The Long Chron

by Adam Oster

  “Fanks,” Noll sits. “You don’t look likes yous a comfy chair.”

  “And you don’t look like you’d be too comfortable to have sitting on me.”

  Noll laughs. Griff scoots away from the brute toward the front of the wagon.

  “So, where are we going?” I ask.

  “We’s going to see da king,” Noll answers simply. “Tenney says he’s certain he’ll be all too happy to see yous again. ‘Specially since he hasn’t told anyone you’re missing yet.”

  “Why does that matter?” Griff asks.

  “I don’t rightly know,” Noll answers.

  “Why doesn’t that surprise me?” Griff scowls.

  “What?” Noll shrugs.

  “Never mind, I’d rather continue to be not-smushed.”

  “Okidokie.”

  “So, Noll,” I begin, “what sort of thing are you boys up to? Are you from around here?”

  “Oh, noes,” Noll frowns. “Ain’t no one from around here. We was hired by da king to help him build his city here. He says it’s gonna be a right paradise one day.”

  “How’d the king find you?”

  “Oh, well, da king didn’t find us. I’ve never before seen da man. It was you who found us, miss. You came into da tavern we’s frequent out in Loidis, stating youse was looking for some able-bodied men. A’course, you was looking a mite more well-dressed back den.”

  “So, you’re here to help build?”

  “Oh, no, miss. We’s here for trade.”

  “For trade? You all look a great deal more rough-n-tumble than a salesman should,” Griff joins in.

  “Ah, yous gotta be rough when tradin’ what we’s trading.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I don’t know if’n I’s should tells you dat. A course, youse might be finding out soons enough, dependings on what da king’s a wantin’ wif you.”

  “I think he’s a trader of people,” I offer to Griff.

  “Ah, see,” Noll grins, “I knows youse was smart.”

  Griff scowls at me. “Are you trying to tell me that I become a king who buys and sells people?”

  “I’m not trying to tell you anything. But if we hired him, it’s definitely possible.”

  “I would never—“

  “Come on, Griff, you seriously think that I would be interested in treating people like that? Obviously something’s up.”

  Griff looks up to where I’m looking and sees the top of the castle peeking over the gate on the other side of the bridge that leads across the gap. The castle looks almost exactly like it did in the future.

  “How long has the castle been here?” Griff asks. “Looks pretty old to me.”

  “I don’t fink it’s been here all dat long,” Noll answers. “But it’s been here longer den I’ve been working up here in Avalon.”

  “Avalon?” I ask, nudging Griff in the side.

  The horse pulls the wagon over the bridge loudly and we enter the courtyard to find it looking almost nothing like the one we had almost been burned to death in. That courtyard was filled with life: trees, grass, flowers, beautifully manicured shrubs. This version is nothing but stone, filled with trinkets in every corner. It looks more like a disorganized basement than the courtyard to a majestic castle.

  “Here we is,” Noll says as the cart stops. Tenney climbs down from the horse that has been pulling us and comes in back to supervise the removal of his prisoners

  “You three have sure been chatting up a storm,” Tenney says, giving Noll a disapproving look.

  “Oh, don’t worry about it,” Griff covers. “Noll here was just telling us of all the horrible things that could happen to us if we don’t behave.”

  “No I wasn’t, I was…oh, um, yeah, dat’s what I was doin’ Tenney.”

  “It had better be,” Tenney growls. “This wouldn’t be the first time you’ve gotten us into hot water with your mouth.”

  “I promise,” Griff lies. “He’s been nothing but terrible to us this whole ride.”

  Tenney looks to me.

  “What he said,” I agree. “I’m still not sure if I’ve wet myself.”

  “Gross,” Tenney frowns. “Alright then, get on out and let’s get this over with.”

  Noll steps down off the wagon, causing it to tilt heavily before slamming to the ground as his weight is transferred to the stone below. He picks me up and places me next to Tenney rather tenderly. He reaches in for Griff, who waves away the meat hooks.

  “Actually,” Griff says, “if you don’t mind, I’d rather help myself down. I promise I won’t try running away or whatever.”

  Tenney nods to Noll in allowance of this gesture. Griff jumps off the wagon and we stand shoulder to shoulder, staring at the large doors situated in the center of the extravagant building.

  “You ready for this, kid?”

  “At this point, I think I’m ready for just about anything.”

  “You can’t say that it’s ever boring with me, right?”

  “Yeah,” I say with a light chuckle. “I’m beginning to think I’m finally ready to head back home to Washington.”

  “There’s no place like home,” Griff laughs.

  “Yeah, too bad I’ve got this stupid sphere instead of some ruby red slippers.”

  “Who knows, maybe if we paint the damned thing red, we’ll actually get home.”

  Chapter 42

  “What are you waiting for, Noll?” Tenney demands from the doorway in front of us. “Tell those two to shut up and bring them up here already.”

  “Yes, sir, Tenney, sir,” Noll says, shoving us forward. “You two be quiet, okay?”

  “You let him boss you around like that?” Griff asks as we walk toward the doorway.”

  “Well, he is da boss,” Noll answers.

  “Right, but why aren’t you the boss?”

  “Because Tenney’s smart. I’m dumb.”

  “I don’t think your plan worked too well there, Griff,” I smirk.

  “Shut up!” Tenney shouts as we arrive at the doorway and enter behind him. “Or I’ll tell Noll here to smash your heads in.”

  “Please don’t make me do dat,” Noll whispers to us.

  “Okay,” Griff agrees.

  Tenney turns around and gives us a final warning glance. Griff makes a gesture with his hands that he is locking his lips and throwing away the key. I giggle at the gesture, quickly stifling the noise to avoid any further anger from Tenney.

  We enter a long hallway. Red carpeting reaches all the way to the ornate doorway on the other side. Gold and bronze line the hall, as well as a multitude of statues and armor. It would appear that whoever has taken up residence here has decided to keep quite the collection for themselves. The stuff outside must have been the reject pile for their interior decorating.

  I hate to admit it, but I could easily see Griff getting a little overwhelmed with how easy it would be to abuse time travel and grab every shiny thing he sets his eyes on before disappearing off to some other time and realm. Heck, even I would have a hard time not succumbing to that temptation.

  Our footsteps echo through the vast hall as we near the opposite end. There are several other halls jutting off along the way. Outside of the three of us, these halls appear to be completely devoid of people.

  I guess we must have just set up business and haven’t had the time to bring in all the hired help quite yet.

  We reach the large wooden doors on the opposite end of the hall and with a great creaking, they open, seemingly on their own. The room within is dark, causing my eyes to need to adjust as we enter. I can just make out the throne we had seen Uthyr sit on hundreds of years from now.

  “Greetings!” I hear a familiar voice shout from within. “I had wondered how long it would be before you arrived.”

  I see a figure seated in the throne, with another figure standing alongside.

  “Well?” the figure says, standing as we are shoved further into the room. “Are you going to say hello?”


  “Who the hell are you?” Griff asks.

  “Gentlemen, thank you for your diligence. I assure you that you will be greatly rewarded,” the figure says as he waves his hands in dismissal.

  “But, I’d much rather talk about—“

  “Leave us!” the figure commands. Tenney and Noll leave hastily, the door shutting loudly behind them.

  “I said, who the hell are you?” Griff repeats.

  “Oh, dear Griff, I’m surprised you don’t remember me. Or perhaps we haven’t had our time together yet? I’m still somewhat confused about this whole time travel nonsense.”

  “You must not have made much of an impact on me,” Griff growls.

  “Then perhaps I should shed some light on the subject,” the figure chuckles before clapping his hands together. At the sound, the room fills with a bright light, causing me to have to squint under the change. “The Clapper,” the figure continues. “It’s a magical thing, isn’t it?”

  “Wyllt?” Griff says weakly. “Is that really you?”

  “Oh, look. You do remember me!”

  “I’m kind of surprised to see that you remember me,” Griff continues. “You were a lot older the last time we talked.”

  “Ah, I’m glad to see that my life still has some length left to it. I have to admit that I was somewhat concerned what your arrival might mean for me.”

  My eyes have now adjusted and I can’t help but notice the person standing beside the throne wearing a beautiful flowing green gown. It’s a face I’m unfortunately incredibly familiar with. From the mirror.

  “What are you doing here?” I say to myself as I step forward. “Why are you here, with him?”

  “Ah, my young Chelle. I have to say, I’m not sure that this spirited version of you is nearly as attractive as my own queen.”

  “Your queen?” I spit. “What sick deed did you do to make me ever even consider becoming your queen?”

  “Oh, I assure you that you were quite happy to make the decision to stay back here with me,” he says as he walks to the other-me’s side and caresses her face. She doesn’t seem to react at all.

  “What sort of sick game is this?” Griff asks.

  “What did you do to me?” I scream. I run in their direction, Griff holds me back.

  “Not yet, Chelle. We don’t know what he’s capable of.”

  “I did not expect the two of you to react quite so poorly to finding me here. In fact, I had somewhat expected you to be happy about it all.”

  “How so?” I growl.

  “Don’t you understand? You live, Chelle.”

  “I’d hardly consider being your silent slave a form of living.”

  “Oh, you’re not silent,” Wyllt disagrees. “Chelle, why don’t you speak for yourself?”

  “Hello, Chelle,” Other-me says flatly. “How are you?”

  “She definitely doesn’t sound right to me,” I spit. “What did you do to her?”

  “I don’t know,” Wyllt shrugs honestly. “You were this way when I found you. Maybe you change?”

  “I am fine,” Other-me says.

  “Hold on a sec,” Griff says, walking up the steps purposefully. He approaches Other-Chelle and touches her on the shoulder. “You’re mighty cold there, kid,” he says to Other-Me.

  “I am fine,” she answers.

  “Are you human?” Griff asks.

  “No, I am a series X10 personal service android, release software fourt—“

  “There you go, Chelle,” Griff says, seeming undisturbed by this turn of events. He looks to me with a knowing look in his eyes. “It’s not you.”

  “You made a robot version of me?” I yell at Wyllt, running up the steps to inspect the work.

  “Robot?” Wyllt says confused.

  “Yeah, as in, fake person, not real, mechanical woman.”

  “I can assure you, everything about my queen is pure woman.”

  “Ew,” I squeal as I look in the eyes of the robotic version of myself. “How dare you?”

  “It was purely consensual.”

  “Gross.”

  “Where did she come from?” Griff asks, returning to the android’s side to inspect the work.

  She looks as though she’s about ten years older than me, making me feel happy to know that I seem to have aged well. Outside of the blank eyes, I don’t see anything that immediately shows that she’s anything other than pure human.

  Griff is a little less delicate in his inspection for the cybernetic bits.

  “Hey there, pal,” I say to him. “Hands off the goods.”

  “They aren’t yours. And she doesn’t mind,” he says with a shrug. “You don’t mind, do you Robo-Chelle?”

  “If you are looking for my service port, the access hatch is located within the area directly underneath my shoulder blades. Please utilize the button located on the center of my back to release the hatch.”

  “That doesn’t mean you get to get all handsy,” I warn.

  “Fine,” Griff says, putting his hands up in the air as if surrendering. “You do the honor.”

  I look at the Robo-Me’s back and see there is a zipper, which is not quite as anachronistic as an android in the Middle Ages, but still pretty well out of place. I unzip the dress to expose the center of her back and feel around before finally finding a notch that feels like a soft vertebrae. I press on the odd bump and with a beep a square foot of skin slides down, exposing a series of lights and circuitry.

  “Well, she wasn’t lying,” I sigh in relief. “She’s definitely a robot.”

  Wyllt comes to my side, looks at the unexplored portion of his queen’s body, and lets out a soft scream. “What have you done? Where is my wife?”

  “Looks like this is her,” Griff chuckles. “Don’t suppose you’ve got any robo-kids running around, do you?”

  “My wife and I have long struggled with the disappointment of infertility.”

  “Well, looks like you’ve finally found out the reason why.”

  “But why is she here?” I ask. “Why would there be a robotic version of me in the Middle Ages? Or a robotic version of anyone for that matter.”

  “Now that,” Griff says, eyeing up Wyllt dangerously, “is a question that I for one would really like to have answered.”

  “What?” Wyllt says as he shuffles away from the demented-looking Griff.

  “Where did you find Robo-Chelle?”

  “Well, that’s kind of hard to explain,” he explains poorly.

  “You better get to explaining,” I warn. “I’m not too big a fan of knowing that someone’s been running around with a duplicate of my body.”

  “I didn’t know, I promise. I thought it was you, and when you showed interest in me, well, I mean, it’s not like too many people actually express much for interest in me. I’ve learned to not ask questions when a beautiful woman says she loves me and promises me everything.”

  “She promised you everything?”

  “Yes, how do you think I got here? She’s the one responsible for bringing me to the throne.”

  I turn slowly on my heel and eye up my doppelganger once again, noting her blank eyes staring at me. “What is he talking about?” I ask myself. “What are you doing here?”

  “That information has been designated as classified,” she says with what I’m pretty sure is a fair amount of snark.

  “Where do you come from?” Griff shouts at the woman who is not human. “Who sent you here?”

  “That information has been designated as classified.”

  “Wyllt,” I say, turning on my heel again as I fear I’ve begun to realize what’s going on here. “Where did you find her?”

  “Like I said, she found me. I was just a simple sharecropper, she was the one who knew what to do to get us here. If it weren’t for her, I’m pretty sure I’d still be on the farm.”

  “What about your friend, The Wizard?” I accuse. “Where is he?”

  “Who?”

  “Myrddin, the evil man who killed eve
rything I loved about this damned town,” Griff growls. “Where the hell is he?”

  “I honestly have no clue what you’re talking about. All I know is that this girl found me and has sent me all around the globe and time in order to prepare this town and set myself up as king.”

  “But why?” I ask incredulously. “Why would she want to set you up as king?”

  “If someone comes up to you and asks you if you want to be king, would you ask why?”

  “Yes, I most definitely would,” Griff answers.

  “That is a question I can answer,” Robo-Chelle answers. I hear a whirring coming from within her that sends a chill right up my spine.

  “Um, Griff,” I say anxiously, “I’m thinking it might be time for us to run.”

  Without thinking, Griff pulls me down the stairs. Just as we reach the bottom, I hear the unmistakable sound of machine gun fire, which I’ve learned about from all the war movies Griff has made me watch over the course of the past year. I look up as we bolt toward the entrance and see that Robo-Chelle’s arms have been replaced with a pair of large assault rifles.

  “What the hell is going on here?” Griff yells at me as we enter the long hallway.

  “Well, if I had to guess,” I say, gasping for breath and sprinting as fast as I know how, “I’d say that The Wizard sent a robot back in time to kill us.”

  “Like The Terminator?”

  “Yeah, I guess pretty much exactly like The Terminator.”

  “Awesome,” he says as he plows into the exterior door.

  “Yeah,” I agree, “totally awesome.”

  He pulls the door open and we slip outside. Slamming the door behind us and pausing for a moment to get our bearings straight, we notice that Noll and Tenney are still outside standing by their wagon.

  “What’s that then?” Tenney grins. “Trying to escape again, are you?”

  The door blasts open behind us in a loud explosion of flame and stonework, sending me and Griff flying through the air. We land at Noll’s feet.

  Noll lifts me off the ground and gives me a questioning look. I look over my shoulder at the now-smoking hole in the side of the castle and see the face of my future robotic-self enter view wearing an evil grimace.