ALEX WOKE with a start, fear clawing its way through her body. Not again! She tried to scream, but the hand clamped down over her mouth muffled the sound. Her eyes darted back and forth, looking for anything she could use to defend herself. Terror threatened to overwhelm her. She threw her body to the side, trying to throw her attacker to the ground, or at least move him even a fraction of an inch.
“Will you stop that?” a voice hissed in her ear.
Sean?
Alex stopped moving and nodded. “What the hell are you doing?” She hissed as soon as he removed his hand from her mouth.
“Keep your voice down! If I get caught, Tut will have me killed!”
Alex took a deep breath, trying to slow her heart. She had been certain she was about to die, just like she had when she had been in the Civil War South. “Sorry! But geez! I thought you were him!” She sat up, suddenly aware that her garments were very transparent. She tried to cover herself with her hands.
“Oh, calm down! Here.” Sean handed her a robe. “Better?”
“Loads.” Alex threw as much disdain as she could in that one word. He attacked me and he has the nerve to act irritated?
“Let’s go outside. Your servants could wake any time now.” Sean padded to the balcony.
Alex followed, eager for news of what had occurred after she left the dining hall. Her skin pebbled in goose flesh. She pulled the light robe tight to ward off the cold night air. Blistering heat during the day, freezing cold at night. “So? What happened?”
“I think we are here for the same guy.”
“Did you feel the evil in him?”
Sean shook his head. “I didn’t feel any evil. All I feel when I know I have found the right target is a kind of prickling in my skin. I felt it as soon as I passed next to Ay.”
“Weird that you can’t feel his total ickiness. I mean, it makes me want to vomit.”
“Don’t know what to tell ya. But listen, I don’t have much time.” Sean leaned in. “If Ay is the target, he may intend to keep Tut alive. The fact that he’s the target sort of lends support to the rumor that he’s the one that killed Tut, don’t you think?”
Alex nodded. “I was thinking that too. But how can we make him kill someone?” Alex put her hands to her mouth, horror evident in her brown eyes. “You don’t think we’re supposed to kill Tut do you? To protect the timeline?”
Sean rolled his eyes. “Are you insane? If you did that, imagine what would happen? History would change to say that Tut’s wife killed him. If Ay is supposed to kill Tut, then we have to make sure that the traveler is gone from Ay’s body so that he will do what he’s supposed to do.”
“I hate that to preserve time, we have to let Tut be killed.”
“I know, but it’s what we have to do. The repercussions of allowing your feelings to get in the way would be disastrous.”
“I know that. Doesn’t mean I have to like it though,” Alex grumped.
“We have to get the traveler to leave Ay’s body.”
Alex’s mouth hung open. “Just like that? Just get a totally evil dude to leave Ay’s body before he finishes his mission? That simple? Gee, why didn’t I think of that?”
Sean folded his arms over his chest and frowned. “You don’t have to be quite so sarcastic, you know. It is possible. I’ve done it before.”
Alex opened her mouth to retort, but closed it. She hated to admit it, but she was curious how Sean had been able to force a traveler from a body. “So? You gonna tell me how you did it or make me guess?”
“There’s a sort of spell we say that forces the traveler from the body.”
“Are you freaking kidding me? A spell?” Alex covered her head with her arms, trying to gain control of her temper. “A spell? And then I suppose we have to wave a magic wand at the end?”
“What is with you? You travel back in time and live in the body of some other girl and the idea of a spell is all of a sudden too much to believe?”
“Well, I mean, come on, it’s just so...you know...” She flailed her hands.
Sean stared at her, waiting for her to finish her thought. When it was clear she wasn’t going to speak, he continued. “There’s a spell that will force the traveler out of the body. We just have to make sure we have a mirror.”
“Why do we have to do that?”
“Well, because they need the mirror so they can get back to their own body. You wouldn’t want to leave them floating around, would you?”
“Well, that didn’t stop the guy from doing it to me! If we can force him out of Ay’s body and into the void, then maybe my traveling will be over and I can get back to a normal life!”
“Are you sure he knew that you were a traveler?”
Alex thought for a minute, trying to remember everything that had happened that night while she was in Agy’s body. “He suspected, but I’m not sure he was ever totally convinced I was in Agy’s body. But, if he did, I guarantee he wouldn’t have hesitated. He would have killed Agy and me also.”
“I’ve never had a situation like this before! It seems wrong to leave him like that. If what you say is true, then he will be lost forever in the blackness. Seems cruel,” Sean shook head, looking like he wanted to throw up. “I’m sorry Alex, but I’m not sure I can do that.”
“If we let him get back to his body, he’ll just keep trying until he succeeds in whatever it is he is trying to do! This isn’t a game, Sean. This guy tried to kill me. Each time I’ve come back, I’ve had to deal with this same man. I don’t want to keep doing this for the rest of my life!”
“But can you actually send his soul to the void, knowing what that really means? We’re not talking about killing someone in self-defense. You’re talking about trapping his soul for all eternity in that black place.” Sean met her eyes.
Alex opened her mouth to tell Sean of course she could ban the man’s soul to the void for all eternity, but she closed it again. She knew deep down that she couldn’t do that to anyone, not even the evil man trying to change the past. She swatted at Sean, needing to get her frustration out. “Fine. We’ll do it your way. But I don’t have to like it.”
Sean sighed in relief. “Okay, so here are the words you need to say to force a traveler’s spirit from the body: falvetch inksashekbum.”
Alex shivered as Sean said the words. His voice had taken on a different quality. It was more guttural, more feral, more dangerous. Maybe there’s something to this magic nonsense after all. She frowned as she thought of something that would throw a big kink in their plans. “And what is going to stop him from coming right the hell back in again?”
“For some reason, the travelers can’t jump back in right away. I don’t know why.”
“So how long is ‘right away’? A few days? A week? A month?”
“At least a few months. You know when you have succeeded in defeating the target and you get that weird urge to go back to the place where you first entered into the body? If that happens to us when we force this guy from Ay’s body, then we know we have succeeded and all’s well.”
Alex snorted. “Sounds like an awful lot left to chance! For all you know, the evil guy could come back and try again after a few months.”
“Look, I only know how to explain what I know. I fix little hiccups in the timeline, things that are unfolding by accident. You seem to be dealing with someone who is purposely going back in time to try to change things. I can’t guess at his motives so I can’t say whether or not he would try again. I guess it depends on whether Tut is his true target or if he’s just messing around.”
“You don’t seem to be much help at all! I don’t really know that much more after meeting you than I did when I first came here.” Alex stood, trying to hide her tears of frustration. A few trickled down her cheeks despite her efforts.
“I wish I knew what to say. But I don’t know what’s happening and I don’t know if you’re one of these special travelers, and I don’t know how to tell you how to find out if you are.”
“Can you tell me how to access the memories of the body I’m in when I need to?”
Sean nodded. “That is something I can help with. It’s kinda simple actually. The trouble is, you have your own memories and knowledge that is overlaid with that of the body you’re in. It’s a matter of shoving your own personality to the side and allowing the personality of the body to come to the front. It sounds impossible but it’s not.”
“Can Masters travel too?”
“No. They can sense when a traveler is new to their talents and will seek them out to give aid. Mine came all the way from China to Scotland to find me. They train travelers, but don’t actually do the traveling themselves.”
“He could sense your abilities from that far away?” Alex’s mind reeled at what Sean was telling her. Just when she thought this couldn’t get any stranger, Sean proved her wrong.
“I guess it’s part of how Masters find out they are supposed to be Masters. That, and the books they have.”
“There are books on this stuff?”
“These aren’t ordinary books.” Sean rolled his eyes. “They’re accounts from centuries ago, telling of previous Masters and their Protectors. They write down everything that happened when they traveled. Every Master possesses different books, since they don’t have the same Protectors.”
“Wish there was a way to get these books translated into some online database so those of us without a Master could access the info.” Alex’s mind reeled. She had so much to ask him and yet she knew Sean couldn’t stay long. His fearful glances at her rooms made her realize just how much danger he was in. “Any chance that a Master will eventually find me?”
Sean shrugged. “I’m not sure. From what I’ve read in my Master’s journals, there are only a couple left. But I don’t see why it can’t be possible. If someone from your time senses you, they will come find you. Guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”
“So I’m still on my own,” Alex said miserably. “I wish there was a way for the two of us to communicate after this is all over. I don’t want to have to face this guy alone.”
Sean awkwardly put his arm around her shoulders. “If you really are one of these special travelers, then you should be able to choose someone in my time to travel into. Then you can talk to my Master and maybe find some answers.”
“Except that I have no idea how to do that.” Alex turned to face Sean. “Is there a way for someone to kill a traveler so that they can’t get back to their body and yet not be stuck in the void?”
“I honestly don’t know.”
Alex shrugged it off. “We’ve already decided to banish this guy back to his own body. When do you want to do the magic? The spell? The thing?” Saying those words still made Alex want to laugh.
“I’m not sure. But we should do it within the next few days. Tut’s right around the age when he died. We have to get the bad guy out before the actual time passes.” Sean stood and tiptoed to one of the large columns, peering into the dark chambers. “I’ll come for you in a few nights. Be ready. And make sure to practice the spell.” With that, he disappeared, moving silently as a shadow.
Alex went back to her giant bed and fell into a sleep broken by dreams of death and time.