“What if it is the enemy of the ancients?” asked Andrew. “What should we do?”
“If it is the enemy of the ancients, then our whole kingdom is in grave danger,” answered Raven.
They rode on in silence, each contemplating what they would soon find out and before long they were at the falls. They staked out the horses where they could reach water and grass and then proceeded into the mist of the falls. Back against the cliff face was a narrow ledge that dead ended in a wider spot against some rock. When everyone had reached it safely, Raven reached up and depressed the eyes of a crudely formed natural owl in the rock overhead. As a boy, both he and Andrew had come to this place and had even walked out on the ledge, but neither of them had noticed the formation that looked like an owl before the riddle of the ancients. Raven mused that it was probably due to the fact that it did not resemble an owl much but if you were looking for one you could find it. Very similar to looking for animals or people in clouds as they passed over.
The door to the chamber swung open and the four entered, always glad to get away from the cold mist outside. The door closed and they headed for the doors at the opposite end of the chamber. They opened when they approached which surprised no one, since they had been here many times before. Once inside, and the doors closed Raven placed his ring into the depression made for it in the panel of the small room. It began to move and the feeling always surprised Raven. He had come to accept this but had also thought of the great speed with which they were rising for it did not take them long to reach the top of the falls.
The doors opened and they stepped out into a beautiful garden paradise in this small plateau at the top of Brickens’ Falls and were met by Andronicus.
“Welcome,” he said, “I have some refreshment for you at the hall.”
They followed Andronicus the short walk to the glass mansion they called the Hall of Wisdom, and entered through it’s ornately carved doors. Even though this was an urgent summons, Raven looked forward to the food provided by Andronicus, it was always far above anything he had ever tasted. He looked at Rebekka and saw that she too was very hungry and anticipated what Andronicus had to offer.
As they sat feasting, it was always disconcerting to see Andronicus just sitting there and not eating anything, patiently waiting for them to finish.
After having a little food, Raven could not wait to speak so he asked, “Keeper (for that is what they sometimes called him for his name was hard to pronounce), what can you tell us of this time shift that has occurred?”
“After you have finished eating, we will walk back to the top of the falls and I will show you.”
After they had finished eating Raven rose to go with Andronicus but told Rebekka to stay and rest while they talked. Lorriel decided to stay as well and await what news Raven and Andrew would bring back to them.
Raven, Andrew, and Andronicus walked back down the path to where the Halfstaff River poured over the falls. Raven noticed Andronicus was carrying some device in his hand.
When they reached a place where they could see into the valley, Andronicus handed Raven the device and told him to hold it up to his eyes and look through it into the valley. When Raven did so he let out an astonished cry and stepped back a couple of steps from the edge.
Andrew had a concerned look on his face so Raven handed him the device and Andrew likewise drew in his breath as he looked.
He handed the device back to Raven and said to Andronicus, “It brings things closer so you can see them. Is that how you keep track of events in the valley?”
“Yes,” Andronicus stated, “but my eyes can magnify this device a little more for greater distance.”
Then he spoke to Raven. “Follow the Halfstaff down toward Pearl Lake and you will find what I want you to see.”
Raven looked through the device, and at first had trouble finding his way down the Halfstaff. But soon he was more comfortable with seeing things in that perspective and quickly found what he knew Andronicus wanted him to see. Along the River was a camp of about twenty people, their tents spread out, and a cooking fire was going with what it looked like a Tor being barbecued on a spit.
“Is this where the shift in time occurred?” Raven asked Andronicus.
“Yes,” Andronicus answered.
“Do you recognize anyone, or something about them?”
“Although I can see a little farther with the device than you, I am not able to see faces clearly. But I am sure it is not the ancients, but someone else. And I am also certain that they are from the enemy. Whether he is among them or not I do not know. Let us return to the hall and we will talk.”
Raven and Andrew took one last look through the device and headed back to the hall.
Once there and seated in the comfortable chairs in the hall with Rebekka and Lorriel, they began to discuss what should be done.
“Tell us more of the enemy of the ancients,” Raven asked.
“Until now,” Andronicus began, “I felt there was little need to tell you much about the enemy, for we all believed we had fooled him so thoroughly that we were free from his clutches. Several thousand years into your future a man by the name of Layton Teal will come into power by his military genius. He will control half of the earth and will create a great military state. Because he controls so much, he also fears greatly of loosing that control. Everyone who speaks against his regime gets either interrogated, imprisoned, or executed. He was not always such an evil person. At first his intentions were for good, a halt to wars was accomplished by a unified empire. For a short time there was peace and prosperity, but power can change a person into something they never thought they could be. After the threat of war was over he had to find ways of staying in power so he declared martial law. His excuse was that the unified state could fall apart and there would be war all over again. Most allowed this and submitted to his rule because they were more afraid of war than of loosing their freedom. They wanted peace at any cost. But there were others that realized being secure and being free were two very different things. It was these people who formed a rebellion and began to resist Layton Teal’s rule for the sake of being free. It was not long before many of them were put to death for being enemies of the state. And sadly, in a short time, the numbers of the slain well exceeded that of the last war. It happened slowly, systematically, so people became hardened to the deaths of multitudes. After all, people rationalized, traitors to the state deserved to die.”
Andrew interrupted Andronicus here and asked, “How many people died?”
Andronicus looked at the four seated and said without emotion, “Thousands of times more people than all the people of Glenfair.”
They were all shocked and anger began to burn in Raven, and he could see it in Andrew too.
Finally Andrew spoke, “If I have a chance to kill this evil man, I will for all the innocent he has slain.” Raven agreed with Andrew, for he felt the same need for justice.
But Andronicus intervened with a raised hand and pleading tone to his voice.
“If Layton Teal is among those who have come, you must not engage him at arms.”
“Why?” asked Raven. “It is the perfect time to do so, he does not have his armies with him, only about twenty persons.”
“That may be true if the playing field were even,” answered Andronicus, “but if he is there he will have weapons you cannot fathom. Even the armor of the ancients will not protect you from those.”
“Then what are we to do?” asked Andrew.
“You must go and meet the company that is camped by the Halfstaff to find out their intentions, and gather information. They will come to your castles anyway, so it is much better for you to meet them. If someone were to casually tell them about your ancestors, it may be all the enemy needs to find them. We cannot take the chance of their talking with anyone who knows anything of the past. Besides, we do not know why they have come. If they knew where your ancestors have fled to they would not be
here. Something has brought them here and we must find out what that is without giving anything away.”
“Are you sure it is not the ancients come here for some reason into our future?” asked Raven.
Andronicus paused for a moment before answering. “They know I will sense a shift in time, for I was to be on guard to warn them so they would not be surprised by the enemy. If it was any of the ancients, they would have alerted me right away because that was the arrangement.”
“Could it be another group of time travelers besides the enemy or the ancients?” asked Lorriel.
“It is possible,” began Andronicus. “But remember the ability to move great distances in time with large groups was discovered in the future when the ancients fled. So in any case, it would have to be someone from the far future and that would indicate caution on our part.”
Raven frowned and then said. “It is settled then. Tomorrow we go and meet this company and find out the reason they are here and pray that we will be wiser than they.”
Everyone nodded approval at Raven’s words for there was nothing more to be said concerning the visitors in the valley below from another time. Rebekka was tired and asked leave of the rest to retire for the evening. Lorriel wanted to stroll and meditate in the garden, her favorite pastime in this wonderful retreat. Andrew stood up as well and headed for the back room. No one had to ask where he was going for he had often spent whole nights with the ancients machine that stored wisdom and knowledge. That left Raven and Andronicus alone in the lounge of the Hall of Wisdom.
Andronicus spoke, “I want to know more of what you found in the Prescott castle.”
“You know of the traps,” answered Raven, “but I have a question about the last two. The doorway had tiny beams of light crossing it in a way that made it impossible to get through the door without touching one of them. I can understand the thin trip wire we encountered, but how did the light trap work?
Andronicus smiled as he spoke, “For you to discover the traps as you did speaks of your great abilities. These were very well planned traps with technology far beyond your day. The trap you speak of was probably activated by the springing of the first trap. The first trap was not as difficult as the rest, it was mainly a warning, but would kill the unwary.”
Raven shuddered when he thought of Rebekka pinned to the wall by her clothing. If she had not been moving at a fast pace she would be dead along with his child.
Andronicus continued, “Any thing that blocked the light would be sensed and that would trigger the trap. The fact that dust had accumulated over the centuries may have saved your life.”
Raven nodded knowing it was an act of God that he had not been killed.
“The final trap had needles that thrust down into whoever would place their hand into the secret compartment. Was there some kind of poison on those?”
“Yes,” Andronicus said thoughtfully. “There are many poisons your ancestors knew about that could last for centuries and be activated once the secret compartment was opened. If you ever encounter any traps again, it would be wise to leave them to me. Raven nodded, for he knew how narrowly he had escaped the door trap.
Raven continued, “The secret compartment that held the note we told you of also contained the Prescott family ring. It opened the chest in the room and in it I found the journal of Amnon Prescott. In the bottom of the chest there was a false floor and under it were jewels and gold.”
Andronicus nodded. “It was one of Amnon’s oddities to be concerned with wealth, but after the ancients struggled just to survive, it became less important to him.”
“Maybe that is why he stored those things in the chest,” Raven exclaimed.
“Yes,” Andronicus mused, “is that all you found?”
“No,” Raven admitted. “There was a mosaic in the floor and Amnon mentioned he had kept back some of the weapons of his time and stored them there instead of destroying them.”
Andronicus sat up strait and exclaimed; “No one was to keep any weapons, that was the pact of those who came here. All traces of technology were to be erased forever! How dare he break the pact!” Then Andronicus seemed to settle down and said, “Amnon's weakness may be our salvation, were you able to open the vault in the floor?”
“No,” replied Raven, “it is the first thing I have not been able to figure out that the ancients had left behind. Do you know how to open it Andronicus?”
Andronicus shook his head, “I wish I did, for the weapons there would surely make the playing field even if it came to that. Since that is not an option, we will have to go back to the original plan of reconnaissance.”
Raven nodded, not sure he wanted to unleash any powerful weapons on his world. It would have to be desperate times indeed to do so.
Raven changed the subject, “Master Fields has been teaching me about hand to hand combat without weapons.”
Andronicus smiled and said. “Very wise of Master Fields, for who knows when you will be in danger without a weapon at your disposal.”
“Do you know anything about hand to hand combat?” asked Raven hopefully.
Again Andronicus smiled, which always looked peculiar because he was never programed for that facial expression.
“I have a good knowledge of hand to hand combat, in fact I used to spar with your ancestor Uriah who was very adept at it.”
“Would you mind teaching me?” Raven asked.
“I would be delighted,” Andronicus responded, “let us go outside to one of the lawns and we shall begin.”
Rebekka began to drift off in sleep with the faint sound of Andronicus and Raven talking. As she fell deeper into that place where the conscious mind begins to drift she heard bits and pieces of other people’s minds. She was accustomed now to this for it often happened just before deep sleep when her mind was undisciplined and relaxed. She very rarely ever remembered any conversations that made sense as you often forget dreams you have in that same realm between consciousness and sleep.
This time instead of the voices fading off into the blackness of sleep, one reached out and captured her mind. She knew immediately that it was evil and fear caught a hold of her like no nightmare ever had. It was more frightening than the dream Raven had of the giant twainlar serpent eating her and little Edward. She fought to swim back to that place of reality and wake up but she could not. It was as if she were being pulled by the current of Brickens' Falls back into the raging cascade of water to be dashed to pieces. She fought against it with all her might to no avail and found herself being pulled and twisted as the voice shouted out at her.
“Merry, where are you. You cannot hide from me, I will find you if I have to search the whole galaxy. I will find them all and they will pay, do you hear me, you will all pay for what you have done! I know you can hear me for I have touched someone's mind. Warning the others will not save you.”
Rebekka fought to get away from the voice, it was full of hate and anger. She finally managed to call out, “Raven, Lorriel, someone help me!”
Raven and Andronicus were out on one of the garden lawns near the Hall of Wisdom.
Andronicus stated; “Let us spar and I then shall know how much you have learned from Master Fields.”
With that they began, but Andronicus was not Master Fields and several times Raven found himself on the ground with Andronicus over him with a death chop hovering above his throat. But Raven was a fast leaner and every move that Andronicus used that was successful he learned from, cataloged, and successfully defended against it the next time it was used.
Andronicus was amazed, this young man’s learning ability and physical reflexes far exceeded anyone he had ever known. He started out sloppy at first but every defeat sent him to a new height in ability. Andronicus was enjoying this very much. Not since Uriah had he had such a challenge. His android mind began quick calculations and he realized in fifteen more minutes he would not be able to over come Raven with skill alone but would have to use his br
ute android speed and strength to win advantage.
Raven likewise was enjoying himself. At first all he could do was defend, and even that sometimes failed. But as the exercises progressed he could feel the flow and patterns of the movements Andronicus was using on him and began to counter them effectively.
Soon they were matched move for move and a stalemate began to develop. In a desperate act Andronicus swept his leg like lightning at Raven which left him no choice but to go strait up. He used this to go up and over Andronicus as he had with Master Fields. But Andronicus was not Master Fields. He caught him above his head and started to hurtle him with great force across the lawn. Whether out of desperation or skill Raven could not say, but he was just able to grab onto Andronicus’ wrists as he released him and turned that momentum to his advantage to throw Andronicus across the lawn. The android was surprised as well and found himself flying through the air to hit solidly in a heap some distance away in the lawn.
At first Raven thought he had injured the Android but he sprang to his feet quickly and laughed. It was the first time Raven had ever heard Andronicus laugh.
“I have never been thrown like that before,” he said enthusiastically. “Partly my own fault though for trying to do the same to you. My computations never prepared me for that move. You need no further training, and I believe you would give Uriah your ancestor quite a bit of trouble.”
At that moment Lorriel came running out. “Raven! Something is wrong with Rebekka! She is crying out and we cannot wake her!” Lorriel shouted desperately.
In a flash Raven was off and into the Hall of Wisdom and into the room where Rebekka slept with Andronicus not far behind. Rebekka was tossing and crying out for help. Raven tried to shake her but she would not wake which worried Raven considerably.
At last he concentrated his mind in desperation with all his strength and spoke to her. “Rebekka, come to me, I am here. Wake up!”
The King's Ancestors Page 10