The White Knight

Chapter Fifteen--A Hole in Time

  Some time passed.  Each day was routine.  Maria would receive abuse from Melisande and had tons of labor dumped in front of her along with the sorceress hitting her once in a while.  However, she survived.  She took advantage of the knights when they fell asleep.  She would stop working and rest until she heard Melisande returning.  She would wake the knights and resume the work.  They would repay her by giving both her and Geoffrey extra food. 
         Each day a sparrow would fly in a window with a message.  There would be a few sentences written on a piece of paper.  She knew the messages were from Geoffrey.  She always answered them.
         Since they had been separated that fatal day when they first arrived at the castle, she had not seen Geoffrey again.
         Geoffrey's life was routine also.  It was as if his captors forgot about him, except when he was fed.  Andre would come to his room and inform him what was happening.  He began to trust the Death Bearer.

         Geoffrey paced the room, troubled. He knew something was going on.  From the last note Maria had sent him she said that more and more Red Knights were showing up at the castle.  She was planning a massive attack against the Knights of King Alexander and King Christoph.  There was nothing he could do to help them.  Or was there?
         Holding the sparrow that had been faithfully delivering messages back and forth between him and Maria, he decided he must act.  He quickly wrote a note:  "Be prepared for war.  Melisande has recruited thousands of Red Knights."  There was no room left on the paper to tell his King where they were being held as prisoner.
         Geoffrey took the sparrow to the window.  "Find King Alexander," he told it.  He released the sparrow and it flew off.  Geoffrey watched the bird until it was a speck in the sky.  "I hope Maria understands."
         One day Andre rushed into Geoffrey's room, with his white chain mail and sword.
         "Come on!  We are escaping!"
         "What do you mean?"
         "Melisande and the other knights are gone for now.  We must be quick.  We have to get Maria."
         The two knights exited the room quickly.  A few minutes later they were rushing towards Cliff Tower.  When they got to the room, they opened the door.  To their disappointment, Maria was not in the room.
         "She is gone!"
         "They took her with them!  We have to get out of here fast!"
         Geoffrey stared at Andre angrily.  "It is a trick!  You tricked me into believing you!  I am not going with you."
         "You have to believe me.  I did not know those knights took Maria.  It is too late."
         Tears formed in Geoffrey's eyes.  "Maria is the only girl I cared about.  If I am denied her, then I am not going to live.  I refuse to leave until I know what has happened to Maria."
         Andre drew his sword, "If you do not come with me, I will kill you on the spot.  If you stay here, the knights will make your death more painful.  There may still be a chance that no harm has come to her.  It is your choice to follow me or to die."
         Geoffrey decided to follow Andre.  Soon they were descending the stairs.

         Just a short time before Andre and Geoffrey had gotten into the empty room, Maria was staring glumly out of the window.  It had been over a week since she had received a note from Geoffrey.
         "Something has happened to him," she thought sadly.  "I do not to live any longer."  Tears started rolling out of her eyes.  The door opened up before her.  Melisande stood staring at her.  "If only if she would just kill me," she thought to herself.  "I can not bear this misery any longer."
         "Let's go,” Melisande said.
         Maria left the room, with guards flanking her on both sides and in the back, with their swords drawn. Maria did not think this was unusual; they always treated her like this to lessen any chances to escape. "If I make a run for it," she thought, "maybe they will strike me down."  However, she had no energy to do anything except follow Melisande.
         Maria thought that she would do the same routine as she always did.  However, she was lead to an unfamiliar passage.  They were stairs that appeared to descend into the mountain-like those she climbed the first day she arrived there.
         For a while, Maria was forced to walk down steps and through mountain passages.  Some time later, the air around her grew stale and appeared to be moist.  The group came up to a lake, whose water was pitch black and no reflection was seen at the surface.  Remembering her experience with a lake and Melisande before, Maria faltered at the sight of this one.
         Melisande looked at her and laughed.  "I am not going to do that again.  I know it is a waste of time."
         "Then what are we doing in this place?"
         "To find out what I need to know and make you one of my leaders."
         "You know that will never happen."
         "Are you so sure now?" Melisande stooped down and scooped up a handful of black mud.
         Repulsed at the sight, Maria backed away.
         "Grab her!  Hold on to her tight!"
         With Maria secured by the two knights, Melisande walked up to her.  Taking the mud, she rubbed some on Maria's cheeks.  Maria fell from the knights' grasps and clasped the head in her hands.
         "It hurts!  It is burning me!"
         "The pain will go away in time.  Bring her to the Mirror."
         Maria's pain began to subside as she approached the lake.  She was forced to sit down on the ground, which surprisingly was not wet.
         The knights turned her head so she was staring into the lake.  Melisande rubbed more on Maria's head.  This time it had a soothing effect.  Hypnotized, Maria stared at the water of the lake.  However, the reflection that appeared was not her present one, but one that showed past events.
         Melisande saw how life was like on Maria's world, what her life was like, how she got to Utofamia, and how she became a knight.  She noticed the picture faded somewhat.  The reason for this was because Maria tried to pull herself out of the hypnosis.  When she did that, her body would be racked with pain.
         After a while, Melisande knew all she needed to know and the surface of the lake returned to its black color.
         "That ends that," Melisande said.
         The knights made Maria stand up and led her away from the edge of the lake.  Melisande produced an onyx collar with red rubies embedded in it.  She fastened it around Maria's neck.
         "Who do you obey?"
         "Bellerophon."
         The rubies suddenly lit up.  Maria brought her hand up to her throat as if something was choking her.
         Melisande repeated the question, "Who do you obey?"
         "I obey Bellerophon and King Alexander.  Bellerophon and King Alexander.  Bell...Melisande, I obey Melisande.  I will always obey her."
         "Excellent.  That is what I want to hear.  I will see that you are taken care of as long as you do my bidding."
         One knight approached Melisande.  "What is that thing?" he asked indicating the collar.
         "That is the Transformer.  With that thing attached around her neck, she only obeys one person-Me.  She will have no recollection of her time as a Knight of King Alexander, unless if it is removed."

         Geoffrey and Andre had been running through the passages when they passed over the lake, called the Mirror by Melisande.  It was about fifty feet below them.  However, it was hard to be seen, because of the darkness.  Suddenly, the whole cavern was lit up.
         "Get down!" Andre whispered harshly.  He pulled Geoffrey to the floor of the passage beside him so his shadow would not be cast against the walls.
         "What is happening?"
         "Be quiet!" whispered Andre.  "They are using the lake.  Look over the edge.  If we stay low, they will not be able to see us."
         Geoffrey looked down, "They have Maria!  I have to help her!"
         "No!  We do not have a chance against them!  They are too powerful!"
         "If we do not help Maria, she will be killed."
         "She will be safe if we do not interfere.  Besides, that is not what the lake is used for."
         "How do you mean?"
         "The lake is called the mirror.  Watch and see what happens."
         Geoffrey looked at the lake again.  He noticed the scenes that were shown on the surface of the water.  He was struck with awe when he saw Maria's old world.  It was more complex than Utofamia, more dangerous looking.
         Geoffrey looked in horror at the scenes.  He saw a world of violence, murder and rape.  He saw different scenes in Maria's life.  He stared in disbelief as she was attacked with a knife.  He could not understand why anyone would want to hurt her like that.
         Geoffrey then realized with horror what Melisande was planning to do.  He turned to Andre.
         "She is making a hole in time!"
         "That is true," Andre said sadly.  "Melisande had Maria hypnotized by that mud.  The Mirror was able to draw thoughts from the girl.  Melisande will know the places where Maria left her world and entered this one.  If a hole in time is made, Melisande will be able to bring people from Maria's world.  It may take many years for this hole to be completed, but if it does occur there will be catastrophic deaths.  It has to be up to somebody to destroy Melisande before such a disaster can happen.  The darkness has returned.  We have to get going."
         "What about Maria?  We certainly can not leave her there to die?"
         "They are not going to kill her.  They feel she is too valuable."
         The two began to run down the passages again.  They did not notice Maria being transformed by the collar attached around her neck.
         Andre and Geoffrey ran on and on.  Finally, they reached the outside.  Andre fell to the ground.
         "I am spent.  You have to go on without me."
         "We can rest a bit."
         "No!  You do not understand.  I am a Death Bearer.  We cannot be heroes.  I am doomed to die because I have shown you kindness.  It will be soon."
         Geoffrey understood.  "Is it because of the spell?"
         Andre nodded.
         "Why?  Why did you help me?"
         "Deep down, I know Melisande is evil.  Even though I was created to be evil, I feel guilty.  I am ashamed of the way I look.  Let me die and bury my body so Melisande will be unable to find me."
         "Bellerophon will take care of you."
         "You have to get back to safety.  Depart quickly, going the safest way you can find.  This is the end for me, but a great war has to be prepared for."  Andre closed his eyes with thoughts of peacefulness.

         After burying Andre's body, Geoffrey stayed near the Dark Castle trying to find out what had become of Maria.  However, he could not see any sign of her.  He noticed though that the Enemy Knights were gearing up for battle.  Deciding that he would not be able to help Maria by himself if he did indeed find her, he decided to link back up with the Knights of King Alexander.  He would be able to tell them what the enemy was planning to do and help prepare for war.
         Geoffrey began a perilous journey southwards.  He had to pass through dangerous obstacles--the mountains and the marshlands.  Knowing that time was valuable, Geoffrey decided to take the shortest route possible instead of looking for a safer one.  He was familiar with the passages, because he used to travel the days before he was a Kingsbane.  However, this was the first time he ever had to tackle the obstacles alone.
         He set out quickly.  The mountain passages proved to be no great problem.  Since there were no hazards during the day, Geoffrey spent some of this time eating and sleeping.  During the night he would be on the move, looking out for creatures lurking around.  He was able to find the safer passages.  A few weeks had passed and he came to the end of the mountains.
         Geoffrey had run out of his food supply the first week of travel.  However, there were many animals so he did not go hungry.  The food problems would not begin until he was in the heart of the marshlands.           
         After entering the marshlands, knowing few people were lucky to pass through unharmed, Geoffrey was very nervous.  He jumped at every sound and movement.  The daytime was just as hazardous at the night.  Therefore, he could not put aside a few hours to sleep safely.  He traveled onward at a constant pace until he could go no further due to exhaustion.  Then he would grab a few minutes of sleep and then continue forward once again.
         As predicted, food and water shortage quickly became a problem.  The only thing Geoffrey was able to do was tighten his belt and continue onwards.  The worst would soon be over.  He picked out the dry land as best as possible.  He was able to keep alive by finding some edible plants.  However, the animals he caught were mostly skin and bones.
         When Geoffrey was halfway through the marshlands, the rain season began.  Once started, the rains never let up.  The ground became more treacherous than before.  He had to look where he was going lest he stepped into a pool of mud and be lost forever.  It rained for days.  The dampness and cold made Geoffrey more weak and tired.  His body began to burn with fever.  However, he kept moving on.  He was close to giving up, thinking that he was lost, when he came to the edge of the marshlands.  Looking through a small forest, he saw a plain with small huts scattered about.  Knowing that there were people nearby, he started towards the village hoping to find some food and shelter.
         The huts were empty; probably the villagers had fled when the Red Knights came back to Utofamia.  Looking around he found some barrels with grains.  This would help keep him going.  Yet he had to rest; the fever was still raging in his body.  Lying down on a pile of straw, he fell fast asleep. He slept through the next morning.  He woke, still with fever.  Barely having the energy to move, he made an effort to eat some of the grain.  Then he fell back asleep.  When he finally awoke nearly twelve hours later, he felt better, just a little better.  He could have used another day to rest.  However, he had to continue on; he had to do it for Maria.  She was his only hope.  "If only I could travel quicker."  A sound came from near one of the huts.  A horse was eating the sparse grass.
         "This is my chance," Geoffrey said.  "I can make it back to King Alexander within three days."  Geoffrey walked up to the horse.