The Book of Time

Chapter 21

"I have it," Thomas said. He handed her the box with the page. She finished braiding her hair then took it from him and slipped it into the messenger bag Luca had given her. It hadn't been hard to get into Zahir's office. Junaid had hidden a spare key in his room just in case. He never went anywhere without knowing a way in and out. One day he and Shay should talk about all the many ways to sneak around the castle. He wondered if he'd missed any.

Thomas had woken up extra early that morning to pray and meditate. He was ready for anything.

Luca pulled him into a hug. "Come back safe. I went to your funeral once. I'm not sure if I can handle that a second time."

"I'll see you soon," Thomas said.

Shay typed in the coordinates into his bracelet.

"Good luck," Luca said.

Shay laughed. "I don't need luck. Painkillers, yes, but not luck. See you later, Luca."

They each pressed the teleport button. Thomas held onto her jacket so they wouldn't get separated.

"Ah! This heat," Thomas said once they were there. "Aren't we supposed to be in a field or something?" He pulled the hood of his sleeveless hoodie over his head. He regretted not wearing something with sleeves. Everything around him was dry and dead.

"What are you talking about?" Shay asked. "I can finally take off my jacket." She tied it around her waist. She pulled up the holographic map on her bracelet. "Okay, we need to climb to the top of the hill we're on."

"How do you know where we're supposed to go?" he asked. Thankfully they were already halfway up. Shay held onto his left elbow and froze his arm.

"The statues on this island all face towards the center. Last year when things started going crazy, people noticed that they had shifted and now face Maunga Terevaka, that's the hill we're standing on. It used to be a volcano. At least that's what Luca found on his phone while you were eating. Then there were the markings on the door back at the monastery. I'm not sure why we had to go through those other portals though."

"Have you figured out what the compass is for?"

Shay took it out from her pocket and tapped the glass. "Yes. It's pointing north, towards the top of this mountain. It only works when we're close to a portal, it would point to the nearest one. What threw me off at first was the arrow made by the locations of the other portals. If they were pointing to something then we should be looking in Scandinavia. Norway was my bet."

"But now we're back in South America."

The dry dirt shifted beneath Shay's feet and she stumbled a bit. Thomas steadied her.

"I think that the Book or portal or whatever it is was in Norway but the last Guardian moved it here. How are you walking on this sand so easily?" she asked.

"It's not sand, it's dirt." Thomas shrugged. "I've spent time in deserts. This isn't as bad." And Shay keeping him cool was just making things easier. "Back to the portals. I didn't know they could be moved and why would he move it here? What about the statues? That would make it seem as if it was here before."

"I'm not sure but that might have been the case. I'm positive I have more questions than you. Maybe we will be able to answer a few of them when we find the Book."

It took them two hours to get to the top. If it had been grass it would have only taken them half an hour but the dirt soon turned to soft sand and their feet kept sinking.

Thomas pulled his foot out of the sand. "This is starting to feel like quick sand."

"We're almost there. Look," Shay said.