Lilith’s stomach churned, her skin prickled. She balled her fists as tight as she could and stamped her foot. “You…you coward! Why would you use your cobra against my father? He’s done nothing to you! He could be dead because of you!”
Mica held up his hands. “All will be well, I assure you, Lilith. I sacrifice much so that Atlantis will thrive.”
“And now Tau’s about to be sacrificed! Y-You’re nothing but a backstabbing, poisonous serqet!” Lilith seethed.
“Hey, you just pronounced serqet properly,” She-Aba said.
“Yes,” Tau said, nodding. “Lilith’s not an Atcha anymore, she’s one of us.”
Tears welled in Lilith’s eyes. “I’d…I’d rather be from the Black Land than from Atlantis. There’s too much darkness here.”
“Lilith, you must understand.” Mica walked closer to her. “If I fix things, then maybe we could be more than just friends…someday.”
“F-Fix things?” Lilith roughly wiped her eyes. “You can’t fix things! Our history is written, our history is done! To do so would go against the law of circular motion!”
Mica shrugged. “Laws can change.”
“Not sacred laws, Mica,” Shu-Tu spoke up. “Those laws separate cosmos from chaos.”
“I…I trusted you! You were my friend!” Tau yelled, lunging at Mica. One of Belial’s soldiers reached out and grabbed Tau by the throat. The soldier raised him off the ground. Tau’s legs flailed like a fish on a hook.
“Enough of this childish banter!” Belial roared. “Take this insignificant bug to the second tier, now!”
A sudden rumble shook the compound. Statues teetered, then stilled. “You anger Poseidon, Belial,” Shu-Tu warned, pointing at him. “You go against one of the most important of the sacred laws. Nothing must be done to harm the children, for eternal life comes through the children.”
Belial’s face darkened. “These sacred laws need rewriting, Shu-Tu. They are outdated and of no use to me.” He turned to Bus-Lu. “Escort the seers to the second tier so they can witness firsthand what I think about not harming the children!”
“No, wait!” Mica yelled. “This…this wasn’t supposed to happen. Istulo promised me—”
“Istulo?” Lilith cut in. “What does she have to do with this?”
“Istulo assigned this important task to me,” Mica replied, raking his hair.
“But, Istulo told us you wanted revenge and would do whatever it took to change your future,” Lilith said.
Mica’s face hardened. “No. That wasn’t her plan.”
“You mean this was all planned by Istulo?” She-Aba asked, rocking back and forth on her feet, as if her shoes were suddenly uncomfortable. “You being here? Us being here?”
“Only me,” Mica replied, shaking his head. “I was to deliver the satchel to a high priestess Istulo had once revered named Zurumu in the Temple of Poseidon and then return home through the seventh Arch of Atlantis. That’s why I took the crystal trident. Istulo promised me a different life if I accepted this task. My parents would survive. I wouldn’t be alone.”
“Y-You w-were n-n-never a-a-alone, m-monkey-b-butt!” Tau seethed, holding onto the undead soldier’s hand, while dangling in mid-air. “I-I w-was y-your fr-friend! M-My f-f-family w-was y-your f-f-family!”
Lilith clasped her hands together. “So what’s in the satchel that you think is more important than my father’s or Tau’s life?”
Mica stared at the polished tile floor. “A book. Istulo calls it the Book of Mysteries. She says it is the knowledge of all that is.”
She-Aba gasped. “But…but I thought the Book of Mysteries was just a rumor floating around the temples and market places. Most of the high-ranking officials say that too much power exists in that book, and no one should possess it.”
“Do you know what you’ve done, Mica?” Lilith asked, shaking her head. “You’ve changed everything! You’ve disrupted the natural laws by bringing imbalance here! I…I hate you!”
“How touching,” Belial said sneering. “However, we have a sacrifice to get to.”
“No, take me instead,” Mica said, standing in front of the undead soldier holding Tau. “I submit myself.”
Another tremor shook the ground. Belial looked up past the open compound and into the sky. Lilith gazed up too. Behind the Temple of Poseidon loomed Mount Atlas, the active volcano providing both creation and destruction throughout Atlantis’s history. Dark plumes of smoke billowed from its open mouth, followed by sickly green gases.
Belial nodded. “Very well. You’ll go first. The mouthy one will go second.”
“That wasn’t the bargain!” Mica balled his fists. “Take me and let him go!”
Belial twisted to face Mica. His glimmering black robe spiraled around his thin legs. “I. Don’t. Bargain. Captains of Atlantis, bring the children to the second tier. The volcano gods will have atonement! And I will have peace!”
Zurumu started to back away, her hand covering the satchel. Belial twirled and grabbed her wrist. “Not so fast, you have an obligation to fulfill.”
“I…I was going to prepare for my marriage vows,” Zurumu replied.
Belial waved his hand. “You look beautiful as you are. What you’re wearing will do.” Then he sneered. “Besides, the groom won’t be able to see what you are wearing anyway.”
Zurumu curtly nodded. “If that is your wish, Belial.”
“I have another.” Belial let go of her wrist and held out his hand. Orichalcum rings with dark crystals adorned his fingers. “Give me the Book of Mysteries.”
She raised her dimpled chin. “It…it was given to me, as a gift.”
Lilith unclasped her hands. Her nostrils flared. The burning incense was dissipating enough for her to catch a whiff of Zurumu’s strong perfume. It was overpowering to the point of sickening. Zurumu gripped the strap on the satchel so tight her knuckles turned white. Cautiously, Zurumu stepped back, opened the satchel, and pulled out a pressed papyrus book as thick as Lilith’s stacked fists, bound with coiled strips of orichalcum. The front cover glittered with gems and stones and pearls. The title was written in Atlantean geometric symbols from ancient times.
Suddenly, a strong wind picked up, blowing the potted plants around. A rumble lasting only a breath escaped from the earth. A line of thick white smoke snaked into the tiled compound, dispersing like fingers. Lilith looked down as the smoke blanketed her feet, giving a feeling of protection. Then the smoke swirled around her legs, going up and around her body. Lilith’s nose wrinkled. The smoke smelled surprisingly fresh, like it had a life, a spirit. And it seemed more animated than Belial’s necromantic soldiers.
“What’s the meaning of this?” Belial growled, glaring at the ground around him.
“Smoke from the ferry you commanded to be set on fire,” Shu-Tu said. Then she smiled. “It is white. An auspicious sign.”
As the smoke spiraled up Lilith’s body, a sense of calmness vanquished her foreboding feelings. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and welcomed this new presence into her mind. Lilith, use the power of all things, dance the dance of spirals. Startled, Lilith opened her eyes. “Etan?” she muttered.
Ajax-ol jerked. “Etan?” He stood, rubbing the back of his head. “B-But that’s impossible. He died…in my arms.”
“Nothing is impossible, Ajax-ol,” Rhea said, standing in a spiral of smoke. “Etan whispers from behind the veil.”
“He whispered to you too?” Lilith asked. “What did he say?”
Rhea smiled. “Sing. He wants me to sing.”
“Then you shouldn’t disappoint him,” Lilith said, grinning.
Lilith started swaying and moving the moment Rhea’s enchanting voice resounded. The pitch, intensity, and timbre of her voice pierced through Lilith’s skin and pulsed throughout
her body at an alarming rate. As the tempo changed up, so did Lilith’s actions. Joyous, blissful energy flooded her insides. Lilith imagined being in the center of a spiral, as she moved in and out, holding out her arms wide, then pulling them in, like a flower blooming one moment, then closing its petals the next. The white smoke imitated her actions swirling around her, then moving outward to She-Aba, then Tau, then Mica, and returning to her. Power in, power out, power in, power out, she thought. This feeling was delicious to her, and with each rotation she gained more awareness.
The undead soldier holding Tau shuddered and dropped him. Cringing in distress, all of Belial’s soldiers covered their ears and dropped to their knees. The snakes bound on their arms hissed and slithered back and forth, attacking the air and then themselves. The soldier’s leathery skin rippled and rolled like waves in a storm in response to the musical tones until their bodies started breaking apart like land during the throes of an earthquake. Flies and gnats spewed out their mouths, noses, and ears, until all the soldiers transformed into a pile of dust on the tiles.
“Sons of Belial!” Belial screeched. “I command you to kill the singer and the dancer!”
Armed Black Priests charged from both sides of the temple, storming the compound. Some had orichalcum spears while others had golden swords or bejeweled daggers. Lilith continued with her spiral dance, the smoke circling around her, in and out, in and out. She visualized herself as part of the sun, of the stars, and beyond, then returned here as part of the earth, of her body, and all of nature.
Suddenly, all the potted plants in the compound responded to the spiral energy Lilith was generating by swaying their huge leaves back and forth, tripping many of the priests, and slowing them down. Rhea continued singing, reaching heights in her voice such as Lilith had never heard before. The gigantic crystal cluster in the middle of the temple’s compound started to gyrate and vibrate to Rhea’s unique pitch. In that moment, Rhea opened her arms wide, took a deep breath, and threw her head back. Lilith frowned. She didn’t hear anything.
The crystal cluster shattered, sending out shards toward the assaulting Black Priests. Screams ripped through the temple, many of the priests crumbled to the floor, blinded by the sharp pieces. Other priests were not so lucky with large crystals sticking out of their chests. A flying crystal fragment came close to hitting Lilith before it exploded into a light mist. Two crystal shards whizzed toward Tau and Mica, both shards evaporating within a few strides of the boys. She-Aba covered her head and ducked only to get sprinkled with a fine spray. Before Ajax-ol and Rhea were pelted by soaring sharp crystals, the shards vibrated and burst into a fine drizzle. Shu-Tu and the seers stood calmly while crystal pieces vaporized all around them. Even Belial, Bus-Lu, and Zurumu escaped the fate of the Black Priests as crystals dissolved in mid-air before reaching them. Lilith felt her body slowing down, her mind swimming in the flow, and her heart beating in a different, stronger way. Her face slick with sweat, she stumbled. Mica caught her before she fell. Their eyes locked, and he squeezed her arm gently.
The smoke dissipated, furling like newborn ferns as it changed to gauzy, then glassy, until the air was clear around them. Belial snarled. “What manner of magic is this?”
“Not magic, Belial,” Shu-Tu replied. “Power. Personal power.”
Rhea screamed, breaking the bond between Lilith and Mica. Bus-Lu laughed wickedly, Ajax-ol’s staff pressed into Rhea’s neck to silence her beautiful voice. He dragged Rhea toward the steps of the temple’s second tier, kicked away crystal pieces that littered his path, and maneuvered around the dead bodies of fallen priests. “Belial, you will have your sacrifice!”
“Nooo!” Ajax-ol yelled, picking up an orichalcum spear next to a pile of dust. He raced after Bus-Lu.
Zurumu laughed. “I told you not to trust Lilith, Belial. But you didn’t listen. You never listen to your most loyal followers.” She cracked open the Book of Mysteries. “And now, it’s time that you listen to me.”
“I don’t like the way this is going,” She-Aba muttered.
Tau nodded. “For once we’re in agreement.”
Belial glared at the red-headed high priestess. “You dare to defy me, Zurumu?”
“It’s time for a change of command, Belial,” she said with an air of confidence. “And I nominate myself.”
Zurumu dipped into the satchel and pulled out a ceramic vial. She tore off the wax seal with her teeth and drank what was in it in one gulp. Pitching the vial at Belial’s feet, she smirked, gazed down into the book Mica had delivered to her, and began to recite from it.
“What kind of language is that?” She-Aba asked, backing away to stand next to Lilith and Mica.
“I…I don’t know, I’ve never heard that dialect before,” Lilith said. “Can’t you or Tau understand what she’s saying through your Babel necklaces?”
“I can’t,” Tau said, shrugging. “It sounds like she’s talking with a mouthful of long yellow fruit to me.”
“It is the language of the shadows,” Shu-Tu said. “It is forbidden to speak it.”
Lilith swallowed hard and looked over her shoulder. Bus-Lu had managed to drag Rhea up to the first marble stair. Ajax-ol chased after them, screaming Atlantean obscenities at Bus-Lu. Lilith’s ears grew hot.
Zurumu stopped reciting. She closed the book and slipped it into the satchel. She raised her arms and clapped nine times while spinning around, moving against the sun’s direction instead of with it. Then Zurumu stopped and looked down at her feet. She frowned. Slowly, she placed her hands on her forehead, her nose, her lips, her chin, her throat, and her chest. Her breathing hastened, and her face flashed red.
Belial laughed. “Is that supposed to impress me?”
“Looks like she’s going through the same changes my mother is,” She-Aba whispered.
Zurumu glared at Mica. “He…he tricked me, Belial!” she seethed, pointing. “He made me turn against you!”
“I don’t see any dagger at your throat, Zurumu,” Belial replied, his lips curling up. “However, I do believe I smell the stench of betrayal.”
“That’s kind of like the jar calling the urn black,” Tau muttered.
She-Aba stifled a giggle the same moment a strong tremor shot through the ground and knocked them all off their feet. Statues rocked, potted plants rolled onto their sides, hanging flowers trembled, and crystal shards on the tiles amplified the sound of the earth’s displeasure. As Bus-Lu lugged Rhea up the marble stairs, the tremor intensified, splitting the staircase open. A wide slithering fissure tore through the second tier of the temple.
Bus-Lu swung Rhea around to shield himself from Ajax-ol. She flailed and kicked, trying to scream, but it was useless. Bus-Lu held Ajax-ol’s staff firmly across her throat, pulling it in tighter as Ajax-ol approached. Ajax-ol froze, tossed the spear aside, and put up his arms in stalemate. Bus-Lu cackled like a crow, as he pulled Rhea up to the next step.
“This must be it,” Lilith said, licking her dry bottom lip. “The beginning of the first major quake. It will come in three terrible earth shakes.”
“So did we do it?” She-Aba asked, looking around.
Mica frowned. “Do what?”
“Return the One who must banish evil,” Tau replied, standing and spreading his legs wide.
“What are you talking about?” Mica asked, jumping up to help Lilith and She-Aba to their feet.
“The Children of the Law of One gave us a task. A task that they scribed through Tau,” Lilith said, trying to seek balance with the shaking earth. “We were pulled into the Arch of Atlantis after you went through. We…we thought since you were never supposed to be here, you were the evil to be banished.”
Mica hung his head. “I…I can see why you would think that. I’m…I’m so sorry. I believed in Istulo.”
Tau clipped him across the back of the head
. “You should believe in yourself first! That’s what my parents always tell us!”
“Now that’s the smartest thing I’ve heard come out of your mouth, bug-boy,” She-Aba said with both arms out, trying to balance on her high heels.
Suddenly, screams of pain and horror were heard coming from outside of the temple. The earthquake’s intensity lessened enough to keep them from toppling over. Weakened decorated pieces of columns in the temple broke away and crashed onto the tiles. Shu-Tu managed to crawl over to Lilith and grabbed her foot. Her eyes were going back and forth at such a velocity Lilith had a hard time focusing on her face. Mica grasped the back of Shu-Tu’s elbows and gently pulled up the seer.
“Atlantis…portions of our land, breaking apart, sinking fast,” she said quickly. “I see this, I know this.”
Lilith gulped. “Soon, the southwestern part of Atlantis will be gone forever.”
Shu-Tu’s eyes crossed. “Belial’s kingdom grows smaller.”
“You mean my kingdom, ssseer!” Zurumu hissed.
Lilith’s eyes widened. Something sounded terribly wrong with the high priestess’s voice. Low, constricted, reptilian. Like the sound of a human-snake hybrid. A sudden shriek resounded from Zurumu. Her whole body vibrated and writhed across the floor. Her skin hardened, then blistered, then wept until it changed into a combination of green scales and sickly skin. Her legs rippled and entwined, transforming into a long, serpentine tail. Then Zurumu’s face elongated, her nose and eyes pulled away from her skull, and a cobra’s hood flared out the back of her head. Fangs grew from her open mouth, and a forked tongue flickered. Her arms shrunk to half their size, and without any shoulders, the satchel containing the Book of Mysteries slid off her arm, dropping to the trembling tiles. Lilith shuddered. The only thing that remained human was Zurumu’s thick, red hair.
Belial lunged for one of his disintegrated soldier’s orichalcum spears and held it up. “Kill the children and seers, and I will consider sharing my secrets with you, Zurumu.”
Legend of the Timekeepers Page 12
