Core Reality Volume 1 Centennial Guard

By Thomas Funicello

Twenty-year-old Eli is conflicted over serving the founding fathers who conspire against the same British Empire his parents died fighting for in the French and Indian War, until a mysterious girl helps him travel to another time and place where he must save the future and the past from an ancient evil that grows in the shadows of liberty.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9781644684948

Book preview

Chapter 1

Midnight Pursuit

Outside Philadelphia, November 28,1774.

The glow of the first-quarter moon shines through a thin layer of clouds as a lone rider guides his horse over wooded roads and narrow paths. The rider spurs on his mount to go faster, then takes a shortcut down a narrow deer path that will save time if he can avoid a host of unseen obstacles. The young rider seems to have made a good choice taking the shortcut as he navigates around and over the expected branches and rocks littering the route.

After a long straightaway, the path turns sharply right into a blind curve, and as soon as the rider enters the turn, he spots a low-hanging branch that he narrowly avoids. Immediately after ducking, the rider would have been thrown if not for his horse jumping the recently fallen tree blocking the road. The young rider looks back and realizes that he would have been in trouble had he been heading the opposite direction on the path. He races back onto the main road.

The dark rider slows as he approaches a shadowy area near a stone bridge where he sees the faint silhouette of another rider partially hidden from sight behind a cluster of trees. These are dangerous times, so the rider slows and pulls a device from his inner pocket, resembling the barrel of a pistol but without a handle. The young man aims the device toward the hidden rider and pulls the trigger, causing a flash of fire inside the barrel that can only be seen be someone directly ahead.

The young rider slows as he awaits the appropriate response signal, knowing he may have to make a quick escape if the dark figure is not his expected contact. Concern builds as more time goes by; knowing that as he rides closer, his escape options are dwindling. The young man begins to look for the best escape route based on his proximity to the dark figure, but is relieved to finally see the response signal he had been waiting for. He gallops his horse forward.

The young rider slows his horse and stops next to the dark figure as the clouds clear just enough to allow the light of the moon to reveal the identity of the dark figure. She is a young girl mounted on a beautiful brown horse waving her own signal device at him.

Eli. Good evening, Sybil.

Sybil. Good evening, Eli.

Eli. Signal trouble?

Sybil. Yes, I may have gotten it wet.

Eli smiles and takes the device from her and looks at it briefly before putting it in his saddlebag.

Eli. I shall fix it for you. Got your stick?

Sybil. Yes, very funny.

Eli. Someday they shall sing songs of your exploits.

Sybil. Do not mock me. I run messages for the Committee, but Father refuses to give me a pistol.

Eli. You are the best rider I know. No need to shoot, just run.

Sybil. Songs, huh?

Sybil smiles, causing Eli to laugh until he sees movement from far up the road. He studies the distant movement, causing Sybil to look as well.

Sybil. Is it Robert?

Eli. Probably, I will signal him after the bend.

The road takes the approaching rider behind a dense patch of trees and out of sight until he reaches the bend in the road that eventually exits the trees and allows a clear line of sight for Eli and Sybil. Eli draws his signal device, points, and fires toward the approaching rider. Eli notices the rider speed up just before the return signal is given.

Sybil. I see the signal, right on time.

Eli. He has sped up. I think he brings trouble.

Sybil. British?

Eli. Indians.

Sybil seems concerned. She has heard many stories about women captured by the Tuscarora, especially during the French and Indian war. Eli can tell she is growing anxious and attempts to calm her down.

Eli. Between your riding skills and my knowledge of the roads, we will be long gone before trouble finds us.

Eli can see her posture relax at the thought just as the third rider hastily approaches and maneuvers his horse between Eli and Sybil, then begins to retrieve two messenger bags from his saddlebag as they talk.

Eli. Greetings, Robert.

Robert. Greetings, Eli. Greetings, Ms. Sybil.

Sybil. Greetings.

Robert first hands Eli a bag, then gives Sybil a similar bag as he recounts his troubles as well as his plan.

Robert. Tuscarora warriors have been on my trail for many miles. I am suspicious as to why they keep their distance.

Eli. Let us not find out.

Sybil. Agreed.

Robert. I shall ride with you until the Baker junction, then I will try to draw them north while you take the east road.

With simultaneous nods of understanding, the three riders race east toward the fork in the road known as Baker junction.

*****

As the three messengers race their horses through the dark wooded roads, they take turns looking back for any warriors that may be following them. Eli, Robert, and Sybil continue to see no signs of pursuit as they approach Baker junction. Robert salutes the pair just before he slows enough to take the fork in the road heading north as Eli and Sybil continue east. After passing a landmark known as Gordon’s Oak, Eli looks back, and to his surprise sees movement far behind them. Five Tuscarora warriors are gradually closing in on them.

Eli uses a hand signal to tell Sybil to follow him as he sees the way onto the deer path approaching. Sybil nods back to Eli, then follows him onto the treacherous deer path. As they approach the bend in the path, Eli sees the mounted warriors gaining. He warns Sybil about the fallen tree and low branch. Eli hopes the thirteen-year-old girl properly understood his hand signals as he leads her toward the deadly obstacle in hopes of slowing or losing their pursuers.

The moment of truth has arrived as Eli rounds the bend and jumps his horse over the fallen tree and quickly ducks as low as possible to avoid the low branch. Eli has avoided the danger and sits back up in his saddle as he lets out a lungful of air he had unknowingly been holding. With the danger passed, his relief turns to dread as he remembers Sybil and listens for any sign of trouble before looking back. The light of the moon is enough for him to make out the shadow of a horse and rider emerging from the bend in the road. Over the pounding of hoofs beneath him, he can hear the thud of at least one of the pursuing riders hitting the branch as well as at least one falling from his horse—overall a good tactical move for Eli, whose celebration seems complete as Sybil catches up to him.

Eli hopes the Tuscarora warriors have given up as he reaches the end of a long straightaway and turns back to check on the pursuers. Eli can see three mounted riders still in pursuit, an improvement in odds from the original five warriors, but still an impending threat to the pair. Eli knows he can outrun the pursuers due to his knowledge of the area; but no matter how good of a rider Sybil may be, they will need to split up and head to their respective destinations at some point, leaving her vulnerable.

Eli leads them back onto the main road and knows they are quickly approaching the river as an idea forms, causing him to speed up to a sprint that he knows his horse cannot maintain for too long. Sybil also speeds up, then draws her horse up next to Eli in order to find out what he is thinking. Eli briefly looks over at Sybil, then gives her a series of hand signals that she seems to disagree with based on the quick shake of her head to indicate no. As the stone bridge spanning the river approaches, Eli slows and turns down a path that leads to the edge of the water instead of the bridge. Sybil also slows to follow him into the shallow river bottom, where they stop.

Eli. We need to split up. You head downstream until you get to the old mill road, then take it northeast.

Sybil. What about you?

Eli. I will draw them upstream. Please give me your kerchief.

Sybil pulls a small square of decorated cloth from her pocket and hands it to Eli.

Eli. Do not tarry.

Sybil. Thank you, Eli.

Eli smiles at her as she rides downstream and quickly out of sight while Eli goes upstream for a hundred feet, then exits the river briefly before entering another twenty feet upstream.

*****

Attempting to convince the warriors that both riders have gone upstream, Eli circles back and makes a second set of tracks following the first out of the river, then back in before racing upstream in hopes of giving Sybil clear passage downstream. While racing upstream, Eli makes sure to break branches on low hanging trees for about three hundred feet before dropping the kerchief into the water, hoping to reinforce the belief that both riders have gone upstream.

Just before Eli turns at the bend in the river, he looks back to see all three warriors still following him. He is relieved that Sybil should have safe passage north. After a short sprint to gain distance on the warriors, Eli exits the river and heads toward a range of dark hills with storm clouds building overhead.

As Eli rides higher up into the dark hills, he can see the three warriors exit the river and follow his trail, although they cannot see him from their position. Eli passes several Indian markers that seem to denote a warning although he does not fully understand the symbols and rides deeper into the hills through a narrow gully. As Eli rides along a ridge, he can see the warriors far below stopped at the warning markers he had passed. The Tuscarora do not seem willing to cross deeper into the dark hills as they stare in his direction. Eli does not slow his progress while he climbs higher into the dark hills, seeking shelter as the gathering clouds announce an impending storm.

Searching for an overhang or cave large enough for him and hopefully his horse, Eli heads to the left after catching a flicker of light out of the corner of his eye. As he enters a small level area, Eli sees a carved stone in the ground with two symbols carved on the top along with a hole about an inch in diameter. Eli stops and dismounts to examine the stone closer, then sees a second stone several yards away with the same sized hole, but one of the two symbols carved into it is different from the other stone. Eli takes the time to draw the symbols and note the size of the holes in his journal just before a flash of lightning causes the carvings to glow slightly.

Thinking the lightning is causing the glow, Eli looks around and blinks to clear his eyes. While looking around, Eli notices a dark spot along the hillside, indicating possible shelter. Eli leads his horse to an opening just big enough for both to enter the unknown space beyond.

Eli maneuvers his horse through the rough opening into a dark cave just as the wind and rain hits. Eli fashions a torch from a stick and a scrap of cloth, then uses his signal device to ignite the torch and illuminate the space. Eli ties his horse to an outcropping of rock. He sees that this cave is small, but a natural tunnel seems to lead deep into the hillside, giving him a chance to explore while he waits for the storm to subside. With the torch in one hand and his journal in the other, Eli sets off down the tunnel in search of adventure.

After several hundred feet, Eli notices a dim glow ahead. It is not steady, more of an occasional pulse that seems to occur with each lightning flash. Thinking there is another entrance allowing lightning to be seen, Eli presses forward until he reaches a strange obstacle. The tunnel ends abruptly at a wall of carved stone completely sealing the tunnel and preventing further travel. The question in Eli’s mind regarding the lightning is soon answered as a series of runes carved into the cave walls flicker, and with the next lightning blast, light up so bright that he must shield his eyes. Once the runes dim to a steady glow, Eli sees the shape of the various runes and begins drawing them in his journal. He sees a wondrous sight as a bright glow fills the narrow spaces between the stones of the wall, indicating something beyond the barrier.

Chapter 2

The Committee

Philadelphia, November 29, 1774.

With the storm abated and the sun just below the horizon, Eli rides out of the dark hills and resumes his mission to deliver messages for the Committee with no sign of the Tuscarora warriors.

As the morning light breaks through into the clear skies above, Eli rides into the outskirts of Philadelphia where the streets are still sparsely populated before another busy day begins. Eli navigates the narrow backstreets of the town until he rides up to a large meeting hall with many people gathered at the steps and several horses tied to nearby posts. Eli rides up to the crowd, and a boy dressed in servant attire steps forward and takes hold of the bridle on Eli’s horse.

Andrew. Welcome back, Master Elijah.

Eli. Thank you, Master Andrew.

Eli grabs his messenger pouch and dismounts his horse, allowing Andrew to walk the horse over to the other horses before loosely tying the animal to the hitching post. Eli walks to the steps of the meeting hall where several young messengers are waiting. Andrew rushes back just before a man sees Eli and walks over to talk with him.

Andre. Greetings, Eli.

Eli. Greetings, Master Andre. What brings you into town?

Andre. I have a meeting nearby, so I rode over with Andrew.

Eli. Very good. How is your latest sketch coming along?

Andre. Very well. I can show you after dinner if you like.

A young man steps onto the front steps to make an announcement to the crowd.

Cryer. Hear ye, hear ye. All messengers please enter.

Eli. Yes, perhaps after dinner.

Mr. Andre tips his hat to Eli in acknowledgement and walks over to an awaiting carriage and climbs in once the driver opens the door for him. Eli notices a unique crest designed around the letter W along the side of the carriage. The driver closes the door, then climbs up into the driver seat and cracks the whip to start the horse moving. Eli turns to join Andrew, and the pair follow the other messengers into the meeting hall before the doors are shut and locked behind