Blackbird

Chapter 7- The Stranger

It took Patrick two days to regain consciousness and when he opened his eyes and looked around he saw that he was in some kind of a shed made entirely of clay and straws- it was like a barn and he was sleeping on a bed made of hay. A thatched door covered the entrance which was locked carefully. He touched his face - his wounds were almost healed and he felt no pain. He raised his head slowly and sat upright. He looked at his clothes - he was still wearing his jeans but his shirt and shoes were gone. Someone had placed a bandage over his swollen ribs on the right. He tried to take it off but it began to hurt.

"Where the hell am I? Where's Hans and his goons…", he wondered as he tried to soak in his surrounding.

He guessed as if someone had taken care of him while he was unconscious and brought him here in this barn. He thought he must be in some kind of tribal village. But how did he reach there? He tried to recall his past events and remembered Rocko beating him black and blue until he lost his consciousness. But what happened after that?

"God … my head hurts… ah!", groaned Patrick.

Suddenly the door opened and a little kid wearing some sort of middle eastern clothing with a tiny hat on his head stepped in with a pot of water in his hands. He saw Patrick and drew a sharp breath as if saw a ghost and dropped the pot on the floor and ran outside screaming.

"Hey kid wait…ah!", said Patrick trying to stop him.

But the little boy ran out as fast as he could. Patrick tried to stand but he felt dizzy, so he sat back on the bed. A minute later a woman entered through the door along with the boy- her face covered under a veil. Patrick could only see her eyes as she was wearing a black gown which covered her entire body from head to toe.

"Selam!", she said to Patrick and asked him if he's feeling better now in her native tongue.

Patrick could only make out the word "Selam" which he knew was a greeting in Turkish- he had often heard the word in the camp, but he couldn't understand the rest.

"Selam...", he replied, "can you tell me how I got here?"

The little boy who stood by the door gighled in amusement. Apparently Patrick's language sounded funny to him.

The lady politely went up to him and checked his bandages. She then said that he's healing quickly. Patrick didn't understand a word and simply looked at her.

"Um...can you understand me? Can you tell me how I got here?", asked Patrick again , this time slower but the lady simply looked at her and told him to rest for a while.

"Damn! where am I ? ", said Patrick in frustration.

The lady then said something and walked out of the door with the kid. Patrick surmised that she was simply asking him to rest. But how could he rest? After all Hans had almost tried to kill him. And the doorway?The myth of Anki?

"Wait! Did it work? Did the gateway actually brought me here? , thought Patrick as he began to remember that dreadful night.

He immediately got up and opened the door to take a look outside. What he saw left him awestruck.

He was in some kind of a village in the middle east- there were clay huts everywhere and people were busy going about their daily lives. He was in a barn that was constructed a few feet from the ground with bamboo and hay. From this elevated position he could see the entire village. Some men wore white gowns and were mostly busy herding camels and goats, some men were busy making tools and pottery. The elderly women wore beautiful gowns with their faces veiled and they too were busy carrying clay pots of water and attending to little kids. There were palm trees everywhere and even little bushes of exotic flowers in some places.

Patrick saw lines of houses as far as the eye could see. The village stretched on for miles in all directions but one particular image surprised him the most. From where he was standing he saw four huge pillars and a dome far away in the desert. The dust and sand made it quite blurry but he could still make out a gold and white coloured shiny dome a few kilometres from the village. He was amazed and confused. Where on earth was he? Did the gateway actually work??

He heard footsteps and he looked below. The lady was walking up the stairs od the barn. Patrick went back into the room and sat down. The lady entered the room and kneeled down on the floor. She took out a pouch and poured out a tiny glass bottle and offered it to Patrick. She daid something but Patrick could only surmise that she wanted him to have the bottle. Patrick took the tiny bottle and held it in front of him. It had some kind of blue liquid in it. The lady began to speak again but this time she was gesturing him to open up the bottle and drink it. Patrick reluctantly took out the cork of the bottle and looked at her. She was definitely asking him to drink it. The little boy stood behind the woman staring at him curiously.

"Eh! What the hell...", said Patrick and gulped down the entire contents of the bottle.

It tasted like sand but Patrick felt nothing else. The lady smiled and said something again, probably thanking him.

Suddenly Patrick began to hear a loud ringing in his head and it only became louder. His head began to hurt and he began to groan in agony. The lady stood up and began to console him. Patrick felt as if his head was going to explode. But after a few seconds the ringing stopped.

"Are you ok mister?", said the lady.

"Yeah..am ok...wait ...what...I can understand you...", replied Patrick in shock.

"What did you give me?", he asked.

"Language potion...it translates and helps you to speak and understand any language across any time and space...", replied the woman removing her veil.

"Oh! Wait did you say time and space? Where am I? What is this place?", Patrick asked panicking.

"Please calm down mister... everything will be made clear to you in time...here have some water...", replied the woman.

Patrick took the water and sat down on the bed. Something about this woman's voice calmed him down immediately.

"My name's Layha and this here is Zyan...", said the woman.

"My name's Patrick...so the potion helps me to understand and speak your language?", asked Patrick.

"Yes, of course...the grand vizier had prepared it himself...he said you were coming...", replied Layha.

Patrick had no idea what was real anymore. Only a few hours before he was being beaten to a pulp by Hans's men and now he has magically appeared in some kind of remote village.

"We were told you were coming and that you were our only hope of survival...", Layha said.

"But what's this place? Where am I?", asked Patrick.

"This is Sumeria- the kingdom of the gods! ", Layha replied.

"Sumeria? What kind of sick joke is this?", replied Patrick quiet annoyed.

"You sir have been brought here from the future to be our savior... the grand vizier had already foretold your arrival...", replied Layha trying to be respectful.

"The future? What? Please tell me you're joking...", said Patrick and threw away the clay mug of water and rushed outside.

"But I'm not joking...it is the truth I speak...", replied Layha.

Patrick was having a panic attack. He felt as if the world was spinning around him. He walked towards the edge of the barn and held on to the bamboo ledge. He was running out of breath. Layha rushed behind him and tried to hold him before he fell down.

"Please believe me...it is the truth ... you are from the future and this is thousands of years in the past...", said Layha.

"Not helping lady!!", replied Patrick and fell on his knees.

"Here drink this...it is good medicine...", said Layha offering him another vial of liquid.

Patrick took the vial and drank it as quickly as he could. He immediately felt his nerves calm down. He heard some noise down on the street and stood up. There was a great procession coming through and people were gathering on both sides to watch the event. Patrick's jaw dropped when he saw the seven feet tall guards with bare bodies and huge spears and axes walking on the street. In front of them was an old man carried on a palanquin. He was dressed in a golden robe and his eyes were closed. He looked more than a thousand years old and it seemed like he would wither away and turn to dust any moment now. The procession moved on and people began to join while keeping a safe distance.

"What is that?", asked Patrick.

"It's the call for duty...", replied Layha with sadness in her eyes.

Patrick stood up gently and tried to make sense of everything around him.

The gateway did work! And he was in Sumeria....5000 years before the first recorded civilization ever existed. He looked at the setting sun and felt its golden rays on his skin. A smooth calm breeze blew across his face and he took a deep breath.