‘A few days,’ Noah admitted and took a seat on the lounge opposite.
‘So what is our situation?’ Rhun figured his advisor had been doing some investigation.
‘Well,’ he raised both brows. ‘I don’t remember back far enough to recall the time before the timekeepers ever landed here, but things seem to be pretty much as they would have been in that event.’
‘Hold on,’ Rhun was panicked. ‘If the timekeepers have never come here then …’ He looked at the historian, horrified. ‘You haven’t summoned my youngest brother back here yet, have you?’ Rhun didn’t even dare to breathe the Lord of the Otherworld’s name, least he heard and responded by making himself present.
‘Well, I didn’t see the need before we deal with Zhou,’ Noah proffered, ‘what’s the concern?’
‘Do I need a concern to avoid my brother?’ Rhun sidestepped the query.
‘Not usually,’ Noah warranted with a wary grin.
‘Maybe we could just never summon him back?’ Rhun mulled over an attractive option.
Noah frowned, considering the suggestion rather harsh. ‘What has Avery done?’
‘Shh!’ Rhun urged him not to bandy that name about. ‘It’s more what he’s going to do.’ He waved off his worry. ‘A matter for after I get back from Zhou.’
‘Well, from all appearances, things have been set to rights here on Kila,’ Noah warranted.
‘A little too right,’ Rhun scoffed.
‘With any luck, the situation in ancient Zhou shall be as it always should have been, also,’ his advisor said, frowning, as the governor appeared quite distracted. ‘If you have a concern I wish you’d voice it, you’re making me nervous.’
‘Nothing for you to worry about,’ Rhun said surely.
A knock on the door, was cause for further frustration, and as Sybil entered, the governor spoke up. ‘I thought I said we weren’t to be disturbed.’
‘Our son is here, requesting an immediate audience,’ Sybil advised. ‘He says it’s urgent.’
Asher was Rhun’s head of defence, so Rhun nodded to allow it, and as Sybil withdrew, he looked to Noah.
‘Now don’t be alarmed,’ Noah cautioned, ‘I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.’
‘That’s blind optimism if ever I heard it,’ Rhun stood to greet his son as he entered.
Asher was taller than Rhun, the height came from his mother’s side of the family, as did the pale brown eyes and reddish tinge in his light brown hair.
‘Apologies for the interruption.’ Asher lacked his usual good cheer this morning. ‘We have an alien vessel parked beyond our atmosphere requesting permission to land.’
The governor and Noah looked at each other in trepidation a moment. ‘Who are they?’ Rhun queried.
‘They say they are Draconian. Their ship’s commander goes by the name of Vugar,’ Asher informed and watched both his superiors turn pale. ‘You know of him, Father?’
‘Déjà vu,’ Rhun uttered by way of an explanation.
‘Is this how it played out last time?’ Noah was afraid to ask.
Rhun nodded. ‘Only it was Shyamal in command, not Vugar, and they didn’t ask for permission to land, just …’ Rhun looked to Noah not wanting to voice the word ‘attacked’ in front of Asher and cause undue alert.
‘Is there something unfolding that I should know about?’ Asher queried warily.
‘What is their business here?’ Rhun asked before setting off any alarm bells.
‘Well, that’s the curious thing. I suspect they are in the wrong place, for they claim to be seeking the timekeepers?’ Asher shrugged. ‘In particular they are asking after persons named Sammael, Armaros or Taren.’
‘Taren? What the?’ Rhun was agape, wondering how they could know her name in particular.
‘I told them there are no citizens on Kila who go by those names,’ said Asher, ‘but then they asked if I knew anything of the Grigori. And as I have heard you mention the Grigori on occasion, I thought you might be of some help with the mystery.’
Rhun was just too mind-blown to speak for a time, and looked to Noah for his thoughts, but he too was having difficulty fathoming how this had come to pass.
‘Did they say why they were seeking the Grigori?’ Noah rose to query the head of defence.
‘Apparently, they have a debt to settle with them,’ Asher advised.
‘A debt,’ Noah mulled over the choice of word. ‘That implies they owe us.’
‘Why us?’ Asher cut in, following nothing of the conversation.
‘That could mean payback for something we’ve done, or it could be sarcasm?’ Rhun began to pace.
‘I don’t think we should speculate,’ Noah advised, ‘I think we should finish what we started out to do this day, then we might have a better idea of what is going on here and now.’
‘And what if I arrive back here to discover we are back where we started?’ Rhun appealed, hesitant to go anywhere with a possible enemy ship poised above his city.
‘You both think they are hostile?’ Asher was unnerved.
‘No,’ Noah insisted, ‘they have done nothing to offend, and we don’t want to cause an incident by assuming they will.’
‘But you think they might have hostile intentions?’ That much was clear to Asher.
‘In all honesty,’ Rhun looked to his son to advise, ‘I really cannot say, but if we can buy me an hour, I can surely find out.’
Noah gave a firm nod, feeling his reasoning was sound.
‘So what do you want me to do?’ Asher posed, awaiting the governor’s instruction.
‘Give permission for them to send down a small contingent to a meeting with me in one hour’s time,’ Rhun instructed.
‘If you are going somewhere …’ Asher was clearly disturbed by the thought of the governor roaming off, given the present circumstances. ‘You should take a security detail with you.’
‘We are only going so far as the institute,’ Noah advised, ‘and I shall accompany the governor there.’
Asher still seemed uneasy. ‘If you expect something untoward might be unfolding, I should be the first one to know.’
‘And you will be,’ Rhun assured him. ‘Just give Noah and myself one hour to gather some intel, and all shall be made clear.’ I hope. He kept that thought to himself.
Asher rarely felt the need to question his father’s judgement. ‘One hour then,’ he granted to confirm the arrangement.
‘One hour,’ Rhun agreed. ‘I’ll meet you at the governmental space dock.’
‘I would request you meet me here,’ Asher insisted, ‘and brief me before we proceed to the dock to greet our guests.’
‘Done,’ Rhun agreed, as Asher took his leave and Noah rose.
‘What the hell do we make of this?’ Rhun whispered his concern to his advisor once they were alone.
‘Let us not waste time speculating,’ Noah advised. ‘Meet you at the chariot.’ He dematerialised, as Sybil entered.
‘Where are you really going?’ she said once the door had closed behind her.
Rhun knew the clock was already ticking here and that he should waste no time getting to the chariot — the sooner he left, the more time he would have when he returned. Still, if he didn’t reply, Sybil would only follow him to find out, and as she was a seer, she might already know the answer, thus lying was pointless. ‘Ancient China.’
‘Why?’ She frowned in disapproval.
‘Because I need to go there to understand what is happening here and now,’ he confessed.
‘You’re caught up in a time paradox, aren’t you?’
‘And I’ve got an hour to figure it out,’ he advised, hoping to speed things along.
‘I know there must be a very good reason for this,’ she advised with a good serve of warning in her voice — hands on hips.
‘There absolutely is,’ Rhun assured her, appealing with his eyes for her trust. ‘Which I will convey you in great detail at first liberty.’
&nbs
p; Sybil strode forth and kissed her husband in parting. ‘Go then.’ She stepped away to witness him depart. ‘Keep safe.’
Rhun found that notion amusing — there were a lot of words he’d use to describe his life at present, but safe wasn’t one of them. ‘I shall be cautious,’ he vowed, focusing his thoughts upon joining En Noah.
Beneath the Institute of Immortal History was a vault only Noah and the current governor of Kila knew about. It had once housed both of the time-shifting chariots, but the empty space alongside the remaining chariot was an unwelcome reminder of how Rhun and Avery had misplaced its twin. The chariot normally sat in a floor to ceiling box of light that constituted both the alarm system and an electric shield that could inflict enough pain to deflect even an immortal attempting to breach the system — Noah had already switched off the safety measure.
‘Sybil?’ Noah guessed what Rhun’s delay had been.
‘Nothing gets past her.’ He was rather pleased about that in retrospect.
‘A good person to have on board in any case,’ Noah suggested, motioning the governor to the chariot.
‘True … one less to chew my arse when I return.’ Rhun made a move to comply with his advisor’s invitation.
‘You can count me out as well,’ Noah assured him, amused by Rhun’s pessimism.
‘Back to the old model,’ Rhun eyed over the chariot as he approached it — he’d rather liked the revamped model they’d come up with in ancient Zhou, an instance which had now never occurred. ‘Once, all I wanted was to escape the responsibly of being governor. But now I would do anything just to have a boring day behind the governor’s desk.’ Rhun took a seat on the chariot for what he hoped was the last time, and paused to take in the moment. ‘You know last time I sat here, I swore that the timekeepers were going to kick Shyamal’s butt. And, being that Shyamal was really the product of the mind-eater virus, I would say we accomplished that feat.’
Noah grinned and raised both brows to agree. ‘But what effect has that had on the bigger picture?’
Rhun sucked in his cheeks, as he primed himself and his vehicle to make the jump. ‘Only one way to find out.’ He hit the accelerator, which reduced his person and the chariot to a quantum state of being, and sped them forth to the intended destination.
16
ANCIENT ZHOU
‘Timekeeper awaken.’
Taren’s eyes parted to behold the snow-covered landscape of Zhou, just as it had appeared days prior to Jiang Hudan’s untimely death. She recognised the location as the one she’d been aiming for — she was on the road to Shao to visit her sister Jiang Huxin and her husband Ji Shi.
‘Telmo?’ She looked about to find she was alone. Yet, she felt sure she’d heard his voice just now, urging her to ‘awaken’.
In the snow behind her, she saw the imprint of feet. Someone had been standing behind her, but there were no tracks either leading to, or away from, the prints.
Dear Telmo, doesn’t leave any detail to chance. She was glad he’d thought to give her a wake-up call; she remembered nothing before this moment, so she’d obviously needed it.
Taren had chosen to return to this particular spot as it had been where Jiang Hudan had met up with her little brother, Fen Gong, and his tigress, Ling Hu. Yet there was no sign of them beneath the tree where she had found them both sleeping last time this instance had played out.
‘Curious.’ She pulled her shawl tighter about her shoulders to block out the cold of the misty morning and in so doing realised that she had two free hands — which Jiang Hudan never did when travelling, for she always carried the legendary staff, Taiji. ‘Holy mother, where is it?’ She began a desperate search of the area.
Taiji was a tall staff of carved wood with a curved hook at its top inset with a glowing stone ball that changed colour and frequency depending upon the the mood and intent of the wielder. Taiji meant the supreme, or ultimate, pole — pole used in the sense of opposing poles. For Taiji granted the wielder a supreme polarity which was non-polar — a perfect state of non-judgement through which to channel the will of heaven. It had been given to Jiang Hudan by her Shifu, the great mother of Yi Wu Li Shan, for safekeeping. This staff was the entire reason that Jiang Hudan was on her way to Shao this day, for she had been charged by Yi Wu to return Taiji to the Dropa to which it had originally belonged.
‘Please, universe, Telmo did not take off with it as a joke?’ Taren wondered how she would be greeted at the Dropa camp when she showed up without the treasure that had been entrusted to her.
The sound of horses’ hooves distracted her from her search as she moved to watch the horseman approach.
‘Brother Hudan!’ he exclaimed, pulling the horse to a halt and drawing back his hood so that she might see his face.
The sight of Fen Gong, young and vibrant, brought tears to her eyes; she hadn’t thought to be so overwhelmed to see him again, but she did miss this incarnation of him dearly, especially after his death. ‘Brother Fen,’ she exclaimed, choked by her emotion as he sprang off his horse to bow to her in the official manner. It had been some time since they’d seen each other in this lifetime, and his time in the king’s court had made him rather civilised. ‘It’s so good to see you!’ She dispensed with the formality of the time, and hugged Fen, who endured her open display of affection with both hands at his side.
‘It is a great surprise to see you on the road to Shao, brother?’ The joy in Fen’s voice made his delight plain, and noting his discomfort she let him go.
‘Likewise, little brother,’ she replied, her eyes reverting to her search for the staff.
‘Have you lost something?’ Fen noted her distraction.
‘The Taiji staff, of all things,’ she replied, knowing Fen was well aware of its importance.
‘What is that?’ he asked, curious to know more, and Taren was immediately alarmed.
‘What do you mean, what is that?’ she queried him back. ‘It’s the long staff I carry with me everywhere!’
Fen’s frown deepened. ‘Did you take to doing this after I left the cloister?’
Clearly Fen had not the faintest clue what she was talking about. ‘You swear you’ve never heard of Taiji?’
‘I swear!’ he insisted.
‘Interesting.’ Taren pondered that she might be looking for a staff that did not exist.
‘Why are you on the road to Shao?’ Fen asked, more curious about that. ‘What reason do you have to leave the House of Yi Wu Li Shan?’
‘Well, if you have never heard of Taiji,’ Taren thought it was a very good question, ‘I must confess, I have absolutely no idea why I am here.’
Fen chuckled at her response. ‘You are behaving very strangely, brother Hudan.’
‘Why are you here?’ she queried, noting something amiss with him. ‘And where is Ling Hu?’
‘Sorry?’ Fen was appearing bemused again.
‘Your tiger?’ Taren prompted his memory, but his expression only became more perplexed.
‘Are you unwell, brother?’ Fen was sincerely concerned for her mental health at this point. ‘What would I be doing with a tiger? I live at court!’
‘Of course.’ Taren forced a smile, although inside her chest her heart was beating faster and faster. What else had they changed? What did it all mean? In any event, she wasn’t asking any more questions, best just to observe for a time.
‘I am heading to visit with our sister,’ Fen explained. ‘Could that be why you are here?’ he suggested, as his brother appeared to be confused. ‘We could travel together?’
‘Yes, we do,’ Taren said, with a smile. That much she was certain of, for Jiang Hudan’s death lay in wait, deep in the mountain ranges beyond Shao, just a few days from now.
In the meantime, she would learn about the course of history in this timeline and pinpoint as many variances as she could before meeting up with the other timekeepers. Jiang Hudan had been the first among her ilk to die in ancient Zhou, so she had returned to an earlier period tha
n any of the other team members and would be on her own until she met up with Rhun.
At that moment the sun penetrated the heavy morning mist and it began to break up in the warmth.
‘Looks like it is going to be a fine day.’ Fen smiled as he turned his face to the sun to absorb the warmth.
Taren smiled at this, for the next few days had been among the most enjoyable of Jiang Hudan’s life. ‘Yes, it will. I’ve been greatly looking forward to seeing our brother’s new home.’
‘Well, she is not our brother any longer. Are you not still mad at her for breaking her Wu creed to marry Ji Shi?’ Fen ventured to ask, grabbing the reins of his horse to lead it, as they began to stroll down the road. ‘I didn’t think you’d ever speak with her again after our Shifu banished her.’
Obviously events had played out a little differently in this timeline. ‘She was not granted Yi Wu’s blessing to wed?’
‘Yes, I know,’ Fen was sounding bemused again. ‘That’s why I never expected that the great mother would allow you see your twin again. Or does our Shifu not know you are here?’
‘Oh, she knows.’ Taren was sure of that much.
‘So you intend to stay at Shao a little while?’ He was excited by the prospect of spending some time with his adoptive siblings.
‘A few days,’ she replied honestly.
‘And after that?’ Fen queried.
Taren forced a smile. ‘That remains to be seen.’
Happy enough with her answers, Fen came to a stop to suggest: ‘If we ride, we should make the city by the midday hour.’
‘Sounds like a plan.’ She waited for Fen to climb on the animal first, and he reached down to give her a hand up to sit on the saddle behind him.
‘Our sister will be so surprised to see us both.’ Fen got their horse moving at a nice steady pace.
‘I have a feeling I’m in for a few surprises myself.’ In fact, Taren was quite certain about that.
The location of the Shao stronghold was strategic, located in a valley that opened to the east and surrounded by hills on the other three sides; it was the last bastion of the Zhou empire in the west, and controlled the pass through the Qin Ling mountains of Qiang and the upper Jia-ling River.
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