The Flames of Time (Flames of Time Series Book 1)

by Peter Knyte

  I was simply too shocked to speak, his entire manner and tone was so confident and matter of fact, as to be almost comical, I simply couldn’t believe he was saying what he was saying. Eventually Jean managed to collect his wits and beg for an explanation.

  ‘Well, you may well want to kick me when you hear,’ Harry said half-amused and half-apologetic. ‘You remember when all this started, we travelled to the Singing Stones, and drank that potion, just like we’ve just re-enacted?

  ‘Well, I was a bit giddy with the entire experience afterward, which might explain things a little. But do you remember, I said that in my dream I’d seen a strange, almost clock-like symbol carved deep into the stone of that overhang, but it wasn’t there the following day.

  ‘At the time I simply didn’t realise the significance, not until we found that same symbol carved into the threshold stone at Uruk. Well… don’t you see? I dreamed that symbol was carved into the rock face of that great overhang, but when I looked for it the following day, all I could find was a hunting picture painted onto the surface of the stone…

  ‘Of course,’ exclaimed Jean, ‘It would be the simplest thing in the world to fill in the carved stone symbol with mud or clay, and then to paint over the entire thing, especially with the thick paint used by the Maasai for their wall painting. It would perfectly disguise the mud on the stone.’

  ‘Precisely,’ echoed Harry. ‘Well, when I drank the potion again this time, I again met my old professor. But this time I was prepared, I explained about the symbol and the tablets we’d found or been beaten to, and asked him whether we’d ever find a full set of intact tablets.

  ‘Well he showed me that night in Africa again, all beneath the stars and fire-lit overhang, as we drank the potion and then fell asleep. It was strange to see it again, and even stranger to see my own sleeping form and that clearly visible symbol where it was carved into the stone. The remains of the previous lot of mud plaster clearly visible on the ground beneath it. I even saw the mud being reapplied afterward and the hunting scene being painted back over the top again.’

  ‘So that must be the set of tablets taken by the African seeker,’ I said, thinking out loud. ‘And the Maasai obviously know about the symbol, so how can you be sure the tablets are still there?’ I asked, expecting Harry to have just not considered this.

  Harry was looking altogether more serious now, and although he didn’t look flustered or put out by my question, I could tell there was something he wasn’t sure how to tell us. Jean had obviously picked up on Harry’s changed expression too, and tried to reassure him.

  ‘Come now my friend,’ he said encouragingly. ‘There is little point in your hesitation, what after all can you have to add that could be more amazing than what you have already told us?’

  I saw a wistful amusement enter Harry’s expression then as he began to answer.

  ‘I know the tablets are still there,’ he said simply, ‘because I know the person who brought them to that spot and placed them in the cliff, is also still there, guarding them, and waiting for someone to claim them.’

  It was a good job I was already sat down, I felt as though the ground had gone from under my feet. I just looked at Harry unable to believe what he’d said. Jean stood up and then sat down again, and then somehow managed to find his voice.

  ‘Nelion?’ he asked.

  Harry nodded, before going on to explain.

  ‘My guide, my old professor, had shown me the carved symbol and how it was disguised, but then I had exactly the same thought as you George. What if they’d already been removed, especially as others had already realised the symbol was significant in some way and taken the trouble to disguise it, all of which I put to old Professor Zimmerman.

  ‘Do you not recognise what it is you see Harrison? he asked me, his smile indicating I’d missed something. ‘Perhaps seeing him when he first brought the tablets here all those ages ago will help you.’

  ‘With that he showed me the same scene again, the overhang once more with the fire below it, perhaps even more enormous than it is today, and perfectly clean of both paintings and smoke stains. And then I saw him and finally recognised him, the young Nelion. Unmistakably the same person, that same scar across his shoulder, though more vivid now, as though still not fully healed. But here he was with the lithe strength and power of the practised hunter, his eyes almost afire with the life that pulsed within him.

  ‘I don’t know how it’s possible that he still remains in that place, how he has managed to continue to live amongst humanity and his own people, when so many of the others have found it so difficult. But I know he has guarded those tablets for all this time, and that we’ll find them there, in that exact spot.’

  ‘It is incredible to even think about such a thing,’ commented Jean. ‘More than three thousand years. I cannot even conceive what it must be to live for such a time, let alone what changes such a life span would have upon the mind. What could possibly be of interest or importance to a person after such a length of time?’

  In many ways it truly was an inconceivable prospect, in no way within reach of our understanding. But we had other issues to attend to that demanded our more immediate attention.

  Firstly there was Marlow, who as we were talking seemed to have come out of that deep state of sleep so clearly visible in the agitated movement of his eyes beneath his lids, and into a more shallow, relaxed form of sleep.

  We still weren’t quite sure what would be the best course of action, but we had to do something, so eventually we decided to try and rouse him. He was obviously still very tired, which made rousing him a little more difficult, but with much gentle coaxing he came round and, amazingly, while slightly surprised to find us all gathered about him, seemed to have no ill effects.

  We still had a short while before the car was due to come for us, so we took things easy while he woke up properly, explaining as he breakfasted about what Harry had discovered, as well as the strange bout of sleep-walking he seemed to have suffered with.

  It would have been a lot for anyone to take in, but being obviously tired as well can’t have helped. Somehow though he managed to absorb what we had said, albeit with the same questions and thoughts repeated again.

  Jean tried to press him about his dream and what he’d said whilst still asleep, and the reference he seemed to make to Selene, but Marlow was reluctant to try and explain things until he’d had time to properly rest and digest his experiences.

  With some brief health checks out of the way it was time to head back to the hotel and hopefully catch up with the others.

  The car was waiting for us when we reached the pick-up point and in it we found Androus and Peter, waiting for us, and freshly returned from Athens. They were a little jaded from their journey and it was obvious the news wasn’t good as soon as we saw them. It was all we could do to bundle all the equipment and everyone into the car before they told us we had to leave Greece and we had to do it today.

  We obviously all had news to tell, but Androus was insistent about needing to go first.

  ‘We have miscalculated the situation my friends,’ he began, taking out one of those colourful handkerchiefs to mop his brow. ‘We have only just managed to return from Athens with the artefacts in our possession, and I was only able to achieve this by lying to one of my friends and colleagues from the university, who in turn has used his influence on my behalf.’

  This sounded serious indeed, and we all fell silent as he continued.

  ‘As you know, we left for Athens knowing that the law and precedent was on our side, and suspecting that this was nothing more than a manoeuvre to slow us down and maybe to tie us up in the local bureaucracy. But as soon as we got to Athens I knew we’d made a mistake. The customs officer Laskari had obviously had time to make a few calls, and when we reached the University there was a very senior official waiting there for us with his legal representative and several other people.

  ‘Well, I immediately became concerned that t
his was far more than a delaying tactic. But I knew all their legal representation and high powered argument would still be useless unless they could find some kind of link to Greece in the artefacts, which meant they’d be dependent upon an expert from the university, and I thought I knew who that would be.

  ‘Now while I hadn’t predicted the level of support the inspector might have, I had given my friend at the university a call before we’d set off to explain the situation to him and to ask for his help in sorting it all out. I’d guessed right, and when my self-same friend entered the room as their expert witness, I knew there was still hope.

  ‘Well we still had to go through the motions. They looked at every angle they possibly could to try and confiscate the artefacts. But when it came down to the appraisal, there was simply nothing to indicate anything had any link to Greece. The language, the materials, the craftsmanship and of course the provenance that I was able to provide, all pointed to these items coming from the near east.

  ‘My friend was more than a little interested in the artefacts, but he put it to those people very simply, that unless there was some evidence to suggest these things had been found on Greek soil, then there was nothing to suggest Greece had any title or interest in them.

  ‘That’s when I had to lie, and I told them that we’d brought all these things with us, and were just trying to verify some of the references made within the various writings, with a view to possibly locating new sites worthy of investigation.

  ‘I’m not proud of having had to do this, but it is what I learned after that meeting, when we had finally been able to reclaim the artefacts and had started to head back to the car. We’d checked into a small hotel near to the university, and as we headed back there yesterday evening, with our possessions intact, I found my university friend waiting for us with a look of grave concern on his face.

  ‘Androushan,’ he said to me, ‘you must leave this place, and Greece as quickly as you are able. I do not know what it is you are involved in, but a lot of very powerful people are interested in stopping you, and confiscating those unique and beautiful items you carry with you. Before joining you today in that meeting, I avoided going back to my own office, because I could see that an official was waiting there for me. I now know he was from the Phanar and had travelled from Mount Athos to see me.

  ‘My university friend wouldn’t talk any more, fearing that he had already put his job at risk by coming to warn me. But I believe what he was saying, which means that whoever Luke’s friends are, it is not just those three attractive young ladies we’ve been sharing a hotel with, they have far too much influence and support to be working by themselves.’

  This could’ve been a body blow to us, and we all realised how narrowly we must have side-stepped it. But that didn’t mean we were out of danger, and our best bet, as Androus said, would be to get away from here, and at least make ourselves more difficult to find.

  ‘It’s time to confront Luke,’ Marlow said with sadness in his voice, ‘we cannot hide from these people, whoever they are, if he is with us.

  ‘It may be his continued presence within our group is the only thing that has convinced his associates that they do not need to rush to deal with us, but I am sure when they realise we’ve been playing them for so long, they will redouble their efforts.’

  ‘We could just leave without him,’ Jean suggested, not very convincingly. ‘Simply steal away upon some pretext.’

  ‘We could,’ conceded Marlow, ‘but he was once a friend, and I would like to continue to treat him as such if we possibly can.’

  There was a general agreement at this, and as we continued our journey back to the hotel, we brought Androus and Peter up to speed with our own news, which made for yet more shocked expressions. Then we laid our plans, so we could do the proper thing by Luke, without giving him the opportunity to stand in our way.

  It was a relatively simple plan to execute, especially as the hotel manager was still feeling as though he had to apologise for the inconvenience that the local police force had put his guests to, so was willing to go out of his way to help us sort everything out.

  It was made all the easier by Luke’s absence, doubtless he’d taken the opportunity to contact Selene and her friends to make their next round of plans, and of course we’d had Stephanos on standby for a couple of days since Androus had been forced to go to Athens.

  Now we were left with the difficult part, how to confront Luke. There was no easy way to go about it. So, after we’d discreetly packed and sent all our things to the boat, we again imposed upon the manager to allow us the private use of one of the bars for an hour or so, at the same time leaving a message for Luke to join us there.

  We weren’t all going to confront him, just Marlow, Jean and myself. The others would leave on the boat and navigate back through the great canal while the direction of traffic was in our favour from west to east. We’d then arranged for a hotel car to drive us overland to a point where we could rendezvous.

  We hadn’t been waiting for long in the bar, when Luke finally found us. He knew that something was up, when he saw us waiting there, but he was still prepared to try and bluff things out.

  ‘It has not gone well in Athens?’ he asked, probably knowing more about what had transpired than we did ourselves.

  ‘No it’s not Athens, or the artefacts, they’re all safe and beyond the reach of the Greek authorities,’ began Marlow. weariness showing in his every word. ‘It’s time for us to leave Corinth, and to end the charade that we’ve been playing.’

  Luke was still looking confused and was obviously going to try and continue his act, but Marlow cut him off politely with a gesture before continuing.

  ‘We know that you betrayed us Luke. That you’ve been working with Selene and her friends, and a much larger organisation to prevent us from achieving our goals. We know you tried to delay us in Jerusalem and again in Athens. We know your friends beat us to the tablets on Crete, and that they tried to beat us to the tablets here in Corinth. We know that you or they, tried to steal these artefacts away from us by using the police, and we know that if you continued to stay with us, then you would continue to help these people and to keep us from finding any of the remaining sets of tablets.’

  It was amazing to see the transformation coming over Luke as Marlow said all this to him, he looked incredulous at first, then indignant and angry, before finally becoming resigned and with it more relaxed than I think I’d seen him for months.

  ‘Yes, it’s true,’ he finally said with such a stark simplicity as to be almost shocking. ‘All of what you say is right, and I am glad that the pretence is finally over…

  ‘It is a strange thing, In the heat of the moment, convinced you were all on the path to self-destruction and certain damnation I betrayed you with hardly a moment’s regret. But the constant lying and deceit once I made that decision, the shame of treating my friends in such a manner, even for their own good, was almost unbearable.

  ‘As for hiring the bandits to attack us outside Uruk. If I had imagined they could fall to such measures… I would never willingly risk your lives, when it is to save you that I strive.’

  We talked for a few minutes more about various things. For our part we explained how we discovered the betrayal. For Luke, it was more of a confession. He wouldn’t give us any more information about who Selene and her other friends were working for, other than to tell us that ‘they’ would not be known to us. But he did tell us it had been him who’d tried to destroy the first set of tablets, not one of the bandits, firing blindly into the bag with his revolver, thinking it would be enough to reduce the contents to dust.

  I think it was this last confession of wonton destruction that finally pushed Harry over the edge and forced him into asking him why he’d done it.

  ‘I simply don’t understand Luke,’ Harry stated with bitter disappointment in his voice. ‘We’ve known one another for years, and I know you used to appreciate the beauty and art of the ancient
world, even when it was just fragments. Yet in that bag we had some of the most beautiful, complete, unexpected treasures from a time so long ago, and still you turned a gun on them. How could you do that Luke?’

  I could see Luke was hesitating, as though he didn’t really want to try and explain it to us, but eventually he responded.

  ‘I don’t expect you to understand Harry, or any of you,’ he began.

  ‘It was the dream to begin with, the horror of that night is not something I would ever wish to try and remember, let alone to try and re-create, though I think perhaps Silvio had it even worse than I.

  ‘You were so pre-occupied with trying to figure out what it could all mean, that you forgot to even stop and ask, what it was you had seen. After I swallowed that poison passed around by the Shaman, I saw you all, at least as you started your dreams. But I also saw the malevolent flame in that old man’s eye as we all slipped into his world, a world of deceit and lies conjured by spirits and apparitions. Visions of the past, of other places and people, all designed to pull you in.

  ‘My ‘guide’ was an old friend, a girl from Rome whom I could have loved, but who’d decided to be a missionary in India instead. I didn’t even know she was dead until she came walking out of the darkness to meet me. She knew I’d loved her, so didn’t want to talk to me about how she’d died, but when I insisted she took me there, powerless to help, able only to stand and watch as she was mutilated and abused beyond the help of friends or family.

  ‘It took me over a week to confirm the details when I got back to Rome, after leaving you. And it was me that had to visit her family to tell them what had happened to their daughter, while sparing them the details that would have destroyed them. That is the reality of what you are all trying to do. These spirits that you are all thinking of as benevolent are offering you a knowledge and understanding that mankind should not possess…’