Page 17 of The Timeless Vigilante

These observations were followed by a strange silence that seemed to stretch on for eternity. It was the silence that preceded Mother Nature. That spawned a creature so powerful she could construct a world that was strong and also vulnerable. It was the silence that filled the void before time was created. Before Papa Creola constructed how events moved on a continuum. The silence was the beginning and it was everywhere still.

Gen didn’t know how long she sat in the cave, witnessing the birth of the universe in her mind. It could have been a minute or a hundred years. However, if it had been more than a day, she didn’t feel hungry or tired or thirsty. She had hooked into the nourishment of the universe and she realized as long as she was connected to it that all her needs were instantly fulfilled.

From that place of knowingness, Gen realized that she could heal the world’s problems. She could erase pain. She could become whatever she wanted. The idea of never leaving Falconer Cave was very tempting. She could fix everything just by maintaining her connection to the all-powerful source.

Inside that safe place of serenity, Gen could be at one with the universe. She could feel everything that she missed. She could hide away from the world that was so vastly different from the one she once knew. She could avoid the confusion of trying to understand the modern age. Gen could forget that she’d left her world behind, never to see or feel or experience it again.

“Your purpose is to change the new world in an old way,” a voice said so clearly and loudly in her head.

Gen startled, her eyes opening suddenly. She looked around the cave, thinking that someone must be there standing in front of her. There was no one.

“Hello?” she said aloud in the cave.

A disembodied voice, who Gen knew instinctively belonged to the angels, sang, “Go forth, and bring your old-world elegance to the problems of the new age. Be that which you were destined—a rebel with a heart of gold.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

THE REBEL’S RESTING PLACE

Gen’s Quarters, The Castle, The Gullington, Scotland, United Kingdom

Gen thought that she’d really enjoy living in the Castle at the Gullington. Maybe it was her newfound peace after conquering the meditation exercise in Falconer Cave, hearing the voice of the angels. Or maybe it was because Quiet appeared to like her, although if he said so, she didn’t hear him. But it was probably because the Castle, quite literally, felt like home. It was cold and damp, with drafts whistling through the corridors.

It was so different from the condo where she’d stayed with Liv and Clark. That place in West Hollywood was nice, but strangely enough, it was too nice. The running water and shiny surfaces were a bit like overload for Gen who was used to a much different way of living.

She knew that she should be happy for the modern conveniences, but so much change at once was messing with her mind in ways she’d never experienced before. The Castle seemed to instinctively know how much of the old world that Gen wanted mixed with the modern conveniences that made life better and made her room and quarters to those specs perfectly.

The room that the Castle made for Gen was rustic with stone walls and minimal furniture done in the style of medieval design. There was a high bed covered in thick covers and tons of pillows. It looked like a giant cloud that she could fall into and after the first day at the Gullington that she’d had, that’s all she wanted to do. The artwork was like the kind that Gen was used to, depicting landscapes and people of her day.

But Gen scolded herself at that thought, remembering that her time was now—it didn’t matter that she grew up in the 1400s. She was a woman and soon to be dragonrider of the twenty-first century. The whole notion felt weird and wild, but also wonderful, if she were honest with herself.

How’s it going? A familiar voice said in her head as Gen looked out the window onto the darkened grounds of the Expanse.

“Well, according to the angels, I’m supposed to be a rebel and therefore demand that you hatch tonight rather than in two more,” Gen said, feeling strange talking out loud to her dragon, but also liking the sound of her own voice in the still and quiet of her lonely room.

That’s not what the angels said to you, her dragon replied. I heard every word. They told you to use your old-world elegance to fix the modern world, which I like very much.

“Do you know what I’d like?” Gen challenged, looking at the bathroom that the Castle had appointed for her.

A lesson in electricity and plumbing, he offered.

“Yes, I could use that.” Gen said, longing to get clean. “How do you make the magic rain thing warmer?”

It’s a shower and turn it to the right, the dragon answered in her head.

“How again do you know this when you’ve been locked in an egg for all of your life?”

I’m plugged in, much like how you did in Falconer Cave, he replied.

“What I’d like to know is what you are and why everyone is so hush-hush about it,” Gen said, reaching out and turning the knob on the so-called shower.

You’ve been told that it’s a surprise, the dragon said, a coyness in his voice.

“Fine,” she said with a sigh, enjoying the steam as it started to rise up from the water. “How are you?”

I’m in an egg, he replied. It’s cramped.

“Hatch,” she offered.

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