Legend of the Timekeepers (15 page)

“Why are you still here, Belial?”

His lips thinned. “What are you getting at?”

“You can’t leave, can you? You don’t know what to do.” Lilith smirked. “How does it feel to feel powerless, Belial?”

Belial’s face twitched. His onyx eyes narrowed to slits.

“Spare She-Aba’s life and I’ll help you,” Lilith offered.

“I don’t make bargains!” he snapped.

The earth shook with enough force to produce cracks in the bronze ceiling. The one thing Lilith had over Belial was that she knew Atlantis would be around for another hundred years. At least part of it would be. He didn’t. She also knew the southwestern portion of Atlantis was beginning its descent into the ocean and would take one-third of the population with its demise. Atlantis never truly recovered from this devastation, leaving children like Lilith and Mica to be born into an unstable and imbalanced environment. She deliberately toyed with her snake bracelet. Then she yawned.

“Fine. Go down with Atlantis,” Lilith said, shrugging. “Being a Timekeeper, and knowing how to use the power of spirals, has its rewards. Besides, it won’t be long before you perish along with the rest of the
ordinary
Atlanteans.”

Belial growled. He snapped his fingers, causing the tapestry to go limp. Mica and Tau quickly freed She-Aba before Belial had second thoughts. Lilith peered over her shoulder. She-Aba’s face was redder than her hair as she inhaled long, deep breaths like she was gulping down excess amounts of water. She checked over her face and throat, then mouthed “thank you” to Lilith. Satisfied She-Aba was safe, Lilith turned back to face the most feared man in Atlantean history.

Belial pressed the black trident’s prongs into her throat. Lilith jumped. He applied pressure. “I believe it’s your turn,
Timekeeper
. Show me how this works.”

Remember, show him no fear.
Lilith pointed to the dark trident. “Do you mind?”

Lilith had absolutely no idea how to use any of the arches as a portal. It had been pure chance or fate or destiny when the Children of the Law of One summoned the three of them through seventh Arch of Atlantis. She swallowed hard as Belial slowly removed the trident from her throat, wishing for Etan to whisper in her ear one last time. Her seer’s snake bracelet slid down her forearm to imprison her wrist. She wished Shu-Tu was here with her to give her strength, to lend her voice.
Go. Banish evil.
Those were the last words Shu-Tu spoke to her. Then Lilith’s eyes widened. She understood the riddle.
I’m the One who must banish evil. I’m the One who must keep time safe.
A hint of a smile emerged on her face. It was time to rid Atlantis of this man, this disease.

“You’re doing it all wrong,” Lilith said with a tone of authority, swishing her hand. “You need to stand in front of the arch that is the closest match to your frequency to absorb its total power.”

“Lilith? What are you doing?” Mica asked, helping She-Aba up.

“Yeah, that black serqet doesn’t play fair!” Tau yelled.

“Silence!” Belial thundered, as he pulled a piece of onyx off of his sash, and threw it at Mica. The black bead hit his orichalcum spear, and the spear dissolved into ashes. “If any of you move a serpent’s hair, you’ll join the spear on the floor.”

She-Aba gulped. “But…but serpents don’t have hair.”

Belial sneered. “That’s the point.” Then he wagged the black trident in Lilith’s face. “Do go on.”

Lilith licked her parched lips. “What happened when you put the black crystal trident into the keystone of the seventh Arch of Atlantis?”

“I’m not up for games!” he spat.

“Neither am I. My guess is nothing happened. You couldn’t activate the arch, and since none of your sorcery works on any of the arches, you were left feeling powerless.”

Belial stroked his braided beard. “What is your point?”

“The point is I am a Timekeeper.
You
are not.”

Belial’s face twitched. “Is that supposed to impress me, girl?”

“I should think so. You forget the most sacred law of the arches,” Lilith said. She cautiously walked to the front of the fifth Arch of Atlantis and pointed at the keystone. “Time flows through us.”

Belial growled, creeping up behind her. “I grow weary of this game, Timekeeper.” He pounced in front of Lilith and glared down at her.

A wicked tremor shot through Lilith, throwing her into Belial. He stumbled backwards slamming against the fifth Arch of Atlantis. The black trident slipped out of his hand and slid across the gyrating floor. Lilith crawled over to claim it. Belial regained his balance enough to stand inside the archway. He smoothed out his shimmering black robe, giving Lilith enough time to scoop up the black trident and stand. Another rumble from the earth confirmed her suspicions. This was the third and final shake that would separate and sink the southwestern portion of Atlantis. Even the arches trembled in unison. The fifth Arch of Atlantis shook enough to loosen its crystal trident from the keystone.

An intense heat emanating from the black trident started to burn the inside of her hand and run up the length of her arm. Her snake bracelet glowed as if she’d stuck it in a bed of hot coals. Sweat dripped down her face and body and splattered to the floor. Despicable, cold laughter, sounding like Zurumu, invaded her mind. Somehow, the evil presence of this banished high priestess was searing into Lilith, poisoning her being, setting her on fire.

Belial laughed wickedly. “You’re right! I can feel the power of this arch feeding me, rejuvenating my power!” Then he patted the leather satchel and opened it. “And with this book, no power on earth will prevent me from—” His hand swished around the inside of the satchel and pulled out a handful of make-up, scents, and brushes. “What…what trickery is this?”

“I figure you could use all the help you can get with your appearance,” She-Aba replied, snapping her fingers.

“Where is the Book of Mysteries?” Belial snarled, scattering the make-up and brushes.

She-Aba smirked. “I slipped it in my snake-skin satchel and gifted it to Rhea as an early wedding present. It’s probably making its way to the Black Land by now.”

Belial’s face darkened to the color of the fifth Arch of Atlantis. He raised his thin arms over his head and started to recite an incantation in the language of the shadows. Lilith’s head pounded in agony. She had to get Zurumu out of her mind, and her skin, before the high priestess completely infected her with the evil vibrations of the black trident. Lilith stared at Belial, who was just as poisonous and evil as Zurumu, and reacted in the only way she knew would release her from the hateful feelings coursing through her body.
Fight fire with fire,
Lilith thought, as she squeezed the black trident, taking in more pain and putting all her angry thoughts and feelings into it, and charged at Belial.

“Poison out, poison in!” she screamed, thrusting the trident into the dark magus.

Stumbling, Lilith fell to her knees and coddled her burning hand to her chest. She heard a terrible shriek and looked up to find Belial still standing in the center of the fifth Arch of Atlantis with the black trident protruding out of his stomach. Wisps of dark spirals shot out of the end of the black trident’s handle and circled the fifth Arch of Atlantis like an army of serpents coiling around their prey.

“Lilith!” Mica yelled. She could hear his feet slapping against the tiles to reach her, his strong, slick arms cradled and lifted her away from the fifth arch. The smell, the essence of his skin made Lilith think of the Black Land.

“I thought I commanded you not to move!” Belial hissed, fumbling for another onyx bead on his sash.

Mica glared at Belial. “I take no orders from a coward, you weak-minded snake!”

Before Belial had a chance to use the piece of onyx on Mica, a high-heel shoe flew across the room and whacked Belial in the nose. Shocked, Belial dropped the bead, cupped his face, and fell to his knees.

“Good shot, Tau!” She-Aba cheered.

“I take back what I said,” Tau replied over his shoulder, running to join Mica and Lilith. “Those are the most sensible shoes ever.”

“And stunning,” She-Aba added, sashaying across the tiles.

The fifth arch started to blur, moving faster with each breath. A deep boom echoed from it, making the arch sound foreign and lost. The crystal trident was propelled from its keystone, as if the fifth arch was rejecting it. Tau lunged for the crystal trident before it hit the shaking marble floor. As soon as the trident connected with his hands, the earthquake ceased completely, all rumbling stopped.

“W-What’s happening to me?” Belial shrieked, standing. He gripped the black trident’s handle and pulled it out of his stomach. Both the fifth Arch of Atlantis and Belial were beginning to fade.

“I think you’re being banished, serqet-breath,” Tau said, wagging the crystal trident at him.

Belial glared at Lilith. “Remember this,
Timekeeper
,” he said, his nostrils flaring. “Nothing is ever lost, only changed. Time will flow through me too. Mark my words I promise we’ll meet again, in another place, in another time.”

“And you mark my words, Belial, all four of us will be ready for you when we do meet,” Lilith replied, her heart now thumping in strong, direct beats. “We are connected, we are one.”

Belial sneered and stuffed the black trident into his sash. He pushed his palms into the center of the arch’s columns and finished reciting his incantation. The fifth Arch of Atlantis hummed and droned to the sickly rhythm of the language of the shadows and continued to vibrate at an accelerated rate until it disappeared into oblivion, leaving the seventh Arch of Atlantis in plain sight.

“Where’d serqet-breath go?” Tau asked, clutching the crystal trident to his bare chest.

“All I know is that Belial settles in a portion of the land west of Atlantis, to a place where my Uncle Kukulkan will travel one hundred years from now,” Lilith said, pushing a fair tendril out of her face. “My hope is that he will find Belial and bring balance back to our earth.”

“That is my hope too,” Mica said, gently placing Lilith down.

Lilith pushed her bracelet away from her wrist, then realized the burning sensation in her hand had disappeared the same moment Belial had left Atlantis. She wiggled her fingers, feeling no pain, no heat.

“Bet your uncle could use all the help he can get,” She-Aba said, reaching for her high-heel shoe near the area where the fifth Arch of Atlantis once stood. “Is there any chance I could send this to him?”

Tau laughed. “Why waste a perfectly good shoe, fire-head?”

Lilith giggled as she let her arm fall to her side. “Now that our task for the Children of the Law of One has been completed, there is only one thing left to do.”

“And what’s that?” She-Aba asked, stuffing her shoe into her spotted cape’s pocket.

“Bring Mica home,” Lilith said, smiling. “As my father requested.”

“Sounds like a plan, Timekeeper,” Mica said, winking at her. “Tau, put the crystal trident into the keystone of the seventh Arch of Atlantis. It’s time to go home.”

Lilith leaned against Mica’s tanned, sinewy arm. “Yes, home to the Black Land.”

13

The Guardian of the Sands

“I
am most disappointed,” Istulo said from the corner of the Golden Serpent room.

Lilith’s head wouldn’t stop spinning. They emerged from the seventh Arch of Atlantis like flying fish landing on a beach. She shook her head. Did she hear Istulo correctly?
Disappointed? With whom?

Shaken, Lilith stood and looked up over her shoulder. The crystal trident was sitting securely in the keystone of the arch, as if it had never been touched. She closed her eyes, said a quick prayer to appease Poseidon, and thanked the Children of the Law of One for safe passage home. Then she opened her eyes and glanced around for her father. Lilith found him lying on the floor four strides away from where she’d found him earlier. He’d been dragged under the tapestry embroidered with the extensive fleet of ships leaving Atlantis in all different directions before the final destruction. His chest moved up and down, up and down with the rhythm of his breath. His eyes were shut.

“Father!” She rushed toward him.

Istulo stepped in front of Lilith. “He needs his rest.”

Istulo’s voice sounded hardened.

Lilith frowned. “What’s wrong, Istulo? And…and why did you lie to us about Mica?”

“Lie?” Istulo shrieked. Before Lilith knew what was happening, she felt the sharp sting of a slap against her cheek.

She flinched and clutched the side of her face. Her blue eyes watered.

“Oh…my…Ra! What was that for?” She-Aba yelled, jumping to her feet. She adjusted her spotted animal cape around her shoulders.

Istulo lowered her eyes to She-Aba’s feet. “I see you’ve lost your shoes, She-Aba. Pity. They were stunning.”

She-Aba froze. She inclined her head. “How…how could you possibly know about—”

“Zurumu,” Mica said, his voice catching in his throat. “Y-You’re really Zurumu.” His face turned ashen.

“Very astute, Mica.” Istulo clapped. “The potion in the satchel you delivered to me in Atlantis not only helped transformed me into a snake-hybrid, but also acted as catalyst to slow down the aging process.”

“Y-You tricked me, used me,” Mica stammered. “You made me believe through the interpretation of my life seal that Lilith and I were to be mortal enemies.” He grasped his life seal hanging from the thong around his neck and snapped it off. “This…this was never to be my lifetime occupation!”

“It was your choice to believe the words I fed you,” Istulo said, cackling. “Live with it.”

Lilith gasped. “That’s why you sent Mica back through the seventh Arch of Atlantis. To find you, the younger you, so that he could bring you the Book of Mysteries.”

“Yes,” Istulo replied, sneering. “That book was to be my redemption. The day you came to the Temple Beautiful with Tau, I recognized you at once and knew who you were. That’s when everything became clear, and I saw my chance to change the prophecy and the fate of Atlantis.”

“But…how did you find the Book of Mysteries?” She-Aba asked.

“I came across the book, by accident, in a forbidden section of the Temple of Sacrifice. And as you know by now, She-Aba, there are no accidents.” Istulo’s upper lip curled. “Scribed inside it, I found everything that would have given me my life back. Longevity potions. Elixirs. Incantations. Spells. Charms. Rituals. Secrets. I knew if I had a powerful book like that in my possession while I lived in Atlantis, I would have changed things. I would have overthrown Belial. I would have ruled Atlantis. Yet, I am still here, still unchanged.”

“Atlantis still would have blown up, still would have sank into the ocean!” Lilith seethed, waving her hands in the air. “Don’t you see? Belial and his self-centered evil followers created too much destruction and chaos through their black magic and terrible deeds that they ultimately sealed Atlantis’s fate.”

“My heart bleeds for Atlantis and those pitiful victims,” Istulo replied mockingly. She tapped her sagging chest. “I was abandoned by my people. They got what they deserved.”

“And I was abandoned by you!” Mica yelled, shaking his life seal at Istulo. “I…I believed in you, trusted you. But…but now I see that your heart is blacker than Belial’s. You deserved the life you created!”

“And now you’ll have to live with your choices, Istulo!” Tau said defiantly. “Guess that makes you a creature of nature like the serqet that stung me.”

“Tau’s right,” Lilith said, curling her fingernails into her palms. “I let you get under my skin and poison my mind once, and I’ll never let you or anyone else like you do it again!”

“And when I tell my father, who sits on the high counsel, about this,” She-Aba said, wagging a finger, “you’ll be submitted to the Temple of Sacrifice for observation.”

Istulo’s top lip curled back, revealing two yellow fangs. “I think not, She-Aba.”

The high priestess raised her arms and clapped nine times while chanting in the language of the shadows. Then she tore off her robe, exposing a round, faded puncture mark at the base of her neck. White scales covered her body. Istulo heaved forward and her legs entwined to form a long serpent’s tail. Both her arms shortened to half their original size. She hissed, as her facial features gyrated long enough to sculpt into a cobra’s pointed face and round hood. Her beady, cold eyes glared at Lilith, then at Mica.

“Thisss moment hasss kept me from going insssane,” Istulo hissed, then charged them.

Lilith stumbled back. She clutched her chest. No shoe of She-Aba’s would bring this vengeful high priestess down. Lilith’s life seal settled in her palm. The inside of her mouth tasted like sand. All she could think about was how Shu-Tu’s calming voice gave her strength, and how Etan’s words gave her wisdom, and how the law of circular motion affected everything and everyone.
Go. Banish evil.
Lilith took a chance, yanked the life seal from her neck, and, with the force of Poseidon, hurled it at Istulo.

Mica pitched his life seal at Istulo in the same moment. “Go choke on your lies, you poisonous hag!” he yelled with renewed strength.

The two life seals intertwined in mid-air, like a pair of mating eagles dancing in the sky. Istulo snapped at Lilith and Mica’s spiraling life seals and swallowed them in one bite. She let out a visceral hiss, then balked and shook her cobra head, twisting and writhing and coughing as if some madness had claimed her body. Istulo started to choke, shudder, and convulse. Her small, useless arms were too short to go into her mouth to remove the small, round life seals stuck in her throat. Gasping, Istulo’s eyes clouded over and rolled toward the back of her bulbous skull. She hissed out a terrible rattle before crashing to the floor.

Istulo’s forked tongue flicked through the air until it fell back into her gaping reptilian mouth. Her chest heaved, small gnarled hands clawed at the floor while Istulo desperately tried to steal a breath. The long serpent tail straightened, and then lay still. Her cobra head fell to one side as death claimed the old banished high priestess once known as Zurumu. Then, with the same forces of nature that had broken apart Atlantis, her old body trembled and vibrated and burned until all that was left of Istulo was a pile of ash on the floor and her orichalcum headband.

Tau whistled. “That’s one way of getting back all that you’ve been giving out.”

“Now Istulo’s got plenty of time to go meditate on those life seals,” She-Aba added.

A cough and sputter made Lilith avert her eyes from Istulo’s remains on the floor toward her father, now sitting up on the floor. His golden hair was tousled, but his color had returned. She smiled and ran to him with open arms. “Father! You’re healed!”

She nuzzled his beard, smelling the pungent incense lingering there. At least Istulo had not wanted him dead. She had been after Lilith and her friends all along. She hugged her father fiercely.

“W-What happened, Lilith? I don’t remember anything past saying good-night to you and She-Aba.”

Reluctantly, she pulled away from him and sighed. She patted down his beard and said, “It’s a long story, Father. I…I wouldn’t know where to begin.”

Suddenly, the door to the Golden Serpent’s Room swung open. Standing in the doorway was the old man Lilith had bumped into in the Temple Beautiful. His wild white hair still stuck out like he’d been in one-too-many dust storms. He stiffly walked into the room using his lavishly decorated golden walking stick for support. His deep blue robe swished and sparkled with iridescence and majesty. Behind him loomed two tall soldiers wearing gold breast plates over crisp linen tunics and an old, thin woman with long white hair. She wore a silver headband and robe—the colors of a proficient healer from the Temple of Sacrifice. On her left arm dangled a seer’s orichalcum snake bracelet.

“W-W-Who are you?” She-Aba stammered.

The wizen man acknowledged her with a polite nod. “I am the one called Duo-She-Dui.”

She-Aba’s eyes widened. She dropped to one knee and bowed. So did Tau and Mica.

Duo-She-Dui motioned for one of the guards to pass him an old snake-skin satchel beaten by time. He reached into it and pulled out a beautiful high-heel shoe decorated with strips of orichalcum and colored gems. Lilith’s eyes widened. It was an exact replica of She-Aba’s shoe.

“I believe this belongs to you, She-Aba,” the old man said, grinning. “You, and your friends, may call me Ajax-ol.”

Sweat slithered down the length of Lilith’s face while she anxiously waited for the grand unveiling of the Guardian of the Sands. Carved from a single sandstone knoll, this monument had been years in the making. Speculation circled the air as to what its purpose might be. Some people thought it protected the Great Pyramid. The priests and priestesses said it would be utilized for special burial ceremonies. Still others were convinced this great structure was to be used as a repository of ancient teachings and knowledge. Whatever the Guardian of Sands’ purpose was, many craftsmen had put their backs and hearts and souls into this creation, and now it was ready to be shared with the people of the Black Land.

“Where is she?” Lilith asked, scanning the crowd.

“Fear not, Lilith, She-Aba will be here in good time,” Segund replied, adjusting the new sash She-Aba had fashioned for him. This one was made of a smooth, deep red material decorated with pearls and crystals.

“She’s probably changed into many outfits by now,” Lilith said, wiping her face. “I wonder which one she’ll finally choose.”

Segund brushed the sand from his dark blue linen robe. “It doesn’t matter. Nothing she wears will compare to what you have on, my daughter.” Then he winked at her and glanced over at Mica standing with Tau’s extensive family.

An intense heat starting from the tips of her toes flashed through Lilith’s body. By the time it reached her cheeks, Mica was on the sand wrestling with one of Tau’s younger brothers. Their laughter warmed her belly in a happy way. Averting her eyes toward the veiled monstrous statue, Lilith wondered what would become of her relationship with Mica now that she had decided to enter into the Arcane Tradition, a special school of occult knowledge and magical systems. Belial’s threat to Lilith and her friends had helped seal that decision for her, and she wanted to be prepared for any future meetings with the dark magus. Mica had announced that he would continue with his studies as an initiate in the Temple Beautiful as all his criminal acts against Segund, and the people of the Black Land, had been forgiven by Duo-She-Dui.

Lilith removed a foot from her sandal and dipped a toe into the cool, desert sand. It was early morning so the sand hadn’t had time to heat up. A breeze snaked through from the great river to the east where the Guardian of the Sands faced. She licked her lips, tasting the saltiness. Wearing a slim-fitting pale blue gown, Lilith allowed the wind to cool her body and caress her soul. A long belt made of strung shells and pearls grazed the sand with enough force to draw mini spirals. Thank Poseidon, She-Aba had come by her home earlier to style her hair up in crystal hairpins. She-Aba had even applied a minimal amount of make-up to Lilith for this special occasion before rushing home to get ready herself. Lilith slipped her sandal back on and checked the position of the rising sun by holding up her fingers against the horizon.
Four fingers to the sun, almost time for the unveiling.

“Where’s fire-head?” Tau asked.

Lilith dropped her arm to her side. Her orichalcum snake bracelet slid down to confine her hand. She rolled her eyes and said, “She’s probably checking her hair over one last time.”

Tau grunted. “It won’t matter. It will still be red.”

“True, but She-Aba has proven herself worthy enough to don the color of a goddess,” Mica said, walking up to them.

For this special ceremony, Mica wore a light green top and pleated schenti fastened by a snake-skin sash. His golden hair was slick with perfumed oil. He placed his hands together and bowed before Lilith’s father. “How is your hand, Segund?”

“Still sore,” Segund said, lightly touching it. Lilith noticed her father’s hand was slightly swollen, but he had gotten stronger in the last seven days. He grunted. “I don’t know how anyone would choose to be a snake charmer.”

“Snake charming chose me,” Mica said, grinning. “It is a skill that helped me survive the harsh days after the flood. People still needed pleasure, and I provided it for them.”

“I still feel bad about having to kill Kheti,” Tau said. “He was a fine cobra.”

“That’s okay, Tau,” Mica said, reaching out to tousle Tau’s short-cut hair. “I think my days of snake charming are over anyway.”