The Time Capsule

Chapter 22: Battle for Scotland

Chapter 22: Bridge in the Sky 

*Note from the WRITER: Feed connecting...feed connecting. You're still here, aren't you? Lovely. Just making sure you didn't fall out halfway chapter 9, books within books sometimes have strange warping effects, you see. What do make of the shadowy figure of Gail Sultan? Odd one, isn't he? Not letting our hero Angelica Sparrow of the pirate name defend herself with a sword? Not allowing her to fight at all? And what of the Wordsmiths with their weapons of words? Isn't that what James Sparrow always said? Words not swords? And come to think of it, isn't it strange how bridges work? One piece of land connecting to a different piece of land, coming together in the middle. Two stories, two worlds colliding. Shame nobody thinks about what might lurk underneath...

The Wordsmiths vanished into the mist. The rebels lay across the battlefield, half of them annihilated. The Scottish highlands reeked of the groggy smell of destruction as Gail stepped through the dead bodies of his fellow soldiers, his friends. He finally approached Angelica in her bubble, looking at her with the most scorn she'd ever seen in a human being and released the bubble with a simple tap of his machine. She tumbled to the ground, her sword clattering next to her. Gail forced her up and yanked her close to his face. Without a word, he smacked her. Shocked, she grabbed the side of her face that had been hit and stumbled back.

"Why do you live?" Gail snarled. "Why must it be *you* that survives?"

"I...I don't know what you're talking about, I really don't..." Angelica stuttered. "I'm so sorry about your soldiers...I know they meant a lot to you. Thank you for keeping me safe?" 

Wrong sentiment. Gail hit her to the ground and stormed off. Jillian helped her up and led her to the rock to sit down and breathe. 

"I don't understand..." Angelica gasped for breath. "What does he mean it's always me that survives?" 

"We haven't been entirely truthful to you," Jillian said. "I apologize. It's time you knew your destiny." 

Angelica turned to her, noticing her best friend's fidgeting hands, and furrowed brows, which always happened when she was telling a lie, or at least not the whole truth. But it was always about a thing that had occurred, so Angelica had let it slide in the past. This was about her, an actual person.

"My destiny?" she asked. "What are you on about?" 

A long time ago, the dawn of time. A group of Gods, the IMAGE Gods, gathered around the very platform we saw in the library," said Jillian. "I wasn't sure myself if the legend was true until we saw that stage. And the library twisted and turned to hide the secrets There was an old wizard and a Seer in the inner sanctum. The Seer made a prophecy. A prophecy about a young child, who would retrieve the box of time from darkness and destroy a million hearts to heal it's own. They would reign victorious to bring peace to the world. And restore the forests again." 

Angelica was silent for a long time, the wind howling for what must have been five minutes past. 

"And you think...that child is me?" Angelica breathed. "Jillian...I just want to get my father back." 

"I don't know if that child is you for certain," Jillian admitted. "But I think it *could* be you. It could be any one of four, according to the prophecy. It's not entirely clear, there are missing pieces of the puzzle. Legend has it, there was a woman who gave life to our univere. A goddess, presumably the same Seeer in the story. But she was a spy, and she was captured by the wrong people. It is said she had four children. One of the land, one of the sea, one of dreams and one of adventure. One of those children is you, Angelica. You could be he one to save the world. Besides...isn't that what you've always wanted?"