by L P PATERSON
My mind returned to the image of the Buttolph gate and instantly my body turned to the right to enter another tunnel. I continued moving forward not knowing where I was going but trusting that my body instinctively knew the correct direction. After what seemed to be a whole hour and many turns down several tunnels, I saw an arched doorway secured with wooden double doors come into view. The Buttolph gate. Finally.
As I reached the gate, I extended my hand out to turn the large handle on the wooden door. I was heady with relief that I would soon be back on the outside of the Gates. I did not like this place. As my hand connected with the metal a painful jolt of energy lanced into me and I flew backwards. I felt heat flush through my body as my teeth ground together. The vein in my temple pounded as anger ripped through me. How many more times was I going to land on my arse in this place? My whole body was aching.
I jutted my chin forward, raised it high as other travellers slowed down to watch me. Among them a tall and strikingly beautiful woman. At first glance I thought it was War, but I realised that her hair was different. This woman wore her’s short and it framed her face to perfection. Her skin was also very slightly lighter than War, but the brown velvety smoothness was the same. She was tall and regal, and her dark eyes watched me with interest. I got up. I was not impressed. My arse was sore.
I turned to try the handle again and saw a small dark-haired man standing in front of the gate. Where had he come from? He leaned on a wooden stick which was twice his height and around his narrow waist was tied a cord which held an uncountable number of keys. There were keys of all sizes and types of metal. I wondered how his small frame remained upright with all the weight it carried. He looked up at me and grinned. The Gatekeeper. He needed no introduction.
"You entered without coin." he stated. It was not a question but yet I still struggled to try and find an answer for him. Agatha did not mention anything about payment to use the Gates. I knew that coin was important in this world and I did not have any. What now?
"I don't have any coin." I said. His grin grew wider and his small dark eyes gleamed. I wondered what other form of payment he had in mind.
"Well you have to pay to use the Gates. Either on entry or on exit. You can't pass for free." He shifted his weight to the other foot and the keys jingled loudly as they danced on the cord.
"Well maybe I paid on entry." I said.
"Maybe? Maybe? You don't know if you paid?" he asked as he leaned towards me encroaching on my space. I pulled back slightly and I shrugged my shoulders, hoping that he would not question me further. "I know everything that takes place within my Gates young lady and I know that you entered the Cripple gate without paying and you will not exit until you do."
Suddenly he was very serious. I dug into my jeans pocket and rummaged around knowing full well that I had nothing in them. The Gatekeeper leaned forward on his toes peering hard at my pockets. His tongue darted out and licked at his lips as his hand stretched forward with an open palm eagerly awaiting the coin. I pulled my hand out and opened it. His eyes quickly lit up and just as quickly grew dark when he saw my empty palm.
"You will not exit the Gates." he said, his face twisted with anger.
"What if I told you that a Horseman is waiting for me?" I knew it was a lie but a little name dropping was all that I had. I needed to leave.
He chuckled and shook his head from side to side. Still laughing he leaned harder on his stick. "A Horseman is waiting on you eh? And I wonder, which Horseman might that be?" he looked at me and sighed heavily.
"The Horseman War." I said while nodding my head.
"The Lady War is waiting for you?" he asked. "I don't believe you."
"Well I find it hard to believe myself. But she is. I wouldn't lie." I said. A soft laugh came from the small crowd now gathered around me and the Gatekeeper. I saw the same beautiful woman smiling and shaking her head from side to side.
"You will pay or you will not leave." The Gatekeeper ground out slowly.
"Gatekeeper. Let her through." a voice said. I turned to the voice and saw the woman still smiling.
"But… But." The Gatekeeper stuttered.
"I will pay her coin. She is important to all of us. Let her through." she said.
The Gatekeeper curled his lips back and his eyes shone with anger. He had lost out on his coin. I turned to look at the woman who was now standing mere inches away and looking down at me. My throat closed tight as I struggled to find words. Then suddenly I felt a heavy thud as the Gatekeeper’s stick landed on the back of my legs and I fell forward to the ground on my knees.
"Kneel before the Goddess Oshun!" said the Gatekeeper.
She leaned over me and I felt warm hands lift my chin. I was looking into the face of a Goddess and I was terrified. I prayed that she was not like Gabrielle. Then I remembered. War had talked of Oshun, and Rogier had almost thrown me out of the bar when I had mentioned her name. What did she mean to them?
She laughed again and with a cocked brow tilted her head slightly. Had she heard my thoughts? Oshun smiled and released my chin.
"Now then," she said "let's get you to where you need to be." and she snapped her fingers.
CHAPTER 23
My head ached and my mouth felt a bit fuzzy. I slowly opened my eyes and saw two wide spaced brown eyes fixed in yellow skin looking down on me.
"Hi Audrey. Where have you been?" Sue asked.
"Yeah Audrey. Where have you been?" asked Myra.
"Sue got back ages ago." said Lyra "And that guy." she said as her eyes practically rolled back in her head as she gushed "He got here a good five minutes ago."
"So where you been Audrey?" Sue asked again.
Five minutes? I must have spent at least an hour trapped in the Gates with Agatha and Agnes, then another half hour navigating through it to try to escape the Gatekeeper and return to Cymon.
"What do you mean five minutes?" I asked. "The Time Master left ages ago." I said as I pulled myself up from the floor.
"Ooooh." whispered Ayra.
"Yeah..." whispered Tyra.
"Time Master. So that's who he is." said Kyra. This was followed by a round of whispered 'Time Master' as they gushed and giggled.
"What do you mean five minutes?" I asked again "And, where is he?"
"He made a bubble." said Lyra
"Only a minute ago." said Kyra.
"Yeah." said Myra "Da's in with him."
My head hurt even more and I raised my hand to rub on my aching temples.
"Cymon's in there too." said Ayra.
"And our healer." said Tyra.
"Are you alright Audrey?" asked Sue. Her wide brown eyes looked at me intently. "You don't look too good."
I didn't feel too good either. My head ached and the prattling maidens were making it worse. How had the Time Master only just arrived? I had spent a long time within the Gates. It didn't make sense.
I heard a ripping noise. It sounded like a piece of cloth being torn and I saw a small foot step into the centre of the room. Almost as if someone was stepping through from thin air. The foot was followed by an arm and torso and I saw the Time Master step through. He was a child this time. The child grinned expectantly at all of us and then only receiving surprised looks from the maidens began skipping around the room singing a children's rhyme.
The healer came through next and then the River Lord. I felt myself swallow as my hand crept up to rub the back of my neck. I then started rocking slightly. Where the hell was Cymon? My eyes darted between the Time Master, the River Lord and the healer. And still no Cymon.
"Where is he?” asked Myra.
"Yeah. Where is he?" echoed Tyra, as they both looked at each other.
They must have been as worried as I was as they started to look around also. Lyra took a step forward towards the split in the air. "He should have come through by now." she said.
"Yeah. he should of." said Kyra.
"Well maybe he's still fixing Cymon." said Ayra. The other maidens nod
ded quickly in agreement and I bit down hard on the inside of my cheeks to keep myself from screaming. Only a few hours earlier they had been cooing and gushing over Cymon and now they had instantly switched to the Time Master. What was wrong with them?
I then saw a pale hand appear through the split and then Cymon appeared. I almost ran to him. Almost. I felt the back of my throat tighten up and I quickly passed my hand across my face. I was relieved. Cymon was okay. I didn't have to do this on my own anymore and we could continue our search together. He looked to be fully healed as if he had had weeks of rest and recovery. He stepped through the split and then it immediately sealed up. The room was whole again. Myra gave a little yelp and Tyra gasped. Lyra leaned forward with her hand on her chest desperately hoping for the split to open again.
"Where is he?" asked Ayra.
I didn't have the heart to tell her that the child was the Time Master. Well. I did. But I wanted them to find out on their own.
"Where is who?" asked the River Lord, as he turned to his daughters. The maidens were intently watching the space in the air in which the split had been and everyone followed them expecting something to appear.
"The Time Master." said Myra.
"Where do you expect me to be?" said a crackly voice from behind us. Oh lord. My shoulders slumped as I turned to look at the Time Master. The old man stood in a corner of the room. His clothes were dark and filthy as they had been earlier, his hair and skin still looked unwashed and the hacking cough was still present. The maidens all slowly turned their heads to look at the old man and I tipped my head back to look up at the ceiling as a wide grin spread across my face.
Lyra shook her head vigorously as she wrinkled her nose and Ayra drew back as her lips curled. The other maidens looked at the Time Master with wide eyes and then Sue asked what they all needed confirming. "Are you the Time Master?"
I saw the old man's eyes dull as he looked at them. I knew that he saw the disgust on their faces. The shock that they must be feeling. A heavy sigh left the Time Master and he looked down to stare at his feet. He looked up again, a pained look on his face and he placed his hand on his chest and opened his mouth to speak. But nothing came out. There was no sparkle in his eyes. He shook his head and looked down again.
"Of course he's the Time Master." I stated. "Who do you think he is?"
"Well he doesn't look like the Time Master; he just looks like an old man to me." said Ayra. The maidens all nodded in agreement as they turned to look at me for an explanation.
"Well he isn't just an old man." I said. "Who do you think the kid was? And the other guy? They are all time. Future, Present, and Past. They are all the Time Master. Don't you think that you should offer some respect to someone who can see all of time?" My voice was rising and I tried to control my anger by closing and opening my hand. "You should just show a little respect." I mumbled, "That's all." I finished.
I didn't know why I was defending the Time Master. I couldn't stand him. The present was obnoxious and arrogant, the past was annoying, rude and cynical, and the future was just too happy and bright and irritating. But the Time Master had helped me more than once and that needed to be acknowledged.
I turned to look at the old man and saw the young man staring at me with his lips curled in disgust. Great. I guess I wouldn't be getting a 'thank you'. I turned to look at the maidens. They all stared at the Time Master but none of them said anything.
I felt a hand land on my shoulder and a chill passed through me sending a wave of cold into my body. I shrugged my shoulders and turned to see Cymon standing behind me.
"Thank you, Audrey. They have told me what you did." he said. "It couldn't have been easy confronting War and going to see Rogier on your own."
He really had no idea. "That was the easy part." I said. "What was hard was getting sent into the Gates, meeting Agatha and then trying to escape the Gatekeeper."
"Did you say you met Agatha?" asked the Time Master.
"Yes. She is trapped inside the Gates. And she has a daughter."
The Time Master's eyes grew wide and his mouth fell open as he walked towards me. I took a step back. "You saw your great grandmother within the Gates?" he asked.
"Well actually she is my five times great grandmother, and... she has a daughter in there with her, Agnes, who I guess is my something great aunt-"
"LOCI!" barked the Time Master and I jumped in shock.
"Yes." I said. As I looked around at all the eyes staring at me. "I saw Agatha inside the Gates."
"This is not good." said the Time Master, "This is not good at all."
I blinked. I had no idea what the Time Master was talking about. Everything was good enough for me. I had met two other Loci's and best of all I had escaped the Gates and the shadow wraiths. In my mind... everything was great.
"What did they do Loci?" the Time Master was a little child again. The River Maidens gasped. He stood a few feet in front of me. His grey eyes shone as they looked straight into mine. For the first time I noticed he was not playful. It scared me to see him so serious. "Agatha and her daughter, what did they do?"
"What do you mean?" I asked. "They helped me get through the Gates."
"How did they help you Loci?" he asked. A frown appeared on his little face and he leaned forward slightly as if to be certain that he heard what I was about to say.
"They used their powers to help me escape the shadow wraiths. Both of them did."
"It's happening then." the Time Master said. He walked slowly across the room and then back again. Shaking his small head as he went.
"What is it Time Master?" asked the River Lord. "What is happening?" We all wanted to know but somehow it seemed strange that we were waiting on information from a child. So I didn't ask. The Time Master continued to pace.
"It is something that I have seen." The Time Master replied. His little chest rose and fell as a sigh escaped him. "There cannot be more than one Loci."
"But surely Audrey cannot be the only Loci. She cannot locate everything alone." said Cymon.
I kept quiet. I just needed to find one scythe, and then I was going home.
"Of course she is not the only Loci." said the old man as he narrowed his eyes at Cymon. "But there can only be one from the same line and only one in the land. I should have known when we found Agatha to be the last. A Loci is born, and lives to locate artefacts and then dies." I flinched as he described the path that was intended for me. "When a Loci dies, the next birth in the line, usually a grand-daughter or great grand- daughter, will inherit the gene and the powers."
The Time Master morphed into the figure of the young man again. The river maidens cooed and ahhed and the River Lord banished them from the room.
"Da why do we have to go?" asked Lyra.
"Yeah Da...?" said Myra
"Can we stay Da? asked Ayra.
"Please..." pleaded Kyra.
And Sue had somehow managed to position herself next to the Time Master. None of them seemed to remember the old man with the hacking cough.
"Leave! Now!" barked the River Lord. The maidens shuffled out of the room. Angry eyes glared at me as each one passed. Sue offered a giggle and a little wave as she walked past me and closed the door. The river maidens were gone.
The Time Master continued. "There should have been a birth long before you Loci. But there wasn't because Agatha is still alive. And now you tell me that she has a daughter who also has powers. That means there are three Loci's in the same line." he sighed heavily again. "The balance is being affected."
Cymon and the River Lord looked at each other. I was still watching the Time Master. Who really cared how many Loci's there were? I could go back to normal life if there were two others to find artefacts. They didn't need me. This was great.
"So how come I was born?" I asked.
"I don't know." he answered. "I have not seen it." Cymon and the River Lord exchanged glances. "I must inform the Horsemen." said the Time Master. The mention of Horsemen focused my fu
ll attention on the Time Master again. "They have to know."
"They are Horsemen." I said, "They know everything. War told me."
The Time Master with his usual sneer looked at me and said, "The Horsemen are very very powerful. But they are not omnipotent. They do not know what I have seen." He started pacing the room again. "A missing scythe and now this. We must protect the balance."
Cymon had mentioned something about his missing scythe and balance and how it could bring about the doom of the world. I just wanted to go home.
CHAPTER 24
The Time Master was gone. He had created another rip in the air and had stepped through. I assume back to his sphere at Bertran’s Bar or to the Horsemen.
"What now Audrey?" Cymon asked me. If I told him that I didn't know then what was the point of everything that I had done so far. I knew that we had to find the scythe, and I knew that it was last seen with Nero.
"Well. Let’s see." I said. "What I do know is that the scythe was last seen with Nero, near the Knights Bridge. Mother Annie said that he was probably using the Gates."
"Yes, she did say that." Sue added. "I remember her saying it. Really I do."
Sue had returned to the room alone after the Time Master had left. The other maidens had seen no need to be present if the Time Master was no longer there.
"But he didn't have it at the river bank." I continued. I saw Cymon's face pinch as he remembered the arrow that he received at the river bank and I quickly hurried on. “So, he must have left it somewhere or with someone."
