Hyld stirred, yawned, and rolled off his sleeping mat. As he looked around at the awakening tribe, his eyes fell on Eggneb, the Timekeeper. The old man's Timepiece, as always, was clasped tightly in his bony hand. The Timekeeper looked older than ever, his head almost devoid of hair, with only a few wisps still clinging to his scalp. His face was a mass of wrinkles, his features soft. A slightly tired expression rested on his face. At ninety nine, he was the oldest in the tribe. As Hyld gazed at Eggneb, a vague feeling of apprehension grew in him. He sensed the stench of misery and death, and shuddered involuntarily.

Shaking his head to clear it, he stood up and strolled over to the cooking area, where his mother was already preparing the morning meal.

"Mother, is there something wrong with Eggneb?", Hyld inquired cautiously, unsure of why he asked, but feeling something was amiss.

"Oh...no," replied his mother, a hint of hesitation in her voice. "He's just getting old I suppose. His hundredth birthday is just three days away. You are too young to understand the aches of age."

"Although I'm the youngest in the tribe mother, I think I deserve to know when something happens. What's wrong with Eggneb?"

"I have told you, nothing!"

"Yes, you have told me nothing. Please tell me something mother!"

"I can't! I do not know..."

Suddenly a hush fell over the tribe. Eggneb had risen to his feet, and was now standing looking at the assembled people. Solemnly he drew in a breath.

"Fellow tribesmen," he began in a quavering voice. "As you all no doubt know, in three days time I will have my hundredth birthday. As perhaps some of you know, as I turn one hundred, so does my Timepiece. As perhaps few of you know, when my Timepiece has ticked the final seconds of its hundredth year, it will stop. As none except I know, although others may have guessed it, when my Timepiece expires so do I. And so does this tribe.

For a moment silence, and then a babble of shocked voices which grew to a crescendo. Amidst all of this, Hyld stood stunned, his arms hanging loosely by his sides, his mouth gaping. His unspoken cry of question seemed to fly to Eggneb, who held up his hands for silence.

"So it has been, so it will always be. Thus it is carved in the caverns of the Misty Mountain, my birthing place, where I spent my youthful years in preparation and study. Out of those secret places all Timekeepers enter the world, and gather a tribe around them from the ethereal plane. For a time we can live as solid beings. It is good to be solid, to touch and be touched. The eternal dream of intangible spirits. But the power to maintain a presence in this material world does not last forever. So it will end, and the tribe return into the place of shadows."

The finality of his words sobered the majority of the crowd, who were already beginning to accept the situation. It appeared to make sense to them. Feelings deep within them confirmed the truth of the Timekeepers speech. Only Hyld remained defiant.

"Why?" he cried, his plaintive voice echoing across the plain. "It isn't fair!"

"Child," the old man replied gently, "Life isn't fair."

"But there must be something that can be done!" Hyld continued.

"It would be difficult," came the reply. "Perhaps..."

"Then there is something?" Hyld searched. "Tell me! I must try!"

The old man looked at Hyld for a long time, gazing intently at his face. Then, seeming to have satisfied himself, he began to speak. "There is only one thing that might prevent the extinction of our tribe. Ancient legend tells of a secret grotto high up on Misty Mountain. In this grotto is the Everlasting Timepiece. Retrieve this, and the tribe will last forever. But be warned, for the legends state that the finder of the Everlasting Timepiece, if he would save his tribe, must make a supreme sacrifice. There is no mention of the precise nature of the sacrifice, but the word 'supreme' sounds fairly ghastly, does it not?"

With these words, the old Timekeeper turned, and wearily walked away. Hyld was left standing alone in the middle of a semi-circle of the tribe. Slowly the people melted away, leaving Hyld completely alone. He left the clearing slowly.

Hyld had been travelling for hours. Gradually he neared the Misty Mountain. As he climbed through the foothills toward the towering peak, the air cooled. At last he reached the base of the mountain. He looked up. High above him, the mountain stretched for an eternity. It's peak was lost in the clouds of mist that had earned it its name. He gritted his teeth and began the ascent.

After he had been climbing for an hour, night had fallen, but he decided he didn't have time to stop and rest, tired though he was. He continued to stagger upward. Suddenly a cave opened up to his right. Unable to go on, he collapsed into it, falling asleep even as his body hit the stone floor.

He slept for a long time, and was not awakened even by the loud persistent ticking coming from the back of the cave. When he did at last awake, the sun was streaming through the entrance of the cave. He started upright, for the sun was high in the sky and it was obviously late in the day. Looking around he could see that this was no ordinary cave. There was a strange feeling of timelessness in the air. The walls shone with a mysterious fuorescence. As he looked around, he noticed the ticking coming from a dark corner at the back of the cave.

It took a moment for his half-awake brain to assimilate this information, but when it did, and it clicked with his quest, he was up like a shot, sprinting for the rear of the cave. He reached the corner and saw the Everlasting Timepiece. There was no doubt in his mind as to its identity. It shone with a magical inner luminescence. its ticking was loud and strong. Hyld reached for the Timepiece.

As his fingers neared the Timepiece, he was suddenly paralysed, unable to take it. For a moment he was terrified but then a gentle voice began to speak.

"Stranger, you have reached the Everlasting Timepiece, and now must make a choice. If you take the Timepiece you and your tribe will remain in the material world, but you may never leave this cave again. You can end your life, and that of your tribe, at any time, simply by destroying the Everlasting Timepiece.

"If you leave the Timepiece now, you and your tribe will vanish with your Timekeeper. You are free to stay or go as you please. The choice is yours."

With that, Hyld could move, and withdrew his hand from the Timepiece. He thought hard for a long time. Deliberately, he closed his hand around the Everlasting Timepiece.

We owe a lot to Hyld, you and I. His sacrifice gave us the chance to evolve from a simple tribe into a world wide people. He's still there you know, in the cave. Watching us. I don't know how happy he is about what we've done to the world. I guess will find out if he ever decides to break the Timepiece.

Copyright © 1998, Tom Massey
URL: http://www.oocities.org/SoHo/Atrium/8864/stories/time.html

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