The Time Stone (58 page)

Time Period: 1140 A.D.,
England

The sun shone brightly over castle Roy
Tan in the middle ages as Princess Celia was calming herself in her
bed ready for a nap. Then suddenly there was a knock at the door.
“

Your highness?” Said her loyal
butler.

“
What is it Cornelius?”
She said slightly rising with a low yawn.

“
The men in the yards have
unearthed something near the old caves.”

“
What is it?”

“
You may want to take a
look” he gulped. “We are not certain what it is.”

After she changed into her ready robe,
he leads her to the development chambers where new things are
studied and she sees a small object on the table, a green
crystalline emerald glowing brightly with five orbs within it
equally glowing.

“
This looks oddly
familiar.” She said with a perplexing grin. “I have seen this
before.”

“
Yes my lady. Do you
remember where?” Asked Cornelius. Princess Celia did not answer but
stood upright and smiled. She approached the object and picked it
up turning it and stood in awe as a beam of yellow light emerged
from it and a roaring circle of light appeared before them bending
the light around it and passing through the table and anything else
around it, including Cornelius who ran off away from it.

“
My lady, what devil magic
is this?”

“
Ready the men and horses,
Cornelius. We are going on a little trip of an
adventure.”

“
Adventure?? To Where?” He
asked. She smirked as she held the time stone and looked into the
vortex with her free hand on her hip.

“
To repay a debt.” She
remembered James and missed him deeply. She somehow knew he was in
danger and she had to find him.

CHAPTER 85

Time Period: 14 Million, B.C., Chronix
Bay

The vortex roared loudly in the desert
and Princess Celia in her traditional hunting gear exited with
Cornelius and five other knights on horseback armed and ready. The
vortex subsided.

“
We are in another time,
my lady?”

“
Yes, I explained this to
you many times already Cornelius. We have travelled backwards
through time like James and his friends. We are here to help
them.”

“
How do we know he is
here?”

“
I just know.” She said
proudly as they rode on into the desert.

The foursome exited the scorpion car
and approached the fire that they noticed was a beast whose bright
eyes were looking at them as they approached.

“
Whoa, how do we fight
fire?” Asked Mercedes.

“
With fire” said Tina
laughingly.

“
I don’t think this is
time for…” started Drax but James pointed out “look” as he saw
people approaching on horseback.

“
Celia!” Screamed James.
He ran over and she dismounted to their sudden embrace and
passionate long kiss.

“
Oh James.”

“
Where did they come
from?” Asked Mercedes.

“
We got a situation here”
said Drax as the flame beast began to attack them and as they
dodged, the flame beast suddenly split into four flame beasts. The
five knights dismounted and ran towards the beasts with their
swords, shields, and lances and attempted to pierce the flaming
flesh of the beasts but were burnt to a crisp. Celia stood in
shock. Some of the horses were spooked and ran off. James grabbed
her and jumped on her horse and road off as Drax, Tina, Mercedes,
and Cornelius road off in some of the remaining horses. James waved
his hands back as they rode and with a quick use of his powers
stimulated his psychic energy fire force that allowed him to create
a whirlwind of sand and debris that blew around the beasts and
extinguished the flames that gave them sustenance to their being so
they were no more in existence. A single drop of eyelid with a
small spark fell to the desert sand and was buried and
extinguished.

“
Where are we going?” Said
Celia.

“
Away from there” said
Tina. They rode and saw a series of caves that looked familiar like
the caves they saw before.

“
Those resemble the caves
at Shireville” said Celia.

“
Except their higher up
and have more rocks covering it as it hasn’t been dropped by
millions of years of land shifting and tectonic movement.” Said
James. James pulled out the time stone and Celia pulled out hers.
When they met, they merged into one held in James’ hand.

“
Unbelievable” said
Celia.

“
You get used to it” said
Tina, “by the way, I don’t think we met.”

“
Not now” said
James.

“
We need to get up there
but we can’t on horseback or on foot and that crevice is too narrow
for the scorpion car to fly into.” Said Drax.

“
Can’t we blast a hole?”
Asked Mercedes.

“
I don’t feel comfortable
with that here as the rock face looks too unstable and could cause
a cave in.” Said Drax.

“
Only one way in” said
James. He held out the time stone and turned it opening the vortex
and they all road into it and exited the vortex inside the
cave.

“
Cool” said
Tina.

“
Nice thinking kid” said
Drax.

“
How did we know to arrive
here inside?” Asked Celia.

“
Must be fate”, smirked
James.

“
You are intelligent and
handsome” said Celia smiling at him, “a magnificent combination fit
for a king.”

“
Are you proposing to me
my dear?” Asked James.

“
Anything is possible.”
She replied.

“
I am a man of the road.”
They walked forward in the darkness. Drax activated his beacon
light and they saw writing and drawings on the cave walls depicting
various tales.

“
More stories” said
Mercedes.

“
Yes” said Drax. “I
understand these….”

“
What does it say?” Asked
Tina.

“
There seems to be a story
about a long distant land, a utopia where perfection is epitomized,
like Eden, Atlantis, and Shangri-La… The old indigenous translation
into Spanish is Tierra de la tiempo.”

“
The land of time” said
Mercedes.

“
There is more about a
battle and light versus dark forces, chosen ones destined to meet
again and again and conflict over the land of time. A union of
thirteen races mastering the elements, exploring all there is to
see and do in the vast and infinite universe then discovering their
own past, being time masters… the pregivers….”

“
So they were here?” Asked
James.

“
I don’t understand” said
Celia.

“
I’ll explain later”
cautioned James.

“
The pregivers had an
artifact by which to control the forces of time, the time stone but
they also had a magnificent vessel that was the heart of their
extravagant space universe civilization , a ship or station or
place…connected to the land of time and based on the harmonious
notes of the cosmic symphony. It gets faded here. But the legend of
the holder of the stones… he, James, is the one to fight for forces
of light against the dark emissary of evil. James is destined as
others before him supposedly… to stop the coming… uplift and walk
amongst angels.”

“
James is an angel” asked
Celia. “No doubt they were correct.”
James’ face focuses as a blank stare as his mind starts to form
inward as he sees the vision of the entire universe and then a
white light that he sees not just in his mind’s eye but in
actuality before him glowing and vibrating as it reached out to him
and he saw eyes appear in the light, white eyeballs with black
pupils floating amidst the sea of white light before him. “Who are
you?” He asked not fearing it. The light moved and he understood
it. He recognized the light and knew it because he felt its
presence before, inside him, the growing force that was
accumulating and giving him greater abilities he understood had
formed itself outside of him allowing him to see and communicate
with its life essence now before him. He remembered each incident
of his experiences with the cave writings and the pregiver legend
and realized it was all common and part of the same plan, his fate
to be here with this form to subsume and to join with
it.

“
What is it?” Asked Tina.
But James’ mind remained fixated on the life force before him
glowing brightly ever shining and beautiful like the sunlight
piercing in its own energy. It spoke to James softly with its
movements and he understood it. “What is it James?” Screamed Tina.
“There is nothing there” she yelled dismounting her horse and
approaching James. James’ mind and body remained focused linked
with the form in a psychic bond. “I am afraid to leave them. I
don’t want to leave them.” He sheds a tear and several tears fall
down his face as he looks into the light being staring into him
speaking to him softly and seeming sympathetic with his plight. He
knew he had to do what was necessary. He dismounted his horse to
the dismay of his companions and approached the light.

“
I know what I have to do”
he turned to them and smiled with his face full of tears. “I was
given these powers for a reason and I know what must be done. I
won’t see you guys for a while but I will always be with you.
Remember that!”

“
James? You’re scaring us”
said Tina.

“
Yeah what’s this about?”
Asked Mercedes.

“
Sometimes you have to go
your own way” said James.

“
He has to fulfill his
destiny” said Drax.

“
James, don’t go” said
Celia.

“
I will never forget you…”
he looked into her eyes and drank the sorrow within as she shed
tears with him. “Any of you.” He looked up and he lifted his arms
up and turned to the energy being with light wings stretched like
an angel engulfing him. He felt his molecules pull apart and his
physical body disassemble as he was being pulled upward, uplifted
by a higher source and James generated into that source he was
completely absorbed into the light as it filled the entire cave. As
his physical body deteriorated and he formed a cloud of pure white
energy, he remembered the faces of his friends and the words that
echoed his very being since he was a child, knowledge is
power.

Tina looked up in shock and tears, “I
will miss you”, as she saw her friend formed upward into a white
halo of smoke and light last seeing the white of his eyes as he
faded disintegrating into the empty air above them. Celia,
Cornelius, Drax, Mercedes, and Tina remained there confused. A beam
spot in the cave was triggered and the entire room was covered in
light.

Drax, Tina, Mercedes, Cornelius, and
Celia found themselves with their horses back at the location near
the scorpion car away from the caves. A white light hovered over
the desert sky above twirling and glowing, stretching its wings
above them as they stood and watched and felt it was James, his
being, his essence, his nonphysical spiritual self-leaving and
saying goodbye one last time as the light slowly dissipated and
Tina approached looking sadly and disdainfully into her oldest
friend fading away into empty air to a light energy being that he
had now become. The others stood by grieving and mourned for a
moment of silence. The vortex suddenly opened in midair absorbing
the whole white light.

“
He’s gone” said Mercedes
sadly. Celia wept. Tina sobered. Drax moped.

“
We should get going” said
Drax holding the time stone he picked up off the ground. Drax,
Tina, and Mercedes entered the scorpion car and Celia and Cornelius
mounted their steeds and the vortex roared before each of them to
their respective destinations.

CHAPTER 86

Time Period: 1890 A.D.,
Tennessee

The ranch of Johann McGurk in Central
Tennessee was a quaint range-like feel as the wooden fences and
plowed hayfields adorned landscape below the crimson orange country
skies over the crop-filled terrain.

“
I always wanted to be a
spy but cowboys and Indians were never my strong suit” said Tina
admiring her pink western shirt and white cowgirl hat and boots
complete with matching spurs.

“
I don’t even have a gun”
“you don’t need one” said Drax.

“
This is a pretty laid
back time” Mercedes said turning as she pushed up the sleeves of
her white western shirt and matching hat and boots.

“
The year is 1809 A.D.”
said Drax.

“
The heart of the old
west. I always loved this era as a kid. Something about it makes me
feel like home.” Said Tina.

“
Well, it’s not. Let’s
keep our eye on the ball.” Said Mercedes.

“
I hope Celia and
Cornelius made it home OK!” “Yeah, they’re good people” said
Tina.

“
Come on, we should get
outside to see if they need a hand. We got some time until the time
stone recharges.” They walk out. “Hey McGurk” yelled
Drax.

“
You got some work for
us.’ Then suddenly Tina is drawn to something. “That is really
weird” she said.