Alec put his arms around her. “You saved my life, and you made it possible for me to be happy without having any powers. I’ll be in your debt forever. I’m sorry for any pain I ever caused you. Are you ready now?” he asked suddenly.
“Now, just like that we’re going?” she asked.
Alec focused inward, recreating the peculiar ingenaire circuits he had found he used in his previous time travel adventures. He thought about the time he wanted to go to, a time Aristotle had mentioned, a vague reference in old records to a short visit from a time ingenaire. Ari had said then that he wondered if it could be Alec hopping back to an older era. As it turned out, Ari was almost right. It would be Alec, but he would be coming forward from an even older time.
The energies suddenly reached through Alec, and began to decipher his intention. The air around the two clinging figures turned blue, and then the primitive site of Oyster Bay was once again free of humanity.
Chapter 36 – Battle With Ingenairii
Alec staggered as his legs adjusted to the new land, and he realized he was holding Jeswyne in a death-grip of a hug. He loosened the pressure with which he was crushing her. They were in a dark open space, surrounded by building, with few people walking about. “Are you okay, Jeswyne?” Alec asked, looking down at the top of her head.
She looked up at him. “I feel weak,” she answered, “but fine otherwise.”
People were looking at them, and a pair of guards from the nearby palace gates were starting towards them. Alec looked around, trying to get his bearings. To his right he saw lights in buildings on a hill, looking down over the city. “Let’s go this way,” he said urgently, as he released Jeswyne and grabbed her hand to pull her along. He was heading for Ingenairii Hill, and he didn’t want to try to explain a mysterious appearance or blue glowing light to anyone. There was no explanation he could give that would be believable, especially the truth!
“Hey, you there, stop!” one guard called as Alec dragged Jeswyne behind him. There were no crowds to hide in, and Alec decided to act quickly. He stopped and picked Jeswyne up in his arms.
“Alec, what are you doing? Not here in front of all these people!” she exclaimed.
Alec looked at her oddly, unsure what the comment implied, then used his warrior powers to run as fast as he possibly could away from the palace plaza, and through a bewildering maze of side streets. A minute later he carefully put Jeswyne back on her feet.
“Whew, that was invigorating! Not what I expected at all,” she commented as they began to walk.
“What did you think I was going to do?” Alec asked curiously.
Jeswyne paused. “Please don’t laugh. I was just confused by everything that happened. In Michian, a groom sweeps up his bride on his wedding night, and carries her away for the evening. For some reason, that’s the only thing I could think of.”
Alec grinned. “I’ll remember that,” he said. “Now let’s go find the head of the ingenairii.”
Minutes later they arrived at the gate of Ingenairii Hill, and were stopped by the guards.
“We’d like to see the head of the Ingenairii Council,” Alec said bluntly.
The guards look at his ragged clothes contemptuously. “He’s not available. Move along,” one of them said, placing his hand menacingly on the hilt of a sword.
Alec held out his arms, and slowly rolled them over to reveal the four ingenairii marks that he had. “One of these is a warrior’s mark, you’ll note, so don’t try to bully me,” Alec said in an even voice. “I’m sure the head ingenaire would like to talk to someone who has four marks, don’t you think so?”
The guards whispered hurriedly for a moment, then one of them ran off. “He’s going to go alert the council head. He should be back in just five minutes,” the remaining guard said hastily. “We didn’t mean to give offense. We just didn’t recognize you is all,” he apologized.
Alec accepted the apology, and five minutes later, a well-dressed large man came down the hill with the message-bearing guard.
“What’s this I hear about a multi-house ingenaire appearing out of nowhere with a pretty girl?” the man asked. “I see the part about the pretty girl is correct, at any rate,” he smiled at Jeswyne. “And you, you have the marks? May I see them?” he addressed Alec.
Alec silently held out his arms again for examination.
“What an unusual combination: healer and warrior, with spiritual added as well. I’ve never seen those together, not that we see many people with more than one ability,” he said as he looked closely at Alec’s arm.
He tapped the time ingenaire mark, the vivid blue hour glass. “But we’ll talk about that later. Tell me about this one,” he tapped the mark again. “I know all the marks, even the ones that don’t occur anymore, but I don’t know this one.”
“I’d like to discuss it in private, if we may,” Alec asked.
“Guards, let them pass. They’re my guests for this evening,” the man boomed in his deep voice. “Will you follow me?”
They walked silently up the trail to the house Alec had entered so many times before in his life, when Aristotle would come to govern.
“Alright, tall, young and mysterious, tell me about your unknown mark,” the master requested as they sat down in the office. “May I offer you something to drink?” he asked Jeswyne.
“My mark is the sign of a time ingenaire. I have some ability, which I don’t fully understand or control, to manipulate time,” Alec began. “In the past I have frozen time around a person, though for the most part I use my power to transport myself from one time to another.”
“You’re saying that you’ve come here today from another day somewhere in the past or the future?” the head ingenaire asked.
“Yes,” Alec agreed, and Jeswyne nodded her head.
“Which is it, the past or the future?” the man asked.
“Both,” Alec grinned.
He held up his hand to forestall any comment. “The Lady Jeswyne and I are from the future. While we were there, we had to escape a battle with demons. I used my power to travel as far in time away from the demons as possible, and the result was we took up residence in this land before mankind moved in, before Oyster Bay existed. Now we’re moving back to our own era, but I first carried us here for two reasons. I wanted to reduce the size of the jump I took, to reduce the expenditure of energy. And I also wanted to stop in another time where we are not known, so we could clothe and prepare ourselves for returning to our proper stations.”
“You do look a bit ragged, and I may help clothe you just for the sake of the entertainment your story provides, true or not,” the master answered.
“What is your name, by the way? I am Richard, formerly of the Stone House, but now head of the council,” the man told them.
“I am Alec, first a healer, later a warrior, and occasionally a spirit ingenaire,” Alec explained. “And this is the Lady Jeswyne, the niece of Emperor Mikhail of the Michian Empire.”
“I am intrigued, but I want to think on this,” Richard said.
“There is something you should know, another reason we came to your time,” Alec spoke. “The head of the council in my days was the first to figure out what this talent and mark represented. He researched, and said there was a very veiled reference to a short visit from a time ingenaire, but no details were preserved in the records.
“Ari told me he thought that possibly it was a case where I had traveled to your time.”
“So I should be circumspect in discussing your case and recording anything?” Richard inferred. “Why don’t we do this: you two can spend the night in the guest room here. Tomorrow I will have you tested in your other powers, to confirm those, and I will ponder how to confirm your unique power.” He rose, and led them upstairs to a clean, small room, picking up a bowl of fruit on the way, which he gave to them. “Will this be suitable?” he asked as they looked in the doorway at the single mattress and simple furniture.
Alec started to object,
but was cut off when he heard Jeswyne say, “Yes Richard, this will be perfect. Thank you.”
Alec sat on the bed as soon as the door was closed. “It’s a little cozy here, don’t you think? I didn’t expect you to jump in and okay the arrangements.”
Jeswyne looked at him with an enigmatic smile. “He clearly thought our relationship was close, and it seemed pointless to explain otherwise. Besides, I saw a mattress, and I thought I had died and gone to Paradise!” she laughed.
“I don’t remember what a mattress feels like, and I haven’t used soap in so long that I forgot how it works! Want to go find a bath?” she asked, her spirits high as she began to long to experience all that she had missed.
“We could go see if the Warrior House will let us use their bath. It was the best I ever experienced here on the Hill,” Alec answered, just as eager to feel physically clean.
They sprang up from the bed and left the building, jauntily climbing the paths to the top houses. “We’ll see how this goes,” Alec said as they stood at the threshold of the house that would someday be his home. Alec knocked, and a servant answered. “I apologize, but I’m a visiting warrior, staying with the head ingenaire tonight with, my wife,” he stumbled imperceptibly, “and we wondered if we might use your bath facilities to relax and clean up. There’re supposed to be the best.” He heard a slight rustle in the bushes nearby, but sensed no threat.
The servant looked at a loss for words. “Won’t you come in to the parlor?” he asked. “I’ll check with the head of the house.”
They sat in the parlor and waited for a few minutes, until there was a step in the hallway and two men stood in the doorway. “An unknown Warrior? I had to come meet such a prodigy,” said the man who stepped into the room first. “My name is Fresco, the head of the house,” he held out his hand to shake Alec’s but his eyes were busy examining Jeswyne.
“My name is Alec, and this is Jeswyne, my bride,” Alec replied, removing his hand from Fresco’s grip to place his arm around Jeswyne. “We wanted to take a proper bath and clean up,” he added. The man reminded him of Fallion, the head of the Warrior house in Alec’s own time, a power-hungry man who had plotted the coup that toppled the king. Alec wished with all his heart that they could leave the building at that moment.
“Why don’t you let Marshall show your bride to the bath, and I’ll take you to the training mats for a quick bout. We’re always eager to evaluate new talent,” Fresco said, as his companion extended his hand to take Jeswyne. Alec engaged his own powers and slapped the hand away from Jeswyne, then maneuvered himself in front of her. His Spiritual powers had detected the evil intent of the two men, and he decided to act preemptively.
“You know,” he said, watching the surprise on their faces. “We may be more tired than I realized. We’re going to go back to rest, and we’ll bathe in the morning.” He drew his sword and began to press Jeswyne towards the door.
“There’s no need for this,” Fresco said, as he drew his own sword, as did Marshall. “No one has to get hurt here, if you’ll just cooperate,” he gave a shrill whistle that startled Alec, and more footsteps advanced down the hall.
The situation was getting serious suddenly. Alec advanced, using his fullest powers, and disarmed Marshal with a feint and a quick redirection that sent his sword flying up in the air. Alec grabbed it and used it to slice across Marshall’s stomach, then turned his full attention to Fresco, advancing with both blades as the Warrior leader retreated. Fresco fought a determined defense, and Alec hesitated to do harm to the leader at a time when he had a need for assistance from the leaders on the Hill.
“Alec!” he heard Jeswyne scream from behind him, and he turned to see her arms pinned to her sides by two more armed Warrior ingenairii. He panicked at the sight of her dangerous predicament, and then he felt Fresco’s blade slide into his back, he moaned at the agonizing pain, and then he fell to the ground, incapacitated and mortally wounded.
“Fresco! What have you done?” he heard a voice shout as he lay on the ground with his eyes closed. Jeswyne was wailing. “You’ve gone too far! You can’t be murdering people like this,” the opposing voice shouted.
“Fresco looked like he’s lucky to be alive,” another voice spoke up. “I think the kid was going to chop his head off if the girl hadn’t distracted him.”
“I handled him, didn’t I?” Fresco spoke sullenly. “I was just playing for time until others got here.”
Alec began to slowly move his hand towards his back. The pain was horrific, and he could feel the blood flowing from the wound.
“The kid’s still alive,” someone said seeing Alec’s movement.
“Only for a little while,” Fresco said.
Focusing with his utmost effort, Alec drew forth a trickle of healing power, and began to repair the damage. He felt the pain lessening, and knew that he was succeeding, but how he was going to recover enough to protect Jeswyne was a difficult question.
Suddenly he heard the door in the hallway burst open, and shouts began, then swords started to clash vigorously. And Alec realized what he had to do.
He dropped his healing powers, then took a deep breath, and focused himself.
“That’s not possible!” he heard Fresco say.
“Alec!” Jeswyne screamed his name.
And began to draw upon his time travel powers again.
“That one’s glowing blue!” someone nearby shouted over the sound of the battle in the hallway, and then all was silent, as Alec sent himself fifteen minutes into the past.
Chapter 37 – Alec Fights for Jeswyne
Alec lay on the floor in the middle of the empty parlor, his body still sprawled out. He took a deep breath, and adjusted to the new time he had jumped to. He refocused his healing power and again poured the energy into the wound in his back. It soon felt whole, as the organs and the muscles, sheath and skin were all repaired, and Alec felt able to stand. He only had a few minutes to prepare himself for what was about to happen. He snuck out into the hall, and began searching for weapons, stealing several throwing knives and a sword from empty rooms. He heard a sound in the hallway, and snuck out through a window, then began to sneak around to the front of the building.
He heard himself speak. “I apologize, but I’m a visiting warrior, staying with the head ingenaire tonight with, my wife.” Moments later the door closed. Alec crept closer to the door, and strained to listen for the sound of swords inside. He adjusted the knives in his belt so they would be easy to reach and throw. He heard Fresco’s whistle, and then came the first sound of conflict. That must have been when he took Marshall’s sword he decided, as he tried to reconstruct the scene. There were feet moving through the hall, and then he heard Jeswyne’s scream.
Alec engaged his warrior powers, and burst through the door, a knife in his left hand and the sword in his right. He threw the knife at the first person he saw, then slashed his sword at the next. He cleared the hallway of opponents, and stood in the doorway of the parlor, taking in the scene.
“That’s not possible!” Fresco said as he saw Alec standing in the doorway and simultaneously lying on the floor.
Jeswyne turned and saw him too, then screamed his name. He saw himself on the floor, suddenly emitting a blue glow, then disappearing.
He turned back to Jeswyne. For some reason one of the Warriors had sliced their sword across her shoulder, opening a thin, bloody line that infuriated Alec even more.
He pulled out another knife and hurled it at a man, then swung his sword at another. He threw knives at both the men holding Jeswyne, and watched them fold and fall.
And suddenly only Alec and Jeswyne and Fresco were left upright in the room. “Jeswyne, go wait outside the front door. I’ll be there in a minute,” he said in a low voice. She looked at him in fear, then ran past him.
“Fresco, I’ve dealt with thugs and murderers before who were ingenairii. You’re going to suffer for that,” Alec said.
“What did you do?” Fresco shouted
, deeply fearful of a man who could disappear and reappear. He backed up from Alec, holding his sword competently before him.
Alec looked at him, then dropped his sword and suddenly threw four knives at once, two with each hand.
Fresco got his blade up in time to block one, but the other three all struck their targets. One pinned his shoulder to the wall behind him. Another pinned his opposite side hip to the wall. And the third pinned his knee to the wall.
He screamed in agony. “Have mercy,” he pleaded, unable to defend himself.
“What mercy were you going to show that girl?” Alec asked viciously. He swung his sword across Fresco’s thighs slicing them deeply.
“You can’t think I’m going to let you live being that kind of person,” Alec said as his rage drove him darker and deeper than ever before. He dropped his sword and picked up a knife, then placed it against Fresco’s groin. “Would you like for me to start here, and cut upward? Would you like to be gutted like a pig?” Alec asked.
“Alec, don’t. Don’t do this,” Jeswyne cried pathetically from the doorway of the room. “You’re too good to do something like this.
“Come with me and let’s just go away someplace better,” she begged him.
Alec’s eyes didn’t leave Fresco’s fearful ones.
“Jeswyne, if I let him live, he’ll just treat some other girl the way he intended to treat you,” Alec began, then stopped. “I won’t kill him,” Alec said after a moment’s consideration. He dropped his Warrior powers and grasped his Healer powers, then placed his hand on Fresco’s stomach and unleashed his powers, rendering the Warrior leader impotent and devoid of several hormones by shriveling his testes and other glands.
Alec took the knife he held, and let it fall to the floor where it clattered. He removed his hand from Fresco. “You will learn to live as you are now,” he said, hoping that no healer ingenaire in this time would be able to or willing to reverse the changes Alec had made.
“What have you done to me?” Fresco whispered. Alec turned and looked at Jeswyne. “I felt something. What did you do?” Fresco repeated, louder. Alec walked away from him and over to Jeswyne, where he engaged his healing powers to repair the shallow slice, and took the pain away, then added more healing energy to boost her vigor and healthiness.
Preserving the Ingenairii Page 27
