Free Child of Time by Spencer Johnson Page A

and no challenge,
life was not satisfying.
    Last night he had been approached by Kendra, the
leader of the ascended and offered the position of tutoring a boy.
He was to be discreet about the boy and train his two friends as
well. A change might be interesting , he thought, besides an
ascended wouldn't make him train someone without some sort of
talent.
    There was much to do in preparation, he had already
visited the parents of Kiyan, next he needed to find some place to
stay and a place to bend that was out of the way. His train of
thought was interrupted when he saw one of the boys hurry past
where he was sitting.
    Catching up to Jeremy, Corban introduced himself and
matched the boy's pace. “Looks like you are planning on going
camping by the looks of that pack.” Corban observed.
    “Ya, Fred just bonded and Addy is nervous about being
around so many people so we are going over the ridge to the glow
woods.” Jeremy explained without paying much attention to the
stranger that had struck up the conversation.
    Corban was about to ask if he might be able to join
them when he saw Fred walk around the corner with Addy. Corban
stopped short, a dryad , he mumbled to himself, Kendra hadn't
told him about that. He had only seen one other dryad before in his
life. They were said to only bond with the most powerful benders.
Perhaps this would be even more interesting than he had originally
thought.
    He watched as Addy shifted into a large creature and
bore Fred off at a rapid pace into the forest. Seeing Kiyan talking
to Jeremy about something with Kiyan's kayloo beside them he
decided to go and ask if he could join them on their adventure. It
might be a good chance to get to know his future students. To his
surprise Ray suddenly shifted into a winged creature, lifted the
boys onto his back and leapt into the air. This was indeed going to
be interesting. Corban wouldn't miss out on this adventure.
    Bending the air around him Corban lifted off the
ground. Hearing a startled cry nearby, he turned and waved to a
woman who had dropped her load. A small village like Loomis
probably didn’t see many airbenders capable of flight.
    ----------
    Kiyan reveled in the wind in his hair as Ray sailed
over the land. Letting his mind wander he sensed a stranger
approaching quickly. Looking over his shoulder he saw the stranger
flying through air and gaining on them. Ray must have sensed
Kiyan's misgivings because he gave a burst of speed. No matter how
fast Ray flew the stranger kept gaining. A flicker of fear and
Prometheus appeared in Kiyan's mind’s eye.
    “ Don't worry, I think he is this Corban that we
heard about. I'm pretty sure Kendra had something to do with him
being here.” Prometheus offered an explanation. Kiyan had to be
sure. He reached out with his mind and sent the question to
Kendra.
    “ Kiyan, if he had been a threat I would have
turned him to ashes before you saw him. You can trust him.” Kiyan was about to close the connection when he felt Kendra
hesitate. “Kiyan, Is there someone else there with you?”
    Prometheus' voice echoed through Kiyan’s Contact with
Kendra. “ Kiyan is only on guard because of some minor
alterations to the timeline .”
    Kiyan felt the air around him shimmer as waves of
confusion emanated from Kendra's energy. The feeling of reality
being supplanted by the mind flooded Kiyan. Finding himself in the
library in his mind he wondered what was happening. Prometheus
appeared only a moment before Kendra flashed into view. Kendra was
in a form that Kiyan had never seen her in. She was a humanoid form
that glowed with pure light. Her features were clearly defined and
her eyes sparked with lightning. She was even more beautiful in
this form than Kiyan even knew possible.
    “Theo, you were dead! How long have you been in this
universe without telling me?” Kendra thundered ominously. Kiyan
wasn't afraid of her but incredibly he sensed a twinge of fear from
Prometheus. And what was this about an