The interior building was large and nicer than the rest of the village. Booths, circular tables, polished wooden floors, and tables. The light came from hand glass blown lanterns that rested in the corners. At the middle was a circular wooden counter, a stone pillar with shelves lining them. But what was actually on those shelves was some mix of alcohol and things that gave off the hint of something far more sinister.
The building itself was entirely empty save for two spots. Both sitting at the bar turned to face them as they entered. The boy with his confident, almost cocky smile, and the woman who was more cautious, her hair no longer a blazing fire but instead red locks.
“You three. Again?” he laughed as he glanced at his sister. “I told you they’d show up.”
“We’ve just gotten here and I’m already pissed off,” Alistair scowled. “I owe you for the last time we met.”
“No Alistair. We do not need another fight,” John glared holding his arm out in front of him.
“I thought our whole reason for coming here was capturing that brat,” Alistair threw his hand out. “He’s right here. Let’s capture him and get this over with.”
“We established this Alistair. We don’t know who hired us. Or why. We don’t even know what they look like.”
“So what are you suggesting we do then bagboy? I’m all ears.”
John pushed past Alistair and walked toward the pair. As he did the woman sat up straighter and moved to stand. Her hair was already starting to glow brighter in response.
“Please relax. I know we fought one another before now but I think that was a mistake. We may be able to help one another.”
“Honestly I’d like that but at the same time I don’t really trust you guys,” she said. “I’m going to protect my brother above everything else. But. I’d like it if we don’t have to fight. So. What do you have to say?”
“Wow. I was. Not expecting that,” Semperius mumbled pointing at them.
“The long and short is this,” John started. “The man who hired us has not been forthcoming about many things. Especially on the reason behind us coming here. And just speaking to you shows me you two are children.”
Shina interjected here, “You two are from the Free City right?”
She paused and nodded, “Yeah. That’s home. We’ve only ever lived there.”
“Then what kind of person would hire the three of them to kidnap children of the Free City. You’re bandits at most usually,” Shina noted. “What have you done to anger someone enough to have a bounty put on your heads?”
“It’s not what we’ve done to him. It’s the one he serves,” the boy said sitting up.
“Well that’s not really an answer,” Semperius commented. “Gonna elaborate on that sport?”
“Oh for sure. But I want some agreements first,” he spun around in the chair and leaned forward, pressing his fingers together. “While we talk let’s all be friends for a bit. I don’t wanna be on edge just in case the Cersian over there get antsy.”
“A temporary truce? We can do that,” John said. “Right everyone?”
“That’s fine by me,” Semperius said.
Alistair glanced at the two of them and took his hand off the swords calmly. A tension left the bar as the travelers came forward. They sat down, a healthy distance between them all but it wasn’t aggressive.
“Guess we can start with introductions. My names Zoren. And this is my older sister Brynadette,” she waved at them.
“I am John.”
“Semperius.”
“Address me as Alistair.”
“Like I said. We’re from the Free City. Both of us are mages which helps a lot more when you don’t live in the Sanctum. But the reason that we’re getting hunted this much is because we’re time travelers.”
“You gotta be fucking kidding me,” Semperius said staring at them.
“Is this a joke?” Alistair asked.
“No no. It’s serious. Though Sehren isn’t happy that I do it.”
Shina seemed to sit up straighter and looked at the children with new eyes. “How do you know that name?”
Zoren looked at her startled by the severity of her accusation. “I taught myself the basics of time travel and accidentally went back to a time when he was teaching. I couldn’t figure out how to get myself back home and he helped me. But then I came back to the time and begged him to teach me. Eventually, I wore him down.”
Shina covered her mouth for a long moment before finally, she broke into a laugh. A real one that seemed to belong to another woman than the one here. She wiped a finger across her eye and chuckled, “I am truly glad that I decided to continue journeying with you. But time travel has consequences. Are you prepared for them?”
“I am. And in this case, Sehren wanted us to come here. Said that this was something that I could do more than him.”
“And I couldn’t let him do this by himself,” Brynadette added.
Shina appraised the two of them a bit longer and finally nodded, “You are interesting children. Sehren must truly see something special in you all.”
“I take it that’s an endorsement of some sort,” John said. “But it hasn’t answered the question really.”
“Yeah I guess not. Should I get deep into it B?”
“I think getting as to the point as possible would be a good idea Z. Especially cause of you know.”
“You’ve got a point. Something bad is supposed to happen in this town today. And we’re here to help stop that from happening. And it involves the guy who hired you all to kill me. If we get got then the bad thing can happen.”
“What is the ‘bad thing’” Semperius asked.
“A calamity. One on a scale that we haven’t seen in a long time,” Brynadette explained. “This town would be destroyed and worse it would have major repercussions on the rest of the country.”
“Major stacks with a vague yet potentially massive threat,” Shina looked at her hands. “That seems accurate for the pupil of Solaris.”
“So you’re talking about a type of end of the world situation. How can we stop that?” John asked.
“Easy. We just need to get to the guy who hired you. Stop whatever ritual he wants to do and everything works out. Maybe even get the chance to interrogate them.”
“Does he always make things sound so simple?” Alistair asked.
“That’s my baby brother,” Brynadette said. Zoren beamed at her and flashed a thumbs up.
“Why are you telling us all this?” John asked. “This story is a lot to take in at once. I don’t think this is something you’ve rehearsed or made up. But it could still be a trap.”
Brynadette looked at her brother and he made a face staring down for a long moment, “I. I can’t tell you a lot. But. You three are good people. And you’re being manipulated by that person. You deserve to know the truth at the very least. And make your own choice.”
The trio looked at one another and as uncomfortable as it made them feel it rang true to some degree. “We don’t know our own past. We just know we work together.” Alistair said. “But it feels like I’ve been on the verge of remembering something. Someone. Truly important.”
“Same here,” Semperius agreed.
“As have I.”
The knight glowered as he touched his sword. “So, if the one who’s been hiring us to do these jobs has been tampering with our minds to some degree. I’d rather show him my blade.”
“For once we agree on something,” John mumbled.
Semperius leaned far back in his chair, “How would we even do that?”
“Easy actually,” John put a hand to his chin. “It starts with capturing Zoren here.”
Brynadette tensed but Zoren shook his head, “I think I know where you’re going with this but keep going.”
John picked up his bag and put it on the table. Searching through it he finally found what he was looking for. It was a coin, a soft golden one. It was blank on one side but on the other was an hourglass. The hourglass was silver and raised from the gold side.
Brynadette’s eyes widened and she reached a gloved hand out to him, “May I?”
Surprised he nodded and handed it over to her. She turned it in her hands slowly, tracing her thumb over the face of it. It was warm to her touch and her eyes widened before handing it back to John. “That coin is magical. Infused with it actually.”
John nodded, “Exactly. The magic in here is meant to do one thing. Call the one who infused it. It’ll go off like a beacon giving the location and even opening a portal. Once it does that our benefactor should appear.”
“You got all that just from looking at the coin? I thought you gave up the whole magical research thing,” Semperius asked.
“I gave up doing it continuously. But I didn’t stop looking into it. After all as a user of magic, I need to ensure that I don’t bring any downfall amongst people back home because I didn’t know something about what was within me.”
“Fair enough. How does it work?”
“You flood it with magic and then snap it. Breaking it will open the portal,” John said.
“A mage powerful enough to create an item like that is something special.”
“So you pretend to have me captured. Summon the guy and then we turn the tables on him?”
John clapped his hands, “Exactly.”
“What makes you think such a plan will work?” Brynadette asked carefully.
“It’s simple but effective. The person who hired us has to be some degree of arrogant to hire someone else to do their dirty work. Arrogant or weak. Either one is good for our purposes.”
“Sound reasoning John. It’s simple but it’s a sound plan,” Shina said. “But the thing tying things together is going to be you.”
She turned and stared at Zoren who winked, “Don’t worry about me. I’m a great actor. I’m into this.”
“As am I. I know that my brother and I are going to need help to accomplish this. But all of us together, I think that it’ll be possible.”
John looked at the three of his companions and took a deep breath. “I didn’t even ask you all if you agreed with this.”
“No complaints from me,” Semperius shrugged.
“Like I said. I want to know who manipulated our memories,” Alistair said darkly. “And one way or another they’re going to get the sharp end of my sword.”
Shina shrugged her shoulders, “You three have been interesting. And I don’t think it’s time for Snow yet. So I can assist you. Time is variable it seems.”
“What are you talking about?” Alistair said almost exasperated.
“Don’t worry about that at all,” she smiled again in that way that seemed like her mind was elsewhere.
With things settled they got to work on their hiding positions. Shina and Brynadette gave them good camouflage and hiding positions within the bar so they could be ready to act when the trap was sprung. Meanwhile, John and Zoren talked through what their cues for action would be. When to act if things went south and other fail safes.
After almost an hour they were ready. Shina and Brynadette were both hidden from view at opposites point in the building. Zoren was sitting at a booth his arms restrained behind his back but he could break out if he really needed to. Alistair stood I front of him arms folded and looking grumpy as per usual. Semperius wasn’t far behind the gauntlet on his hand raised just in case.
John was at one of the tables sitting down. His cane was laying against it and the coin was in his hand. Magic. It was something inside him he knew that much and through the studying, he did harnessing it wouldn’t be difficult. Not like it used to be. But he couldn’t deny he was somewhat nervous about the outcome of his plan.
Taking a deep breath he gripped the coin with both hands, almost like he was casting a spell but stopped short. With a small grunt, he snapped the coin easier than he anticipated. It was a regular coin on the inside which surprised him but then he felt a crackle of power. He turned and tossed the pieces to the opposite side of the bar.
The magic inside the coins surged and created a perfectly square portal of light. It shoved away any tables and chairs nearby. They covered their eyes from the light at first wincing under the intensity of it. But they looked out through the cracks in their fingers and saw the shape stepping through.
Or rather wheeling through. As the three looked at him their eyes widened recognizing him vaguely as the man who brought them together. Gave them tasks to accomplish. Had them risk their lives together many times. The memory of their first meeting pieced itself together, that house on the hill and everything in between.
The noise of metal wheels on the wooden floor was loud. The man in question was tattered and shabby, wearing tired old clothes. He had on a jacket covering his body and a short beat up top hat. His skin was pale and splotchy with wiry white hair. When he stopped rolling himself forward, he pressed a cane against the ground and leaned against it.
Dirty bandages covered his face and he turned his face first on John and then looked past at Semperius and Alistair. But he focused properly on Zoren. “Ah. Very good. Very good indeed! I knew that I could count on you three.”
“One brat as advertised,” Alistair said stepping back. “Took your time getting here didn’t you Gehrcraft?” The name came out of his mouth naturally and it felt normal. Like he always knew this man.
He laughed, a weezy tired laugh. “Help me forward Semperius.”
Semperius looked at Alistair then John at the name. They felt the same thing. Semperius came forward grabbing the bars of the wheelchair and pushed him forward slowly.
As they walked Semperius asked, “What do you need him for?”
They rolled forward slowly and he glanced back at the monk. “You asked me something similar when we met for this mission.”
“I guess I don’t remember too well what you told me then.”
Gehrcraft looked at him and his amusement went down slightly but as he appraised the knight he nodded. Pointing a finger at the prince he chuckled. “The easy answer is this boy doesn’t belong here. Doesn’t belong in this time. And the consequences of his actions here will have ripples. For the betterment of this world, he needs to be removed.”
“What you’re trying to protect the timeline?” Zoren asked and started to laugh. “You know how crazy you sound right?”
“Your act isn’t convincing anyone,” he said rolling forward. “You meddle with things you don’t understand and like to think of yourself as a protector. But truly the damage you cause is irreparable. There is only one true way to fix the timeline and we will accomplish that. Just as I have aided these three with every job they have accomplished.”
Semperius stopped the chair in front of the booth as Gehrcraft looked at the boy. Being this close even the cocky Zoren was suddenly very quiet. He looked at the face of the old man and it was like he saw something more on that face. He saw something ancient. Something uncaring. Something alien and insane.
Zoren shouted startling everyone. John stood up quickly his eyes widened, “What are you doing to him?”
“Nothing boy,” Gehrcraft replied. “He’s just seeing the madness inside himself. Seeing the truth of this world. Of his place in this universe. It doesn’t matter at the end of the day. We’re all insignificant. But he has a plan. Daze has a plan.”
Zoren’s screams died down to a whimper and Alistair looked from the child up to John. John looked toward the wheelchair bound man and then nodded quickly. Alistair stood in front of the boy while John picked up his cane.
Gehrcraft frowned at Alistair and motioned with his hand, “I don’t need your help Alistair. Move.”
“I’m sorry but we can’t let you do that,” John replied.
Semperius turned him around suddenly forcing him to face John. The old man looked at the soldier and raised a bony finger. “What is the meaning of this?”
Rather than answer him he looked at Semperius and nodded. The monk smirked and shoved him out of the chair. Gehrcraft grunted and crashed into the ground. He started to get up when a rattle of noise clattered across the ground.
Bones strung themselves together coming from beneath the floorboards and wrapped around the old man’s neck and wrist. Shina walked forward slowly wiggling her fingers and letting the spectral chains hiss together. “What is this?” he growled strangling through the chains.
“It is a double cross,” Brynadette said igniting her hair and pointing a burning palm at him. “You’re not gonna hurt my brother anymore.”
“And Daze isn’t getting what he wants. Not here,” Shina told him.
“You manipulated our memories,” Alistair drew both his swords. “So you’re going to start answering questions and fixing the damage you caused.”
But instead of responding or even looking fearful he started laughing. Laughter that had nothing to do with humor and everything to do with joy. Except he wasn’t looking at them. His eyes started to glow and it was the kind of glow that projected light onto the walls.
“What the hell are you laughing about?” Alistair barked.
“If you want your memories back so bad, take them!”
Pain exploded behind their eyes like they had suddenly split in half. They clutched their heads, strumbled backward, and even fell to the ground. Gehrcraft laughed and shrugged off the spectral chains climbing to his feet slowly, the wheelchair forgotten.
He pulled a cane from the arm of the chair and pointed it at the ceiling. It glowed at the tip and then the roof exploded. With the roof gone they could suddenly hear the gale blowing around them. The sky was dark with clouds and energy. A bolt of energy struck down breaking a corner of the building off and the screams of the people in the town echoed inside.
Shina stared at the sky, her own eyes glowing, “The Calamity. The Calamity is here.”
The Harlequin Library 