The Revolutions of Time | Page 6

beautiful and the
trees and foliage are wondrously large, but I was surprised to find that, from the prairie to
the lake, I saw no one living among these quaint locations."
Wagner looked at me closely, with a hint of almost reverencing respect and said, "You
were very fortunate in your travels, I assure you, for had you arrived at any other time,
you would have fallen into fouler hands than ours by far."
"I do not understand what you mean," I said.
"Of course not, I am forgetting your new arrival has left you unacquainted with affairs
that I am faced with everyday. Let me explain: we, that is, the Canitaurs, have been in
open hostilities with the other group of people on this island, the Zards, for as long as we
can remember. They have great military superiority in this section of Daem, and when we
come here we are forced to live in hiding, in outposts such as this one."
"Why not just make peace?" I asked.
"Because it is our ideologies that conflict, neither group of us will yield, and the solution
can only be decided by force, military force. It is fortunate that you have come among us
first, for they would have mistreated you."
"So you have said, though I do not see why I was not captured by them on my journey
through the plains, if they are as powerful in this quarter as you say," I replied.
"As I said, the timing of your arrival was very fortunate," he said, "At any other time you
would have surely been caught, and then your fate would have been uncertain, but
yesterday was the Zard's new year, the Kootch Patah, on which they spend all night in
celebrations and revelries. Because of this, they were all soundly asleep on your trip
through the prairie, very possibly laying at your feet, covered by the tall grasses."
So my fears were not as unfounded as I had thought, was my predestined deja vu, then,
real as well? Only time would tell.
"I am indeed lucky then, as you have said, not only in the Zard's unattentiveness, but also
in finding of your secreted habitation, as well as your friendly welcoming of me," I said.
"I must confess," he chuckled, "It is not merely from a one-sided hospitality that you are
welcomed."
"Indeed?" I said.
"Indeed," he answered, "For your appearance and the circumstances of your arrival are
almost uncannily the realizations of one of our most ancient prophesies, one which we
have longed to have fulfilled."
"Is that so?" I rhetorically asked.
"Surely it is," he said with a smile, though from happiness or humor I could not tell. He
went on soberly, saying: "The prophecy is concerning the kinsman redeemer, one of the
ancients sent by Onan, the Lord of the Past, to redeem us from the destruction of this

polluted world."
"What do you mean by 'one of the ancients'?" I interjected questioningly.
"Exactly what I said," Wagner replied with a light hearted smile, "Let me explain."
But before he could, we were interrupted by a violent scratching and pounding at the door,
along with some grunting voices which I could not understand. The Canitaur's ears,
which were quite large, though more erect and postured than floppy, quickly rose to
attention, and they had spent not a moment listening when they uniformly chorused,
"Zards," in a hoarse whisper. My earlier fear, then mysterious but now understood,
returned in full force, and my face writhed in horror as I ejaculated remorsely, "Then we
are lost."
Wagner turned gravely towards me and said, "Perhaps, but there is still hope. Come,
follow me," and rising from his chair he led the way to the furthest corner of the room. A
primitive tapestry was hanging there, and Wagner lifted it up while Bernibus and Taurus
hit two hidden switches, one being on either extremity of the room, to avoid discovery.
That unlocked the wall behind the tapestry. It opened along lines previously concealed by
the wood's grain and revealed a small cubbyhole built into the wall, probably meant for
its present use, concealment. Wagner led us into it and no sooner was the door, or wall,
latched again than the Zards, having broken down the outside door by brute strength,
flooded into the room.
We could see them as they did, for the wall that concealed us had many small holes, and
the tapestry as well, so that on the inside we could see all that happened in the well lit
room, while they could not see us, as there was no light to reveal us. Indeed, I had been
sitting facing the hidden compartment during our brief dialog and had not detected it at
all. The situation was