now?”  He was really asking Katie.

            “I can go for a bit more,” Katie said, and Roland turned to lead the party.

            “I can stay to the same direction we were going and compensate for our sidesteps.  It is true of the elves generally, but especially those gifted with the hunt.”  Roland was certain about that.

            “If we can get out in front of her and find a rise of some sort, we might catch her in the morning.

            “Not on a rise,” Lincoln said.  “Too many eyes in the air.”

            Lockhart heard and nodded, but he was not going to lose Boston somewhere in the past.

            The snow soon slackened and stopped and the clouds cleared off to reveal the moon and stars.  The smoke in the air slowly became more of a mist than smoke, but that just made the forest appear enchanted in the moonlight.  When they came to a clearing, it was a large opening in the woods.  They quickly saw the signs of slash and burn agriculture and felt they were on the right path to something.  It was not much further on before they saw a big two-room cabin in the opening.

            “We can’t just march in there,” Lincoln insisted.  He had Katie’s binoculars but saw nothing so passed them to Lockhart.  “No sign of anyone home, and no sign of alien visitation either.”

            “Gott-Druk and Elenar are not aliens,” Roland said.  “They are Elders of the earth, what you call Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon.”

            “I understand,” Lincoln said.  “But the principle is the same.  We look for burn marks from landing craft and other signs of advanced technology.”

            “Yes, of course,” Roland said.

            “We go,” Lockhart got up and caught the reins of his horse and Katie’s horse.  Katie had felt it best not to get down.  She feared she might not have been able to get back up.  Of the many cuts she received, only a few had been significantly deep, and the healing machine used by Elder Stow was a miraculous help, but she lost a fair amount of blood and was still torn up on the inside.  Continuing to walk and ride and walk and ride since then had taken its toll.  She hated being the weak one, but she was going to have to stop and rest.

            The cabin room was empty as expected.  The other room appeared to be a big barn area, big enough for a dozen cows.  It easily fit the horses.  Most of the grain had been taken with the cows, wherever they went, but there was enough in the few bins and areas of the floor to put together a real tasty supper for the horses.  There was even a water trough, and though the water in it was undrinkable. They emptied it and melted some fresh snow.

            Both men and the elf cared for the horses while Katie stayed in the cabin.  She was told to get into her sleeping bag and rest, but she tried to help out as much as she could.  She spread the tent material they carried around the walls to block any cracks for the cold or the light, then she lit several lamps and spread out everyone’s bags.  By the time the men came in, the inside was homey and warm.

            “We need to keep this one,” Lincoln said. 

            “Yes we do,” Lockhart agreed.

            They came at dawn.  Roland and Lincoln were in the barn tending to the horses.  Lockhart was failing to build a fire.  Katie was still in the house when the ship landed out front.  Three men came from the hatch, or at least they looked more like men than the Gott-Druk.  Lockhart recognized them as Elenar, and he stood as they approached.  He considered running, but he knew he could not get far enough.  He also thought of escaping into the cabin or the barn, but those structures would not provide any protection from an energy weapon, so he just stood and spoke first when they got near.

            “Good, can I borrow your heat ray?  I can’t get this fire started.”  He noticed two of the Elenar touched their side arms, and he smiled.  “Welcome,” he added.  “What can I do for you?”

            “Where is the Gott-Druk?”  The one out front did the talking.

            “Gone,” Lockhart said honestly.  “And I wish I knew where.  I’m worried about him.”  The same two touched their side arms again, but no weapons were drawn.  “Mostly I am worried about the girl he took with him.  Boston doesn’t know anything about being in the middle of a war.”  The Elenar looked at each other before the front man spoke again. 

            “Why should you worry about the Gott-Druk?” the Elenar asked.

            “Because he doesn’t belong here anymore than we do, and if he is lost he might never get home on his own.”

            “And where does he belong?”

            Lockhart stood up a little straighter.  “Five thousand, six hundred years in the future,” he said without blinking.  He could tell the Elenar were not expecting that answer.  Katie came out while the Elenar turned to each other to discuss things among themselves.  She had her rifle in her hands.  Lincoln also stepped out of the barn door with his rifle.  Lockhart guessed Roland was getting the horses ready for a quick getaway.

            “You do not look like the corrupted men of the enemy, but this may be a new ploy.  Can you offer any reason why we should not kill you?”

            “Because you will have to answer to the Kairos, and for murder,” Lincoln spoke up.

            “And because you will deprive yourself of help against the ones in the trees,” Katie said and pointed, and Lockhart realized she came out because she saw something in the distance, not because of the Elenar. 

            The Elenar out front put a finger to his ear to listen to something and then two things happened at once.  The Elenar ship began to rise into the air and about a hundred fur-clad men came roaring out of the woods with a hundred little ones among them.  The men looked starved and desperate and charged like their only hope was to kill and eat the ones by the cabin.  The little ones looked worse in a way.  They appeared twisted and distorted in their forms and features, but Lockhart guessed they were once elves, dwarfs and maybe a couple of ogres.

###

Avalon 2.6:  Underground … Next Time 

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Avalon 2.6: Boston in the Dark

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            Elder Stow became unnaturally verbal and asked questions about his people and another people called the Elenar at that point in history.  After being assured that they should be allies and not fighting each other, the Gott-Druk decided to take a short side trip.  Unfortunately, in the snow storm, Boston unwittingly followed and then loses sight of the Elder whereupon she finds herself alone, in the dark, in the snow, in the middle of a war zone.

###

            “Hello?”  Boston called out several times, but the smoke from the fires and the falling snow conspired to deaden her every sound.  Boston got down and got out her Beretta, belt and all.  She buckled the belt around her hips and added her hunting knife to the ensemble, just in case.  She checked to be sure the gun came easily to her hand and patted her horse’s neck.

            “Don’t worry, Honey,” she said.  “We will find them again, soon.”  Honey simply blew out a great puff of white air in answer while Boston got out her fairy weave tent.  It took some time and serious adjustments to the fairy weave, but soon she had Honey covered in a late medieval style blanket that had holes for the horse’s head and tail and fit snugly around the saddle.  It fell to six inches from the ground and warmed the horse nicely.  “Of course one virtue of the fairy weave is I can command it to shorten to uncover your legs if we need to ride out of a bad situation.”  Honey simply nodded his head.

            One more reassuring pat on the horse’s neck and Boston stepped to the nose and took the reins.  She checked the amulet to get her direction.  She knew Roland would stay true to the direction even in the worst of the storm, but they might move on as much as a mile before they noticed she was missing.  She checked the ground, but whatever prints Elder Stow may have made with Decker’s horse were long since wiped out by the snow and wind.

            “Better move,” she said and they started to walk.  Boston felt reasonably certain that she could parallel the group and if she could find a rise or hilltop, she might be able to see them in the wilderness.  It was a long shot, but then she had the amulet.  The better chance was for her to find the Kairos, Tetamon and let him help her find the others

            The snow slacked off as she walked, and the wind dropped down to where it only became rough in the occasional gusts that made her turn her head to one side or the other.  It was terribly dark in the woods, but there were more clearings, fields and meadows than before so it gave the illusion that she was getting somewhere.  “It is getting very cold,” Boston admitted, but she kept walking.  She knew Honey was terribly hungry as was she, but she walked to not overtax her poor horse.  There was no telling when she might have to move quickly.

            Boston stopped before they entered a particularly dark and thick copse of trees.  She wondered if she could do what she had seen Roland, Mingus and Alexis do.  This magic business was all so new to her.  She never imagined doing such things before.  She understood what the Sybil said back in Zoe’s world.  By the time she got old enough to begin to show some signs of power she had already convinced herself that such things were impossible.  She wondered briefly how many people back in her own day would never know what they were capable of because the world said it was impossible.

            Honey nudged Boston with his nose and Boston grinned.  “Alright, just give me a minute.”  She focused on her open palm.  A light began to grow over her palm which almost went out when she got excited.  She quickly stuffed down her excitement and stayed focused until the light strengthened.  When it was about as bright as she reasonably felt she could make it, she let it float up into the air.  It was trickier than she thought.  She had to keep part of her mind trained on it now and then to keep it lit and floating, and it took something out of her to do that.

            Finally, she managed to set the light a few feet above her head and a few feet out front, and she began to walk into the dark trees.  Honey snorted and followed.  It was only fifteen minutes through that little section of dark, but that was enough and about all Boston could handle.  Roland said the more she did, the more strength she would build, like exercising a muscle, but Boston could already see that she would never be in the same league with someone like Alexis or the elves.  That was fine.  She was amazed she could do anything at all.

            There was an open field on the other side of the dark woods.  Boston checked her amulet once more and climbed up on Honey’s back.  She was tired before.  Now she was exhausted.  That was something else about magic she never understood before.  It was not free.  It took something out of the magician.

            The open field proved to not be as big as Boston hoped, but by the time she got to the other side the snow had stopped and the clouds had begun to clear off.  The moon was still up and a great help to see since she was finally far enough from the fires to where they were no help at all.  When she entered the woods on the other side she was glad she did not have to make another fairy light.

            “Hello, witch.”  Boston heard a voice by her right shoulder and jumped before she spurred Honey to a run.  She ducked down flat, held Honey around the neck and let the horse avoid the trees and other obstacles, which horses will do for a short way.  Rather quickly, Honey slowed again to a walk and Boston caught her breath.  She strained her ears and heard some huffing and puffing catching up.  She pulled her gun.

            “Who are you?  Who is there?  Show yourself.”

            “That is some speedy horse you’ve got,” the voice said right next to her and Boston barely kept her finger from pulling the trigger.

            “Who are you and what do you want?”  She demanded an answer and added, “And why can’t I see you?”

            “I’m a pookah, I don’t want to eat you or anything like that if you are worried, and I’m invisible.”

            “So what do you want?”  Boston tried to relax.

            “Nothing,” the pookah said and added, “Witch.”

            Boston got Honey walking again as the horse seemed oblivious to it all.  “I am not a witch,” she protested.

            “Well, you are certainly no sorceress,” the pookah said and Boston kept silent.  The pookah, which appeared content to walk beside her, finally spoke again.  “You’re not from around here,” it said and added, “Come here often?”  Boston thought she heard the thing laugh.

            “Ha, ha!”  Boston was not laughing.  “I’m from further away than you can imagine.”

            “Um, twenty-first century AD, whatever that is, near Washington DC, but grew up near Boston which is why most people call you Boston.”

            Boston thought for a second.  “You read minds?”

            “A little,” the pookah said, and Boston realized there was no point in hiding the matter.  She pulled out her amulet and checked the direction, and the pookah made an interesting remark.  “Part of what I do is mislead travelers in the dark, but I see that will be pointless with you.  That amulet is covered by a magic far stronger than mine.”

            “From the castle of the Kairos,” Boston said.  She felt it was pointless to try and hid it from a mind reader.

            “I understand,” the pookah said.  They walked in silence for a minute before the pookah spoke again.  “I am not with Domnu and her brood if you were wondering.  I would rather be neutral, but since the gods themselves have taken sides it is kind of hard to stay out of it.”

            “What is happening here?  I don’t understand this war.  What is this all about?”  The questions that built up in Boston’s mind since entering that world all tumbled out at once.  It seemed to her that the pookah took a moment to project a sense of peace in her direction, and it also seemed that such a thing was very unusual.  Boston was grateful and quieted, and the pookah talked as they walked.

            “Not long ago, Queen Nerthus willingly gave up her life and went over to the other side.  There was peace then between Aesgard and Vanheim, but the Queen knew there could not be two leaders.  She gave her authority to Odin and moved on.  Now Aesgard claims the west, but Olympus and Karnak both claim large sections of the same territory, so things are not exactly settled.

            “Meanwhile, from long ago, the Queen’s sister Domnu ruled over the islands in her own right.  She bowed to her sister as long as Queen Nerthus was alive, but now she wants to claim all of the ancient lands of Vanheim for her own.  She has brought men to the continent along with many rebellious little spirits including goblins, trolls ogres and others.  Now she has exploited the natural animosity between the elder races and taken the Gott-Druk for her allies, leaving the Elenar to fight for the other side.  So it is Gott-Druk against Elenar, Men against men, spirits against spirits and ultimately gods against gods because Domnu has many children.”

            “Wait, goblins, ogres and trolls?  Don’t they belong to the Kairos?”

            “Yes, and that is one of the things that makes all this so complicated.  You see, the Kairos is leading the fight against Domnu.”

            “And some Little Ones are fighting against their own god?”

            “And do you always do what your god tells you?”

            “Point taken,” Boston said. 

            “I would rather stay out of it altogether, but that is not really possible.  And here we are.”  They came to the edge of the woods where another small clearing stretched out in front of them.

            “Where?” Boston asked as she pulled out her amulet to check again.  She calculated.  “Why you pookah.  You did get me off track, but only a little.”

            It seemed like she could feel the pookah smile.  “Where your Kairos is,  Now, only one last thing to do,” the pookah said and Boston heard it walk away toward the back of her horse.  She turned her head to say good-bye and heard a shocking “Boo” next to her.  She screamed.

            “Now, that tasted good,” the pookah said.  “Witch fright always has a little extra kick to it.  Thanks for the snack,” and the pookah vanished for real as several goblins with long spears and a terribly hungry looking troll came up and surrounded her.

            Boston had put her gun away, and she thought to get down slowly from Honey’s back so as not to make any sudden moves.  Then she swallowed her fear, looked at these creatures of the dark and said what she always wanted to say.  “Take me to your leader.” 

###

Avalon 2.6:  Out in the Wilderness … Next Time

Avalon 2.6: Splinters

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

            War is confusing.  Ask anyone who has been there.  It is especially bad when you think you are fighting bows and arrows and suddenly get blasted with what Lockhart called a heat ray.  Then to be saved by fighter aircraft, like from a space ship, makes the head swirl around 3550  BC.  War may be Hell, but only if you can wrap your mind around it.

###

            The sun went down but there was plenty of light as the distant patches of fire became more apparent.  There was a general haze in the air and plenty of smoke and ash in the sky, but the moon was nearly full and the stars behind the haze were bright. 

            “Keep going,” Lockhart insisted.  He was not going to be satisfied until  they were completely out of that area or into the next time zone, whichever came first.

            “We should be fine if we can get beyond the fires,” Roland said and pointed off to the side.

            “Boston nodded and put the amulet back beneath her shirt.  She touched the collar of her fairy weave coat and said, “Hood, and a mask over the mouth and nose to filter out the smoke.”  The fairy weave grew and shifted to conform to the picture in her mind.  Shortly they all had such masks except Elder Stow who did not seem as bothered by the smoke in the air.

            “Can you walk a bit?”  Lockhart asked Katie and she nodded.  Her legs had been spared the rock shards.  “Dismount and walk them,” Lockhart called out and they did.  It slowed their progress considerably, but gave the horses something of a break to rest them.  It was as much of a break as Lockhart dared to give them at the moment.

            A half-hour on and they saw a smoldering ruin in their path.  When they got close, they all read the markings on the side of the craft.  It was a fighter craft called the Karrigan’s Claws.  No one asked what a Karrigan was, but they all recognized the writing as Gott-Druk.

            “It seems the magic of translation the Kairos gave us works on written words, too,” Boston remarked.  Elder Stow ran forward and Lincoln caught the reins of Captain Decker’s horse.  After rummaging around inside the craft, Elder Stow came back out and made an announcement.

            “No bodies.”

            Everyone was relieved, and did not seriously mind when the Elder insisted they search the immediate area.  Lockhart and Boston got the horses while the others went out.  Roland seemed better able to navigate the smoke and Elder Stow was motivated.  Lincoln and Katie had the marine night goggles on to complete their outfits, and though Katie walked more slowly than she might have otherwise, she insisted and carried her rifle besides.

            There were no dead or wounded to be found anywhere near the crash.  This was also good, but when they mounted again, Elder Stow asked Lincoln some pointed questions.  Lincoln had to get out the database and read up on the subject to answer.

            “At this point in history, roughly, the Balok are being overcome if they have not yet been defeated, but the Pendratti are making noises about taking over.  The Sevarese work with the Gott-Druk and the Bluebloods work with the Elenar, but they all remain allies in the struggle against the Pendratti menace.”

            “So my people and the Elenar are still allies at this point in history,” Elder Stow was searching for something.

            “Yes that’s right.”

            “So they should not be fighting each other.”

            “That’s right, why?”

            Elder Stow looked back at Lockhart and Katie.  He looked ahead to Boston and Roland, though he supposed there was nothing he could do about the elf’s good ears.  He tried to whisper, but Gott-Druk were not good at whispering in general.  Their natural habitat was small groups and family groups of the size where it was generally not good to keep secrets.

            “I believe those fighters were Elenar,” he said.

            “I see,” Lincoln nodded, and after a moment of thought he looked again at the Gott-Druk.  “So you think the ones who attacked us were your people.”

            “Humans mostly,” Elder Stow said.  “But the energy weapons were likely held in Gott-Druk hands.”

            Lincoln nodded but made no move to tell the others.  “Well,” he continued the private conversation.  “At this point in history that should not be happening.  The Gott-Druk and Elenar should be helping each other, not fighting each other.”

            “That is accurate?”  Elder Stow questioned the database.

            “The information in this database was taken from the Heart of Time itself.  That is the crystal heart that has recorded all of history since the first days of the Kairos.” 

            “But maybe not accurate concerning my people?”

            “No, as far as I know it is totally accurate.  Gott-Druk, Elenar, Agdaline or any of the other species that touch the earth at any point have a detailed description of who they are and where they fit into the overall picture of the larger universe.  I imagine Lady Alice was very thorough in that.

            Elder Stow said nothing as the clouds moved in and the little drips of snow began to pick up steam.  It was not much further before they had to go single file.  The wind picked up and began to blow the snow into their faces and they had to move forward with their eyes on the rump of the horse in front. 

            Boston dropped back to check on Katie.  She knew Lockhart’s healing chits would have him healed in short order, but Katie had no such help.  She also knew an elect had a high tolerance for pain and healed quickly, but she was worried all the same.  Boston might have found a little magic in her veins, but she was no healer like Alexis.  They had already lost Captain Decker.  They could not afford to lose Katie too.

            When they started to move single file, she found herself between Katie and Elder Stow.  Her eyes became glued to the back end of Captain Decker’s horse and did not waver.  She was not worried about their direction.  Roland had an unerring sense of direction and would keep them headed in the right direction no matter how many side steps he had to make to get around obstacles in their path.

            When they came to a corner, Elder Stow kicked his horse to a trot.  Boston stayed right with him  Katie had to hustle to keep up and turned to warn Lockhart.  Soon enough Katie saw the rear end of the horse again, walking in front, and she slowed down.  Because of the snow and ice, she did not recognize the back side of Lincoln’s horse.  Elder Stow had left the procession and unwittingly taken Boston with him.  When he touched the device on his wrist and he and his horse became invisible, Boston suddenly found herself alone in the woods.

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Avalon 2.6:  Boston in the Dark … Next Time

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Avalon 2.6: Multiple Worlds

M G Kizzia Leave a comment

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After 3617 BC around Paris, France.  Kairos life 26:  Tetamon, called the Theban.

Recording…

            “This forest is far spookier than the one we left,” Boston said.  “And it is going to be dark soon besides.”

            “Looks and feels like a war zone if you ask me,” Lockhart spoke up from the rear.  He and Katie had discussed it and agreed.

            “I can smell fires burning in the distance,” Roland added.  “Wildfires, not campfires, though I suppose there are some of those as well if there are armies.”

            “My guess would be we came out somewhere in the Ardennes,” Lincoln said.  “We seem to be headed toward Paris, or where Paris will be at some point in the future.”

            “How do you figure?”  Boston was getting used to asking that.

            “Tetamon’s childhood was traveling around the Mediterranean with his Greek merchant father.  But when he began to show signs that he was his mother’s son, he was banished for a time by the gods of Olympus.”

            “What?”  Katie was not getting it.  She was too busy scanning the neighborhood for hostiles.  Her every instinct was on alert.

            “His mother was the Egyptian goddess Nephthys.  As a teenager he laid the foundation for the city of Thebes in Egypt before Set got him kicked out of that country, too.”

            “His mother was a goddess?”  Boston thought she heard that wrong.

            “That actually happened several times, that the Kairos was born a half-god or half-goddess.  The gods of old were not known for being chaste, you know,” Roland explained quietly.

            “Anyway,” Lincoln continued.  “He wandered up the coasts of the Middle East and Asia Minor and got tangled with Tiamut.”

            “One of our all time favorites,” Lockhart said.

            “And eventually got back to Greece, but he was still not welcomed there so he wandered into Germanic lands.  Forced to move on by Aesgard, he eventually came West where he finally settled around what would one day be Paris, France.”

            “Adventurous life,” Elder Stow offered a rare opinion.

            “Yes, but anyway, I figure we must be headed through the forest toward Paris.”

            “How do you figure?”  Boston tried again.

            “Snow,” Roland said.

            “No snow in Egypt, the Middle East or normally Greece,” Lincoln finished the explanation.

            Boston nodded as Katie fired her gun.  The party stopped moving forward.  “Something is coming through the trees,” she said.

            “Shouldn’t we ask questions first and shoot later?” Boston wondered out loud even as an arrow came toward them in answer.  It was followed by several more.

            “To those rocks,” Lockhart pointed further West.  It was a good defensive place that put the sun at their backs and allowed them to shoot toward the East or North as needed.  Boston and Roland tied off the horses behind the protection of the rocks.

            The rocks were slick with ice.  Everyone had to be careful, but Katie and Lincoln quickly took the two best positions for their rifles.  Lockhart had his shotgun and unsnapped the cover of his holster so his pistol could be quickly brought to bear.

            “I say again, let me have my weapons,” Elder Stow tried.

            Once again Lockhart shook his head.  “Bullets are bad enough as historical disruptions go.  We don’t need heat rays blasting the forest.”

            “It isn’t a heat ray, as you call it,” Elder Stow complained.

            “Go get Decker’s pistol.  Can you shoot a pistol?”

            The Gott-Druk stood and scrambled down to the horses.  “It can’t be that complicated.”

            Roland was best with the horses so Boston climbed up from behind when the attack came.  The enemy was unseen and preferred to shoot from behind the bushes and trees, but they did have to stick out their heads and arms to fire, and that was when Lincoln, Katie and Lockhart could draw a bead.  Several were hit, though none were necessarily killed.

            “I think they are waiting for reinforcements,” Boston spoke up.  She had not fired her weapon and was keeping her head down, but watched as well as she could.  Elder Stow came up beside her so she missed what Katie and Lincoln planned.

            “Roland,” Lockhart shouted in English as soon as he figured out how to be sure it was in English rather than the local tongue.  “Get the horses ready for a quick ride.”

            “What are you thinking?”  Boston shouted back.

            Katie was closer, so she answered.  “This was a good temporary redoubt, but they appear only to be in that direction so we will ride in the opposite direction and our horses should be able to outrun them, even in the woods.”  As she finished speaking she had to get busy.  Some twenty men, or maybe they were something like animals came out from the trees to charge their position.  Boston and Elder Stow added their  fire to the three in the rocks and those five guns left nineteen on the ground in various forms of groaning and trying to crawl back to the trees.

            “Now,” Lockhart said and he started to get up, but the answering fire came from the other side at that point, and it was one of what he called “heat rays.”  The rocks in front exploded into slivers.  Lockhart went down, his back shredded.  Katie saved her face but got several bad cuts in her arms and one in her side.  Lincoln escaped as did the ones further away who both reacted.

            Elder Stow ran back down to the horses.  Boston closed her eyes, thought of the Amazons and the wall she built against the magician in that valley.  She was not sure if it would work, but the heat rays from the other side soon hit her wall and reflected off, straight up into the air.  Someone must have seen, because in a moment three small ships came over their position and hovered briefly before they started firing into the woods at their enemy.  That enemy must have moved, and quickly because the craft shot over top of the forest and disappeared, though they could continue to hear shots fired from the craft.  It was like they were trying to get at the enemy down among the trees, and if they hit any, no one knew, but certainly a number of trees were set aflame.

            Elder Stow returned from the horses with all his equipment back in his pockets, on his wrist and around his neck.  He discarded Cophu’s bag which had just about disintegrated from age and came up first to Lockhart.  “Forgive me father for overstepping my boundaries,” he said and moved a flat piece of equipment over Lockhart’s back.  The slivers of stone vacated the flesh, though he remarked how many of the slivers were already being pushed out.

            “Over here,” Boston yelled and the Elder did the same thing for Katie.  The pieces of stone that cut into her were far less, in far less vital areas, but they were still deep, one cutting all the way to the bone.  Then he passed the device over each cut and the flesh pulled together like it was stitched.

            “The inside will still need to heal, but there should be no infection once the outside is sealed.”

            “I’ll be fine,” Katie insisted and she crawled over to Lockhart.  He was preparing to sit up.

            “Gaian healing chits still active, I guess.  I should be whole in a couple of hours.”

            Roland came up from the horses now that Lincoln was down there.  He went straight for Boston, but looked at Lockhart as he spoke.  “Can you ride?”  Lockhart nodded and he and Katie clambered down the far side of the rocks and crawled up on their mounts.  The others were ready and they left that place a bit slower than they planned.

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Avalon 2.6:  Splinters … Next Time

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