“Well,” Nev said sounding for the entire world like he was not sure of this answer. “We will see.”
The Tar stood and Gwaynn rose with him. “The second secret,” Nev said, “is yet another simple one. You must make your way to this cave everyday, rain or shine.”
Gwaynn looked about and in the side of the mountain, hidden by a large boulder and a stump of a tree was indeed the mouth of a cave. Nev led the way past the boulder, picking up his logs as he went. Gwaynn followed and immediately noticed that the mouth of the cave was quite large, almost twice his height and nearly three times as wide, but it wasn’t until they stepped into it that Gwaynn noticed that the cave actually had three separate openings. The one they entered was actually the smallest and was located on the far left. Inside was a cavern almost two hundred yards deep. The ceiling was about twenty feet high and nearly flat. It was held up by three massive, natural stone columns. It was darker inside than out but it only took Gwaynn’s eyes a few moments to adjust. Near the center of the cavern and close to one of the columns were the remains of a large fire pit. Nev walked over to the pit and placed his logs onto a stack of wood. Gwaynn dropped his also.
“Please bring up two logs everyday,” Nev said then sat down, crossed his legs and leaned his back against the rock column. “You may bring a smaller pair if you wish,” he added with a smile. Nev motioned Gwaynn to sit next to him and he did so, then the Tar pulled out a feather.
“The final secret is by far the hardest to master,” he said and held the feather up in front of him, but slightly above his head. He held it there for a long moment, gazing with a slight smile into Gwaynn’s eyes, which darted from the man before him to the feather above. Finally Nev released the feather and it began to slowly float down to the cave floor. It paused midway down, but it was several long seconds before Gwaynn realized that it had completely stopped and was no longer moving downward. In fact, it was not moving at all.
Gwaynn frowned and glanced at Tar Nev, who was still smiling, his eyes on Gwaynn’s and not on the feather at all. Gwaynn glanced back and forth a few times but the feather was perfectly motionless, hanging midway between them.
“How?” Was all Gwaynn could manage, his attention riveted on the still stationary feather. He passed a hand over it and then under it, but the feather still did not move. Finally he blew a puff of air at it expecting the ends of the feather rippled but they did not.
“Are you doing that?” he asked, his mouth popping open. “How is it possible?”
“Why would it not be possible?” Nev asked.
“Gravity,” Gwaynn answered simply. He knew, everyone knew, from as long ago as old Earth, the law of gravity.
“Oh gravity,” Nev said still smiling. “I have not broken that particular law. I have not interfered with gravity, that would be much harder than what I am actually doing,” Nev added then was thoughtful for a moment. “Though I am sure it would be possible to do such a thing.”
“What are you actually doing?”
Nev broke into a laugh. “What I am doing is very similar to what a Traveler does, except a Traveler creates a bubble in space in order to move from one location to another, and I am creating a bubble in time.”
“A bubble in time?” Gwaynn asked, confused.
Nev nodded. “This was common knowledge when Galen Dawkins first led our people to this land; the same can be said about the mystical abilities of the Travelers. The ability and knowledge went hand in hand, but over the centuries, though the innate ability remained, the knowledge was lost to all but a few. Manipulating space-time is now something only the very elite can do, but the ability to do so is engineered into all of us.”
“Space-time?”
Again the Tar nodded and smiled. “Yes, time and space are irrevocably linked. What is time but the measurement of solid objects moving through space? The world spins. We call it a day. The world revolves about the sun. We call it a year. We move through space and we move through time, but very few understand what a fascinating feat that truly is.”
Gwaynn frowned.
“But remember, all speed is relative, speed of movement or speed of time, each is forever linked, though such knowledge is far from intuitive.”
“Relative?”
Nev chuckled again and stood. “I move left,” he began and moved to Gwaynn’s left. “Relative to you. I move right….relative to you. I am moving fast or slow, relative to something either stationary or moving at a different speed. If there was but one thing in the universe, there would be no speed, there would be no time.”
“To alter your speed through space is comparatively easy. All living animals can do it, but all living things march through time in regimented fashion, like prisoners heading for the gallows. This does not have to be so. It is possible to alter the speed of time. Your body will do it naturally in times of great danger and I will show you how to accomplish the feat consciously.”
Gwaynn rubbed his forehead, which suddenly hurt. “But is such a thing possible?”
Nev laughed again, knowing that he was stuffing his new pupil’s head to the breaking point. “Well, yes! It is done naturally in nature. This was understood long ago. Gravity effects time, as does speed. Both stretch the fabric of time so that it passes differently to those in different locations. If nature can do this without conscious thought, why not man…consciously. It is not so amazing. To a tree the fact that you can walk and move through space is miraculous, but trees are easy to impress. I’m telling you now space and time are one, moving through one is no different than moving through the other and even trees can move through time.”
“And I can do such a thing?” Gwaynn asked, as the feather finally continued its decent to the cave floor.
“You can,” Nev answered with a nod and retrieved the feather. “It is possible for us because centuries ago, on old Earth, our ancestor Galen Dawkins was altered, changed at the molecular level. Unknowingly he was given the ability to control the nature of his atoms, even his electrons. As his descendants, we also have that power. We have the ability to make our bodies, down to our very atoms, coherent.”
“Coherent?”
Nev laughed. “Enough for now. Just be aware that you too will be able to manipulate both space and time.”
Gwaynn’s eyes flew suddenly wide. “You can Travel,” he stated.
His master nodded, encouraged by his new protege’s mind. He reached into a sack he carried at his waist and pulled out an apple. He tossed it to Gwaynn and retrieved another for himself.
“I must warn you,” Nev said taking a bite of fruit. “This secret should not be used lightly. It takes a great deal out of you.”
“I can learn to do this?” Gwaynn asked, still suspicious.
Nev nodded. “You have been engineered to do so,” he answered and took another bite of his apple then he pulled out a small block of cheese, which he shared with Gwaynn, though the Tar ate most of it. Gwaynn sat silent, thinking, hardly noticing when Nev plucked out a handful of sugar cubes from his pocket, these he did not share with Gwaynn.
“Depending on the strength of the bubble, you will need to eat large amounts of food and possibly sleep as well. It takes a good deal of energy which must come from somewhere.”
Gwaynn was silent for a moment, pondering this new information then he glanced up at Nev.
“Can all Tars Travel?”
“They all have the ability, but not the knowledge. Please keep this information close. Neither the Travelers, nor our good High King would be too thrilled to know that some Tars can now Travel.”
“Can other Solitaries travel?”
Nev nodded then began to build a small fire in the pit. “Yes, but only a handful of them. Most still do not even realize it is possible. Most feel it is a skill only a Traveler can master, though what the Travelers themselves believe I do not know.”
Gwaynn sat thinking while Nev got the small fire going. Once it was burning pleasantly the Tar handed the feather to Gwaynn.
“To accomplish this thing is very difficult in one way and extraordinarily simple in another. Once you can do it you will look back and wonder how it was ever possible that it was beyond you.”
Gwaynn nodded, completely attentive to what the man before him was saying.
“First you must learn to control yourself, your mind and body,” Tar Nev said very seriously. “You have come a long way in controlling your body, and for one so young, your mind is surprisingly calm. But it was your attitude that
