A Cross-Road in Time:
"Never play with time! Do not try to control The Ultimate! Your past, present or future self
could be destroyed in an instant, and if you are neuro-travelling, your brain can be destroyed or
trapped for eternity!" The old man’s words lie on deaf ears as she prepares to cast the spell of a
billion lifetimes. To control time is to have ultimate power, and she knows she is ready.
"Never play with time..."
The circle of stones towers above her, built for this purpose untold centuries ago, when the ancient
ones foresaw this crossroad in time... No wind traverses the Salisbury Plain. The mercury
coalesces into rune patterns onto mirrors lying on the grass before each standing stone, the power
symbols shimmering in the moonlight.
"Never play with time..."
The candles are lit around her meditating form, and the bowl of dragon’s blood catalyst resting on
her knees is gently smoking. The viscous crimson liquid bubbles slowly, as if boiling, but is
freezing to the touch.
"Never play with time..."
Her eyes are closed, her face lifted to the planetary alignment, all perfect this one night. The full
moon lights her face, and her black hair is suspended in the air around her, held up by invisible
power. A golden strand of light issues from each stone, joining into a nexus of power, gold
bathing her body. The night is silent, and the candle’s shadows form an eerie picture, flickering
over the mirrors.
"Never play with time..."
The air reeks of power, an invisible but tangible presence. She lifts the silver chalice to her blood-
red lips and sips the sour, mind-expanding drug. The goblet drops as her fingers’ nerves spasm.
"Never play with time..."
The drug is a drop on her lips, held suspended... but her mind is neuro-travelling, expanding
outwards and inwards, racing through galaxies and rushing past stars. She is aware of time,
shuddering to a halt, then slowly gaining in speed, moving backwards until it is hurtling through
the millennia.
"Never play with time..."
"Tempus fugit - time flies!" she whispers.
Everything and nothing stops. The universe is not yet born. There is nothing and everything. She
smiles, captivated within her power, adrenaline rushing through her brain at her successful spell.
Nobody before has ever watched the universe be born, but she knows that she has the ability.
"Carpe diem - seize the day!" she echoes, sealing her fate with her words.
"Never play with time..."
The pupils in her eyes contract sharply as light flashes like a billion electrical bolts. Her scream of
pain is lost in the new vacuum and the power and fury of the universe is unleashed. Her eardrums
are assaulted by a sonic boom of unimaginable proportions, as her senses are besieged by the
deluge of birth. Her mind is trapped in the rush of the universe, The Ultimate, her mind and senses
entangled.
Her body sags in the circle, and she does not move again. She had the power, but not the mental
discipline. She could not control the basic nature of The Ultimate. One by one as the night
continues, the guttering candles flicker out, and the blackness closes in.
The Beginning...
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