As we walk I look around the woods. We pass by insects and wildlife in various stages of action. But all seems to be frozen in time. As we continue I realize there is no breeze either. I wave my hand at my face and feel a breeze.
“Has anyone else noticed that everything is frozen in time, but you can still move the air around your body?” I ask.
“But wouldn't the air be frozen along with the planet?” Oaky asks.
“I would think since there is no air movement other than what we move,” I say.
“Could we be affecting the time stream just by being here?” Rock asks.
“I think the only one who would have an inkling would be Drake unless Silver does,” I say.
“I have never had any dealings with time manipulation. That was lost by the knomes when the clay lost its bindings,” Silver says.
“So we are all stumped. I thought this might be a hard one. I just didn't expect for everything to be frozen. Hard to ask questions when they are frozen,” I say then add after a long pause, “Unless you can read minds Jelly or Silver.”
“Sorry no sir,” Jelly says.
“I have never tried,” Silver says.
“Guess we will find out when we get to town. By the way how far is this town away while we walk? I couldn't tell from the view I saw through Jelly,” I say.
“I would say we will get there well before dark, but we could walk the whole planet before that happens,” Rock says.
Jelly chuckles, “You might be right Rock. But I have been keeping a sense of time. Time is still flowing just very slowly. Since we have been on the planet I have noticed some movement on a micro level. At rough guess I would say about one thousandth of a second has passed since we have been here.” Jelly says.
“How long is a second?” Rock asks.
“Ruffly it takes the average person about a second to say a thousand. But that is extremely ruff,” I say.
“And only one thousandth of that has passed?” Rock asks with shock, “That is really slow.”
“Yep” Jelly says.
“Your sensors are that sensitive Jelly? Damn I didn't expect that,” I say.
“You did say unique. That can include a lot,” Jelly says.
“Guess so, never thought about it. I will remember that from now on,” I say.
We walk in silence. We walk out of the woods into a clearing devoid of trees. In the distance I see signs of another town.
I have only seen the old west towns on TV, but this looks very similar. I will have to say they look more run down then I expected. The ones on TV look more uniformed and neater. These buildings look like someone just threw them together haphazardly.
Some of the roofs look like they have some kind of moss on them. None of the buildings have a neat trim porch either. There is a dirt path up to each door.
I see another stagecoach entering the town. If I didn't know better I would say the stagecoach is a badly made imitation. Even the two guys on the seat look like perfect replicas of people.
There is a woman entering into what looks like a post office. “Is the trace of magic in this town?” I ask.
“No,” Jelly returns, “It is on the other side, I do believe.”
“You know I just realized this is not the town I saw. We went the other way, Doh. This one doesn't have any smoke. Why do they have two towns so close together?” I ask.
“Because they wanted to,” Rock says.
“Ha, Ha, I gather this world is in the wild west stage my world went through. I wonder if they have made it to the industrial revolution,” I say.
“That would be hard to say,” Jelly says, “The small towns like this were the last to gain the benefits.”
“How do you know?” I ask.
“Because it is in your head, you just forgot,” Jelly returns.
“Oh,” I say then add, “Silver you mind trying mind read?” I ask.
“I can try,” he returns.
I walk over to a dirty young man walking down the dirt road, “How about him?” I ask.
Silver walks up to him and touches his head. After a few seconds he says, “I can. This human is very violent.”
“Yeah, not surprising. The wild west was like that,” I say.
“This man has no idea that he is frozen. To his perception everything is running normally. He is going to a tavern,” Silver says then pauses. “Oh that is what a tavern is.”
After a long pause Silver says, “Wait I see something that might be interesting. He remembers seeing some stone slabs where ghosts are said to be.
A friend of his went there and objects moved on their own. He understands it as vanishing then reappearing. He was told a story of the stones as a child. He was told that the demons made them appear overnight. One day they weren't there and the next they were.”
Silver takes his hand off of the man, “Why does he call them demons? I do not know of any race that is that violent or deceptive,” Silver says.
“Actually even in my world they still believe in demons. For most people, it seems, it is easier to blame the unknown on demons,” I say.
“Interesting,” Silver says, “If you don't mind Jelly I know how to get to these stones. It was in his mind.”
“I don't mind,” Jelly says.
Silver heads down the dirt road. We all follow behind him. Falls speeds up to catch up with him.
‘I read mating in your mind, but I do not understand its purpose.’ Jelly says in my head.
‘When two people, a male and female, feel they have a connection or love in other words. They get together to reproduce. It is instinct in most races. But some can still fall in love if they can't reproduce. To tell the truth I don't fully understand it. I just know when you fall in love you want to be with that person most of the time.’ I reply in my head.
‘Interesting concept to bad I have no one I can fall in love with.’ Jelly comments in my head.
‘I can create a female version of you and see if love happens.’
‘Thanks but no.’ Jelly replies in my head with a touch of sarcasm.
We exit the town on the other side. We turn off the road after the last building to the right. After several minutes I see a large stone standing up on end like at Stonehenge.
As we approach the stone I notice that it looks like a simpler version of Stonehenge without the center stone. There are no cross stones laying on the upright ones either.
We enter the circle but I see nothing unusual. “Well I don't see what good this does us. Even people in my world have no clue what Stonehenge is for,” I say.
“What is Stonehenge?” Falls asks.
“It is a stone circle similar to this one, except it has stones laid on the upright ones. I think there are a few more stones in the center too. I can't say for sure though since I have only seen pictures of it,” I say.
“We don't even know if this area is done by Balthazar,” Rock says.
“True, but it has ancient magic on it or something. Balthazar is the only one I know that could go through to other universes,” I say.
“Well maybe there were ancients here too,” Rock suggests.
“There is that. It's possible that time was not always frozen,” I say.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“We are dealing with time here. Drake may be the only one with knowledge of it,” Oaky says.
“True. Hope he doesn't mind the intrusion,” I say.
I create a wormhole with Drake in mind. When the window appears Drake is looking at it impatiently.
“What do you need, Jode?” Drake asks.
“We are at a conundrum. This planet is all but frozen in time. We found this stone design that has ancient magic attached to it. You are the only one we know that might have more understanding of time magic.
“Time magic was not used in ancient times. It was too unpredictable even for humans. If one was to manipulate time it could cause an effect that would ripple through time as well as space.
Time and space are interwoven together. You cannot work them separately. A simple levitation spell manipulates time and space since the planet is in constant motion,” he says.
“So no time magic was used in dimensional magic?” I ask.
“Directly, not that I am aware of,” he replies.
“Okay, sorry for disturbing you.” I say and get rid of the window.
“So now what? If time was not manipulated, then what caused this world to go slow?” I ask.
“Maybe this world was always in slow motion,” Rock says.
“Then what was altered by dimensional magic use?” I ask.
“I have been doing some checking in the area while you were talking,” Jelly says, “I have found an odd anomaly in the center of the circle.”
“Anomaly in what way?” I ask.
“There is an odd ripple in the molecules in the center of the circle. I would not think much of it except the ripple is in normal time not their time,” Jelly says.
“That means that there is magic or something at work here that is from our time. Now what is it and how do we use it?”
“It has ancient human magic on it so maybe you need to do something Jode,” Oaky says.
“I wouldn't know what,” I say.
“Maybe there is a hidden trigger,” Silver says.
“Ooo, hidden. Maybe what we are looking for is hidden,” I say.
“But I can't see anything hidden or invisible,” Jelly says.
“Can you see into other dimensions or planes?” I ask.
“I'm not sure,” Jelly says.
“Sesney,” I say.
“Yes?” Sesney asks.
“Can you see Sesney, Jelly?” I ask.
“I sense a ripple where he is, but no I cannot see him,” Jelly replies.
“Sorry Sesney, but thanks I was checking something with Jelly,” I say.
“Okay, is that all you need?” he asks.
“Yeah thanks,” I say.
“Do you think something is hidden in another dimension?” Jelly asks.
“That's what I'm thinking. I remember when the watcher was teaching me spells it said that seeing invisible objects is a matter of just allowing the mind to see it,” I say.
I try focusing on the area in the center of the circle. After a short time I figure that isn't working. So I try to look at the area out of focus. I am just about to give up when I see a strange flicker in the area.
I don't know why, but I think of the 3D pictures you have to look out of focus to see. I was able to see the 3D picture so I try that. After a couple of seconds I see a white door.
“There is a door here,” I say.
“Where?” Rock asks.
“In the center of the circle,” I answer
I try walking to it, but it vanishes. I stop and try the 3D trick again and it appears. I walk to where I think the handle is to open it and try to see it again. I am close enough to reach the handle. I keep my eyes unfocused while I slowly move my hand to the door.
Just as I am about to grab the handle I lose the door. I hold still and unfocused my eyes again. The door appears and I grab for the knob. My hand hits a solid object. My eyes lose the door but I can still feel it.
My hand looks like it is holding air. I turn the knob and feel the click of it opening. I try pulling, but it wont move. I then push and the door opens. I see a dark area where the door leaves the frame. I push it open and let go of the knob. I see a black area about the size of the door.
“Whoa,” Rock says.
I say Rope in my head and grab in my pouch. I pull out a long rope. I tie it around my waist and turn to the others.
“Okay I want someone to hold the end and pull if I don't come back out,” I say.
Rock grabs the rope and says, “Okay.”
I walk through the door and find myself in a dimly lit cave, “Can you hear me?” I ask.
“Yes, awesome,” Rock says.
I walk back out the door to see the others in the circle of stones. I take the rope from Rock and untie it from me. I roll it up and put it back in the pouch.
“Let's explore,” I say and walk in.
I step to the side to let the others in. The cave is about the size of an average front room. The light comes from glowing moss on the walls and ceiling. There is an archway along the opposite wall.
The air is dank with a hint of mustiness. Every sound echoes as everyone enters the room. I squint to see if there is anything I may have missed due to the low light. “Jelly what can you sense in the room?” I ask.
“It won't be able to sense anything,” comes a voice from the archway.
We all look at him quickly. A man of growing age stands in the doorway. His hair is pure white with a light mustache. I can see that his skin is wrinkly and dry. He stands a little over five feet tall. He is wearing some old clothes. His shirt looks like it was once a very distinguished shirt. His jeans look almost paper thin.
“Who are you, may I ask?” I ask.
“I should ask you that question, but I already know you are Jode. I am just a man that stumbled on Balthazar's lair. He caught me in here one day. Please come into my home. Don't forget to close the door,” he says and walks through the archway back into the other room.
I close the door and walk over to the door the man stood in. Inside I see an old musty couch and several chairs scattered around. On the far wall is a fireplace cut out of the stone. A small fire burns. A table sits next to the fireplace with some fruit and nuts.
I walk in and stand just inside the door to give everyone room to come in. “I hate to be rude but you have not said your name,” I say.
“Nope I haven't. You have arrived a bit sooner than expected. You have only worked on one of the worlds you were meant to help at. I am not sure what to do since that throws everything off.” He sits on a chair next to the fireplace. “Please sit down, we have much to talk about.”
I sit down in a chair hesitantly. I glance over at the others before looking back at him and ask, “I'm confused what do you mean we got here too early?”
The man smiles as he looks at me, “You are more ingenious then Balthazar had expected. This was to be the last place you figure out. The door was designed to be almost undetectable, but you managed it. Even reborn Balthazar resides in your heart and mind. I have been watching you all for some time. I am impressed at how well you all work together.
I think Balthazar expected a bit more turmoil after you found out about Rock's betrayal. He expected it to take you weeks if not months to get over it,” he laughs. “That is where you and Balthazar separate. He held onto grudges a lot longer than you do. That is part of the reason all this was set up.
I see by your faces that you think that Balthazar had a grudge against someone. No he didn't. The only grudge he had was of himself. He hated that the whole spell went completely awry. He thought he had anticipated every possible eventuality. But even a man like Balthazar cannot anticipate every person. Although he thought he could.
I have been asked to stay here to finish your journey as it would have stood, if you had accomplished all the other worlds. But since you have come here first I am at a loss. He did not anticipate this. He figured everything right up to this point.
I thought of removing the door so you could not get in, but I figure there is a reason. Even reincarnated Balthazar resides in you and directs your destiny. I just find it odd that he would allow you to figure the last of the puzzle out without first going through all the steps. Through the steps is where the answer lies in the curse and I for one can't even fathom what it is.”
“You mean you have no clue how to remove the curse?” I ask, stunned.
“No dear boy I do not. Only Balthazar has that answer and he took it with him when he died. The answer to that puzzle lies strictly in your ingenious mind. What I would do to be able to see all that Balthazar knew.” the man says with a hint of excitement under desperation.
“But what was all this about then?” I ask.
“To correct all that had been hurt by human magic. I am impressed with you Rock too. I figured you would have lost interest long ago. I figured you as the type more interested in fighting than learning,” the man says.
“Excuse me, but that sounds a bit judgmental,” Rock says.
“Yes it is but at my age I don't care. I have been alive longer then I was meant to and I am sure I will be alive even longer. I don't plan on leaving this place. I find it entertaining. I plan on keeping an eye on you all,” he says.
“What do you mean keep an eye on us? What else are we to do?” I ask, working into anger.
“That is mainly up to you. The answer you seek lies in your head. The only one that can answer that is you. But Balthazar has left clues and awakenings throughout the worlds. Each will awaken another part of you just as the rock world did.”
“But nothing was awakened,” I say now confused.
“Maybe not in a way that you can see, but it has. Each world has a spell left to activate a part of you. This was the only planet I know of that did not. I was to help you in any way I can and possibly fill in any empty areas of your knowledge about the worlds. That is why the magic he used in this world was so little and hidden. He had figured you would do this one last.”
“He was not very good with people was he?” I ask.
“Actually he was great with people. He could figure them out with a look. But the one person he could never understand was himself. And in essence you are him.”
“But I don't understand what to do then.” I say deflated.
“Exactly what you were doing. Your motley group and possibly any one else that chose to join you was designed to jump through worlds to help correct and stop many problems that pass between the veils. In all intensive purposes your group has a never ending job.”
“Oh great we are the cursed group in more ways than one,” I blurt.
He laughs, “I guess you are right. But it is up to each of you if you choose to keep going. There is no rush to accomplish any of what needs to be done. It has all been going fine since the second curse. It may be partly my fault since I was supposed to help direct you. But since the second curse I saw no world more in need then the others.”
I look around at the others, “Well I still would like to find the final answer, but since I have been informed that it is not absolutely required, any of you that choose I can take back home.” I say sadly.
“I wouldn't miss any of this,” Rock says.
“Well now I have two reasons to stay,” Oaky says.
“I just started so I want to see more,” Silver says.
“I go where Rock goes. But on a side note I am delighted he chose to continue,” Falls says.
“And I have no choice but to follow you. But I would even choose to follow if I didn't have to stay around you,” Jelly says.
“I guess I will have to ask Drake and Star when we get back,” I say.
“I can almost answer for them. I know Star has been looking forward to all this for some time,” the man says. “And I can almost bet that Drake will go anywhere that Star goes.”
“I guess we are on a long journey then. On a chase to find an answer to a puzzle that only I can answer, but have no clue. Sounds like fun” I say.