“Got it. How about I try doing it normally for now, and then with my ability tomorrow?”
Lhandon nodded in agreement. “Yes, it is best you get used to how it feels first. Let me allow my power to expire first, then we will test something.”
Once the portly monk was ready, I traced the rune, able to remember it relatively quickly because it resembled the letter Z.
As soon as I did, I sensed a lightness I hadn’t experienced before.
Lhandon procured a small fruit that he had hidden in his robes. He tossed it in the air, and I noticed that there was something different about the gravity of it all, that it was falling slowly.
Naturally, I reached my hand up and plucked it from the air.
“So it makes everything look like it has been slowed down?” I asked him.
“Is that how you are interpreting it?”
“I believe so,” I said as he got to his feet.
“I’m going to race you to that door over there. Now, you would normally be faster than me, which is something I believe we could both agree upon. For this exercise, I want you to see just how much faster you are now.”
“Let’s do it,” I told him, feeling a buoyancy in the balls of my feet.
Lhandon stood next to me, and after counting off, I started running. It was like Lhandon was running through quicksand. I was able to come back around and do a complete loop twice before he finally got to the sliding door.
It was surreal, the monk moving in slow motion as I easily whisked by him.
“Do you see how it works?” he asked, huffing, even though he’d only run a short distance.
“It’s almost like my power,” I said. “Does that make sense?”
“It does, but like I said, you are not actually stopping time. Or slowing it. I believe you said that your power is stopping time.”
“That’s right,” I told him. “Well, it does look sometimes that things are slightly in motion, but not like this.”
“So now you can stop time, and you can also technically slow it by increasing your own speed for two minutes. Tomorrow, we will see what happens when you use this ability with your power. But for now, and since there isn’t much time left, let’s race to the other side of the courtyard so you can get used to the feeling again. Sound good?”
I nodded. “See you on the other side.”
Chapter Eleven: An Enlightening Supper
Sukhbat the Precious Heart Gem now officially held the title of the largest man I’d seen in this world. He was easily three times Lhandon’s size, his rolls upon rolls of fat barely covered by his saffron robes. The man was as wide as a park bench, and he looked even bigger than he might have been due to the two petite women who sat on the armrests of his throne.
He smiled and his jowls quivered, the big man licking his lips and motioning toward the food in front of him. Seated around the table were several other monks, all in matching robes and all with the same hairstyle that Lhandon rocked, business in front and party in the back via a ponytail.
Following Lhandon’s example, I bowed to Sukhbat and took a seat in front of him, Saruul on my left, Roger still on my shoulder. Lhandon settled in on my right, and as he did Roger hopped onto the table, where he found a small plate already arranged for him.
As we had experienced in Anand, there was an abundance of food before us, from seafood such as crab legs to roasts and stewed vegetables. It smelled absolutely wonderful, a hint of buttery spice and boiled fish in the air. The table had a smaller, circular table in its center, which allowed it to swivel, the food display directly in front of me.
Following Lhandon’s lead again, I quickly prepared a plate.
As the table turned it made a cranking sound, locking into place every time it stopped. By the end, all of us had filled our plates, the two women with Sukhbat busying themselves by feeding the girthy man.
I tried not to stare at them, focusing on eating my own food instead of gawking. It was hard not to want to watch one of the women climb up Sukhbat’s arm and shovel food into his mouth while the other waited with a napkin to clean his lips.
I was surprised Roger didn’t say anything about it, but the bird was on his best behavior for once, and I was happy about that.
We ate mostly in silence, and after one of the women brought a glass of coconut water to his lips, Sukhbat finally decided to speak.
“And you are enjoying your stay in the Island Kingdom?” he asked.
“It has been quite the experience,” I told him.
“Understatement of the year,” Roger said under his breath. The bird had mostly gone for the shrimp that was wrapped in bacon and garnished with something that reminded me of pico de gallo. He looked over to me; I gave him a nod reminding him to be a good bird.
“I have been to Lhasa and Paro,” Sukhbat said, “and I agree, going somewhere new can be eye-opening. I very much liked the city of Nagchu, and there were a few times I tried lotus. It wasn’t for me, but I do understand its appeal.”
“So lotus never made its way here?” I asked.
“It was starting to make its way here,” Sukhbat said with a grunt, “but Emperor Hugo put a stop to that. Anyone caught selling or smuggling the narcotic was put to death. It only took about a week of killing people for the general population to get the point.”
I heard Roger cluck. I could see Saruul bite her lips out of the corner of my eye, the snow lioness making her feelings known.
“It is a very hard substance to control,” Lhandon said, jumping into the conversation. “Which is why I believe many of the cities in Lhasa have decided to look the other way, aside from Bamda, which most certainly is a reason Madame Blanche was warring with Madame Mabel.”
“I personally believe it is better this way,” Sukhbat said as he shook his wrist out, his jewelry clinking together. One of his female attendants cleaned his face with a wet cloth. She kissed his cheek, and he waved her away. “The poison was turning people stupid, which was perhaps one reason Emperor Hugo found it easy to take control of the kingdom.”
A few of the monks furrowed their brows; one of them looked to the big man, his throat quivering for a moment before he glanced away.
Sukhbat laughed. “As you can see, the monks here are fearful of talking ill of Emperor Hugo. But not me. The entire city would revolt if he came after me. I’m not worried. This allows me to speak frankly about him, and frankly, I am disappointed in how Emperor Hugo has instructed his soldiers to kill their way across our kingdom. He is an Immortal, I recognize this, but with such a title comes the responsibility to promote and preserve life, not extinguish it. I have yet to have words with him about it, but it is something I do plan to do in the coming days.”
“We were told his power made him indestructible. Is this the case?”
“Not exactly,” he told me. “I was at the Moon Tournament, and I witnessed firsthand what he is able to do. Emperor Hugo is able to absorb more blows than a mortal man, but he still takes damage in doing so. While most won’t admit it, Emperor Minkoko almost bested him. But Emperor Hugo is a ruthless fighter, and he managed to kill the previous emperor in the end, slitting his throat with a knife so everyone could see. Now that he has access to the governmental treasury, he has outfitted himself in relics and other jewelry that allows him to heal, which has made him almost indestructible.”
“This is all good to know,” I told him. “Hugo is an old friend of mine and I plan to meet with him tomorrow.”
The big man laughed. “You and just about every other influential person in this kingdom.”
“Nick is an Immortal,” Lhandon reminded Sukhbat. “They’re from the same world. Surely he will be granted an audience.”
“Perhaps, but the items that Emperor Hugo wears will only add to his psychosis, which may thwart that meeting.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Lhandon tells me that you came from the monastery of the Golden Jewel in Anand, so you may have already seen how some react to y
our items.”
I nodded, recalling the boy floating in our room and staring down at us.
“The leader there is a reincarnated master, so while the Golden Jewel likely seemed a bit impulsive, he was controlling his ability as best a boy his age can. Emperor Hugo has no instinct for the self-control that a reincarnated master has developed over multiple rebirths. What I’m trying to say here is that he may have joined the tournament with purity in his heart, or he may have joined it simply because he was a competitive person who saw an opportunity to win. But what has become of this kingdom after? That is a direct result of being poisoned by his relics. I do not believe an Immortal would behave in such a way. Then again, Ganbold the Strong was quite ruthless.”
“So you think it is the relics that are making him do this?” I asked.
“I do, although some of my colleagues in this room would disagree with me,” he said, scanning his monks, all of whom kept their heads bowed. “So I wish you luck, but do not expect to get very far in meeting Emperor Hugo, and if you do make it through, be prepared to encounter a complete stranger.”
“Do you think a demon could have possessed him?” I asked.
“No, I do not.”
“Because we have seen that before, in Lhasa,” I explained. “Madame Mabel was possessed by a demon, and we ended up having to fight it.”
“No, I don’t believe that is the case, but I am not confident enough to say that I am never wrong. Perhaps one of the relics he wears is possessed by a spirit from the Underworld, that may be a possibility, but it isn’t a demon.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask about spirits from the Underworld,” I said. “We have been attacked by several now, and I am lucky enough to have a rune taught to me by my dakini that allows me to fight back against them. What is the difference between a spirit and a demon?”
“A spirit still has ties to the Underworld or the Overworld; a demon has completely left that realm and has pressed through the threshold of heaven or hell to take form and refuge here.”
“Is there anything that we can read that would help us better understand spirits from either world?” Lhandon asked. “I didn’t see anything in the library here, but I figured you would be the best person to ask.”
Sukhbat mulled this question over as one of his female consorts brought him a small dish with powdered balls of dough on it. She fed them to him one at a time, the big man grunting in satisfaction. Once he was finished, the other woman cleaned his lips and he spoke again: “I believe there is one book in the main monastery in Zol that may help you. It is a text called Conversations with a Hellspawn, which details going to the Underworld and returning to the middle plane.”
“Fascinating,” Lhandon said. “This gives us another thing to do in Zol while we search for the reincarnation of the Exonerated One.”
“Do you think it would have anything in there about doubles?” I asked.
“Doubles?” Sukhbat chewed on this suggestion for a moment. “I don’t believe that book would have any information on it, and I know for certain that there is nothing here in our library that may help you. Were you having an issue with doubles?”
I quickly explained to him how my double had reunited me with my companions in the Great Plateau, and how it had come to Lhandon and me while we were jailed and had fetched help.
“A double only exists if you have died,” he said after I finished. “You are clearly alive, so I do not believe that it was a double.”
“Then what?” Roger asked.
Sukhbat looked to the tropical bird. “Did you see it as well?”
“I did, too,” Saruul said.
The big man took a deep breath, sighing audibly. “When I visited Lhasa, I spent some time at the Blackened Sky Temple in Bamda, where I studied a treaty on doubles and their interaction with our plane of existence. There are many fascinating stories about them, but none of these stories involve a person actually seeing their own double. It is always someone else who sees it, someone else who is guided from a deadly situation, or someone else who was greeted by a dead family member one last time. So I don’t believe it is a double that you all witnessed because you are still alive, and you yourself saw it.”
“Then what?”
Sukhbat licked his lips. “That I do not have an answer to, unfortunately. But the Exalted One mentioned that your ability has something to do with the manipulation of time. Perhaps it is related to that.”
Chapter Twelve: Turn Back Time
“I still don’t think it is a good idea for you to go alone,” Lhandon said as he took his place before me in the courtyard. It was the next morning, and we had already eaten breakfast, Lhandon wanting to test what would happen if I used the new rune he’d taught me while my ability was activated. Saruul and Roger were there as well, both standing off to the side.
“Then Roger can come with me, but not you two,” I said. “Just in case something happens to me, at least you both will be safe.”
“I don’t want to be safe,” Saruul protested. “I want to be with you.”
“It’s better this way. If Roger comes, he can escape quickly and return here to let you both know that something has happened to me. I don’t believe anything’s going to happen to me. While I understand that Hugo has changed, and that he has started to do terrible things, he really is one of my oldest friends. I expect this meeting to be cordial.”
“Well, I expected to meet a beautiful tropical bird here in Ganbold and already be well on our way to popping out a pair of twins by this point.”
“I thought birds could have more than two babies,” Saruul said to Roger. “I mean, when you lay eggs.”
“First, I don’t lay eggs. They should have taught you that in lion school. Second, my species usually only lays one or two eggs. We are a little rare, if I do say so myself. Not like the inbred seagulls you saw down by the shore. Also, how did we get onto the discussion of bird reproduction? Because if that’s what we want to talk about, I have a lot of things to say about it.”
“That would be your fault,” I told Roger. “You are the one that brought up having twins.”
“What’s he saying? Does he agree with us that you shouldn’t go to meet Emperor Hugo alone?” Lhandon asked.
“Sort of.”
“I think it’s risky, Nick. We have made it this far, and only reunited yesterday.”
“I’m aware. But I don’t want anything to happen to either of you. I have agreed for Roger to come; that makes sense to me because he can escape quickly.”
“I just don’t know…” Lhandon said as he shook his head.
“I don’t like this either,” Saruul added.
“Well, I like it,” Roger said. “Let’s see if Hugo’s fucking henchmen can catch me. Point me to the closest window and I am gone like a fart in a hurricane.”
“All right,” Lhandon said, rubbing his hands together. “Since you aren’t going to agree to let us come with you to the Emperor’s Palace, I suppose we should move on. Let’s see what happens when you cast Ra-Mu after you have activated your power.”
He stepped aside and placed both hands behind his back, giving me a firm nod.
I steadied my breath, the switch starting to take shape in my mind’s eye.
I triggered it, and as soon as it activated I traced the rune, starting with the section that was like the letter Z and ending in the bottom half that resembled a treble clef. I finished it off with a line on top and a circle above the line.
“All right,” Lhandon said, rubbing his hands together. “Since you aren’t going to agree to let us come with you to the Emperor’s Palace, I suppose we should move on. Let’s see what happens when you cast Ra-Mu after you have activated your power.”
“What?” I asked, looking to him with confusion.
“The rune, Nick. That’s why we are out here. I thought you already understood this.”
“But I just activated it...”
“Did you activate your power? Shouldn’t I be frozen
if that were the case?” Lhandon looked to Saruul.
“What are you talking about, Nick?” Roger asked.
“Okay…” I visualized the switch again and mentally reached out to activate it. As soon as I did I traced the rune.
“All right,” Lhandon said, rubbing his hands together. “Since you aren’t going to agree to let us come with you to the Emperor’s Palace, I suppose we should move on. Let’s see what happens when you cast Ra-Mu after you have activated your power.”
I gave him a funny look. “Dude, I just did.”
“Am I a dude now?” he asked, looking to me curiously. “If so, I am honored. I have only heard you call Bobby that word. It is an honorary title, is it not?”
“No, I activated my power and I cast the rune. You have now said the same thing three times in a row. Also, ‘dude’ is not an honorary title.”
“What do you mean?” Lhandon asked.
“Did someone slip some chung into their morning tea?” Roger asked. “I’m all about day drinking, but morning drinking… That means you have a problem, Nick.”
I thought for a moment about how I could prove to them that something was happening, time was reversing itself.
No, that was impossible…
“Let me try again,” I said.
“Again?” Saruul asked.
“Never mind.”
I visualized the switch and traced the rune once my power activated.
“All right,” Lhandon said, rubbing his hands together. “Since you aren’t going to agree to let us come with you to the Emperor’s Palace, I suppose we should move on. Let’s see what happens when you cast Ra-Mu after you have activated your power.”
“It reverses time,” I said, nodding with excitement. “Lhandon, casting the rune while my power is activated reverses time.”
“Have you already done it?” he asked, an eyebrow raising.
“I have done it four times now. And every time I do it, you say the same thing. You know what? I’ll prove it to you. Wait, you don’t read my language. I can’t prove it that way. Okay, here’s what we will do: I want you to write your name down on a piece of parchment. I want you to write: ‘Nick is reversing time. He asked you to write this after using his ability four times. It is evident that he has reversed time yet again.’ Or something like that.”
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