The Time Stone (37 page)

“
Not yet” said James as he
waved his right hand down underneath the bike as it started to fall
and it then lifted upward slowly towards the ledge and leveled out
on the precipice.

“
Close one” said
Mercedes.

“
Bike’s dead” said Drax as
he dismounted with his group and pulled out his handheld scanner.
“There appears to be a large energy signature nearby. Oh, we’re in
luck. It’s the Time Stone.”

They prepared to enter the cave when
suddenly a large flapping sound disturbed them and as they turned
they saw Satyr fluttering up into the sky above them seriously hurt
and bleeding. He did not notice them and kept going. There was no
sign of the other creature.

“
What do you think
happened to him?” Tina asked.

“
We’ll have to worry about
that later. Let’s go.” They entered the cave and Drax hit a button
on his scanner activating a flashlight that flooded the cave with
light. The cave entered into a four walled room with pictures on
the wall. It was damp and cold, a silhouette of hidden shadows over
smooth stonework and artificial alters and tables scattered
throughout along with drawings and pictographs on the walls of
various ancient Egyptian and prehistoric hieroglyphics. Jenny’s
eyes widened as she saw the colorful array painted
there.

“
This is incredible. I
never thought I would see something like this.” She wandered
through the halls of lavishly colored painted tapestries and
artifacts of gold and silver, vases, necklaces, and
headwear.

“
We could enjoy this” said
Tina picking up some of the jewelry.

“
I don’t think so” said
Jenny brushing off a part of the wall with some text on it. They
were all shocked at the sight of gold items and a seven foot tall
gilded sarcophagus with a high relief image of a pharaoh amongst
the artifacts of high relief gold staffs, pots, and scimitars, and
jewels.

“
Whoa” said
Tina.

“
This is interesting” said
Jenny.

“
What?” Tina
asked.

“
It’s nothing, I think. I
barely understand this stuff, only the basics. I think this is an
old Aramaic code.” Jenny added.

“
Let me see” said Drax,
“it is but it’s in some type of code. ‘The Lion’s Den Raises Fire
in the Winter Solstice’.”

“
Something about a
creature from hell when it freezes over” joked Tina.

“
I am pretty good at
cracking codes” said Jenny. “Let me see, let me see…” she uttered
slowly while looking around the room and saw the various pictures
of people, animals, places, and saw a marking depicting a legend
like a map with a strange character and then saw one on each side
of the room they entered. “Mr. Drax. Is that what I think it is?”
Asked Jenny.

“
Those are map coordinate
locators,” Drax replied. “North, East, South, and West” he turned
his light to them all in turn.

“
Interesting. The
directions of the four parts of the Earth were considered by some
cultures as reflective of the four elements of nature, Earth,
Water, Wind, and Fire” said Jenny.

“
But also the four
seasons,” said Drax, “Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.”

“
So which one is the
winter solstice?” Asked Mercedes.

“
West?!?” Questioned
Drax.

“
No, its north. I am
positive. The directional legend is inverted slightly.” Jenny
walked over to the symbol for North and noticed the wall had
breakings around the symbol like a button on a keyboard. She pushed
the wall inward pressing the button and the room suddenly erupted
in light as flames began to combust in the empty vases around the
room.

“
Cool” said Tina, “Jenny,
you are brilliant.”

“
Well, I grew up in the
hood and had plenty of time for reading…” Jenny started with a
small smirk when suddenly as they stood before the north wall; the
wall gave way splitting apart leading towards another room where a
small and narrow wooden bridge spanned the distance over a large
ravine with a pedestal on the other side holding a shining object
in the distance. “I think that’s it… ‘the eye of the gods’” said
Jenny with widened eyes of enthusiasm.

“
The Time Stone!” Said
Drax smiling.

“
James can you lure it
here with your powers” asked Tina.

James waved his hands but nothing
happened.

“
I can’t affect living
things. Maybe it’s alive,” he said.

“
Or maybe it’s too far
away.” Added Drax.

The five started across the bridge
slowly together led by Jenny.

“
It feels like we’re
tightrope walking” said Tina with a laugh.

“
Watch it. We got to be
very cautious not to overturn this bridge. It looks very old.” Said
Mercedes as the bridge wobbled back and forth over the endless dark
apparently bottomless cavern before them.

“
Jenny,” said Drax. “You
never told us what you were doing looking for the ‘eye of the
gods’.”

“
I was sent by government
officials who wanted it. I was told Egypt was the last place it was
found in.”

“
They weren’t by any
chance related to a company called Temporo, Inc.?” Drax
asked.

“
How did you know?” Jenny
replied.

“
Lucky guess.” Drax said
nodding with sarcasm in his voice.

“
They funded my research
grant,” Jenny said, “a man named Staffnight who seemed almost
desperate to find this ancient relic that only existed in fables. I
didn’t understand at the time. Now I do.”

“
There was a reason you
said you didn’t think we should take the items in the room, what
was it?” Asked Tina.

“
I think I saw something
about a curse on the wall text but I am not sure. I heard ancient
structures usually were associated with acts of misfortune for
whoever desecrates it, tomb robbers and so forth.” Jenny
said.

“
I don’t believe in
curses” said Drax.

They made it across and all stepped
off the bridge and onto the platform surrounding a circular alter
with writing in old language similar to the writing in the old
caverns. The item embedded in the center of the alter was a large
circular metal encasement and within that was a small item that was
familiar to them all, the green emerald they all knew as the Time
Stone.

“
Yes we found it” said
Drax.

“
Thank God.” Said
Mercedes.

“
Now we use it to return
back to 2012.” Said James.

“
Yes” Drax reaches for it
and stops himself as he reads the text below and his eyes widened
with disbelief.

“
What does it say?” Asks
Mercedes.

“
Um, it basically says
there was a powerful group in the deep past that came from another
galaxy, a union of thirteen races, aliens from different worlds
joined under one banner or group. They gained a thoroughly mastered
knowledge of everything in the universe including the meaning and
essence of time itself. They had an artifact that represented the
full might of their divine collective abilities and had it stored
away to keep it safe from their enemies.”

“
Remember James, Alexa
said the ancestors told of legends of sky watchers, sky gods, or
what was the word she used…?” Asked Tina.

“
Pregivers”, said James,
“it’s tied to this holder of stones prophecy.”

“
The Pregivers?” Drax said
to himself.

“
Oh my… It was… oh my
God.” “What is it?” Asked Tina.

“
I think these are the
beings that created the Time Stone. The originators. It was said
they would return someday as they had died out long ago but time is
the answer to fulfill their long lost history and destiny combined
into one. These Pregivers created the Time Stone and were the first
to wield its power and use it.” Said Drax shocked. “That is
new.”

“
Deep” said James. “But we
should skip the history lesson and get with the goods” James
smirked as he reached out and lifted the Time Stone off of its
pedestal and Tina grabbed it from him with a smirk. As she did, the
entire ground they stood on started to shake with the bridge
wobbling uncontrollably. “What’s going on?” Asked James yelling
over the roar in the chamber. They stood in shock and gasped as
flaming lava started to rise to their level from the depths below
and towers of fire emerged from the lava lake that now surrounded
them.

“
Run” screamed Jenny as
she led them back across the bridge. They ran across the bridge and
barely made it before it was consumed by the rising lava lake
having stopped at the edge of the stone platform they made it to.
Then out of the flames, a form emerged that fully appeared hovering
above them, a large dragon whose wings were flapping above them
sounding like thunder and whose roar and breath of fire seared the
air before them like the brimstone of hell. Sweating profusely in
the intense heat they froze in horror at the site of the great
beast. James and Tina looked at one another.

“
That looks like the one
we saw in the cave in Brazil” she screamed.

“
I remember” James
bellowed as he noticed the same metal plate on its underbelly with
the five orbs glowing bright red like before. “It’s the guardian.”
James yelled. The beast did not introduce itself this time but
roared and breathed a huge trail of flames in their direction.
James yelled “run” and they headed out of the chamber back into the
prior room before them, all but Jenny who was toasted and vaporized
by the flames. Her piercing screams were the last the remaining
quartet heard of her as they ran into the next room.

“
Activate it” said
Drax.

“
I am trying” said James
as he held the Time Stone out and up above his head, and turned it,
the five orbs in its center glowing brightly with a spike of energy
emanating from it like a star as a stream of yellow energy emerged
from the device and created the glowing fissure of the temporal
wormhole before them.

Drax screamed, “ladies first” and Tina
ran in yelling.

“
You don’t have to tell me
twice” and was quickly followed by Mercedes as they were
transformed into balls of light once within two feet of the
entryway and sucked in. Drax followed in as the dragon flew into
the room and was prepared to fire another burst. James jumped in as
well just as the burst of flames flooded the room charring the
pictorial alters and stone walls. The fissure faded once having
absorbed them all.

“
By the grace of God we
made it” said Mercedes.

“
Where or when are we?”
Asked Tina as the foursome found themselves in a room with gilded
adornments and velvet silk laden linings. A central chair sat in
the pinnacle of the room resembling a royal throne with symbols and
writing all over the walls.

“
Is this King Arthur’s
Court?” Asked James.

“
No, it’s an ancient
Egyptian pharaoh chamber” said Drax looking about at the symbols.
“I think we’re still in ancient Egypt just far from the mountains.”
Then suddenly a group of men entered with spears and dressed
in
Egyptian ifd worn like kilts folded
into layers and draping down into various streams, belts and sashes
spread over them adorning the wearers. They were
led by a man with a long striped headdress and
gilded adornments who commanded their loyalty and attention. Being
held at spear point by the men yelling in ancient Egyptian
dialects, the foursome raised their arms in the air. An old man
entered and spoke in ancient Egyptian dialect.

“
I am Saragin, high priest
of the pharaoh to be.”

“
Greetings. We are
travelers from far away” said Drax in the same ancient early
Egyptian dialect. “We have come here from a great distance. We mean
you no harm.”

“
There was harm in the
village earlier today, men of great magic killed many people and
some escaped. The wife of one of my soldiers also vanished. A
mystery killer threatens the royal pharaoh to be, an assassination
of imperative portends to destroy the incarnate spirit of the gods
divine.” “The threat has been neutralized. The men of great magic
are no more a threat to your pharaoh to be. His spirit body will
remain free in this world and the next.”

“
That is the word of the
gods indeed, the true key to salvation will be written amongst
those who follow the path of light, the true home of all of those
in time.” He said with a nod and a faint smile and turns without a
word beckoning with his arms to the leader of the soldiers who
yells and orders them and they stand at attention and hold their
spears upright and marched out of the room single file.

“
What was that about?”
Asked Tina as they all lowered their arms.

“
The pharaoh to be was
threatened and I put their minds at ease.” Replied Drax. “It is a
very simple belief structure about the literal living dead, the
spirit of the pharaoh moving on in all lives preceding and
succeeding this one. Any outside influences are seen as magic or
influential. Doing my line of work, cultural sensitivities are of
paramount importance and now as we continue on our journeys in
time, you all must understand that as well.”