Thoth, the Atlantean

by Brendan Carroll

  The Seneschal unfolded the paper and began to read the hi-lited portions.

  No one has asked me this question before, Brother, why do you want to know, I wonder. As to the relevance, it makes me wonder what you are up to down there. Is the Italian sun scrambling your brains? No! Omar was not transformed to a swallow, but rather a young eagle which you may realize might appear to some as a bird similar in appearance to a swallow or some other of the larger species of common birds. Remember that he was quite young and I would have to assume that his age at the time of the transformation prevented him from becoming a full grown eagle. I always manifest as an eagle in that form, but a certain young woman we all know and love manifests as a swallow and again, another young lady of whom we have mutual acquaintance manifests as a crow. It is my belief that the form of the bird is entirely dependent upon a combination of things: the gender, lineage and age of the person involved. Omar was a young eagle. Of that I am sure.

  “There are over 200 varieties of eagles in the world and hawks are of the eagle family. If anyone knows about hawks and eagles, it would be Sir Dambretti.” Lavon nodded his head. “Now Samson was considered a forerunner of the Messiah who was prophesied to come from Judah, but according to the Jewish Midrash, his mother would be a Danite. Throughout the years, the children of the Merovingian line of kings, who were by the way, polygamous, which was another thing the Mormons tried to practice, infiltrated the entire infrastructure of the European ruling class through intermarriage during the fifth, sixth and seventh centuries. And further King Clovis, one of the Merovingian Kings in the old Frankish dynasty was once appointed as the Ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. Therefore, voila`! The entire European nobility has roots in the Merovingian race of Kings. The Holy Blood, the Sangreal comes down through the lost tribes of Judah and Dan. This fulfilled the prophecy made by Jacob concerning his son, Dan, who definitely returns from time to time throughout history to rule and judge the people of Israel.”

  “Where does that leave us, Brother?” Barry asked him in exasperation.

  “It means that we now have knowledge. It means that we must pray for guidance in order to learn how to use the knowledge in accordance with God’s will for it is also prophesied that the anti-Christ would come from the same line, Jewish, the Tribe of Dan. One of our children, no doubt, since we seem to be the center of all this.”

  Barry’s mouth fell open. If he married, and what Lavon said was true, then he had the great pleasure and distinction of knowing that his own son, if one was forthcoming, could become the anti-Christ. A pleasant thought.

  “Where is Brother Louis?” Barry looked at both of them.

  “He should be back soon. He took Orri to the airport in Naples,” Christopher answered.

  “Ahh. I forgot. I am glad that she is going.” Barry looked down at the letter from Lucio. Lucio! Why did the man keep suffering such great trials and tribulations? Surely the Italian had a great part to play yet. “When he returns, I would like to share this with him.”

  “Of course.” Lavon nodded.

  “Anything else?”

  “I am worried that the entity that took Jozsef Daniel from us has learned too much about our inner workings from Jozsef’s mind. It could be very disadvantageous to us to have him snooping about in our business. Add to that, the appearance of the Teutonic faction under the direction of Eduord de Goth and we have serious problems.”

  “Since the creature came directly from Jozsef’s contact with one of the crystal skulls, we must assume that he would be connected to the skulls in a profound manner not quite understood as of yet. I have also learned that de Goth will probably be seeking knowledge of the skulls. Adolf Hitler had a great interest in things Merovingian and having to do with the Holy Grail and his researches were tied directly to the Aryan race, which has since become intertwined with things Teutonic. Therefore, we have a cross reference of sorts between the Order of the Teutonic Knights who were basically Germanic originally but had roots in the south of France from an earlier period. It is possible that Hitler and this fellow, Eduord de Goth, may have actually known each other. May have been working together at some point. That we have taken his sister into custody could not have made him feel any less hostile toward us. It is imperative that we be on guard both here and in Scotland against de Goth and Jozsef Daniel. I suggest that we sleep with our boots on, Brother,” Lavon told him solemnly and Barry agreed. They both looked at Christopher and he shrugged.

  Chapter Fourteen of Twenty

  Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing

  Luke had already searched the lower reaches of the house for the boy. He had wanted to tell him that his father was awake and asking for him. Greta was in the library with her father, studying her lessons and waiting for a call from Constance d’Ornan. Simeon’s wife called every evening at six o’clock to speak with them while they were visiting Scotland, but she did not know where Vanni had gotten off to

  “Vanni?” Luke Andrew called as he tapped on the door of the third floor room that had once belonged to his sister Nicole. They had cleared out most of her old personal belongings and given the room to Vanni after his father had been attacked.

  “Vanni?!” Luke said a bit louder and tried the door knob. Open, but, of course, no one was home. “Dammit!”

  He closed the door and tried to hurry back down the stairs without drawing undue attention to his distress. It was too soon to sound the alarm. He would look outside first and then down at the burned out stables before he told anyone that their “wild child” was off again. Luke by-passed the library on his way out the back door and even stopped to speak to the chef long enough to learn what was for supper in order to maintain the appearance that nothing was wrong.

  Once he had ascertained the location of everyone else, he checked the pistol tucked in the holster under his summer-weave jacket and let himself out the door into the backyard. The mercury vapor lights were coming on in the garden as he walked along the path toward the half-burned hulk of the stables. Enough of the structure remained intact to house the horses temporarily until they could have it repaired, but the bizarre outline coupled with the mist and backlit by the lights down at the gardeners shed made him shudder. When he reached the end of the paved path he broke into a trot, but soon slowed as he recognized a faint, but very familiar noise drifting to him from somewhere further down the meadow. Drums. And not just one drum, but many drums and pipes and whistles and other strange instruments. The faeries were making music out there somewhere and he had no doubt at all that he would find Vanni among them.

  When he rounded the side of the barn, he saw the blue lights down toward the old cairn past the shed. Faeries. Elves. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked casually down the meadow toward the fires. When he drew near, he was stopped by two elves dressed in light green with long blonde hair flowing down their backs from underneath soft leather caps. They had bright, glittery eyes in the muted light and long feathers trailing down behind their ears. Instead of running away as they normally would, they challenged him boldly and he noticed that they were both carrying lances. When he identified himself to their satisfaction, they led him through the groups of dancing faeries to the central fire. A circle of elves sat around the flames, playing the instruments that produced a joyous music while many more leapt and danced about the fire, singing and swaying in their mesmerizing free style dance. The dancing elves wore no shirts, but were dressed only in green and brown trousers and laced leather boots. Around their necks and arms they wore many necklaces and bracelets made of shells, beads, acorn caps, dried flowers and bits of gold and silver chain. They all carried weapons as they danced and even the musicians had swords, daggers, bows and arrows and lances around them on the ground within easy reach. The overworld was fraught with danger for them and Luke wondered why they had come here in such numbers. As soon as he entered the circle, Sim appeared and greeted him warmly. The King’s captain was shirtless and painted with white runic symbols on
his face and arms. He wore numerous necklaces with beads and feathers and silver trinkets. He had advanced in rank considerably and the sparkle of gold and precious stones glittered in his hair, his ears and on intricate armbands around his strong, but deceptively slender arms.

  “Prince Luke!” Sim bowed low before him. “It is most wonderful to see you again. Your health is well?”

  “I’m well enough,” Luke greeted the elf captain warmly and sat down cross-legged in the grass. Another elf brought him a wooden cup filled with the delicious honey mead that he had once grown sick of. It tasted the same, but now he was glad to have it. The warmth spread through him immediately and he soon forgot how angry and worried he had been to find Vanni missing. “What brings you out tonight?” he asked.

  “The King wished to see Vannistephetti, son of Lucius of Venetia.” Sim sat down beside him. “He missed him.”

  “Ahh. But surely he has not been gone from you for long.” Luke looked about the melee for signs of the King and the son of Lucio. But the shadows and the firelight made them all appear basically the same.

  “Not long,” Sim agreed. “But we have had very little to do since he left us. We used to spend a great deal of time chasing after him and teaching him. We did not realize that the center of our universe had become one with the boy.”

  “So things are pretty peaceful now in the Center,” Luke asked somewhat relieved.

  “We have no immediate problems. The Tuatha keep their distance as per the treaty with King Adar. The red serpent is gone and much that was, is no more. We have forgotten how to live in peace.”

  “I can understand that,” Luke told him. “In fact, I don’t think I ever knew how to do that.”

  “Peace is a wonderful thing, Prince Luke.” Sim looked away to the south. “But it is fleeting.”

  “Where is Vanni?”

  Sim raised up a bit and swayed back and forth, surveying the dancers. “There!” He pointed, but Luke was unable to distinguish him.

  “I don’t see him.”

  Sim let go a high-pitched warble of elven language and one of the dancers broke off from the others.

  Within moments, a very happy Vannistephetti Dambretti plopped down on the grass beside Luke Andrew and smiled at him in sheer delight.

  “He misses me!” the boy said excitedly. “He is no longer angry with me.”

  “That’s nice, but you should have told me or someone that you were going off from the house. You remember how much trouble came of the last time you chased off after elves and faeries,” Luke admonished him.

  “I told Greta where I was going.” Vanni was not impressed. “You should have asked her.”

  “She should have told me instead of lying,” Luke countered and made a mental note to speak to the girl in private. “Your father is asking for you.”

  “My father?” Vanni frowned and then jumped to his feet. “My father is awake?!”

  “Yes. He woke up and has been asking about you since then.”

  “Then I must go and bring him here! The sight of the elves and a bit of song and dance and honey mead will work wonders for him.” He clapped his hands and one of the elves brought a wineskin to him.

  “I don’t think your father is up to dancing and singing just yet, Vanni.” Luke held up one hand to stop him. “He is not well yet.”

  Vanni ignored him. “I must tell the King that I am going to fetch my father. The King will be happy to see him! He was very distressed to hear that he was ill.”

  “Vanni, wait!” Luke reached for the slippery boy, but he was off into the crowd again.

  “The boy says that his father was wounded. That someone had hurt him. Why?” Sim narrowed his slanted green eyes sharply.

  “We don’t know yet.” Luke stood up as Il Dolce Mio hurried toward him.

  “Brother!” The King was upon him immediately, hugging him and kissing him affectionately. “It is most wonderful to see you! Vannistephetti tells me that his father was wounded by a brigand.”

  “We are not sure who did it,” Luke admitted as he sat down again. Vanni had not come back with the King. “We found him in his bed. It was very bad.”

  “Ahh. Then someone came into the dwelling of my father and attacked him? That is most disturbing, highly disquieting. And how is he at present?”

  “He is recovering. Tomorrow he should be much better. The Master is with him now trying to learn what happened.”

  “Vanni said that a woman came to the house. A strange woman with green auras.”

  Luke frowned at the King. So Vanni had his father’s gift!

  “Simon’s mother,” Luke told him. It sounded odd on his tongue to say this. “Catharine de Goth.”

  “De Goth.” Il Dolce Mio stared at the fire. “I know this name. I saw it in my father’s books.”

  “She is from an old family.”

  “She is from the ancient line of the Merovingian Kings of the Franks. Simon is of royal blood just as you and I.”

  “That’s nice,” Luke said. Royal blood. So that’s what it was. Luke nodded again to himself. Simon’s mother was Merovingian and that meant that her brother was also descended of the Royal Bloodline. He cursed himself again for having let the cat out of the bag about Lucio and Melodia… Catharine. Of course, he hadn’t really said anything… not really.

  “I have always known that he was of royal blood. I just didn’t know which line,” the King said thoughtfully. “It is no wonder that he bleeds in the presence of the evil ones. His blood is trying to escape.”

  Luke Andrew nodded and then frowned. He'd never thought of that before.

  ((((((((((((()))))))))))))

  Vanni rushed up the stairs and stopped in front of his father’s door. He had paint on his face, chest and arms, elven runes in blue paint. He held the wineskin in his hands and made a wry face. He could hear the sounds of the big, red-haired one and the one called the Knight, speaking with his father. His father sounded very tired. His father needed some of the mead, but he knew that the others might not agree. He stashed the wineskin behind a table in the hallway and went back to knock on the door.

  Luke Matthew answered the door and then frowned at the sight of the half-naked boy.

  “My father has requested my attendance at his side,” Vanni told him very stiffly with his chin stuck out in perfect imitation of his father’s most arrogant expression.

  “Aye. So ’e ’as. Do come in, Master Giovanni.” Luke Matthew suppressed a smile and held the door open for him. Vanni walked slowly and deliberately into the bedroom and stopped at the foot of the bed. Lucio sat propped on the pillows with d’Brouchart sitting in a chair near his bedside.

  “Vanni!” Lucio smiled at his son.

  “Father,” Vanni addressed him solemnly. “Are you feeling better?”

  “Yes, much better.” Lucio patted the cover beside him. “Please come and sit with me, won’t you?”

  “Of course.” Vanni climbed lightly onto the bed, boots and all and sat cross-legged in the indicated spot, facing Lucio. He crossed his arms self-consciously over his bare stomach as Edgard d’Brouchart watched him with obvious disapproval.

  “Where is your shirt, my son?” the Grand Master asked him.

  “I lost it, Your Hugeness,” Vanni told him simply. “It happens.”

  “I see.” D’Brouchart glanced at Lucio. “You realize that my granddaughter is in the house and that is quite improper for young men to go about half-dressed in front of young and impressional ladies.”

  “I did not go about in front of your granddaughter, Your Loftiness. I slipped past quite unknown to them. We are all men here.” He waved one hand about the bedroom. “I see no other girls of the feminine type here, young or old.”

  “It would be best if you kept your shirt on in the house, Vanni,” Lucio chided him softly. “It is best. And besides, Scooby or Astro might make a snack of it.”

  “Ahh, the cursed hounds of hell.” Vanni frowned and rubbed his forehead. “They are most anno
ying. They will not listen to reason and I have to tell them again and again to behave before they become dragon fodder. They need to learn their places.” The boy leaned forward and lowered his voice, speaking directly to his father. “I am not sure, my father, but I do not think that these hounds should be allowed in the house. They seem to have no communication skills whatsoever.”

  “Well!” D’Brouchart stood up. “I will let you two have a bit of private time together, Golden Eagle, if you are feeling up to it.”

  “Thank you, Your Grace.” Lucio was very glad to have the man gone. They had been over the events of the past few days a dozen times and still, the man did not seem satisfied. It was as if the Grand Master actually wanted the assailant to be Catharine de Goth. Lucio was over his shock at learning the woman had been there with him when he had been found. So it had not been his imagination after all. Stranger things had happened. But his attacker had not been a woman. The Master’s disappointment at hearing that Lucio had not known who his assailant was had been quite evident in his face. He’d kept prying and urging and repeating the same questions until Lucio had thought he would die again of exasperation.

  The man had worn dark clothing and dark glasses. The room had been dim. The attack had been sudden and profoundly debilitating. He’d never had a clear look at the man before he was gone. The only thing he was sure of was that whoever he was, he had employed something more than surprise and strength. Lucio distinctly remembered not being able to lift a finger to stop him.

  The Grand Master left and took the Knight with him. As soon as the door closed, Vanni climbed to the floor over his father’s feeble protests. He peeked into the hall and then made a dash for the wineskin, bringing it back to the bed, smiling broadly at his father.

  “I brought you something!” he said and offered the bag to his father. “This will make you well much sooner.”