Chapter 6: The End of the Beginning

2.5 Billion Years Ago

Lighting the red sky with glorious streaks of fire, speeding through the methane-dominated atmosphere, a Stone smashed into the Earth. Leaving barely a charred crater in the hard granite surface of the early Earth, the Stone sat and cooled, intact and unmoving.

It was only about four inches across and smooth to the touch. Almost white in color, it stood out brilliantly against the predominately red granite rocks.

Near to the spot where the Stone had landed was a fairly large settlement. They had noticed the object streaking across the sky and many set out to locate it.

Revering the forces of nature, those first finding the Stone knew that that it must be handed over to the Elders and they could determine the importance of this event. They would know the fate of the Stone.

The Elders were immediately fascinated and several realized that it could be of great value in furthering their powers. But, rumors began to spread among the general population about the mysterious Stone. Debate began among the populace and it seemed that everyone had an opinion, some were of value and some were not worth considering. Many suggestions even generated what today we would call chuckles among the creatures gathered.

Some claimed it as a religious object, sent from distant gods. Voices arose. “Create a monument to house The Stone”, said one. “Worship the Stone. Pray to The Stone”, said another. Some stood outside the great hall of the Elders and chanted in chorus, “The Stone is immortal. The Stone is immortal”.

Others feared the Stone. The fiery crash that brought it to their city, sent fear even through creatures as these who had a deep knowledge of the mysteries of nature. “Send it into the oceans to be lost forever”, plead some. Others wanted to send The Stone into a fiery grave in a distant volcano. Others suggested, “Find the remotest, deepest corner of the planet and lose the Stone there”.

Still others determined to use natural powers to shape the Stone to their needs. “Etch the Stone with the story of its discovery”, some debated. Others said, “Give the stone to the historians to long be remembered”.

None was silent. Every one had an opinion. Every one had a solution. And everyone thought their solution best. From the humble worker to the rulers of the city, all debated and argued over the Stone.

Soon though debate gave way to violent action. They shoved. They pushed. They argued among themselves. And soon, this escalated into open fighting and rioting. Things were well out of control.

First several died, then hundreds. Violence gave way to revenge and all over the question of what to do with The Stone. An civilization was collapsing as opinions as to the fate of the Stone grew louder and more destructive.

Finally the Elders decided. Remove the Stone from society. It was not enough to send it to the bottom of a sea or the top of a mountain because here, the Stone could be found by one adventurous enough and trouble would begin anew.

The Elders met and talked while outside riots were growing. Finally a plan emerged for the Stone and the very nature of time was at its core. But there was a problem.

# # #

Time.

Among their many talents to control nature was the fact that They possessed the means to control the arrow of time itself, moving backwards and forwards as the required. But never in great giant leaps of time, for their culture and beliefs forbid that.

In their distant past, incantations were discovered that when said precisely and with just the right inflection one could travel to a selected period in history for a brief amount of time and then return.

The difficulty of the incantation was high and almost all who tried failed. Miss an inflection, slightly mispronounce a word or stress the wrong syllable and nothing would happen.

It was fortunate that the time incantation was so difficult, because They knew it had a serious drawback. It was observed that when one traveled through time, events would change and always for the worse, sometimes a small local calamity and sometimes a continent shaking event. But always, something happened.

Some travelers making time trips returned as if ripped apart by savage animals. This was often chalked up to the traveler’s inexperience or bad choice of destination. Sometimes travelers returned to finds death and destruction present where all was fine before their journey. On at least one instance, a traveler had returned to find entire settlements in ruin.

Sometimes news of a tragedy would only arrive days after. They knew that time travel was dangerous but they were also drawn to the endless possibility of time.

Over time, a great priesthood arose, the keepers and protectors of the words that permitted travel through time. As the Priesthood of the Incantation, they were responsible for the preservation and protection of time travel.

A massive Temple of the Incantation was built keeping the priests were separated from society, isolated to preserve the time chant and to protect society from its ills. Strong walls of black stone soared skyward, sturdy and apparently seamless giving no hint of weakness.

Spires of jagged, razor sharp stone periodically grew from the walls. Here Priests of the Incantation would stand above the city, remote and superior to those below. Great halls were constructed for the priests and dormitories were built to house novices accepted for study and inclusion into the priest hood.

Outside the imposing Temple grew an entire industry supporting those who came to plead for admittance into the studies of priesthood. Poorly constructed shelters, poor food and severe conditions greeted those hopeful of inclusion but still They remained and waited.

Those accepted through the massive gates would be endlessly trained to precisely use the proper tones and words of the time incantation but they would always stop short of completing the phrasing. Only the highest member of the order knew the final phrases, for the priesthood restricted time travel only to only when it was actually required. For any other that than the highest priests to complete the incantation meant instant death, dismemberment at the hands of the priest’s executioners.

Over the years, The Priesthood of the Incantation grew distant from the general public and eventually became of little interest to those outside. No longer did crowds live in harsh conditions outside of the Temple pleading for admittance. Vendors moved on to more lucrative businesses away from the Temple walls.

In side the Temple, things had also grown old. A slow, imperceptible fade into non-existence was underway. Priesthood novices no longer filled dormitories with study and preaching, learning the secrets and traditions. Now there were but three priests left who knew the secret of the time incantation.

It was into this fading Priesthood of the Incantation, isolated from the rioting outside, that the Elders delivered The Stone. To the Elders, this was a temporary solution, using the Temple of the Incantation as a refuge until they could restore order but the priests did not know this. The three remaining priests thought The Stone was theirs permanently.

The Elders handed The Stone over to the priests and with few instructions, they then hurried off to quell the increasing rioting.

By now, in many places, the rioting had become full warfare. Gangs roamed the towns beating those who did not believe about The Stone as they did. “Worship The Store”, screamed some. “Sacrilege, fight them”, yelled those opposing. “Destroy The Stone”, some yelled. “They don’t believe, burn them”, implored others and the fighting raged on.

The priesthood though stood apart from issues of the world, secure behind the massive Temple of the Incantation. Besides they could not be bothered with matters as rioting and fighting for they now possessed the marvelous Stone. What would they do with it?

With hardness beyond anything they understood, seemingly indestructible, the Stone presented a unique opportunity. Quickly a plan arose. Knowing that their old ways were dieing, it was decided that they would use The Stone to preserve their knowledge. After all there were only three left who knew and worshipped the Incantation.

“We can call on nature to rise to our call and carve into the Stone the holy incantation, preserving it for a time when worship shall again rise”, said one priest. “Call on the wind to bend to our will and create an eternal object”.

Immediately, the Priesthood started shaping the forces of nature to carve the Time Incantation into the hard surface of The Stone. In the tallest of their towers, they built a platform on which to set and secure The Stone. Open to the elements on all sides, vast great arches created a hexagon around the Stone. The priests could invoke the elements from all corners of the Earth to do their will.

Chanting and singing in patterns ancient beyond their years, they commanded the winds to blow fine grains of sand onto The Stone in precise patterns. Over and over again, the sands smashed into The Stone. Relentlessly the winds blew as nature obeyed the commands of the priests. Over and over the three priests danced around the Stone chanting.

The Stone though resisted their attempts to etch the Time Incantation on its sides. Having passed through solar furnaces and supernovas, The Stone was harder than anything on Earth.

“Blow harder winds”, the priest commanded and the winds reached speeds never before attained on the planet. The very spire of the tower strained against the forces of nature now blowing through, around and over it. The hexagon of arches exploded from their foundations as all nature raged around the spire.

Day and night the priests chanted and prayed, exposed to the elements of nature they were summoning and their plan was working. The relentless grinding of sand upon the surface of The Stone was now ever so slightly etching the Time Incantation into its surface.

Living day and night in the spire amid the cold, wind and sand, and working ever harder to bend nature to their will, the elderly priests drained their own lives to complete their task.

“The winds must blow harder”, one observed, “and the sand must be moved more quickly”. The three elderly priests stood together and impelled the forces of nature to move against The Stone with more ferocity.

More than once during the period of the etching, did one collapse only to be dragged away for rest while the others urged on the forces of nature. Weakened and often ill, the priests did their duty, returning to the tower to complete their task, their legacy of The Stone. One died and then another leaving just a lone solitary figure to complete the task.

Exhausted, the remaining priest ordered the forces of wind and sand to quit their action and return to their natural state. High in the spire, the last Priest of the Incantation lifted The Stone from its platform where it had been exposed to the elements bent to the will of the priests. “I can do no more”, the last priest sighed as he looked at the faint etchings on The Stone. “It is as complete as it shall ever be”.

Rolling The Stone over, the last Priest of the Incantation read the etchings. “It is good”, he said to himself and it was. The wind, sand and will of the priests had etched the Time Incantation into its surface, all except for the final details, period and duration.

“Good, good”, the exhausted priest murmured. “Most is preserved for eternity but I can command the winds no more. It must remain incomplete”.

Slumping against the outer wall of the battered tower, a servant’s voice he heard. “Master, the Elders have returned for the Stone”.

Turning and looking outward at flames engulfing everything out to the horizon, the last priest said solemnly, “And I don’t think they shall have it”.

# # #

The Elders were desperate. Retuning to retrieve the stone from the priests, they would now execute their last option.

Escorted by Temple servants into the Great Hall, they entered a room where once scores of priests gathered to worship the Time Incantation and practice forbidden mysteries. Now empty, the Great Hall echoed as they crossed to a spot in the center where they were asked to wait.

Settling in, waiting for the priests to deliver The Stone into their keeping they discussed the apparent hopelessness of the world outside the temple.

They had come to the emptiness of the Temple’s Great Hall from a world destroying itself over the meaning of The Stone: A gift from God or an omen of evil? Or was it simply a stone of no special meaning to be discarded and ignored?

These questions were turning neighborhood against neighborhood, neighbor against neighbor. They fought, burned, suffered and died over the meaning of The Stone. Cities had disappeared in the carnage as once violent gangs joined into deadly armies trying to claim The Stone and forge it to their own desires. It seemed as if the Earth itself was in flame.

Even the common incantations to create sustenance were failing and famine was spreaded. It was as if nature itself was changing and the rituals of the past functioned no more.

The Elders knew that they must halt the violence and, they realized that there was no means to halt the violence as long as the question of The Stone remained. So, their plan was simple, remove the Stone, end the violence. With order restored other issues could easily be handled.

A small door opened at the far end of the Great Hall and the last Priest of the Incantation entered, stooped over and aged. He approached The Elders gathered in the center of the room.

“Where are the others”, questioned an Elder?

“Dead. I am the last”, replied the priest.

Apparently unsurprised, the Elder continued, “Then listen, we must lose the Stone. Travel through time, to a distant spot and leave it far from where any can ever find it”.

Rising to his full height, the last priest raged. “No”, he screamed in a voice echoing through the emptiness of the Great Hall. “This Stone is, mine, er… ours, preserving the priesthood even when all are gone. You and your kind have no claim on it”.

The last priest knew that the etching on The Stone was incomplete as he turned away from the Elders and continued more calmly, “This stone holds the key to time. It preserves the Incantation and as the last priest, only I can use it and I will not.”

Rising to try to present a more imposing figure, the Elder calmly paced the center of the Great Hall. “You must lose The Stone in time. Think now of the suffering outside the Temple”, plead an Elder.

Then a thumping, a dull distant thumping was heard in the distance. Entering the hall, a servant of the Temple bowed and quietly said to the priest, “They are at the gates and attempting to gain entrance”.

The Elders glancing first at the servant and then quickly back to the lone priest rose almost as a single chorus, “For the good of all, take The Stone through time. The mob will claim entry soon”.

Now the last priest was in a panic, the pounding on the Temple entrance, the voices of the Elders, the nervous Temple servants all served to confuse him. Silently he said over and over, “Destroy the Stone and end any chance of preserving the Priesthood of the Incantation but I will save the city. But preserving the Incantation is my duty”.

Turning as he neared the far wall, the last priest continued, “Stay here and the mob will destroy the Temple, also destroying the priesthood. What to do? What must I do?”

The doors to the Great Hall were now barred with furniture pilled high across the entrances held in place by the strength of servants against the mob outside. “Sir, they are almost through. It is to be our end”. The mob voices could now be heard in the corridors winding through the Temple. Soon they would locate the Elders and priest in their refuge within the Great Hall.

“Through time is our only chance”, said an Elder, hoping that a calmer voice would let the last priest see that their way is the only way, “Our only chance”.

“It is over”, the priest thought for he realized that preserving their way of life was more important that saving the legacy of the Temple or even saving the time incantation itself. “The time of the Temple is over when I die”, he softly murmured. He knew what he must do, travel time.

Slumping to the floor, exhausted and fighting just to have strength to talk, the last priest said, “I will do your bidding. I will take the Stone through time”.

Relief spread through the Elders. They would prevail. They had won.

The last priest was ordered to go immediately through time, two and a half billion years in the future. “Time enough”, said an Elder and “A good place to lose the Stone”.

“Put the burden of its final resolution on those of the future”.

It would not be their problem anymore and perhaps it the fighting now raging just outside the doors of the Great Hall would cease.

Explosions were heard nearby, explosions in the Temple. Time was short. Just as the great black wall of the Temple fortifications had given way to the mob, so the walls of the Great Hall were beginning to buckle. Rioters were now just outside the doors.

“Do it now”, the Elders urged, “Now go”.

Picking up The Stone the last Priest of the Incantation prepared for travel through time. “ I must go to a place where it can do no more harm” he thought. He rehearsed the incantation in his mind, every word, every inflection and tone must be right. There may be no other chance.

Lifting The Stone the priest looked at the incantation lightly etched into its surface and felt a sense of pride that his work would last for all time. But something was different, an energy rising from The Stone that he had not felt before.

“Now”, screamed an Elder as the doors of the Great Hall buckled even more under the weight of the mob. Cracks were forming and the barricades strained at the weight of those trying to gain entrance.

The priest staggered as a power emanated from the Stone. The etching had made it more than just a stone. It was a powerful object tied into his every sense. The Stone drew power from the etching, the etching drew power from the Stone and each joined the will of the priest holding it.

“The difference”, the priest whispered, “I know the difference”. He sensed that no longer did he have to recite the words of the incantation to travel through time. Just by holding the Stone, it was in control. The Stone would assure the success of the incantation.

Now he knew that with the Stone anyone could control time. No longer was time travel the realm of the Priests of the Incantation, it was available to all. The old ways of the priesthood had died, here and in his hand.

He knew what he must do. To preserve the Priesthood, he must lose the Stone in time. He knew that there was great danger if it remained. “By losing the Stone, I will be the sole priest and I can preserve the old ways. I will teach others and they will worship me”, he thought. “I alone have knowledge and I alone will rule”, he cried with growing arrogance.

But then the last priest remembered, “the Stone is incomplete. The last line is unfinished”. Here was another reason that there would always be the need for a Priest of the Incantation. The Stone knew no period or duration.

Now very calm, he knew that no matter what outcome, he had preserved of the Priesthood of the Incantation. But curiosity was beginning to overwhelm him. “Would it work?” the last priest thought.

He glanced out a window of the Great Hall at the red, methane sky of his Earth. He glanced at the city in flame. He knew what he must do and how to do it. But first, as a test, “Does it work?” he silently thought. For this one time only he would let the power of the etchings on the Stone, lead him through time.

Rolling the Stone over and over, the Priest glanced around the room. A power swept through his body waiting for his command. He felt as if he was floating but still planted firmly on the floor of the Great Hall.

The priest was now ready to give the final orders, period and duration. He could almost hear the Stone ordering him to complete the incantation. In a language now dead for two and a half billion years he chanted TWO AND A HALF BILLION YEARS AHEAD, FIVE MINUTES.

And the stone knew what to do for at the last syllable, the last Priest of the Incantation and the Stone were gone.

# # #

8 Thousand Years Ago

It was not just the shock of the new surroundings that caused the last priest to immediately drop the Stone, it was the object piercing his body. Long and thin, the object caused a great pain, penetrating the outer layers and embedding deep in an internal organ.

Gasping for breathe in the alien atmosphere, he cried out, “Help me”, to a strange creature standing nearby. But the creature did nothing.

“I was wrong, so wrong”, the priest thought with his last breaths, “I must get the Stone and take it back with me”. It was lying near his dying body. He attempted to reach for it but could not.

Now the strange creature was nearing the stone, and the last priest bellowed, “Stay back or I shall command all nature to oppose you”.

And the alien creature stopped, watched the last priest and then sat on a long cylindrical object.

With more confidence the priest yelled, “Do not ever approach the Stone again”. His strength was failing and he could not say more.

Weakening more, the last priest made a final attempt to grasp the Stone. Failing, he laid back and realized that that for all his abilities, his magic, his command of nature, he could not save his own life.

“How blue this sky is”, he thought with his dying breath.

And he vanished from the strange, blue skied world.

# # #

2.5 Billion Years Ago

It would have been easy to believe that the priest and stone were never even there but the Elders had seen him vanish while clutching the Stone.

“We are saved”, said one Elder as they all settled in to the center of the Great Hall to wait for the priests return.

Outside the temple as if by magic, things were immediately changing, tempers were cooling and the violent events were coming to an end.

The doors of the Great Hall had held and a servant reported that the last of the mob was at that moment being forced into the streets. The Temple of the Incantation was secure and empty of priests. This pleased the Elders. Power was now theirs alone.

So now, the Elders waited for the return of the last priest. “Five minutes the old priest said. He should be back soon”, one Elder stated. “Then we can deal with him”.

Pacing the Great Hall in deep thought one Elder stopped and said, “You realize that there is some proof backing that old legend that every instance of time travel causes disasters to occur”.

“Yes, I know the stories but we had to take that chance”, said another. “Besides what disaster could be worse that the fighting in the streets below? Just listen, that priest has only been gone a short time and the fighting is already done. Something has changed and I can only think that it is for the better”.

Still as they waited for the return of the priest, silently praying that this time travel event would only lead to a minor problem because deep down, the Elders still did believe in the old legend.

As the minutes passed waiting for the priest’s return, the Elders started to feel very good about their decision to lose the Stone in time.

Then as quickly as the priest disappeared, he or at least his body reappeared, bloated and lifeless, dead on the floor. A strange, long thin piece of some material had pierced his body. The elders, afraid to touch the item ordered their servants remove it from the lifeless body of the priest.

“Take that for study”, said one Elder motioning to a servant to save the long thin rod that was removed from the priests body.

“Is the Stone with him”, asked another Elder?

This time, not relying on servants, the Elders themselves searched the priest’s body and clothing but the Stone was nowhere to be found.

Glancing at each other, the Elders were relieved and for the first time in days, they relaxed. The Stone was gone and as a bonus, the last Priest of the Incantation was gone. Power was theirs alone.

“Spread the word, the Stone has been destroyed”, ordered one of the Elders and a servant quickly left to post the message.

As word spread of the Stones disappearance even the rioting and fighting in the distant towns subsided. Armies disbanded as neighbor again welcomed to neighbor. Commerce between once warring communities resumed. Peace was restored and some were even bold enough to say that a golden age has begun.

The Elders were praised and their power grew. New palaces were built and they lived in great luxury. In the public eye, the Elders were transforming into god-like beings and plans were made to build temples in their honor.

In private though, the Elders celebrated the end of the Priests of the Incantation and that silly religion. They were now the object of their people’s worship.

Standing on the balcony of a newly constructed palace, the Elders talked among themselves, “How silly we were to believe that time travel would bring disaster. That belief kept us worshiping that ridiculous incantation for too many generations”.

“It has been a year since the priest died”, said another Elder, “and we achieved total power. We shall not be challenged again”.

As one they agreed. With themselves in charge, their world would only get better. Their sky seemed as red as it ever was and the methane atmosphere of their world was as good as ever.

None could notice of the imperceptible increase in oxygen in the atmosphere that started just as the dead priest returned from the future. Slowly oxygen would replace methane and ammonia. Slowly, new creatures would rise to dominate Earth.

The first mass extinction in Earth’s history had begun and They did not notice. The end of the beginning...

_____________________

Next week:

Chapter 7: The Beginning of Now