by Robert Ross
“Time is a foundational principle of creation. It is linear. Mortals exist within creation, their souls tethered to the moment of conception. To travel through time is to extend that tether into the future beyond what is natural or, worse, into the past before the soul existed. Creation is self correcting. That anomaly cannot exist. She—cannot exist.”
“Why the hell didn’t you tell us,”yelled Shannon.
“Easy Shannon,” Kellan said, “This sounds like more Raphael insights than Micah.” He looked back to the avatar.
“Explain the limits.”
The avatar shimmered again, then nodded. “A typical mortal can travel backward or forward in time without danger so long as he or she traverses no more distance than the duration of their natural life. In such circumstances, the tether is not stretched. If one travels beyond what would have been the beginning or end of their natural life, the length of time they may remain in the future without repercussions is directly related to the distance beyond the relative point of birth or death they have traversed.
“But, I was born in 1261 and it’s 2017,” said Shannon in a small voice.
“Yes, and because you traversed some 750 years, were you other than Micah’s soulborn your spiritual tether to creation would have snapped immediately as you passed into this timeline, causing your death. Sentinel souls have been untethered to both fixed and relativistic points in creation which enables them to traverse time without ramification. You have a fragment of that power within you which has sustained you to this point, but your tether is fraying and could break at any moment.
“The nose bleeds,” said Kellan in alarm. “Those have been going on for how long, Shannon?”
“A couple weeks I think?”
“Micah,” yelled Kellan, “How long does she have? What do we do?”
“Physical symptoms are the last stage of a temporal cascade, Kellan. If Shannon has been experiencing this for weeks, I am surprised she is still alive right now. She must return to Glenn Ferry immediately.”
Kellan leaped to his feet eyes ablaze and turned to Shannon who stared at him face pale as she shuddered and coughed, spraying him with blood. She teetered, then slumped into Kellan, his left arm encircling her waist even as he whipped out his right hand tearing open a portal in both time and space. The oval rotated into view and he jumped though without a second thought, tripped and fell backward onto lush grass with Shannon landing motionless on top of him.
Kellan rolled Shannon’s still form off him and on to her back. She wasn’t breathing and her face appeared ashen, drained of all color. He whipped his head around, quickly taking in the surroundings, spied a large boulder by the nearby stream and mentally checked off one of the many worries now cascading through his mind.
The portal remained opened and Kellan felt the power rushing out from him in a torrent. He leaped back through, snatched up the fetish stone and tossed it though the portal to land next to Shannon. “Go there!” he yelled at the avatar and raced toward his bedroom without a backward glance to confirm it had obeyed. “Where the fuck is it?” he screamed to the open air as the young Sentinel frantically searched his closet. Then he saw it, a rustic leather backpack, perched in the back corner of a top shelf in the closet. He grabbed it while growling to himself that once he got Shannon alive and kicking, he was going to kill her for moving his bug-out bag.
Scant moments later Kellan was kneeling next to her trying to concentrate through the wooziness caused by keeping his temporal portal open so long. He had nearly exhausted his entire power reserve in a span of minutes and serving as the conduit for so much energy had taken its toll. He tried a calming breath and took stock of the situation as he pressed two fingers to Shannon’s neck.
No pulse. No breath. No wound. This was bad.
He glanced at the avatar which was staring down calmly but with concern on its aged face. “How long since she collapsed, Micah?” The avatar shimmered and responded.
“Three minutes, forty-five seconds.”
Kellan’s mind clicked through medical facts and, as he often experienced in stressful situations, he heard a calm, dispassionate inner voice, that he had come to affectionately call, Vulcan-Kellan, Anoxic brain damage can occur after as little as four minutes. Begin immediate CPR.
Kellan placed the heel of his left hand in the center of Shannon’s chest with his right hand over the other and compressed her chest quickly as Vulcan-Kellan counted to thirty in his head.
Breathe
Kellan tilted her head back, brushing locks of fiery red hair from her face and sealed his lips to hers while pinching her nose. He gave a long breath and felt her chest rise.
That is a good sign. One more now.
Kellan leaned back and touched her neck again. Still nothing. He gave her another 30 compressions and two breaths.
“Damn it, Shannon, this is not cool. Why the hell didn’t you tell me about those stupid nose bleeds!”
Kellan reached into his bag and quickly withdrew an adrenaline needle, preparing to inject her heart as a drastic step.
Adrenaline shots, while effective at restoring heart function, result in brain damage 75% of the time as compared to defibrillation.
Kellan paused, unsure. Then yelled in frustration, “I don’t have a fucking defibrillator, you stupid stupid Vulcan.”
It is a shame no-one present has the ability to harness natural energies and channel them into charged electron pulses, like lightning.
Kellan’s eyes widen as the realization dawned on him and he cursed himself a fool. His eyes blazed to life and he opened himself to the world around him. He bent time, slowing it as his mind drank in all the available information. Ever since Kellan’s near disastrous attempt to channel his own body heat he had practiced gathering environmental sources when possible. The year of endless practice paid off as he looked around seeing countless eddies of heat rising from warmed stone and bio-electricity from plants and animals. Photonic energy played about him in waves even as he could feel bands of charged electrons dancing in clouds above. He focused on the clouds and plants and, with the intention firmly fixed in his mind, willed the forces to him.
The air warped moving inward toward him and grass withered. Above him, a dark cloud split apart and vanished as unseen energies flowed into the Sentinel and bright runes ran down his arms. He opened his eyes, allowing time to snap back and quickly ripped open Shannon’s shirt exposing her bare chest. Kellan focused his mind on both hands. About them played tiny sparking lighting bolts that sent tingles up his arm.
Position your left hand on her right chest by the collar bone and your right hand on her side just below the left breast. Clear!
Kellan lowered his hands and Shannon’s whole body arched and settled back. He willed the electrical energy away from his right hand and checked for a pulse. Nothing.
Again!
Kellan lowered his hands and Shannon bucked wildly her head flying to one side. Still no pulse.
“No, no, no!” yelled Kellan.
She is Soulborn, Kellan Thorne. Her body is accustomed to channeling your energies as if they were her own. Now is not the time for half measures.
Kellan reached upward, eyes blazing, and pulled bands of energy to himself. More grass withered, several birds fell from the sky, and an angry thunderhead formed only to have its energy released not as lightning, but as fuel for the near frantic Sentinel below.
Kellan slammed his hands back down on Shannon weaving ribbons of blue electricity with the green of his own power and forced them into her body. It bucked so violently that Kellan feared her back would break, but has he reached down, he could feel a slow, but steady pulse in her neck. He watched dumbly as tears dripped onto her bare chest unaware he’d been crying. Kellan rocked back with his legs folded beneath him and gave a ragged sigh.
She is not breathing.
“What!”
You have restarted her heart, but spontaneous breathing has not resumed.
Kellan quickly
leaned forward again sealing her nose and give two quick breaths. He paused a moment, then leaned down again, but as the breath left him, he felt a hand on the back of his head, pulling him toward her. He felt her mouth move beneath his and the softest nip at his lower lip.
Kellan pulled back, tears flowing down his face and looked at her.
She smiled up at him and said in a faint voice, “Hello Sweetie…”
Chapter 6
A Return to Glenn Ferry
Shannon leaned against the leather backpack drinking from a pouch labeled Balanced Electrolyte Hydration Drink.
“This tastes horrible,” said Shannon with a grimace.
Kellan sat half sprawled on the grass, leaning on one arm while he kept running the other through his hair. “Shut up. Drink it.”
“Why, what is it good for?”
“It’s good for dead people. Drink it!”
“I am not dead, Kellan Thorne.”
“You were dead for five minutes and twenty-nine seconds,” said the avatar.
Shannon glared at him. “No one asked you!”
Kellan retrieved the fetish stone from the grass, concentrated on it and said, “Release.” The avatar vanished without a word.
“Thank you,” said Shannon. “I really don’t like having that around unless we have to.”
“Oh don’t thank me highlander. I just didn’t want even the avatar of my old master seeing me beat you senseless for being so stupid and scaring the living shit out of me.”
Shannon peered over her pouch, brown eyes locking with Kellan’s. He stared back at her, suddenly wary.
“What are you doing?”
“Nothing,” she said innocently as she set the pouch aside.
“No, you are doing something. I know you Shannon McLeod and your are definitely doing some—“
She stretched like a cat and her torn shirt, which Kellan had folded over to cover her, fell away exposing her breasts. “Oops,” she said following his gaze. “Seems I’m just falling out all over. Could you come help me. Please, Mr. Sentinel.”
Kellan narrowed his eyes. “No way, missy. That is not gonna work with me. You were reckless and stupid. You should have told me about the nose bleeds.”
“Oh, I know and I’m sorry. I should have told you about the headaches and blurry vision as well, but I’m not the kind of lass that complains.”
“Headaches? Burry—what? God damn it, Shannon. Now I’m really really pissed.”
By this point Shannon had nearly reached him, slowly crawling on hands and knees. “Yes,” she said, reaching up to cup his face with both hands, “Yes, I can see you are.” She pulled him in for a kiss and he resisted, but her grip was insistent and he melted into it.
Finally, she broke the kiss and pulled back. “Still angry with me.”
“Yes,” he said, but there was no fire behind the word.
“You aren’t truly angry, you know?”
Kellan smirked, “Really? I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that I am.”
“Well maybe you are mad, but behind the anger is fear. You were just scared and that’s what made you mad. So, it’s the scared part you should pay attention to.”
“What are you talking about, Shannon,” asked Kellan becoming frustrated. “It’s a distinction without a difference.” He stood up and walked to the backpack, absently picking up some items that were scattered on the ground.
“No, it is a very important distinction,” she said, standing to join him. “Kellan.” He turned to her. “You love me.” It wasn’t a question.
“Of course I love you.”
“Well, I love you, too. I have since we first met.” She looked around and pointed to the boulder. “Right there.”
“Great, so we’ve established that we love each other, which I’ll stipulate is awesome, but also irrelevant to whatever the hell you are going on about right now.”
“It’s not, you stupid, stupid man.”
Kellan frowned again, and crossed his arms. “Ok, you brilliant, brilliant woman. Why don’t you educate me.”
She smiled. “If you insist, my love. So, I was dead for a couple minutes, right”
“No, you were dead for almost six minutes.” Kellan corrected.
“Fine, six minutes. And how did that make you feel?”
“How did it make me feel?” he yelled, “It made me feel completely panicked, freaked out, and my stomach wanted to leap out my mouth.”
Shannon smiled sadly at him, leaned over and gave him a soft, quick, kiss. “And that, my dearest Kellan, is how I feel every time you battle darkness. That feeling which you never appreciate because you are so damnably flippant about everything. You risk your life and I understand. You have accepted the Sentinel’s mantel and that was your choice to make. I am even glad you made it because had you not, we never would have met. But,” she held up a finger, “You are casually stupid about your life because you never consider those of us who love you with the same fire you do us. Maybe next time, you’ll think about me, about Meghan, about Juliet and even your idiot friend James who has no idea who you really are.”
Kellan stood dumbfounded and then lowered his head. “Wow, that was quite the torrent. Tried and convicted in the blink of an eye.”
She arched an eyebrow, “Tell me I’m wrong.”
He stared at her for a long moment. “I can’t tell you that, because you are right. I have been cavalier with the feelings of those who love me most, and really have no excuse.”
Shannon reached out taking his hand in hers. “Sure you do, it’s just not a good excuse. You act as you do because to do otherwise would make it real for you. The danger. The risk of death. I understand that, Kellan. I’m the soulborn after all. I exist so that I can understand you and you me. I had years to learn how to live this life before you and I met again as adults. I had a family who loved me and responsibilities as the soulborn that I couldn’t fulfill if I didn’t take risks. I had to learn to take the risks I needed to and avoid others. I had to learn to put that fear in a box when I needed to but never to ignore it. Fear will keep you alive, my love and I need you alive.”
Kellan just stared at her as his anger faded to admiration. “When did you get so smart, highlander?”
She smiled. “I am a woman, Kellan Thorne. We are born smart. You are a man so you are born stupid. It’s just the way of things.”
He laughed and pulled her in to a deep hug, then leaned back eyebrows knitted, “You aren’t going to try and tell me that you planned all this just to teach me a lesson are you?”
It was Shannon’s turn to laugh. “No, I am neither that smart nor that cruel. My only excuse is that given my close proximity to you, some of your stupid may have worn off.” She gave him an impish grin, released his hand and started walking up the hill away from the river.
Kellan watched as she turned to look at him over her shoulder, sunlight glinting off her loose red ringlets as she tossed her head. “What year is this? Is my house even up there?”
“Wow, the place looks a whole lot better than it did the last time I was here,” said Kellan as he walked up beside Shannon where she stood several feet in front of a rustic but well constructed cottage.
She looked at him. “No, the last time you were here you helped Dad, the boys, and me rebuild it.”
Kellan stared at her uncomprehendingly. She sighed.
“Future you, Kel.”
“Oh, yeah. I keep forgetting about future me. Future me is pretty awesome.” He paused a moment, questioningly, “When was future me here again?”
“The year Glenn Ferry was annexed, around 1280, about five years after we met the first time with Micah.”
Kellan rubbed his temples feeling like he was developing a headache. “But, wait, you were around 19 in 1280 and you told Meghan we didn’t,” he paused gesturing randomly with his hands, you know, until you were 25.”
Shannon laughed. “Yes, Kellan Thorne, you remember correctly, as you always do. We didn’t
you know until then because I got tired of waiting for you to try and you know, so took matters into my own hands.” She lifted her chin slightly and stared at Kellan. “I’ll tell you this for nothing, you certainly didn’t object when I tripped you into my bed.”
Kellan felt a fierce blush rise up his neck and looked away from her as she continued. “Anyway, it’s best you keep these things straight in that clockwork brain of yours. Come inside, I’ll make us some tea and explain this once and for all because you aren’t going to find a nice neat timeline chart of our lives on The Google.”
Kellan snickered as she opened the door. Shannon turned back mouth set in a line, “What?”
“The Google. It’s just Google.”
“Shut it, mister and come inside.”
Kellan did.
A few minutes later, Shannon, handed Kellan a mug steaming with warm tea. He smiled at her. “Thank you, ma’am.”
She gestured to the crackling fire over which simmered a pot of water. “Well, thank you, sir, for going all sparkly green eyes and making the fire. What do you think of the place.”
Kellan let his gaze wash again over the small cottage. “It looks very much like I remember, but there are some differences too. Everything seems a bit better put together and it certainly is a whole lot cleaner than it was before—“ he paused.
“Before you were seduced by a demon and burned it down?” asked Shannon with a wry smile.
Kellan held up a finger. “Almost seduced. Almost is very important here.”
She waved him off and settled herself in one of the chairs by the kitchen table as Kellan leaned against the wall taking an exploratory sip of his tea. “Well, much of the stonework from the original cottage remained after the fire, so we just rebuilt around it. You were very helpful. Saved us days by moving timber for us and doing all manner of Sentinel’y things.”
“Wait, what? Who knows about me here?”
