Izikiel (7 page)

The light from the twin suns was now so low that it cast a deep or
ange glow across the landscape. Impossibly long shadows stretched out from the rock formations which were silhouetted against the darkening sky. The small purple plants, sensing that night was fast approaching, folded up around their stalks. The three of them continued to observe the little girl.

‘
Where did she come from?’ Izikiel wondered out loud.

The little girl continued to stare at them
. Izikiel could sense Xavier tensing up as his right hand moved down to one of his energy weapons.

‘
That won’t be necessary,’ Izikiel said. ‘She’s just a child.’

‘
I don’t like this. How did she get here? She cannot be alone,’ Xavier replied, his eyes scanning the horizon.

‘
I’m sure there’s a perfectly good explanation for why she’s here. Let’s just -’

‘
Izikiel’

Te’Anne’s voice had a
note of urgency to it. Izikiel was surprised to find that more and more children had appeared on the rock formation. Boys and girls, all about the age of ten, had sprung up as if from the ground itself. They were all dressed in similar one piece beige overalls of varying lengths. Their eyes had the same vapid expression as the little girl. Izikiel realised that something was wrong. Yet he was unable to tell what it was. The children looked healthy, despite their slightly ragged appearance. He turned to Te'Anne with a questioning expression.

‘
They are known as the
silent ones
.’

The moment
she said it, Izikiel realised what it was. The children were silent. They did not laugh, or cry or make any sound at all. He knew intuitively that was not how children behaved. Puzzled, he asked Te'Anne about it.

‘
I don't know. I've only ever seen one of them before at the star port and that was many years ago when I was young.’

‘
How can this be? And where are the adults?’

When Te’Anne did
n’t reply, Izikiel repeated his question.

‘
No one has ever seen an adult silent one.’

Several of the children had stopped moving and were now staring intently at them. The
twin suns had dropped to the edge of the horizon and cast their light directly into Izikiel's eyes. As the orange light blinded him, he was suddenly aware of the Eternal Flame.

It was showing him a vision.
No, not a vision, he realised. Rather, it was allowing him to perceive the world in a different spectrum. As he looked at the children, he could see two additional forms slightly off centre on each of them. The first was that of an infant crawling on the ground. The second was that of a fully grown adult. But only the child form stood out as the other two attempted to converge with it. Some unseen force prevented them from doing so, keeping the other two forms in constant motion. Taking a deep breath, Izikiel severed his link to the Eternal Flame.

‘
I know what they are,’ Izikiel stated with certainty.

Te'Anne
and Xavier looked at him, awaiting an explanation.

‘
They are trapped in some sort of temporal flux between their past and future selves. This is why they always remain as children. They can neither move forward nor revert back.’

‘
But how is this possible?’ Te’Anne asked.

‘
I don't know,’ Izikiel replied, shaking his head. ‘There was some incredible power unleashed on this planet during the final confrontation between the Void Lords and the true believers. It’s possible that power somehow affected this group of children.’

As he looked back at the little girl that had appeared first, a different thought
began to form in his mind. He began to wonder if all those true believers had really perished on that fateful day. After all, it was possible that some of them could have escaped through the geo-planetary elevator.

The twin suns disappeared below the horizon leaving a pale light to linger in the darkening sky.
The little girl stepped off the rocks and onto the red sand. Her movements were slow and deliberate. It was almost as if she were in pain. Her bare feet sank into the soft sand as she turned to look at
He he
Izikiel. Her eyes opened wider as she stared intently at him.

‘
I think she wants us to follow her,’ Izikiel said.

‘
Where?’ Te’Anne asked. ‘There’s nothing around here but sand and rocks and we’re over twenty kilometres from the star port.’

‘
I’m not sure, but...’ Izikiel’s voice trailed off as he continued to look directly at the little girl. A strange sense of familiarity swept over him. Another dormant memory was stirring. As he struggled to bring it to the surface, Izikiel felt with a growing certainty that he knew the little girl. But he was unable to remember who she was or even how he knew her. Reaching a decision, he said, ‘We should go with her. I don’t know why but I trust her. No harm will come to us.’

Xavier looked like he was about to say something when Te’Anne put her hand on his arm and
said, ‘We will follow you, disciple.’

It was the first time
that either of them had used that term to describe him. It stirred a series of conflicting emotions within him as thoughts of the Eternal Flame, of the Great City and of Da’Amo resurfaced. Darker images of the Void Lord citadel and of the void spawn clouded his mind. Shaking his head, he looked up. The little girl was still waiting. Motioning to the others, he called out to her.

‘
All right, we’ll come with you.’

As the three of them followed the little girl, Izikiel absently noted that the other children had
disappeared. The surrounding rock formations where barren, except for the strange purple plants which had folded up for the night. Izikiel dismissed it as yet another oddity unique to the planet
Vesta
. He had certainly experienced some interesting things since waking up in the desert.

Yet somehow it all made sense on some level. As did the revelation that he was a disciple of the Eternal Flame. Resisting the temptation to reach out to the interstellar deity, Izikiel took in his surroundings.
Night had descended over the desert. But something wasn’t quite right. Blinking, Izikiel realised that he could make out rock formations and other features of the landscape despite the darkness. He asked Te’Anne about it.

‘
To be honest, I hadn’t realised. But you’re right. I can see shapes and outlines very clearly even though it’s dark,’ she replied. Turning from side to side she looked at her surroundings.

‘
Strange,’ Te’Anne said as she turned to her brother and asked, ‘Xavier?’

The large figure of Xavier lifted his arms
, palms upwards in an unmistakable gesture.

‘
I don’t know but I can see outlines as well.’

‘
The twin suns have set. It’s dark. I know it is. You know it is. Every part of me is telling me it’s dark. Yet how is it possible that we can see?’ Izikiel asked.

‘
I’m sure she knows but I guess that won’t help us much.’

As Te’Anne said it, they all looked at the little girl who had stopped
moving. She stood waiting for them on the edge of a twin rock formation, her face expressionless as before. Raising her left arm, she slowly motioned them forward.

‘
I don’t like this,’ Xavier said, reaching for the weapon strapped to his side.

‘
Me neither,’ Te’Anne agreed. Turning towards Izikiel, she asked, ‘You’re still sure that she can be trusted?’

Looking intently at the little girl’s vapid blue eyes
, Izikiel felt that overwhelming sense of familiarity welling up within him. He felt comfortable and safe. A feeling he had not experienced since waking up on this strange world.

‘
Yes’

Izikiel walked up to the little girl, watching for some sign of recog
nition in her eyes. He saw none. She turned around and disappeared into the shadows between the twin rock formation. Hesitating for a moment, Izikiel reached a decision. Moving forward, he stepped between the large overhanging rocks.

‘Izikiel, wait -’

The moment he passed between the rocks everything changed. One minute, he was walking across the desert at night. The next, his feet sank into lush green grass as humid air pressed down on him. Sounds of running water registered on his ears. He was standing in the midst of a dense jungle with a gigantic waterfall in front of him. Tilting his head upwards, he saw the sun shining in the sky. There was only
one
.

The sounds of the jungle washed over Izikiel. Dozens of bird calls resounded throughout the dense canopy of the jungle forest. They were overshadowed by the dull roar of the waterfall in the distance. Strange looking plants of all shapes and sizes intertwined to form a seemingly impenetrable thicket. The light from the single sun
shone down with soothing warmth, a far cry from the unbearable heat of the twin suns. Izikiel could only stand and stare at the incredible landscape before him as his mind struggled to comprehend what he was experiencing.

‘
Beloved Serafine!’ Te’Anne exclaimed as she appeared behind him. Her mouth was open wide as she took in her surroundings.

Moments later
, Xavier materialised next to her. Taking one look around, he drew both his energy weapons and dropped into a crouching stance. His arms rotated from side to side as he scanned the jungle for any signs of danger.

‘
Wait!’ Izikiel called out.

Xavier
hesitated but he did not lower his weapons.

‘
Te’Anne, tell him please. There is no danger here.’

As his sister placed her hand on his arm, Xavier visibly relaxed. Lowering his weapons
, he looked around the jungle. Drawing in a deep breath, he looked at Izikiel with a questioning expression.

‘
I have no idea what happened. But I suspect that we are no longer on the planet
Vesta
.’

Izikiel pointed up as he said it. As their gaze
travelled upwards, Te’Anne gasped.

‘
How is this possible?’ she asked.

‘I don’t know. We must have stepped through some sort of field between those two rock formations.’

‘
But where are we?’

Izik
iel considered the question for a moment. Looking around, he could come up with only two possible explanations.

‘
We’re either on a completely different planet,’ he said. ‘Or we have travelled a considerable distance into the past.’

‘
But where is the desert?’ Te’Anne asked. ‘And more importantly, where is the second sun?’

Izikiel had forgotten about the second sun. Looking up again, he watched the blazing yellow sun as it shone high in the sky. Thoughts of the Eternal Flame
filled his mind as he considered an almost improbable scenario.

‘
What if the second sun was not a natural phenomenon?’ he asked.

Te’
Anne’s brow furrowed as Xavier turned to him with a surprised look on his face.

‘
What do you mean?’ Xavier asked.

Izikiel did not answer immediately. A vision
was forming in his mind. It showed him an incredible cosmic event, spectacular and terrifying at the same time. Izikiel could only stare dumbfounded as he witnessed the birth of a sun.
Dark red in colour, it hung parallel to the first.
Just as quickly the vision faded away.

‘
What if the second sun was created by the Eternal Flame in order to safeguard the planet
Vesta
from the darkness of the Void?’ Izikiel asked.

Izikiel realised
that what he had just said sounded completely implausible. Yet the vision had been so clear, so real that he knew it could only have come from the Eternal Flame. He could tell that Te’Anne and Xavier were struggling to believe what he had told them. Te’Anne was the first to voice her doubts.

‘That’s impossible.’

Izikiel smiled.

‘So are elevators which can travel through the core of planet
s and people who can use words to change the world around them.’

‘Good point,’ Te’Anne conceded. ‘
So that means…?’

‘
That we have travelled back hundreds, if not thousands, of years into the past. This is the planet
Vesta
as it once was; a lush, green planet with an abundance of water and life. Before it was sacrificed to create a stronghold for the true believers,’ Izikiel explained, now certain of his deductions.

‘
How do we get back to our own time?’ Xavier asked.

It was only then that realisation of their situation
fully dawned on Izikiel. They had travelled back in time unwittingly, without any means of returning.
No, not without any means. There was one
, he realised.

‘
We must find the little girl. She is the key to this place.’

Te’Anne drew one of her side
arms and nodded to Izikiel.

‘
Lead the way then.’

As they moved off into the jungle, Izikiel could feel the perspiration forming on his face, arms and back.
The polyformic clothing he wore had clearly not been designed to cope with tropical conditions. Beads of sweat were running down his body as he tried to adjust to the overwhelming humidity.

Their progress was slow as they had to push their way through thick tangles of vines and gigantic leaves with intricate perforations. Strange looking insects buzzed past them as other unseen creatures slithered around their ankles. Izikiel tried not to think about what could be lurking within the
dense undergrowth.

The sound of the waterfall grew louder as it slowly
materialised out of the jungle foliage. Stepping through a particularly dense patch of leaves and creepers, they found themselves standing on the edge of a sizeable pool of water. The sound of the waterfall was deafening as it crashed down from a sheer cliff face directly in front of them. Small birds hovered over the water catching insects which swarmed over the surface of the pool. Izikiel marvelled at the abundance of life. It was such a contrast to the harsh desert he had woken up in. A part of him felt a great sadness as he comprehended the catastrophic impact of the creation of the second sun on the planet’s ecosystem.

‘
Now what?’ Te’Anne asked.

Scanning the rock wall from left to right, Izikiel could see no way forward. The edges of the cliff seemed to continue on both sides, disappearing into the thick jungle.

‘I think we’re inside a closed canyon. It appears those rock formations we saw in the desert are very old,’ Izikiel said.

‘
Do we turn back?’

‘
No, I think we should -’

Izikiel stopped in
mid-sentence as he saw Xavier drop down onto one knee and bring both weapons up. He could see the energy building within the black cylinders as the scavenger prepared to fire at something. Tracking his gaze, Izikiel saw several of the silent children standing on rock shelves next to the waterfall. As he watched, more and more children appeared. Within moments the sides of the waterfall were lined with dozens of boys and girls staring down at them.

‘
Xavier, wait,’ Izikiel said in a calm, even tone.

He could see Xavier’s weapons had fully charged but he did not fire. Turning his attention back to the waterfall, he saw the little girl appear at the top.
Even at such a distance, Izikiel felt a strange connection to her.

The little girl
raised her arms. The waterfall stopped. Silence descended around the canyon.

‘
I don’t like this,’ Te’Anne said, bringing her weapon up to a firing position.

‘
Just wait, we don’t know what they want with us,’ Izikiel said.

T
he little girl brought her arms down in a forceful motion. A deep rumbling reverberated throughout the canyon as the ground shook beneath their feet. Izikiel watched in horror as a wall of water bore down on them from the top of the cliff face.