Chapter 8

The statue made me stop and wonder; when was I?

I scanned again for Lokhoni, but couldn't p'sense anything. I scanned for her children since I had been in touch, again nothing. Then it struck me, her knife. Scanning for that I quickly found it in the room next to mine. I knocked on the door and heard "Enter".

I went in and saw an old lady. The knife was at her waist and she lay on the bed. Her aura showed she was dying. I went to her and knelt beside the bed. "My name is George. You carry the blade of Lokhoni, so you must be her descendant."

"Yes I am her great, great, great grand-daughter. The only George who would know that would great, great, great grand-father. You have been gone for so long."

"I'm sorry to have been gone for so long, I went to sleep 2 months before Lokhoni was due to give birth and just woke up."

"Your room was has been kept clean, but unoccupied. The old man assured us that you would return, but I fear even he was starting to give up after 200 years."

Just then there was a pounding at the door. "Open up in the name of the council. We are looking for George La Strange."

I opened the door and told the guards to leave me alone, I'd be down soon. I shut and locked the door and cast a locking field over the door.

The knocking continued and then I felt the locking field go down and the door was flung open. "You will come with us now," demanded one of the guards. "We need to know who you are."

I turned to the old lady on the bed. "You will be alright soon."

"No, I am dying, my daughter needs to be brought immediately so I can hand over the knife."

I turned back to the guards, "Get her, NOW!" I yelled, feeding a compulsion into my words. They stopped advancing and immediately one went to leave the room while the other remained to guard the room. He drew his sword. I recognised it as one from a few months/200 years ago. Time travel hurts the language.

A few minutes later the first guard returned dragging a middle aged woman. "Let her go," I said to the guard. "Are you this woman's daughter?"

"Yes I am. Is it time?"

"I'm afraid so. She is too far past my healing ability."

"Thank you for getting me, I know what to do."

I turned to the guard, "You out. Both of you."

They started to object and the one with the sword raised it to strike. I Called my Katana and parried his blow. "Leave, now, why you can."

The new lady knelt next to the older one and held her hand. Slowly, almost peacefully, the old lady smiled and breathed her last. The other lady undid the belt holding the knife and belted it around her waist. Turning to me she said "I am now The Lokhoni, who are you?"

To say I was speechless would by making me out to be a public speaker. Gob-smacked I answered "George. George La Strange. I think I'm your great, great, great, great grand-father. In fact I must be if you can take that knife."

I Called the swords sheath and attached it to my belt. Putting it away, I turned to Lokhoni and said "I must go. There are many questions to be asked and answered. Don't go away."

I left the room and went back to mine and finished dressing and getting my gear on. The guards tried to follow but this time I Wizard Locked the door.

When I was ready, I teleported directly the council chambers where I first met them. "I'm back. What the hell has happened while I was gone?"

Guards rushed from all over to surround me. "Again? Didn't you guys learn last time?"

This time they didn't only raise swords, many raised their hands with a strange glove, one that looked reminiscent of the "hammer" glove I gave the elder at the village. Going to full Wizard shielding I reached out and drained all power from the gloves. I walked over to the captain of the guards and shook his hand. "They don't work any more".

He repeatedly tried to palm strike me in the air with a look of concentration on his face. "I said 'They don't work any more', don't you listen?"

I turned away and headed toward the closed doors of the central council chambers. I slammed the doors open, with a bit of a telekinetic push, and they came off their hinges and crashed to the floor. "What the hell is going on here!!" I bellowed to the assembled councillors.

I continued in a quieter tone "You have corrupted the technology I gave you, turned it into a weapon. Have you developed new things or only perverted all the good we did many years ago? Why did follow this path? We have many years until the coalition come back, many years, thousands of years. You fools, you complete and utter fools." By this stage I was almost weeping in frustration. I teleported back to the Lokhoni's room. The locks were still in place and my g'daughter was still there.

"Sorry to have disappeared like that but..." and I fell to my knees and started to shake. Lokhoni came and she folded me into her arms.