Sem- Adventures Across Time

by T S Wieland

  “No doubt they run away to see my lord's divinity in the flesh,” said Ptolemy with a grin. “The opportunity to see a god on earth would make even the sanest of men wander in search of him.”

  “I wish not to speak of my godhood when I have strayed so far from it. Perdiccas, as soon as the men are rested in a week's time, I want you to gather them again,” said Alexander sipping his wine.

  “My king, the men are more than just tired in body. Their spirits ache as well.”

  “Then shake their spirits dry and urge them on. I have turned my foot away from the path for too long already, and I will not let my glory shatter at the base of the mountain.”

  “Your glory has already reached the summit, Alexander,” said Ptolemy speaking as an honest friend. “Please, let us now enjoy our glory before we fall, trying to climb any higher and sprout wings.”

  Alexander slammed his fist against the table, knocking over everyone's drinks. He stood up from his chair and looked down at Ptolemy in rage. The festivities were silenced. Everyone looked at Alexander in terror as he raged like a lion showing his mightiest roar.

  “Have I grown so frail?! I am not but a brittle, old man now! As a descendant of the mighty Hercules, I shall not falter at my trials! If you should so doubt me, may you join your brothers at arms!”

  Ally shuffled her chair away from Alexander and Ptolemy towards Sem, anticipating that the angry king might begin throwing his food. Seleucus raised his eyebrows at Alexander, seemingly knowing he was only digging his own grave even deeper.

  Ptolemy sat unaffected by Alexander’s outburst. He picked up his spilled cup of wine and offered a disheartened look before speaking. “Alexander, you and I have been friends for a lifetime. Please, let go of your search for glory, and enjoy all that you have accomplished. Your father would have been proud of you.”

  “My father’s glory has been overshadowed by my own! And by the time I pass, I expect my own glory will have all but washed it away.”

  “It already has, Alexander. Now, please, sit, and let us continue to enjoy tonight. More wine, please,” said Ptolemy, trying to dampen the flame in Alexander's spirit.

  Alexander took a deep breath, his heart still heaving with rage. He waved his hand to the room, gesturing to the musicians to play on. The music resumed, and the crowd returned to their conversations.

  “Thank you, friend,” replied Ptolemy as Alexander sat back down.

  Alexander huffed in his chair, still distraught but not wanting to ruin the night's events. Ally and Sem turned back to their meals, choosing not to say anything. Alexander waited for his wine to be refilled and drank from his cup.

  “May my life end in agony for turning my back on my own road to greatness,” muttered Alexander. Ally watched Ptolemy roll his eyes, clearly growing tired of Alexanders pessimism.

  “You thief!” shouted Seleucus grabbing the woman pouring wine next him.

  He stood up as the woman dropped her jug of wine on the floor. Seleucus patted her down, then began to search around the table. “Where have you hidden it?

  “What is it now, Seleucus?” asked Alexander, still filled with dread.

  “Someone has stolen my bag!” he replied.

  Perdiccas leaned forward and looked directly at Ally and Sem suspiciously.

  “You probably misplaced it with the rest of your intellect,” replied Ptolemy.

  Seleucus grabbed the woman again and began interrogating her. “What have you done with it?!” he shouted at her. The woman stood shaking her head hysterically.

  Sem looked over at Ally, noticing her face was red. Her hand trembled beneath the table as she tried to drink her wine. Sem grunted under his breath.

  “Everyone stand up!” shouted Seleucus.

  “Calm yourself,” said Ptolemy. “Tis only a bag. You act as though someone has stolen your manhood for the second time.”

  “I do not care! I will not have thievery in these halls!”

  “Everyone do as he says!” called Perdiccas as he stood up from his chair.

  Alexander and Ptolemy both sighed as Ptolemy stood up. Sem stood as well, considering their next best course of action. Ally remained seated in terror with the bag resting underneath her. She knew the moment she stood up that her plan would be foiled. She thought of trying to grab the bag out from under her and hiding it in her robes. But before she could even attempt her doubtful plan, Seleucus looked over at her clearly noticing her worried face and stiff posture.

  “Stand up…” He lurched over, his shoulders broad and towering. “I said stand up!”

  He grabbed Ally by the arm, pulled her out of the chair, and shoved her back against the wall as her chair toppled over. Sem stepped back to her side. She rubbed the spot on her arm where Seleucus grabbed her. Seleucus looked big enough to bend steel, and the bruise mark on Ally’s arm was already beginning to show proof. The crowd fell silent again as they watched the drama unfold.

  Looking down at the chair, Seleucus grabbed his leather bag by the strap and held it up for everyone to see. “You! You two are thieves!”

  Ally shook her head and looked over at Alexander. “No, it’s not what you think! He was going to poison you.”

  Alexander looked at Ally and Sem, then over at Ptolemy. Ptolemy gazed back at him curiously.

  “Liar! Guards arrest them!” shouted Perdiccas in a booming voice, pointing at Sem and Ally.

  The guards walked towards them from their positions around the room, slowly unsheathing their swords from their scabbards. Ally backed up against the wall, fearing for her life. Sem stood next to her, calm and alert. He leaned over and clasped his hand around hers.

  “You remember rule number two?” He muttered to her as he reached into his robe with the other hand and pulled out a handful of gray powder.

  “Yeah, I think so,” said Ally, watching the guards make their way around the table.

  “Good. Now run!”

  Sem bolted away from the wall, dragging Ally by the hand towards the guards, now clutching their swords, ready to swing at them with both hands.

  “Close your eyes!” Sem yelled, throwing the powder from his pocket at the flaming sconces on the wall next to the guards.

  Ally closed her eyes as she ran. A sudden, blinding flash filled the room, forcing the soldiers to lower their swords and shield their eyes. The crowd shrieked in unison and turned away from the light.

  Sem continued to run, facing away from the flash with Ally still holding on to his hand with her eyes closed. He shoved a guard out of the way, then ran towards the back doorway with people shrieking and jumping out of his way. Sem and Ally ran through the back doorway down a dark stone hallway and continued further into the ancient garden palace.

  “What was that?” asked Ally, still struggling to see.

  “Magnesium powder. I stole it from the shop earlier. Figured it might come in handy if we needed a quick escape,” Sem replied as he continued to run. Ally and Sem turned right at the end of the hall and ran towards a flight of stairs. Without thinking twice, they dashed up the stairs, nearly running headlong into another guard who was attempting to foil their escape.

  Without hesitation, Sem let go of Ally’s hand and blocked the guard’s swing.

  “Keep going!” Sem hollered, tackling the guard and throwing him to the ground, followed by with a swift kick to the soldier's stomach. The soldier gasped for air as Sem hurried after Ally.

  They both searched desperately for a way to escape as they ran throughout the maze of corridors. Stopping briefly at a T-junction, Sem looked down at the aqueduct flowing down the edge of the hall and out through a large hole at the other end.

  “Come on! This way!” hollered Sem, grabbing Ally by the hand to stop her from running in the opposite direction.

  They hurried alongside the stream of water to the hole, then stopped and turned to see several guards racing down the hall towards them from the other end.

  “Now what?” shouted Ally over the rushing water next to
her.

  “Through there!” Sem said pointing at the hole in the wall.

  “What?! Down there?”

  “Yes, now go! I’ll be right behind you!”

  Sem prodded Ally along as she sat down and started to slide into the hole. Ally slid forward feeling like she was about to plummet down an ancient waterslide.

  Sem gave her what he thought was a soft push, judging by her screams echoing from within. As the guards raised their swords as the approached him. Sem dove in head-first on his stomach into the tunnel, dodging the soldiers’ swings at his feet.

  Surrounded by darkness with the roar of the water rushing all around them, the two soaking wet thieves slid through the dark, manhole-sized tunnels twisting their way through the gardens. With every passing second, they slid faster and faster, winding through each tunnel, bumping into the stone corners, rolling over end over end. With no room to struggle, they forfeited themselves to the mercy of the water, hoping their fate wasn’t a dead end.

  Looking ahead, they saw the darkness of the tunnels begin to give way to the starry evening sky and torch lit city. Ally took a deep breath as she reached the end of the tunnel. The tight space opened as she plummeted into the deep moat below, splashing into the frigid water. She swam for the surface, emerging to gasp in a much-needed breath. She looked around frantically treading water, parting her wet hair away from her face. She saw no sign of Sem.

  “Sem… Sem!” she shouted, searching the dark water.

  Sem emerged from the depths of the water, gasping for air. He scanned the immediate area around him to see he was alone. Thankfully, the soldiers had not followed them, but Sem noticed Ally wasn’t nearby, either. They’d lost each other in the maze of tunnels.

  “Ally,” he whispered as he swam, trying not to draw any attention to himself. He swam over to a nearby stone bridge, still looking for Ally’s dark brown head of hair bobbing in the water. Climbing up onto the struts of the bridge, he peered out into the dark in search of her.

  Ally started to paddle towards the edge of the moat, where she grabbed the ledge and pulled herself out of the water. Looking up, she noticed she was now back out front of the Hanging Gardens. She sat down on the ledge below the street and stared out over the water. “Sem?”

  Pulling himself up onto the bridge, Sem climbed over the side and ducked down behind the stone wall. He started to work his way back around the side walls of the moat, his hair wet and his clothes and robes now soaked.

  Ally’s heart raced, fearing she had lost her guide. Ally heard the marching footsteps approaching the top of the ledge above her. She looked up and felt herself being roughly grabbed by her arms and hoisted her up from the ledge and onto the street. She fought to shake the soldiers holding on to her as they dragged her over to where Perdiccas stood with a wicked smile. Seleucus waited at his side, snarling at her.

  “We found the woman, sir,” said one of the soldiers.

  “Was the man with her?” asked Perdiccas.

  “No, though it’s possible he came out through another tunnel.”

  “Search the whole moat until he is found. Kill her in the meantime.”

  “No!” shouted a voice from behind them. Ally looked back and saw Alexander rushing out across the bridge to reach them. “Leave her be. I will take her into my custody.”

  “My king, she is obviously a criminal and must be dealt with,” retorted Perdiccas.

  “Even so, I will have her brother found before we decide her fate,” said Alexander. He grasped Ally by the arm and pulled her away from the soldiers. He stood between them and her, protecting her from harm. “She will remain with me for the time being.”

  Ally stood dripping and shivering, fearing for what would happen to her. Seleucus grinded his teeth staring at Alexander.

  “My lord, what if she makes an attempt on your life?” asked Seleucus.

  “Do you not believe your king can handle one woman?” Alexander raised his eyebrows awaiting a response.

  Perdiccas and Seleucus stood silently. Alexander smiled selfishly and dragged Ally by the arm back into the garden palace. Seleucus watched the two of them walk away, and his hands curled into fists.

  Sem wandered the streets around the palace as quietly as he could, searching for Ally. There was no sign of her. He sat down in his soaking wet robes with his back against a stone building near the moat.

  “Alright Sem, what now?” he murmured to himself, brushing the water from his hair. Cold and sick of being soaking wet, he lifted the cover from his communicator and checked the time. “You have five hours, Sem. Think. What do you do now?”

  Sem sat at the base of the building, looking up at the sky and hoping he would hear the sound of Ally climbing out of the moat to greet him. Despite his annoyance with her, he couldn’t deny how worried he was about her.

  “Think… Think… What now?” he asked himself again, still looking up at the sky. Water dripped from his goatee.

  “What would she do?” He looked back down in thought. “Call me stupid and tell me how dumb a plan that was…? Then later admit that it was a good plan?”

  Sem shook his head and wrung the water from his robe. “No… She’d find the traveler first, knowing I would do the same and can look after myself. Though I really doubt Ally can look after herself.”

  He hopped up from where he was sitting and limped back out onto the streets, feeling the pain in his leg once more nagging at him. He saw a large, heavyset man desperately trying to push a cart down the road ahead of him.

  Sem ran over to the man and attempted to help by grabbing the other handle of the cart to push it down the street with him. The man smiled at him for the help and then shot a confused stare at his soaking wet robes and hair.

  “Thank you,” said the man as Sem’s wet earpiece barely translated the words.

  Sem raised his hand to his ear and tried to shake the water out of his earpiece so he could understand the man better.

  “Could you tell me where the nearest slave auction is?” asked Sem, still wiggling at the translator in his ear.

  The man stared at him in confusion before realizing what Sem was talking about.

  “For the kindness of a stranger, I would gladly show you,” the man replied with a nod, pushing the cart along.

  ◆◆◆

  Keeping to the shadows, Sem could now see the well-lit stands for a stone stage, undoubtedly for a slave auction. He couldn’t read the signs overhead, but he figured he must be in the right place based on the man’s directions.

  Wandering closer to the abandoned stage, he searched the vicinity in hopes he would find Ally waiting for him.

  “The auction isn’t until tomorrow,” said a voice from the darkness behind him.

  Sem turned around to see a shadowed figure make his way towards him into the torch light.

  “I figured you’d come here looking for her. You seemed eager back at the gardens.”

  To Sem’s surprise, Ptolemy walked out from the dark with not a single soldier in sight.

  “You here to arrest me?” asked Sem, ready to run.

  “Not unless you give me a reason to.”

  “Where is she, then?”

  “With Alexander. She’s safe, for now.”

  Ptolemy walked in front of the stage, closer to Sem.

  Sem kept his distance, looking around to make sure there weren't any soldiers hiding nearby. “How is she safe then?”

  “I may not trust you, Cypress, but Alexander does for some reason. And as he is my closest friend and king, I always trust his judgment in return.”

  Walking over to the slave stage, Ptolemy sat down on the steps and brushed the dust from his robes. “Alexander and I have always anticipated that the men might turn on him eventually. Your sister's outcry brought our suspicions into the light. And so, he sent me to find you and ask for your help.”

  “Help? How?”

  “Provide me with something to prove his men's betrayal. You two seem to know something we d
on’t. Give me proof of how you knew of this betrayal and in return, we’ll help you two escape and spare your lives.”

  “You mean the three of us,” replied Sem. “We’re not leaving till we find who we are looking for.”

  “Of course. And just to prove I’m a man of my word . . .” Ptolemy waved to a window on the building near the back of the stage. The window shutter closed.

  The door to the building opened, and a pair of men walked out leading a tall, darkly tanned young man in chains and tattered robes. The two men removed the chains from his ankles and wrists and left the young man standing in the street as they walked back inside.

  Sem walked over to the young man. He didn’t look to be Babylonian based on his shaved hair and Hispanic appearance.

  “What’s your name?” asked Sem.

  The young man looked at him, surprised to hear Sem’s translator flawlessly speaking back to him in his voice.

  “Oh, thank God! Finally, someone around here who speaks Portuguese.”

  “Shh, keep your voice down. What’s your name?”

  “Oliver.”

  “What’s the last thing you remember before you got here, Oliver?” asked Sem. The young man rubbed his wrists and cleared his throat.

  “I was on my way to meet up with some friends outside the market when I suddenly woke up here in the desert.”

  “Where are you from?”

  “Rio. The west end.” replied Oliver.

  “This is the poor soul you're looking for?” asked Ptolemy.

  “Yeah. This is him,” replied Sem. He looked at Ptolemy, satisfied that he’d kept his word.

  “Good, so you’ll help us, then?”

  “I’m not sure how,” replied Sem, walking back over to Ptolemy.

  “Please, can you just explain to me what’s going on?” asked Oliver.

  Sem turned to him. “Shhh… Just stick with me for now, and I’ll explain everything later.”

  Oliver walked over to Sem and knelt at his feet, overwhelmed by finally hearing some words of comfort. He grabbed Sem by the robes and sobbed into them with relief.

  Sem let out a deep sigh. “Why do they always cry? Get up, please. I’m already dripping wet.”