“You’re one sick puppy, Sharma,” she muttered.
“I always knew you had worms for brains, Sharma. This just confirms it!” Treena giggled, smacking her hand against her dark gray pants.
Ravi yanked his ear buds out and smirked. “You’d better be nice to me, Mui. I’m doing all the makeup for this year’s spring play. One slip of the brush and presto, you’ll have one eyebrow instead of two.”
Treena folded her arms over her plum shirt. “Geez, Sharma, since when did we change from performing The Wizard of Oz to doing the stage adaptation of Zombieland?”
Melody shook her head. “Do you two ever stop arguing?”
Drake snorted. “Is global warming fictional?” He jumped off the deck and snatched up the book before Amanda could.
“Hey, I wasn’t finished with that!” she snapped.
“Melody figures I’m the only one smart enough to decipher the riddles in this book, so I’d say you’re done, Sault,” Drake replied over his shoulder, as he headed for the sanctuary of the tall, blooming lilac bush near the corner of the house.
Amanda’s throat tightened. It was time to channel one of her warrior ancestors. She sprinted after Drake. “Give me that back, Bailey, or I swear I’ll—”
Amanda never got a chance to finish. A tall man emerged from behind the bush and slammed into Drake before she reached him. She watched helplessly as Bailey rolled across the freshly cut grass. The book of riddles was knocked out of his hands. Amanda froze. Her stomach clenched. Now she remembered. Everything was clear. And it was too late to warn the others. Jordan’s uncle, Professor John Lucas—a.k.a. Norman Bates—had arrived.
“Where is it, Jordan?” he shouted.
“Drake!” Melody yelled. She handed off the crystal trident to Treena and then hurtled over the porch railing.
Melody scooped up the nearest garden tool—a rake—and turned to face Jordan’s uncle. She held it out in front of her, and yelled, “You beast, how dare you!”
The professor put up his hands, looked at Melody, and then looked down at Drake. “Huh? Oh sorry, kid, I didn’t see you. Are you okay?”
All Drake did was nod. But Melody didn’t appear to like his manners much. She poked him with the rake.
“Ouch! Hey, what was that for?” Professor Lucas asked, wincing.
“I don’t like trespassers on my property, much less rude ones. Now leave before—”
“Before you decide to rake me over the coals?” he interrupted with a grin.
“Hey, buster, you’re lucky Melody doesn’t have a sword!” Treena heckled from the porch. “She’s won three fencing titles in a row!”
“She’s also the daughter of a knight, so she’s got connections with the royal family, if you know what I mean.” Ravi ran a finger under his throat.
Melody drew the rake back. Before she had a chance to assault him again, Jordan Jensen flew around the corner, frantically waving his arms. “Don’t hit him, Melody. He’s with me! He’s my uncle!”
Melody growled, squeezed the rake’s handle, then slowly dropped her shoulders, like a watchdog lowering its hackles. She tossed the rake aside and hurried over to Drake. Melody slipped a slim finger under his chin, and looked him over.
“Does it hurt anywhere, Drake?” she asked, moving his chin from side to side.
“The kid’s fine, lady,” Professor Lucas said, waving his hand. “No blood, no bruises, no broken bones. In my book, that means he’ll survive.”
Melody’s beautiful green eyes changed like a forest on fire. She slowly guided Drake to a large glittering boulder and lowered him on it. Amanda heard Melody grunt.
“Uh-oh, Melody’s about to go for that guy’s jugular,” Treena said, jumping down from the porch.
Melody whirled around, advanced toward the professor, and poked him in the chest. “And what book are you referring to—A Simpleton’s Guide to Raising Children? Do you always stick that gigantic foot of yours in your mouth?”
He rubbed his chest, and then growled. “Look, lady…I’m here for one reason and one reason only!”
“Harassment? Intimidation? Child abuse? Well, which one is it?” Melody snapped, crossing her arms over her crisp white blouse.
“Here, Amanda, better take this,” Treena said, passing her the crystal trident like a baton in a relay. She snapped her fingers at Ravi. “Come on, Sharma, time for damage control.”
A fuzzy sensation came over Amanda the moment Treena handed her the crystal trident. The queasiness was back, but not so intense. Her senses started to go haywire as electrical currents surged through her body, making Amanda feel like she was trapped inside the Bermuda Triangle. She opened her mouth to yell for help, but no sound came out. Amanda closed her eyes, then opened them and looked around. Everything around her appeared in slow motion. She saw Treena bound over to stand beside Melody and hook her arm inside of Melody’s arm. Ravi joined Treena and grabbed Melody’s other arm. Their voices sounded muffled, out of sync to her. They pulled; she pulled back. They pulled again, but Melody held firm. She wasn’t going anywhere. Jordan jumped in and tried to referee his uncle away from Melody, but that didn’t work either.
Drake was still on the boulder, his face buried in his palms, grass shavings all over his back. Get the book, a voice whispered in her ear. Startled, Amanda turned around. But no one was there.
“Get what book?” Amanda muttered, looking around until she spied the book of riddles Bailey had snatched from her under a patch of blossoming tulips.
Amanda was there in seconds, as if she’d flown across the yard. Shaken, and not sure how she’d traveled there so fast, Amanda scooped up the book. The crystal trident accidently came in contact with the golden Eye of Horus on the cover, and like crossing hot wires, sparks flew out. A sudden jolt ran through her body. Her eyes widened. Her mind cleared. She knew what she had to do.
Moving as if she had wings on her feet, Amanda ran to the stone arch. She cast off her sandals, shoved the book of riddles down the bib of her overalls, and stuck her foot into one of the crevices in the arch. With one hand holding the crystal trident tight, she used her other to reach up to the next crevice and pull herself up toward the keystone. She repeated this once more, as if she was a skilled rock climber. Hugging the column tightly, Amanda leaned into the archway and stretched her arm enough to place the crystal trident inside the engraved trident in the keystone, as Melody told Drake and Treena she had done last night. It was a perfect fit. Amanda wiped her forehead and climbed down.
The trident acted like a magnet drawing the sun’s rays into it, absorbing the heat offered. Amanda’s ears started to ring at the high-pitched sound resonating from the crystal. It was an annoying tone—like the shrillness of an activated fire alarm. She winced, preferring the sullen beeps of her alarm clock, and wished she could hit the snore button. Then, a burst of light shot out of the trident and covered Amanda where she stood, baptizing her in a brilliant flash. Amanda fell to her knees and started to shake.
A light appeared from inside the stone arch. Amanda’s mouth opened. The light was dim at first, and then it became brighter and brighter. The arguing behind her stopped. Amanda attempted to stand, but stumbled. Drake caught her elbow in time. Her breathing was uneven, almost over-worked. She felt Drake gently squeeze her arm, and she jumped, as if she’d been jarred out of sleep. Amanda hugged her body and took a deep breath.
“W-What’s going on, Amanda?” Drake asked in a whisper.
Before Amanda could answer Drake, she heard a swoosh, like someone had just opened an elevator door. A warm gentle breeze danced across her bronze skin, and she shivered. So did Drake. A high-pitched sound pulsed through them, and they took a few steps back.
Drake’s eyes widened. “Do…Do you see that, Amanda?”
Amanda didn’t answer Drake. She couldn’t. She was too busy staring at the beautiful, radiant face within the archway. Melody’s angel was back. Only this time, she wasn’t singing.
7. The City of the Golden
Gates
A shimmering ball of light from inside the archway shot out at them. Amanda lunged for her sandals, while Drake hauled her out of the light’s path and dragged her back to join the others.
“W-What’s happening?” Ravi asked, releasing his hold on Melody. He winced at the brightness.
“I-I’m not sure,” Treena replied, as she let go of Melody’s arm to hood her eyes.
Amanda looked around. Everyone seemed to be operating at normal speed now. Voices were distinguishable, and she didn’t feel queasy anymore. She noticed Professor Lucas was breathing wildly, as if he had asthma, staring spellbound into the archway.
“Uncle John? Are you okay?” Jordan asked. He smacked his uncle’s back.
Professor Lucas shrugged him off, but remained silent as he continued to stare at the light. Jordan tugged on one of his uncle’s sleeves. When that didn’t work, Jordan did the next best thing. He slapped him across the face.
He flinched. “Ouch! What the hell was that for, Jordan?”
Jordan raked his tawny hair. “Sorry. My bad. I thought you were freaking out on me.”
“I-It’s so beautiful,” Melody whispered.
“Amazing,” Professor Lucas muttered, getting his breathing under control.
“Do you know what it is, Uncle John?” Jordan asked.
“Not what. Who,” Amanda replied, as she wiped her mouth.
Treena’s jaw dropped, and she stared at Amanda. So did Jordan.
“Has that light shrunk your brain cells, Sault?” he asked.
“Amanda’s right,” Drake added. “I saw her too—a woman’s face in the archway.”
Ravi snorted. “Did this floating face tell you what she wanted, Bailey? Hey, I know, maybe she’s looking for a body to snatch and brains to eat.”
Drake wrung his hands. Amanda gently nudged him. “No, Drake, remember what you felt? There was nothing hostile about her.”
“Really?” Treena blurted. She pointed to the book of riddles peeking out of Amanda’s bib. “Here’s a newsflash for you, Amanda, maybe she’s looking for that book. Maybe you should give her what she wants.”
Amanda shook her head. “She doesn’t want the book, Treena.”
Treena wrinkled her nose. “Details, please. What does she want?”
Amanda’s whole body relaxed. “She wants us.”
As if on cue, the brilliant white light started to speed up and spread out like freshly spilled milk. Nobody moved. The light mimicked the sun by swallowing their shadows and caressing their bodies. It warmed Amanda through to her core, and from somewhere deep inside, she knew she could trust this light, this radiance. As the light continued to bathe them, an incredible pulling sensation—what Amanda would imagine a tractor beam from a sci-fi flick would feel like—fused with it. Like being on a moving walkway, there was nothing to fear as her body was gently drawn toward the glowing stone arch. Amanda noticed Treena trying to brake with both feet, but she couldn’t. She glanced down and jerked. Her mouth opened, but no words came out. Treena’s feet weren’t touching the ground. She was levitating. They all were. Whoever wanted them, wanted them bad.
“Whoa, we’re floating!” Jordan blurted. “We gotta be a least two feet off the ground!”
Ravi grabbed Treena’s arm. “Are you feeling what I’m feeling?”
Treena nodded. “I think so. I feel warm, light, and tingly, like a bubble in a tub.”
They were within a few feet of the stone archway. Its mottled marble shone more brilliantly than before. Feeling calm and relaxed, Amanda gave in to a sigh. Nothing mattered. All her problems, any worries, seemed gone and solved.
“Hey, my cell phone won’t work,” Ravi said. “I’m not getting any signal.”
“You’re right, Sharma,” Treena said. “No bars on mine, either.”
“Crap, my cell’s not receiving anything,” Jordan added, holding it up.
“Maybe the white light is full of radiation particles that are interfering with the cell tower’s frequency,” Drake said.
“Great,” Treena muttered, stuffing her cell phone into her pocket. “How’s my drama coach supposed to get ahold of me?”
“I-I-I think you’re gonna have plenty of drama to deal with any second, Mui,” Ravi stammered.
They were almost inside the glowing archway. Its light felt warm and welcoming, like the rising summer sun. Treena stuck her thumbs in the straps of her khaki backpack as if it doubled as a magic parachute. Amanda mimicked Mui and grasped the straps on Jordan’s backpack that she was still wearing. Ravi was the only other person wearing one, so all the rest had nothing to break their fall if that light suddenly cut them loose.
The brilliant, fathomless glow swallowed Amanda, blinding her. Calm and silence overrode her senses. In that moment, two things happened—Amanda sensed that there was no separation between her and the others—as if they were all connected by these tiny threads of light. Second, she started to feel as though she were free falling, moving fast and out of control. She regained her vision, just as the white light exploded into a whirling rainbow.
Drake laughed. “Wicked! This feels like a ride at Disneyland!”
“It feels better than that!” Jordan replied. “I’ve been to Disneyland twice, and there’s no ride that even comes close to this!”
“It’s as if we can fly!” Treena shouted, doing a somersault in mid-air.
“It does feel wonderful, doesn’t it?” Melody said dreamily. Amanda grabbed both ankles and flipped herself over. She giggled. This freedom, this feeling, this flux was awesome. The huge, spiraling rainbow surrounding the group of seven gently juggled them in mid-air like floating balls in a never-ending lottery game. She glanced over at Jordan’s uncle. His cheeks were sucked in, and his body flopped one way then another like a fish out of water.
“Is your uncle okay, Jordan?” she asked.
Jordan maneuvered over to his uncle by spreading his arms and legs wide as if he were a free-falling parachutist. He grasped his uncle’s shoulder and shook him. “Uncle John? Uncle John! Don’t make me slap you again!”
He reached over, grabbed Jordan, and kissed him on the forehead. “It’s all true, Jordan! It’s all true!”
Jordan squirmed. “What’s true?”
“Time flows through us,” he answered, his voice cracking as if he were a young boy again.
The whirling rainbow burst into shards of light, and they all touched bottom.
It felt soft—like a cushy trampoline—as Amanda, her classmates, Melody, and Professor Lucas bounced easily until they all stood still. The ground became solid again. Polished marble walls and finely crafted pillars materialized through the fading light. A sudden high-pitched buzzing noise made her wince. Everyone seemed to hear it too; they cringed in unison. The sound of waves crashing against a shore replaced the buzzing, and a set of deep purple curtains miraculously appeared in front of them. Amanda rubbed her eyes. In the time it took her to take a breath, the curtains were drawn. The brilliant white light that had pulled them into the stone arch now hovered between the open curtains. It started to radiate out, then draw in, out, then in, changing its shape with each rhythmic movement, until it finally transformed into a woman.
The woman was beautiful in an otherworldly way. She had long, fair, flowing hair adorned with quartz crystals. Piercing blue eyes stared back at Amanda like the woman was peering into her soul. She had a long narrow face with high cheek bones that tapered down to a firm chin. Her nose was long and slender. Amanda smiled at her. The woman smiled back. Her teeth were white, small, and even. She was perfect in every way. A rich-blue sleeveless linen robe adorned her slim body, accentuating her ivory skin.
I wonder if she’s a princess. Amanda didn’t doubt it, especially with all the jewelry the woman wore. A golden snake bracelet wound around her left arm, a string of gleaming pearls and shells hung around her neck, and a silver belt strewn with various green, blue, and red gems hugged her waist. The only piece of clothing that didn’t seem
to belong was a plain pair of woven sandals.
Melody pushed Drake behind her and took a few steps forward. “I demand that you tell us where we are!”
The beautiful woman gave Melody a gentle smile, and nodded. She opened her arms wide and said, “Welcome to the Temple of Poseidon, in the City of the Golden Gates.”
Melody jerked. “I-I beg your pardon?”
“Atlantis,” Professor Lucas answered in a whisper. “We’re in Atlantis.”
8. The Code of Time
“Not quite Atlantis, Professor Lucas. Only what is left of it.”
“Hey, how did you know my uncle’s name?” Jordan asked.
The woman smiled. “I know much, Jordan Jensen. All of your names are only a sampling.”
“A-Are we dead?” Ravi asked, rubbing his prosthesis.
The woman laughed; to Amanda it sounded like she hadn’t laughed in a long time. The enchanting sound made Amanda’s skin ripple, as if a hundred feathers caressed the inside of her body.
Melody lightly squeezed Sharma’s shoulder. “I don’t see what’s so funny. Are we dead or not?” she asked directly.
“Oh, no, Melody Spencer, you are all alive and well. I was laughing at the wiggling worm on Ravi Sharma’s forehead.”
Sharma’s eyes widened. He quickly yanked the rubber worm off his head. Treena snickered, so he turned and whipped it at her. He missed. His shoulders sagged.
“Fear not, Ravi Sharma,” the mysterious woman said. “In my time, mask-makers were revered for their talents. You must realize that what has been taken from you in life has been transformed and given back to you in many different ways. Your imagination, for example, has become more expressive, more alive than before your accident, through the many masks you create. Well done.”
Ravi straightened his body, and the hard lines on his face disappeared. “How do you know this? Who are you?”
She started to walk toward him. “My name is Lilith. I am the Fiftieth Magus of the Arcane Tradition and the guardian of the seventh Arch of Atlantis.”
The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis Page 5