Legend of the Timekeepers by Sharon Ledwith

herself and said, “I don’t suppose it would do any harm to interrupt Father briefly. But please, remember that you’ll be in the presence of the Children of the Law of One. Respect is a priority.”
    Mica nodded, then handed the linen sack containing Kheti to her. Lilith froze. She stared at the bag, then looked at Mica. “Um, no, you take that thing with you, Mica.”
    His fair brows rose. “You sure?”
    She nodded vehemently. Oh, yes, I’m sure. Lilith pointed toward the hallway past the deep purple curtains. “Father is at the end of the corridor, in the Golden Serpent room.”
    “I won’t be long,” Mica said, then winked at her. “And, just so you know, I think my life seal is dead wrong.”
    “Mine too!” She-Aba snapped her fingers. “See, Lilith, I told you something’s not right with life seals lately.”
    “Well, mine’s fine,” Tau said indignantly, patting his life seal resting on his chest.
    Mica smiled one last time before he strode down the hallway lit with crystal clusters.
    Lilith watched him leave, twisting at her coiled snake bracelet. Suddenly, she felt a sharp twinge in her belly.
    “Stop spraying me, She-Aba,” Tau yelled.
    “You want to attract a suitor, don’t you, Tau? You’ll never attract one smelling like that,” she said, stuffing the small vial of perfume back into her bag.
    “Smelling like what?” He fanned the air.
    She-Aba smirked. “Beetle dung.”
    A crystal-shattering scream spiraled down the hallway.
    “Father?” Lilith shouted. No response. “Mica?” There was still no response.
    Tau darted down the hall first. “Do you two need an invitation?” he yelled over his shoulder.
    Lilith followed Tau, her mind going in circles.
    “Slow down, I can’t run very well in these shoes,” She-Abe shouted after them.
    Skidding to a stop, Lilith almost banged into Tau, now stationed at the threshold of the Golden Serpent room. Her mouth fell open. Mica was gone, disappeared. His cobra, Kheti, was loose. It hovered over her father, who had collapsed on the smooth, shiny floor behind his meditation pillow. She could make out two small red streams running down the back of his hand. The seventh Arch of Atlantis hummed a queasy vibration, as if something had disturbed its frequency.
    Lilith glanced up at the arch, and her eyes widened. The crystal trident her father used to activate the link between the Children of the Law of One and himself had vanished from the keystone of the arch. The etched trident outline the length of her hand now lay barren and empty, as if it had lost its soul mate. Streams of golden light haphazardly shot out of the archway, creating a chaotic cosmic light show.
    Her stomach twisted as if one hundred baby snakes had hatched inside it. Cobra venom was more powerful than a white crawler’s poison. She knew that, and by the look of Tau’s ashen face, he knew that too. Her father lay dying before her. Mica was nowhere to be seen. And the thing she dreaded the most was only five strides away.
    She-Aba shrieked, making Lilith and Tau jump.
    The cobra turned and hissed. It made itself taller, flared out its hood, and started to advance on Lilith, Tau, and She-Aba as they stood in the doorway.

5

    Time Flows Through Us
    “M ove out of the way, I’ve got this,” She-Aba said, pulling off her satchel. She started swinging it.
    “What are you doing, fire-head!” Tau screamed. “That…that’s a cobra!”
    “You see a snake. I see a new pair of shoes,” she replied.
    The cobra reared then struck, but not before She-Aba whacked it across the head, sending the snake flying across the floor.
    Lilith saw her opportunity and sprinted to her father’s side. She kneeled and put her ear to his heart. Still beating, thank Poseidon. She grabbed the wide meditation pillow and shoved it under her father’s head. The record keeper lying on the pillow was flung across the floor and landed in front of the glowing archway. Then she looked around for