C h a p t e r X I V

A n d T h u s W e S e e

The rain beat down from the cloudy skies above.

Brian’s figure came up over the small hill, and then tumbled down into the weeds and mud. He slowly regained his composure, and stood back up. He was filthy, cold, wet, and hungry. Brian had been wandering now for almost two days, trying to get away from them all. After everything he’d been through, it just was too much to take in. They took away his ghost privilege, they took away his modern life, and they took him away on their mission to find Jon. This was just not for him. He had to strike out on his own…if he could survive.

He finally came to a rest against a rock, and began panting. Although he was finally free of them, he was no better off. He had no food, he had no way back to his time; he had nothing. No, that wasn’t true. He still had his inner denial. But that would only last as long as he stayed alive. That first thought of doubt finally ran through his mind; how long could he keep going without something to eat?

“What I would kill for a cheeseburger.” He said to himself.

Almost as if on command, a figure wisped into shape out of thin air. He was clad about in strange clothing that looked neither Lamanite nor Nephite. Brian would have jumped in surprise, but he was too exhausted.

“Kill, ye say?” The man stepped forward and examined Brian. “Kills, he says!”

“Who are you?” Brian managed to say.

“I am an enchanter…a cloaker, some call me.”

Brian’s interest momentarily perked. “Like an invisibility cloak?”

“Smart, this one is…” The man reached down, and pulled out a small bottle from his pouch. It appeared to be made of green glass, and had some sort of cork in the top. He gave it to Brian, who quickly drank the strong tasting contents.

“Finest Gadianton ale…can bring a near-dead man’s strength back.”

Brian seemed to instantly receive energy, and stood up. The cloaker smiled, and took the bottle back. He then unclipped a strange piece of cloth from his belt, and handed it to Brian. Brian threw the cloak over his hands, and saw to his astonishment that they were invisible. He stared in disbelief, but then threw the entire cloak over himself, completely disappearing.

As he took it off, several others revealed themselves around him, taking off their own cloaks. Brian looked about them, and then smiled evilly.

“Thus ends the days of regular Brian, and begins the wrath of the cloaky robbers!”


*     *


The Book of Jon

Chapter 5

Well it has been 35 days now and the people are getting restless, but anyways. I had hoped to find a power source before I had to get on this thing, but I’m afraid that I will be here for a very long time…


*     *


It had now been two days, and the search for Brian had been in vain. Moroni had led what remained of the Gang through a part of the wilderness that was in-line with the Nephite-Lamanite wars. However, he couldn’t guide them for more than a week before he would have to return to battle. The war was still in full force, even if the Nephites were winning. They only had so much longer to search for Brian, and for the time being, there had been no signs of him.

It was quite strange that Brian would take off without any way back home. Where would he go, and what could he possibly hope to achieve? All they knew was that having Brian loose in a past time-period was not good for the overall space-time continuum. He was a disaster waiting to happen.

Another thing that Richard was very mystified by was the fact that the remote had put them here. He had given it the command to take them to a disturbance in time that he thought was being caused by Jon’s presence. But if Jon was here, they had appeared nowhere near him. This caused Richard to question whether he was really there or not. The read-out had looked bizarre. What if there was something else going on here? But this always brought up the big overall question; what was really going on? And why was it seemingly related to Book of Mormon times?

During the third day, things took a turn. Moroni had given his men time to rest, and thus everyone had taken this time to rest. The Ninjas went out to search for food, while Richard and Kaitlin puzzled over the further workings of the time-remote. Kenzi had been bored by the details, and took Aero with her over a nearby hill for a small hike.

On the other side was a large watering hole, with some wildlife gathered around to drink. Some of the animals were very large, but seemed peaceful enough. Aero was a little nervous, but followed Kenzi to an undisturbed part of the water. Kenzi sat down, and began scooping up water with her pouch. Aero knelt down too, and began lapping up the water.

Kenzi paused, and looked around, silently taking in the scene around her. Everything was quiet, save a few distant birds somewhere in the jungle, and the sound of Aero drinking. She sighed, and began to drink from the pouch.

Suddenly, there was an unusual echoing sound. Kenzi stopped drinking, and quickly looked around. The sound had been quiet, almost like a whisper. When she didn’t hear it, she began to drink again. But then it happened again. This time it was more audible. It was a female voice, and she was saying one word; “McKenzi”.

Aero looked up too, and began to growl. Kenzi set down her pouch, and slowly stepped away from the pond, heading towards a steep drop off behind her. She looked over the edge into the brush, but could see nothing. Suddenly the wind blew against her, and she heard the voice clearly.

“McKenzi, I’ve been waiting…” It came in an echo, and almost sounded electric.

Kenzi slowly turned around, and watched in horror as the very space in front of her begin to dissolve into purple bluish plasma. Both she and Aero stepped backwards, and watched as the plasma continued to grow outwards.

“McKenzi, I’ve been waiting, and now it’s time…”

The plasma touched the ground, and stopped expanding. It was about as tall as her, and looked almost like a liquid mirror. The image of a face began to form in the plasma, but it was too blurry for her to tell who it was.

“McKenzi, I’ve been waiting, and now it’s time. Come, and face your destiny…”

Aero stepped forward, at the sound of the voice, and pawed at the plasma.

“Aero! No!”

Kenzi reached out to stop her, but the two were both pulled into the glowing energy. Everything became brilliantly white, and everything else dissolved. Almost instantly the whiteness faded, and they found themselves in a new landscape.

A desolate and burning city lay before their eyes, engulfed in destruction and fire. The sky was red, and the land around the city looked dead and burnt. In the distance there was a bright flash of light, and a mushroom cloud rose up. All of this reflected in Kenzi’s horror-stricken eyes.

“Aero…where the hell are we?!”


*     *


“Guys! Over here!” Kaitlin looked back as the others followed her up the hill. She had heard a strange sound coming from over here, but all she saw was a watering hole surrounded by wildlife and brush. This was also where she had heard Kenzi.

Richard, the Ninjas, and Moroni came up the hill, and looked around too.

“This is where I heard Kenzi, but I don’t see her anymore.”

Richard looked around, and began to panic. They all hiked down, and circled the pond, but found no sign of Kenzi or Aero.

“Great! We’ve lost Jon, Brian, and now Kenzi!” Richard shouted in defeat.

“What is happening? Are we all doomed to be separated?” Kaitlin asked.

“Maybe we are…” Richard said quietly.

They all turned, and hiked back over the hill, heading back into the jungle. As they disappeared into the trees, there was another silent echo and a small flash of light where Kenzi and Aero had been standing moments before…

fin

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