Out of Time the Grand Quest

by Christopher Douglass

  The big man gently scooped her into his arms, making a beeline for the barn doors while all she could do was lay there. He grinned down to let her know everything was fine.

  “You’re not much heavier than Amy. I don’t know if that is because you are sick, or because she put on a few extra pounds. Don’t let her know I said that though, she’d start smacking me around for that remark.”

  His grin was infectious, impossible not to smile back at. Isabelle knew he was trying to put her at ease, make her feel less helpless. She had to admit, the tactic was working. She felt safe in his arms, and didn’t mind at all the useless state she was in. Turning her head to the side, she watched the town as it passed.

  People stared at the two of them, but it looked like a lively town to her. While Isabelle could tell the village was small, the streets were packed, making it look much larger. There was nothing about the village that said anything was wrong. Her limited senses, weak as they were, couldn’t discern any disease or sicknesses. Especially not whatever it was she had caught.

  As they walked, Vletch filled her in on what had transpired so far and what Kimi had managed to figure out. He said Kimi freely admitted her ideas and theories still had large gaping holes in them, but Vletch confided he trusted those theories. It was more than they had to work with at the start, and until they were proved wrong, they were as good as any. Isabelle got the sense Vletch liked Kimi, and they would get along well together. She was glad, Kimi had a feeling of loneliness around her. Isabelle couldn’t pinpoint why exactly, but the girl felt like she was constantly on the verge of breaking down. Not the same way Jasmine could break down, but similar. She hoped Bree would help stabilize that darkness around her.

  “Do you hear that?”

  “Hear what?”

  Isabelle focused her ears to catch whatever sound Vletch was referring to. It didn’t take long to identify. It started off as a low drumming more felt in the bones than heard. As it drew closer Isabelle identified it as the sound of running horses. Both Vletch and the townspeople turned towards the sound at near the same time, allowing Isabelle to see the source.

  Horsemen. Lots and lots of men on horses. Each one wearing leather armor and wielding a club in their hands. On the back of a few rested longbows and quivers of arrows. Every one of them had curly black hair and beards that hid the flesh of their face. Many had mad, wild looking eyes as they shouted out unintelligible war calls. The townspeople ran. They scattered like wild animals, tripping over their own feet in their haste to get away.

  The riders swooped down on them like avenging angels, striking with their sticks and cudgels at the backs of heads. Isabelle heard the crack of skulls while people dropped one by one. For every four that escaped into the woods, one was flattened to the ground. They weren’t dead, Isabelle could still faintly feel their life forces even from her position. But they weren’t moving either.

  Women were scooped up and thrown across the saddle, getting a rap to the head to make them docile. Houses were razed with torches and men were left bleeding in the streets where they lay, sometimes getting trampled by the hooves of the horses. Isabelle had no clue what was going on, but she had no desire to stick around. Vletch had the same idea, starting to jog in the other direction.

  “Hold on tight.”

  It was Vletch that clutched her harder to his naked chest though. Isabelle barely had the strength to turn her head to watch his back as he ran.

  “Behind.”

  That was all she could manage to get out, but it was enough. Vletch spun around, like his feet were slicked with oil, to see a horseman bearing down on them with cudgel out to the side. He looked different from the others. His hair was oily and not so much of a rats nest of tangles, though his beard was just as bushy. Isabelle felt Vletch bunching beneath her, preparing for some sort of action. He never got a chance to act, the horseman just falling off the side of his horse as the creature thundered away.

  Carefully Vletch walked closer, nudging the man with his foot. From this close, Isabelle could tell he was dead. Yet he still had the same face he had held seconds before. There was no realization that he was no longer living anywhere to be seen. Without a word, the two of them once more turned to leave.

  Vletch made it three steps though before the world shifted. That was the only way Isabelle could describe it. For just the briefest of seconds everything around them warped. Like a giant wave on an ocean that passed through and around them. No, it was more like a shutter effect than a wave, there and gone again immediately. Isabelle watched as burning houses were snuffed out, fleeing men and women just vanished, and the sounds of screaming turned as silent as a grave. Isabelle happened to be watching the dead horseman when the anomaly flowed over it. From out of nothing leapt a galloping horse going in the other direction, on its back was the same man who lay dead. He rode back the way he came ignoring the two behind him, heading for the eastern woods.

  The ripple lasted less than an eye blink, Isabelle wasn’t even sure if it had been real or not. The two of them now stood at the edge of a deserted town. There were a few bodies laying on the ground, many of them having the barest flicker of life still inside. Houses were as empty as the streets, Isabelle knew that with just a quick scan. Bloodstains were already soaking into the ground like water spills, darkening the dirt only a moment. Then those too were gone, making the town feel like it had always been like this.

  “What& exactly just happened?”

  Isabelle wanted an answer to that question as well. Lacking any, she shook her head slightly. “I have no idea.”

  “We should go.”

  “Where?”

  “To the east. That is where those riders came from, and where that last rider rode off to. I have a feeling we will get our answers if we go that way. We won’t learn anything if we don’t keep moving. Time is still counting down.”

  Vletch moved through the town, his head looking to left and right constantly. Isabelle could feel his unease in the tightness of his muscles. An unease that was growing in her own chest as well. Vletch stopped in front of a body, one Isabelle remembered clearly. The face had been bashed in by a club, caving the skull and leaving an eye hanging from the socket. Yet, there was nothing wrong with this corpse. It lay where it had fallen, just without the damage that had been done.

  “Something is not right here. I remember watching this man fall. Why doesn’t he have battle damage?”

  Isabelle shook her head in answer, that being the only one she could give. For every corpse she could sense, there were three unconscious bodies laying in the street. What concerned her the most though, was the sudden lack of townspeople. Where had they gone to so suddenly?

  As Vletch came in sight of the trail leading out of town to the east, another one of those blip moments happened. This time, making three men in leather armor appear with a line of townspeople trailing behind and secured by rope. A fourth soldier walked behind the line of prisoners with a spear pointed at their backs. The prisoners were connected to each other at the neck, and yet more rope bound their arms together. Each one had a look of defeat about them.

  Isabelle could feel Vletch tighten beneath her. She knew he wanted to act, but was refraining from doing so because of her. With as much energy as she could muster, Isabelle touched his chest to get his attention. When he looked down, she motioned him closer so she could whisper without attracting attention.

  “Leave me. I’ll just slow you down. Save those people and go do what you have to do. You can’t protect yourself if you are burdened down with me anyway. I’ll manage somehow. I’ll find a hiding spot and just wait this all out.”

  “Go back to the barn then. You’ll be safe there.”

  “How do you know that?”

  His eyes crinkled as he grinned, the action making his face come alive. “Call it a hunch.”

  Isabelle nodded, accepting his words. In the face of that grin, she couldn’t doubt them. Gently he set her on the ground, allowing her to lean ag
ainst the side of a brick house. He reach down to his side and slipped metal knuckles over his fingers. Despite his large bulk, he slid silently up behind the first soldier, one hand covering his mouth while the other wrapped around the chest. He twisted both arms in opposite directions, snapping the mans neck effortlessly.

  When a few prisoners turned at the small sound, Vletch put a finger to his lips to keep them silent while bending to drop the guard to the ground noiselessly. The prisoners nodded and Vletch crept up on the three forward guards. He cocked both arms back, slamming them forward into the back of two skulls. Two bodies dropped, motionless at the impact. The third guard turned, his sword swinging in an arc. Vletch brought his left fist around, the clash of the blade being stopped by a dip in the brass knuckles sent off a teeth grating screech. The sound lasted only a second, as the big mans right came up from his waist in an uppercut. The blow caught the soldier solidly under the chin, lifting him from his feet and snapping his neck at the same time.

  Vletch picked up one of the swords and cut the men and women free of their bonds. They thanked him profusely before running off to hide. Vletch gave Isabelle one final wave farewell before getting lost in the darkness of the woods. Isabelle wasn’t sure how long she rested against the house. It felt like six or seven minutes, but was probably longer. Isabelle knew she had to move. Staying here was just asking for trouble. Gritting her teeth, she ordered her body to move.

  And her body ignored her.

  What was it her teacher had said before? She enhanced her physical abilities by manipulating the water in her own body. So then, could she manipulate the water to get her body moving? Isabelle shook her head. She wasn’t even sure she could control her magic, let alone doing something as complicated as fine manipulation of it.

  With supreme willpower, Isabelle managed to stand by using the house for support. Once upright, it was another struggle to get her feet moving. Once she did though, momentum propelled her back towards the barn. She knew she probably looked stupid. Her upper body threatening to fall face first on the ground, yet her feet moved to keep her precariously upright. If her feet stopped, or she tried to stand straighter, Isabelle was sure she would fall down.

  The side of the barn came into view ahead of her. It filled her chest with pride knowing she had made it. Despite her own weakness, she had made it. That bit of elation seemed to sap the strength from her. Isabelle leaned against the side of yet another house while she caught her breath. How had this sickness made her so weak?

  As she panted, gathering her strength for the next leg of the journey, the barn doors opened. Kimi, Frank, and Amy left the building, giving Isabelle a surge of strength as her face stretched into a smile.

  “Kimi!”

  Kimi started to turn at Isabelle’s weak shout. Even Isabelle was surprised her voice had managed to carry the short distance. Kimi never saw her though as yet another one of those blips passed across her vision. In that fraction of a second, Kimi and her companions were gone. They had disappeared just like the townspeople had. Her gut wrenched, her mind already assuming the worst had happened. What if whatever that flickering was had killed them?

  Isabelle shook her head to dispel such thoughts. They weren’t dead. They couldn’t be. The magic would at least protect them until the Due Date was closed. She had to believe that. There had to be another explanation. With that shaky assurance, Isabelle shoved off the wall and stumbled into the barn.

  A pile of hay lay broken and scattered on the floor near the barrel next to where she had been laying. The barrel still roughly half full of water as well. That was good. She needed water. Saying a silent thank you to her teacher for making her learn a few esoteric spells, Isabelle brought her lips down to the liquid. She let the restraints on her power free, not trying to control the flow like when she cast a spell, just letting the power have free reign.

  Water was the essence of instability. Unlike the other elements, it had no form, no structure. It was the mage who gave it structure. Fire too was formless, but unlike water, fire needed to be fed to live. Fire was the essence of passion. Wind was the essence of freedom. Earth was the essence of solidarity. Water just was. Water was life. And when a water mage released the structures and restraints around their element, the water filled the void. Being attracted to the natural affinity the water mage had with it.

  Isabelle inhaled, guzzling down the water gulp after gulp. Stretching her neck as the levels lowered. Her stomach felt bloated, her arms two sizes too large. She imagined the water filling her up like the barrel. Yet still she drank. She drank until she thought her eyes would start floating in her head. At last she could hold no more. Leaving the last three inches in the bottom of the barrel, Isabelle worked her way towards the ladder up to the second level. It would be best if she hid out of sight up there. Let her body use this excess of water to purge her system of the sickness. A full flush of the system was what she needed. But that would take time. Time where she would be vulnerable.

  Huffing hard, Isabelle finally pulled herself up the last rung and onto the wooden platform filled with hay. These bales would hide her from sight quite well. As long as she was quiet, no one would know she was up here. Unable to stand, Isabelle crawled on hands and knees towards the back wall, the water sloshing around inside. Her hand stopped in mid movement as she realized she wasn’t alone. A dark animal shape stood against the wall before her. At least five and a half feet tall, it was a monster of a creature.

  Yet it didn’t move.

  Isabelle didn’t trust that the monster had not noticed her. So she tried to keep herself perfectly still. Despite her desires though, her body gave out. She tried forming even the most basic of water lances to combat the creature which she expected to pounce on her at any moment. But neither magic nor monster came. Hesitantly, Isabelle crawled closer to the motionless creature, her eyes adjusting to the darkness.

  When she realized the monster was a giant bird made of dirt, she let out a small chuckle. A sound which she cut short because it made her hurt. Then she noticed the face of a girl trapped inside the chest of the creature. It was then Isabelle remembered what Vletch had told her about Kimi and her group capturing Joan of Arc. So this must be that girl. The girl watched her with wide eyes, a band of clay wrapped across her mouth to keep her silent.

  Isabelle dragged her tired body over to a stack of hay bales, propping her back against them where she could keep an eye on the girl. Her right hand felt wet as she lay it on the floor, a glance down showed that her body was already expelling the infection. A sheen of black water was oozing out of her pores, creating a thin film-like glove from the wrist down. The film slid off, soaking into the nearby hay and leaving her hand with a slight shine. A few hours and the disease would be purged completely.

  Isabelle turned her attention to the girl, giving her the best smile she could muster. “Don’t worry, I won’t harm you. I’m sure you have no idea what is going on. Well, quite frankly, I don’t really know either. But one way or another this will all be over by tomorrow. So just bear with it okay? You might want to get some sleep, that makes the time go by quicker.”

  Isabelle let out a sigh as she closed her eyes. Sleep. That sounded pretty good actually. But she couldn’t sleep. If the girl was here, she would need protection. While she might not be much protection, Isabelle felt it her duty as the only one around. To that end, Isabelle put herself into a light trance. One that would allow her to wake instantly at the presence of danger, while giving her body some much needed rest. She hoped she would get to see Jasmine soon.

  Chapter 24: Thorns of the Amaryllis

  “Did you hear that?”

  Amy stopped to look at Kimberly who was searching the area behind them. The girl irritated her, though Amy didn’t know why. Everything Kimberly said and did just seemed to rub her the wrong way. Even the way she was scanning the area grated on her nerves.

  “I didn’t hear anything. Maybe it was just the wind playing tricks on you. You know what they s
ay, simple minds fall for simple tricks.”

  Kimberly turned to face her, brows furrowed and eyes narrowed. “And where pray tell is this wind you speak of miss midget? The only air I feel right now is the hot air coming out from between your flapping gums. You best watch how much of it you lose, otherwise you might just grow a little shorter.”

  Amy snarled at the pretentious woman. A nice flaming ball of lava would shut her up. As she reached down to grab the stick at her waist with the magma spell inscribed in it, Frank stepped between her and the whore.

  “Now, now, both of you just calm down. Kimberly, I didn’t hear anything either. But Amy, don’t forget where we are, we don’t know what rules govern this Paradox Echo. It is entirely possible she really did hear something. Amy, I know you don’t like Kimberly much, and Kimberly, you’ve not been around Amy for long. This is just how she is, don’t take such offence to her vile tongue, ignore it like everyone else.”

  “Maybe that’s the problem. Everyone ignored her so she thinks it’s acceptable to sound like a priss.”

  “Maybe you need to be taught your place wench. Don’t go thinking you are anything special, even if you are a Phaser. In the end you are still just a lowly mediator. You will never be a match for a real mage. Just because you might have figured a few things about this place out, don’t go getting so full of yourself. We’ve studied for years to go on this quest, you’re just an interloper who stumbled in over her head.”

  “Perhaps I should rip that tongue out of your head and feed it back to you short stack. I think it’s you who needs to be taught her place.”

  Kimberly pulled a gleaming knife with a gold handle from her belt, making a sword appear in her left hand at the same time. In response, Amy snagged her magma stick and activated her lightning ring. When she opened both hands, a ball of flame and electricity sat on her palms ready to be thrown. As Amy pulled back her arm to throw her ball of magma, her world went dark and her magic was snuffed out. When her vision cleared, her head throbbed horribly. Amy saw Kimberly also rubbing the top of her head, her sword vanished but her dagger still in her fist. Amy looked over at Frank, who’s troll sized arms were reverting to their normal size and shape.