The Time Stone (42 page)

Drax, Mercedes, and James stopped at a
clearing after hiking several miles in and through the dark
forest.

“
Mr. Drax” yelled
Mercedes. “What are we going to do about this dark star? We have no
clue where it is or how to find it?”

“
Yeah” chimed in James “we
have been walking for hours already. I am so beat; I can fall
asleep on this log.”

“
Wait” Drax pulled James
by the arm as James was about to collapse on what he thought was a
log but it slithered away when sensing their sudden
movement.

“
Holy crap, was that like
an anaconda or something?” James asked.

“
Boa constrictor, good
thing you didn’t lay down on that ‘log’” said Drax as he fiddled
with his wrist device trying to reprogram it. “I think there is a
way to get to the caves up there quicker. My scans show a heavy
energy reading. It could be the location of this Dark Star or
something like it. I have been seeing the same recurring light
patterns up there and think it may be the source of the power for
this ‘dark star’ weapon.”

“
Wow, you are attentive”
said Mercedes.

“
It was my job, kid” Drax
fiddled with the controls some more until it finally lit up.
“Eureka” he yelled “fate smiles upon us” as he moved the small
joystick on his wrist device and waited.

“
What are you doing now?”
Asked Mercedes.

James yawned.

“
I am getting us a ride.”
Said Drax smiling. Within seconds they heard a sound like a small
airplane buzzing nearby and a high pitched hum and it got louder
and louder. Within seconds lights emerged from the dark woods and
they saw a small vehicle approaching hovering and slowly landing in
the clearing beside them after slowly maneuvering towards them, the
bottom completely lit and extending to the surrounding parts of the
chassis. The car was faded with rust covering the once red shining
metals and sleek ergonomic design of the chassis.

“
A car? Looks like a
Maserati” Said James.

“
Covered in rust” said
Mercedes.

“
Actually it’s a
Lamborghini 5000, very limited edition experimental prototype.”
Said Drax. “It has been hidden in a secret location for I guess
several centuries but it could use a wash” he grimaced looking at
the rust and decay, wear and tear of the elements taking its toll
on the car’s exterior experience. “At least it still works” he
uttered.

“
How did you do this?”
Asked Mercedes shocked at the sight of it.

“
It was part of a mission
I was on in 2012 and when the Machination R&D department
invests in something, it invests. The half-life on the solution for
most of our technology is over ten thousand years so I figured this
thing must still be around somewhere in this time period and if I
could just get my wrist remote to work with the proper frequency, I
could summon it here for us.” Drax said.

“
I thought you said you
were cut off from the Machination.” Said James.

“
I was but who’s to say
they even exist in this time period. I was able to access the old
intelligence super mainframe of the Greets RD, I guess I could add
computer hacker to my resume” laughed Drax as he opened the doors
to the car simultaneously with his wrist remote. “I guess now I
will be seeking a new job” said Drax jokingly.

“
I’d hire you” smiled
Mercedes.

“
You couldn’t afford me,
Kid.” He got into the driver’s seat and pressed the dashboard
console lighting up several key commands causing a yellow light
window to appear on the windshield as the top slowly disassembled
itself piece by piece with a robotic noise and vanished.

“
What’s that?” Asked
Mercedes curiously.

“
It’s holographic.” Said
Drax reaching over to the glove box and waving his hand over the
windshield changing the display to different schematics and maps.
The compartment expanded outward and slid up. Drax pulled out a
single black glove with wiring around it and bumps and spikes
protruding it. He slid it on his left hand. “Oh, fits like a glove”
he joked.

“
What is that for? Some
kind of metallurgic transformation?” Asked Mercedes as she sat
beside Drax in the passenger seat and James squeezed into the back
nearly falling asleep.

“
I am impressed.” Drax
said.

“
I’m a scientist,
remember?” Mercedes smiled. “And this glove?” She picked up a black
piece of cloth with metal and diamonds covering it.

“
It’s called a Elfin
Glove” Drax said as he took it and put it on his right hand then
holding out his gloved hand over the windshield as he stood in the
topless vehicle. He squeezed something inside it and the entire
palm of his hand lit up with hot white energy and fired a
projectile beam of concentrated light particles together in a
single blast of a brilliant flash of light simultaneously
obliterating the burned trees before them stretching out and making
a clear path for miles ahead.

“
Oh my God” yelled
Mercedes.

“
Awesome” yelled James
wide awake now, “I want one.”

“
That’s what I call a
driving glove.” Said Drax. “You’re not the only one with super
powers, James.”

“
We finally have some real
firepower here” said Mercedes.

“
And that ain’t all” said
Drax as he pressed a series of commands on the dashboard console
appearing with a sliding motion before him revealing several
buttons and screens. He pressed one red button and the front of the
car split open into three directions the hood rising up before them
and above them leaving room for viewing through the windshield
while the sides split sideways each parting to its own way and the
front a silver scorpion ensemble glowing bright orange with
fierceness as the hood of the car continued to rise up and join
with the trunk rising upward further to form a curving metal
tentacle like the tail of a scorpion. The hood of the car displayed
a raised metal relief form of a scorpion glowing bright orange in
the darkness when the car was fully powered up.

“
Wow” screamed Mercedes.
The orange light intensified into the night sky and spiked sideways
expanding to form a large projectile as if ready for launch and
then it stopped as Drax pressed another button.

“
That’s just a taste of
this baby’s firepower” he said.

“
This car has got
weapons?” Asked Mercedes.

“
This car is the weapon”
replied Drax confidently.

“
Amazing” said
Mercedes.

“
Let’s go” said Drax as he
sat back down, hit the controls of the car and put both hands on
the wheel and rode the vehicle forward with his comrades and then
upward hovering into the night air ready for what awaited them in
what has been called the cavern of lights above the dark
forest.

Throughout the rocky terrain of the
mountainside, there stood a fearsome creature amongst the dead
blackened trees and stillness of night under the pale moonlight, a
hideous roar bellowed through the trees as the lion-faced beast
stood perched above the cliffs, his long fangs reeked of blood, his
mane long to the tail of his spine, and his dark fur glowing with
moisture from his perspiration. He wore a long leather hunter’s
coat and fedora-like feathered hat, he held a bayonet, and wore
boots that fitted up to his ankles with shining buckles matching
that on his belt and tunic underneath the coat, the symbol a
familiar one to anyone who matched horns with his brethren, the
swirling coat of arms of the culto de la piedra tiempo.

The giant fly man flew through the air
with rapid precocity as he grasped Tina in his arms. “So you don’t
say much” said Tina as she marveled at the view of the dark forest
from the impressive bird’s eye view above, as they passed dead
rivers and dry lakebeds above the charred remains of the ancient
dark forest and closer and closer came to the mountainside. “I have
never seen a forest from a bird’s eye view before… uh I mean fly’s
eye view” she joked. “So Alvin do you have a last name or do I just
call you Mr. Alvin Fly,” she said laughingly and the fly creature
made a silent unintelligible pitch from his rapid moving jaws and
multiple layers of teeth. “Oh well hopefully we can find this Dark
Star. The power it is rumored to have is got to be worth billions.”
She smirked as the flight continued uninterrupted and the mountains
were in distance. “We should get off near there” she pointed. Alvin
then navigated past the rocky hills and made their way towards a
precipice where they touched ground and Tina gladly stretched her
legs. “Whoa that was fun” and as she said it with that Alvin the
fly man took off and flew away from the mountains. “Wait where are
you going, don’t just leave me” she yelled as she saw the fly man
continue rapidly away until he was out of sight. “Well that’s just
fine and dandy” she pouted sarcastically with her hands on her
hips.

Hovering above the intrepid calamity
of the dark forest is the scorpion car with Drax and his
dumbfounded cohorts. “There it is” said Drax pointing up towards
the precipice of the cavern in the mountain terrain rapidly
approaching before them. “We have to get up there to the cavern of
lights” he said as the blue and red lights twinkling in the cavern
before them as the approached got closer and closer. Upon landing
slowly on the precipice, a stream of jet emissions unleashed before
the vehicle’s underbelly lowering it to the rock face below them
and the lights of the cavern ceased to blink leaving them in
complete darkness.

“
Wow, I thought this was
supposed to be the cavern of lights. So why is it so dark?” Asked
Mercedes.

“
Yeah, it was lights a
moment ago and now it’s not” said James.

“
Maybe it’s an illusion”
added Drax “something to lure us here and now it is gone.” He
replied putting on his light beacons from his wrist remote device
illuminating the cavern before them and marching forward leading
the trio behind their bright flood of light.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Down below in the rocky terrain’s
foothold near the only body of water surrounding the dark forest, a
lone ship rested up against the rocks, a tall brigadier cruiser
with metallic underpinnings attached to the wood hull and light
diodes all around it, a series of metallic alloy wheels spun slowly
in the light wind around the sail posts without sails and the large
hull rocked gently on the rough waves as they crashed against the
bow of the ship and the rocky shore around the ship.

“
Open sesame my mates, we
are preparing for the journey” said a tall bowlegged man with a
long beard, eye patch over his right eye, and old eighteenth
century naval fleet attire in pristine condition, black with gilded
highlights, long curly black locks behind him, a grit of
determination in his hoarse voice, and corn pipe in his mouth. His
wooden teeth were crooked, his breath smelled of rum, and his one
good eye beady with redness to the cabin girl who raised up the
stairwell from the lower cabin, a young woman with blonde locks and
a sullen grin used to the harsh realities of life on the open
seas.

“
Aye Sir, we are prepared
below. We just need to wait for the Sergeant.”

“
Well done, Yulelka, we
will wait for the rest to come,” with a high-pitched Scottish
accent snarled Captain Rigel Cutlass of the doom ship Gorge
Hunter.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“
What the hell is all
this?” Asked James as the trio wandered through the cavern seeing
the walls through the light from Drax’s beacon. The walls depicted
drawings of different people, places, animals, and
things.

“
These seem to be
pictographs” said Drax.

“
Much like the ones we saw
in ancient Egypt.” Said Mercedes. “They are carefully preserved
even this far into the future. How weird?”

“
It is weird but not
impossible given the altitude of this cavern. This story is
something I have read about before.” Drax points to a series of
drawings depicting individuals in a sequence showing several
figures hovering above a central one figure possessive of several
objects and five dots surrounding the figure shaped like a
pentagon.

“
This looks like the orbs
in the time stone” said James.

“
Yes,” said Drax pointing
to the figures hovering above and what looks like a sailing ship in
midair between them with dots resembling stars and constellations
and other symbols resembling writing that Drax studied briefly and
understood. “This is an ancient story of a race of beings known as
the Pregivers.”

“
Pregivers?” Asked
Mercedes. “How odd? What do they give?”

“
The sky gods the Awondel
tribe spoke about” James said.

“
Well, the story goes that
they are visitors from another galaxy and came here long ago in a
‘white hot light orb’ and gave the gift of life to this world, the
gift of law, the gift of peace and war.” Drax read.

“
War is a gift?” Asked
James.

“
It’s all about balance”
said Drax “so the story goes they build a device to transport
through time and space, also known as the time stone but they had
many powers at their disposal. They are one of the thirteen races
we learned about before but there is more. They foresaw a time of
great trouble for the world and knew there must come their return.”
Drax read continuously.