The Speaking Stone of Caradoc E-Book

Evadeen Brickwood

• Herausgeber: neobooks
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: Remember the Future
• Sprache: Deutsch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Seitenzahl: 379

Beschreibung

The three time travellers make their way east to fabled lands, once part of the continent we know as Atlantis. They must retrieve a Speaking Stone and keep it safe, until it can be delivered to its rightful custodians in the Land of Lyonesse. In the middle of the ocean lies the large island of Atala, the center of the 'Known World'. Atala turns out to be relatively safe and the children explore the capitol, where their knowledge of the Akkadian language improves by the day. Then it is time to leave through a maze of smaller islands to the 'Land of the Shaking Earth'. They meet witches, who can talk to animals and some crazy royalty, witness a fight between man and beast in prehistoric England and are lost in the future Scottish mountains. But not everybody means well with the children from the future. To just what lengths will giant sorcerers go to get their hands on the Speaking Stone and gain power over the 'Known World'? A spell to protect the time travelers backfires and soon evil dwarfs chase after them in dangerous pursuit. What exactly is the importance of this unusual stone and why is everybody after it?

Leseprobe

Time Travel Adventures

“The three children experience so many things and are not afraid of anything...”

Nokuthula Vilakazi, age 24

“I believe that teenagers of today like to read about ideas that are unconventional. The series goes a long way in bringing good reading material to today’s market. I certainly enjoyed reading the stories…”

Michelle Edridge, mother of bookworms

“Breathtaking adventures…A worthy sequel to ‘Children of the Moon’...”

Phyllis Hyde, avid reader of novels

“These books guide teenagers in the perception of their world and how they can shape their own destiny. They are unique…”

Andrew Nkadimeng, National Arts Council

What Happened In Book 1

Can you imagine, suddenly living in the past? Not last year or in the Roman Empire, but a really, really long time ago?

During a school outing, clever youngsters Katherine, Trevor and Chryseis find a time portal and go on the journey of their lives. 12,000 years in the past, things must have been very different, right? They jump into a fascinating new world of adventure and encounter an astonishing lost civilization, meet another time traveler and learn that they might change the future for the better. But who are the Children of the Moon? After a dangerous turn of events, the three time travelers wonder, if their trip wasn’t a big mistake after all...

About this Book

Katherine, Trevor and Chryseis embark on a ship and sail to remnants of the sunken continent of Atland. When a stolen speaking stone is found in their luggage everybody suspects the three friends. Will the time travelers be punished for the theft?

Suddenly everybody is after the mysterious stone from the fabled land of Lyonesse and some of the strange sea creatures are not as amusing as they seem.They escape only just a trap set by sorcerers in Prydhain and receive help from an unexpected source. Then the speaking stone has something to say...

Read about the author, Evadeen Brickwood at the back of this book...

An Excerpt From This Book...

“Miami, come in. Do you read me? Do you read me?”

Again, there was no answer from the airport tower, only static. Ever since his Cessna had unexpectedly hit a storm front over the Caribbean captain Greg Pearson, an experienced pilot with the Transaviac Charter airline, had tried to contact Miami airport. He hated not being in control of his aircraft. Dark clouds were swirling around and not even the frequent lightening had made a difference. The sight had been absolutely zero. Captain Pearson ran his hand nervously through his short grey hair. He had never experienced anything like this before.

“This is your captain speaking. Please remain seated with your seatbelts on. I don’t want to see anything else fly, except this plane.”

Captain Pearson had made a few encouraging and even funny remarks over the intercom at first. By now he felt more like screaming at whatever it was that had taken over his plane. Six passengers had embarked on the chartered flight in Bermuda thinking it a stroke of luck. The regular plane due to leave Hamilton for Miami at 7:25 am had been downed with a mechanical problem. The ocean had been calm and sparkling as the tiny, whining plane carried them across the blue sky morning. The passengers regretted their impatience sorely when a storm had hit them out of nowhere.

“Miami come in. Mayday!” The captain bellowed into the radio. “Mayday!”

Static answered. A hissing sound, which did not come from the equipment, had strangely risen and ebbed. None of the instruments worked from the onset of the turbulence, yet they hadn’t plunged into the sea. The Cessna seemed to simply glide as high winds were pulling and tugging at the wings. Now the lightening and swirling dark clouds morphed into heavy fog. A thick dark fog. The tugging stopped. Well, they were still in the air, weren’t they? But where?

“Betsy, keep them calm. Let them have champagne or whatever they want, just keep them calm,” he had told Betsy Fuller the flight attendant. Betsy had set her mouth in determination and went to work. She was a feisty woman with her black hair in a tight bun under the pert stewardess cap. This would not be her last flight, if she had anything to do with it. Jamal and Jerome, her three-year-old twins home in St. Petersburg needed their mother.

“Here is your Bloody Mary, sir.” Betsy Fuller put the red cocktail down on the folding table.

Lafayette Thomas, a civil engineer from Ohio, seemed to be asleep with his head leaning against the window. She left him alone. A British historian, Dr. Peter Spencer, and his son Scott sat rigidly upright, their faces chalky white. The other passengers sat still staring ahead of them in anticipation of the inevitable crash. No need yet for oxygen masks, but the passengers were wearing their yellow life jackets. Betsy Fuller, efficient even in the face of danger, had made sure of that.

“Champagne, sir?”

“Champagne? Is there something wrong? How much longer do we have to endure this?” Dr. Spencer asked timidly.

“Sir, it will be over sooner than you think.”

The plane lurched and Betsy had to steady herself against the seat.

“Have you ever been in weather like this?”

“Oh yes, sir, many times,” the stewardess lied. “And I’m still here.”

She poured a glass of champagne for the historian and a coke for his pop-eyed son. The strange hissing sound stopped abruptly.

“Ha, give me some champagne, too!” A half-drunk passenger roared at the back. “Why not go out on the good stuff?” He laughed hysterically.

“Mayday, Miami, do you read me?” Captain Pearson tried again to make contact, but the static had made way for dead quiet. “Great, that’s helping!”

The two engines sputtered back into action, but it was too dangerous to risk a blind emergency landing. All the captain could do was keeping the plane afloat. Then he saw lights on the ground. Could it be stars reflecting in the sea? But unbelievably, land appeared through the thinning mist and the lights were on the land! His joy turned to dismay. There shouldn’t be any land yet. Not in the Sargasso Sea, unless the force of the storm had driven them completely off-course. Then the fog lifted and Betsy entered the cockpit. “Captain what is going on?”

“Something very strange, that’s for sure. There is land below, but I have no idea where we are.”

“Why is it dark outside? It can’t be that late. Darn, my watch stopped working.” A half-moon stood out brightly against the starry sky. It had been broad daylight just before the storm. They had left Bermuda at 9:15 am sharp. The captain checked his watch. It had stopped at 11:12 am, May 28th.

“Are you going to attempt an emergency landing?” Betsy’s voice trembled.

“Without instruments? Too much of a risk. There is still enough fuel in the tank. We’ll have to cruise, while I try and establish contact.”

“What do I tell the passengers? They are asking questions.”

“Tell them everything is fine. We’re just a bit off course that’s all.”

But before Captain Pearson could contact the nearest airport, the instruments came on again, blinking and beeping. The captain tried to operate them, but it was as if something had taken over from him. The landing gear dropped. A few minutes later, the Cessna set down on an illuminated runway, narrowly missing two cone-shaped buildings. The passengers clapped. As soon as the plane touched down, people started to emerge from the buildings. Large people in long white robes...

Watch the book trailer on the youtube Evadeen Brickwood Channel:

http://youtu.be/0d9B5i8OERg

This book is also available in print in all good bookstores

THE SPEAKING STONE OF CARADOC

Remember the Future Book 2

Evadeen Brickwood

First published by Evadeen Brickwood at Smashwords

The revised version was published

at Kindle Direct Publishing, Tolino and in South Africa

Copyright 2014 Evadeen Brickwood

NLSA ISBNs 978-0-9946918-1-1 (pdf), 978-0-9946918-2-8 (mobi),

978-0-9946918-3-5 (epub)

Kindle ASIN: B013RAZ110

Smashwords ISBN: 978-13-10856099

Tolino EAN: 9783739322797

Map illustration: Evadeen Brickwood

Cover Design by Yvonne Less, www.art4artists.com.au

Source for cover images: ‘Depositphotos.com' licensed

Book Layout: Birgit Böttner

Discover other youth titles by Evadeen Brickwood:

Children of the Moon

Remember the Future Book 1

Time Travel Adventures

Kinder des Mondes

Erinnerungen an die Zukunft 1

free: The short story An African Soccer Story

and soon

The Secret of the Bird God

Remember the Future Book 3

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All rights reserved.

Without limiting the rights under the copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), lent, resold, hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form, binding or cover without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

The moral rights of the author have been established

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referred to in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of the trademarks is not authorized, associated with or sponsored by the trademark owners.

Maps of the Atlantean Sea and Prydhain:

THE SPEAKING STONE OF CARADOC

Remember the Future Book 2

Chapter 1

A Prehistoric Sea

In the early afternoon sunlight, the ocean resembled a blanket made of shimmering scales. SPLASH! A school of dolphins accompanied the ‘Navis Arion’, diving effortlessly in and out of turquoise waters.

Trevor sat on a pile of coiled tackle, his hair tousled by the breeze. He steadied himself with his feet against the railing as he concentrated on drawing a colourful seabird perched close to him. Good thing he had brought his pad and pencil, but drawing the floppy thing over the birds beak was a bit of a challenge.

What swam around in these prehistoric oceans was still a complete mystery to them. They had only just left the country of Alesia and there were so many things they still had to learn about this ancient world.

“How clear the water is!” Katherine gazed longingly into the shallow sea. “I wish we could just stop the ship right here and go for a swim with the dolphins.”

“You’re kidding, right? It’s not safe to swim.”

“I guess so,” Katherine said.

It hadn’t even been a month since their trip through time began and Katherine sometimes still wondered, if this Alesian epoch was for real.

“Do you remember how it was in the beginning?” she asked Trevor. “How scared we were when we saw our first giant?”

“Túvar?”

“Yes!”

“Sometimes - and for your information, I wasn’t scared.”

“Hah, sure you were,” Katherine teased him.

Her accent was still faintly British, unlike that of her two American friends Trevor and Chryséis . The people of Alesia spoke an Akkadian dialect, so nobody cared much about English accents, and the time travellers had learned to communicate in this ancient language. At first, Katherine had been so scared of taking the trip back in time. Even in the name of science. Now she couldn’t wait to see more of the ‘Known World’ the Lady of Cydonia had told them so much about.

“I like it here. I’m glad we stayed.”

“Yeah, I’m glad too,” Trevor said and looked up briefly.

They had been exploring this long-forgotten time ever since the vortex had released them in Cydonia, the capital city of Alesia. The nature reserve of Carter Valley had been ideal for their time travel experiment. Not far from the school, but fairly remote and no major electromagnetic interference.

They were smart, but not in their wildest dreams would they have expected a marvelous prehistoric city in the middle of Carter Valley! This civilisation was so terribly ‘modern’.

It had all begun with a school project in quantum physics: an endless energy source that powered a time-portal-finder. Nobody had tried that before. Not even other gifted children at the Pemberton Academy. They were planning to present their project in class next week — well what was next week in the future. The other kids would fall off their chairs when they saw the pictures! They were almost 12,000 years in the past. Imagine that: twelve millennia. Twelve!

It didn’t matter how long their sea voyage took. They would return at precisely the same moment they had left the future when they decided to go back. So they had decided to stay for as long as it took to travel to Atala and back. A few weeks more or less surely didn’t make a difference.

“Are those merpeople under the boardwalk? There at the tip of the peninsula?”

“Hard to tell, could be sea cows.” Trevor squinted to get a better look. ”No, definitely merpeople.”

The ‘Navis Arion’ had left the seaport of Aztlan on the safe mainland over an hour ago. Safe, if one ignored the fact that giants had started a war against the country of Alesia there. An unsuccessful war. Before their time travel began, they had been afraid to bump into cavemen and dinosaurs or land in a volcano.

Who would have thought of mermaids and evil giants? Okay, there were actually cavemen and small dinosaurs and probably also volcanoes around, but nowhere near as scary. In fact some cavemen, known as Konks, were sailors on the ship.

As they moved east in a gentle seesaw motion, the citadel of Aztlan became a tiny white speck against the dark hills and the Alesian coastline slowly merged with the sky.

The dolphins leapt into the air and splashed back into the water.

“Ooh, careful you guys. I’m getting all wet,” Katherine laughed.

Technically, their ship was on its way to D’ântilla, an island state in the Caribbean Sea. Only that D’ântilla no longer existed in the future and the Caribbean Sea did not yet exist. It didn’t trouble the time travellers one bit. Even people with green skin and the hairy Konks with their human faces seemed normal after just two weeks. They would visit a few Atlantean islands and prehistoric England, then return to Alesia and travel back to the future through the time portal. It was a good plan.

“Trev, where’s Chryséis ?”

Trevor shaded his eyes with his hand against the sun. “I think she’s in the front with Kheton and Lelani.”

Kheton and Lelani were a young Cydonian couple. Kheton was their guardian and some sort of junior citadel judge and had agreed to take the children as far as the main island of Atala.

“I’ll go and see what Chryséis is up to.”

“Okay, I’ll just keep drawing this bird here. Can’t believe it hasn’t moved.”

“Maybe it’s sleeping. Why don’t you just take a picture?”

They had brought a small digital camera with them.

“I like to draw, and besides, I have nothing else to do.”

Trevor gazed at the screeching seabirds sailing through the air. They had humped beaks and were featherless. Featherless?

“Could be flying therasaurus, the way they are gliding down from the rocks.”

“Or maybe they’re just a strange, featherless species of birds.”

“Yes, sure. Don’t fall into the water while I’m gone,” Katherine grinned and Trevor looked up crossly.

“Funny,” he grumbled, feeling his ears go red. “Will I ever live that one down?”

He was still embarrassed by the incident in the harbour. A sharp push by someone on the landing had sent him into the murky waters just before they left.

“Oh come on, I’m just kidding.”

“Whatever.”

“Okay then, see you later.”

Katherine staggered along the railing. She had to get past the colourful seabird with the parrot beak, Trevor had been drawing. The bird suddenly took to the air with a loud croak and gave Katherine a mighty fright.

“Hey!”

“Scared to fall into the water, Katie?” Trevor grinned and scrawled a few more lines on the paper.

“No, not at all.” Katherine’s voice trembled a little. She walked on bravely to the front of the ship. Trevor put the drawing pad aside and studied the view. They were just leaving a small island behind, all covered in tropical plants.

The ship was close enough for Trevor to see horseshoe crabs scurrying along the beach with hungry seabirds in pursuit. Soon they passed another island that looked rather less inviting. Stark rocks jutted out of the foaming surf that thundered against the steep shore. The rocks were covered in shrieking white dots, while large birds circled the shallow bay. If they were birds at all.

Just as Katherine returned with Chryséis in tow, a deep growl rose in the distance and echoed off the rocks. The dolphins that had accompanied the ship were nowhere to be seen.

“Look over there! Is that — a whale?” Chryséis cried.

The hulking body of a large animal with a long neck and broad flippers dived just below the water surface. Waves sent the ship wobbling.

“Looks just like the whale in Aztlan. Don’t you think?”

“You mean that huge thing on the beach? I’m not so sure.”

“What else can it be?”

“Oh, I don’t know. But it was sad how the fishermen cut it up and stacked all that the blubber. Had to be a whale.”

“Well, it’s their job, isn’t it?”

“It’s still sad.”

The sea animal with the long neck came up and stared at them with intelligent eyes while paddling on its back. The three friends stared.

“That’s so amazing. Get the camera, quick!” Chryséis leaned over the railing.

“Where did you put it?”

But it was already too late. The ‘whale’ dived and was gone, just to reappear with a bigger companion in a cloud of water spray. They both darted off into the open sea. The boat wobbled again and seawater splashed up.

“Whoaaa!” Chryséis jumped back. ”I’m getting all wet.”

“Did you see that? If they are whales, I’m Mickey Mouse!”

The ship lifted ever so slightly off the water and the wobble stopped. They floated effortlessly on the water’s surface due to a standard anti-gravity device, which impressed the time travellers even more than the strange animals. Trevor managed to take a picture and zoomed in to have a better look.

“Let me see that.” Chryséis took the camera. All she could make out was water spray, a long thin neck and a triangular fin. “It’s too fuzzy. Could be a big fish. We should have brought a better camera with sound and video function.”

“Sure, let’s quickly go back home and fetch another camera.”

“Ha, ha — too bad we can’t use a cell phone!”

“Maybe they’re dinosaurs…Elasmosaurus…saurus,” Trevor stuttered as he put down the camera, hardly daring to say the words.

“Yeah, just like the monster of Loch Ness?” Chryséis laughed and shoved him. “Get real Trev, Elasmosaurus?! They died out ages ago. I mean ages!”

“It’s not impossible.”

“Here we go again —” Chryséis teased, but she felt uneasy.

Trevor could be right, of course. After all, they had seen strange farm animals back in Cydonia. What if saurians still roamed the oceans?

“Do you think there are lots of ‘Nessies’ out there?”

“Who knows,” Katherine said casually. “Nobody on the ship seems to mind them. Seem quite harmless. Probably just wanted to check out the ship.“

“What if they’re not harmless?”

“Oh get out of here. I’m sure the ships are prepared for that with rayguns and stuff like that. If there’s trouble, they’ll just zap them.”

“Nicely put, Trevor.”

Trevor shrugged his shoulders and sat back down on the heap of tackle next to Chryséis .

“Oh well, if we can’t get a proper picture, I’ll just make a drawing.”

Chryséis stretched her neck to get a look at the bird Trevor had penciled earlier. It was quite life-like, right down to the feathers and eyes.

“Trev, that’s very good! I didn’t know you could draw like that.”

“Oh it’s nothing, just a dumb sketch.” Trevor drew back, a little embarrassed.

“That’s more than a dumb sketch. You’re good!”

A light splash announced that the cheerful dolphins were back. Katherine leaned over the railing and whistled just as the mermaids in Aztlan had taught her yesterday. Did the dolphins jump a bit higher?

“They understand you,” Trevor said admiringly.

“You think?”

“Mhmm.”

Trevor wiped water droplets off his page and carried on drawing from memory. Two of the dolphins ‘danced’ backwards on their tails and answered Katherine’s whistling with excited chatter.

“Oh cute!” Katherine whistled some more.

“Those birds are making a heck of a noise,” Trevor complained.

“They don’t come with volume control. It’s called nature.”

While Katherine and Trevor were having a friendly squabble, Chryséis observed the birds fishing in the shallows. Black-rimmed wings tucked back at the last moment before the dive, then bobbing to the surface with wriggling fish. Just before the ship rounded a massive wave-beaten rock, a long snout with sharp teeth broke through the surf, snapping at the birds.

“Wow, what was that?” Chryséis caught another glimpse of the jaws clamping one of the featherless birds. The ship rounded the rocks and the animal was gone. “Did you see that thing?”

“No, what thing?” Trevor looked up from his drawing pad then lost interest again.

“Oh, never mind, you won’t believe me anyway.”

“What?!” Katherine insisted.

“It looked like…a huge crocodile. In the surf and I think there were others underwater, catching birds. You know like the one in Aztlan.”

“Yeah right. You’re trying to scare me. Thanks.”

“I’m not joking!” Chryséis cried.

“Okay, must be a saltwater crocodile then. They can get really big.”

“Still feel like swimming?” Trevor was being sarcastic.

“Okay, I get it. It’s too dangerous to swim in the sea.” Katherine shrugged her shoulders.

“It was enormous – just like the one in Aztlan. Hey!” Chryséis yelled. A big blob of gray slime had spattered onto her head and sleeve.

“Yuck, that’s bird poo, so gross!”

“Oh no,” Katherine began to laugh. ”Ghastly!”

“Oh you!” Chryséis waved her fist at the sky. There were so many birds that it was impossible to tell which one had dropped the bomb.

“At least it’s not me this time,” Trevor gloated and Chryséis glared at him.

“How on earth do I get this stuff off me?”

“A wild guess would be water and elbow grease,” Trevor suggested.

Katherine asked one of the hairy Konk sailors for a bucket of water and a cloth. Then she vigorously wiped the muck out of Chryséis ’ hair. Chryséis just stood there stiff with disgust.

“Oh, it’s so gross. My hair’s all sticky,” she wailed.

“Excuse me, who is cleaning you up here?” Katherine washed her hands again in the bucket water. “You can wash your hair tonight.”

The Konk sailor came and took his bucket and cloth away without a word. He needed them. They knew that Konks didn’t like to speak. The long red hair on the sailor’s arms and under his fleeing chin flattened in the breeze as he waggled his ape-like head. A coarse ponytail peeked out from under his blue cap.

They tried not to stare as the Konk chucked the dirty water overboard and walked away.

“Gee thanks, I only still need it,” Katherine moaned and hurried after him.

Chryséis tied her sticky blonde strands into a ponytail with a disgusted grimace. Trevor had an idea how to distract her.

“You could send Alun in Cydonia a telepathic message.” Alun had been their first prehistoric friend and was Kheton’s younger brother.

“Do you think it’ll work?” Chryséis slowly unscrewed her face.

“Why not? You did it before.”

They had all learned how to use telepathy in Cydonia, but only Chryséis had managed to use it properly.

“I must relax first.” She sat down on the tackle next to Trevor.

Trevor squinted at his sketch. Not bad, not bad at all. The head was still a bit too big, though. He erased the lines and drew the head again.

Katherine reappeared with clean hands, just as Chryséis closed her eyes to visualize Alun’s face.

“What is she doing?” she asked Trevor, but he just shook his head and put a finger on his mouth.

Chryséis concentrated on a message to Alun and the answer came promptly: Enjoy your voyage, friends. Remember to visit the observatory in Kamûk! You must tell me about the raygun. May the Earthmother bless you.

Chryséis told the others excitedly about the thought transfer. “Oh, boys! All he can think about is the ray gun.”

“I wish I could do that,” Trevor said. “This thought transfer.”

“You just have to practice more.”

“If you say so…,” he felt a little jealousy creeping up on him.

“Let’s go to the front,” Katherine said. ”They have proper seats there and we can watch where the ship’s going.”

“Okay, I’m done here anyway.”

Trevor stuffed his drawing pad between the daypacks and followed the girls to the bow of the ship. Kheton stood by the front railing, his long tunic fluttering in the breeze, showing off the handsome young man’s muscular chest.

There was a rumbling and the ship rolled a little.

“What was that? Do you think we rammed something?”

Trevor scanned the water. “I can’t see anything.”

“Ho, Tian! Go see what’s making the noise below,” captain Thëlamôn bellowed from the captain’s cubicle above the stairs. The cubicle contained the steering wheel and all sorts of interesting-looking instruments.

“Aye, aye, captain.” One of the younger sailors sprinted down the stairs below deck to investigate.

“Did you see all those gadgets in the captain’s cubicle?”

“You think they have radar?”

“Not just radar, I wonder how he lifted up the ship earlier.”

A minute later, the sailor called Tian reported back. “Two bales of cloth wrangled free and were knocking against the hull, captain. I fastened the bales.”

“No danger then, just some loose cargo in the hull,” the captain announced to the passengers. Then he continued to survey the ocean ahead.

In Aztlan, the ship had taken fine Alesian silk cloth aboard, destined for the island of Daitya. The cloth would be exchanged for a cargo of Daityan woolens. Daityans were a funny bunch, only interested in wool and raising sheep, forever spinning and knitting all day long.

Katherine let out a deep breath. “Thank goodness!”

They sat down on low canvas chairs and soon Chryséis and Katherine were chatting about this and that, while Trevor took a nap. This morning, they had seen all sorts of weird and wonderful people at Aztlan harbour. Like the ‘fairies’ with their flowing hair and butterfly clothes and a woman with green skin, who had been carried in a sedan chair. The girls debated the likelihood for inheriting green skin for a while. But, there was something else they remembered. Two Gabari giants in dark cloaks near the cooking house where they had eaten seafood.

“Those guys were creepy,” Chryséis said.

“Yes, creepy.”

“I wonder what they were talking about. Always looking around like that, as if they had huge secrets to discuss. Totally dodgy.”

“Maybe undercover agents. James Bond chasing after the prehistoric villains of the ‘Known World’!”

“The name is Bondûr, Jamon Bondûr.” They laughed.

“Then they are not very good at hiding it. What good are agents you can spot a mile away? Nah, there was something else going on.”

“As long as we don’t have to see them again…”

“Now that would be really creepy.”

The girls didn’t realize who it was they had seen. And it wasn’t a joke.

“Wonder what Kheton’s thinking about.”

“Lelani of course.”

Lelani had gone below deck, checking on her dowry, while Kheton enjoyed the warm breeze. He would soon begin his duty as ‘Honourable Junior Delegate from Alesia’ in Algiras. Algiras was the capital of Atala, the Atland archipelago’s main island.

Kheton thought about looking for Lelani, when she came up the stairs and came to stand quietly next to him. He looked at her proudly. Lelani was so beautiful with her auburn hair all wind-blown and her cheeks blushed by the fresh sea air.

The sun dipped lower in the sky and the rippling waters were turning the colour of charcoal glass.

“Steady on! Let’s reach Kamûk, before darkness falls and the monsters of the deep come out to play with ya dawdling seafarers,” captain Thëlamôn bellowed.

“Aye, aye captain!” the crew answered and the ship gained speed.

Captain Thëlamôn wore the customary dark-blue shirt with the captain’s compass rose on the chest. He had sailed the Atlantean Sea on his father’s trading ships from the age of four. The sea was in his blood.

Soon one of the sailors called out. “Terreis – land. Terreis D’ântilla!”

They were thrilled. This had to be a remnant of Atlantis. Would D’ântilla be very different from Alesia? Chryséis checked her watch. It was twenty seven past five. She pointed straight ahead. “That’s so cool.”

A massive lighthouse slid by to their right. Round rooftops above the seawall shone like copper pearls in the setting sun. The domes were coated in precious orichalcum and belonged to the temple of the sun god Raïs, the patron god of Kamûk.

“And look at all those ships flying their flags,” Trevor said.

They joined Kheton and Lelani at the railing, determined not to miss a thing. On a hill to the left, a series of white, egg-shaped buildings overlooked the bay.

“That must be the observatory with the new raygun.”

“Yes, looks like it.”

“Alun says the cosmic deflector raygun is powerful enough to vaporize meteors and asteroids.”

“Can’t wait to see it for myself.”

They hadn’t visited the observatories in Alesia, but they had heard about them. The roof pearls were soon the size of large coppery onions and the town was bathed in a darkening orange glow as the ‘Navis Arion’ sailed through the harbour entrance.

“That’s magic,” Chryséis said in awe.

“Trev, did you take a picture? Hurry up the sun is sinking fast.”

“Not yet.”

“Hurry up!”

Ahead of them, two junks with sails like red fish fins and flying brightly-coloured flags were following the navigator’s boat to the docks. They landed shortly before nightfall. Close to the temple of the sun with the familiar sitting statue of a large bronze sculpture. Here, the crew would give thanks to the sun god Raïs as was Alesian custom.

“Make ready to go on land, athenai,” Kheton said. He called them athenai – friends.

“We’ll be ready. Just getting our things,” Chryséis said.

They walked to the back as the dark water reflected artificial lights lit up one by one along the shore. Large vimaans transported merchandise from all over the Known World along the illuminated streets. The scents of vanilla and sandalwood mixed with the less pleasant harbour odors. The sailors lined up, looking forward to merriment at the amphitheater tonight.

“After the harp concert, they show ‘Sons of Turennis’, about the theft of magical objects and retribution,” one of the sailors said.

“Great play, Saw it in Algiras. Quite a spectacle.”

The passengers disembarked and dock workers began to clear the cargo onto the landing.

“Well, I never…,” Katherine stared down at a group of maidens on the broad steps leading into the water.

A welcoming committee from the citadel of Kamûk serenaded the visitors while a young apprentice maiden put flowers in their hair.

“From snow-capped mountains to the deep blue sea, D’ântilla Island welcomes thee. We hope you will enjoy your stay before you must be on your way. Welcome, welcome to Kamûk, welcome, welcome to Kamûk…”

Good manners demanded that they listen politely. So the time travellers stood awkwardly on the landing with everybody else, until the maidens had finished their song.

Kheton, being the visiting diplomat, held a short speech, officially thanking the maidens for their musical effort and hospitality. Then a vimaan with the emblem of Kamûk’s citadel carried them through cobblestone streets and up the citadel hill, before descending in the court yard next to an ornamental fountain.

They were treated to a lavish dinner in the great hall. Crab patties, the local specialty, were heaped on golden platters with fried octopus heads and other delicacies of the sea.

Later, the young travellers watched the harbour skyline from their balcony. Kheton and Lelani had gone to watch the play at the amphitheater as official guests of the Lady of the citadel.

“I’m so glad they have bathrooms here.”

Chryséis had successfully washed the bird muck out and was wearing pajamas she had found on her bed. Her jade-coloured Alesian silk suit was hanging over chairs to dry.

“Yeah, but why do they always put us into the same room?” Trevor sighed.

The maidens had assumed that all three of them were siblings. Nothing new, then.

“I’ll take this bed.” Trevor drew back the blanket on a bed by the window. “I’m beat.”

“So am I,” Katherine murmured. She was already half-asleep in the soft covers.

Distant clapping and cajoling drifted up from the amphitheater. Despite the peaceful mood, Trevor couldn’t shake a feeling of unease. Something about D’ântilla felt very different. But what?

He had another dream that night. Of giants in dark cloaks. Of fairies, who cleverly fought the giants with magic tricks and of a large featherless seabird that devoured a black spider to the faint and distant tune of ‘…Welcome, welcome to Kamûk, welcome, welcome to Kamûk…’

Chapter 2

The Speaking Stone

Their room was in a shambles. A citadel guard searched under the table, bumped into Chryséis and she moved out of the way.

“How much longer is this going to take?” she groaned and rolled her eyes. “What on earth do they want from us?”

The man apologised politely and began to rummage around on top of the carved cupboard. After the warm welcome yesterday, this was the last thing they had expected. Their morning outing had been rather pleasant, but when they returned a short while ago, guards were already searching their quarters.

Kheton was still in a conference with other dignitaries and could not be reached.

“A Speaking Stone went missing in Alesia and was taken to Kamûk.” Lelani reported back after speaking to the captain of the guards. “The guards are searching for it. It is a grave offense to have such an object in one’s possession.” She was wringing her hands in despair. Lelani obviously knew what a speaking stone was. The time travellers did not.

“What has that got to do with us?” Katherine demanded to know from Trevor.

“Maybe they’re searching everybody, who came from Alesia.”

“Let’s find out.”

“Why do you search in our room, guardsman?” Trevor asked one of the men in halting Alesian, while the man rifled through the contents of a wooden chest. “Do you believe that a…speaking…stone is in our room?”

He watched annoyed as his drawing pad went flying onto the floor.

“So sorry, but the Lady gave orders.” It was all the guard was willing to say.

“Careful with t h a t!” Chryséis took the palmtop computer from another guard and opened it so that he could see that there were no stones inside. “I knew something like this would happen. I knew it!” she said crossly.

“Relax, we haven’t done anything wrong.”

Katherine stood by the open balcony doors, wishing she could just make all this go away.

“Why don’t they just talk to the stone? If it can really talk, it will answer, right?”

“You mean like phoning your cell phone when you’re looking for it?”

“As if. Who’s ever heard of stones that can talk?”

Another guard crawled around them on all fours. “Kindly move to the other side.” He lifted the rose-coloured curtain hem, probing along the wall.

“Dear friends,… guards. A ‘Speaking Stone’! They are mere children…” Lelani finally gave up and sat numbly down on Katherine’s bed.

At daybreak, she had looked forward to their tour around Kamûk, starting with the harbour district. Kheton had stayed behind to conduct official business.

Warehouse after warehouse lined the roofed-in docks and roads. After stopping at a cooking house, their guide had taken them to the observatory in the Iapetus Hills east of Kamûk. They flew past tropical plantations and farm stalls.

The observatory had been a jaw-dropper. Not just because of the huge shark statue outside the entrance, but because of the sheer size of the five egg-shaped buildings. They had joined a group of tourists and listened rapt to what the astronomer had to say. He looked quite nerdy and introduced himself as Parnú of Lycia.

“Lycia is a small town close to the southern coast of D’ântilla, for those, who are foreign to our shores,” Parnú clarified upfront. “The site of this observatory has a long history. Gabari natives erected stone circles before the great deluge, when D’ântilla was still part of Atland. These stone circles served as observatories to the ancients.”

Parnú explained that the scientists of the modern observatory were trained to detect and destroy heavenly bodies posing a threat to the mother planet.

“You may have heard we possess an effective forewarning system. We now also have a powerful new raygun.” He paused. “Asteroids that can be dangerous to us. Ever since the planet Astra exploded eons ago, leaving behind rocks that now circle the heavenly realm. We will view the cosmic deflector raygun a bit later.”

The time travellers nudged each other.

“Friend Parnú, please tell us about this planet ‘Astra’,” Chryséis asked shyly.

Parnú told them matter-of-factly that the planet had existed beyond the red planet, Xipe Xolotle for many cycles of arc. They already knew that a cycle of arc was thousands of years.

“A planet between Mars and Jupiter? No way!” Trevor had cried out in surprise.

The astronomer and other tourists seemed a little miffed at the impolite outburst in a language they didn’t understand. An uncomfortable Lelani looked the other way and Trevor fell silent.

Parnú quickly changed the subject as he led the way through long passages with shining floors into another part of the observatory. The children from the future hung back and whispered to each other and Katherine had a sudden idea.

“Listen, D’ântilla must be roughly to the southwest of the Bermuda triangle…” She didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence.

“We will now watch a mirage,” the astronomer announced solemnly and led the visitors through metal doors that slid noiselessly open.

They had arrived at the planetarium. The tourists took their seats and a young thin man with a stubby nose, made ready to put the mirage roll into its wall slot. He had been in charge of ‘Mirage Education’ for only a few days and was proud of his new position.

It was a very good mirage and the visitors were usual quite impressed. The lights in the hall dimmed and the seats moved down into a horizontal position. The mirage showed scientists working frantically on control panels as a monotonous voice spoke.

“…the trajectory of an approaching asteroid, hurtling at high velocity towards the mother planet, was predicted through precise mathematical calculations. The asteroid moves in direct collision course with the mother planet. Engineers train a raygun on the approaching asteroid, emitting super-concentrated light rays.”

Bang! The asteroid was destroyed just in time, with smaller pieces whizzing through space in a cloud of dust. They vaporised on impact with the earth’s atmosphere in a spectacle of sparkling showers.

The mirage apparently depicted an actual incident not too far in the past.

“Our civilisation has nothing to fear when it comes to celestial hazards. We can now take on even larger planetoids.”

The audience murmured approval. Next up was a tour of the new cosmic deflector raygun. The real thing! A large vimaan transported the visitors to the top of the hill where they were dwarfed by a huge apparatus inside an oval building. The domed roof was busy opening when they walked into the hall.

“Please keep sufficient distance, athenai, not beyond this line,” Parnú instructed.

His voice echoed off the high round wall and roof. The awed group retreated behind a yellow line that was painted on the very shiny floor and stared up at the surprisingly plain looking raygun. There were no screws or wheels or levers. Just a telescope mounted on a dimly illuminated board.

As Parnú led them around the apparatus, a control panel with different-coloured squares on the other side of the board came into view. Two scientists seemed to evaluate lines and curves on the screen and spoke in muted tones.

“Why is it so flat and wide in front?” Katherine whispered.

“I don’t know. Maybe because it’s easier to program the angle they need. Did he just say they can use a pulse action from different angles?”

“I think so.”

The flat, oval outlet looked like a giant mouth. The friends barely listened when Parnú told them about the other features. Trevor stayed behind and secretly took a picture of the raygun and the scientists. Then he took a photograph of the stone circles below through the great windows. In the background, the sky over the harbour looked hazy.

“We are coming to the end of your visit. Shukri athenai, thank you for your visit to our humble scientific establishment in the Iapetus Hills.”

Parnú concluded the tour and the visitors were transported down to the shark-guarded entrance of the observatory. Soon a flurry of vimaans rose into the air and descended on Kamûk. From here the palm-fringed beaches looked rather inviting.

“We will return to the citadel to freshen up. Then we will visit the famous aquarium on the other side of town,” Lelani said. “Tomorrow we will spend time picnicking on the beach.”

“That sounds really nice, Lelani,” Chryséis said. “Tell us more about this aquarium…”

That had been only half an hour ago.

Suddenly, one of the guardsmen held up a shimmering white object, that he had found in Chryséis ’ backpack.

“It is here, it is here,” he shouted triumphantly. Lelani moved ever so slightly away from the children.

“Oh boy.”

“What is this egg doing in your backpack?” Katherine asked Chryséis .

“I have absolutely no idea.”

“Do they seriously think we would steal a silly stone egg? How ridiculous!” Chryséis was all flustered.

“This doesn’t belong to us,” Trevor tried to explain.

“No, it doesn’t belong to you. You stole it.”

The guard was still holding up the egg and Trevor started to lose his temper.

“Now wait a minute, what do you mean? We have never seen this thing before. Why are you accusing us guard?”

“Trevor, stay calm,” Katherine warned him. “Don’t make them angry – please. I’m sure they’ll use telepathy to find out the truth. A lie detector test or something like that. Remember, they are civilised people and the Lady of Cydonia knows that we didn’t do it.”

Trevor unclenched his fists. “Yeah, and if not, we’ll find out what a prehistoric dungeon is like.”

Katherine had an unpleasant flashback of the caves at Shuruk with big tarantula guards and bundles of human bones wrapped in white fluffy stuff. She thought fiercely of running from the citadel and activating a time portal.

“Should we go invisible and run for it?” Chryséis whispered, having the same idea. “I don’t want to go to prison.”

Trevor felt braver, but then he hadn’t been in Shuruk. “No, we can’t do that now. Katie’s right: they are too much like the Alesians to harm us. I have one of the time-portal-finders in my pocket and we are still wearing our VICs. If we need to run, we can do it anytime.”

“Oh that’s real comforting,” Chryséis said sarcastically.

“Where is Kheton? He’s our guardian, shouldn’t he protect us?”

“I don’t think Lelani can contact him. I’m scared. What’ll they do to us?” Katherine sounded rattled.

“Come with us now,” the captain of the guards interrupted.

The guards wedged the culprits in the middle, two on each side, front and back and the time travellers were led away like common criminals. Suspicious eyes followed them as they trotted demurely through the citadel passages and up a flight of stairs. The citadel was a pretty building with wall paintings and statues everywhere, but the time travellers had no time for art. The guards stopped on the third floor in front of a massive wooden door.

“You wait here,” the captain of the guards said roughly.

Had the dreaded moment arrived, were they taken to prison?

“Please tell us what you’ll do to us,” Katherine begged. “Citadel guards, athenai. We didn’t do anything wrong.”

No answer. The guards remained stone-faced. Chryséis panicked and lifted her hand to press the button on her aliceband.

“No Chryséis !”

She let her hand fall. The voice had sounded familiar. Trevor and Katherine were studying the ironwork of the door and nobody was speaking or even looking at her. So who had called out? Chryséis listened and understood.

“The Lady of Cydonia tells me not to do it,” Chryséis said in a low voice.

“Do what?” Trevor and Katherine stared at her.

“Not to turn invisible and flee.”

“How does she know you want to do that?”

“She read my thoughts.”

“Seriously?”

The guards gave Katherine reproachful looks and she lowered her voice.

“What else did she say, what are we supposed to do?”

“I don’t know, I lost her. Maybe I’m too scared to keep the contact going.”

“Great!” Trevor hissed. “What are we gonna do now?”

In an answer to his question, the door opened with a loud creak into the Lady of Kamûk’s audience room. An elevated chair was mounted against the red wall opposite the door between two windows.

The Lady of Kamûk sat on the throne, looking sternly at them. It was clear that she sat in judgment of the three young travellers. Kheton had placed himself to her right, dressed in the formal tunic of a judge. His face was unsmiling and his arms folded across his chest over the embroidered red feather.

“Enter.”

The Lady was a stocky woman and much younger than her Cydonian counterpart, but she wore the same robe of authority. Her eyes were large and slanted in a startling hazel brown and her thick blonde hair was pulled back from her face in a high bun. There was no trace of the friendliness she had displayed the day before at dinner time.

Katherine could feel her heart pounding in her throat, doo dum, doo dum. The guard carrying the translucent white egg stepped forward, cradling the precious object in his large Gabari hands as if it was a raw egg. He put the stone egg into a metal holder on a table next to Kheton and retreated. They didn’t move.

“Enter,” the Lady said again. Her tone was impatient now.

“Oh, I wish that the Lady of Cydonia were here,” Katherine whispered before they were pushed through the door by the guards. The door closed behind them. The room was big enough to hold everybody, including some citadel officials in white robes, who joined the proceedings. They waited with bated breath.

“Young visitors from Cydonia,” the Lady of Kamûk addressed them formally without further ado. “You are accused of the crime of stealing and smuggling the ‘Speaking Stone of Caradoc’ to D’ântilla. Explain yourselves.”

The Lady’s words came flying at them like darts. They looked puzzled and Kheton repeated in simpler terms what the Lady of Kamûk had said.

“Oh, we don’t know, honourable Lady, we don’t know a…speaking stone,” Trevor stammered and saw that Lelani’s expression was anxious.

The Lady of Kamûk didn’t mince her words.

“Let me be more specific, then. Are you spying for the Highpriest of Shuruk?”

They had heard much of the evil Edfunian leader, of course. Katherine and Chryséis had even seen him with Túvar in the dungeon of Shuruk, but being accused of spying for the giant sorcerer, who had tried to abduct them at the Moti Market? Please!

“No, no of course not,” Chryséis flared up. “We would never do such a thing.”

“Then why did you smuggle this precious stone out of Alesia in your bag?” the Lady asked with pitiless urgency, pointing to the white egg.

Katherine suppressed a giggle. An egg made of stone, how comical! She concentrated hard on a carved flower in the window frame. Luckily the urge to giggle vanished. This was not the time or place to break out laughing.

“We didn’t, why would we?” she said.

“You tell me.”

Kheton had been observing them closely the entire time, no doubt reading their minds. It was his job, wasn’t it?

“Kheton, tell her that we didn’t do it,” Chryséis blurted out.

But before Kheton could say anything, the Lady of Kamûk lifted her hand. She listened for a few moments.