Time and time again
A few quiet enquiries led nowhere. No one had seen a one-eared elf or an elf child. As she sat on her goat, looking around the rolling hills, she felt calm. What was the rush? There was plenty of time, right? All the time in the world.
The tinkle of the water as the stream raced over the rocks reminded her of something, but what? Turning her mount to the hills, she found the path without even looking. She left Blastit by a tree, and carefully made her way up, keeping to the shadows. She saw the guards before they saw her, but she didn’t recognize them. She frowned. Perhaps it would be best to stay hidden.
The tunnel she could have negotiated with her eyes closed, and she almost laughed. The sound of laughter echoed her own thoughts, but sent a chill down her spine. She knew that laugh. Bjorke peered around the wall of the tunnel towards the garden. A silver-haired woman sat with her back to Bjorke, laughing, and clapping her hands. A small girl was twirling cartwheels across the grass, giggling, the sound of it like tinkling glass. In mid-turn, she began to cough, and collapsed to the ground. Her pale face was now red with exertion, as she tried to catch her breath.
The woman raced to the child, kneeling by her. Bjorke heard her own voice: “Carlo! I need you!”
The bile rose in Bjorke’s throat as she realized what she was seeing, when she was in the time stream. She staggered backwards, stumbling, falling over her own feet. The shouting of guards awakened her instincts, and she sprinted out of the tunnel, racing down the hill, and whistled for Blastit. He caught up to her, and she grabbed his fur, swinging her leg over his back in a smooth, practiced motion. They raced back to the small, non-descript town the Keepers of Time maintained.
“Portal! Where’s the portal?” The elf-dragon pointed, unconcerned with her state. He saw many affected this way by the seeming paradoxes of the time stream.
Back in the Cavern, Bjorke spurred Blastit harder, and they headed for Gadgetzan. “Bourbon,” she barked at the Goblin. “Keep ‘em coming.”
