The Time Stone

by Jeffrey Estrella

  “They looked like vampires” said Tina.

  “They were obviously beasts from the other place but highly evolved ones being in this point in the future” said Drax.

  “Other place?” Asked James.

  “Long story, kid. We’ll discuss it another time. Let’s just say we were part of an experiment that didn’t go very well.” Drax said.

  “The Machination?” Asked Mercedes.

  “Yeah, look we’re here.” Drax pointed out as he stepped off onto the platform followed by his cohorts.

  “What is it?” Asked Mercedes. They looked at the center of the pedestal and saw the glowing light reflecting red and the various colors of the rainbow to a lesser degree. James reached down to grab it.

  Drax yelled “stop! We don’t know what will happen?” James then retracted his arm slowly. “Hmm” Drax pulls out his handheld scanner and holds it over the light. “It’s radioactive” he said.

  “Oh no” said Tina.

  “Don’t worry; the level of exposure is too minimal to be harmful to us.” Drax scanned and spoke what he read.

  “Thank God” said Tina.

  “However it does have a large amount of power but I think it has diminished somewhat overtime. It was a lot greater many thousand years before, I say about a billion times more powerful than the sun at one point judging by the rate of radioactive decay and the half-life of the … whatever it is.”

  “That can kill someone right?” Asked Mercedes.

  “Oh yeah, were lucky we found it now instead of when it was in its prime. I reckon it’s some kind of battery source device.” Drax said.

  “The alter looks familiar” said James looking at the marble like form and symbol etched into it.

  “The pregivers” said Tina.

  “Yes it seems they are behind most of the archaic items we come across” said Drax.

  “It is and it is all mine” yelled a crinkled voice in the distance.

  The foursome looked up and saw a form running across the bridge towards them, a beast with the body and composure of a man but with the face of a lion whose main rode down to the base of his spine in a tightly braided knot, a long gilded adorned coat, a long curved dagger in his right hand, and a belt buckle with a familiar symbol. They saw the symbol and stood in shock.

  “The Culto!!!” They exclaimed simultaneously.

  “What the heck?” Asked Drax rhetorically as the beast drove himself onto the platform with a sudden halt and tremendous roar into the echoing cavern above them.

  “Just FYI, the time stone is glowing again” said James.

  “Thank God for small favors” said Mercedes.

  “I will claim the Orgola Golon!” He said in a crinkly voice as if communicating by some electronic device hidden in his coat that translated his roars into the English language.

  “Who are you?” Asked Drax.

  “Capulow!” The beast responded as he leaped up with amazing agility and hopped over the pedestal as he reached for the light with his free hand and grabbed a round jewel that faded once removed from the pedestal. Capulow landed on his feet and ran back across the bridge at lightning speed once possessing the item. The platform began to shake as did the entire cavern with rocks crumbling downward in a sudden avalanche of natural stone.

  “What the heck?” Said Tina.

  “We got to go now” said Drax and the four ran back across the bridge back to the platform they came from.

  “Where did the Capulow guy go off to?” Asked Tina.

  “How do we get out of here?” Asked Mercedes as they looked about and saw no visible signs of escape. James reached for the Time Stone and saw it was glowing along with the five orbs at its center. In the distance, Mercedes pointed out “look!”

  There was Capulow running across the stone walls vertically at lightning speed seeming like a blur colored in blue and gold until he vanished into the rock’s many caves above towards the central opening.

  “That’s amazing” Tine said. The rocks began to snowball and come down in larger intervals striking the bridge and the platforms, the bridge began to give way and drop the multiple stories below.

  “Let’s get out of here the only way we know how” said James as he held the Time Stone out and turned it causing the temporal wormhole to appear as they have seen it many times before.

  “Where will we go now?” Screamed Mercedes.

  “Any place is better than here” said James.

  “Ladies first” said Drax.

  “Such a gentleman” said Tina running first followed by Mercedes as they transformed into balls of hot yellow energy being sucked in one by one. James and Drax looked at one another as the rocks kept falling onto their location and ran together transforming into balls of hot yellow energy just as a giant boulder came crashing down on the spot where they stood and then the balls of light were sucked into the roaring vortex that quickly faded thereafter. The cavern collapsed onto itself with continuing furiousness with not a soul remaining in the caves.

  The roar of the vortex was loudly heard by the crew of the Doom ship Gorge Hunter. The captain and first mate stood in awe at the unbelievable power before their eyes; a light punctured itself into thin air and emitted four projectiles that were transformed into people they never met. As the light faded, Drax and his crew found themselves in the presence of another crew onboard a tall ship with metallic underpinnings decorating the wooden hull and tall masts made of the same material with light diodes and beacons surrounding every yardarm, stern, and port.

  “Ahoy Mate” said the long winded captain whose long dark beard and hair, eye patch, long coat, gold earring, and mechanical robotic parrot on his shoulder made him fit the stereotypical pirate definition they were all familiar with.

  “Ahoy yourself” said Tina cavalierly receiving somewhat dirty looks from her friends.

  “Uh, what she means is we are lost.” Said Drax calmly. “We would like to know where we are”

  “Or when” added Mercedes.

  “Aboard ye are brigadier freights of far log hanging and weaponry Gorge Hunter. I be Captain Rigel Cutlass. We welcome you beings of far flung places.”

  “Right” said James “we be…”

  “Time jumpers are you” said Captain Cutlass anticipating his answer. “We welcome you as guests aboard the Gorge Hunter.”

  “Thanks” said James.

  In one of the many quarters below deck, Drax sits on a bed with no feet.

  “This is pretty cool” commented Mercedes.

  “It’s a flying bed, can’t get much more high tech” said Tina.

  “Yeah” replied James.

  “Who was that beast…? Capulow?” Asked Drax muttering under his breath.

  “There was a legend in Celtic mythology, a giant cat knows as the ‘Cath Palug’ is said to have terrorized the Welsh island of Anglesy before being defeated by the legendary King Arthur in the middle ages.”

  “So you think this Capulow was the Cath Palug?” Asked Mercedes.

  “Anything is possible now.” Said Drax.

  “But he just vanished. I have never seen anyone that evolved and what was the red stone we saw?” Tina muttered.

  “He was amazing. But this is the future. We have to expect the unexpected.” Said Mercedes.

  “I noticed strange writing on that alter where the device was.” Said Drax. “It was a message translated as ‘time waits for no one… the voyage is long … great power awaits… let the light be your guide. The truth is your fate.” Said Drax.

  “What does that mean?” Asked Tina.

  “Some kind of treasure, a weapon? The Dark Star?” Asked Mercedes reasoning it out.

  “It’s a treasure map to find the dark star” said James “and we lost it.”

  “But we can get it back. We got time on our side” Said Tina.

  “Yeah, it’s good we’re still in the same time period, right?” Asked James.

  “More or less” added Tina, “from what Captain Cutlass�
�s First Mate Kelron told us this is 4224.56 or in terms of our calendar way out there.”

  “The system changed some time ago,” said Drax.

  “We’re like a fish out of water here piecing things together bit by bit” said Mercedes.

  “Any idea on the look of things?” Asked Drax.

  “Look… yeah he looked real good, cute but not my type. Kind of self-righteous.” Said Tina.

  “Look of the situation, I meant” said Drax sternly.

  “Oh well, we’re definitely post ‘great conflict’” she replied “everyone seems to curse it as the downfall of everything.”

  “Whatever the great conflict was or caused by.” Commented Mercedes.

  “We can still investigate and find the dark star. There are lives at stake here.” Said Drax.

  “Or we could go home” added James. “The Time Stone still has some life to it” he holds it out and shows it is glowing with the five orbs at its center.

  “Where’s your sense of adventure, James?” Asked Tina rhetorically.

  “I left it back there with my lunch” said James partly joking. “But we don’t belong here. Let’s try to focus in the void to wind up back in 2012. We overshot the mark before but if we all really concentrate…”

  “I don’t know about that James, I think we were sent here for a reason, it explains why we are still here even after going through the void again.” Said Drax.

  “Don’t tell me your turning religious on us” said James.

  “I was raised Roman Catholic. I learned about the sacraments and the gospel and that Christ died for our salvation.

  Maybe the Virgin and the Saints are leading us on a path.” Said Mercedes.

  “For what purpose?” Asked Drax curiously.

  “I don’t know” said Mercedes shaking her head “but it is worth finding out. There is more out there for us to see and do.” She added.

  “We are natural born adventurer explorers after all right James?” Asked Tina reminding him of their earlier conversations.

  “We can ask Captain Cutlass for help to get to where we need to be.” Said Mercedes.

  “Well, let’s be careful here. We don’t know what repercussions our actions would have.” Cautioned James.

  “What about the Scorpion car?” Asked Mercedes.

  “Is it still accessible?” “Should be but needs to recharge before we can access it again but there is no distance where it cannot be summoned when needed” said Drax.

  “What Scorpion car?” Asked Tina.

  Drax looked up at James and Mercedes and smirked. “We’ll show you later!”

  “The first mate told me there is a story of something called the great island where mysterious things have been known to happen and ships destroyed when approaching. Chances are it’s where the map would have left us or it’s a good place to start.” Said Tina.

  “Ships destroyed?” Echoed Mercedes fearfully.

  “We have no choice” said Drax. “Tell the Captain we have to go to the great island.”

  Standing on the deck of the Gorge Hunter, Captain Cutlass and his crew, including his first mate Ricon Kelron and cabin girl Yulelka Maken, were preparing for the voyage.

  “We shall embark on a quest of vision and courage.” Said Captain Cutlass. “We shall help as we have been asked by our guests to find the legendary Dark Star.” The voices from the large crowd of seafaring men and women became loud and uncertain as they questioned the logic of this task.

  “But no one has ever returned from the quest for the dark star.” Yelled one brave sailor. But Captain Cutlass was courageous and fierce and issued orders commanding their obedience and they did obey.

  “Open the storm drains, batten down the hatches, prepare the masts, and set hole-sail rigged onward, engines and beacons adrift for full speed ahead. The open waters promise to be rough surrounding the great island. But we have proven rough situations before and we can prove prevalent through this as well. Let us remember today we fight for our culture and the culture of our neighbors on the mainland. While we have never agreed much before, I admit, we must work with them and with our time jumper allies for there is a greater threat to our shores, a menace of evil whose armies threaten all we hold true and dear. Together let us embark on our greatest journey.” The crowd erupted in applause swallowing their senses of pride and fear.

  Within moments of the captain’s orders the ship sailing preparations were underway and the voyage was set for. The masts lit up with an explosion of light from holographic generation that illuminated in air around the ship in the form of sails. The weaponry was prepped from stern to stern made of silver material and prepared to emit high pitched plasma particles. The light beacons lit up with bright red amber shining in the dawning sky. The triple decks with over 400 rooms were battened down with metallic awnings and armor around the wooden hull. Tina smiled when she saw the crew hustling about this amazing marvel bestowed before her, a future pirate ship. The ship began its magnificent voyage across the dark seas ahead at the break of dawn with the wave of Cutlass’ large red flag in his hands representing the old union prior to the great conflict.

  “Let us achieve true success!” The bright lights from the holographic sails flowed in the winds and the tail of the vehicle emitted vapor energy cleansed from the bowels of the ships core reactor and emitting in trails of three pushing the ship along the mighty rough seas’ crimson waves.

  Tina approached James who had his eyes closed on the starboard side of the ship facing the water tide. “What are you doing buddy?” She said.

  “I think I can see it” said James.

  “Huh?” Noted Tina.

  “The stone from the cavern of light, the one Capulow stole. It is nearby. I can sense it. I don’t know how but I can sense it and see it close to this place.”

  “Your powers must be growing again” she added.

  “I can just reach out with my mind” he continued speaking with his eyes closed and focusing on the sight of the red lightless stone in his mind’s eye.

  “Concentrate dude” said Tina wide eyed in shock.

  “Hmm” James focused on the stone and felt his entire body shiver as he began to shake. His eyes began to light up within a few moments. He felt the pull of the object he sought and used all his might to focus on it and pull it towards them. Several minutes would pass when one of the crew would begin yelling at the top of his lungs that he saw something “curses, curses, there be omens in the air” and as they all soon looked up and all saw what appeared to be a red jewel flying above them and drawing closer to the Gorge Hunter. The winds picked up as the stone vibrated in the air tunneling to them like a torpedo in the distance coming towards them and circling the port side of the ship arriving in a full sweep into the air above James. Tina reached up and grabbed it.

  “Amazing” she yelled.

  “A small step for man, large leap for the holder” said Drax proudly.

  “We got the map now” said Mercedes marveled.

  “Blessed be” said Cutlass.

  “Mercy me” said Yulelka.

  “We got the Orgola Golon” said James opening his eyes and turning. “I think we can expect Capulow to find us again.”

  “Don’t worry, well get him.” Said Drax.

  Then suddenly Yulelka pointed out something as she looked in pure astonishing horror, “it’s them!” Everyone looked at the largest ship they have ever seen sail the seas, many have seen it but few have lived to tell about it.

  “What’s that?” Asked Drax.

  “A legend alive before us, one of pure evil” said Cutlass with a great frown.

  The ship they approached was large, almost twice the size of the Gorge Hunter, enamored with three times as many cannons on either side, each one with a small projectile firing mechanism at the end, a small sphere of silver, as the entire arm began to glow with light and electricity reaching the silver ball at their tips and flashing like multiple stars surrounding the hull, readying to fire their e
nergy. The hull was triple reinforced with metallic armor and extension wings that made it seem like a giant seagull gliding across the waters. The sails were holographic as well. The engine emitted trails of light pushing it aloft the rough stormy seas.

  “What is that?” Asked James.

  “That is the mightiest of the might, the scourge of the eight seas,” said Cutlass with absolute fear in his voice, “the Marauder!”

  “She has equipment ten times as powerful as we do, trans morph torpedo launchers, multi-laser cannons, and a trans-phasic energy based armament.” Said Yulelka.

  “Never heard of that kind of technology” said Mercedes.

  “It’s very unusual. It doesn’t exist anywhere except on board that ship.” Replied Yulelka.

  “Could they be from the future?” Asked Tina “well the future of this future” she added nonchalantly.

  “Anything is possible, or they had help” said Drax. The fear and panic in their tones was immense as they watched in agony as the Marauder approached and they could do nothing but pray that it would pass them by on their voyage to the great island. But it did not and the sounds of the braking system on the Marauder erupted like torments in hell.

  “We got trouble” said James.

  “Maybe we can talk our way out of this” said Drax.

  “If not, lad, we will not be able to outfight.” Said Cutlass. “We simply cannot win. No one ever has.”

  “The Marauder’s weapons are targeting us!” Yelled Yulelka. The silvery orbs on the tips of their cannons lit up and aimed at the Gorge Hunter. Multiple streams of thin laser energy flew towards the Gorge Hunter and struck its underpinnings of metal rocking the mighty vessel back and forth along the waves.

  “That sucked” screamed Tina. Several crew members fell overboard. The firing continued.

  “We got to do something” said James.

  “Why are they doing this?” Asked Mercedes holding onto the mast.

  “We invaded their sea. They are very territorial. We have never been out this far to see them,

  only heard of them in legend” said Cutlass screaming as he held to the side of his ship and barked orders, “return fire, return fire.”

  “Weapons are down” said Ricon.