Enaya: Solace of Time (10 page)

“Yes, sir! People appear as red dots on the monitor and everythin’ else just appears as itself. If I’m flyin’ through the city, every little buildin’ appears in a full hologram and picks up even animals, which appears as a red dot as well. Do ya want to see somethin’ really cool?”

Nile nodded.

“I’m goin’ to put us on the ground for a bit and if ya will just follow me,” Locklin said, quickly unbuckling the seatbelt and jumping out of his seat. Nile followed him through the lobby. Norcross looked at Locklin oddly, wondering what he was doing. Then Locklin led Nile down into the boiler room.

“What’s this?” Nile asked.

“The Ancrya, like most of the azure bateaus, is powered by sound. Well, all our electricity is powered by sound. Nothing mechanical works unless sound is applied. We used to have wires and jacks, then steam and now sound.”

“I don’t understand.”

Locklin walked over to a large oval piece of machinery. In the center was another oval piece, and to the sides were large metal rods that spun around. “When the engines roar, these rods rotate inward and hit the center circle piece, which is called the sound barrier. This causes large vibrations to move back into the engine, givin’ it power. The engines run on constant sound, and if one of these here rods stopped functionin’, then we would be in for one rough landin’, eh.”

“Powered by sound?” Nile asked, thinking how that seemed to be the most magical thing he has ever heard.

“Yessirree,” Locklin said with a smile. “Powered by sound. This vessel is as smooth at flyin’ as a baby’s bottom. I guarantee that. All we have to do to get something this large to work is to produce enough sound to create equal vibrations.”

Norcross came down into the boiler room. “Locklin, you’re wasting time. Let’s get going.” Then he turned and went back to the lobby.

Locklin looked over to Nile. “I would like to hit his head into the sound barrier.”

After a few seconds, Nile found himself sitting back in the cockpit as the Ancrya began to roar. He could hear the metal clinging of the rods smashing into the sound barrier, and before he knew it, the Ancrya lifted off the ground and turned toward Woodlands, which was to the south. Locklin then pushed the stick forward and pressed a few more buttons, and the airship began to fly. Nile looked out of the windows to see the flooded streets and the building tops.

“How far is Woodlands?” Locklin asked.

“Right over this mountain peak,” Nile said while scooting up in his seat and looking over the dashboard.

“We weren’t very far,” Locklin said.

Nile gave Locklin a half grin. “No, we weren’t.”

“According to the monitor, Silvago is five miles ways,” Locklin said.

The Ancrya turned in air and came down in a plain field outside of Woodlands. Nile pressed his forehead on the glass. He looked down to see the villagers running into their houses. A little smile stretched across his face, as he saw kids running under the thing and parents pulling them out of the way.

Locklin set the Ancrya down and pressed a few buttons on the ceiling above him. The Ancrya shut down. Locklin undid his seatbelt, and the two walked into the lobby to see Norcross and Roland talking.

“Well, kiddies, we’re here.” Locklin said.

Norcross stood to his feet. “Great, I’m excited.”

Roland stood to his feet. “Shall we?”

Locklin pressed a few buttons on a control panel beside the door. The door opened and a staircase extended from the side of the ship. Locklin walked off and took in a deep breath. “The sun feels good.”

Roland walked out of the ship. He held his hands up and screamed. “It’s fine!”

He saw a window open and an elderly man peeked through. “What is that?”

“I can explain,” Roland said.

Slowly, doors began to open, and frightened people walked out. Nile stepped off the Ancrya, his heart racing with guilt as he saw the impact this made on people. “It’s okay,” Nile murmured.

People began to gather around, some holding swords.

“There is no need for weapons,” Roland said.

King Aidan walked toward them. “Roland?” He was nervous.

“King, I bring these newcomers to you. We have some things to discuss.”

King Aidan looked at the Ancrya and slowly cowered back. “What is that?”

“A form of transportation,” Locklin said.

Aidan stared at Locklin then to Norcross. “And who are you?”

Norcross smiled and stepped forward. “I’m Norcross Kenneth. I govern the city of Silvago.”

“Locklin, I just fly this thing,” he said, pointing at the airship.

As the king grew closer, so did the villagers.

Roland looked at the estranged faces on the villagers. “There is nothing to fear. We have it under control.”

Everybody began to yell over each other and stare at the newcomers. “I’ll explain,” Roland said. The villagers tried to lighten up, but continued to stare at the Ancrya and at the soldiers that marched out of it.

“Roland!” King Aidan called. “Explain this to me this instance.”

Roland looked to the top of the tower and saw Dywnwen standing at the circular window. He licked his upper lip and then placed his hands on his hips. “They are from the future.”

Leo ran under the bridge and through the ankle-deep stream, rushing down to Nile and the others. He slid to a stop and leaned forward, catching his breath. “I’ve been looking for you.” When he saw the airship and Norcross, he jumped back and screamed.

“Where is Silvago?” King Aidan asked with a hint of fire under his breath.

Roland looked back at Norcross, not knowing exactly how to explain the occurrences. “Norcross is from the future.”

King Aidan paused for a few seconds. “You must be joking.”

“He isn’t joking,” Norcross said.

“From the future, eh?” King Aidan asked. “I’m finding it hard to believe that.”

Locklin leaned to his side and waved both his hands at the Ancrya. “You’re going to tell me that this thing is from here. Hahahahah! Ya must be jokin’.”

Roland showed him Enaya. “Remember me talking about Nile, and how it can alter time events?”

King Aidan’s eyes grew wide. “Perhaps so,” he said with a false smile. “So you say you’re from the future?”

“Exactly,” Norcross replied.

“Roland?” King Aidan asked.

“I would never lie to you, sire. I married your daughter.”

“Then stay for lunch with us, and let us embark on a discussion that I’m sure we will find a significant meaning that will benefit one another.”

“I would be honored,” Norcross replied.

“Well then,” King Aidan replied. “Lunch will be prepared in half an hour.”

Chapter 16

A Stroll Down Memory Lane

No one ever had to tell Nile how important time was. He knew. It never mattered if he tried to escape it or just let it pass; he still had to go through it. This harsh realization came to him the day after his mother and brother died. He realized then that everything that happened was in due time, whether it was the past, present, or future. It never stopped, not even for a second so that he could mourn; he had to do that as time progressed. He also realized that time brought on new changes, such as friends, marriage, children, and the absence of his father. Time was consistently flowing, like a current of favorable memories, and as time moved consistently throughout the day, Nile found himself dining at a table with the newcomers.

Blue and purple tinted the room as the sun shone through the stained-glass windows. Two knights stood at the arched doorway to secure their safety. A white cloth sparkled across the oval oak table. Servants, dressed in white linens, brought out shiny silver plates.

Norcross sat up straight. “Our cities are sanctioned off. Silvago is one of the largest cities in our world . . . well, on Earth. We have the largest import and export system that runs underground between cities.”

“Underground?” someone muttered.

“Yes, underground. We are not allowed to fly out of our sanctions. You see, nearly two hundred years ago, there was a great nuclear war among all the nations. Because of the radiation, we had to find untouched land, rebuild our colonies, and we created a barrier. One of these colonies is Silvago. The land stays barren, so we produce and grow our own food—much like you do—but with chemical enhancers.”

“What?” Aidan asked.

“Well, yeah, hormones in our food. Light is scarce as well. Our sanctions are purified by a barrier called the sound barrier. It’s the wire fence that stretches around our city. Everything within this barrier can function because everything runs on sound.”

“And this war?” King Aidan asked. “What was it over?”

“A technological advance,” Norcross smiled, “something that the government and its people felt differently about.” Norcross glanced over to Locklin. “I fear our world is heading back into the same war.”

“What lies beyond the sanctions, the barriers, the barren wasteland?” Nile asked.

“More wasteland,” Norcross replied. “There is nothing, but it is full of life in the cities. No one would ever know that happened.”

“So what is
electricity
?” Aidan asked.

“Yes,” Norcross replied, “a power source. It gives us light, lets us use our devices.”

“Like magic?” Leo quickly interrupted.

“Well, I guess,” Norcross mumbled. “But like I said, it runs off sound. If all our central sound barriers happened to stop working underground and within our facilities, we would be hurting.”

“A city that is sanctioned due to war?” Roland asked, rubbing his eyes.

“Yes, do you have any? It isn’t uncommon. We have a long history of wars and before that, rumors of wars.”

“Well,” King Aidan said, “we actually had the Magic Wars. Before that we had the Barter Wars and now the Great Pursuit.”

“And what about this gem? This, Enaya? Can I see it?” Norcross asked.

Roland pulled the gem out from his glove and rolled it in the center of the table. “There it is.”

Norcross reached for it. He glanced at the beauty and snickered. Nile watched him, feeling like Norcross was imposing on something that belonged to him. Nile longed to touch Enaya again, to feel the smooth marble roll between his fingers.

“How does it work?” he asked.

“Nile will show you,” Roland said.

“Yes, Nile,” Norcross muttered, rolling the gem toward him.

“All right,” Nile said, grabbing it. “I’ll do it.”

Leo, who was sitting next to Nile, scooted his chair back about three feet and watched as Nile attempted to do what he had already done. The gem was surrounded by his warm, bare hand, and his eyes closed. Then, on a whim, the thought of Dywnwen with Roland made him upset. It was the same thought he had had when the gem worked, but nothing happened. He opened his eyes, glancing across the room to see Roland and Norcross intently staring at him, and King Aidan biting into a thick chicken leg.

“Hold on,” Nile said.

Leo smiled and quickly tapped him on the right shoulder for good luck.

Nile looked to Leo for guidance. A simple nod passed between the two.
He instantly thought about his father. He wanted there to be a time when he could see his father, a time when he could hug his father, a time when they could sit and talk like they once did. As he thought those thoughts, the gem flashed, and he opened his eyes and found himself floating through time’s space once more, and he was sitting in his home nearly three years ago. He saw himself, an eighteen-year-old with ambitions of being a knight, and his father, Alexander, was strapping on his chest armor. Nile stood there in the corner, watching his younger self admire his father.

“But why do you have to leave?” the younger Nile asked.

“Because I have too.”

“Don’t go! I haven’t seen you in years.”

Alexander stopped in his tracks and looked at Nile with a half-hearted smile. “I love you.”

“Of course you do, that’s why you left,” Nile said
.

Nile noticed the hurt look Alexander expressed more now than he did that day. He walked toward Alexander as he reached for his thick square-shaped helmet, with tiny dragon wings extending from both sides and he slipped it on. His eyes darkened. His broad shoulders glimmered in the sunset, and he turned, starting out of the house. Younger Nile said nothing and sat in an old rocking chair by the chimney. His father left, and he had not seen him since.

“I’m alone,” said younger Nile.

Nile emerged from the corner and approached his younger self. He squatted down and looked himself in the eye, wondering where time went. This moment seemed like it had happened yesterday. There was not much difference except for the hair; Nile’s hair was longer now. There was a moment of silence, and then Nile broke the peace. “If you can hear me, it doesn’t get much better.”

Younger Nile said nothing.

Nile wanted to grab his younger self and hold him. He wanted him to feel that somebody cared, even though it was his younger self. He extended his hands outward, placing them at shoulder length, and then watched as his hands went through his body. He did it again, and again, but still nothing.

Younger Nile got up, walked through Nile, and went outside on the large porch. He leaned over the banister as his father, Alexander Whitman, the greatest knight in all the land, departed with a few of his knights.

“Why can’t I touch you? Me?” Nile asked, waving his hand through his younger self. “I can’t change the past.”

Then Nile said it aloud. “I cannot change the past.”

Reaching into his pocket, feeling the cold gem between his rough, callused fingers, he pulled it out. He wrapped his hand tightly around it. “Let’s try this again.”

And with that said, he closed his eyes and a white light engulfed him. Time’s space warped in and around his body, then a vast emptiness of time swallowed him into a new dimension, a new memory, a time when he was sitting in a canoe with Dywnwen. This time, he was only thirteen. Nile laughed as he saw his younger self and then buried his face into his hands. “You’ve got to be kidding.”

Dywnwen and young Nile began to speak.

“One day, when I become a powerful knight, I’m going to come and rescue you.”

“From what?” Dywnwen asked excitingly, pulling the top of her white dress up to her lips for her to bite on.

Nile hesitated for a couple of seconds and then burst out. “Dragons!”

Dywnwen made a disgusted face. “Dragons? Dragons don’t exist.”

“Yep, they do.”

“My daddy said they don’t.”

“Your daddy doesn’t want to scare you.”

“Why would dragons scare me?”

“Because a great big dragon could fly to your tower and snatch you out. Or, breathe fire through your little window and watch you burn. Hahahahahaha.”

Dywnwen grew scared. “You’re lying.”

“Nope,” young Nile said.

Nile lifted his head with a grotesque smile. “Please, kid, don’t say the next thing.”

And younger Nile proceeded. “I’ll tell you if I’m lying if you give me a kiss.”

Nile leaned his head as far back as he could and laughed. “I can’t believe I did this.”

“All right,” Dywnwen said.

Young Nile leaned closer to Dywnwen as she closed her eyes. She puckered her lips out, and Nile’s little mouth watered—so did older Nile, wanting to relive this very same memory with the only woman he had loved. Sweat formed at his hairline and began to glide down his forehead. He closed his lips and moved a little closer. Dywnwen quickly jumped to his face, meeting his lips.

Young Nile opened his eyes and Dywnwen sat back with rosy red cheeks. To say the next sentence nearly pained Nile, but he looked deeply at Dywnwen and smiled. “I’m lying.”

Older Nile laughed. “Let’s try this again.”

Enaya flashed brighter than the heavens, and Nile turned nine, sharing a bed with his brother who was only seven. His mother, Rechelle sat on the edge, rubbing Isaiah’s long brown hair, while Alexander knelt beside Nile. The room was lit by a candle that was sitting on the nightstand.

Nile stood in the corner, watching as the memory was about to play out. Alexander leaned forward, his lips brushing against Nile’s forehead, and then he did the same to Isaiah. Isaiah rolled to Nile, his chubby cheeks as red as an apple, and he yawned. Nile felt warm inside, like they were alive.

This was what he was missing.

“Father,” young Nile asked. “When are you leaving?”

Alexander patted young Nile on the head. “In the morning before you wake.”

“Will you come and say good-bye before you leave?”

Alexander smiled as he glanced up to Rechelle. “Of course I will come say good-bye.”

A tear formed in Nile’s eye as he stood in the shadows. He slowly approached the foot of the bed and knelt down. Rechelle leaned over and stroked Isaiah’s face. Nile reached and placed his hand on hers, but it just sank through, filling up the mattress. Nile tried again, but the same thing happened.

“I love you two kids,” Alexander said as he pushed himself up off the bed.

Rechelle gave Isaiah a kiss on the lips and then kissed young Nile on the forehead. She got up and walked over to Alexander, kissing him softly. Young Nile began to nod off and Isaiah was already fast asleep.

Nile stood up from the bed and looked at them. “Please don’t leave! This is one of the last times we are all in the same room together. Father, you’re gone for the next several years. Please stay.”

Alexander and Rechelle left the room, and Nile sunk down to the floor against a wall crying. “Please don’t go! Please!” He leaned over toward the doorframe. “Come back! Come back! I’m begging you to come back! We will never be together like this again!”

Nile cried and cried, and no matter how loud he screamed, his family did not hear him. “I have nobody now. Please come back and just sit down. Please!”

Nile got to his feet and started out the door, but he hit something. He stumbled back and tried again, still hitting some sort of invisible shield. Nile was beginning to get angry. He put his hands up and pressed on the shield, but it did not give.

“My memory doesn’t go out here,” Nile mumbled.

Nile pressed his hands against the shield. It hurt so bad to see the people he loved just leave again. He turned and rested against the shield. He looked outside to see the moon, the castle, and the stars, and then he walked over to the bed and looked at Isaiah.

“Isaiah, you’re going to die someday, so I need to say this. I love you. I love you so much,” Nile said. His eyes watered, and he took a moment to catch his breath. “You don’t know how bad I wish we were kids again. I wish with all my heart that they killed me.”

He touched Isaiah’s face, but his hand sank within the memory of his little brother. Nile then placed his hand over his cheek, pretending they were connected and he just stared at his brother, for one of the last memories he was alive and he could almost feel the warmth of his skin against the palm of his hand.

“The hardest thing I ever had to do was get up the day after you died. You don’t know how many nights I lay awake and wonder where time went. You don’t know how much it bothers me to want to be young with you again and play outside, or sit on Father’s lap. You don’t know how much I wish we were a family again, Isaiah.”
Nile cried some more. “I love you. And I know I didn’t say it enough, but I love you more than anything.”

Nile leaned back and grasped Enaya with all his might, angry at the time gone from him. He stared at young Nile and his brother in the bed. Enaya rolled in the sweat of his hand as he clenched his fingers around it, and within the matter of seconds, a flash engulfed him within his memory.

Norcross froze in bewilderment, and Roland’s heart was filling with jealousy, Nile just knew it. It spoke through his eyes, through his menacing glares he would give Nile, but King Aidan, on the other hand, was shocked. The whole room seemed to be impressed. Locklin nodded at Nile with a smirk on his face as he reached for his goblet of wine. Leo was smiling too.