Child of Time (31 page)

Hearing the man blubbering all his life sins into the
phone made Kiyan sick. The fact that a human could do some of these
things to another person disgusted him. Hearing sirens Kiyan
notified Ray of the need to depart. Kiyan and Ray waited for the
officers to rush by them then left the building.

We need to move. Merlin might still be at the
property. Kiyan and Ray sped to location of the address. At first
glance there was only some rundown buildings on the property but
they soon discovered the cellar beneath one of the buildings.

“It's empty. There were drakken here a few hours back
but the smell is faint.” Ray sniffed around for a few more seconds
before walking back out of the cellar. Standing outside Kiyan
looked at the sky. Darkness had fallen before they had found the
gang and it was close to midnight now. The city lights illuminated
the sky but Kiyan adjusted for the light.

There isn't a single star in the sky. Kiyan felt a
searing pain in his head as his surroundings began to flicker.
Flashes of the moonscape replaced the rundown property and the
city. Ray felt Kiyan's pain and both of them reeled. “It’s too
late, Merlin is dead.” Kiyan lay holding his head as he tried to
think through the pain. “I have to try again.” Kiyan focused on the
past as hard as he could. In an instant the pain was gone and his
surrounding were fading to red. Kiyan felt the familiar burning
sensation but it wasn't so strong here. He hardly needed to channel
the heat. His senses expanded but felt confined. The only thing
that Kiyan could sense was the earth, sun and moon. The other
planets in the system were crumpling. Kiyan channeled the heat into
the sun when it became too hot to bear. The next instant he was in
the cornfield.

“Kiyan are you OK? Ray recalled Kiyan back to his
senses.”

“I know where he is or at least will be.” Kiyan gave
Ray the information that he had as they sped towards the property.
They arrived just as they saw the big man's men leaving the cellar.
The door splintered at Kiyan's touch as he rushed into the dank
room. A hidden door was opening on the far side of the room as
Kiyan saw the boy laying tied and gagged in a corner. It only took
a moment to reach the corner where the boy lay. Kiyan glanced at
the open door as he cut the bloody bonds around the boy's
hands.

“What is your name?” Kiyan asked as he took off the
gag. Ray incapacitated the first couple drakken that exited the
door.

“Who, why, help me. I'm Merlin. Help me please.” It
took only one more slice to free Merlin.

Kiyan turned at the snarling voice from the dark
doorway. “He is dead human. I will take pleasure in killing you
too.” Kiyan saw the blaster in time to jump in front of Merlin. His
shields absorbed enough energy to turn a human to dust. When he
looked up again the drakken was lying in a pool of green blood.
Unfortunately there was a dozen more drakken in the room and more
pouring in. Kiyan and Ray both transformed and began to lay
devastation all around them. Kiyan had impaled half a dozen drakken
on ice when Ray breathed a torrent of fire into the door where more
drakken appeared to replace the fallen. Screams soon silenced as a
single drakken staggered out of the doorway wreathed in flames.
Kiyan flung icy darts at a couple remaining drakken turning them
into frosty statues.

The last drakken stopped twitching as Kiyan turned
back to Merlin. Shifting back into his normal form Kiyan picked up
the unconscious boy and carried him back to the surface. Ray busted
his way out of the cellar and smashed the walls of the building in
with a couple swipes of his tail. A loud crash filled the air with
dust as the whole building collapsed into the pit. Ray poured
flaming dragon breath into the pit until it looked like a pool of
liquid fire. It took several minutes before the flames died down
but there was no trace of the battle or the trio when the fire
department arrived on the glassy melted scene.

Kiyan, Ray and the still unconscious Merlin were
sitting on a hill overlooking the city as Kiyan and Ray examined
Merlin's injuries. There are some scars but they are disappearing
quickly. Kiyan ran his hand over them and felt the life energy
pooling in the tissue.

“
He is human, how is he ascending?”
Ray
questioned Kiyan telepathically.

“
I don't know
.” Kiyan was at a loss. He sensed
a presence near him and looked up.

“It is a pleasure to meet you again.” An old man
stood leaning on a wooden staff. His white hair and beard gave him
a dignified ancient appearance.

“Again? I don't think I met you the first time.”
Kiyan stood up and assumed a defensive posture.

The old man laughed quietly. Let me introduce myself.
I'm that boy over there. I'm Merlin the wizard of Camelot. You are
King Arthur's descendent. He told me a great deal about you before
he reset the timeline and restored the human King Arthur. He told
me you would save me but already had.”

“But how, how did you ascend in the first place?”
Kiyan could sense that the old man spoke the truth.

“I'm a paradox. I will ascend because I have
ascended.” The old Merlin didn't outright answer the question.

“Paradoxes can't support themselves. They collapse
and reset. Why hasn't that happened?” Kiyan was determined to get
to the bottom of the issue.

“You are so much like your ancestor. It warms my
heart to see you. Some paradoxes do exist. Like this one for
example. The drakken came to kill me because they feared me and
wanted to undo everything I did or will do. You came to save me
because of what I will do because the drakken came to kill me. You
reversed time to save me. All that temporal energy created an
island that resisted the reset caused when they killed me. I came
forward through time to survive on this island of reality where
anywhere else I would have been lost to the flow of time. All those
factors combine to create the perfect paradox.” The old Merlin
smiled. “In a couple months I will ascend and then I will train
myself in the use of my ascended powers than I will travel into the
past to protect the future. My young self will never realize my
identity until just a few minutes ago.”

“So we saved the past? Why didn't you help us save
you?” Kiyan had a clearer understanding but was still confused.

I may be able to interact with my own timeline and be
a paradox but I do have limitation. If I had saved myself, you
wouldn't have come. If you hadn't come you wouldn't have reversed
time restarting the paradox. The future of the past is safe now.
Arthur gave me a message for you. Nearly two thousand years I have
carried this message. When the year is new in 2015 the sky will
rain fire.” Kiyan remembered his first dream. The vivid memories of
pain and desolation still was fresh. “But you already knew that
didn't you.” Kiyan was recalled back to the present by the old
Merlin's voice.

“I had a dream but I didn't know when it was supposed
to be.” Kiyan admitted.

“There are always more than one piece to a puzzle
isn't there. I see my younger self is waking up. Know I will be
fighting the war. Maybe not beside you but I will be in the
shadows.” The old Merlin helped the younger Merlin to his feet and
Kiyan watched as they walked down the hill.

There are a lot of pieces to this puzzle. The irony
of it. If the drakken hadn't come here to kill him, one of their
greatest enemies would not have been born. Kiyan laughed out loud
at the thought. It took a couple weeks for the Avenger to appear
and collect him. During that time the duo visited the young and old
Merlin and explored the new timeline. Kiyan learned everything he
could of the history of this timeline and the old Merlin obliged by
telling him a few stories of what he had seen. He was almost sorry
to go when the Avenger showed up.

Chapter Fourteen: Kayloo Prime

Marisa stood up and rubbed her lower back. The
tension in the muscles soon relaxed and she returned to working in
her flower bed. It only took her a few more minutes to finish
working up the rest of the bed. Standing back she pictured the
crawling shinlow that would be growing up the wall. The bright
colored flowers would be scattered over the rough bark of her house
soon. The thought of seeing it at night with the glowing flowers
casting light over the yard brought a smile to Marisa's face. The
shadows off the corner of the house caught her eye. James should be
returning soon.

It wasn't long after Kiyan had left that James had
been approached with the offer of a seat on the council. He had
almost decided against it when he changed his mind and accepted the
offer. Kiyan entered her mind as she began preparing supper. There
was always a hint of worry about him when she thought about what he
might be up to. The last message that she had received from him had
indicated that he was doing well. The scientists on Samtan had
developed a dimensional crystal that allowed them to transmit and
receive signals from the other dimension. The last weekly exchange
had been about a couple of his adventures and a couple new skills.
He seemed to be enjoying himself even though he seemed older and
more mature. A sound at the door told her James was here.

“How was your day?” Marisa deftly diced a couple
vegetables for a salad.

“We had a delegate from the dragon lords today.”
James hung his insignia by the door with his communicator.

“What did they want?” A few greens parted under the
knife.

“They have several young dragons that want to go join
the war.” James gave his wife a hug and a kiss.

“How are they supposed to do that?” Marisa gave up
trying to work on supper as James teased her.

“We sent them to the ascended that remained here
after the rest left. Nightingale said she would send a message on
the next burst transmission and ask the other ascended. Florence
thinks that she can send them back into the past to the second of
the transition. The dimensional barrier would be weakest there but
it would only be a one way trip.” James let Marisa return to
cooking as he sat down.

“Do you think any of them would go to Kiyan's ship?”
Marisa tossed all the ingredients into a bowl and began mixing
them.

“I suspect that several of them will be given
commands of their own. A couple of them wanted to serve under
Theo.” James stood up and began slicing the warm bread that Marisa
pointed at. I really don't know if there are that many ships
operating out there that they could choose from.

--------

Kiyan felt a dream coming on after a dreamless night.
Kiyan pondered for a moment the strangeness of night on a ship in
space. Kiyan relaxed as the vision overtook him. Strange shapes
surrounded him as he glanced about. Shadows passed him on all
sides. Some alone and some in pairs. Kiyan took a few steps into
the shadows and felt like someone was watching him. Turning back
around he saw one of the shadows standing still amidst the moving
masses. Kiyan was a little unnerved by the feeling of being
watched. In a blink the shadow was gone. The tone of the dream
changed as Kiyan moved on. He followed an energy scent, something
Kiyan had felt before. He could see an object glowing in the
distance when several shadows appeared in his path.

He was about to walk through them when he noticed a
repulsive energy and their eyes following him.
They shouldn't be
able to see me.
Kiyan dodged as one of the shadows reached out
to him. He was too slow to miss the next shadow. For the split
second that he was connected he felt two minds fighting each other.
One was far more powerful than the other mind but he felt a plea
emanating from the weaker mind. Kiyan connected with the stronger
mind. To his surprise he sensed a simple mind with a singular
purpose. Even in its simplicity it was a strong AI. Kiyan
interfaced with the computer and fragmented the code. There was a
glow as the shadow disappeared. Kiyan stepped back as the other
couple shadows charged him. Kiyan was able to fragment one before
the other was on him forcing its will into Kiyan's mind. He
struggled for a moment before blasting the computer with all his
mind. Kiyan jerked upright in his bed as reality replaced the
dream, the cold sweat frozen against his face. Cold fire flickered
across his skin as he caught his breath. He felt Ray waking up and
inquiring what the problem was.

“It was like a warning or message or something. It
wasn't like a dream, like I was really there or almost there at
least.” Kiyan shook his head as white breath clouded the air around
him. “They attacked me like I was really there.” Kiyan focused
making the ice blades retract from his fingers. Kiyan's HUD blinked
as a message came in from Theo and Kiyan's holographic clothes
flickered into place as he climbed out of bed. “Come on Ray, they
want us for a meeting.”

“Hair.” Ray watched as Kiyan brushed his teeth.

“What?” Kiyan glanced at Ray.

“Your hair, it’s still white.” Ray suppressed a smile
as he watched.

Kiyan glanced up at the wall as a mirror flickered
into place. “Oh.” Kiyan watched as his hair returned to its natural
shade. His ice form was becoming too natural for Kiyan's comfort.
It felt more natural than his normal form sometimes. His HUD
flashed as another message appeared. Kiyan paused for a moment as
he forwarded the message to Fred. It only took a moment more before
he was ready. Kiyan made his way to the simulator and connected
with the Odysseys and the Athena. The connection completed just
about the time that Fred walked in trying to stifle a yawn. Kiyan
laughed as Fred cast a rueful glance at the fresh looking wide
awake Addy that was following him.

“
It’s not my fault that I don't sleep like you
do.”
Kiyan could feel Addy laughing.

“I had no idea you still needed sleep or I would have
waited a few hours.” Theo's voice had undertones of humor.