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Sky knew at that moment that it was the last time she would hear her own name and titles like that. “Thank you for the welcome.”

The woman inclined her head. “I am Ravikka and I am currently the speaker for the Council of Seven. Do you have questions for us?”

Sky smiled, “Do you know why I had to die?”

Ravikka sat up straight and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she nodded. “You had to die because the station had to be completely overrun and become a base for the Raiders. They needed to be there, because their proximity put them in exactly the right position to be affected by the blasts from two different members of the Sector Guard on different worlds.”

“That made a difference?”

“If you had survived, they would have gone deeper into Nyal space to hide and the occupants of Resku would have been blasted by the Sector Guard by accident instead.”

Sky rocked back on her heels. So her death really had made a difference. “That makes sense, but how will I know that it is the truth?”

A few of the other councillors murmured, but Ravikka waved them off. “You won’t know until it happens, or until you have an assignment that tunes you into that timeline. Once it has come to pass, you will have the knowledge in your mind as sure as you are standing here before me today.”

“I find that difficult to believe.”

Ravikka and the others got to their feet. “Then, follow us and you will know and believe.”

Sky followed the slow pace of the seven as they led the way down a spiralling staircase. When they reached ground level, a spiral on the floor with a small platform at the end of it told Sky what she needed to know.

Tavik stayed near the staircase and the seven fanned out around the edge of the room, standing next to icons in the wall.

Sky slowly paced her way around the coiling path until she was standing on the small platform. As one, the seven councillors pressed the icons next to them and below her, in the spinning void of space a glow set off and came toward her.

The Orb of Time lifted out of space and hovered in front of Sky’s face. She felt the touch on her mind briefly before light flared out and she was given the energy that she had not asked for.

Screaming was a tacky option, but it was all that came to mind as fire burned along every nerve she had. Her mind filled with details of her own life, Tavik’s life and the life they would have together.

She also saw a woman alone on a rocky out cropping, snow swirling around her and her shaking hands were caressing her pregnant belly.

The woman bore a startling resemblance to Ravikka’s species, but the eyes were a vivid purple instead of swirling black.

The moment that Sky could walk again, she turned and followed the spiral outward again. Her skin was glowing hot pink, but as far as she knew, it was a normal side effect.

Tavik corrected her assumption when his own skin started to pulse with the same pink. “Sky, what are you seeing?”

“A pregnant woman alone on a mountain top.”

“It is my vision as well.”

Ravikka stood next to them and cleared her throat. “Sky, may I have a moment alone with you?”

Tavik scowled, “Councillor, you know by this colouration that it is urgent.”

Ravikka raised her hand. “A moment.”

Sky shrugged and followed the councillor to a corner. “What is it, Councillor?”

“You are about to meet me. You are going back in time to help me birth my babe before I die and when I do, you have been given the energy to send me here in my own timeline without you accompanying me.”

Sky’s eyes were wide. “What?”

“Take my child, bring him to the nearest town, a charming inn with two ducks on the banner. Bring him to the innkeeper and his wife and tell them that his name is Kavik. Then, come back and I will explain everything else.”

Sky nodded and frowned, “This won’t mess things up?”

“This is what must happen. Go without a cowl. You were dressed like this when I first saw you, as was Tavik, now go.”

Confused, she turned and walked back to Tavik. “We can go now. How do we do that?”

Tavik smiled, “For this one, I will transport you. You will be able to do it soon on your own.”

She didn’t have a chance to express how insane this all felt to her, a surge of energy enveloped them both and in another moment, she was shivering on a mountainside with Tavik next to her.

“Where is she?” Tavik shouted against the wind.

Sky pointed to the opening in the rock face. “She is already in labour. We need to get to her quickly.”

“Lead the way. I am not that comfortable with this aspect of the assignment.”

Sky wanted to chuckle, but her jaw chattered instead. She thanked her luck that she picked boots instead of sandals and waded through snow to get to the small opening in the side of the stone wall.

The blaster strike next to her head preceded a groan by seconds.

“I am not here to harm you, Ravi. Please relax. I have a companion and he is here to help you as well.”

The woman on the ground bore only slight resemblance to the dignified councillor. Her black hair was matted, her purple eyes were sunken and her golden blue skin had a sallow cast. “Liars, you are here from the palace.”

Sky looked down at her dress. “Do you think I would have survived travelling in this? I have been sent here through time to save your baby and bring him to safety. Will you let me help you?”

At her back, she could feel Tavik stiffen in surprise at her bald explanation, but she couldn’t worry about him now. There was too much blood pooling under Ravikka’s gown for anything to be proceeding properly.

Ravikka blinked rapidly to focus. “You will keep him safe?”

“We will keep him safe and take him to where he can be raised free from any association with you. Will that do?”

Ravi winced. “You are very blunt.” She paused as another contraction gripped her.

“I thought that time might be of the essence. Now, will that do?”

Ravi bared her teeth. “I offer you my bracelets in compensation for your efforts. Keep him from his father and it will definitely do. Now, strange creature with stars in your eyes, help bring him into the world so that I can leave it.”

It was a moment that Sky wished she had never witnessed. Ravikka fought hard and as her child slid into the world, she began to leave it.

Absently, Sky slid the bracelets on her arms, the mix of gold and stones reached almost to her elbow in a strange and lacy pattern. Somehow, she knew they were important.

“Tavik, come here. I don’t know how to do this.”

He was at her side in an instant, his post by the doorway abandoned in favour of helping her.

“What do you need?”

“We have to send her Home, in this time. Can you help me do that without going ourselves?”

He nodded and pressed one hand to her shoulder. Sky pressed her hand to the palm that had just caressed her son before she started fading.

A glow surrounded Ravikka and she flared as she went Home.

Sky sat back. “Will they know what to do?”

Tavik smiled, “The pink energy makes a noise that brings all on duty running. They will come and take her to safety, restarting her life at Home.”

The baby wailed.

Sighing, Sky scooped him off the bedding and she carefully wrapped him in a bundle of silks left behind by Ravikka. He fussed, and his deep lavender eyes blinked fuzzily at her, but she held him close.

She closed her eyes and imagined the inn with the two ducks at the bottom of the mountain.

“How do I go where I am looking?”

Tavik was at her side. “Simply take a step forward, you have already gathered the energy.”

With a shaky sigh and a stroke along the baby’s downy cheek, Sky stepped forward and found herself on the street next to a sign with two ducks.

She went inside and when an older woman asked what she wanted, Sky asked for the innkeeper and his wife.

An older man came forward and stood next to the woman. “What do you want stranger with the strange eyes?”

“I have been charged with bringing you this baby. His name is Kavik and his mother is no longer on this world.”

The older woman cried out and covered her mouth, but the man nodded and held out his arms. “Kavik, my son you shall be. Your mother remembered.”

Sky smiled weakly. “You knew her?”

The old woman looked up through the same dark purple eyes that Ravikka had worn. “She was our daughter, taken by the emperor for his bed. We hoped that she was barren, but now that she is gone, we will take our new son and raise him to be a fine man.”

“Thank you. His mother fought for his freedom and his separation from his paternal side. I am glad to know that you will respect her sacrifice.”

The innkeeper swallowed heavily before saying, “She gave you her bracelets.”

“She did. I would like you to accept them to help you raise your new son.”

The innkeeper put his hand on her arm. “Keep them, please. I could never sell them. The moment I put them on the market, I would be swamped with imperial troops. We do all right. We always have. He will have a good life and want for nothing but his mother.”

Sky nodded and smiled. “Have a good day, madam, sir.”

The innkeeper’s wife smiled sadly. “Have a better one, Sentinel. You have blood on your hands.”

Sky looked down and saw the traces of Ravikka’s life. She quickly made a short bow and disappeared out into the street.

Tavik was waiting, staring at the sign.

“You followed me.”

“The Orb led me here. I can’t believe it.”

“What?”

“Ravikka, she is my great, great, great, great grandmother. She was an imperial leman who escaped and birthed my thrice-great grandfather in the mountains. No one knew where she disappeared to afterward, they only knew that Kavik had been brought to his grandparents by a stranger.”

Sky started thinking of Home and her body glowed. With a smile, she stepped through.

Tavik appeared a second later. “You were that stranger.”

Ravikka walked out of the council building and smiled at them, taking in the bracelets on Sky’s arms. “You did it. My first Sentinel sent me Home and they healed me and brought me in front of the Orb. I watched my line grow and split, even watched you, Tavik, as you grew into an arrogant young man who walked into the wrong riot.”

Tavik blushed, but he extended his arms to her. “I apologize for my attitude when I first arrived here. It must have been terrible for you to watch me making an ass of myself while you tried to steer me in the correct direction.”

Ravikka laughed and hugged her descendant.

Sky sighed happily and was busy watching their joyful reunion when something disturbing occurred. She began to glow again.

Chapter Five

Ravikka caught the glow and looked up at Sky’s face with alarm. “Another, so soon?”

Tavik turned and blinked in shock. “Called again? She hasn’t even been given her knife.”

Ravikka blushed. “That was my fault. I remembered the woman coming to me unarmed. It was why I let her come close to me.”

Sky closed her eyes and watched the images flicker through her thoughts. She saw a battle, a fire and a scream that tore through time. “I really, really want to have a knife. Maybe scissors?”

Ravikka quirked a smile. “Scissors? How did you know that there was one set in equipment storage?”

Sky shrugged. “I didn’t, I just know how to use them. Your most familiar weapon can be the most effective. There actually is a pair?”

Ravikka grinned. “Yes, just a moment.”

She walked back into the council hall and returned within two minutes. “Here we are. The others looked both shocked and relieved that you were willing to take these on. Oh, my.”

Sky looked down and saw her hands glowing as brightly as a light bulb. Something wanted her to go immediately. She buckled the belt with its peculiar contents onto her hips and looked to Tavik.

“Are you coming with me?”

Tavik smiled, “If I am assigned as your tutor, of course I will. Ravikka?”

Ravikka bowed. “Tavik, I assign you Sky as your pupil, teach her the ways of the Nameless and answer her questions. Keep her safe at all times and you will have done your duty.”

Tavik inclined his head. “I accept the honour of a pupil of my own.”

Ravikka laughed, “Good, now get going before she explodes. That would not be a good start to your first pupil.”

Tavik wrapped his arm around Sky and spoke softly in her ear. “Focus on your destination, let the power of the Orb guide you to where it wants you to be.”

Sky concentrated on the images that she was being given. It was more difficult than it should be as her mind was sorting pictures of Tavik naked in her bed, leaning over her and his hair draping over one scarred shoulder.

With a surge of effort, she wrapped them both in the power of the Orb and a moment later, they were standing on a lonely hilltop overlooking a village under attack.

Sky had no concept of their location in time. She only felt the urgency that the Orb had instilled within her. There was somewhere she needed to be and she had to get there fast.

With one hand on her skirt, she lifted it to make running easier and made for the west side of the village with all of her focus on her assignment.

There was a child in one of the homes and she had to take it to safety. The moment that she focussed on rescuing the child and removing it from its environment, something strange happened, she saw two futures.

Tavik stumbled next to her and he blinked furiously as he ran with her. “Are you seeing this?”

“Two futures? Yes. It all hinges around what we do next.” With her gaze firmly fixed on her target, she slogged through the smoke flowing up the hill toward her.

Explosions of weaponry were getting closer to their location and despite their ability to move through time, it was running out.

Sky slowed down as she approached the small home with its neat flowerbed and the tidy walk.

She waved for Tavik to stay back and walked up to the door, standing to one side. Steeling her nerves, she knocked.

The blast that destroyed the door missed her by inches.