“Let us go, then,” Sema said, extending her hand between the others. Ling and Marcus placed their hands on hers. Gabriel reached into his pocket and withdrew the watch and the shard of Aztec pottery. They would need to go back to the temple at a time when the Coyolxauhqui Stone was still there and then use it to find Ohin.
He placed his hands around theirs and stilled his mind, searching out a time when the city of Tenochtitlan was not busy, a time at night, a time when they would attract little notice. He found an image in his mind as he used his time-sense to probe the pottery shard. Focusing the energy within him through the pocket watch, blackness surrounded them, and the white light soon washed over everything.
They stood in a different part of the city. It even looked like a different city under the moonlight of the night sky above. It took Gabriel a moment to realize why. Tenochtitlan was in ruins. Not ancient ruins. Recent ruins. Buildings and temples shattered. Streets deserted. Houses gutted by fire. One of them was probably the last place the piece of pottery he used to travel through time had been whole as a vase. Looking around, he could see what remained of the Templo Mayor a quarter mile away.
“After the Spanish conquest of the city,” Ling said. “1521.”
“Weren’t the most tolerant lot, were they?” Marcus said as he surveyed the destruction.
“Spain was the birthplace of the Inquisition,” Sema said, a certain bitterness in her voice.
“We should go,” Ling said and headed toward the temple. Gabriel and the others followed, using their amulets to alter their appearance. As he walked along the ruined street, he remembered his feelings of disgust for the practices of the Aztecs. The wars to gain captives for sacrifice. The huge numbers of victims. Here and there he passed what could only be bodies still rotting in the streets, others floating, bloated, in the canals. This was just as disgusting. How many times would he see this throughout his time travels? Violence leading to violence. Death bringing more death. It made him tired, and he had only just woken from a full night’s sleep.
As they walked, Gabriel tried to remember from his studies the series of events that had led to this. This was the time of king Moctezuma II, sometimes called Montezuma. He was the second king named Moctezuma. Moctezuma II had been considered a living god, and it had been forbidden for citizens to look upon his face under penalty of death. He had been extremely powerful, but also extremely religious.
Like most Aztecs of the time, he was convinced of the truth of his myths, both those that commanded his people to provide blood sacrifice to satiate the gods, as well as those that told of how the god Quetzalcoatl would return from the waters of the ocean to the east. So when Hernán Cortéz, the Spanish explorer and Conquistador, arrived in 1519 on the eastern coast of what would one day be called Mexico, Moctezuma II and many of his people believed it was the return of Quetzalcoatl. The fulfillment of prophecy. It was really the arrival of 530 soldiers in Spanish ships. By August 15th of 1521, the city had fallen, and the Spanish Conquistadors were the new rulers of what remained of the Aztec empire.
As they reached the base of the temple a few minutes later, Gabriel reflected that there wasn’t much left of the Aztec empire for the Spanish Conquistadors to rule. Although they had seen a few Spanish soldiers and a pair of priests, and even a few remaining Aztecs, no one had so much as glanced in their direction. At the base of the Templo Mayor, the Great Temple, sat the Coyolxauhqui Stone, blackened by the soot of fire, but still intact.
Gabriel placed his hand upon it, and the others placed theirs upon his shoulder. He reached out with his time-sense toward the enormous carved stone and tried to feel his way forward, or what would be forward if time were straight like an arrow. It was more like being in a spherical room filled with millions of tiny windows, each one leading to a time and place where the Coyolxauhqui Stone had been. He searched and found images of the stone buried beneath rubble and earth. That was no good. It would be most unfortunate to jump into a future where they would be buried alive. If he had been using a fragment of the stone from a future date, he would have been able to move them a short distance away, but by using the stone while still within the natural flow of the Continuum, he would need to stay in contact with it.
He continued to search for the right place. There it was. An image of the stone unearthed in the middle of a city block. Darkness and whiteness followed, one after the other.
They stood in Mexico City near an excavation that looked like it had recently been a construction site. Streetlights provided illumination from the distance. Two policemen stood nearby talking quietly and smoking cigarettes. They turned at the sound of Gabriel and his companions climbing out of the pit that the Coyolxauhqui Stone still sat in. Sema raised a hand to them and the policemen turned back to their conversation.
Marcus was the first to the top of the slight pile of earth and rubble. He helped Sema and Ling on to the stone-paved plaza as Gabriel clambered up to join them. He could see the Torre Latinoamericana building rising straight into the night sky. Nearby the silhouettes of the Mexico City Cathedral and the Sagrario Metropolitano church beside it filled the sky. He remembered the names from his brief study of Mexican history back at the castle.
“What next?” Ling asked.
“Well,” Gabriel said, “I’m guessing that Ohin will try to go to the exact date that I was taken from the timeline. Which is probably about two years from now. So, we need to find a place where he would wait during that day and we can spot him.”
“It will probably be close to the temple,” Sema said.
“We’ll need to find a way to check the dates,” Marcus added.
“A news stand,” Gabriel said. “If we find a news stand, I can use it as a relic, and we should be able to see the date on newspapers.”
“It’s worth a try,” Ling said. “It’s better than waiting here for two years.”
They walked out of the construction and excavation site into the city proper. As they walked, they used the concealment amulets to shift their appearance to that of late 20th century tourists. This meant jeans and branded t-shirts. It felt odd to be walking through essentially the same city some five hundred years later. It was incredible to see how the city had changed from its origins. It made him feel out of place even though he was essentially back in his own time.
Gabriel wondered if it would always feel like this. Like he did not quite belong anywhere or any when. Maybe that was why Councilwoman Elizabeth had insisted on placing the castle so far in the past. Because it could only feel like home if it was distant enough from the lives the inhabitants had lived.
“Over there,” Marcus said, pointing to a little tobacco shop. “They’ll sell papers there in the morning.”
“Perfect,” Gabriel said. “We can stand out of the way beside the building and if anyone sees us, we won’t be popping into existence in the middle of the street.” They stepped over to the little tobacco shop and took positions where they could see the street. Marcus looked longingly through the shop window at a box of cigars.
“Do you know how long it has been since I had a really good cigar?” Marcus said, more to himself than anyone else.
“The smoking physician,” Sema said. “The greatest irony.”
“I’m not saying I want one,” Marcus said. “Just that I miss them.”
“No one made you give up cigars,” Ling said.
“No, but I can’t stand the looks I get from certain puritans,” Marcus said. Sema made a noise that sounded like a cough, but carried more implications.
“Ready?” Gabriel said, ignoring the others. He wanted to find Ohin as soon as possible. Then he could confess what he had done and get it over with. He knew Ohin would be unhappy, and he wanted to get that moment of feeling like he had disappointed his mentor behind him. Gabriel leaned his back against the wall of the shop as Sema and Marcus stood on either side of him, hands on his shoulders. Ling stood in front of him, turning to the side so she could see the entrance to the little tob
acco shop. She placed her hand on his shoulder.
Gabriel reached out with his time-sense and saw in his mind’s eye a moment when there were daily papers stacked in front of the shop for sale. Whiteness followed blackness, and they slid to that moment in time. People hurried along the sidewalks and the streets were filled with noisy traffic, but Gabriel could feel Sema extending something that felt like a bubble of Soul Magic, deflecting interest from them.
“April, 1979,” Ling said.
“We’re looking for September 17th, 1980,” Gabriel said, focusing his time-sense on the wall of the tobacco shop again. A moment later, they stood in the same place on another day. It was later in the afternoon this time and raining.
“Close,” Marcus said, wiping the rain from the top of his bald head. “August 2nd.” Gabriel reached out again trying to gauge how far a few weeks would be. He didn’t know when Ohin might be waiting for them, so he tried to place them in the early morning of the 17th. The sun crept above the tops of the buildings to the east when they emerged from the blinding whiteness of the time jump.
“Seventeenth,” Ling said.
“Now all we have to do is hope Ohin stayed near the temple,” Sema said. “I don’t know how we’ll find him in the city otherwise.”
They walked back along the street the way they had come just moments ago. Or nearly two years ago from another perspective. They found that the excavation had made significant progress. The outlines of the Templo Mayor were visible again, although the Coyolxauhqui Stone was missing, moved by then to some museum or university archeology facility. They walked around the area surrounding the excavation site, but saw no one they recognized.
“You should be able to sense them,” Sema said. “Mages can sense magical ability. That’s how Ohin found you. Just passed you on the street by accident.”
“Reach out with your magic-sense,” Marcus said. “A mage can sense their own breed of magic easier than others.”
“And since you can conjure all six magics,” Ling said, “you should be able to feel something.”
Stopping and standing still, Gabriel closed his eyes. He stilled his mind and tried to reach out and feel any magical energy that might be nearby. He could sense Marcus, Sema, and Ling beside him, each radiating a slightly different form of magical energy, like different hues of light. However, that was all. Maybe Ohin and the others were too far away. Maybe he was wrong. Maybe Ohin was in some other place and time.
“Nothing,” Gabriel said.
“Then we keep walking,” Marcus said.
They walked a great deal that morning. Up and down the streets near the temple excavation site. They walked through the Plaza Manuel Gamio, past the Cathedral Metropolitana, past the Placio National, and around and around, circling the streets nearby the temple site again and again.
Finally, by mid-afternoon, they were too hungry to go on. While Marcus and Ling waited at an unobtrusive street corner, Gabriel helped Sema procure some food for lunch. Following Sema’s example, and focusing his magical energy through the pocket watch, he found it relatively easy to place a mental suggestion in the mind of a street vendor to prepare a few tacos and set them aside. He also found another street vendor open to the silent suggestion of placing several bottles of lime Jarritos where Gabriel could grab them.
A few minutes later, the four mages sat on a stone bench, eating a meal amidst the noise and bustle of the city while they watched the excavation site. As Gabriel took a long swig of the Mexican soda, he felt something tickle the back of his brain. Then the tickle became a poke.
“Someone has just moved through time near here,” Gabriel said. Reaching out with his time-sense as well as his magic-sense, he looked back at the Plaza Manuel Gamio in front of the cathedral. “Over there,” he said, leaping to his feet, leaving the soda bottle on the curb and pulling the watch out of his pants pocket as he headed for the plaza.
The others were right behind him as he quickly walked along the street. He knew it must be them now. He could sense the magical energy of a Time Mage. And the other energies he sensed were those of Fire and Earth Magic. However, he only sensed the energy of three mages, and that worried him. Something must have happened.
As they came around the corner of the street and got a clear view of the plaza, it was obvious Chimalli was missing. Ohin, Teresa, and Rajan walked away from the side of the cathedral and into the open plaza. Somehow, Rajan had a book in his hand. Ohin must have used the cathedral itself as a relic to move through time.
Teresa spotted them first and waved. Gabriel waved back. He wanted to run to them, but didn’t know how effective Sema’s Soul Magic protection would be and he didn’t want to risk any mistakes just then. The two groups of mages walked slowly toward one another, meeting in an empty corner of the plaza. As they met, Teresa threw her arms around Gabriel and hugged him tight.
“See, I told you he’d figure it out,” Teresa said as she released Gabriel and they turned to the others.
“It’s good to see you again,” Rajan said. “Do you still have the pouch?” Gabriel handed Rajan the pouch with their relics and talismans in it. Rajan pulled the rabbit’s foot from the pouch and handed it to Teresa, who extended her hand and smiled. Gabriel wanted to smile, as well, but he knew what was coming. Everyone exchanged embraces and congratulations, Ohin patting Gabriel on the shoulder.
“I knew you would figure out how to find us,” Ohin said.
“I thought it through,” Gabriel said.
“Where’s Chimalli?” Sema asked, searching Ohin’s eyes.
“Chimalli is dead,” Ohin said, his voice becoming cold. “He was killed by the trap that was set on the dagger.” Gabriel had known it was coming, but was shocked nonetheless. He had not known Chimalli long, but he had liked the elderly mage.
“Chimalli betrayed us,” Rajan said, his eyes cold with anger.
“They were holding his wife,” Teresa said.
“I can’t believe Chimalli would betray us,” Marcus said.
“He admitted it just before he died,” Rajan said.
“But why?” Gabriel asked.
“And who had his wife?” Sema added.
“Apollyon,” Ohin said as though he were saying a curse. “He created a bifurcation so that he could capture Chimalli’s wife.”
“Everyone knew how much Chimalli missed his wife,” Marcus said. “It was all the man talked about with a drink in him.”
“But it wouldn’t really be his wife,” Sema said.
“To Chimalli, it was the same,” Rajan said.
“Apollyon was torturing her,” Teresa said. “He must have created at least two bifurcations because Chimalli said the first thing Apollyon did was present him with her head.”
“He said Apollyon told him that more heads of his wife would follow unless Chimalli helped him,” Ohin said. “He knew the dagger was booby-trapped to create a warp in time and then explode.”
“To his credit, he placed himself between Ohin and the blade at the last moment,” Rajan said. “And fortunately the dagger was not originally from the temple, so we won’t need to replace it.”
“He did save my life,” Ohin said. “I can almost forgive him because of that.”
“I can’t,” Rajan said. “He should have gone to the Council. The Council could have helped him.”
“I doubt the Council could stop Apollyon from creating as many copies of Chimalli’s wife as he wanted for torturing,” Teresa said.
“We assumed there was a spy when Apollyon appeared at the temple,” Sema said.
“Likely more than one,” Ohin said.
“It was Gabriel who saved us,” Marcus said.
“Yes,” Sema added.
“Indeed,” Ohin said. “Then we can be very proud of my new apprentice.”
“No, you can’t,” Gabriel said. He had been dreading this, but it would be best to get it over with. Like any truly painful thing, it was better behind you than in front of you. “I’ve done something that you wil
l not be proud of.”
“But he thought he was doing the right thing,” Marcus said.
“It is really my responsibility,” Sema said. “I was the senior member of the team at the time, and it is my fault that it happened.”
“The boy didn’t understand,” Marcus said. “And who can blame him.”
Ohin stared at Gabriel in stern silence, his eyes probing his young apprentice. He glanced at Sema and Marcus. Then at Ling. Ling would not meet his eyes and remained as silent as she had been since they were all reunited. “What have you done?” Ohin demanded.
Gabriel nearly quailed at the tone of Ohin’s voice. He swallowed, his throat suddenly dry. “I created a bifurcation.”
“To save me,” Ling quickly added.
He told Ohin everything. About the fireball, about being a True Mage, about their escape to Scotland, about returning to the Aztec temple and finding Apollyon waiting, jumping to Venice, Ling’s death, and the escape to ancient Greece.
Then came the hard part. Telling how he had stolen Sema’s pendant from her neck and gone back to save Ling. How he created a bifurcation with copies of both himself and Apollyon in it, as well as Sema and Marcus. Ohin was silent while Gabriel finished telling the story. They were all silent. Ohin looked at Gabriel and Ling. They both met his gaze this time.
“I know what I’ve done,” Gabriel said. “I understand what it means and what needs to be done now.”
“What needs to be done now,” Ohin said, “is to inform the Council.” He fell silent again. He continued to stare into Gabriel’s eyes. Gabriel could not break away from his gaze. Doing so would seem like another form of failure. A failure to accept responsibility for his actions. No one spoke.
Finally, Ohin sighed. “I cannot tell you how happy I am to have Ling back with us.” He placed his hand on Ling’s shoulder. “Her loss would have been nearly too much to bear. But we would have borne it. As we will bear the loss of any of us. None of us is so important that we can risk the stability of the entire Continuum for one of our lives. You, as the Seventh True Mage, may be the exception to that rule, but not the rest of us.
The Wizard of Time Trilogy (A Fantasy Time Travel Series) Page 14