“What?” Nile asked, stepping closer to it, confused as to what it actually was.
“Do you think it will kill us?” Leo asked.
“No, look!” Nile said, pointing.
From in-between two buildings, Nile could see figures passing by on the street.
“What a relief, we’re the same size,” Leo said, and started toward them.
Nile grabbed Leo’s arm. “Wait! The same size doesn’t mean they are the same, Leo. We have to be careful. This isn’t Woodlands.”
“But we have to be near it. We were only—”
“I don’t think we are anywhere near Woodlands,” Nile responded. “Follow me. And please keep quiet.”
They passed under a sign that read “Della’s Bakery.” Nile looked through the window to see joyous consumers sampling baked bread. Nile was reminded of the baked goods in Woodlands. Leo bumped into him and licked his lips, hungry for the different loaves of bread that were displayed beyond the glass.
Nile turned around and noticed that people were crowding over them. Several of them were laughing and applauding. Nile was bewildered, and he discreetly reached for Leo’s arm to get his attention. Leo slowly turned around and together they gazed into the crowd of villagers in this strange, new world.
“They’re dressed odd,” Leo whispered to Nile.
Nile noticed that they wore tighter clothes and held small devices in their hands. Some of them seemed to be talking through the square object. Most of the shirts had wild designs or several buttons vertically in the center. Some of them wore long coats, short coats, and others had shirts without sleeves.
Some people had objects covering their eyes, like little squares or ovals, and some were shaded while others were clear. The hairstyles also varied—short hair, long hair, big hair, no hair, hair sticking up like spikes, and hair braided.
But it was the black that Nile noticed the most. Just about all of them seemed to be wearing black, and the atmosphere itself seemed black, with gray mist canopying over the city. Nile was used to bright colors and wild colors. He was used to seeing the beauty, but the colors seemed faded here.
“We may have a problem,” Nile whispered. Children rushed through a jungle of legs and stopped in front of them.
Nile jumped as a black creature approached them. It had large black eyes like those of a fly. Yet, it had the body of a man. The clothing looked like plastic muscle. It held a long black barrel with what appeared to be a scope.
“Confirm your identity,” the soldier said through his mask, his voice cracking as if he were speaking through a megaphone.
“I’m Nile, Nile Whitman,” he said nervously.
Leo hesitated, “L-Leo Connell.”
“State your residence,” the soldier said.
Nile exchanged bizarre looks with Leo and then spoke. “Woodlands.”
“You?” the soldier asked, looking at Leo.
“I’m with him.” Leo pointed to Nile.
“They just fell from the sky!” shouted a woman, pointing to the area where they had landed.
“They did,” said a young teenage boy. He didn’t sound convincing; he only sounded like he wanted to start trouble. “I saw ’em with my own two eyes.”
Nile held his hand up. “Now wait a minute! I don’t know how we got here.”
The young boy stepped up and pointed at Nile. “I swear on my life, man. He just fell down to the earth. They must be some sort of witches.”
Civilians crowded around them, raising their voices and pointing at Nile and Leo.
The soldier just looked at them, unsure of what to do. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to take you into custody.”
The soldier released his weapon and it fell to his side, jerking as the strap caught his shoulder. He reached into a pouch hanging from his belt and pulled out a metal rod nearly three inches long. Placing the rod between Nile’s wrists, he touched a sensor underneath the rod, which then extended to six inches and attached to Nile’s wrists. Nile tried to pull his hands free. The magnet in the rod was so strong that it was attached to the bone in his wrist.
“What is this?” Nile asked.
“It is for your own safety and mine as well,” the soldier said. He did the same thing to Leo. “Follow me. You will be in our custody until we can confirm your identity.”
After walking through the streets and noticing the very large structures and the odd gazes bestowed upon him from these people, Nile found himself sitting against a cell wall, frustrated. Leo pacing around the cell didn’t help either.
“Do you still have that gem?” Leo asked.
He searched his pockets frantically, then pulled it out and smiled with relief. “I still got it.”
Leo held out his right hand. “Let me see it.”
Nile tossed him the gem.
Leo held it between his thumb and index finger. He scrutinized the gem carefully, taking close interest in the small miracle. “What are you?” he asked. His eyes sparked the same innocent blue that the gem resembled. “How do you use it?”
Nile froze. “I don’t know.”
Down the hall, two sliding doors opened, and in walked a dark-haired man wearing a black trench coat. Beneath the trench coat was a white button-up shirt and black pants that stretched down over his black shiny shoes. He had his hands behind his back, and four soldiers followed him. He stopped in front of the cell where Nile and Leo were detained.
“I’m Norcross Kenneth,” the man said. Nile assumed that he was thirty-five.
“I’m—”
“Nile Whitman and Leo Connell,” Norcross interrupted with a sly smile. “I’ve been informed. We placed you in the cells because people on the street were getting uptight. Safety of our people comes first. I hope you understand.”
Leo rushed to the bars. “Why are we here?”
Norcross avoided the question. “Civilians say that you have magically appeared out on our streets of Silvago. They don’t seem to change their stories. Well, we’ve had a few who weren’t on the same page, but for the most part, we’ve had the same responses. So in order for you two to leave, I need to know how you appeared from nowhere.” He made it sound like a joke. “That must have been some magic trick.”
“We’re not wizards,” Nile said. “We’re from Woodlands. The wizards are nowhere near Woodlands.”
Norcross sighed with a bizarre smile. “What are you talking about?”
“You said magic trick, and I said we’re not wizards,” Nile replied.
“Wizards don’t exist.”
“Sure they do. I’ve heard all about them. They live more to the east. My father told me about them on his travels. .”
“No, they don’t exist ”
Nile gasped.
Norcross glanced over at Leo. “So, how did you get here?”
Leo held the gem up. “This.”
Norcross cocked an eyebrow and smiled. “That?” With a deep yawn, he slowly massaged his temples with his fingertips. “You expect me to believe that you came from that? What’s next? A person lives in colonies built on leaves?”
“No,” Leo said. “We do have kingdoms in raindrops, though.”
Norcross looked back to his soldiers. “What am I supposed to say to all of this?”
“Nothing—just say you believe it,” Nile said.
“So you came from this crystal-looking thing?”
“Yes, that crystal-looking thing.” Nile jolted toward the bars.
“I don’t have time for foolishness!” Norcross placed his arms behind his back and began toward the doors.
“Wait!” Leo shouted. “We come from Woodlands.”
Norcross stopped walking and turned back to them. He clasped his hands together and shook them gently. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“You don’t have to have an idea. Just believe us,” Nile said.
“Where on the world is Woodlands?”
“Sienna,” Nile replied.
“Where is that?”r />
“Earth!”
“Calm down, Nile.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down; I have no idea how to explain where Woodlands is. It is just there.” Nile raised his hands up in frustration and grabbed the bars tightly.
“It is just there?” Norcross asked, reaching through the bars for the gem. “I’ll just dream it up and go there.”
“Is that sarcasm?” Nile asked.
Norcross ignored Nile and held out his hand.
Leo placed the gem in his palm.
Norcross studied the gem in his hands. His eyes looked sleepy, as if the crystal was speaking to him, but he came to. “Shall we try this?”
He clutched his palm around it, closing his eyes. Everyone was silent. Nile became filled with hope. If he could use it, then he’d have to believe them. There was no doubt in Nile’s mind that it wouldn’t work for him.
Norcross opened his eyes and tossed the gem back into the cell. “Nothing happened.”
Nile caught it and pocketed it.
“It doesn’t work.” Norcross yawned. “How did you use it?”
Nile shrugged.
Norcross laughed. “You have to know.”
Nile grabbed the bars. “I don’t!”
“You have to know,” Norcross repeated.
“No, I don’t.”
Norcross grew frustrated and grabbed the bars. “You have to!”
Nile and Leo were startled.
“Norcross, I don’t know how to use it!” Nile shouted. “I just had my eyes closed when it was in my hand, and I dreamed of being away from home, away from my troubles.”
Norcross stopped suddenly. He looked around suspiciously, then moaned a sigh of interest. “What? Say that again . . . about being away from troubles.”
Nile looked at Leo and slowly repeated himself. “I closed my eyes and thought about being away from home.”
“Can I see it again?”
Nile handed him the gem. Norcross held the gem close to his heart and closed his eyes. The gem rotated in his hand, trying to escape the clutches of his tightly closed fingers. Nile and Leo watched as Norcross’s hand shook violently. Nile smiled, knowing that Norcross had to believe them now. Norcross closed his eyes tighter, and his arm lifted toward the ceiling. Nile flinched, expecting the crystal to flash abruptly, but Norcross opened his eyes.
Norcross laughed and tossed the gem to Nile. “Nope, doesn’t work.”
Nile rested his forehead against the bars in embarrassment. “It was supposed to work.”
“Well, it didn’t. I have no other option but to leave you two here until you figure it out.” Norcross turned and headed out of the doors with the soldiers behind him.
Nile sat down against the wall, feeling defeated. “How did you work?” he whispered to the gem, finding it hard to believe that this thing could have brought them here. It was just a gem, right? Nile only heard of magic, but nothing this powerful, nothing that would take them somewhere in time.
Leo gently tapped his head on the cell bar, exhausted. Then he clutched the bars tightly.
Nile looked up at him, defeated. “What?”
“I feel like a . . . caged beaver.”
Nile laughed.
“Stop laughin’.”
Nile continued to laugh.
Leo stopped pacing and rested his hands on his hips. “I said, stop laughin’.”
“I can’t,” Nile replied. “That was funny.”
“I’ll show you funny.” Leo marched toward Nile with his hands balled into fists and a smile on his face.
As he got to Nile, he grabbed his jerkin, and then it happened.
Chapter 5
A Twenty-One-Day Good-Bye
The gem flared and Nile and Leo were thrown through a pit of blinding white light. A green hole hovered in front of them, and they were sucked through then spat out. Nile heard his back crunch on impact. A large tree broke his roll. He moved around in pain, trying to catch his breath, releasing several grunts. When he was able to calm himself down, he looked over and saw Leo lying face down on the ground.
“How are you?” Nile asked, pulling himself up to his feet. It hurt to walk.
Leo said nothing. He lifted his face from the ground, covered in dirt. He forced himself on his knees and then rubbed his face. Nile looked around the forest, recognizing that he was where he was supposed to be. He glanced to the sky. It was later in the day then when he left, but he felt like he had been gone an hour.
“What time is it, Leo?”
Leo glanced to the sun. “Six, I’d say.”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
“Well, I’m sure the princess and the prince are on their way to the honeymoon.” Leo stood and dusted off his britches. “I was hoping to see them off.”
Nile stepped between two trees, looking at the ground. “Yes, I suppose I was too. Where do you think we are?”
Leo looked around the forest, rubbing his head. Nile could tell he was hurting. That impact could have broken bones. He reached over and placed a hand on Leo’s shoulder. He squeezed and Leo winced. They both stared at each other for a second then burst into laughter.
“What is it?” Nile asked.
Leo shrugged Nile’s hand off. “This . . . all of this. We’ve just witnessed something truly magical. What was that thing? That gem? What world was that? What time period?”
“Time period?” Nile asked. “Are you suggesting that we went through time?”
“I wouldn’t rule it out.”
“How far?”
“Had to have been centuries,” Leo said. “Centuries and then some more.”
“Those dragons?” Nile tried to comprehend their magic.
“I don’t think it was dragons. I think it was a way of transportation.”
Nile’s jaw nearly dropped. The idea sounded too out of hand. “We fly? In the future, we fly?”
Leo shrugged. “Anything is possible.”
Nile shook his head in amazement and stepped over some fallen branches. He began toward Woodlands. He knew his way through the forest, and finding Woodlands was easy. He had to find the south tower poking out over the trees. Leo followed him and they walked together not saying a word, both of them trying to comprehend what they had seen. As they came out of the forest, Nile noticed an eerie peace that fell upon Woodlands. The castle was beginning to hide in the shadow, away from the sun as it dipped behind the mountains.
“It’s strange, Leo,” Nile said, stopping in his tracks.
Leo slid to a stop. “What is?”
“The kingdom. Dywnwen is now married. It looks like the kingdom is feeling my pain.”
Leo glanced at the kingdom. The people were settling in their houses except for a group of children that were playing near the stream. The castle towered over the land like a judgmental deity. It did feel bizarre now, especially with a new heir to the throne. Nile shrugged it off and walked toward his cabin. Leo followed him inside, where Nile fell into his rocking chair. There was a bench against the wall that Nile’s father had built. Leo pulled it out in front of Nile and sat across from him.
Nile held the gem in the palm of his hand. The blue sparkled in his pupils. It was only the size of a marble, but it held so much magic. Nile pondered where it came from and its origin. He placed the gem in a bowl on the end table beside him.
“How did you use it?”
Nile thought for a second. “I don’t know. I was just feeling angry, confused. I was thinking about—”
“Dywnwen?” Leo asked.
“Dywnwen,” Nile replied.
“Who made it?”
“Wizards,” Nile replied, “or dragon riders. Dragon riders are just as powerful as wizards.”
“It’s man-made or creature-made. It’s smooth, but not nearly perfect. Perhaps it isn’t by wizards or dragon lords, it could be—”
“Seraph,” Leo interrupted.
Nile paused for a second and glanced in the bowl. The gem stared at him, wanting to be touc
hed. Nile sat forward, glancing at Leo. “Seraph? Why would you say that?”
“I don’t know! We were just guessing so I thought—”
“I don’t even know if Seraph is real,” Nile interrupted.
“Say what you want,” Leo replied, “but Seraph is as real as time travel.”
Nile supposed Leo could be right. If a small gem could allow him to travel between worlds, then what was keeping Seraph from being an evil figure in fairytales? Nile sat back in the rocking chair. It creaked against the hard floor and Leo shivered. The talk about Seraph ensued fear into Nile’s home. Nile was never afraid, but the thought of Seraph made Nile and Leo gulp.
Suddenly, a knock came at the door.
Nile and Leo jumped up in alarm. Nile quickly placed the gem in his pocket. The two men stood up, staring at the door.
“Open it,” Nile said.
“No, you open it,” Leo replied. “It’s your house.”
Nile rolled his eyes and edged to the door. He slowly placed his hands on the wood, glanced back to Leo, then took a deep breath. He pulled the door open. A figure in a hood stood before him on the porch. The sun was still setting, giving them very little light. Nile backed away, unsure of the figure.
Two small hands reached up and flipped the hood back. It was Dywnwen. She smiled at them, then pulled Nile and Leo in for a hug.
“I thought you had left already,” Leo said.
“We are about to,” she replied. “The Crystal Kingdom waits.”
“That is a seven-day ride,” Leo said.
“And we will spend seven days there, then come back. The kingdom will be without me for twenty-one days. Can you handle it?”
“Of course,” Leo replied.
Nile stood there, gazing into her beautiful eyes as she talked. Dywnwen looked at him and smiled, then went back to engaging in conversation with Leo. She used her hands to illustrate her wedding and how romantic everything was. Nile didn’t hear any of that; he only saw her mouth move.
“Can I have a moment alone with Nile?” Dywnwen asked.
Nile heard that.
Leo nodded, then stepped outside. He pulled the door shut and they could hear his footsteps off the porch. Nile gulped, fearing what Dywnwen might say.
Dywnwen said, “I wanted to tell you something.”
Enaya: Solace of Time Page 3