The Histories of Earth, Books 1-4: In the Window Room, A Prince of Earth, All the Worlds of Men, and Worlds Unending

by Steven J. Carroll

  *

  �� So that you will know, it was not that the boy was unrecognizable, or that Tavora would not have been able to instantly place him in other circumstance; It was that she was so surprised.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Roaring

  The piercing roaring continued to grow, and now it had multiplied. So that there were many other roaring voices rumbling outside the walls of the mausoleum. ���Do you think they’ll find us in here?��� Barbara asked, as they sat on the steps of that glorious white center building within the mausoleum.

  Though, Timothy was not at all encouraging. ���My guess is… they’ve known where we were all day, but have been waiting till nightfall to begin the hunt,��� he said reluctantly. Barbara tucked strands of her hair behind her ears, then suddenly remembering something she’d read in one of her science books.

  ���Yes, that does make sense. If that roaring sound means they’re lions, then lions are nocturnal predators, so they would wait till after nightfall,��� she said. Though this knowledge did not make her feel any better.

  She shook her head, obviously distraught.

  ���I want to die of old age, Tim,��� she said with a strain in her voice. ���…Not be eaten by space lions.���

  After this, Timothy tried to help, saying that the walls outside might be high enough to keep them out. Though Barbara looked up at him, very serious faced, as if she did not believe his optimism.

  ���And what if they climb walls, what then?��� she asked.

  Timothy’s eyes shot back and forth, thinking through this possible scenario. ���Right, that would be a problem, wouldn’t it?��� he said, while rubbing the bottom portion of his chin, trying to think of what could be done.

  In the end, they both decided, considering they had no idea what to expect from these roaring monsters, that it would be best for them to hide. And where else better, than within that massive Parthenon-like central building, though they found its stone door to be sealed shut and immoveable.

  Yet, in easily breaking the door seal of a smaller, lesser building, they made some happy discoveries.

  ���Of course,��� Timothy said excitedly, while they explored the first of those stone buildings. And he continued, speaking in a hurry as he fumbled through stone chests, ���Many ancient cultures would bury their dead along with all their possessions: servants, money, or anything they’d thought to need in the afterlife.��� His face showed his disappointment, he’d not found anything within the stone chests, besides money and old clothes. But then something caught his eye at the back of that almost entirely dimmed building. He ran from the entrance, past a few jeweled sarcophagi, toward the far wall. ���Including…��� he said, allowing the drama of the moment to sink in, ���Weapons.��� He spoke with pride, as he pulled a long spear from its holder.

  With less pomp and, dare I say, forgivable arrogance, Barbara also found something of value, a set of unburned torches. And with these, they made their defense on the porch of the grand central building, surrounded by carved pillars, and torches positioned all around them, in a half-circle, and with the sealed door of that spectacular building at their backs.

  Piled around their feet were all sorts of weapons: spears and tridents, swords and maces, bows and crossbows for Barbara, and a shield for her as well; And all their weapons glimmered in the flickering torchlight.

  And as they stood there after nightfall, waiting to be hunted (Timothy with a spear in his hand, and with two swords in sheaths on his back, and Barbara with a full quiver of arrows flung over her shoulder, and with a loaded crossbow in either hand), it was then that Timothy realized something morbidly ironic.

  ���Do you know what today is?��� he said, with the complete silence of tombs all around them, and with the sounds of the roaring having faded away several minutes before.

  Barbara thought for a moment, until her eyes showed that she’d remembered.

  ���Oh, you’re right… It is, isn’t it,��� she said. Then glancing down at the weapons in her hands, she continued, ���though it’s not the sort of party I’d suspected.���

  For, as you should know, though it was hard to count the days accurately, after traveling between so many worlds, that day would have been, roughly, Barbara’s sixteenth birthday.

  ���Would you like me to sing you a song?��� Timothy asked.

  ���No, that’s alright,��� she said, smiling at Timothy for trying to make her feel better. ���But, I would like a birthday wish,��� she answered.

  Timothy strained his ears to hear anything of those hunting beasts, but there was nothing.

  ���Do you know what you’ll wish for?��� he asked, after a moment’s pause.

  Barbara smirked. ���If I tell you, then it won’t come true,��� she said.

  ���Oh, we wouldn’t want that.���

  ���No, we wouldn’t,��� Barbara replied.

  Something faint, heard coming from outside that mountainous golden structure. It was so faint, in fact, that without their hearing being vastly improved by this world they never would have heard it. This sound was minute, and almost indistinctive, but once they heard it again, Barbara and Timothy both could tell what it was: The sound of wings, strong and horrible wings.

  Chapter Twenty

  Snow

  Stomping through the snow, traveling back to the place where she had last seen Myre’s horse cart tracks, Tavora ran from the city, after borrowing a new coat from an unsuspecting merchant. (And being a merchant herself, she knew what a terrible action this was, yet with no money, and her kingdom in danger, she thought to have no other choice.)

  It was morning as she ran through a field of pure white snow. The sun felt light and warm upon her face, sparkling above the tree tops ahead of her, though she herself was invisible. Which, in summer, would have meant that she would certainly have escaped, but here in the white of winter not even her invisibility could save her, her tracks would give her away. And as she came to the treeline, she saw behind her a flying boy, following after her footprints with a blazing determination.

  She ran till the air in her lungs burnt. And knowing that she would be caught eventually, Tavora ducked behind an elm tree, and tried to make her breaths still and quiet.

  A few seconds later, Ata flew into view, landing on the snow in front of her, though he saw only an ending set of footprints, behind the trunk of a tree.

  ���I know you’re here,��� he called out into the forest.

  He turned away from her, looking for any sign of movement in the forest, and in that moment Tavora knew that she’d have to face him, that she could not hide forever in winter.

  She pressed the stone on her medallion while he was not looking.

  ���I’ll tell you where I found it,��� she said, startling Ata half to death.

  He spun around, bewildered. ���How did you-��� he began to say, before she interrupted him.

  ���But you have to trust me that I’m not a murderer,��� she said.

  ���Why would I promise you anything?���

  ���Fine,��� she said, irked by Ata’s rude manner. ���Then just listen… I didn’t mean to steal the necklace. I found it, in a cave.���

  ���And is that all you found?��� Ata asked, with a look of distrust still emblazoned on his face.

  Tavora dropped her gaze to the ground, saying with a low confession, ���There was also a globe.���

  ���Which you stole, as well,��� Ata said, taking a step toward her.

  ���No, I didn’t… But I know who did,��� she answered.

  ���Who?��� he asked, and for the first time allowing himself the potential to trust what she would say.

  ���My father,��� she said.

  And then, for rea
sons she did not yet fully understand, though perhaps because she knew she could not do this on her own; After the wolves, and her near death the previous night, it was obvious.

  So she added, ���And I need your help to stop him.���

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Danger in the Wings

  These beasts had wings, though Timothy could not tell what sorts of animals they were until they swept through the open archway of that mountainous building. Their bodies were like lions, but their skin and wings were leathery, and as coarse as devilish dragon skin. And as they flew closer, Timothy could see that their mouths were wider than a normal earthly lion’s mouth, which made their faces seem more like toads’ faces than those of lions.

  They roared in unison, a shrill and deafening thunderous shriek. And as they circled above, Timothy tried to count their numbers.

  ���Five,��� he thought. Until another of them dove out of the shadows and through the pillars of the covered porch, on the side nearest to Barbara.

  ���Six of them,��� he yelled to Barbara, who stood beside him.

  The lions’ roars were overpowering.

  ���On your right,��� he shouted. Though she had already seen the creature, even before Timothy had.

  It ran at a speed that seemed impossible, leaping over a lit torch as Barbara steadied her crossbow. While in Gleomu, Barbara had become a fairly decent archer. Yet here, in this world, with her vision, all her senses, and her coordination vastly improved, she was absolutely deadly.

  She pulled the trigger of the crossbow in her right hand. The arrow shot with an excellent mark, and sunk into the eye of the beast. And though it had died instantly, its lifeless body still soared through the air, knocking into Barbara with such a force that it threw both crossbows from her hands, and shattered or snapped all the arrows in her quiver. The beast had landed on top of her, and she was half-buried beneath its paws.

  A second and a third, came at them from the front. Timothy lifted up his spear, impaling one of them. But the other moved too quickly, and swiped at him, tearing through his shirt, and scraping across his under layer of chain armor, such armor that Timothy and Barbara were both very fortunate to have found within the tombs that night.

  Timothy flew backwards. The armor had saved his chest, but it would not protect his head, or his legs, and that winged-lion was running to pounce on him.

  The beast was almost on top of him, as Timothy crossed his arms in front of himself, holding his force-shield bands together. A parabolic wall of energy appeared in front of him, and with sparks of blue from his shield, the creature ricocheted away from him.

  In a second, Timothy was on his feet, pulling his two swords from their sheaths strapped upon his back. The lion beat its wings and flew in the air. Its giant paws with long knifed claws swiped at him, and he swiped back with his swords’ blades, and back and forth they went, though neither was winning.

  A vicious battle, and lightning fast, so that it took all of Timothy’s attention. Too much of it in fact, another lion flew from the sky, and was nearly about to sink its teeth into the back of Timothy’s neck, when another arrow found its mark, an arrow that had been shot from Barbara’s last remaining crossbow. And it too was her final arrow, after all the others in her quiver were broken.

  Then, still another winged-lion came at her, which if you’ve been counting along, would have been the fifth of them. It flew toward her, and Barbara picked up the weapon nearest to her, from their pile of reserves. It was a trident, or a three-pointed spear (if you are unfamiliar with such a thing, it is the same weapon that the Grecian god Poseidon had always been depicted with).

  She held the weapon in her hands, jabbing at the beast, but her movements, while quick and powerful, had no art to them, seeing as Barbara had never before held a trident in any world, nor had she ever trained for anything except the use of a bow and crossbow. Thus, leaving her untrained hands with no skill to be built upon; Which is a long way to say, that this ���perfect��� world could not improve upon something that she hadn’t first known. And because of this, the strikes of her trident were easily batted away, with little effect.

  ���Help me!��� she yelled, glancing at Timothy who had a mess of his own to deal with, but in taking her eyes away for one second, the lion swiped at her, carving a gash into the top of her hand, and ripping her weapon away from her.

  It prepared to leap upon her, but a thrown sword from Timothy landed in its side.

  The terrible pain from Barbara’s hand blurred her senses, but looking up she saw Timothy running toward her, and he too was completely unarmed; For he had already thrown his other sword at the lion that he’d been fighting, to distract it, to give himself enough time to throw his second, the sword that had cut into the side of Barbara’s lion.

  And now Timothy was running, not toward her as she thought, but toward their stock pile of weapons. But in horror, that pile lay just beyond Barbara, just beyond the place where Barbara sat clutching her hand, trying to stop the bleeding. It was not so far away that he couldn’t reach for a spear, before the lion would attack. But he knew instantly, seeing Barbara’s wounded hand, that this lion would not go for him, it would take the easy target.

  And so he changed his mind, and ran towards her instead, sliding on the ground, throwing his arms around her. And he tapped his forearm bands together, creating a dome of energy around them, like he’d done when they were about to be swallowed at the bottom of the ocean.

  Which was good for keeping out things such as water, or for protecting from a basic attack, but against the claws of a dragon-like lion, it was only partially effective.

  And the more the beast persisted, the more its claws and then the tips of its paws came through the force field.��

  ���We’ll wait him out,��� Timothy said, as the lion’s claws dug into their dome of energy.

  ���For a day and a half?��� Barbara said with a questioning tone in her voice. ���How long do you think the batteries last on those things?��� she said, pointing toward his armbands.

  ���I don’t know,��� Timothy answered, now seeing how faulty this plan was. ���I never asked.���

  Though, Timothy and Barbara never had the chance that night to find out; For only seconds later, another spear, not one of the ones that they had gathered, flew through the air, piercing into the lion’s heart. It fell dead, with a ferocious violent expression forever burned upon its face.

  The sealed door of the central building had opened, and a man had come from inside, and had saved their lives: A bearded man, with scraggly unkept hair.

  *

  �� Here you might be wondering why Timothy had not used his bands maximum power as a shield in front of him, as he had done before, considering it would be such a risk to use the force field’s lesser powers as a dome to cover all sides. Which would be a decent question, if you had wondered it.

  Though his reasoning for this was simple, and quite good-natured; It was that only by using the force field’s lesser power, that he could ensure that the lion could not get to Barbara. Or, if it had, that it would kill both of them. It was a risk that gave Barbara the greatest chance for survival, and therefore his better choice.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Strange Guests

  That morning, Tavora and Ata returned to the mayor’s home, to pack a bag for the journey, and so that Ata could send word back to the palace. It was a secretive letter, and since it could not be sent by way of official royal messenger, Ata tried his best to be descriptive, yet in a way that would not raise suspicion, in case it would be read. Saying that, there was something of interest, likely out west, that they would be certainly happy to find, but that Ata could not wait for them, and that he and a guide would be taking the trip immediately.

  It was an odd note, and terribly vague, but when they were finally ready, they left the mayor’s house with a single packed bag for Tav
ora to wear over her shoulder; And a rope that Ata carried, which as soon as they came into the street he tied around his feet, handing the other end to Tavora.

  ���Here, wrap this around yourself, and tie it just under your arms,��� he said, without much explanation, and with a serious face and gruff manners.

  ���Is this how you treat all women? Or am I a special case?��� she asked, holding her end of the rope.

  ���Your hands will get tired,��� he explained, as if he’d not heard her previous comment. ���And we’ve got a long way to go, so unless you fancy falling to your death, I’d tie it nice and tight.���

  Though Tavora gave him a look that would say that she hadn’t needed to endure such treatment, not from some boy, who was not even a prince, and not from the same person who’d so wrongly accused her of murder only moments before.

  ���I can walk, thank you,��� she answered.

  Ata closed his eyes, as if he were trying to hold back his frustrations, with a girl who’d already wasted so much of their time that morning with her attempted escape, and who’d not so long ago, hit him soundly in the head. But he was able to refrain himself.

  ���Please… my lady,��� he said, with a slight amount of grit in his voice.

  And with that, Tavora began to tie the rope around herself as tightly as she could, and when she had tied three or four sizable knots, she finished at last.

  ���But won’t your arms get tired,��� she asked, pulling the last knot tight.

  Ata threw his electromagnetic ball high into the air above the city.

  ���I’m used to it,��� he said, tapping his armbands together.

  And as Tavora quickly found out, flying is so much more terrifying when you are fully conscious.