The Split

Chapter 36

Hungary, 1241

He paused at my shocked expression, smiling and attempting to appear disarming. My mind was a sea of questions. I floated through them, bobbing and moving as they filled my head and conjured up fierce emotional responses.

Relief, skepticism, amazement, and hope combined to fill me with an inquisitive euphoria. What would I ask him first? Was this real, or some illusion conjured by the creature in the Green Halls to test me? Who was this suspiciously Mongolian-looking man in the armor of a European soldier?

"Am I..." his voice cut through my rapid thinking, "The first you have seen in your journey?"

"The first what?"

"The first traveler you have seen." His voice was patient but I could hear it thinning. He too seemed full of questions.

"Yes, I thought I was—"

"The only one." He interrupted, and I nodded. "Men for thousands of years have been taken from their home and time by that demon. Some women too, though I have only met one and she came from long after my time beneath the Great Blue Sky. I am Subutai; greatest of the great Genghis Khan's generals." His chest puffed with pride as he stood a little straighter. A mad energy shone in his eyes.

"An honor," I replied, touching my fist over my chest in what I had learned was a Mongol salute and sign of respect. "I'm Burlington. I work in an office across the sea in America, hundreds of years from now. At least I did anyway..."

He smiled and pointed at the fist on my chest, "Our salute, how did you learn this?"

"From a movie," I admitted, "But I researched it afterwards on my phone. Oh... movies and a phone are things you can watch in the future."

"I have used both," he said cutting me off, "I have also been to this America. I fought for your George Washington on the Christian celebration day Christ-mas." His pronunciation of the word made me smile, he separated it into two distinct syllables and emphasized the "mas". "I flew above the palm trees in your Harbor of Pearls, dogfighting with the Japanese planes from the sun. I have had your food in the lands to your South.

I ate at a wondrous hall beneath golden arches. I ordered what the man in front of me did, it was meat between breading and these divine little yellow strips that tasted of potatoes and salt. The man in the uniform called it 'Mc-Donalds'. It was the best food I ever tasted. Do they have this McDonalds where you're from?"

"Yes," I laughed, "They're literally everywhere. It sounds like you have fought like this for years. This is only my third battle, in life I was no soldier."

All the humor left his face as it settled into a hard angry scowl. The mad energy had not left his eyes. They darted back and forth like a twitch, as if he was watching something dangerous unfold that wasn't really there. His words gave me confidence, but every time we made eye contact I could sense the impending insanity behind his near battle-broken mind.

"The demon has taken everything from me," Subutai said darkly. "I gave up what little life I had to save my son who fell in south China. In my time as a commander I was never bested. Sixty-five battles I won for my Khan. The demon accepted my service in exchange for my Son's life. My many victories on the Mongol plains inspired him to test me through all periods of time.

At first I was fascinated, the world of the future contained miracles of unimaginable design. My empire had fallen by the wayside, I sadly discovered. I feared I had died too soon, my skill on all fields of battle had been retained in this strange afterlife. With all of these new discoveries I could lead Mongolia back to its dreams of glory.