David Baldacci - The Finisher

“What?” I was growing convinced that Eon was completely mental.

“Wave the stone over your injured hand and think good thoughts,” he repeated.

“Why?”

“It’s the Adder Stone. You can tell by the hole through it.”

I looked at the rock and sure enough, there was a small hole that ran completely through it. For the first time I also noticed how truly brilliantly white it was.

“What does it do?” I asked warily.

“Just think good thoughts.”

I sighed and then did as Eon had asked me to do. My hand instantly healed. No more pain and not a trace of blood. I stared down in utter amazement. I was so stunned that I nearly dropped the Stone. “How did that happen?” I exclaimed.

“The Adder Stone has the soul of a powerful sorceress embedded in it.”

I stared at him blankly. “A sorceress?”

“A magical being.” Eon fixed his great, bulging eyes on me. “With the power to heal, as you can see for yourself.”

I looked once more at my hand and had to admit he was right. I felt a chill soar up my spine at holding something in my hand that could heal wounds with a wave and a wish. Yet I didn’t know why I was so astonished. After all, I had a chain that allowed me to fly. I had nearly drowned in a river of blood only to mysteriously vanish from this place and end up outside it. I was coming to learn that Stacks was chock-full of secrets and powers and mysteries. “And yet you just leave it lying around?” I asked.

“It is here, it is there. It is sometimes everywhere,” chanted Eon. “Sometimes it is simply where you need it to be.”

“It can do anything?” I asked eagerly. “Grant any wish?”

He shook his head. “It can grant the good thoughts of the one holding it. You could be sad and it would make you feel better. You might think that you could use a bit of good fortune, and it might happen. It has its limits, though.”

“Like what?” I asked curiously.

“You must never wish ill of anyone with the Adder. Not only will it not grant the wish, terrible consequences will befall you in such an attempt.” He stopped, looked me over and said, “Are you injured a lot?”

“A bit more than I’d like, actually,” I answered curtly. “So what do you do here?”

“My race is the guardian of time.”

“Time doesn’t need guarding.”

“I would expect that response from one who has not seen her past or future from a different perspective. Follow me, Vega Jane.”

Before I could say anything, he turned and walked slowly into the cave. I glanced at Harry Two, who looked at me with a curious expression. My past and my future?

I had come to learn that my past was a lie. If I could see it from a different way, would I learn anything useful? I couldn’t answer that for sure. But I knew I had to try.

We walked for a long way until we reached the back of the cave. Eon stopped and turned to me, pointing at the wall. I looked where he was indicating, expecting to see only rock. Instead I saw a pair of enormous iron gates. I had seen some of the Dactyls at Stacks fashion iron like this by beating it with their hammers while it was still molten. The only thing was, this gate looked as if it were still glowing with heat. It appeared so hot, in fact, that it was flaming red.

“Is it on fire?” I asked, keeping my distance from it.

“No. It is actually cool to the touch. You may see for yourself.”

I touched it gingerly. It was cool.

Eon held up two keys that he had taken from his cloak pocket and handed them to me. “One will take you to the past; the other, your future.”

“They’re gold!” I said in wonder.

Eon nodded. “Any key used to open something enchanted is made of gold.”

I smiled at this strange remark. “Is that a rule?”

“It is more than a mere rule, for rules can be changed. It is truth.”

“I think I understand that,” I said slowly.

Eon looked at the keys I held and said, “So many fascinating events that might have taken place did not because one lacked the courage to open a certain portal.”

“Well, sometimes it might be smarter not to open it,” I said stoutly. Then I added, “How do you tell the keys apart? Which is past and which is future?”

“You can’t tell them apart, really,” Eon replied. “You must take your chances. And you may pick only one, past or future.”

“And if I pick the past over the future?”

“Then you will see the past. Your past.”

“And if I pick the future?”

“You will see what lies ahead of course.”

“I’m not sure I want to see what will be coming up for me.”

Eon said firmly, “But you must choose.”

I stared down at the two keys. They were identical. But apparently depending on which one I selected, the outcome would be very different indeed.

“Is there really no way to tell them apart?”

He cocked his small head. “Do you have a preference?”

I had made up my mind. “The past,” I said. “Even though I have lived it, I have recently found that it remains as murky as though I had not. I need to understand it fully if I am to have a future. At least I believe that to be true.”

Eon considered this. “Then, Vega Jane, I would tell you the vast majority of choosers end up going into the future, because they return here and tell me of their experiences.”

“But if there’s truly no way to tell, I guess my odds are split right down the middle.”

“All I can advise is for you to look at the keys and see if you can feel which is the right one for you, taking into account all that I have said to you,” replied Eon.

I took a few steps back and held both keys side by side in the palm of my hand. They were identical, down to the teeth. But then something occurred to me. Something that Eon had said. It had been a clue and I had to think it was intentional.

There was a marginal difference between the keys. One had more black scratches than the other. I glanced at the heavy iron gates. The lock was irregularly shaped. It would be difficult to insert a key without scratching it against the blackened iron plate. Eon had said that most ended up in the future. So that key would have been used far more. And thus have far more scratches. I had my answer.

Grinning, I handed the badly scratched key to Eon. He pocketed it and said, “You have a good mind, Vega Jane.” He looked at the gates and then at me. “And now it is time you were off.”

Drawing a deep breath, I marched over to the gate and prepared to insert the key. I looked back at Eon. “How exactly will it happen?”

“You will not be seen nor heard and you cannot be harmed. Neither can you intervene in any way in the events you will witness, no matter what happens. That is the law of time and it cannot be circumvented.”

“One more question. How do I get back?”

“Through this gate. But do not dawdle, Vega Jane. And do not think yourself mad, though madness you think you may see.”

With this disturbing thought in mind, I took a deep, replenishing breath and inserted the key. I gave Harry Two a hopeful smile and opened the gate.

THE GATES SWUNGopen wide and Harry Two and I simply walked through. Everything was fuzzy, as if the clouds had deflated and fallen to the ground for a lie-down. If I was to see my past, it seemed it would be through this filter of fog.

The cry startled me. Eon hadn’t said specifically that I would hear things, though I supposed he assumed that I knew I would. Obviously, in the past, folks still talked and things still made sounds. But there was something about the cry that seemed distantly familiar to me. I hurried along, using my hands to push the mist away, although all I really did was muck it up more. Then I reached a clearing in the mist and stopped. My mouth sagged.