Nomadrel's Journey part 2

Nomadrel's Journey

II

When he arrived it was night. He wondered what he had missed in his absence. He was surprised to find that he was standing near the docks. At his feet lay a box with his name written on it. Nomadrel knew it was from the man in the hood. He didn’t know how, but it was.

The box contained a red hooded shirt. ‘Lee said something about this.’ he thought as his mind wandered to his memory of all that Lee had said.

Almost on cue, Lee appeared ahead. Nomadrel knew that he was being watched. Someone knew where he was going to be. Lee was there watching the docks and it wasn’t long before Nomadrel spotted Beliso and his past self, arriving to make an exchange. ‘To help find me on the docks’ Lee’s words echoed in his mind.

It was the first conversation he had with Lee. ‘At the Mjolnir Tavern.’ He reminded himself and there was only one of the Vekinos that wouldn’t kill him on sight…Ephinox.

He had his message, he had his meeting place, and, strangely enough, had a the time…Sort of. With the flick of his new tail he was off.

***

The Mjolnir Tavern was just as he had imagined. His father, Ragnarok, had never allowed him to travel to this part of Dahamadra. Then again, Ragnarok never really let him go anywhere there would be humans. That is, of course, unless it served his own means.

He knew better than to be seen here; his father had few friends. With the hood in place he entered quietly and found a nice shady corner table. Unfortunately it was occupied, so standing at the end of the bar would have to do.

Other than a funny first look from the bartender he sat unnoticed. He thought about what he’d heard from people in his father’s employ.

The first described an epic bar room brawl. Nomadrel was eager to see this.

It wasn’t long before he heard Lee’s familiar voice. “I’m looking for…” was all Lee could manage before he had to dodge a barrage of flying drinks. To his surprise Lee lept into action, seemingly without his permission.

The first of them to step up was a six foot beast of a man with a shaved head and plenty of tattoos. The one most noticeable was the one on his forehead that read “DIE”. A quick thrust to the throat and a sharp kick to the stomach and he was done. The next five each received a broken limb. Nomadrel realized that he’d have to be quick on his feet if he was going to avoid joining them.

After the last goon had been handled Lee asked again. “I said I’m looking for the Vekinos,” Nomadrel was amazed at the devastation that Lee had caused. “I need to speak to them. I have a business proposition for them.”

“What business do you have with them?” Nomadrel answered from his poorly lit corner.

Lee turned to see an empty table. “Wha?...”

“You don’t belong here stranger. You and I both know it.” The voice came again from just behind Lee.

‘How is he that fast?’ Lee thought as he turned around carefully. A young man in a red hooded shirt stood hiding his face within the shade of the hood.

“Speak with Ephinox at the Happy Cloud Inn.” and in a flash he was gone.

***

Nomadrel was in a panic. He hadn’t used his power to move through time. Something was pulling and pulling hard.

After a moment the pulling ceased and Nomadrel was flung violently to the roof of a building. It didn’t take long for him to realize where he was.

Below him was the alley where Lee had caught him. It was here that a paradox of himself had been made. This was just a theory, of course.

Off to his right he could hear the angry screams of Lee as he sprinted from the delivery bay of the hospital. ‘Those vials could have been used to treat the sick.’ Nomadrel thought to himself.

Below him was a much more naive version of himself. His younger self quickly replicated as he quickly folded time. In an instant Lee rounded the corner.

The pain, from Lee’s attack, was still fresh in his mind. Though this hurt, Nomadrel was still impressed with Lee's combat skills.

The paradox vanished just in time for his already unconscious self to be restrained by Constable Jgorn. Though the constables had a bad reputation, they really were keepers of the peace in Dahamadra. Nomadrel could see why Jgorn was a leader among them.

Something else caught Nomadrel’s eye; His hooded friend. The man in the hood stood a few blocks away on a rooftop as well. Staying a fair way back Nomadrel made his careful way across the rooftops. One bad decision here would not only kill him, but could do horrible damage to time.

The man in the hood finally descended from his rooftop. Nomadrel could see that he had cornered someone. That someone was his paradox twin.

He was no match for the man in the hood. Nomadrel recognized the building. It was a safe house for Ragnarok. He had considered fleeing there once he had the serum. The old warehouse door rose suddenly bathing the hooded man in light.

The hood was hit by a bolt of electricity and in a flash the man in the hood was gone.

A flood of thoughts washed over Nomadrel. Was it these events that pulled him here? Was it a result of the events yet to transpire that had done this? And what was the hooded man’s connection to it all? He knew he’d need to ask the Mardrine he had seen from Dahamadra’s future to know for sure.

***

As quickly as he had left her he returned. His arrival startled the people who now lived in these tunnels. Though they had been surprised by his arrival there was something else in each of their faces.

Nomadrel pushed through the crowd to the area Mardrine had led him before. People now appeared to be living closer to the room that she had shown him. The smell of unwashed, huddled masses saddened him. ‘This is what it all came to,’ he thought, ‘one man’s quest for power has brought this once glorious city to ruin.’

A teenager came running toward him from the room ahead. “She knew it would be the last time, didn’t she?” the undernourished girl asked. Nomadrel could see the tears forming in her soft blue eyes.

“Yes,” he started, “I take it she went peacefully?” The girl nodded in confirmation. Still it brought no solace. He had hoped that he would have had time to get to know her. Even though he knew that with the ongoing war there was no real chance.

“You had just gone when she slipped away.” the little girl sobbed. Still she took him by the hand and led him forward.

The room was now aglow with lights. Mardrine lay on a bed of worn and tattered sheets. It was what lay on the wall just beyond her that caught his attention next.

It looked to be a message scrawled on the brick in blood:

A villain will have it when his time approaches

Now knowing the grim fate to come

to deliver himself a message

he returns to a powerful song

only he can understand

next to have his heart tested

yet only in time

While his new allies fall the

is he to see

nexus opens for a moment

the right time is a square 2529

enlightening the world

reality shall bend into the correct path

soon.

Vision is blocked as the book moves

in time

shadows hide the book

gathering in the dark places

ominous foes prepare

to overrun the world with monstrous creations

humanum novus and tantibus filii

One will lay down his life to the man of principle. Seek the cards. For without them the song shall not play and the hand of death shall see a new day. These things must come to pass or death herself shall move into the throne of power.

Nomadrel stood there taking it all in. This was the work of the seers. His father had often complained of their meddling in his affairs. Now he came to them with a question only to be met with riddles. This could not be his only answer. He would need to learn so much more.

Now with the children in mind Nomadrel departed. Moving though time like a shadow he watched history unfold. If they were to survive they would need a chunk of time safe from world devastation.

After many years of searching he finally settled on two points of time; near enough for plenty of overlap while not putting all his eggs in one basket.

Nearly one hundred and eighty years had passed for him while he traveled along the ebb and flow of time. With the locations selected it was time to return to Lee. Nomadrel concentrated and then he was on his way.