‘It’s a time mirror,’ said Thaddrick quietly to the suddenly silent audience, ‘it will show time as it has been, covering events that it has been spelled to recollect... something has triggered it,’ he added, unaware of the blood still oozing from the wound’s on both Jed’s and Gideon’s palms. The company watched as the time mirror showed Gath glancing over his shoulder before walking backwards out of the mirror with Mayan in his arms, bending down and none to gently depositing her on the grass. Then it showed the king picking her up and again walking toward the mirror, over and over it played until Gideon sobbed aloud. He reached out to touch the image of his fiancée as she swung lifelessly in the king’s arms, the early sun glinting off the ring on her finger as her hand dangled freely.
The mirror began to change again as the tiny hexagon pieces jostled for position moving speedily once more. Colours ran across their surfaces, dancing and swirling, the dark ribbons of fire played like rivers of feeding silver fish between the straight sides of the perfect shapes before slowing and settling finally. Suddenly Gath’s image appeared, standing tall and straight with Mayan prone at his feet, in his hand, he held the chestnut coloured braid and as he put it to his lips, Gideon suddenly burned with rage and fear as he recognised himself in the king.
‘Gideon, my son…,’ said Gath, speaking aloud and seeming to look directly into Gideon’s soul. Gideon could hear the whispered voices of the people standing behind him all full of query.
‘Gid, lad, what do ‘e’ be saying, can yer make it out?’ He heard his father whisper behind him.
‘He is calling to me Da,’ Gideon answered as he continued to watch the scene before him unfold.
The inhabitants of the valley looked on, troubled, as Thaddrick moved away from them to join the small group gathered around the portal. Lemba slipped her hand into Jed’s who squeezed it reassuringly as she recognised Gath, the man who had forcibly removed her tongue, the small box forever held in a secret pocket seemed suddenly heavier than it had ever been. She continued to stare, suddenly reminded of the tapestries hanging in the long room. The warp and weft of those colourful fabrics was not unlike the surface of the scene before her and like this picture, she often thought the scenes depicted in the tapestries would come to life if she looked long enough. Unconsciously she placed her hand over the box feeling as if Gath could reach out of the picture in the mirror and steal it away.
Gideon finally turned away from the scene, just as the gateway began to change again. This time only Thaddrick and Rhoàld watched as the hexagons moved and danced becoming fluid and settling once more into the oily surface of soft shimmering darkness at last.
“Oo were ‘e’, what did ‘e’ say, did anyone unnerstan’?’ Gideon’s father asked with a look of puzzled bewilderment on his face, Thaddrick waited for Gideon to speak but young Jed answered, as Gideon’s voice remained stoically silent.
‘That was the king, the man I swore loyalty too, King Gath.’ Jed said coldly.
Rhoàld nodded in agreement adding, ‘he has become strong but he is still aging.’
‘We must return to the long hall to discuss what is to be done Thaddrick,’ said Roidan as she pushed her way between the gathered people having left Jacob to rest quietly at the bottom of the hill. At once, the people began to shout once more, Gideon listened as their voices betrayed their fear, almost all calling for them, for him, to be gone. Young Jed pulled his friend to one side whilst Thaddrick once more argued their cause.
Rhoàld moved toward Thaddrick with Sonal and Varan at his side, he felt strong and useful at last. The three stood beside the old man and stared scornfully at the frightened people.
‘You bunch of hypocrites, you deserve to be bled as I was bled,’ Rhoàld shouted contempt in every word as he pulled down his collar and revealed the long scar that marred his skin. The people fell silent as they realised what it meant, Rhoàld continued. ‘You would send a young boy and his companions to die in order to remain safe and secure here,’ Rhoàld paused as he emphasised the vast safe valley before them with his arms. ‘Yes, stay safe here in the valley that Thaddrick made for you but think on this... for how long will you remain safe?’ He paused again before continuing, watching the faces of the people before him. Finally, he began again his voice slightly lower. ‘One by one, the Gatherer has taken and bled the rest of us until there are only a few Arotian people left, other than those like you of course, you who had the benefit of this valley. Whom would you give to the monster next when Gideon’s blood can no longer satisfy him? Remember, he knows the way here now, which of you would give your own child, you?’ He asked, his voice full of disdain as he pointed at the man who had first been on the hill with Jacob, his daughter standing behind him. ‘Her blood is no doubt as ancient and as pure as Gideon’s, what about you?’ He pointed toward a woman with her arms protectively around a young man not much older than Gideon himself was.
The people began to fidget and shake their heads looking ashamed as they listened to Rhoàld; skilfully he spoke, his voice filled with passion and love. He encouraged them to think of the good of the whole, letting them know that although the companions had lived outside of the valley and had not existed as the valley people had, secure and safe in their time bubble they still had Arotian blood flowing in their veins, they were still as one. Thaddrick remained silent as Rhoàld expertly turned the mood of the crowd from total animosity with resentment in every breath to support, using guilt, sorrow and the need for compassion as his tool.
‘We need just a little more help and we will be gone,’ Rhoàld continued his voice more reasonable now than angry or contemptuous as he too felt the mood change. ‘We will be going to fight this monster who wants nothing but our blood and our lives, he will not be allowed to destroy this world as he destroyed your home world, our, home world. Whilst we have the power within us we will fight back and this time we will win...’
‘I still want them to leave Thaddrick.’ Jacob interrupted Rhoàld as he walked back up the hill. ‘I would not see this planet die and our people die because of a spell that went wrong,’ he said bitterly, referring to the gateway that snapped shut prematurely and trapping his family on the wrong side. ‘I want them to leave… but, but I want to go with them, to go with them and fight the monster that took my family…’ he finished, as a loud bang sounded from the direction of the gateway. Thaddrick, with fear in his heart turned to look upon the empty hillside behind him, the gateway had gone, nothing was visible on the hilltop now but the silent dead shape of a girl burnt into the once lush green grass.
Chapter 40
Into the Gateway
As Gideon and his companions stood before the portal together his father smiled.
‘Yer still me own boy Gid, don’t let no king make yer ferget.’
‘No Da,’ replied Gideon, ‘you, Mayan, Jed and Blue are me family,’ he replied as he took the final step with his father beside him, into the seemingly molten mass of swirling oil.
‘My family,’ corrected young Jed laughing, as he and Lemba joined their friends by also stepping into the gateway, leaving the world of the time bubble and Thaddrick behind them.
As they emerged on the other side of the gateway, it was dark and a bitter wind blew. They were high up on a cold mountainside surrounded by a loud hissing noise like air slowly escaping from a balloon.
‘What’s that noise?’ Gid asked as he looked toward his father. Jed had fallen awkwardly as he alighted from the portal and he was holding his ankle, his face etched in pain, blood was also pooling darkly beside Jed’s bottom as the glass phials he had placed in his pocket had broken, cutting through clothing, slicing skin and releasing the spells held inside to expel into the atmosphere harmlessly.
‘I think it’s broke,’ his father stated miserably, his ankle gently held between his hands. ‘I’ve ‘urt me ars… bottom again too,’ he said as he shifted his weight, so much fer giving Dotty Thaddrick’s spells, he thought and despite his pain, he smiled warmly, thin
king of Dotty and her last healing. Young Jed, Lemba and Gideon himself gathered around the older man attempting to shield him from the wind. No one noticed as a small figure fell through the gateway immediately after them and hid behind a pile of rocks.
The ankle was indeed broken; Gideon could see the bone jutting out at right angles just underneath his fathers’ skin.
‘Hold still Da,’ Gideon said as he gently lifted the quickly swelling foot. Thinking about his past lessons, he looked inside himself and found the candle Jonus had instructed him to visualise. Keeping the candle burning brightly he turned his thoughts to his father’s ankle; in his mind he could see the broken bone, the swollen tissues and the torn ligaments that normally held the ankle together. He tried to visualise the joint as it should be and he sent his mind from one ankle to the other, copying the positioning of nerves and tendons, he lifted the fragments of broken bone, fused them back into their original positions, healed, and reattached the damaged ligaments.
Jed and Lemba standing beside Gideon and his father felt their skin itching as the magic worked. The swelling in Jed’s ankle went down and the colour slowly changed back to a healthy glow seen in the quickly fading light. Gideon worked on, he repaired and mended the torn skin on his father’s bottom and unable to pull himself away he began following the pathways of his father’s veins healing minor broken blood vessels and clearing clogged arteries. He followed the sound of his father’s heart as it beat louder and louder and pushed his energy into the old muscles regenerating as he worked, feeling the blood rushing in, weak and starved and out again, filled with life sustaining oxygen. Still he continued on, mending and healing, deep into Jed’s body aiding damaged tissues and vital organs, regenerating older blood vessels and repairing damage wrought by time.
‘The candle Gideon, watch your candle!’ Gideon heard as if from far away and looked up to find Jonus looking slightly concerned at the time the healing was taking. As he looked again on the candle he held in his mind, he realised he had used more power than he thought, it had gone out, burnt away as the power increased. Immediately he made it whole once more and slowly pulled away from his father’s body.
‘The candle worked Jonus; I don’t feel the least bit ill,’ Gideon smiled at the young boy who had nudged his mind, thanking him for the help. ‘Wait, by the Journey, what are yer doing here?’ Gideon asked as he realised where they were once more. ‘Jonus, this will be too dangerous fer you, yer need to go back.’ Gideon said and from the ground, his father smiled at his ever-changing speech patterns as the gateway shimmered and finally snapped shut.
‘Or not…,’ added young Jed staring at the place where the gateway had stood, ‘no doubt he knows we are ‘ere now anyway,’ he added as he ruffled Jonus’ hair.
Gideon’s father stood slowly and tentatively attempted to put weight on the now healed foot. ‘Would yer jus’ look at that!’ He said in amazement when he found it completely healed.
The wind continued to blow, pushing dark clouds around in the predawn sky as the friends slowly made their way up the pass between the peaks with Gideon leading the way. As they neared the top of the pass, Jed looked over a small natural barrier of rock between them and the edge of the cliff face. Below them, the Derovian army were encamped in their hundreds.
‘I think this is the Bleak,’ whispered Jed remembering the tales from the barracks room, ‘an’ that hissing is getting, louder don’t yer think?’ He asked aloud, turning around to follow Gideon plodding on ahead of him. He stared in wonder as a wall of shining beauty rose up from the ground ahead of them. ‘Look, would yer look at that!’ he whispered pointing at a second dome, one similar to the dome of the valley but duller somehow, not quite as brilliant.
‘That, my friend is where I think we be goin’, sorry, are going,’ said Gideon softly, as his father chuckled. Again, he was amused to find his son still correcting his own speech, even without Blue being present and in the face of such danger.
Step after step, one foot in front of the other and always with the hiss getting louder, Gideon followed the animal track carefully with the others close behind. Something was calling to him, telling him where to come to find Mayan, pleading with him for help.
Lemba, more afraid than ever before kept her fingers silent, knowing these were probably going to be her last days with Jed. He had told her to stay behind and stay safe when Gideon and he had discussed what Gath had said, for some reason he had also heard the king’s message but Lemba refused to leave him. He was her life and she would if necessary, die with him as she would most certainly want to die without him. As the morning sun rose, she began to feel tired and thirsty remembering they had not yet eaten or drunk anything since last night. She held her hand to her throat in a vain attempt to assuage her dry throat.
‘‘Ere girl,’ began Gideon’s father loudly from behind her, ‘I’ve a drop of water iffen yer don’t mind it warm,’ he said, as she stopped and turned to take the proffered bottle. Her mouth opened in surprise and she attempted to call Jed forgetting for a moment her tongue was gone once again, a raw bark emerged from her mouth causing young Jed and Gideon to turn.
‘By the Journey, Jed!’ exclaimed his namesake.
‘Da…!’ grinned Gideon looking down at his father with the morning sun full in his face, ‘Dotty will love you…,’ he said as young Jed leaned forward and closed Lemba’s still open mouth.
‘I’m glad you ‘ave Dotty tis all I can say, because I’d not like ter leave Lemba around yer on ‘er own,’ young Jed added almost shouting now over the increasing noise of the hissing as he grinned and turned to walk back up the pass once more after his friend. Lemba, drinking from the water bottle kept sliding glances backwards toward her friends’ father.
‘What’s wrong with me Lemba?’ Gideon’s father asked, feeling mystified and just a little cross at both his son’s and Jed’s strange behaviour. ‘What be wrong?’ He asked again as Lemba unable to answer followed behind the boys, a smile also spreading across her own face. Jonus also stared open mouthed but for once stayed silent.
At last, they stopped before the dome they had seen from the distance wondering then at its size and beauty but now, now they could see why it was not quite as bright or as shining as the dome over the spelled valley, where that one was whole and sound, this one was marred.
In places, there were huge gaping holes and the loud hissing noise accompanying them for the whole of their journey from the gateway seemed to be coming from these. The shine of the barrier in the early sunlight belied the fact it was actually rather dull and grey and it looked almost lifeless. As the clouds passed across the face of the sun, the real barrier itself was at last visible and what was once the most beauteous wonder to behold was now dying, with only threads keeping the void at bay.
‘It’s dying…’ flashed Jonus his fingers flying, as he reached out to the source of magic, reaching for the roots to sustain the life of the barrier just a little longer. He rushed through the broken dome and placing his fingers into the soil next to the fragile wall, he began to sing softly.
Lemba says, ‘to help him Gideon,’ said young Jed as Lemba too crossed the barrier and pushed her fingers into the dust.
‘You know I can’t Jed,’ Gideon replied sadly. ‘Gath will kill Mayan iffen I do,’ he added.
‘Your Mayan will die with the rest of us iffen you don’t young man,’ shouted Jacob, using Gideon’s speech to emphasise the severity of the decision, as he the elder twins with Rhoàld and Thaddrick emerged from a second gateway close to the edge of the barrier. As one, they stepped through the broken curtain and knelt before it thrusting their fingers deep into the dead dry earth beside Lemba and the young boy and together they joined in song with Jonus.
‘Looks like its choice time Gid,’ said Jed loudly, referring to the one-way conversation he had witnessed between Gath and Gideon.
‘The life of your love for your own life boy, you were stolen away from me and I want back what was always supposed to
be mine. Come to me Gideon, her life for your life.’ Gath had said.
‘Time to choose bro…,’ Jed said again and as Gideon hesitated, his father stepped through to the other side of the barrier to join the others.
‘Me blood ain’t near as strong as yorn boy, but even a thimbleful could ‘elp ter stop the world from dying!’ He shouted over the noise of the dreadful hiss, kneeling on the dusty earth and joining his voice to the others, his fingers digging deep into the soil beneath the frail wall.
With tears coursing down his face Gideon made his decision, he crossed the barrier and knelt beside the wall.
‘Forgive me May,’ he whispered, tears beginning to roll down his face and his heart full to bursting with pain as he reached once more for the roots of the magic. This is part of my sacrifice then, he thought as Jed joined him, knowing the decision Gideon had made would now condemn his sister to die. Jed hummed tunelessly thinking of his sister, pain deeply embedded in his heart, pain for himself, for both his sister and his best friend and blood brother.
Gideon felt the barrier begin to fail as he placed his fingers into the dust. It was so weak, so fragile and they were only just in time and as the old barrier died the new one began to live.
Gideon’s soul soared along the lifelines surrounding the valley; he could feel Thaddrick singing his greatest harmonies mingling with his fathers’ humble murmur and he could see everything. From Jed’s lifeline, he could see a light travelling toward Lemba, who was shining in the ether almost as brightly as he was himself. On the power surged, on and on, and in wonder he realised how everything connected, a giant web of life with everything linked in some way to everything else but also as individual as grains of sand on a vast beach, each grain with its own Journey mapped out and disappearing into the future. The colours sung in their brilliance and strength as the vast barrier continued to establish and fortify, continued to absorb the power of the one.
The Tessellation Saga. Book Two. 'The One' Page 34