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

  ���Ha!��� he exclaimed. ���You’re incredible. How did you ever manage to get a horse into the palace?��� he asked, smiling directly at his rescuer.

  And that is when Tavora realized the profound, and awful, inevitable truth, that she was no longer invisible. And truly, she had been entirely uninvisible for over an hour.

  Though it was a gradual process, spanning over many hours. So that at first, when the energy in her medallion began to fade, she could only be seen as the faintest shadow, and then later, like an almost unnoticeable reflection in a window. Until, bit by bit, she’d become completely uninvisible.

  Which to a greater extent was a hard-learned lesson in the finite abilities of batteries. And goes back to Timothy’s comments earlier, if you’ll remember, when he said he didn’t know how long his force field would last; And furthermore, that it was never something he’d thought to ask about.

  Though since I am already being a dreadful bore about it, I will tell you:

  First of all, starting with Timothy’s armbands: if under constant attack or continual pressure, his force field armbands would last, at most, eight hours, and then would need to be recharged by the sunlight.

  However, Ata’s armbands, on the other hand, are charged kinetically. So that, as he throws his electromechanical ball, his armbands are continually charging. Which is a bit confusing, but the basic explanation I can give for this is that as long as Ata is flying, he can never run out of power.

  And lastly, the medallion necklace: it could withstand approximately a day’s worth of continued use, give or take, depending on the size of the wearer, but after that time it would need to be switched off, so that it could be automatically recharged, by the force of gravity. Which is as preposterous as it sounds. And from my recollection is the only man made device ever created to be solely run from the power of gravity.

  And don’t worry if you do not understand the science of these things, it is not vitally important to the rest of our story. In fact, all that you really need to know is that although Tavora would have liked to remain invisible forever, that was physically impossible. And the reason for this is that no battery will last forever, no matter how good it might be. It is one of the most simple principles of science… everything must eventually die, without exception.

  Ata stood there expectantly awaiting her response. ���Well?… How did you get a horse into the palace? Come on, tell me,��� he said.

  ���I told you, I’m a good hider,��� Tavora answered, again unconvincingly.

  Yet, Ata did not question his equine escape for much longer; The sounds of shouted battle from the upper level resounded off the walls, trailing down the stairway, and through their dark, unkept basement.

  ���Do you think the Queen came back for the globe?��� Tavora asked (speaking of Queen Delany), and hearing the echoing clashing of swords coming from the floor above them.

  ���The Queen and an army, by the sound of it,��� Ata answered. ���They’d like to stop this war as quickly as they can, and I don’t blame them.���

  Tavora tugged at the loops in her knots, trying to untie Myre from the now twisted and mangled bed frame.

  ���I don’t get it,��� she said, as she worked out the knots. ���Why put up such a fight? What’s so bad about them leaving our world? I say the sooner the better,��� she uttered, pulling the last knot free.

  ���Well it’s not just that,��� Ata replied. ���If it was only that, I might agree… but having a light globe doesn’t mean you just get to travel to other worlds. It means you can also travel to anywhere in this one. I mean, imagine an enemy who can travel to anywhere they’d like in an instant. How can you defend against that?��� he said, more as a statement than a question.

  Mounting up on Myre’s saddle, Tavora was now resolute. Though, she’d never ridden a horse indoors before, and found that she was forced to uncomfortably duck her head as she spoke.

  ���You can’t,��� she replied, as an answer.

  Then holding out a hand to help this disheveled boy, who’d seemed to be always getting himself in trouble, helping him onto the back portion of the saddle, she said, with a determination that she did not know that she could muster, ���Let’s go. They need our help.���

  Ata stuck his foot in the stirrup, and pulled himself up.

  Only a few strides down the hall, and they heard the noise of a door being pounded upon.

  ���I can hear voices. I know someone’s still there. Please, let me go…��� Oded cried, beating at the door. ���I haven’t done anything wrong,��� he shouted, which was an obvious lie, but he thought that the voices in the hall might not know that.

  She patted Myre’s shoulder as a sign to get her to move on (which as the good horse that she was, she was reluctant to do).

  ���Shouldn’t we help him?��� Ata asked in her ear, but knowing she had every right to be furious with her father, and assuming rightly that it was indeed her father behind the door.

  ���He can wait,��� she answered, kicking slightly at Myre’s sides.

  And at once they were off, galloping through the shadowed halls.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Different Worlds

  There are certain things, which no rational person would ever think might happen to them in their lifetime. And undoubtedly, one of these occurrences that might top the list of impossible situations, would be to gallop through the halls of an evil king’s palace, onward to aid in a battle, but with no weapons, and no definite plan, and no way to defend oneself. Truly, this was one of the most undesirable of impossible situations.

  The furious echo of clattering hooves, hitting the stone floors and sparking, scraping the metal horseshoes as they bounded through the darkness, frightening scurrying rats, while they leapt up the stairs.

  Tavora’s mind raced. Her medallion had stopped working. Perhaps, if she tried it again, it might conceal them, but this was all conjecture. And, mostly out of frustration, she had left her medallion in the ���off��� position, since she first realized she could be seen, and since it was obviously not doing her any good.

  Yet, at this exact moment, at the very edge of the galaxy, far away from Ata and Tavora’s dangerous mission, another thing was happening, something that had the potential to redirect the fate of this world, and all the other worlds of men, forever.

  ���Are you sure you’re alright?��� Timothy asked as they stood outside the gate of the mausoleum.

  It was their third day on Eddesu, and the morning of their reflection.

  ���I’m fine, Tim,��� Barbara answered. ���Honestly… see for yourself,��� she said, showing him her hand where the lion had clawed at her. ���See, nothing. Not even a scar,��� she said.

  ���And what about your head?��� he asked.

  Barbara stamped the ground. ���Stop it!… I could punch you,��� she called out, raising up her fist as a threat.

  Timothy held up his open hands in surrender. ���Alright, I just wanted to be sure before we went back,��� he said.

  All the while, Mr. Greyford had been listening to this whole exchange, and was rather enjoying himself, but once it came to threats of violence, even mild ones like Barbara’s, he decided to insert himself into their friendly scuffle.

  He stepped between them, gently lowering Barbara’s fist. ���Just because it wouldn’t leave a mark, doesn’t mean you have license to hit him,��� he said, giving a fatherly wink to show that he was not scolding her. And then turning to Timothy he said, ���And how many times do I have to say it, within this world we are physically perfect. So that even asking if she’s alright is a pointless question. Of course she’s alright, and she could never be anything less.���

  Though towards the end of Arthur’s comments, Timothy began to show signs of growing distraction.
The ringing sounded in Timothy’s ears, and so he abruptly switched the topic of discussion, for the obvious.

  ���It’s time to go,��� he said loudly, like he had to almost yell to be heard.

  He offered Barbara his hand, and reached his other out for Arthur. ���Mr. Greyford,��� he called out to get above the noise of ringing in his own head. ���Let’s take you home.���

  Yet even as loud as the ringing noise had swelled to, they could still at that same moment hear the distant roar of a murderous winged-lion. A clear enough sign to all of them, that even though they were perfect here in this world, the world itself, on the other hand, was not.

  Sizably outnumbered and without the element of surprise, a trim band of Gleomu’s elite soldiers fought heroically through the city’s defenses and had managed to break into the halls of the palace. This was a different group than had been seen before: led by King Corwan, Prince Reuel, and Prince Asa, having just arrived through the desert on horseback.

  There were bloody battle wounds had by all these brave soldiers, but nothing at the moment life-threatening. Yet, because of these wounds and because of their limited numbers, they were having a difficult time advancing through the palace halls.

  But then they heard the raucous clacking of horse hoofs, seeing two riders barreling past guards, and chasing some away by the speed of their blazing cavalry advance.

  They blew past Prince Asa, knocking his opponent to the ground.

  ���Ata?��� the Prince said, almost laughing at the sheer unlikelihood of it all.

  ���You’re losing your edge,��� Ata yelled back, his arms tightly around Tavora, trying not to fall off the horse as they blundered through the palace, making their way with all speed to the throne room, and to the stolen globe, hoping beyond hope that this time their efforts might prove successful.

  Flying toward the ground at a blinding speed, they realized quickly that they were miles from where they expected to be, miles away from their secret underground cavern. But this all happened in a flash, images of their descent blurring past their eyes. And with a terrifying splitting crack (although they could not hear it, because they were locked within a light orb), they blasted through the roof of an already dismembered building, letting a shower of stone and rubble fall to the ground behind a row of soldiers, whom all had arrows on their bows as they pointed toward a closed door. Outside the door, they heard shouts of battle growing closer by the second.

  ���Ah… more surprise guests?��� said an arrogant man’s voice from the shadows behind them. ���I think I’ve reached my limits of hospitality for the day,��� he continued.

  Timothy’s still superhuman eyesight could see the man’s face clearly in the shadows, though he had not recognized him. Albeit, he knew that it likely didn’t matter whom this man was, considering that his fate would probably be the same regardless.

  And so with a princely cadence in his voice, he spoke. ���I don’t envy what King Corwan will do to you when he finds you’ve stolen his globe,��� Timothy called out into the shadows.

  ���I have no patience for this. Fire at them,��� the shadowed man said.

  Within a half-second the formation of soldiers turned about and shot out their arrows, but Timothy’s force-shield was already prepared even before the shadow man’s orders had left his mouth.

  Moving his force-shield with a lightning fast precision, he deflected every arrow, his mind and reflexes still nearly as perfect as they were in Eddesu, but here in this world’s less than perfect atmosphere, his supercharged abilities would not last forever.

  Yet, even so, quickly realizing that they would run out of arrows before they would hit their mark, the archers gave up shooting.

  Allowing Timothy the opportunity to lower his shields, and turn toward the man in the shadows, defiantly.

  ���Who are you?��� he said, wishing to know who his enemy might be.

  ���Yes, and don’t be such a coward,��� Barbara said for herself. ���If you want to have us killed, you’ll have to do it yourself.���

  At that, he stepped into the light with his regular haughty expression emblazoned upon his face. ���You will painfully regret those words, little girl,��� and then turning to Timothy, he replied, ���I am your nightmare. Your liege. The only man worthy to rule the seven worlds. The Desert King, S-��� But in the heat of his vicious speech he was interrupted by the long-bearded Arthur Greyford.

  ���Surru?��� Arthur said, with a deep shock and concern in his eyes, as if he’d just seen the murder of a dear friend. ���Oh, how the mighty have fallen…��� Arthur said aloud.

  ���Arthur?��� Surru replied. ���I thought you had died.���

  Arthur gave a discerning glance. ���I could say the same for you, old friend,��� he said.

  Surru snarled at the implication of judgement. ���I am taking my rightful place, and restoring the Empire,��� he said, with an underlying anger.

  ���Your rightful place?…��� Arthur almost chuckled as he spoke. ���And who has given you this right, over the whole of the universe, and the lives of men?���

  ���You are weak, Arthur, to ask such a question,��� Surru, the Desert King, replied, looking down his nose at the bearded man.

  ���And you are foolish, to think you are not required to answer it,��� he said in response.

  Surru shut his eyes tightly, pulling back his head, furiously mad though he did not speak. Yet, after a few more seconds of tense silence he stepped to the globe, setting the time dials for one full year.

  ���Go,��� the Desert King nearly growled his order. ���I will choose a planet, and if you value your life at all, you will not return… a favor for an old friend,��� he said.

  Yet, at this moment there was a noise, an odd and out of place noise that they would never have suspected, a clanking, clattering, rhythmic noise. And the noise grew louder.

  Within a second, a galloping horse burst through the double throne room doors. Moving so quickly, and so unexpectedly, that it crashed through the line of soldiers who’d recently fired their arrows, and were standing watch near the door. But they immediately gathered themselves, and turned to fire at the horse and its two riders.

  And they were at the edge of firing when Arthur shouted, waving his arms. ���Stop! Hold your weapons!��� he exclaimed.

  Surru lifted up his hand to halt his men.

  ���Alright, I’ll leave,��� Arthur said, frantically. ���But let me keep the children,��� he continued.

  The Desert King slightly rolled his eyes, as if Arthur had just ruined his fun. ���Fine,��� he answered. ���Though I would really like to see them dead… but have it your way.���

  With those words, Surru’s men swarmed Myre, pulling Ata and Tavora from their saddle, throwing them to the floor near where their friends stood.

  Then Surru’s chief military officer came to the globe and began to turn its brass crank. And Tavora recognized him, although it took her several seconds to place him. ���Of course,��� she thought. He was the same man she’d thrown the pitcher of water at several hours before, except that most peculiarly there was no trace of his injuries anywhere on his person. His face was completely whole, without the slightest scratch. He looked perfect, she thought. Which was such an unnatural thing, that that was what seemed to frighten her most of all.

  After a few moments, once the globe had been fully charged, spinning rings of light outward from its center, and filling the room with an unsettling glow; And while the Desert King was occupied, setting exact coordinates on the globe, Ata, who was now standing, leaned over to Timothy and said bluntly, ���Glad to see you’re still alive. There was quite a bit of blood in the cavern, and we thought one of you might have been dead,��� he said in a whispered
voice to Timothy.

  ���Which one of us?��� Timothy asked with his own hushed voice, just because he was curious, not thinking at first of how morbid that question might appear.

  Ata’s face seemed immediately affected. ���Well, I don’t know. Does it matter?��� he asked.

  ���No, I guess not,��� Timothy answered. And then trying to briefly explain the situation he said, ���Barbara just had a bad fall… but she’s completely alright now.���

  Ata peered around Timothy’s shoulder looking at Barbara, who showed no signs of any injury or trauma. ���How is that even possible?��� he asked in amazement.

  Timothy glanced back at his friend. ���How is any of this possible?��� he answered, and added, ���But honestly, it’s a long story…���

  ���Well, what’s the short version?��� Ata asked.

  Timothy thought for a brief second. ���We landed on a planet where you cannot die,��� he answered.

  Ata blinked from shock, and shook his head. ���Well that does sound impossible, doesn’t it?��� he said.

  And while the boys were busy whispering, at roughly the same moment, Barbara noticed a familiar medallion around this strange girl’s neck. ���Is that my necklace?��� Barbara inquired. ���Where did you get that?��� she continued with a slowly increasing hostility.

  ���You could say, ‘thank you’,��� Tavora replied, completely tired of being thought of as a thief, when she was not that at all.

  ���What? Should I thank you for stealing my necklace?��� Barbara answered, letting herself be visibly frustrated.

  At this same time, the Desert King stood close by, setting the dials on the globe and flipping the final switch.

  ���I was going to return it,��� Tavora said, to explain herself.

  There were very few times in Barbara’s life, when she had been so inexplicably rude, and this just so happened to be one of those times. (In fact, she’d had quite a number of them, since being given her medallion.)