Legacy of Ages , livre ebook

L egacy of A ges
Book Two - The Traveler’s Stone
R. M. Baxter
Austin Macauley Publishers
2022-11-30
Legacy of Ages About the Author Dedication Copyright Information © Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Epilogue
About the Author
Bob is a storyteller from Eastern Canada, who, after a period of managing numerous businesses, decided to start taking life a little easier. He became involved in telling stories professionally to various audiences, soon realizing that he should be writing them down. This activity started a very pleasurable experience that had quickly turned into writing full-length novels and multiple books until numerous series were produced. His stories are all intended to be enjoyed by you, the reader. Please share in his joy of storytelling.
Dedication
I would like to dedicate this book to my three children (although they are far from being children anymore); my son, Adam Baxter, and my two daughters, Tiffany Baxter and Robyn Baxter, and their continuous support for me and my efforts.
Copyright Information ©
R. M. Baxter 2022
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.
Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Ordering Information
Quantity sales: Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data
Baxter, R. M.
Legacy of Ages
ISBN9781649792228 (Paperback)
ISBN9781649792433 (Hardback)
ISBN9781649792440 (ePub e-book)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021925598
www.austinmacauley.com/us
First Published 2022
Austin Macauley Publishers LLC
40 Wall Street, 33rd Floor, Suite 3302
New York, NY 10005
USA
mail-usa@austinmacauley.com
+1 (646) 5125767
Chapter 1
The dust particles in the attic of the old house on the cliff continue to rise into the air. The last sensation of Ron’s physical body that he can sense is his shoulders dropping down as the muscles totally relax. He can almost feel himself, or his consciousness at least, leave his body. For a second, it feels like his mind is stretching almost to the breaking point. Then the sensation stops, to be replaced by an intense panic, because there is nothing around him but darkness, total blackness. He can hear a noise that eventually settles into a human voice but one that he does not understand.
It is the strangest feeling as his mind slowly seems to link with the others that he is now connected to. Then the words seem to take on a familiar tone and begin to make sense to him. He can now make out what the person is saying. He is calling out for someone to come and help him because the light had gone out again. The feelings of the person are starting to come through as Ron settles into his mind, the same as the language is now being converted over into English, seamlessly, becoming part of him.
The man is stumbling around in the dark, upset that he might be damaging something with his efforts to get into the next chamber.
“Sabaf, where are you?!” yells out Jeb.
Sabaf yells back from what Jeb thinks must be about two chambers over. “Just one more, and I will have some light for you, Master.”
“Quickly, I could ruin months of work stumbling around down here,” responds Jeb, annoyed.
Jeb can see the light coming toward him now as Sabaf adjusts the polished disk that is the last in a long line of dishes that send light from the entrance all the way to the lower levels, ending in the chamber that Jeb is stumbling around in.
“I can only imagine what it must have been like for Grandfather on his first trip to the past, not knowing what is happening and trying to figure it out as he went along. The feeling of just observing everything without being in control at all is hard to get used to; I can think about moving toward a certain spot only to find out I can’t.”
“The light enters the chamber, and I can see my first sights of what I assume is the past. The chamber they are in is covered in drawings and carved symbols. I seem to know instinctively where I must be. The labyrinth in ancient Egypt.”
Jeb moves toward a large glass tube lying on its side in the center of the chamber. “Quickly now, come help me with this thing before the sun moves again and we lose the light from those dreadful mirrors.”
Sabaf moves up to the tube on the carrying platform equipped with two poles to lift and transport it around. “What do you think happened to it this time?”
“How am I supposed to know? Do I look like one of the before-times people?” asks Jeb as he shakes his head.
Sabaf smiles and says, “You could be, Master. I don’t know what the before-times people looked like.”
“That is obvious by the way you try to fix some of the drawings on the walls. The other day, I found one you had done that showed a western man with a beard,” retorts Jeb.
Sabaf turns to him. “Was the beard too short?”
Jeb just smiles and shakes his head. “They don’t have facial hair at all.”
“Oh.”
He shakes his finger at Sabaf. “Mistakes like that will have the people, who find this Hall of Knowledge in the distant future, all confused as to when things happened.”
“I will be more careful in the future,” promises Sabaf softly with his head down.
Jeb goes to the long tube sitting on the wooden platform in the center of the room and runs his hand along the top of it. “It does not seem to be too hot. Thank the stars for that at least,” scowls Jeb.
Sabaf leans over the tube from the other side and looks up to Jeb. “Do you think it is just a bad connection at the collector?”
“I hope so. We don’t have many of these things left, and we still have years of work ahead of us,” responds Jeb.
“Why don’t we use torches?”
Jeb stands up, holding his back that has been giving him some trouble lately. “Because the soot from the flame would very soon ruin the colors of the pictures and work its way into the stone itself, making it useless for working with. So, unless you want to change all the walls in the labyrinth, keep the torches at home.”
Jeb moves to the end of the long glass tube, with the thin wiggly metal strip running down the center. He reaches down and gently gives the dish-shaped collector a wiggle and the metal strip starts to glow again, sending light evenly into the chamber they are in.
Jeb looks around at the walls that are totally covered with carvings and pictures. ‘This is one of the larger main chambers, and therefore one of the hardest to do,’ thinks Jeb. “We are almost done in here; it has been two years since we started. We will have to celebrate when it is done,” smiles Jeb happily.
The light from the sun reflecting off the mirrors quickly starts to fade. Jeb looks up as it ends abruptly. “Can you imagine how hard it would be to work down here if we had to rely on the light from the mirrors?”
“I would hate to imagine,” confesses Sabaf.
“Then, if I may make a suggestion; take a little more care removing the sheet over the end in the mornings,” instructs Jeb. “Now, get us a torch lit so we can go home.”
Sabaf goes to the small stool in the corner that doubles as a place to put the end of a hot torch in the hole of the seat so it can cool. They do not need the stool today, so the unlit torch is still sitting there. Sabaf takes out his small box containing the black powder and the two stones. He sprinkles some powder on the torch and prepares to strike the flint together to provide the spark.
Jeb has been watching. “You didn’t put too much powder on it again, did you? We don’t need you blowing your face off like you almost did the other day.”
Sabaf smiles as he remembers what had happened. “I was in a hurry and thought more would get the torch going faster.”
Jeb gives a little belly laugh. “Well, that it did, along with your hair also!”
Sabaf strikes the flint and the powder gives a small flare, setting the torch burning.
“OK, let’s head home,” suggests Jeb as he carefully puts the thick blanket covered in small blocks of metal over top of the collector dish on the end of the glass tube. This stops the flow of energy, causing the light to dim and go out.
The two of them make their way to the exit of the lower level and then up to the first floor and continue to the main entrance. Jeb has Sabaf close and seal the entrance behind them. Sabaf moves to the side of the door and reaches inside the frame pulling the lever, releasing the ten-foot block of solid stone that slowly lowers down over the entrance, leaving him just enough time to get out from under it. When the stone stops, the labyrinth is sealed for the night.
Chapter 2
Sabaf follows Jeb as he struggles along the path st