Ascension

by C J M Naylor

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by C.J.M. Naylor

  The Timekeeper’s Daughter

  Within Darkness

  Ascension

  Ascension

  C.J.M. NAYLOR

  Copyright © 2020 by C.J.M. Naylor

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

  C.J.M. Naylor

  cjmnaylor@gmail.com

  Cover Design by Alexander von Ness

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Edition

  For all those that have inspired me to keep going. This one’s for you.

  And also for my dog, Scout, because I love her.

  PROLOGUE

  11, 700 Years Ago

  Waves crashed against the jagged rocks of the cliff. The sky was an orange, red color as the sun slowly crept beneath the horizon. Lucinda stood watching all of it, at the edge of the cliff, her favorite place to be. Her place to escape ever since her people had settled here. She enjoyed the breathtaking view, the breeze brushing against her cheeks, the peacefulness of it all.

  A hand touched her shoulder and she turned to find her mother had crept up behind her.

  "I didn't mean to scare you," she said.

  "You didn't," Lucinda said, turning back to look at the view. "Isn't it beautiful?"

  "Very much so."

  They were looking out at the Dingle Peninsula. They hadn't been there for very long, but Lucinda was glad that they had come. It was one of the more beautiful places that they had settled.

  She looked back at her mother. "I hope we are going to stay here."

  Her mother smiled and kissed her forehead. "I'm confident we will. Come back to the hut soon."

  Lucinda nodded and her mother walked away. She turned back to look at the view once more and something caught her eye down by the water. There was a woman she hadn't seen before. An old woman. She too was standing and looking out at the sea. Curiosity got the best of Lucinda and she found herself making her way down the cliffs. As she approached the woman, she saw she was holding a staff in one hand. She was barefoot and wore a robe that billowed around her in the wind.

  And she was looking directly at Lucinda.

  Closer up, the woman was even older than Lucinda first thought. Her skin was frail, almost as thin as paper. What was left of her hair blew in the wind and around her face.

  "Who are you?" Lucinda asked.

  The old woman smiled. "I am the Timekeeper." She gestured toward the side of the cliff. "Come."

  Slowly, the old woman began to move toward the side of the cliff and waved her staff in the air. An entrance appeared out of nowhere. Lucinda stood there, completely frozen. What was happening? How had this woman done this? The woman turned around and gestured again for Lucinda to follow her. Lucinda took a deep breath and obeyed.

  As soon as Lucinda and the old woman entered into the cliff, the entrance closed up. For a brief moment, she worried that the old woman was tricking her and that she would be trapped, but the worry went away. She felt safe with this woman. As soon as the cave went dark, fire lit in torches lined along the walls. Lucinda looked ahead of her and saw stairs that descended. She followed the old woman down.

  Lucinda noticed the markings along the walls as she walked. They were similar to markings that her people had made on walls of caves that they had stayed in at one point in time.

  The old woman led her deeper and deeper into the cave down to a circular room with archways where Lucinda noticed many more passageways leading off into different directions. She wondered where each of them went. In the middle of the circular room stood an altar.

  The old woman led Lucinda down one of the passageways, past the altar, and they descended further and further down until they were at the edge of a large body of water. It was almost like a small ocean inside the cave. The old woman, or the Timekeeper as she had called herself, fell to her knees, dropping her staff beside her. She gestured out toward the water.

  "This is Time," she said. "There has always been a Timekeeper. An individual that oversees the events of the world and records them so that Time can keep going. When Time began, there was a Timekeeper, and when Time ends, so shall there be a Timekeeper. But we cannot live forever. We must choose someone new to take our place. I have chosen you. You see, I foresaw it. And those that came before me saw the prophecy."

  "The prophecy?" Lucinda asked.

  The Timekeeper stood and led Lucinda over to a cave wall with the most markings of any of them. The woman touched the walls and began to move her fingers over each of the markings.

  "We must work to make sure that the prophecy is not fulfilled," the woman said. "It will be the end of everything as we know it. It is a dark prophecy. It states that one of our Timekeepers will be the bearer of this prophecy, bringing it to fruition. Therefore, when you choose your successor, you must be absolutely certain there is no darkness in them."

  The woman turned to look at Lucinda, reached up, and touched her cheek.

  "They call you Lucinda in the village," she said. "You are a child of the light. I trust you will make the best decisions. Will you accept this responsibility?"

  "Why me?" Lucinda asked.

  "Because you see the beauty in the world," the Timekeeper said. "I see you stand at those cliffs every day. You are meant to be the next Timekeeper."

  "What exactly does this prophecy state?"

  "It is a very detailed prophecy," the woman said, "but it starts with the Timekeeper turning against their duty and defiling the powers entrusted to them."

  "Defiling?" Lucinda asked.

  "Instead of taking sole responsibility," the Timekeeper said, "this Timekeeper is destined to start a society of Timekeepers that will bring about the end, slowly but surely."

  "But why?"

  "That I am not sure of," the Timekeeper said. "There is personal motivation involved I believe. Regardless, the end of the prophecy states that the Timekeeper will reproduce, creating Timekeeper children, and that in this line of descendants, twin girls will be born and brought into the darkness. And they'll rule the world."

  No one should have that much power. Lucinda felt it deep in her marrow. It was wrong.

  "Do you accept the responsibility then, child?"

  Lucinda looked back at the old woman. "Am I allowed to reproduce then?"

  The old woman nodded. "Yes. The powers that will be bestowed on you are external only. It also part of the prophecy that the Timekeeper will take on internal powers, and only when these powers are internal can they be passed on to a child born of them."

  Lucin
da nodded. "I accept then."

  The old woman nodded. "Very well. We shall begin your training. I only have a few more years left in me and then this will all be yours. Come."

  And so Lucinda started her training. Each day, she would wander off to the Timekeeper's cave. The woman had given her an object of her own that contained the external powers needed to get into the cave—a circular stone necklace that she wore around her neck.

  The years began to pass by and the old woman came closer to her death. One day, Lucinda and she were studying in the cave when Lucinda had a premonition about an invasion of the land that her people had settled. She saw the deaths of many of her people.

  "I must go to them."

  The old woman grabbed her by the wrist.

  "You must not stop death," the woman said. "It will upset the balance and cause the world to reset. An Ice Age."

  "I can't let my people die," Lucinda said. "And we could find a way to survive that."

  Lucinda shook her head. "If you do this, death will still find a way to take the ones you love in addition to upsetting the balance of nature and causing an Ice Age."

  "I can't let them die."

  Lucinda broke free from the woman's grip and ran to the village. Because her powers were external, she was able to show them the premonition of what was to come. As soon as she had, she could feel the upset of Time, but her people didn't. Instead they began shouting at her.

  "Sorcery!" they cried.

  And then they took her and her family and tied them up. Before anything else could be done, the invasion began and her family was killed anyway. She was able to escape back to the caves before anything happened to her.

  "They thought I was something evil," Lucinda said to the old woman, tears falling down her face.

  "Humans fear that which they don't understand," the old woman said. "You must not do that again. We now have to live through the Ice Age."

  "Can't we reverse it?" Lucinda asked.

  "Yes," the old woman said, "but it requires more than we can spare. It will be fine. We can live through it. But you mustn't do that again. Do you understand?"

  Lucinda nodded. And time passed once more.

  Eventually, Lucinda came out of the caves once more during the Ice Age and met a man. The two of them had a child together, and it was at that point Lucinda decided the man needed to be showed the truth.

  "I don't know how he will take all of this," Lucinda said to the Timekeeper, now bedridden and close to death.

  "I'm sure it will be fine," she said. "If you trust him, then do it."

  She did and she brought him and their child to the caves. But the reaction from the man was not the one she had expected. He didn't understand the powers she had been practicing and accused her of tainting their child.

  "I promise you," she begged of him, "this power is important for the sake of humanity."

  "No!" he shouted. "This isn't right. It isn't natural. I must put our child out of its misery."

  She chased him out of the caves and up the cliffs. He had taken her child and was carrying it with him.

  "What are you doing?" Lucinda shouted. "Please, don't."

  But it was too late. He held the child in his arms and jumped into the sea. The two of them were swept away.

  "No!" Lucinda shouted, falling to her knees in agony. Why was this happening? Why couldn't people understand? But she knew the answer to that. They couldn't understand because she was forced to stay in the darkness. Her name meant light. Surely that meant she needed to bring these powers into the light?

  Lucinda returned to the cave and looked over the prophecy markings on the wall. And then she went to the old Timekeeper's bed.

  "Come with me," Lucinda said, helping the old woman to her feet. She led the woman to the body of water.

  "What are we doing?" the woman asked.

  "The world won't understand," Lucinda answered. "Unless I show them."

  The woman turned to her, realizing what was happening.

  "No," she said.

  "You are close to death," Lucinda said, "and it says I need to sacrifice a Timekeeper to gain these internal powers. It's okay, this isn't a dark prophecy. It's meant to bring the truth into the light."

  "No," the woman said. "You are letting the death of your child blind your judgment. These powers, when they possess you, you will feel no love. You will feel nothing for anyone. You can't do this."

  "I have to show people the truth," Lucinda said. "I'm sorry."

  And she took out a dagger she had hidden in her robes and stabbed the old woman. The woman let out a groan and fell to the ground, dying. Lucinda dragged her into the water. And then she used the dagger to slice open her hand and let her own blood be mixed with Time. She felt the worst pain she had ever felt and screamed and screamed and screamed. It was as if her body was on fire. Burning, burning, burning. And then, nothing. Her pain, her sadness. It was gone. All of it was gone.

  And now it was time for her to watch the world burn.

  Part One

  Lies

  November 1944

  CHAPTER ONE

  I am not the girl I used to be. I'm not sure if I will ever be that girl again.

  Thomas, Alma, Oliver, and I arrived at an airport in Colorado Springs, and we were now in a car taking us up into the mountains. We were about an hour out from Cripple Creek where Thomas' father owned a home on the edge of the little town. Oliver and Alma were in the front seat, Oliver driving, and Thomas sat next to me. I didn't look at him though. My attention was drawn to the window. I watched as the scenery passed me by. It was the early light of morning; the plane ride had taken a good portion of the night and we had rested for it a bit in Colorado Springs before heading out. A year ago, I would have been thrilled, overjoyed even, to be in Colorado, to be seeing the mountains. But now it all felt meaningless.

  My grandmother, Lucinda, had accomplished yet another step in her plan. And while I had escaped, I knew that she would stop at nothing until she found me. I wasn't sure if the scarier part was that she was out there looking for me, or that it would foil her plans if I were actually dead. If I died, there would be nothing for her to accomplish. She needed me alive in order for her prophecy to come true. But at the same time, as Thomas had told me over and over again while on the plane, death would be meaningless. Sure, it would foil her plan, but the plan was already in place. What I needed to do now was to figure out how to turn this around. I needed to figure out how I could reverse time, to save all of the innocent people who had perished in San Francisco, as well as the innocent people yet to be lost.

  I knew there was a way. I was an original Timekeeper. And according to the rumors, only the original Timekeeping family had the ability to reverse time, to fix the mistakes. The only problem was that I had no idea where our Headquarters had been located. If only Elijah hadn't been—but I stopped myself from thinking it. It was no use. He couldn't help me anymore. I had to figure this out. I knew that my biological mother, Elisabeth Callaghan, was most likely alive. She was out there somewhere. Her brother and sister were both dead now, but she was out there. She had to be. And she would know how to fix this.

  I yawned. My eyelids were growing heavy. Even when we had stopped to rest, I hadn't slept. Now felt like the perfect opportunity. Before my eyes shut completely, I noticed a gray-brown bird, with a hint of orange, flying alongside the car. There was something familiar about it—something I knew I should have remembered but couldn't—and it was still on my mind as I nodded off to sleep.

  "We're here."

  As soon as Oliver spoke the words, my eyes popped open and I noticed that we were indeed there. I felt groggy from the nap.

  I looked out the window and saw that we were pulling up a hill and just ahead was the home of Thomas' father. It was a two-story home, neatly perched at the top of the hill and overlooking the small town.

  Oliver honked on the horn as he pulled the car to a stop. The door of the home opened and a man that was almost
the exact image of Thomas, but older, stepped through the frame. He waved at us and then came down to the car.

  Thomas reached across me and opened the car door, pushing it open.

  "After you," he said.

  I climbed out of the car and immediately wrapped my arms around myself. It was a bit chillier here, considering the altitude was higher.

  "Thomas," Thomas' father said, walking over to his son and wrapping his arms around him.

  The father and son held each other for a moment before breaking apart.

  "I received your message that you were coming," his father said, "and it seemed urgent."

  "It is," Thomas replied. "I apologize that I couldn't be more specific, but there wasn't much time to explain. Dad, you know Oliver, of course, and this is Alma, my latest trainee." Thomas gestured toward Alma and his father held out his hand and shook hers. Thomas then gestured to me. "And this is Abigail. She was also a recent trainee, but she had already been initiated. She's the one I've been writing to you about."

  She's the one I've been writing to you about.

  I guess I shouldn't have been surprised that he was writing about me. I had, after all, mentioned his name in a few letters to Mathias.

  Mathias. My heart almost stopped at the thought of him. He would have surely heard about what happened in San Francisco and have no way of knowing that I got out safely. Why hadn't I thought to send a message to him before we left our pocket watches behind? The thought hadn't even occurred to me because of everything that was going on.

  "Abigail?"

  I snapped out of my thoughts and looked over to Thomas.

  "This is my father," he said, giving me an odd look.

  "My apologies," I said smiling.

  Thomas' father held out his hand to me. "Henry Jane."

  I shook it. His grip was strong, and I could tell he was a confident man, but also likable. He had manners and was friendly.