TIME & TIME BLADE
Stephen Hawking suggests time is two-dimensional and that the Big Bang created our timeline. Albert Einstein geometrically proved the four-dimensional space-time continuum. Looking for a new take on time for my novel Time Blade, I placed these findings under my thinking hat. What was time doing before it got smashed down into a linear line? Was the Big Bang a result of an unfettered, uncontainable gathering of cosmic forces? Or could it have emerged from the outpouring of a massive exhale puffed forth from a ginormous intelligence that outgrew its thinking cap? The latter stoked my creative juices. I named that source Adora—womb of creation—and gave her reign over the story.
It follows then that the universe is Adora’s baby and she would not release it into being without guardianship. After all, one planet will become home for the human family, and there’s no telling how they will behave once they taste the pleasures of the world. Best to put some checks and balances in place.
On the journey into mortal life every soul will deposit an atom of Adora—its highest brilliance—into time. Time shall become a luminous field of perfect impersonal intelligence—the mastermind that oversees the evolution of humanity. Adora blesses humankind with free will, but just in case they become crazed with power and do stupid things that could blow up their planet, she adds an ultimate safeguard.
Adora creates Time Blade, a weapon that can cut, reverse or stop time to prevent disasters that could annihilate her beloved human children. Some mortals will remember and find their original magnificent atom, and they will name it I am. One such person shall be invested with the guardianship of Time Blade.
In the book, the great Sun Lord Luca has wielded the Blade on Earth since the planet was born, but now he is called to another job in the universe. The story shifts back and forth through the eons of Earth’s history, following Sky Hunter through three lifetimes in his quest to become the man who carries Time Blade in today’s world.
Time Blade Author
Christina Greenaway is a visionary fiction writer that has authored the series The Age of Jeweled Intelligence. Her most recent book is Time Blade. Greenaway was born in Mevagissey, a small fishing village on the coast of Cornwall, England. She developed an early fascination for legendary tales that helped to spark her creative nature. She describes an encounter of writing down sagas that were placed into bottles and tossed into the sea. Then, like the legends of long ago, the stories were released to take a life of their own. Greenaway has worked in advertising in London and New York, has modeled in Paris, and partnered in a frog farm in Costa Rica. She has travelled the globe in life and with her diversified career. Her most recent work Time Blade: Age of Jeweled Intelligence can be found at Amazon or by direct link to Amazon through her website.
An excerpt from Time Blade:
Sky lives as a young man called E’am in this segment. He has time traveled back to an ancient lifetime in the “Age of Jeweled Intelligence” in search of knowledge he needs for a job he must do in today’s world.
CHAPTER TWENTY
He stands on a plateau at the base of the peak of Az’Rubia, rising some five hundred feet above him. The sun breaks through clouds and burns mist off the land. A green valley comes into view, streaming with vines, orchards, and vegetation. As if in a mirage, a girl walks toward him, holding a small iron pot in her hands. Her head is shaved, except for a band of short, dark gold hair in the middle. Inked drawings cover her scalp, abstract symbols unrecognizable to E’am. Hundreds follow her, snaking back through the valley—men, women, and children, their skin a darker shade of bronze than the average Ruberian, and even the most aged among them bears the supple carriage of youth. Four young men flank the girl, two on either side, their features similar to hers in a familial way. She spreads her arms, holding the men back, and steps forward, approaching E’am.
“I am Asari,” the girl says, “the leader of the Atal.”
Flecks of gold sparkle in her eyes, evoking familiarity, but E’am cannot fathom why. He introduces himself to her, and she chuckles as if she already knows him. “I am not informed about your tribe,” E’am says, raising a brow, waiting to hear of their origin and purpose.
“Master’s soul.” Asari holds the iron pot out to him.
“For me?” He taps his finger against his chest, feeling inadequate and unprepared.
She nods. “Not the all of it, just the pattern for his last life.”
She tilts her head and studies him from a different angle, as if assessing him from a fresh viewpoint. She’s slight, with narrow hips and shoulders. A saffron-colored skirt falls from her hips to her ankles and a band of the same material covers her breasts, barely. Inked drawings decorate her midriff—geometric symbols similar to those on her scalp.
He lifts the iron vessel from her hands. “What am I to do with this?”
“I will show you.”
Five small children run up to him, and he crouches to meet them. They finger the sapphires on his head. “Why do you wear these?” a little girl asks.
“They make me smarter than I am.”
“You won’t need jewels up here,” Asari says. “We live under the light of the Sun Kingdom. If you gaze long enough into the sky you will see traces of silver-gold—the SunShield made from Master’s Sun Heart.”
“It’s easier to see at night,” a small boy says.
Asari caresses the child’s head. “These are my nieces and nephews.” She introduces them to E’am, and then beckons for the young men who had walked beside her to come forward. “Please meet my brothers, Amah, Manne, Erose, and Zata.” The men welcome E’am, bowing with hands clasped to their faces. He returns the gesture, and the brothers leave, taking their children with them.
“Children like you,” Asari says, her voice lyrical with merriment.
“I have young brothers.”
“Yes. Twins, is that right?”
He nods, feeling uncomfortable, as Luca has obviously told her about him and he had not known she existed. Asari turns and waves at the tribe, holding her arms above her head and bending her waist deeply from side to side. The people do the same in return, and then shuffle back through the valley.
“I will take you to the retreat house, yes?” she asks.
“Thank you.”
She opens her hand and taps the screen of her astral disk. “I would like to document your visit to Ataleah. May I capture you on SunVision?”
Capture? That’s exactly how he feels, a stranger caught in a land 27,000 feet above sea level, wearing a skin of light from the Sun Kingdom, in the hands of this girl, slight of build but obviously strong. “All right,” he says.
“Thank you. That’s lovely.” She taps the screen again, selecting settings. “There,” she says. “You won’t be disturbed by a camera. SunVision follows thought.”
A warning gongs in his head. “I’m not sure I understand. How does that work?”
She darts him a quizzical look, as if dealing with a backward child. “SunVision detects my thoughts. When I want a picture of you, filming begins.”
“I … er…” He scratches his head, thinking of the downfalls of such a system. “Why don’t you just let me know when you—”
“Yes, of course.” She grins, fluttering her thick black lashes, which appear too heavy for her eyelids. “There’s the element of trust. You have my word I will only film you when I am with you. Shall we go to the house now?”
She doesn’t wait for his answer. Holding her body erect, she takes off in long, purposeful strides. He catches up to her, letting go of the filming issue, as he has no idea how to deal with her. The hems of her skirt swish, revealing an anklet of sun crystals and golden rings on her toes.
“My mother has prepared foods for you—my father’s favorite dishes.”
“I hope I get a chance to thank her.”
She laughs as if knowing something he doesn’t, which no doubt she does. “How did Master’s soul pattern get inside the pot?” he asks.
“When he first came to Earth from planet Miron he brought five segments of his soul with him and left them in five different vessels. The one you are carrying is the fourth, which means he will return to Earth once more to complete his contract with Time. Didn’t he tell you this?”
“He mentioned it once, a long time ago. When I questioned him, he said I would know more about that if and when I needed to.”
Asari laughs. “He was all too fond of that answer, wasn’t he?”
E’am laughs too, bonding with her over Luca, which brings an element of comfort. He gives up wondering what he is supposed to do next, rolls his shoulders, and relaxes.