Child of Time Read Online Free PDF Page B

man of average build, not overly
strong but well able to match younger men. A few grey hairs marked
his temples, he wore them well, a sort of ennobling touch.
Remembering that day so long ago when the administrators of the
concentration camp had decided he was too old to be of any more use
and had condemned him to the incinerators. The only crime that he
was guilty of was being born. A shiver ran down his spine. Not
looking to be more than thirty, everyone knew he was one of the
oldest elders on the joined worlds. The memory of that day
resurfaced and continued to haunt him. He remembered being shoved
into the gas chamber and the gas hissing into the room.
    Holding his breath at the memory caused Sandra to
look up from her sewing. She well knew what he was probably
remembering. As the gas filled the room he remembered clearly the
flame that started at the far side of the room. Watching it billow
and roll toward him, it must have only been a second but it felt
longer. Feeling faint from the gas and the sight of death
approaching he had sunk to the ground. As the blinding light
overtook him something happened, a pair of hands grabbed him and
the light from the fire seemed to grow dimmer until it was gone. He
remembered waking after some time in a green lush valley with a few
other people lying in the grass around him. Then he saw her. It was
an ascendant. I wasn't until afterwards that he found out what she
was and the only thing she had told him was her name. Kendra.
    The last two days passed through Joshua's mind. He
knew about Kiyan's past, he knew that the Kendra had brought him to
the village. He also assumed that she had been the ascendant at the
ceremony the other day. The question of who the boy was hadn't
crossed his mind for several years. There were too many
possibilities. He could have been a refugee from earth, but no one
had ever been gifted before five hundred years old if earth born.
It took some time to regenerate the DNA. Fourteen years ago someone
had been exiled for a crime that had resulted in a couple deaths,
but the timeline was not right for his child. The fact that a
parent had chosen to give up a child seemed the most possible
scenario but that still seemed remote. No one ever had a child
unless they wanted one. Whatever Kiyan's origins were, Joshua was
sure that Kendra had a good reason for bringing him to this
village.
    Fred, now that was another thing. Joshua knew only of
two other dryads that had bonded with humans. They seemed to
instead like living in seclusion in the forest. The most
interesting thing about the two humans had been the fact that they
had both become strong life mages. Life mages were a whole new
level of benders above elementals. To be a life mage one usually
mastered a school of bending. With special training after showing
an aptitude they would learn how to bend the life forces around
them. The strongest ones were capable of people as well as being
able to control the growth of plants. He remembered that one of the
dryad bonded life mages had been reputed to cause an entire forest
to grow in one night. Perhaps there was more here than met the eye.
A trip to Samtan might be warranted just for more information on
the subject. If he left now Joshua could be back before sunset.
    --------
    “Are you sure that Fred is going to be OK?” Kelsey
asked Harlem.
    “You remember how good Catlin was with Sandy.” Harlem
responded.
    “But he was a golem that had sat in the village for
several years not some wild tree creature. She almost killed him at
the lake remember?” Continued Kelsey.
    “Thank God Fred was OK but now that Addy is bonded
with Fred, he is safer than probably ever in his life.” Harlem
countered. Smiling as he remembered watching from the ridge as
Kiyan flew over and then his surprise when Addy erupted out of the
forest and took flight with Fred. Oh to be young again. Having seen Addy in her humanoid form had made it easier for Kelsey
to let Fred go on the camping