by Jae Vogel
“No problem,” Lou the travel agent told them. “Everything is squared away on my end. Now if you will do me the honor, please rise.”
Dion and Lilly followed his instructions and stood up.
“Thank you,” Lou said. “Enjoy your trip.”
The chairs, desk and travel agent vanished. They were alone in the desert.
The heat was worse were they stood. Lilly couldn’t understand why it felt so much hotter in this part of the desert as opposed to the one she had been in several times before with Dion. She felt the heat drift across the sands and turned to look at the source of the intense heat, which raked across her face. It bubbled not three hundred yards from her.
It was a volcano crater. Lava glowed red and flowed out of the opening while poisonous fumes blew from it too. She stood there in wonder as it breathed fire across the plains of the desert. Wasn’t she supposed to be in ancient Egypt or somewhere like it? Lilly couldn’t recall there being active volcanoes in the Egypt of history. Something to do with the continental plates where Africa met with the rest of the landmasses.
Dion starred at them too. There were three of the craters and the fissures on the side glowed as lava poured out of them.
“Aren’t we too close?” she asked him. “I thought you needed fire suits to be this close to an active volcano.”
“You should see them at night. It’s when they really look beautiful. Don’t worry about the heat. We’re beyond these things.”
“Beyond getting burned alive?” Lilly snapped at him. What was he talking about?
“We aren’t really here,” he explained. “We’re sitting in that office in the mall until our trip ends. Our elements have moved outside the time circles where we are sitting. Think of it as an elaborate movie you can watch inside at the theater. We’re here while at the same time we’re not. Does that make sense to you?”
“Not in the least bit.”
“Don’t worry, just follow me and do what I do. You won’t be able to interact with what you are about to see, although you will feel some of the effects of it. Just bear with me for the next hour or two.”
Lilly shrugged and turned to look at the rest of the desert.
It was beautiful in its essence. The sun had baked dry everything as far as they could see. Any flash rainstorm would be dried by the intense heat, which followed them. It was the primordial part of life. Where the first civilization began before recorded history. In the distance, humanity had risen and made itself master of everything it saw. But the sun ruled all in the horizon.
“Quiet!” Dion said to her as Lilly started to ask a question. “Look over there.”
Lilly became silent and turned her gaze to one of the massive broken rocks before them. She could see a lone figure reclining on the rock. From the distance, it was hard to see what the person was up to and she returned her eyes to Dion with a look of confusion.
“Let’s move closer,” he said. “She can’t hear or see us unless we make a real loud noise. Even then, she’ll probably think it was a jackal or hyena, so I wouldn’t worry too much.”
They walked across the sand and through the field of stone toward the figure who continued to recline on the rocks. As they came closer, they saw she was sleeping. The shadow of the sun hadn’t reached the cleft where she slept in the heat of the day. The moment Dion stopped, the first rays of sun drifted over her face and she opened her eyes.
The women wore a long Egyptian style wrap-around dress with bracelets on her wrist. She was dark in complexion and appeared to come from the Ethiopian or Sudanese part of Africa. As they watched, she sat up and starred at the rising sun. Lilly noticed the crown on her head resembled two horns with a large disk between them. Although her crown appeared heavy, it gave her no problem as she sat up and stood on the rock. She held something in one hand and Lilly noticed it was an ankh, the Egyptian symbol of life. She swerved and held the ankh up to the rising sun three times before placing it in the belt around her waist. She jumped off the rock and headed away, as if she had an important meeting scheduled.
“That was my grandmother,” Dion whispered.
The woman walked along the desert sand and they followed her. After a few minutes, Lilly noticed she had a staff in one hand, which she used to work her way through the sand, which soon turned to hard rock. Lilly held Dion’s hand as they followed her.
“And she can’t hear or see us?”
“Not as long as we remain quiet.”
The woman turned the corner around a large hill and starred out to the plains before her. It was in that moment Lilly noticed a man standing in the distance. He was dressed in the robes of a court official from the fifth dynasty and wore the single crown of the king of Lower Egypt. Both hands were crossed over his chest. In one hand he held a flail and in the other a crook. She was once told that the scepters the pharaohs carried were to represent the different forms of agriculture.
“My grandfather,” Dion told her.
The man and women were facing each other. She saluted him with her staff and they walked off in the direction of the rising sun.
To Lilly, it seemed their bodies faded into the rays of the solar orb as it flooded the landscape with heat. “What did I just see?” she asked. “Are you trying to tell me your real grandparents are Egyptian gods?”
“Oh no,” he laughed. “It was their wedding. I wanted to see it again. The first elemental workers were from Egypt and they were preparing for their wedding feast. I’d look again at the actual ceremony, but I don’t think it has any bearing on what I’m up against.”
The Egyptian sky faded and turned black. Lilly found herself in a wooded scene at night. The air was much cooler this time and she felt relieved to be out of the hot sun. They faced some kind of stone niched carved or formed naturally in a rock facing and looked inside it. The moon was full in the sky and the light of it illuminated the inside of the niche.
Lilly looked inside to see if anything was contained in the niche. It was the form of a woman. She was very pale, so pale Lilly didn’t think she was alive. The woman wore a black robe and had her arms folded across her.
Just as Lilly was about to ask Dion who she was, the woman opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling in the small niche. She rose up slightly, tossed her legs over the stone where she lay and stood up. She faced the moon in the sky and smiled.
They followed her until she met up with a man and woman who were dressed in the fashion of medieval peasants. She left with them and walked in the direction of the moon, although the three of them were silent every bit of the way.
“Now who was that?” Lilly asked Dion as they walked back in the direction they came.
“Her name is Lilith. Your namesake. I think that was your parents with her. But I can’t be sure.”
Lilly watched them as the faded into the trees. Her mother and father were quiet about family too and she never visited more than a few cousins or aunts. And those were only from her mother’s side of the family. Her dad never talked about his and she’s never met anyone from it.
Once upon a time, she asked her parents why she was named Lilly. Was it for a flower? She was told it was in the honor of a close friend of the family who was no longer around. It seemed a good answer and she never pushed them for an explanation.
They stopped to watch a procession pass by them. It was impossible to tell who was in the procession since none of their faces was exposed under the hooded capes all of them wore. Lilly and Dion watched in peace as they went past them. Each member of the procession carried a lit torch. Lilly counted five members in it until the robed torchbearers continued on their way up the path. The last thing she saw of them was the light of the torches, which illuminated the forest.
“Who was that?” she asked Dion.
“I really haven’t a clue. It happens that these trips show me things which have only a little to do with what I’m trying to find out. Perhaps further along I’ll understand the meaning, but today, I just don’t
know who they are or what they’re doing here. Let’s move along.”
They emerged from a clearing at a party of some sorts. It had to have taken place years ago since the styles of clothes and music was well into the past. By Dion’s understanding, these were all people from at least twenty years ago, perhaps more. This was far before he was born. There were all kinds of cars popular to the time period parked on the lawn of some massive country estate. People were leaving their cars and making a path to the action, which took place outside. Once again, they ignored Dion and Lilly who were but spirits in the night, casting brief shadows.
“You have any idea what is taking place here?” Lilly asked him.
“I think it was the night my uncle tried to kill my father. It’s the approximate date I put on the paper I handed Lou. I’m basing it on the period. It’s a wild guess, so who knows where we will end up.”
They followed the crowd in the rear to the party. It took place in the rear of the estate and was catered by servants in uniforms. If this was his family sponsored the party, Dion was heir to a lot of money. Unless it was all gone.
They stopped and admired the decorations and care put into all the food. No one was asked for an invitation, the party appeared to be open to everyone in the neighborhood.
“Do you see your parents?” Lilly asked. “You might not recognize them if they’re a lot younger.”
“I don’t see them anywhere. Let’s check inside the house.”
A servant was stationed at the base of the staircase and served drinks. He also kept people from going upstairs, Lilly noticed. She pointed him out to Dion who agreed with her that it was the best source to check out that evening. Since he didn’t notice them, they had no trouble slipping past the servant and walking up the stairs.
At the top of the stairs, they heard a loud set of noise emerging from a room down the hall. It was easy to find the source: a room with a closed door. Inside the room, they could hear people shouting at each other.
“You think it’s wise to go in there?” Lilly asked Dion. “Won’t they notice the door opening?”
“They will, but they’ll not say anything if we hurry inside. They’ll assume the wind blew it open or something. Trust me, I’ve done this before.” He put his hand on the doorknob and pushed the wooden door open.
There were five people in the room: two women and three men. They turned at the sound of the door opening and starred at Dion and Lilly. As she expected, they couldn’t see them, but the two slid to one side of the room, as the oldest man walked to the door, and shut it.
Now they could observe the proceedings in silence.
“I thought that door was locked,” the man said as he slid the latch in place. “Did either of you boys manipulate anything into opening the door?” The man looked around the hall to see if anyone or anything was there.
“Not me, dad,” one of the men said who was sitting in a chair across from the women.
“Me neither,” the other man said.
The entire group was seated in stuffed leather chairs when the door opened. The room was some kind of study with large bookshelves and floral prints adorning the walls. Brandy sniffers were placed on the tables next to the chairs. All the room needed was a servant in white gloves pouring drinks, but they were all busy with the party in progress.
“Tried to kill your brother, did you?” the older man said to the younger one on the right. “I should have you locked up, but the scandal would destroy everything I’ve built. Not to mention the attention it would bring to all of us by the English. I suppose you’d like that, to see everyone locked away in cages while some scientist tries to figure out how we manipulate the elements.”
It was that moment Lilly realized who they were looking at this very moment. The older man was Dion’s grandfather and his grandmother stood with him. She remembered them from the standoff he did with Officer Karanzen the other day. Across from him sat Dion’s parents and his uncle. What they witnessed was the events, which took place immediately after Dion’s mother had caught his uncle in his murder attempt. This was years before Dion was born.
“It’s a lie!” his uncle cried out. “Why would I do such a thing?”
“Because you are jealous of your brother, that’s why!” his grandmother thundered back. “You were rivals for years and he’s with June. You can’t stand it and tried to kill him.”
“We raised you better than this, Seth,” Dion’s grandfather told him. “I have every reason to have you cut off from the rest of the family, but it’s not our way of settling matters. I’m still shocked at your actions.”
“Look, dad,” Dion’s father spoke up. “I don’t want much more than the woman I love.” Dion’s mother and father held hands so tight their knuckles were white. “I’m willing to leave if it helps things. There is no reason for me to be around if it’s going to cause trouble.”
“You’ve caused enough trouble already, Marsh,” Dion’s grandfather said to him. “Not only did you marry a woman without my permission, but you married someone who is also an elemental worker. Do you have any idea what that means? Your children will either have no abilities or more power than you can ever dream of. Good lord, Marsh, you have two elemental powers, if she has ones you don’t, your son could become a fifth element worker.”
“I could become one too,” Seth snapped back.
“I’ve told you what I thought about that charlatan,” Dion’s grandfather said. “Think you’re going to become a grandmaster by working with him? There are no shortcuts to the fifth element. Either you are born with the ability to acquire it, or you spend a lifetime trying to acquire it. It can’t be obtained overnight.”
“I’ll go,” Dion’s father said, “I have enough money to start my own company and it will provide a means for us to live. June’s pregnant and I need to provide for the both of us.”
“If you must,” his grandfather told him. He turned to his other son. “But don’t think you’ll get off so easy, Seth. I will keep you on a tight leash. I know what you’re capable of doing and I’ll never turn my back on you. It disgusts me because I was willing to divide my entire business with the both of you. Now I don’t know what will happen.”
“I think we’ve seen enough,” Dion said to Lilly. “I would’ve wanted to visit some other places, but I feel we need to move on.” He looked up into the air. “Okay, Lou, send us back.”
Lilly blinked again and found herself in the room they’d left before the trip to Egypt. She and Dion were still seated in front of the older man with glasses. The same candles were burning and he was extinguishing another cloves cigarette.
“These things are addictive,” he told them. “Did you find out what you wanted to know? You paid for more time than you used. I can give you credit for any future time you need to spend if you return.”
Lou handed Dion another form to sign. “This one is for the attorney general. It says I did not force you to pay for any service you didn’t need and you came in here on your own free will.”
Dion looked at it and signed. “They sure make you go through a lot of paper.”
“Red tape,” Lou grumbled. “It’s getting so bad I spend most of my working day on forms. Maybe they’ll figure out a way to computerize it someday, but I doubt it will improve anything.”
“Have you been busy lately?” Dion asked.
“Not enough traffic coming through here. My best customers are people like you who want to experience and observe incidents outside the time circles, but I do get a lot of customers who physically travel. Not enough that would justify my little operation, but enough to help pay the bills. For instance, that door behind the curtain,” he said and pointed to a section of the wall, “takes you just about anywhere you might want to go, but it’s a one-way trip. You can’t back up, unlike my competition over in the other side of the mall. I have all interesting sorts who come through. Sometimes they pass through the door to the mall; sometimes they take another door to some place else. Depends
on what form they have.”
Dion thanked Lou for his help and left the office, the door latching on its own behind them.
“So what did you find out?” Lilly asked him. She scanned the hall for any sign of Karanzen’s men, but didn’t see them anywhere.
“It left me with more questions than answers,” he sighed. “I did see why my parents left their town and went to California. Now I know why we had so little contact with the rest of the family. Father was worried about my uncle finding us. Looks like he had reason to fear.”
“You never knew very much about your uncle?”
“No, they wouldn’t speak much about him. I knew about his other brother, who wasn’t in the room we saw. And Uncle Rich never talks about the family. I understand why, with Seth doing everything he can to gain more power. I was always told you couldn’t acquire the fifth elemental power unless you had the other four. Even those of us who are born to ability need a lifetime to train for the ones we don’t have, so it’s beyond the scope of most people.”
“I’m still unsure about the meaning of the people carrying the torches,” he said to her. “It could be anything, but I’ll have to think about it. I don’t recall asking to be dropped any place which would involve them. They were right behind your namesake, but other than that, I can’t imagine what role they would play.”
“You need to tell me more about this Lilith person,” Lilly said.
“I will when we have the opportunity.”
“Well, if it isn’t our young conjure man,” a voice said behind them.
Dion and Lilly turned to face Detective Jones, the police officer who they’d seen the day before. He was standing there with a pack of playing cards.
Chapter 14
“Good day, detective,” Dion said. “I see you have a pack of cards ready. Is there something you wish to show me?”
“No, I don’t think I have anything which could match your feat yesterday. I was hoping perhaps you could show me a little something?”
