Terra Vonnel and the Skulls of Aries – Chapter 12

The Orb of Time

Terra looked over at Coven, who wore a bewildered look.

“All right, well… that looked painful,” Coven said.  I didn’t see that coming!”

“I did,” Terra replied. “Coven, quickly… in my rucksack there is a rope!”

Not sure of what she had in mind, Coven quickly retrieved the rope and threw it to Terra, who stood waiting in the stream. She fashioned the rope together using a series of knots into what looked like a lasso. Swinging the large circle once, then twice, she tossed the rope onto the small podium and pulled it forward. The crimson Orb fell into the water with a splash, and the force of the current sent the Orb rushing toward Terra. With a sweep of her hand, she retrieved the Orb and stepped out of the stream.

“Finally!” she said, holding it up to take a better look.

The Orb itself seemed rather simplistic in its functionality. There were three brass dials that ran across the surface, one for the day, one for the month, and one for the year. As the story goes, one would simply set the time period they wished to travel to, and the orb would activate, sending you there. Simple enough, she thought.

Terra grabbed her rucksack and placed the Orb inside. “It’s time go!”

Coven smiled just as the ground began to shake. Quickly his smile faded into a look of fright.

“Now what?” he asked, sounding defeated.

Above them large onyx rocks that looked more like boulders began to fall from the ceiling as the cave began to crumble from within.

“Now we run!” Terra yelled.

Terra turned to leave the way she had come in, but the rock face had deteriorated to the point that it was impassable. Large cracks began to spread like lightning beneath their feet, emitting small green flames.

“Coven, we’ll need to jump!” she yelled.

“What… jump where?”

“Follow me!”

Terra ran back into the stream with Coven close behind. Large boulders fell all around them as they reached the edge of the waterfall.

Terra turned to the Sea Ghouls, who stood at attention as the debris rained down.

“Retreat!” she cried out.  Their heads shifted as one to regard Terra, then they vanished into the chaos.

Terra turned and fixed her eyes on Coven.

“Ready?”

“For the record, Vixen, this is not a good plan!” Coven complained.

“It’s our only chance!” she replied, and with that said she grabbed Coven’s arm and leaped over the edge.

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