"Paradox (story 2): The Backward Journey (Chapter 13)" by Steven P. Love

Chapter 13

         Lylithia materialized just inside the Vanadian station’s airlock. She did not want to alarm them by suddenly appearing in the middle of a group of workers. She was simply too desperate to risk them attacking her or fleeing out of fear. She pressed a button that activated the airlock’s intercom and waited for a response.

         Doctor Avra was monitoring the Fission Reactor’s coolant levels when one of the male technicians came running up to him.

         “What is it,” Avra asked the agitated technician. “Don’t tell me a piece of mining equipment broke down again.”

         “Doctor Avra…you’re not going to believe this,” the technician said between bated breaths. “There’s someone in the airlock.”

         Avra scoffed. “All right, who locked themselves outside this time?”

         “It’s not one of our people, sir,” the technician insisted. “It’s a woman I’ve never seen before.”

         “This better not be someone’s practical joke,” Avra yelled as he headed into the corridor toward the airlock.

         When Avra and the tech arrived at the airlock Avra was stunned to see a woman, clad in a black silk dress, standing in the tiny chamber with her arms crossed and staring at them with bright red eyes.

         “See…I told you,” the tech re-affirmed smugly as Avra pressed a button to equalize the air pressure before opening the airlock door.

         When the hissing of air stopped the transparent door slid open and the woman simply stepped out to face them.

         “Are you this expedition’s leader,” the woman asked with a look of desperation.

         “I’m Doctor Avra,” Avra stated with an expression of annoyance. “Who are you? Did you stowaway on our ship?”

         “Who I am and how I got here is unimportant. I’ve come to bring you a warning; there is a thermonuclear bomb on this moon.”

         “What…,” Avra asked with an expression of disbelief. “Say that again.”

         “Tarnara has planted a bomb in the ruins of Xian’s old mining station,” Lylithia explained as patiently as she could. “I need your help to find it before it detonates.”

         “What are you talking about,” Avra asked with suspicious skepticism. “Tarnara’s people haven’t been up here in 60 years.”

         “PLEASE,” Lylithia yelled in frustration. She then took a breath to calm herself. “There is not much time. You have to believe me when I tell you that Tarnara hid a nuclear device somewhere in Xian’s old station before it was abandoned. When she discovered your presence here she was furious. Her insane desire to avenge the death of her son drove her to send a signal that activated the device. If we don’t find the bomb soon it will destroy this moon and the fragments will rain down on Gaia, killing everything!”

         Both Avra and the technician started laughing with amusement.

         “Look…I don’t know who you think you are,” Avra said between snickers. “But trust me…there is no bomb.”

         Suddenly, a bright white light began illuminating the corridor.

         “What the…,” Avra remarked with surprise. He and the tech went over to a nearby window and looked out to see the source of the mysterious light. They gasped at the sight of a giant plume of flaming debris being thrown up above the moon’s jagged horizon. “Great Maker…”

         Suddenly, the whole station was rocked as the shockwave from the explosion finally reached them. Even with the artificial gravity they struggled to stay on their feet.

         “EVACUATE,” Avra yelled into his wrist communicator as alarms blared throughout the station.

         “What happened to that woman who warned us,” the tech yelled as he looked back to see that Lylithia was gone.

         “Forget her,” Avra snapped. “We have to get our own people out of here!”

         Obsidyanna gasped as she snapped out of her sleep sitting straight up in bed. She looked over to see Jon still awake smiling at her.

         “How was your sleep,” Jon asked with a grin. “Did you dream much?”

         Obsidyanna chuckled as she lay back down beside Jon.

         “I had the wildest dream,” she told Jon with a sigh. “I dreamed that you took me back in time to meet my mother, and it was so real.” She then started running her fingers across her necklace. “It was really strange. My mother actually gave me her…” Obsidyanna stopped in mid-sentence when her fingers touched a large coin shaped object on the end of the necklace. She practically jumped out of the bed without donning her robe and ran over to the Vanity. When the lamp automatically came on Obsidyanna gaped when she saw the medallion her mother had given her in the dream now hanging on the end of the necklace just above her bare breasts.

         “It wasn’t a dream,” Obsidyanna realized with wide eyes while staring at the medallion in a state of shock. “I was really there. I really met my mother!”

         Jon came up behind her and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. “Yes.”

         “Why did you do it,” Obsidyanna asked in a sad voice. “Why did you let me see my mother but not save her?”

         “To prepare you,” Jon told her as he turned her around to face him.

         “For what,” Obsidyanna asked with soul searching eyes.

         Jon started to answer but was interrupted by Obsidyanna’s wrist communicator beeping on the nightstand next to the bed.

         Obsidyanna went over and picked up the communicator. “Yes, father.”

         “I need you and Jonathan to come over to the Aviation tower,” Trekell told her in what seemed to be an apprehensive voice.

         “What’s wrong,” she asked with a puzzled expression.

         “I can’t say over the communicator,” Trekell insisted. “Please…just get over here as fast as you can.”

         “Can you decouple the Ore ship and let the centrifugal force of the moon’s rotation throw you clear of the station,” Trekell asked in a desperate voice as he watched a static filled image of Doctor Avra on the main monitor.

         “Negative,” Avra replied in a frightened voice. “The docking system’s been damaged. The ship is stuck tight in the hangar.”

         “What’s going on,” Jon asked in a perplexed voice as he and Obsidyanna teleported into the Aviation Control room.

         “There’s been an explosion on the Secondary Moon,” Trekell replied while making adjustments to the controls in an effort to clear Avra’s transmission. “Doctor…your signal is unstable. Can you compensate?”

         “No,” Avra answered as his image faded in and out of view. “The blast has split the moon into several pieces. The fragment that our station is on has been thrown out of orbit.” The image then faded to static.

         “How did this happen,” Obsidyanna asked desperately.

         “That’s what we’re trying to find out,” Trekell replied in a remarkably calm voice as he continued making adjustments. He looked over at another technician. “Try boosting the signal amplifier.”

         The technician complied and the static began to thin allowing Avra’s image to clear.

         “Doctor…I don’t know how long we can keep in contact,” Trekell told Avra. “Do you know what happened?”

         “The only thing I know is that there was a strange woman here,” Avra stated. The image faded again.

         “Repeat, Doctor,” Trekell said in a more urgent sounding voice. “Your signal is still breaking up.”

         The image then came back in. “….she said that Tarnara had planted a bomb in the old Xian station. I didn’t believe her. I’m sorry.”

         “What happened to this woman,” Trekell asked.

         “I don’t know,” Avra said with an expression of grave concern. “But right now she’s the least of your problems. A large fragment is in a rapidly decaying orbit around Gaia. It’s coming in at an extremely steep angle. I doubt it will last more than half an orbit before it enters the atmosphere.”

         “Is there a chance it’ll burn up in the atmosphere,” Obsidyanna asked with desperate hope in her eyes.

         “Highly unlikely,” Avra estimated with resignation in his eyes. “That part of the moon has a high concentration of the crystal. It’s as large as a mountain and as dense as adamantine alloy. It won’t burn up.”

         “How long do we have, Doctor,” Trekell asked in an apprehensive voice.

         “I’m not certain,” Avra said with resignation in his eyes. “Maybe a few minutes at most, it’s coming in real fast. Our scanners have tracked its trajectory and it will impact only a few….” The image and audio then faded into total static.

         “Can we get him back,” Trekell asked the technician.

         “I’m sorry majesty,” the technician apologized nervously. “The signal is gone.”

         “Is our tracking system still on-line,” Trekell asked.

         The tech nodded.

         “Initiate a scan,” Trekell ordered in a soft, almost whispering voice.

         The tech touched several controls as he activated the system. One last switch transferred the data to the main monitor screen. Trekell gaped with horror as he watched the computer plotting the path of the moon fragment.

         “Great Maker…,” Trekell sighed as he bowed his head with resignation. Trekell reached over and touched an intercom button. “Aviation Tower to Power Station Control....”

         “What are you planning, father,” Obsidyanna asked curiously.

         “If we can get power to our weapons we might be able to deflect the fragment so that it skips off Gaia’s atmosphere,” Trekell speculated hopefully.

         “Power station control…Engineer Rankar here, sir.”

         “Rankar, can you give us power to the particle beam canons,” Trekell asked desperately.

         “I’m sorry, majesty,” Rankar apologized. “The particle weapons are still off-line.”

         “What about the shield,” Trekell asked again.

         “Until Doctor Avra returns with a new crystal we’re running on battery power and back up generators,” Rankar explained. “We barely have enough power to run minimal city services. We’re not under attack from Queen Tarnara again, are we?”

         “No,” Trekell replied in a deceptively calm tone. “It’s…nothing like that. Continue with your duties, Trekell out.”

         Trekell then switched off the intercom and looked at the other technicians with a foreboding expression. “All of you…go home, be with your families. Show them…how much you love them.”

         All the technicians looked at Trekell with frightened eyes.

         “Majesty, there must be something more we can do,” the technician nearest to Trekell asked with pleading eyes.

         “I said go home,” Trekell told the technician in a firm voice without looking at him.

         As the technicians began leaving the tower they all looked at Jon with hopeful eyes. The one that questioned Trekell’s decision to have them all leave came up to Jon and bowed down on one knee as if preparing to pray.

         “Oh great Jahnus,” the scared technician prayed. “I beseech you. Please…save us!”

         Jon could only stare at the technician with an expression of profound sadness.

         Trekell came up behind the technician and raised him up. He turned the frightened man around and looked him straight in the eyes.

         “I will only say this once,” Trekell told the man with the look of unwavering resolve. “You will go home and tell no one of this. I will not have the people panicking like animals. If we are to die then we will die with honor and dignity. Understood?!”

         “Forgive me Majesty,” the man begged Trekell.

         Trekell managed to smile at the frightened man. “You have a wife, do you not?”

         The man nodded.

         “Go home to her,” Trekell told him. “Express your love for her as you have never done before.”

         The man gave Trekell the usual bow of respect and then turned to leave. He looked at Jon one last time with desperate hope in his eyes before the elevator doors closed.

         Obsidyanna stared at Trekell in stunned silence. Even Jon seemed surprised by his actions.

         Trekell then approached Jon and Obsidyanna. He looked into Jon’s eyes with the same desperate hope. “Is there anything you can do?”

         “I’m sorry, majesty,” Jon apologized with regret in his eyes. “I truly wish that I could help your people, but…I can do nothing.”

         “I thought as much,” Trekell said with a sigh of resignation.

         Obsidyanna glanced at Jon with confusion and then turned back to her father.

         “Father…what are you doing,” Obsidyanna asked with an expression of dismay. “Why aren’t you warning our people?”

         “What would you have me tell them,” Trekell asked rhetorically with a hint of sarcasm. “Our world is coming to an end and there is nothing we can do to stop it. It is for the best that our people have some moments of contentment…before the end.”

         “You could make a city wide alert,” Obsidyanna suggested in a pleading tone. “You could tell everyone to get to the underground shelters.”

         “Without the shield the shelters will not withstand the shockwave when the fragment impacts,” Trekell told Obsidyanna in a firm but sympathetic voice. “I will not herd the people into underground coffins so that they can die in fear.”

         “I cannot believe this,” Obsidyanna yelled with anger and disbelief. “You’re just giving up?!”

         Trekell came over to Obsidyanna, trying to appearing stoic and composed. “I’m sorry my daughter, but….” He then gave her a fatherly embrace as tears began to stream from his eyes. “…we have destroyed ourselves.”

         Obsidyanna pushed Trekell away and glared at him angrily. She then turned to Jon with desperation in her eyes. “You have the power, Jon! You can save the Vekolth!”

         “I’m sorry, Obsidyanna,” Jon apologized as tears of regret began welling up in his eyes. “I wish I could, but if I save your people I’ll change history…my history.”

         Obsidyanna gaped with stunned dismay. She then flew into a crying fit of rage as she began beating her fists against Jon’s chest. “NO…YOU WILL SAVE MY PEOPLE!!!”

         Jon seized her hands and held them to his chest as she bawled with profound anger and sadness. He then shook her like a child and forced her to look into his eyes. “Listen to me!”

         Obsidyanna whimpered and sniveled as she reluctantly looked up into Jon’s sincere eyes.

         “Remember when I relieved your mother’s pain,” Jon reminded her. “You asked me why I could not save her.”

         Obsidyanna nodded as she continued crying. “You said that you could not change her fate.”

         “While in your chambers just a few minutes ago you asked me the same question again,” Jon added.

         Obsidyanna looked at him with confusion. “You told me that it was to prepare me, but you didn’t say for what.”

         “It was for this moment,” Jon finally told her.

         “What,” Obsidyanna gaped with stunned disbelief.

         “I had hoped for more time,” Jon told her as he caressed the side of her face and wiped some of the tears from her cheeks. “I had hoped that this moment would not come within your lifetime, but…I’m so sorry.”

         “I don’t understand,” Obsidyanna cried.

         “Despite the great power that I possess there are some things that even I should not change,” Jon explained with as much solace as he could project. “The truth is…I was not sent here to save your people. I was sent here to save you…and only you.”

         “Me…,” Obsidyanna asked with stunned eyes. She then turned to face Trekell. “Father…what is he saying? You know something about this, don’t you?”

         Trekell came over and gently touched the medallion on Obsidyanna’s necklace. “When I saw you wearing your mother’s medallion…I knew that the end of our people was near.”

         Obsidyanna stared at Trekell with disbelief. “What are you saying?!”

         “The stories that I told you when you were young,” Trekell explained as he pulled an old and discolored piece of paper from his coat pocket and handed it to Obsidyanna.

         It was the photo taken of her and Jon at their wedding.

         “Your mother told me many things before she died. Things that I’ve never told you or anyone else before,” Trekell explained with a heavy heart. “She told me that the final day of the Vekolth’s existence will come when I behold my daughter wearing the medallion of our family.” He sighed with resignation. “I did not believe her, of course…until I found this photo years after she died.”

         “Why didn’t you tell me,” Obsidyanna asked with a stunned expression as she stared at the image that from her perspective was taken only hours ago. “After all these years you kept the truth from me. Evaded every question I put to you about my mother’s visions. Why did you wait until now of all times to tell me this?”

         “At first it was denial,” Trekell confessed as he fought back tears welling up in his eyes. “I had hoped that the image was a fake and that your mother’s prophesy a mere ranting of a gravely ill woman. I simply could not bring myself to believe that my daughter…my beloved little Princess…would grow up to herald the end of our civilization.”

         “That’s why you allowed me to interact with Jon, even though he was…completely alien to the Vekolth,” Obsidyanna realized. “You wanted me to fall in love with him.”

         Trekell nodded as he wiped tears from his eyes. “Your mother told me that you have a great destiny, with him. When we found Jon in that crater a few days ago I recognized him from the photo I found. It was then that I realized that your mother’s prophesy was true and that events beyond anyone’s control had been set in motion. The only thing I could do was make sure that your destiny with Jon was fulfilled…as your mother foresaw.”

         Obsidyanna turned back to Jon and looked at him with heart felt eyes. “Is there nothing you can do for my people? Are the Vekolth truly destined for extinction?”

         “I’m sorry,” he said with immense remorse in his eyes.

         Jon embraced Obsidyanna in an effort to comfort her as she sobbed with her face against his chest.

         Trekell came over and placed a comforting hand on his daughter’s shoulder as he looked into Jon’s eyes. “Promise me…promise me that my daughter will be safe.”

         “You have my word,” Jon assured Trekell.

         Suddenly, a bright light began to illuminate the inside of the Aviation Tower. They all turned to see a bright star rising rapidly from the night horizon. Trekell went over to the observation deck and stared in horror at the approaching apocalypse.

         “Please leave,” Trekell told Jon and Obsidyanna without looking back at them.

         Obsidyanna wanted to go to her father but Jon restrained her. Just as they began to teleport away Obsidyanna cried out, “I love you, father!”

         Lylithia materialized in a low orbit around Gaia, placing herself in the path of the rapidly approaching moon fragment. She watched with great apprehension as the fragment began forming white flame-like plasma trails due to the friction of skimming the thin air of Gaia’s upper atmosphere.

         “I will not let my people die,” Lylithia said to herself with conviction as she spread her arms outward like wings. She grimaced as a giant sphere of quantum energy began forming around her body. Lightning-like energy bolts danced all about the surface of her body as the sphere grew more and more intense. From a distance it appeared as a miniature star with flares and prominences.

         Lylithia let out a war cry as she flung her arms forward hurling the sphere of Quantum energy at the rapidly approaching moon fragment. When the energy sphere struck a shockwave of rippling blue light washed over the jagged surface of the fragment causing the outer surface to explode. But instead of destroying the fragment the quantum charge merely wiped clean the dust and debris that composed its outer crust revealing the pure crystal beneath.

         Lylithia gaped in horror as the pure crystal began glowing with white light. Its exposed surface was now absorbing the thermal energy being generated by its friction with the atmosphere. Lylithia knew that this only made the situation worse because now when the fragment impacts Gaia the energy of the impact will be multiplied by several orders of magnitude, assuring the destruction of her people.

         “NOOOO,” Lylithia screamed as she flew toward the fragment in one last desperate attempt to stop it. Upon landing on the white hot surface she attempted to physically push the fragment away from Gaia with a combination of her telekinetic power and her immense physical strength. But when she laid her hands upon the crystal she felt her strength draining away as the crystal began absorbing her power. As she grew weaker she began feeling the intense heat around her. After only a few futile seconds Lylithia could withstand it no longer. She launched herself back into space away from the flaming fragment.

         As Lylithia regenerated in the sunlight she watched helplessly as the flaming moon fragment continued its apocalyptic descent toward Gaia. She brought her hands to her face and sobbed at her failure to prevent history from repeating itself.

         Jon and Obsidyanna materialized on a mountaintop overlooking Vanadis from a distance. Obsidyanna gasped with horror as the fiery star in the sky grew into a looming comet-like fireball. The blazing white light illuminated the city with the harshness of ten suns. The intense heat caused the moisture in the ground to vaporize into an eerie fog around the city below them. Nearby plants began to wither and smoke as a deep thunderous rumble reverberated all around.

         Obsidyanna clutched Jon’s clothing as she realized that he was the only thing preventing her from being seared by the furnace-like heat radiating from the fire in the sky.

         “Oh, Jon,” Obsidyanna cried as she saw smoke pouring from the Palace towers in the distance. “…they’re being burned alive!!!”

         Jon wrapped one arm around Obsidyanna. “Hang on to me, Princess. No matter what happens, do not let go of me.”

         Even though Obsidyanna was aghast from the horror before her eyes she understood the peril of the situation and braced her back against Jon’s torso while holding onto his arm for dear life.

         Suddenly, the fire ball slammed into the ground just beyond the horizon. A gigantic mushroom cloud of fire shot upward until it fanned out at the top of Gaia’s atmosphere like the anvil of some impossible storm.

         “MY PEOPLE,” Obsidyanna screamed as the shockwave from the blast finally reached the city and shattered it into countless bits of debris.

         When the shockwave reached the mountain’s base Obsidyanna’s eyes grew wide and her mouth gaped with terror as the fiery maelstrom ran up the side of the mountain at hypersonic velocity. At the moment it reached their position Jon extended his hand outward in front of Obsidyanna and a force field emanating from the palm of his hand deflected the blasting wave of destruction around them.

         Obsidyanna screamed with terror as the wave of fire and flying debris blasted past them with a deafening roar. When the shockwave finally passed Obsidyanna was still screaming from her own shock of the moment. It took several seconds for her to finally calm down to a steady sob. Jon held her tight trying to comfort her as he looked about at the devastation. There was nothing left. The city appeared as a virtual scorch mark on the landscape with the surrounding jungle completely in flames.

         “Great Maker,” Obsidyanna cried as she finally turned to look at the devastation for herself. “It’s…it’s all gone!”

         Jon was at a loss for words.

         “I want to go back to the city,” Obsidyanna demanded as she wiped tears from her eyes.

         “Why,” Jon asked with surprise. “You saw what happened. There’s nothing left for you here.”

         “I don’t care,” she exclaimed. “I need to see for myself that everyone is dead.”

         “This wasn’t your fault,” Jon tried to assure her. “There is no need for you to…torture yourself. We need to move on. I promised your father to keep you safe.”

         “I’m not doing this out of guilt,” Obsidyanna snapped at him. “I have to be absolutely certain that no one is alive down there. I would not be able to live with myself if we left even a single survivor behind. Please…take me to my city.”

         Jon sighed with sympathy as he held her hand and teleported away from the scorched mountaintop. They reappeared in what had been the center of Vanadis’s main square, just a short distance from where the Palace had been. Debris and twisted metal framework was strewn all about. Even though it was still night the fire of the dissipating mushroom cloud illuminated the area with a ghostly red glow. The air stank of burning plastic and fine ash floated in the air like a thin gray fog. Obsidyanna felt nauseous from the toxic fumes. Jon took her hand and infused her with his energy to counteract the effects of the polluted air.

         “The air is so terrible,” Obsidyanna remarked with a sickened expression. “Is there any chance that someone can survive in this?”

         Jon shook his head grimly. “If anyone did survive the initial blast they would have choked to death within minutes.”

         Obsidyanna cried as she walked through the ruins with Jon at her side to protect her from the hostile environment. Everything as far as they could see, even the great metal wall at the city’s edge, was flattened. Charred bones and skulls littered the rubble filled streets. They eventually made their way to what had been the Palace Courtyard. A small stream of water spouted from a broken pipe where the Fountain used to be. They slowly climbed up cracked steps to the still warm granite landing of what used to be the Palace Great Hall, where their wedding had taken place only hours earlier. To Obsidyanna’s amazement Trekell’s throne chair was still there, albeit burned and charred. The rest of the Palace was gone, only a few bent metal columns still stood nearby. She placed her hand on the throne chair while looking out sadly at the remains of her once proud and beautiful city.

         At what used to be the Prime Minister’s home a pile of brick and stone debris began to stir. The grunts of a child sounded as the pieces of stone tumbled aside revealing a little girl; it was Prime Minister Vodan’s granddaughter, Lylithia. Her garments tattered, her face dirty with dust and ash, she stood up and looked about like a frightened little animal.

         “Grandpa,” she called out nervously. When there was no answer she began to whimper and tremble with fear. As she stepped out of the debris pile she gasped at the sight of a charred skull and several bones on the ground beside her. She screamed and ran as fast as she could away from her destroyed home. “GRANDPAAAHH!!!”

         Obsidyanna sat on the granite landing in an upright fetal position with her tail wrapped around her folded legs and sobbed. “Why did this have to happen? Why did my people have to die?”

         Jon sat down beside Obsidyanna and put his arm around her in an effort to console her.

         “I know that this is of little comfort to you right now,” Jon told her. “But when I was first learning how to control my powers I found myself faced with a great moral dilemma not unlike what I faced here.”

         Obsidyanna looked at him with curiosity.

         “I discovered that I had the power to prevent a very tragic event in my own people’s history,” Jon explained with sadness in his eyes. “But I chose not to do it. I chose not to interfere with history and as a result over 3000 of my people died.”

         “What stopped you,” Obsidyanna asked. “Why didn’t you save those people?”

         “My mother…she showed me the consequences of what would have happened if I had interfered,” Jon explained. “She told me that one day I would face another similar dilemma and would have to make another choice. When I realized what was about to happen to your people I finally understood why she showed me that lesson.”

         “I just don’t understand…what kind of consequences can be worse than total extinction,” Obsidyanna asked with more tears in her eyes.

         “The extinction of the future itself,” Jon answered sincerely.

         “I should have realized this,” Obsidyanna remarked sarcastically. “You’re from the future. You knew that this would happen, didn’t you? For you, all of this…was just another history lesson.”

         Jon nodded sadly. “From my perspective your people died millions of years before I was even born. If I had saved your people my people would have never evolved. All of my history would have changed. Everything that I had known would have ceased to exist.”

         Obsidyanna then appeared angry. “Then why am I so important? Why am I so worthy of survival if the rest of the Vekolth are not? What is this great destiny I have that makes me so damned special?!”

         “You’re special because you are the future,” Jon told her bluntly. “Gaia will heal…in time. But your destiny lies not here in these ruins, but in a future time, a future where you will become the mother of a new Age.”

         Obsidyanna then giggled sarcastically. “I didn’t ask for this…I just wanted to live a simple life with the man I fell in love with.” She then started to cry again.

         “Remember when I told you that fate sometimes sets you on a path that you simply have to follow,” Jon reminded her.

         Obsidyanna nodded as she sighed and bowed her head with resignation. “From childhood I was taught that we make our own destinies. Now I learn that my fate was written before I was even hatched.”

         “That’s not entirely true, Princess. You do have a choice,” Jon told her. “You can choose to stay here alone and eventually die, unremembered.” Jon then stood up and extended his hand to her. “Or…you can choose to come with me and create the future that you are remembered for.”

         Obsidyanna took Jon’s hand and stood up. She wiped her tears from her eyes and declared, “I do want to live.”

         Then just as she prepared herself for their departure into the future a little feathered lizard glided in and landed on Obsidyanna’s shoulder.

         “Booboh,” Obsidyanna exclaimed with joy. “I can’t believe it! You survived!” The little lizard climbed into Obsidyanna’s arms and she gently petted him. She noticed how some of his scales and feathers were singed. “Oh, you’re hurt.”

         Jon compassionately reached over and healed the little lizard with a brief glow of light from his hand. Obsidyanna smiled with gratitude.

         “Can we take him with us,” Obsidyanna asked in an almost pleading voice.

         “I’m afraid not,” Jon told her.

         Obsidyanna seemed surprised and disappointed. “Why?”

         “Because, my dear Princess, his kind is destined to evolve into a new form of life,” Jon explained.

         “A new form,” Obsidyanna asked curiously.

         “When we reach our new home you’ll see many new wonders that will arise from the ashes of this world,” Jon assured her. Then as if understanding what Jon had said Booboh leaped from Obsidyanna’s arm and back into the air where he flew off and out of sight. Jon then extended his hand to Obsidyanna. “Shall we go?”

         Obsidyanna took Jon’s hands and looked about at the devastation with great sadness in her eyes. “I wish I could have said good-bye to everyone, especially the children…” Obsidyanna choked up. “…little Lylithia for one.”

         Jon pulled Obsidyanna close and embraced her as she cried.

         “It’s all right,” Jon assured her as he gently stroked her feathery hair.

         As Jon held onto Obsidyanna particles of light began to swirl all around them. Their journey was about to begin.

         Little Lylithia ran desperately through the streets screaming for help. But no one replied. When she reached what was left of the Palace Courtyard she saw the man she only knew as Jahnus and the Princess standing together on the landing of what had been the Great Hall with particles of sparkling light swirling around them. At first she was in awe, as any child would be at such a sight. But then, when their forms began to shimmer and slowly fade Lylithia realized that Jahnus and the Princess were about to go away.

         “WAAAIT,” Lylithia yelled as she ran to the steps leading up to the landing. She was using all four limbs of her little body to climb the steps as fast as she could. “WAAAIT…DON’T LEAVE ME!!!!”

         When Lylithia reached the edge of the landing Jahnus and the Princess were almost faded to nothing. In a desperate attempt to go with them Lylithia made a running leap with her arms outstretched. But instead of seizing onto them she passed through their ghost-like forms and fell to the hard granite. All that was left was a few ember-like sparkles of light that quickly winked out. Jahnus and the Princess had completely vanished.

         Lylithia got up quickly and began turning in a frantic circle looking for Jahnus and the Princess.

         “PLEASE…COME BACK,” Lylithia screamed desperately. “COME BACK!!! Don’t leave me…PLEASE!!!” She then dropped to her little knees and began bawling like the child she was, unable to understand what had happened to her world or why she had apparently been abandoned by the Princess she loved like an older sister.

         The older version of Lylithia saw what had happened. She also started to cry as she watched the anguish of her younger self at having been left behind in the ruins of her devastated world.

         “You will not grow up alone this time,” older Lylithia said to herself. “This time your life will be different.”

         As Lylithia started to head toward her younger self two humanoid forms suddenly shimmered into view in front of her. It was Jon and Eckara, from the future. They were smiling almost mockingly at her. Infuriated by their presence Lylithia flung a quantum charge at Jon.

         The ball of energy harmlessly bounced off of Jon’s body, merely singing his dark coat. He nonchalantly brushed the flakes of ash from the coat.

         “Quite a sight isn’t it,” Jon asked rhetorically as he gestured toward the child in the distance. “Seeing what actually happened to your people from a perspective that you can now understand.”

         “Let me go to her,” Lylithia begged. “I can help her.”

         “I don’t think so,” Jon disagreed in an almost cold demeanor.

         “But she will grow up with so much hatred and anger,” Lylithia pleaded. “She will commit so many atrocities against humanity because of her belief that you caused the extinction of our people. I now realize that what happened was not your doing. I can prevent so much future suffering by just being with her, guiding her so that she won’t make the misguided decisions I did.”

         “Believe me, Lylithia, I sympathize,” Eckara told her. “When Jon awakened my power as an Avatar I remembered my past life as Princess Obsidyanna. I too was distraught and angry at the destruction of my people, but I now know that it was necessary. History, even our own histories, cannot be changed.”

         “Your younger self has a role to play in the time-line,” Jon stated. “Nothing must interfere with that.”

         “Then what is to become of me in the here and now,” Lylithia asked with a sigh of resignation.

         Jon smiled at her. “You still have a role to play, Lylithia. That is why we are here; to give you some…encouragement.”

         “What do you mean,” Lylithia asked with a skeptical expression.

         “Despite all the terrible things you’ve done over the millennia there is still the possibility of redemption for you,” Eckara told her. “But it will require a great sacrifice.”

         “What kind of sacrifice,” Lylithia asked apprehensively.

         “Your immortality,” Jon answered.

         “Why would I sacrifice my immortality,” Lylithia scoffed.

         Both Jon and Eckara smiled at her.

         “So that the Vekolth can live again,” Eckara stated.

         Lylithia gaped with surprise at the offer.

         Obsidyanna held onto Jon tightly as the sparkling particles swirled around them like a snow storm of light. Jon seemed to be almost in a trance. Obsidyanna’s eyes grew wide with awe as she caught glimpses of the world beyond the veil of swirling vaporous light. In seconds of her time she witnessed the rise and fall of mountains, the opening of great chasms beneath their feet and then their filling with great oceans. Then suddenly all was dark as a glacier covered them. The swirling light seemed to create a protective bubble around her and Jon as the ice flowed over them like a viscous gelatinous river. Just as Obsidyanna started to feel the cold, the glacier vanished, melting away within a matter of seconds. Then, to Obsidyanna’s astonishment, artificial structures started appearing around them. It was a city, seemingly sprouting up out of nowhere.

         Suddenly, Jon came out of his trance and began slowing the swirling vortex of particles. There was one last flash of light before the vortex dissipated completely.

         “We’re here,” Jon declared as he took a breath to recompose himself.

         But their final destination was not what Obsidyanna expected. She gaped at the sight of what seemed to be a vast and open Hall, not unlike the Great Hall of Vanadis’s Palace. Warm sunlight streamed in through giant pentagon shaped windows high up near the vaulting ceiling.

         “What is this place,” Obsidyanna asked with wide eyes as she stepped cautiously away from Jon and looked about the strange Hall with wonder. “Have we returned to…your Time?”

         “Not quite,” Jon said. “But we are where and when we are supposed to be. That I’m sure of.”

         Suddenly, Obsidyanna was startled when several humans approached from the side corridors that led into the Hall. She immediately ran back to Jon’s side as these other humans began to gather around them.

         “Don’t be afraid,” one young man said to Obsidyanna.

         “We have been awaiting your arrival for generations,” a woman added standing behind Jon.

         “Jon,” Obsidyanna asked with apprehension and surprise. “These humans speak Vekolth! How do they know who we are?”

         “I don’t know,” Jon admitted.

         An old man with long silvery hair and a bushy white beard limped toward them with a metal cane to aid him. He was dressed in regal robes with a jeweled chain around his neck. At the end of the chain was a medallion with markings similar to the Vekolth symbols on Obsidyanna’s medallion. Perhaps this man was their leader or king. Whoever these humans were they clearly modeled some of their culture after the Vekolth.

         When the old man came near Jon and Obsidyanna he gaped with astonishment. “You must be…Janus.”

         Although the old man’s pronunciation of ‘Jahnus’ was a little different, Obsidyanna did reason that was the name he meant. “You know of Jahnus?”

         The old man smiled at Obsidyanna. “You must be Ohb-sid-yanna.”

         “Ahb-sidee-anna,” the Princess sounded out for the old man with a smirk.

         “However your names are pronounced, I bid you welcome,” the old man told them. Jon nodded in acknowledgement.

         “What is this place,” Obsidyanna asked curiously. “How do you know who we are? Who are you?”

         The old man grinned at Obsidyanna’s apparent impetuousness. “I am Chairman Remus, leader of the Council. Your other questions are best answered by the ‘Revered Ones’.” Remus then turned and slowly limped toward one of the corridors that led out of the Hall. “Please come with me. I’m certain that you will want to meet them…and they you.”

         When they entered the corridor both Jon and Obsidyanna gaped with amazement to see that the corridor was actually a glass enclosed bridge running between two towers of what appeared to be a vast city.

         “Wow,” Obsidyanna remarked with surprise as she peered through the glass and gazed upon the architectural wonder. “This city has got to be at least twice the size of Vanadis.”

         “Perhaps more,” Jon remarked as he also peered through the glass with amazement. They then moved on.

         When they finally reached the other tower Remus turned and said, “Please wait here. I will summon the Revered Ones.” Remus then limped off into another corridor as Jon and Obsidyanna waited in the center of the second tower’s Hall.

         Obsidyanna, feeling somewhat apprehensive with the situation, went over to the nearest window and peered out. “Are you sure you don’t know who these people are? They certainly know about us and obviously knew that we were coming. It seems…kind of creepy.”

         “All I know is that this is the right place and time we are supposed to be,” Jon told Obsidyanna as he came over alongside of her. “However, I’m just as clueless as you are about these…humans.”

         “They seem very advanced technologically,” Obsidyanna noted. “If we are still in your past then perhaps they are your progenitors.”

         “Even in my time a city like this would be considered remarkably advanced,” Jon admitted. He then seemed to pause as if recalling something. “However, I do know that we are about 10,000 years before the era of my culture. In the mythologies of my culture there are legends of an advanced civilization.”

         Obsidyanna looked over at Jon. “Could this be it?”

         “Possibly,” Jon speculated.

         “What was this civilization of your legends called,” Obsidyanna asked curiously.

         Jon was about to answer but was distracted by the sound of foot falls in the nearby corridor. Their sound indicated that someone was rapidly approaching, and somewhat excitedly. Jon and Obsidyanna stepped toward the center of the Hall in anticipation of this person’s arrival.

         Suddenly, Obsidyanna gasped with wide eyed joy at the sight of what appeared to be a very elderly Vekolth shuffling his way into the Hall. When this elderly Vekolth saw them he almost started crying.

         Recognizing the elderly Vekolth Obsidyanna ran up to him and embraced him tightly.

         “Doctor Avra…is that really you,” Obsidyanna exclaimed with joy.

         “Great Maker…I knew that Jahnus must have taken you forward in time but I never thought I’d see you again within my lifetime,” Avra cried with joy. He then let go of Obsidyanna and came over to shake Jon’s hand with an expression of extreme gratitude. “I knew you would not let the Princess die.” Avra then sighed with vindication. “None of the other surviving Vekolth believed that you would return. But I never doubted.”

         “How did you survive,” Obsidyanna asked with extreme curiosity. “How many of our people are left.”

         “Just us I’m afraid,” another Vekolth said.

         Obsidyanna gaped at the sight of another elderly Vekolth entering the room. “Doctor Grekar!”

         “In the flesh,” Grekar said with a smile as he limped toward them. “…or rather what’s left of this old wrinkly Prune of a Vekolth.”

         Obsidyanna sighed as she went up and gave Grekar an embrace.

         “How did you two survive for so long,” Obsidyanna asked again with an urgent expression. “From what I can see it’s been at least several million years since the destruction of Vanadis.”

         “More like 65 million years,” Grekar grinned. “Give or take a few millennia.”

         “It’s a very long story,” Avra said as he went over and opened a door that led out onto a balcony. He motioned for Jon and Obsidyanna to follow him onto the balcony. “Now…before I tell you our miraculous tale of survival let me welcome the two of you to our new city of…Atlantis.” Avra grinned proudly as Jon and Obsidyanna went over to the railing at the edge of the balcony and stared out at the great sparkling city on the edge of bright Blue Ocean. “Magnificent, isn’t it?”

         “Awesome,” Obsidyanna gaped with awe and astonishment.