Legend of the Timekeepers

by Sharon Ledwith

  “Here is mine.” Lilith unraveled a strand of long blond hair from her finger.

  Tau sighed. “Fine. I will do what the Atlanteans do.” Then he flinched. “Ouch!”

  “Here’s bug-boy’s limp and unconditioned poor-excuse-for a hair,” She-Aba said.

  Ajax-ol grunted. “This stuff you put in my hair is sticky and thick!”

  “It’s supposed to be, Ajax-ol,” She-Aba said indignantly. “It is bee wax, the best in the Black Land.”

  Finally yanking a few strands out, his hairs stuck to the palm of his fake paws.

  “Here, let me.” Lilith pulled apart the strands until one came loose and dropped it on the base plate.

  The scale tipped. Anapa went into the satchel he’d retrieved the Babel necklaces from and took out a polished blue stone, flecked with gold, the size of a plump date.

  “Ohh, what a beautiful stone!” She-Aba blurted. “It’s so flawless.”

  “It is a rare lapis lazuli I use to weigh matters carefully.” Anapa placed the stone on the right base plate. The scale didn’t move.

  Anapa grunted. “Too much weight.”

  “Was does that mean?” Tau asked, leaning against Ajax-ol’s decorated staff.

  “It means not all of you can come.” Anapa removed She-Aba’s curly red strand from the base plate.

  It didn’t budge, and he put it back. Anapa took another—the long brown hair belonging to Etan. The scale remained the same. Then he returned it and took Lilith’s blond strand. The weight shifted slightly, but not enough to balance the scale. He nodded, flicked her hair to the ground, and picked Ajax-ol’s sticky strand. The whole weight shifted until the scales balanced out. His dark eyes became slits, and he attempted a canine smile.

  “It is done. The scale is balanced. Lilith and Ajax-ol must be left behind.”

  “What!” Ajax-ol roared, a little too loud. “But…but I forbid it! You can’t do this to me!”

  Anapa glared at him. “It is not me doing this to you, but rather the Law of One who determines the way of things. Take it up with the temple priests or priestesses if you have a problem.”

  Etan pressed his paw on Ajax-ol’s shoulder. “All will be well, Ajax-ol, the Law of One wills this.”

  “Easy for you to say, Etan, you get to go on the ferry.” Ajax-ol’s shoulders slumped.

  Uneasy with the scale’s choice too, Lilith slowly looked around for another way into the walled City of the Golden Gates. But there was none. The massive stone walls covered with copper glittered like a serpent’s wary eye. Guards were still deterring the women, and their white tusked beast had calmed down for the moment, though it was now teetering on its two front legs. The sun caught a glimmer of light from the wrist of one woman. Lilith squinted. It was a snake bracelet wrapped around her left forearm. Then Lilith looked over the other women. All wore the same snake bracelet. Her eyes widened. She lightly touched her snake bracelet. Those women must be seers like my Aunt Ambeno.

  “Etan is right, Ajax-ol, all will be well,” Lilith said. “I have a plan that will get us through the gate and across the bridge into the city.” She pointed at the seers. “I’ll pretend to be a seer from the Black Land and seek immunity with them. It is the code of a seer, to help others on their path. You can act as my servant.”

  Ajax-ol looked. “I still don’t see—” he stopped, his mouth fell open.

  “What’s the matter with him?” Tau waved a hand in front of Ajax-ol’s face.

  “Not what, but who.” Etan pointed toward the youngest seer.

  Lilith guessed the woman must be close to her eighteenth year. Her fair skin shone like glass. She had high cheekbones, a slender, regal nose, and hair the color of glittering alabaster, bound with a pearl hairpiece. Her tall, willow-like frame made the rich, blue gown she was wearing hug her body naturally.

  “Rhea,” Ajax-ol whispered. “I…I thought I would never see her again.”

  “Well, now’s your chance,” Lilith said, pulling his arm.

  Ajax-ol stiffened. “I can’t let her see me like this!”

  “Well, you can’t let her see you in your human form,” She-Aba said. “That would be stupid. And stupid is something Tau would do.”

  Tau grunted. He opened his mouth just as Anapa covered it with his hand. “Let it be and get on the ferry, the pair of you.”

  “Still don’t have the patience for foreigners, I see,” Etan said, smiling his knowing smile. “You should have never gotten into this ferry business.”

  Anapa shrugged. “It is what I know, Etan. It is who I am.”

  “Ajax-ol, we can get into the City of the Golden Gates without the others. Have enough faith to know this.” Lilith pulled his arm harder. She looked at Tau and She-Aba. “Go on, we’ll be fine. I’m on my home soil now.”

  She-Aba sighed. She wagged a finger at Ajax-ol. “And don’t forget to give your tail a wiggle.”

  Ajax-ol grunted. “It will probably be the only way it doesn’t get stepped on.”

  She-Aba smiled, then lunged for Lilith. She hugged her fiercely. “Be careful.”

  “I will,” Lilith said, hugging her back.

  “If you think I’m going to hug you, Atcha-girl, you’ll be waiting until the next flood.”

  Lilith laughed. “If you think about it, Tau, that’s only one hundred years from now.”

  9

  The Prophecy

  “I think this is a big mistake,” Ajax-ol said, watching the ferry leave.

  Lilith nudged him. “There are no mistakes. Get that through your thick skull. Come on, before the seers are allowed entrance.”

  “I didn’t know there was a House of Seers established in the Black Land.” Ajax-ol scratched his paws. Flies were starting to buzz around them as they got closer to the women.

  “There is now.” Lilith pushed her snake bracelet up her arm and adjusted her seashell belt. “And stop scratching your hands, the seers will think you have a plague.”

  Ajax-ol frowned. “I do. She’s blond, thin, and full of herself.”

  Lilith waved off the flies. “At least you still have your humor underneath all that make-up and wax.”

  “She-Aba would make for a better torturer.”

  Lilith giggled. An Atlantean guard immediately stood in front of her. Lilith banged into him, and she stumbled. Ajax-ol caught her before she fell.

  “Back of the line with you two,” he said with a tone of authority.

  Shaken, Lilith stared up at the monstrous guard. He wore a tall helmet embellished with feathers and a golden breastplate over a linen tunic. The breastplate was stamped with a trident. A dagger was fastened on the upper part of each arm with a jeweled band. By his side, a large brown shaggy dog with alert dark eyes and a blue tongue held its position next to its master.

  “You imbecile!” Ajax-ol shouted.

  The guard balked. “What did you say, lion-face?”

  His dog growled, baring its teeth. Its massive paw struck the ground.

  Lilith heard Ajax-ol gulp. He grinned and wiggled his limp tail.

  A small movement on the ground caught her eye. A rodent darted from a crate of sweet-smelling fruit to an open satchel left on the ground by a woman awaiting entrance into the city. The white tusked beast must have seen the rodent too. The beast raised its long snout and bellowed out an ominous low cry that sounded like it originated from its belly. Frightened, the tusked beast backed up with enough force to drag the young seer Ajax-ol had called Rhea by its rope. She struggled, then collapsed. Her knees scraped along the ground, but she continued to hold on.

  Screams rose from the people who were awaiting passage through the gate. Some ran away, others jumped in the nearby rushing water. Guards started to circle the unruly tusked beast, their spears up and pointing toward it. The seers shout
ed at the guards, pleading for them to put down their weapons and move away. The guard hovering above Lilith and Ajax-ol abruptly left them and rushed over to join the other guards. His dog snapped and lunged at the seer’s beast, its master letting out the leash enough to scare the tusked beast into backing farther away.

  “Rhea!” Ajax-ol yelled. “Let go!”

  The tusked beast raised its white, long snout into the air and bugled. Lilith could feel its fear run rampant through her, as if they were connected in that moment. Her limbs shook, her heart raced, and her lips trembled. Lilith’s eyes widened. If I can sense the tusked beast’s feelings, then surely it can sense mine. She set her jaw. Enough was enough. The guards were taunting this poor beast, baiting it, treating this like a cruel, blood thirsty game that would only end in the death of the seer’s beast. Her body tensed as Lilith stamped her foot and screamed, “Cowards! You shame Atlantis! You defy Poseidon!”

  Then Lilith pushed her way through two guards and turned to face them. Without saying another word, she dug her bare feet into the rich volcanic soil, opened her arms wide, and concentrated all her thoughts on the frightened tusked beast behind her, ignoring all surrounding noises. A deep sense of calm overrode her and the beast. The barrier was gone between them, and Lilith felt a connection to it, like she and this creature of nature were linked, were one. Stop swaying, stop pulling, be still, be calm, she thought. You are safe. Trust me.

  Lilith suddenly felt something cool, soft, and wet on her cheek. The end of the tusked beast’s long snout smelled her, touched her, and nuzzled her. Lilith knew it trusted her on a level only she could understand. She reached for the pink end of its snout and placed it on her chest, letting the creature feel the fast, steady beats of her heart. A satisfied groan coupled with relief, like the sound a child would make after finding a lost parent in a crowd, emerged from the tusked beast. Lilith’s thumb stroked its snout, giving it confirmation and giving it strength.

  The Atlantean guards grumbled amongst themselves, lowered their spears, and backed away. Even the dog stopped barking and snapping. It lowered its hackles and whined. Most of the guards retreated to one of the sparkling observation towers flanking the bridge.

  “Elie trusts you.”

  Startled, Lilith turned around. Rhea smiled at her. Her knees were scraped and her gown wrinkled and dirty. Lilith smiled back. “I trust her too. She’ll be fine. I think she just needed reassurance.”

  “I believe she has that now,” Rhea said. “How did you calm her so easily?”

  Lilith shrugged. “I…I’m not sure.” She toyed with her snake bracelet. “It came on suddenly, this urge to protect her.”

  “An earth mind-link,” the oldest seer said, trundling up behind them. Lilith noticed she was cross-eyed, and her long hair was as white as the clouds. “You used the earth’s power to send positive vibrations to the beast. You understand the language of One. Very impressive, child. I haven’t seen that technique used since I was an initiate.”

  Lilith blinked. Earth mind-link? Language of One? She had heard of such gifts. Her Aunt Ambeno had mastered many of the aspects of connecting with nature. But Lilith never dreamed it was possible to possess this ability to link with the earth on a higher level without any formal training.

  “Are you all right, Rhea?” Ajax-ol pushed his way through the crowd. His eyes were wide, his breathing ragged. Flies buzzed around him.

  Rhea arched her brow. “Have we met?”

  “No.” Lilith scowled at Ajax-ol. She waved him off. “I…I told him your name. I am Lilith…a seer from the Black Land. This is—” Wait. I can’t say his real name. Lilith’s mind raced in circles until she blurted, “—Tau. My servant.”

  “Tau?” Ajax-ol and Rhea replied together.

  Lilith stroked Elie’s snout. She didn’t know many boys in the Black Land so she chose the first name that popped into her head, since Tau annoyed her as much as the flies were bothering Ajax-ol. She nudged him. “Is something wrong with your hearing? Do you have wax in your ears, Tau?”

  “Probably,” he muttered, pulling at his sticky hair. He sighed, then placed his paws together and bowed to Rhea. “Forgive me. I was concerned.”

  “How do you know Rhea’s name?” the old seer asked, pursing her thin lips to one side. Her eyes moved around like they were immersed in a bowl of water.

  “I…I foresaw meeting her,” Lilith blurted. “In…in my dream.” She dug her feet deeper into the cool, dark earth. Oddly, this felt comfortable, like being wrapped in a silk sheet.

  The old seer’s eyes rolled around again. She placed a finger in the middle of her forehead, then she grasped Lilith’s left arm and stared at her snake bracelet intensely. Lilith felt her warm breath on her arm, smelled the sweetness of her skin. “The girl speaks the truth.” She dropped her hand from her head. “This piece is indeed ancient. Only those who pass several initiations may wear this unique bracelet. I believe her. She has come to us for a reason.”

  A guard with a trident stamped on his tall helmet approached them. He had a tattoo of a serpent around his neck. Lilith knew this marked him Captain of the Guards. “You are free to enter the City of the Golden Gates. Your scrolls are in order. Belial is expecting you.”

  Lilith’s eyes widened. Belial is expecting these seers?

  The old seer placed her hands together and bowed slightly. Lilith heard her back crack. “Thank you. I shall send a special protection prayer to Poseidon for you and your men.”

  A short, but powerful, tremor shook the ground. People behind them screamed out for their gods’ mercy and protection. A surge went through Lilith’s legs and into her belly. Elie placed her long snout on Lilith’s stomach, and she released a visceral noise to let Lilith know she wasn’t imagining these strange new sensations that connected her to the earth.

  The captain grunted. “It’ll take more than your prayers to Poseidon to halt the instability in Atlantis, Shu-Tu.”

  Shu-Tu shrugged. “They can’t hurt either.” Then she turned to the other four seers stationed behind Elie. “Prepare yourselves. We take our leave. Atlantis needs us.”

  Lilith had been through the entrance of the City of the Golden Gates more times than she could remember. Her father had told her the city had been rebuilt at least four times over after earthquakes and volcanic eruptions severely damaged their beloved city. And the Atlanteans always rebuilt in the same pattern—circles of land surrounded by three rings of water. Circular motion is the law of everything, her mother, a teacher of the sacred laws, had once shared with her. She swallowed hard. Soon, all this would be destroyed and there would be no more rebuilding.

  A timber and marble bridge, inlaid with gleaming metals and precious stones, led them across the canal into the outermost city ring. A pang of sadness went through Lilith like a knife. She cast her eyes around this ring, comprised mostly of a giant race track used to entertain hard-working Atlanteans. Lilith spied a line of golden chariots racing in the distance, their sleek dark horses digging into the dirt, connecting to it as she had done.

  Ajax-ol was instructed to lead Elie. He didn’t appear too happy about, but he couldn’t argue. Hybrids were not afforded that luxury. The seer’s white beast didn’t seem to mind Ajax-ol, and at times playfully stuck the end of her snout in his sticky hair and pulled at it. He waved her off. She’d grab his droopy tail. He smacked her snout away. She whacked the back of his head. This made Rhea laugh.

  Lilith caught him grinning under his makeup. She rolled her eyes. Ajax-ol must really like Rhea if he continued to allow Elie to poke at him. They passed through the first ring easily, going across another timber and marble bridge shimmering with jewels, and headed toward the second wall of the city. Unlike the first wall covered in copper, this one was coated with tin. The ancient alchemists of Atlantis had chosen the metals wisely, each possessing the ability to energetically c
onnect with the planets and stars.

  Once they passed the gate, Rhea suddenly started to sing. Her voice sounded lyrical, magical. Lilith’s whole body relaxed to the rhythm of her voice. She tingled all over, and the hairs on her arms and neck quivered like the effect a crystal bowl had on her when it was played. Lilith sighed. Rhea’s song reminded her of how much she missed the special healing concerts the city had offered as a way of calming the people through the numerous eruptions and tremors of their country. Many of the citizens of the city stopped what they were doing and listened, some approached bearing fruit to give to her. Rhea accepted their offerings with a bow, not missing a single beat, and passed most of the fruit to Elie. She let out a low rumbling sound in appreciation, her long snout greedily shoving the food into her mouth.

  “Rhea’s voice…it’s like nothing I’ve ever heard before,” Lilith whispered, not wanting to interrupt the enchantment.

  “Yes,” Ajax-ol muttered. “It is a rare gift she possesses. The unique tones and pitches in her voice allow her to create perfect harmony between humans and nature. She is truly an instrument to be used for the highest good of Atlantis. The Law of One has blessed her.”

  Lilith caught the tone of pride in Ajax-ol’s voice. She nudged him. “Is she your special one?”

  “I…I wish it were that simple.” He stared at the glittering ground.

  “How so?”

  Ajax-ol shrugged. “My family has chosen someone else for me. I have my path. Rhea has hers.”

  “Sometimes paths meet,” Lilith replied, patting his arm. She waved away flies buzzing around his paws and tail.

  “As long as I remain in Atlantis, our paths will grow farther apart. That is the way of things. Let it be. I have learned to live with it.”

  Lulled back to Rhea’s alluring singing, Lilith wiped a trickle of sweat rolling down her cheek and fanned her face. It was getting warmer, the air thick with moisture. Fragrant smells of incense burning in nearby circular homes constructed of red, black, and white stones roused her in a nostalgic way. Children laughed and played outside, chasing each other in a game of kick ball. Fruit and nut trees shaded some of the houses while vines with blooms the size of melons covered the outside walls of other round buildings.