Many hours had passed. One sun was fading in the west while the smaller one had already set in the south. Abner approached the Altar cautiously so as not to startle the sleeping woman. He hesitated as he swallowed his fears of disease, and then nudged her ever so slightly while pressing his index finger to his lips. Her eyes fluttered open in fear, but she remained silent.
Abner revealed a small dagger and whispered. “Fear not. I hath come to help thee.”
Relief flashed across her face as he proceeded to cut her binds. The duct tape proved to be difficult, and Abner worked carefully. She flinched at one point, but remained calm. It was then that he saw fresh blood oozing from her wrist. He apologized, removed the sash around his robe, and bandaged the fresh wound.
“Pray tell, I urge thee to follow.”
“Thank you,” she rasped.
She looked weak, and limped with numb legs. Abner stopped before a lit fireplace. Grabbing one of the two unlit torches from the mantle, he stoked the fire until the tar on the torch began to burn. The fireplace was adorned on each side by two gold statues of lions. He grasped of the one on the left and twisted it sharply. With a click, the fire went out with a huge gust of air, and the soot-stained fireplace suddenly rocketed backward with an audible screech. At their feet, a dark descending stairwell revealed itself. As they descended, Abner was confused by the light up ahead. Moments later, the lion shifted back on its own accord and the fireplace screeched back into place. Slowly, the red embers burst back into flame.
Light shone down from the ceiling, and Abner couldn’t discern the source of it. He tried to hurry her through the strangely-lit room which Timur had filled with odd contraptions, but the woman had stopped. She appeared to be mesmerized.
“There’s a whole server farm in here!” She approached the rows of modern computer technology. “What’s it doing here?”
“Server farm?” Abner looked at the strange rows of contraptions. “What dost thou mean?”
“This technology is extremely old. I’m surprised it’s still running.” She sat down to face the only computer terminal. “I wonder what he needs this for?”
“I wouldst not touch that!” he warned. “Lest ye die from God’s wrath by lightning.”
“Nonsense.” She blew the dust off the old keyboard and typed in a few commands.
He looked over her shoulder and read the crude English flashing on the bulky millennial-styled computer screen:
GFID NANO-CHIP LINK UNESTABLISHED. ENTER ACCESS CODE:__________
“That’s disturbing,” she muttered to herself.
Wanting to get a better understanding of the odd machine, he placed his hand on the iguana’s back.
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“Show me, that I mayest understand.”
I shall show thee what thou dost desire.
As the vision unfolded, Lily faded from view as he looked around the room. All of the odd contraptions were absent, and the room was empty. A loud trumpet could be heard from somewhere above, and Abner felt the ground begin to shake. Suddenly, from the center of the room, a hole opened up and a beam of bright blue light shot upward into the ceiling. A loud humming sound reverberated off the walls, nearly knocking him off his feet.
“What is it that I doth see?”
I doth show unto thee a day over five thousand years ago when the Great Transport that didst bring our land unto the world Zion. What thou doth see is the activation of the great machine.
The vision returned to the present day with Lily still sitting with the odd contraption. He recognized that where the hole in the floor had opened up in his vision, an odd tower stood with a sideways disk mounted on it.
“What plans hath my Master with this odd device?!” he asked the iguana in alarm.
I shall show thee.
His eyes blurred as Lily disappeared again, and the chair was now occupied by Timur. After Timur entered a few commands, Abner heard the familiar hum and the ground began to shake again. The same beam of light blasted from the strange tower. This time, however, it didn’t shoot upwards but instead horizontally toward a dark mirror on the far wall. Timur rushed over to the wall, his pale green aura surrounding him. He grabbed hold of the mirror’s edge, and with a flash of light he was gone. In his wake, the mirror had transformed into something resembling a swirling whirlpool of water, which swallowed the strange beam of light. Seconds later, another beam shot out from the portal and connected to a strange tower hanging upside-down from the ceiling.
Thou doth see the portal to Earth that Timur shall create in a few days’ time.
“But…” Abner stammered. “If he doeth this, we shall be at risk of an invasion!”
Yea, verily ‘tis a risk indeed.
He was about to let go of the iguana’s back to end the vision when something unexpected happened. He watched in curiosity as a great dragon stepped through the portal, nearly filling the chamber. It roared in frustration and began tearing at the walls to find an opening.
Abner’s eyes blurred again and the vision faded into another. A light streamed in from a massive hole in the ceiling where the dragon had obviously broken out. Moments later, the light was blocked by a large figure dropping down into the hole. When the light returned, the same dragon had reappeared, and Lily sat straddling its saddle.
“We need to find a way to close that portal,” she said.
With her hand pressed against the back of the dragon’s neck, she sat on the saddle in silence, deep in concentration.
“What do you mean?” she asked, responding to an unspoken question. “What’s an Amulet?”
He watched her pat the dragon as if in response, and then realization dawned on him. She was speaking to the dragon.
Abner let go of the iguana’s back in shock. His eyes blurred again as he returned to the present. Lily still sat at the helm of the odd contraption. He stared at her in awe. He struggled with this new development.
This changes everything.
“Come!” He grabbed her arm, less reluctantly. “We must make haste!”
Abner carefully navigated the chambers of the ancient machine. Despite the damp muskiness of the air, his every breath tasted of freedom.
They traveled through the dark in a northwesterly direction for an hour, and finally arrived at the forgotten dock. From there they launched one of the remaining watercraft.
Though his original intentions had been sinister in nature, now her rescue stemmed from a much nobler cause. With the rapid northern current, he knew they would reach the shores to the west of the hidden Village of Udom shortly. He had family there, and in the solitude of the hidden village he would find some time to properly train his successor.
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