“Hey Eva, you couldn’t have opened this thing a little earlier?” I asked her.
“What?! I didn’t open it. Well, I don’t even know there is a tunnel in this place.” She said. Then we heard a noise coming towards. I saw a connecting tunnel. A figure emerged from that tunnel. I couldn’t do anything. Eva raised her sword and stood in front of me. The man came closer and he said
“Lower your sword, Eva. I’m your friend.” I recognized the voice.
“George, what are you-” That’s all I could ask. I turned around and laid down facing the ceiling and groaned. He removed his helmet and said
“Looks like someone needs a medic over there.” He came to me and turned me sideways.
“Don’t yell, Oliver. This is going to hurt.” He said and slowly removed the sword from my thigh. I gripped my hands and gritted my teeth. I could have died instead of bearing such a pain but George said
“You think this is pain, Oliver? I have dealt more than this.” What could be more than this? Maybe the soldiers in the past had two hundred percent tolerance.
“Can he walk?”
“Um…let’s see. The wound seems a little dangerous but I can heal it. Yes, he can walk.” Then they lifted me and literally carried me along the tunnel. My hands around their shoulders, my injured leg dragging on the ground and my good leg bearing almost the whole weight of the body.
“George? What are you doing in a war field? And how did you open the tunnel?” Eva asked. He blinked for a minute like he did not expect that question from her. Then he said
“I’ll tell you. But now we should heal him. He’s bleeding.”
“Hey George, don’t you carry any medical supplies along with you?”
“Yeah I always carry some pain killing powders with me. Why?”
“You kidding me, right?”
“What does that supposed to mean?”
“Never mind. I’m wounded man. Apply them on me. I’m dying from pain.”
“Oh I thought it was a small wound and you won’t need it. Eva, please set him over there.” He showed a stone that could be used as a chair. Eva set me down. She was a little confused. I was starting to think that she was doubting George. Then George came and applied some sort of powder mixed with water on the wound. I thought that the medicine would be cold because that is how we feel some pain killer is applied on our wounds, right? But I was wrong. As soon as the medicine touched the wound my leg started burning (not literally).
“That is not a pain killer. That is a pain-increaser!” I yelled at him.
“Calm down, Oliver. First drink the rest of this. Then you’ll feel the pain gone.” He said. So I drank the rest of the medicine. It did not taste good. It was bitter. With all my effort I swallowed it. Then I felt the pain receding.
“How do you feel?” George asked.
“Yeah, good. the taste was alone depressing.” Now I was able to limp with that leg. But every limp increased the pain. We walked for a while. Eva was giving some nervous looks at George. Now I confirmed that she was definitely doubting him. But George was normal and he didn’t seem to notice her. We arrived at a dead end.
“Now what?” I asked
“We have to dig the rest of our way.” He said casually.
“What?! You want us to dig a tunnel? That’ll take years man.” I said but he didn’t listen. He went to thw walls and placed his hands on it. the ceiling opened. He turned to us. He must have seen the confused face on my face because he laughed and said
“I fooled you. Okay. Can you climb? I’ll give you a hand.”
“Okay.” I said and went and climbed above using George as a step. When my upper body was above the ceiling Eva asked
“Oliver, what do you see?”
“Um… I see some blue tents.”
“Blue tents? Oh, no. blue tents! You have to comedown Oliver, right now.” Before I could ask why two large hands grabbed me and pulled me up. The place I saw was the exact replica of our camp, except the tents were blue. The ground was full of grass and there was still daylight. I guessed the time would be 5.30 or more. The two men who pulled me out plucked the sword from me.
“Hey, what are you doing? Give me back my sword.” I yelled at them. But the men caught my shoulders and made me kneel down.
“It is your turn Eva.” I heard George saying.
“George, do you have any idea what you are doing? You are betraying u, George. You have led us straight to the enemy’s base.”
“I’m betraying you? I’m saving you, Eva. There’s a lot you need to know, Eva. So now give me your weapons and go up there!”
“No, George. I won’t”
“You have no choice. If you even trace back the way we came, you cannot get out. The tunnel will be sealed. And you’ll wonder in this tunnel system for the rest of your life. It is like you have been buried alive.”
“I’ll die in this tunnel rather than to surrender.” She screamed.
“Then you leave me no choice.” George said. Then I heard George take out his sword. Then Eva screamed and the sound went out. George lifted her body out from the tunnel and then he came out. George came and stood in front of me. Eva laid there giving no movement. I didn’t know whether she was dead or alive.
“What did you do to her?” I tried to release from their guard. But dizziness started to overpower my brain.
“What did you give me?” I asked him.
“A little anesthesia in your pain killer, that’s all. Don’t worry, it won’t kill you. You’ll be asleep for an hour or two. I’ll cure you in that time.” Then he turned towards the guards and said
“Take them to the infirmary. Make sure all their weapons are removed. And don’t forget her dagger.”
“Yes, sir” the guards said and I fell to the floor, not able to stand. My eyes slowly closed as George went to the king’s tent.
When I woke up I was lying on a bed. It was an infirmary but no one was there. Maybe I guessed that this king had a separate infirmary for his commanders. I moved my legs. The pain was still there but the bleeding had stopped and the wound was stitched. The last thought I could remember was George betraying us. I groaned a little and turned to my right. Eva was there, her eyes closed.
“Psst, Eva. Hey, wake up.” I whispered. She slowly opened her eyes and rubbed them to focus.
“Where are we?” she asked
“Um…it is the enemy’s infirmary.”
“The last thing I remember is George was pressing some cloth on my nose. That cloth smelled really bad. Okay. Come on we should get out of here.” we got up from our beds and went to the entrance. As we were about to step out two spears crossed.
“Let us out.” I yelled
“Go back to your beds.” One of the guards said.
“Leave us out or you’ll regret.” I yelled again.
“Go to bed or I’ll PUNCTURE YOUR NOSE!” the guard yelled at his highest voice. So we went back to bed.
“Do you know what’s happening here? I mean George said something like there’s a lot you need to know. Do you know anything?”
“No I do not and whatever he’s going to say I will not believe him.” she said with total disgust. I sensed her anger and kept quiet. But I was not angry. This surprised me because even in my century the thing that made me angry the most was betrayal. Something told me to stay calm. Maybe the reason was that George healed me. As I was thinking this, George came in and said
“Hey, guys.”
“Go to hell.” Eva said in a low voice but he heard her.
“Eva I know that you are angry. But you do not know the truth. So calm down and come to the king’s tent.”
“I won’t. Why should I? You are my enemy now.” She was not even looking at him.
“Oliver bring her to the king’s tent.”
“But George…”
“Just bring her. We’ll talk there.” He said and went out. Then I went to Eva’s bed and sat near her.
“Um...Eva.” I called and she turned and looked at me. Her eyes were red as blood. She was breathing heavily.
“You still believe him, Oliver?”
“No, I don’t. I’m just curious to know that lot-more-to-know thing. So, please. First calm down. Here, drink some water.” She dank the water and seemed to relax. Her breathing slowed and her eyes turned white. She was normal now.
“Come on. Let’s just go and see the king.” Then we went to the king’s tent. the tent was grand and a little larger than our king’s tent. We went in. I was eager for some reason to see the king but Eva was in total disgust. She literally sighed for ten times. The inside of the tent was also similar. A red carpet was spread on the ground. There were fourteen chairs for fourteen ministers but all of them were empty. The king’s tent was standing at the end of the tent. There were also paintings on the wall. But the only difference was that this king was always with his ministers or with his people. As I was seeing the paintings a voice said
“Marvelous paintings, aren’t they?” I jumped. I turned and saw a man standing.
“You are Oliver, right? Oliver Christin.”
“Um…Yes, sir and may I ask who are you? Sir?”
“Oh! Sorry.” The man chuckled and said
“I am Sebastin, the king.” ‘What?’ My mind forced me to ask that question. But I didn’t. I was shocked. The man was no taller than me and he was stouter than me. He did not suit any description of a king. Of course, he wore a golden tunic with a silver lining and many jewels made of precious stones but his appearance was not at all like a king. He had a beard that covered only his chin and it was tied at the end. His hair went upto his shoulders. I must have shown the confusion on my face because the king said
“Don’t give me that look because I get a lot of it and in fact I have become used to it.”
“Sir, you mean you are the head of the army?”
“Yes, dear boy. I’m the head of this army. You must have seen its power. Okay, now where is your partner? Um…what is her name?” the king put his hand to his head and thought.
“Eva, sir. Eva Johanson.” I said.
“RUBBISH!” the king bellowed. “Eva, huh? What sort of name it is? Her name is Elisa Bethalia.” he said. My mind raced at the speed of an f1 race car.
“What? It can’t be.”
“You do not know anything boy.” he said. Then Eva came forward and said
“You are lying. You have brought us here to force us and join us in your army, haven’t you? But that will never happen. WE WILL NOT JOIN YOUR ARMY.” she yelled. The king stared at her like he already knew her for centuries. Then he said
“No dear. We have not brought you to join you in our army. We have brought you here to tell you the truth, the truth that even you do not know, the truth about you and your past. You do not know who you are but I do.”
“Tell us and we will not believe you. Why should we?” she yelled again. I stood there blinking my eyes and swaying my head at the direction of the speaker.
“Rather than to tell you, I think we can show you.” Sebastin said.
“Show us? But how? Will you take us to the past?” I asked.
“Exactly. But, with some conditions. You should not be seen by anyone or move anything or take anything from the past. Okay?” he asked
“Okay, sir.” I said.
“Oliver, what are you doing? This man is trapping you. Don’t you understand it. he will take us to the past and kill us.”
“No, Eva. I think there’s something we need to know that we doesn’t know now and I he is going to kill us, why take us to the past? Why not just kill us here?”
“You are smart boy.” The king complimented me. He seemed to be a nice man.
“I’m going and you too are coming. Okay?” I asked her.
“Okay. But anything happens to us you and only you are responsible.” she said.
“I swear nothing will happen to you and if swear I won’t break it.” The king said.
“Okay, let’s go. But still I’m not ready to believe him.” she said to me.
“Even if you don’t believe what you are about to see in the past I have one more evidence that will win you trust. Now George will be accompanying you.” he said. I forgot George was there the whole time. He was so silent that he did not exist in that place. Then he took a small bag which I guessed would contain the time travel powder. He took it and threw it in the air. A portal opened and we all stepped in.
“Have a nice trip.” Sebastin yelled from outside the portal. It was pitch black but I had become used to it. I did not panic.
“Take us one month back.” Gorge yelled. Another portal opened in a distance. As we walked towards it our armors changed into some sort of civilians dress. Eva armor changed into a gown with a long sleeve and a skirt and was tied with a ribbon at her waist. My armor changed into a knee length trouser like garment and stockings and a boot. On the upper body I was wearing a linen shirt. George was also wearing the same. The only difference was that it suited him perfectly and I was looking awkward in it.
“This is how I got your century clothes.” Eva whispered in my ears. We reached the exit portal.
“Ready guys?” George asked.
“Yeah” I said and Eva did not answer.
