Jack had been crawling around Quetzalcoatl ever since they crashed. When it got dark, he continued his work by flashlight. But he didn’t seem to be making any progress.
Ariel stared at the pinpoint of light just off shore. “You figure that thing out yet?” she called.
“I can’t understand it. I don’t even know what’s wrong,” he called back. His voice carried across the water.
“Doesn’t anything work?” asked Zeke.
“Of course something works,” he called.
“What is it?”
“This flashlight.”
Zeke quietly turned to the others. “I swear, if he doesn’t shut up soon, I’m going to kill him by morning.” His frustrating stint in jail with the ever-cheerful pirate ran through his mind. Now he was stranded in the wilderness with someone even more irritating. He was not looking forward to this trip.
“You don’t have to play the tough guy,” said Ariel softly. “It’s not always helpful to have people fear you.”
He was going to speak, but Daniel cut him off. “So what’s our next move?”
“What?” Zeke was incensed. “You dragged us out here. Didn’t you have a plan?”
“My plan involved landing in Rome. I’m not familiar with this region.” He was defensive, but calm.
“And you think I am?”
“Ezekiel,” Ariel interjected softly, motherly.
Zeke closed his eyes, forcing himself to calm down. After a moment, he thought of a plan. “I guess we go west. It’s a start. Might take us a while to find Rome, but we know it’s on the other coast. We’ll leave at dawn.”
Daniel smiled impishly then called, “Jack, you coming to Rome with us?”
“What? Hey! Doesn’t he have to stay and fix the ship or something?” Zeke was frantic. Ariel and Daniel smiled in the darkness.
“Sure! Sounds like fun,” the pilot called back.
“What?” His voice echoed in the night. The others snickered quietly. He glared at them, but knew that objecting was useless. “Fine. We leave early, so I’m going to sleep. Someone should stay awake and keep watch. There are more dangerous things than draugr in the forbidden regions of the world.”
He laid down in the sand and closed his eyes.
“Why did you bring that thing?” asked Daniel as they marched through the Italian wilderness.
Of all the items on the ship, Jack had chosen to take a crow bar with him. He now held it like a minuteman carries a rifle. “What, this?” he asked. “It might be useful.”
“Most of us tend to think food is slightly more important,” suggested Zeke, trying to stay cool. It was he who was saddled with the task of carrying their food and water.
Jack tried to defend his choice. “We’re going to Rome, right? And no one ever bothered to rebuild it? It could be useful for digging through ruins or something.” He held the crow bar like a shovel and pretended to dig with it.
“Jack,” said Daniel with a bad-news tone in his voice. “We’re not going to be digging through anything.”
“We’re not?”
“We’re not even going to the city. We’re looking for someone who lives near Rome.”
“Oh.” He was silent for a moment. “Well, it still might be useful.” His voice was weak, doubtful.
The two of them started discussing the merits and drawbacks of crow bars. Zeke, wanting no part in it, hung back a few steps. The Italian countryside was peaceful, almost serene. He felt strangely calm being there. It was easy to forget how dangerous it was. The government had declared the entire Italian peninsula a disaster area and a DMZ. No one was permitted to go there. It was the only forbidden zone outside of North America and a haven for monsters.
Whatever the Karellan was doing there, he didn’t want anyone to see.
But Zeke wasn’t too concerned with the overlord’s plans. At that moment, he felt good. The weather was nice. Warm, but with a cool breeze. The wilderness was quiet. It was a vast improvement over his last visit to Italy, marching through the same countryside in full battle gear.
But at least then, he had been with Micah.
“Are you all right?” came a voice interrupting his thoughts. Ariel seemed to have grown tired of the crow bar debate as well. Daniel and Jack were now a good distance ahead of them.
“Yeah. I’m fine. How about you?”
“It’s nice here. I’m loving this.”
“Yeah., me too,” he answered, half to himself. “You’re not tired at all?”
“Well, maybe just a little,” she confessed. “But more than anything, I’m happy that I can get around more easily than before. Marching through Italy makes me feel strong again. Like everything is the same as it was ten years ago.”
“Except for Micah.” His statement was followed by a somber silence.
“I miss him too. But you know you can get by well enough without him, right?” She smiled hopefully.
“I made it through the last ten years, didn’t I?”
Her smile changed to a smirk. “I was hoping you’d notice.”
“It’s not easy though. I can’t help but think I’ll never measure up to him. He was strong, intelligent. People respected him.”
Talking to Ariel was easy. She already knew Zeke. She had witnessed his secrets. He could confide in her without giving up his identity.
“You don’t think you’re strong? You use that sword just as well as Micah did. Maybe even better. And strength isn’t everything. You couldn’t have survived this long if you weren’t intelligent.”
“Respect. What about that? I’m not the easiest person to get along with.” Zeke was arguing, but secretly hoping to be proven wrong.
“Are you really that blind? Look.”
She nodded ahead. The others were still arguing about the crow bar. “How about camping? You could use it as a very small tent post?” Jack suggested, sticking the crow bar into the ground to illustrate his point.
Daniel seemed like his head was going to burst. “Okay, new deal! I’ll pay you double if you shut up for the next ten minutes. Okay?”
Zeke actually laughed.
“That boy looks up to you. He’s trying to make you notice him. He dragged you out here and elected you leader.”
He shook his head. “I’ve noticed. I don’t understand why, but I’ve noticed. Weird kid.”
“Of course,” Ariel continued, “You could always try to be more . . . shall we say, receptive, of other people?”
He took a long look at the two men ahead of him. “I guess Jack isn’t such a bad guy.”
“And Daniel?”
“I’ll try to be nicer to them.”
“And Micah?”
“Be nicer to Micah?”
“Not that. But don’t fret about him so much.” It was a funny statement, coming from the woman who dreamed of him coming back to life after ten years. “You don’t have to live up to any standards. You know what he’d say about that.”
Zeke smiled, remembering the oft-repeated lessons of their absent friend. “Heroes are humans, but most people forget that. It’s easy to view the world in black and white, but heroes make mistakes and villains accomplish great things. Living your life by another’s lead is just an excuse for not making your own decisions.”
Ariel smiled warmly. “It’s sound advice. You’re not Micah. He was a great man, but you still have to find your own way.”
Suddenly, a large ball of energy falls from the sky. It smashes into the ground, throwing up an explosion of dust, soil, and charred plants. The small group, blinded by the cloud, begins to cough.
The smoke clears. Zeke looks up.
Metatron floats gently down into the crater he just made. He holds a huge broadsword in each hand.
“You again!” He drops his bags, draws his sword, and rushes to attack. The malak crosses his blades, catching the blow. He kicks forward, knocking Zeke back.
Daniel pulls out his shotgun. Jack holds out his crow bar. Daniel gives him a doubtful look.
“No, no. Not yet,” the malak states condescendingly.
Zeke stands. “Just fight me!”
“And how do you expect to defeat me when you can’t summon the power to touch me with your blade? You do not yet have the strength of will to fight a being of the Ether.”
“Why do you care? Why do you want me to be stronger?”
“You have been chosen. Your soul will become the will of God.” Metatron’s voice is deep and ominous.
“What is he talking about?” asks Ariel.
“I have no idea.”
“You will understand in time,” booms the malak.
“Not if I kill you first.” He leaps at Metatron, his sword extended.
The monster flicks his right hand gently, twisting his massive sword to stop the attack in an instant. He swings his left sword low.
Zeke leaps over the blade and attacks. Once again, the malak blocks effortlessly with one hand and attacks with the other. But Zeke is fast. Their blades lock. He is still alive, but he gets a strong feeling that Metatron isn’t fighting with all his strength.
The malak breaks free of the lock. He launches an assault on the small human. Right sword. Left sword. Right. Right. Left. Right. Zeke blocks furiously. He begins to sweat, but the demon’s attacks don’t touch him.
Then he sees an opening.
He swipes his sword fast across Metatron’s waist. The blade passes harmlessly through the ghostly body. The malak steps back. “You seem stronger, but you have clearly not learned from our last battle. You can not defeat a god with a weapon of man!”
He holds his blades crossed in front of him then swiftly swings them back. The stroke creates a small shockwave that knocks all four humans to the ground.
“You’ve done well against men and their evolved form. Now you will fight a lesser denizen of God!”
“A denizen of God?” repeats Daniel to himself.
Metatron hears him and explains, “The physical form of the Destroyer.”
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” says Jack.
The malak stabs his swords into the ground. He draws an invisible symbol in the air with his hands. The ground glows with a strange glyph. Zeke recognizes it as the Metatron’s cube from his dream.
The sigil that appeared above Rome. That destroyed the city.
Light radiates from Metatron. A glowing sphere surrounds him. It doesn’t last long. The malak begins to disappear.
And in his place, a dragon materialized.
The group of humans huddles together in fear. An unearthly fear that they can’t explain. The dragon is big, but not as large as legends tell. It’s thin, covered in green scales except for a dark mane of hair running partway down its neck.
Nothing to be too frightened about. After all, Daniel and Zeke have fought monsters before. Ariel was in the war. Jack has his crow bar.
But they just can’t bring themselves to attack. They fear this thing instinctually. The terror permeates their beings. It emanates from inside of them instead of the monster in front of them.
It is unnatural. Instinctive, but unnatural.
They slowly back away. Jack stammers. “So . . . am I just seeing things, or is that a . . .”
“Dragon?” says Daniel, finishing his sentence.
“Sure looks like one to me,” says Zeke. He pushes Ariel behind him.
“Well I’m glad. I thought I was going crazy.” Jack’s usual care-free voice was riddled with nervousness.
The dragon cocks its head to one side, looking at them playfully. It steps forward and crouches down. Its movements resemble a cat.
A gigantic, scaly cat with teeth twelve centimeters long.
“So,” begins Ariel. “Now that we’re all in consensus about what we’re seeing, does anyone have a plan?”
“Uh, I got a question,” says Jack, raising his hand. The dragon’s neck jerks up, reacting to the sudden movement.
“Is it relevant?” asks Zeke, not in the mood for being aloof.
“Do dragons breathe fire?”
“What say we all decide to live our lives without ever answering that question?” suggests Daniel.
“I’m with you on that,” seconds Zeke.
The dragon stops moving, but still stares them down, making a strange half-purr, half-growling sound.
“He hasn’t attacked yet,” Ariel observes. “Maybe it’s not interested?”
“So what’s our plan?”
Zeke whispers furiously. “Run!”
The four humans turn and dash away on his command. The dragon pounces. It bounds once then leaps up in the air. With a single flap of its wings, it soars over their heads, lands in front of them, turns, and resumes staring at them.
They turn and run the other way.
The dragon, leaps over them and bars their path again. “It’s playing with us,” Ariel states.
Zeke looks at her. She’s out of breath. Even if they could run, she wouldn’t get far. He draws his sword and ignores his fear. “Good. Then there’s a chance we can get out of this.”
But Jack attacks first. “I’ll scare it away!” He jumps closer to the dragon and swings the crow bar awkwardly. “You guys run.”
“Jack, no!” shouts Daniel.
The crow bar clangs against the dragons scales. The beast lowers its neck to examine its attacker. It isn’t hurt. It isn’t even angry. Jack freezes. The dragon gently knocks him to the ground and pins him under its front leg.
“Not much choice at this point.” Zeke draws his sword.
“I’m with you,” says Daniel, holding his shotgun.
“Remember Grendel? Let’s try the same tactic. You distract it while I get close.”
“Got it.” Daniel aims his gun as Zeke darts off quietly to one side. The dragon ignores them both. It sniffs Jack curiously.
The shotgun booms. Some of the dragon’s scales turn black. The large beast snaps its neck up to growl at him. It snarls. Smoke begins to pour out of its mouth. Daniel suddenly realizes how alone he is. “Anyone have a new plan?” He’s nervous. He stops everything. Attacking, moving, and defending. He freezes to the ground.
Jack wrests his arm out from the dragon’s foot and swings the crow bar at the monster’s leg again. The dragon’s attention returns to his captive. This time the pilot faces a mouth spewing smoke and ash. “New plan. Good idea,” he says, entranced by the growling beast.
Then it comes to him. He places the crow bar between the dragon’s toes and twists. One of the toes lifts slightly off the ground. Jack sees his opening. He shoves the bar under the raised toe and pushes back hard.
Crack!
The dragon rears back on its hind legs. It roars in pain. Flame spews into the sky. Jack rolls away.
Zeke attacks. His sword cuts across the scaly neck. A gash forms, but no blood is drawn. The pained monster swipes at him. He avoids the brunt of the blow, but is grazed by the claw and falls.
Ariel grabs the shotgun from a fear-frozen Daniel. “Need some help? Just have to find this boy’s soft spot.”
She blasts the dragon in the face. Its eyes pinch shut and it roars again in pain. Defensive flame spits forward, forcing her back. She pulls Daniel with her, to safety, but falls from the strain.
Jack sneaks up behind the dragon and swings his crow bar again. It connects with a wing. There is a low tearing sound. The dragon bellows louder. Leathery skin hangs, ripped.
It flails its arms frantically, hitting Jack. He hits the ground and doesn’t move.
The dragon opens its eyes. Ariel looks up. They stare at each other for a moment. The monster growls. She stands and tries to run, but trips and falls. The monster closes in. She shuts her eyes and waits for the end.
A sword sings.
She opens her eyes. Zeke stands in front of her, his sword stuck in the ground. The dragon’s claw is blocked by the blade. He pulls the sword out and slices the beast hard across the face.
A thin line of blood seeps out. The dragon rears back, bello
wing.
“Time to go,” he says, pulling Ariel to her feet. Daniel helps Jack up. They start running.
The wounded dragon quickly recovers. It squints through stinging eyes. It sees its prey escaping. Unable to fly, it runs after them, belching fire.
They run, but the dragon closes in.
Poof.
There is the sound of escaping gas. There’s a dull thud as something hits the ground behind them. Then it hisses. As they run, the unearthly fear recedes. They realize the dragon isn’t chasing them anymore.
Weapons fire. The group turns. A small canister of tear gas billows at the dragon’s feet. Three or four vehicles, outfitted for battle, buzz around the agitated monster. They resemble large dune buggies. Skeletons of cars, mounted with weapons.
A woman in the lead attack vehicle fires a large weapon. It shoots out a net that tangles on the dragon. The creature struggles against the gas and the net. The vehicle pulls up to Zeke’s group. “Get on,” commands the woman.
Jack leaps on the vehicle immediately. “I won’t argue with anyone stronger than a dragon.”
Zeke quickly pulls himself up. “For once, I’m with you.” He turns to help the others climb on board.
“You’re very kind. Thank you,” Ariel says to the woman. Glancing down, she notices a belt of green scales around the girl’s waist. “Is that . . .”
Her question is cut off as the girl turns to her driver and says, “Get us out of here now!” The small fleet of vehicles speeds away just as the dragon throws off the net. A man in another vehicle launches a grenade from the mounted gun. Flames engulf the dragon.
“You killed it!” shouted Daniel, impressed.
The woman turned to him with a foul look. “You some kind of idiot? Dragons don’t go down that easily.”
He sat down, deflated. “I’m sorry, but we’ve never actually seen one before.”
“You expect me to buy that?” she snapped. “The Karellan’s got some morons working these parts these days. Just sit down and stay quiet.”
Ariel, not wanting to be bullied by this strange woman, demanded answers. “Where are you taking us?”
The woman ignored her question, but it was answered soon enough. The cars raced straight for a hillside. But, instead of driving over the hill, a trap door gave way and the fleet sped into it. In a moment, they were in a long, torch-lit tunnel. They drove deeper and deeper into this tunnel until it gave way to a large cavern. Other attack vehicles were parked around the perimeter of this cavern, and the drivers soon took their place beside them.
Ragnarok: The Fate of Gods Page 18