Order of the Black Sun Box Set 9

by Preston William Child

  Sam expected the spear to be in some ancient location, entombed somewhere. That's how it seemed things were going when they were in Jerusalem. That's how it usually went. But instead they were in the middle of nowhere, on property owned by a mostly ordinary family. It was like finding buried treasure in someone's backyard. Not the most grand of discoveries. Given everything that happened in that tomb and almost dying in that castle on Rhodes, maybe a boring swamp was just what they needed.

  There was just the Eclipsed problem. Once they found the spear, there was nothing stopping Julian Corvus from discarding them and silencing them forever. Hell, this deep marsh would probably be a great place to toss their bodies

  Stop, he thought. They'd been through worse and lived. At least, he hoped Julian Corvus wasn't worse. He could be. He hadn't hesitated threatening to butcher Arthur's kids in front of him. In fact, he looked thrilled by the prospect. He knew exactly what button to push to get the Rosewells to give in. He knew they would break under the duress if he threatened the family one by one.

  Galen was struggling limping through the swamp and he swore and groaned every few seconds. A strained vein pulsed in his brow, and he gritted his teeth like he was ready to bite someone's head off. He had probably never been so dirty.

  Sam had to admit that it was satisfying to see. Galen must be absolutely livid with how his expedition had gone: crippled the moment they'd started to make progress, ignored when it came to leadership, alone without Maddox as an ally, and now limping through a rancid bog.

  It was a far cry from the lavish settings he described in his autobiography. Sam couldn't wait to see how Galen explained all of this in the sequel. He'd probably say he shot himself in the leg so his colleagues would be able to keep up with him. He'd say that he tried to save Maddox but had been only a second too late from disarming Julian. And he'd undoubtedly say that this swamp was barely an obstacle for him, even in his injured state.

  He wouldn't be the same pouting, aggravated man-child that Sam was watching stumble through the marsh.

  Galen let out another groan. “Did you really have to put the spear in the middle of this shit?”

  “We didn't put it anywhere,” Isobel said. “You can thank our great, great, great, great, great great, great, great, grandfather for that. Send your complaints to him please.”

  Galen raised his middle finger to the gray sky above. “Then I hope he sees this.” Suddenly, Galen tripped into the marsh. When he pulled himself out of the muck, he stared back up at the sky. “Aye, fuck you too, ghost.”

  “Are you quite finished?” Julian had come from the back of the pack. Their environment didn't seem to bother him at all, despite the expensive suit he was wearing. “If you can't keep up, Mr. Fitzgerald, we'll have to remove the dead weight.”

  “Dead weight?” Galen grimaced and rose to his feet, splashing about. “You wouldn't be this far if I hadn't started this search, you goddamn parasite. You should be kissing my arse, you know? Why don't you get some of your little minions to come carry me? Start showing me some respect.”

  Julian stepped closer and let out a little laugh. “Respect?”

  He put his hand on the back of Galen's head and kicked his feet out from under him. He plunged Galen's face in to the bog. The Irishman flailed and thrashed about, trying desperately to find air.

  The rest of the group stopped and turned toward the splashing. Purdue approached the tussle in the mud. “Stop.”

  Julian kept Galen's head pinned in the shallow water. “Why? He asked for respect. I'm showing him the respect he deserves. A leech should be down there, shouldn't it?”

  Julian spoke casually, like the conversation was completely separate from the drowning man in front of him. Just when Galen seemed to have reached his limit, Julian tugged his head up. Galen coughed violently, choking and spewing up murky water. Julian had him by the hair and brought their faces close together.

  “Next time you cause a delay—it'll be last time you breath air.”

  Julian's violent outbursts were becoming routine, but were somehow still just as terrifying as they had been the first time. He could flip so quickly between collected to completely erratic.

  “You and Mr. Purdue still think because you have money, you are untouchable. Clearly...” Julian gripped Galen's head tighter. “...clearly you can be touched.” He looked from Galen in his grasp to Purdue's battered face. They were the evidence that he had no qualms with harming any of them, no matter how important they were to the venture.

  Julian released his hold of Galen's hair, letting him plop into the mud, still heaving. Julian brushed off his hands and shook the water off of them. “My apologies for Mr. Fitzgerald's behavior. Now that we have an understanding, let's move forward...” He glared down at Galen. “Without any further delay.”

  They moved a bit quicker after that. Galen seemed to be trying desperately to extend his steps so he could cover more distance and keep up better. He wasn't in any rush to have his face returned to the muck. He was picking out some mud from his nostrils every few minutes.

  Arthur Rosewell continued leading the way through the marsh like he was following street signs. It was definitely a walk he went on frequently. He knew exactly which parts of the marsh would get him more dirty than others, and carefully stepped around any uncertain spots beneath the water.

  Sam asked him, “Wasn't he at all worried that his knight friends would track him down to his home and tear this place apart looking for what he took? Just seems like a random place to hide it.”

  “Why hide it someplace famous? I've never understood that. You shouldn't want spectacle. You shouldn't want grandeur. You should put it somewhere no one would even bother looking. Ordinary. Boring. A backdrop of a painting. Nothing in the foreground.”

  Purdue thought about that. The swamp was certainly ugly enough to go unnoticed. Most people would never want to spend any amount of time there. The bugs alone, were a nightmare. Damn hell spawn.

  Roysten Rosewell's fellow Hospitallers or anyone else who tried to find the Spear of Destiny wouldn't even want to go to a place like this on the best of days. It was a dirty hassle that he couldn't imagine most people would want to deal with, no matter what they were trying to find. And it was the kind of place that you wouldn't think anyone would go willingly, but Roysten Rosewell did and clearly his descendants did too on frequent occasions.

  Purdue thought about where he would have gone if he was a knight fleeing from a siege with such valuable luggage. He probably wouldn't put it anywhere populated either. A nice ditch somewhere. Maybe bury it in a desert somewhere. Or even toss it in the ocean. That seemed like a good idea. If you had no real use for it and only wanted to prevent others from having it, just get rid of it entirely, even from yourself. That was what Purdue realized he would do. If he had been in Roysten's place, the Spear of Destiny would still be down at the bottom of the sea.

  This marsh was exactly as Rosewell had described it. Something you'd see in the far distant background of a painting. Not somewhere most people would go to see anything up close. A perfect hiding place. Roysten Rosewell must have been a very smart man.

  Just like at Rhodes, Nina could almost see the past as she stepped on the same ground Roysten Rosewell had. A lone knight carrying a large spear, far away from any battle where it would actually be useful. Completely isolated in a marsh, looking for the best resting place for the Spear of Destiny. Some place no one would ever think to look.

  Maybe he'd buried it. No. No, that didn't make sense. Arthur said he'd seen the spear. It was a rite of passage for the ones who protected it. They wouldn't keep digging it up every generation. That wasn't secure.

  They started moving up a slope at the edge of the swamp. As they walked up the hill, Nina noticed that they were approaching a number of old decrepit trees—black and leafless at the top of the hill. The center-most tree was particularly decayed. Its limbs drooped low, forming something of a shroud around the trunk. It was rotted out and some o
f the roots were exposed over the waterlogged earth. It was a miracle that the tree was even still standing in such a desolate place.

  They drew closer to the trees and Arthur spoke. “Roysten's grandson, Edmund, planted the tree to help cover the hiding place his grandfather had chosen.”

  “They're not the most beautiful of trees,” Purdue said. “Can't imagine this is a romantic spot. Anyone have a knife? I'm sure I could change that. D plus N forever, sound good?” He winked to Nina, who was too uneasy to smile back. Purdue shrugged. “No knife? That's fine. Maybe that's what I'll use the spear for.”

  To think that the Spear of Destiny was under a dead tree in the middle of a swamp. That Hospitaller knight did well hiding it since no one would ever have ever expected that. All they would think they would find under a dead tree are various unpleasant insects.

  They stood under the large tree and as the trunk met with the ground, there was a clear opening, like a small cavern passageway.

  “We're not really going in there, are we?” Galen asked.

  “You're welcome to stay here,” Sasha said. “I don't think any of us would be devastated by your absence.”

  Arthur walked toward the opening, but stopped at the entrance, turning to face the ground. “My ancestor found a cavern beside the swamp. It spreads underneath the marsh and these hills as a series of tunnels. A small labyrinth in this wet earth. He brought the spear deep into the system of caves, ensuring that even if someone did discover the caves, they wouldn't be able to just stumble on the spear, and if they somehow did—they might not be able to find their way out.”

  If it was as difficult to navigate as Arthur made it sound. Purdue suddenly had an itch in his mind. A unpleasant thought of being lost in darkness with no way out. Hopefully, Arthur would be a very effective guide and they didn't all end up in the ground together. Spear or not, that wouldn't be an ideal outcome.

  Arthur pushed some of the hanging roots out of the passageway and was the first to enter into the blackness of the cavern. He pulled out an electric lantern from his pack and turned it on, casting a large radius of light around them.

  It wasn't much, but it was enough to be able to make out the narrowness of their surroundings. The walls on either side of them were jagged and sharp, like the cave itself was trying to protect its contents. It made it difficult to move without risk of being prodded and scraped. They all walked in a single file line. Arthur briskly led the way, having traveled the dark tunnels many times in the past.

  “I would come down here every week to make sure the spear was not disturbed. If I'm being honest, the light is really for your benefit. I could easily find my way down here in the dark. It's become second nature.”

  Purdue wondered why Arthur didn't just turn off his light and flee into the safety of the darkness. If he knew it as well as he claimed, then his familiarity with the path would make his escape easy enough. He might have done just that if his children weren't there—and Julian no doubt knew that. He was keeping them real close, as tethers for Arthur not to go too far ahead. And based on him putting aside his duty and leading people to the spear to protect his kids, Arthur was clearly not the kind of man who would risk the lives of his children.

  “How far?” Sasha asked impatiently.

  “Quite a ways, sorry to say. It wouldn't have done any good for the spear to be near the entrance now, would it?”

  Sasha spat on the ground in annoyance.

  They followed Arthur's light for a long time. The cave would widen and thin without warning. They could sometimes be walking in a small packed group of three people at a time, and then suddenly all have to file back into a singular formation.

  “Aren't you ever worried that this could cave in? Shift so you won't be able to get in or out?”

  “Of course,” Arthur said. “The Earth is always moving around but if it does, then at least the spear would be safe.” That seemed to be the honest truth for him.

  Julian had maintained his calm, patient expression but maybe it was just a facade. His voice had trouble keeping up the act. “If this little stroll you're taking us on is a trick, I won't hesitate to smash your boy's head in on these rocks.”

  They all now knew that Julian was serious, of course. He'd more than proven capable of harming people on a whim.

  “It's no trick,” Arthur said firmly. “You'll see that for yourself. And there's no need to hurt my family. Believe me, it's painful enough that we're showing someone the spear. Generation after generation without a problem. Now, under our watch, someone like you comes along. We failed our family.”

  “Truly tragic,” Julian said coldly. “Your ancestors must be weeping. They should take solace that I'm more than worthy to take possession of the spear. If anything, I appreciate them holding onto it some place safe for me. Who knows where it would be if the Ottomans had found it during the siege? Your family made my life a lot easier. For that, you and these great kids of yours just might make it out of this alive.”

  “What do you even want with the spear?” Arthur asked.

  Sam answered before Julian could for himself. “He needs leverage to take control of the evil society he's part of. Thinks having the spear will give him a bigger spear in his pants than anyone else. That's really all this is: he needs to feel big.”

  “A colorful interpretation...” Julian said with a dry chuckle. “And not entirely wrong.”

  Arthur rubbed his beard thoughtfully. With the lantern illuminating his silhouette, he looked like some sort of wizard of legend. “So, it's just a prize for you to show off. What happens to it after you're done parading around with it?”

  “We add it to the Order of the Black Sun's collection of relics.”

  “An embarrassingly small collection,” Purdue said with a smirk. “Especially compared to mine.”

  “It will be safe.” Even in the dim light, Julian's glare toward Purdue was easy to spot. “Our security is far better than what Mr. Purdue can offer. It was not long ago that he let complete strangers into his house to see his own collection. Almost got himself killed because he doesn't know how to properly hold onto his treasures.”

  Purdue felt a little embarrassed but just brushed it off with a laugh. “We don't need to talk about that.”

  “Or I could just hold it in my own collection, eh?” Galen chimed in from behind them. “My security is tight and I won't be using the spear for nefarious purposes.”

  “You'll just use it for fame and fortune,” Nina said.

  “What's wrong with that? Cornerstones of life. Hardly nefarious.”

  “If the collection he talked about in his book was anything to go by, it's not much to brag about.” Sam said.

  Galen rolled his eyes. “If you want me to sign your copy of my book, Samuel, all you got to do is ask.”

  Arthur didn't look back at the three collectors. He didn't care about any of their bickering or who had the better security. He didn't care why they wanted it. That wasn't supposed to matter. In all of the hypothetical defenses they had prepared for, it never mattered why the spear was being pursued. All that mattered was making sure they didn't get it.

  Every second he led them deeper into the cave, he was coming closer and closer to dishonoring his family name. He would forever be the Rosewell who lost the spear so many before had spent their lives safeguarding. Centuries of protection all wasted. And not only did someone come looking for the spear, he was practically handing it over to them like a Christmas present.

  “So you've seen the spear ... does actually have any power?” Nina asked.

  “I think so,” Arthur said. “It's hard to know. There's just a feeling, I guess. When I touched it, I felt something that I never had before. It's hard to put into words, really. If I try, I'll just sound like a madman.”

  “Nonsense,” Galen groaned. “You can't actually believe it's enchanted.”

  Arthur shrugged. “I'd use the word blessed.”

  “Magic. Holiness. The fucking Force. It's just old
and valuable. That's it. I've never understood why everyone likes to embellish everything that pre-dates the turn of the last millennium. It's people like that who probably think dragons used to have a beer with the dinosaurs.”

  “No harm in keeping an open mind sometimes,” Sam said. “We've seen our fair share of things most people wouldn't believe.”

  “How much farther?” Sasha asked again.

  “It's just up ahead.”

  “Wonderful,” Julian said, his pleasure quickly turning to menace. “It better be.”

  The cave opened up into a much larger space, a much larger cave that reminded Nina of a throne room. One side of the rocky ground a drop-off, a deep chasm into darkness.

  “Long way down,” Purdue said with an impressed whistle. “Hope the spear's not down there.”

  “It's not,” Arthur said simply.

  Julian and his Eclipsed followers all inspected their surroundings like they were waiting for poisoned darts to launch from the walls. Part of Purdue wished that they would. It would at least give them a fighting chance to get out of this mess. But, that Indiana Jones fantasy didn't seem likely.

  “So.” Julian pivoted around in a circle, taking in the entirety of the room. “Is this it then?”

  “Yes.”

  19

  Lance

  There was nothing in sight. Just more rock and stalactites. Julian's demeanor was shifting rapidly. If he didn't see the spear soon, bodies were probably going to start to drop. He looked around furiously and then turned back to Arthur.

  “Was this your strategy, Mr. Rosewell? Takes us all deep into the tunnels and then strand us all here to die?”

  “There's no need to get angry,” Arthur said. “It's right here.”

  “I don't see anything!” Julian snapped. “There's nothing here!”