“Then they had better be more willing to shoot me than you are.”
The priest left unhindered, but never saw the police. Unknown to him or Father Largo, someone had intercepted the call.
Chapter Sixteen: Underground City
Deep under the earth, Jack clutched the bamboo bars of his prison. The rest of the group was sprawled out on the floor. The prison guard sat nearby in his chair, asleep.
“Hey, you coming to Rome?” Jack said to himself, remembering the night before.
He turned his head and said, “Sure. I’d love to check it out,” in mockery of himself. “I’ve never been to Rome. Sounds great. Let’s all go and get buried alive with a narcoleptic barbarian. Hey, Hagar! How about waking up and passing the water!” Instead of waking up, the guard snored louder. Jack tugged at his bamboo prison, which moved less than the guard.
“We can’t stay in here forever,” said Zeke. “They’ll have to release us sooner or later.” He hoped it would be “sooner.” He had seen his fill of jail cells.
Jack ignored him. “How did they get bamboo in Italy?” he mused to himself.
Ariel turned to Zeke. “You have a plan?”
“Does bamboo even grow here?” the pilot ranted. No one answered him.
“Didn’t it sound like they’re in trouble?”
“A little, yeah,” said Ariel.
“Like they’re being harassed by the Karellan and desperate for some information?”
“They’re under-supplied,” Daniel observed. “Spears and skins to outfit their soldiers? The only high-tech things in this whole city were those attack buggies.”
“They went all out on us,” noted Zeke. “I think they were expecting more useful prisoners.”
Jack, still struggling with the bars, gave their cage a kick. Nothing. Except a bruised toe. Frustrated, he sat down with the others.
“They’re going to be disappointed,” said Ariel.
“Unless we can help them,” Zeke suggested. The others smiled at the idea.
The pilot, however, did not. “Not that I want to shoot down your plan, seeing as how it’s the only one we’ve got, but I think you’re forgetting that we’re trapped in a cage, have no weapons, and were nearly eaten by a fire-breathing dragon when we were both armed and free. Could we, perhaps, work out a few more details?”
“You’re absolutely right,” said Zeke.
Jack continued his rant. “Dragons! Forget the bamboo, what about the god damn dragon? Since when did you find them in . . . what? I’m right?”
“Absolutely. You might be loud and obnoxious, but you’re no fool.”
The pilot quieted down. “So you have any ideas?”
“No. To be honest, I’m stuck on the idea of dragons, too.”
“It was real, wasn’t it?” Ariel sounded half-amazed and half-frightened.
“I don’t understand it either,” confessed Daniel.
“Micah once told me that the dragon was one of the most universal images in the world. Some variation of it appears in nearly every mythology and folklore in historical memory,” explained Zeke.
“So you think they were real?”
“Obviously they’re real. Until now, no one has ever been able to figure out how the concept of dragons became so widespread.”
“I think we’ve solved that mystery,” Daniel said. “But my question is; if they’re real, why hasn’t anyone seen them in thousands of years?”
“Here’s a better question,” said Jack. “How the hell do we get out of here?”
“I don’t know,” said Zeke, curling up in a corner of their cage. “But I’m guessing it’s late by now. Ask me again in the morning.” The others agreed that they might think more clearly after resting, and they followed his lead.
“I’ve interrogated the prisoners,” reported Muriel. “They reported leaving a ship near the shore.”
Gabriel sat on his throne, deep in thought. “Did you find it?”
“Yes we did. It was inoperable, but we set our mechanics to work on it.”
“What was wrong with it?”
“Is that relevant?” Muriel asked, growing impatient with the report.
“If they were attacked by a malak, their ship would show signs of that battle.”
She took a deep breath. “There were no signs of a malak attack. The ship had been hit with an electromagnetic pulse.”
“Interesting,” said Gabriel, half to himself. He had heard tales about exceptionally powerful malak who are capable of manipulating electric energy. But as far as he knew, they weren’t true. Just children’s stories.
“Father?” said Muriel, examining his face. “Are you suggesting . . .”
“That they may be telling the truth? We don’t have EMPs, and the Karellan wouldn’t shoot down his own ship. I want to capture one of his soldiers as much as you, but desire alone won’t make it true. We must be prepared to accept their story.”
Muriel was furious, but she knew it was unwise to display that emotion before her father and king. “I understand,” was all she said. She turned and marched away.
“Muriel?” Gabriel called. She stopped. “You’re a good daughter, and a devoted soldier. Keep a guard on them, just in case.”
“Yes sir.”
Zeke advances on the church. Micah is at his side, an old, beat-up sword slung across his back.
And he is also inside the church. Hearing the sounds of two approaching armies, he kneels before the altar.
Or does he? Who is he?
He kneels and crosses himself as the shooting starts.
At the same time, he watches the Theocratic army start firing shells at them. The captain shouts an order. Micah raises his gun. His old sword is no good in battle.
The church shakes.
“This isn’t right,” he thought. “I wasn’t in the church. What’s happening?”
“Zeke?” came a disembodied voice. Ariel.
She was in the church.
People cower under pews, but Ariel keeps praying at the altar, showing no fear. She is here for God, and no army in the world will stop her.
Fire explodes. Zeke is frightened. His platoon is exposed in the open field.
“Zeke, what’s happening?” Ariel asked through the ether.
“We’re dreaming.”
The captain signals a charge. Micah runs. Zeke follows.
A mortar shell lands near the church and an entire row of stained glass windows shatter. Glass rains inside.
“Dreaming? What? How?”
“I don’t know.”
The strange voice fills their heads. “She can exist here through you. She is important, though there are none who know that yet.”
The priest bolts out from his hiding place under a pew. He runs for the back door. “Stop!” Ariel yells. He doesn’t listen. He tears the door open and leaves.
Zeke watches as something catches the Theocratic soldier’s attention. A man runs out from behind the church. A priest. Micah runs for him. Zeke follows. But the Theocratic soldiers are closer, and the church is their objective.
The battle is loud. He can’t pick out the individual gunshot that takes down the priest. The man simply falls.
Ariel, however, hears one shot louder than the others. She knows the priest has fallen. She feels it. She adds another name to her prayers.
Then the church explodes.
Glass and brick rains down from all sides. Smoke and fire billow out. The shockwave from the explosion throws him and Micah to the ground. Ariel’s concentration is broken and she dives under the sturdy altar. The Theocratic army flees into the woods, their objective complete.
They got up slowly. Gunshots faded into the distance. Their platoon, pursuing their enemies, left them behind at the church.
The church! he thinks. The people inside. He felt Ariel, lying beneath the rocks. But this was just a memory. He had no control over it. Instead of saving her, he ran over and started pulling rubble out from the pile.
“No, don’t start with the edges. The people would be inside,” Micah instructed. Zeke ran up the pile and began throwing rocks into the grass.
Light shone through a hazy darkness. The blurred form of Micah appeared, throwing boulders as if they were pebbles. His face came into focus.
Zeke felt embarrassed about sharing Ariel’s emotions with her. Looking at Micah, through her eyes, he saw the change immediately. He looked down at her with an affection Zeke had never known. Although he had spoken hundreds of times about his feelings for her, but they had all been just words.
Until now.
Zeke sent out his thoughts. “Why are you showing me this?”
“You will need to understand. This is not the only change she has enacted on your friend.”
“What?”
“Be quiet! I’m enjoying the dream.” Ariel’s ethereal voice sounded giddy.
“My hero,” she said, smiling.
Micah grinned. “I don’t believe in heroes. Only people.”
Zeke resumed digging. He tossed a rock that landed short of the grass. “Oof!” came a voice, muffled by the rubble. A person! By the wall? He dashed over and started tugging at rocks.
“That’s too close to the wall,”
“There’s someone here! I heard him!”
Supporting Ariel, Micah made his way over. He started pulling at rocks with Zeke. Ariel’s leg was broken, but she cleared away a few stones on her own.
They saw clothing. A uniform. They threw away more rocks and found an insignia. The man was a Theocratic lieutenant. Some more rocks unveiled a badly crushed leg. He had lost a lot of blood. They cleared more rocks.
Then they found the face. “Ha!” he shouted, spitting up blood.
“Don’t talk,” Micah advised.
“We’ll get you out,” said Ariel.
The man spat more blood. “I’ll take no help from a traitor and a heathen!”
She straightened up. “We’re all human.”
“Not in the eyes of God.” He shook violently. He needed help, but he refused.
His attitude was typical of Theocratic citizens. Religion was absolute. There were those for the Church and those against. Anyone who believed in a higher power and did not ally themselves with the Theocrat was a traitor to their cause. A traitor to their gods. Half the rebellion was made up of these traitors. Pious, devout people. Good people.
Heathens in the eyes of the Unified Theocratic Church.
“Leave him,” Zeke suggested. “He’s an enemy and he doesn’t want our help.”
The strong and ruthless Micah Frostbane glanced at the girl. “She’s right. We’re all human. We can’t just leave him. You get the others. I’ll stay here.”
A noise in the distance and a tremor through the earth jostles Zeke to consciousness. His friends are already awake, but he can’t see them in the darkness.
“Something’s wrong,” says Ariel.
“The cell has been cut open, and when we woke up we found our weapons beside us,” says Daniel. His voice is outside their cage.
Zeke feels around until his hands close over the familiar sheath of his katana.
“Guess we have a guardian angel,” Ariel muses.
The cave is dark. Minutes pass, but their eyes don’t adjust. Nothing in the deep cavern is generating light. “Why is it so dark in here?”
“My guess is because the torches went out.” Jack is still as irreverent as ever.
“And the guard? Is he still . . .”
“Shh!” Ariel interrupts quietly. “Listen.” Faint sounds echo down the halls. Screams. “Something is definitely wrong.”
The group pauses. Silent. Tense. Traces of fear creep through them. At long last, Zeke speaks. “Well, if we do have a guardian angel, we might as well take advantage of his help. We need light. Let’s look for something.” He begins feeling around the cave. He feels nothing but smooth rock. The others make noise. Bumping into objects. Patting things down to identify them.
“I found the torch!” Daniel calls softly.
“Do we have anything to light it with?”
“No good over here,” calls Jack. “This stuff is all wet and squishy.” A few dull wet noises confirm this.
“I think I’ve got a lighter,” says Ariel. She follows Daniel’s voice until she finds him. He holds the torch out to her. Sparks flicker. A small flame ignites. The torch moves into the light. Flames rise from it. A soft glow fills the room.
A quick glance shows Jack standing near the mutilated body of the guard. A cleft runs down his torso. His innards spilled out on the floor. Jack jumps back quickly, instinctively wiping his hands on his pants. “What happened to him?”
“Looks like he was eaten,” said Zeke.
“Eaten? You’d think there’d be more bite marks and less . . . well, less of the guard,” ranted the pilot. “It looks more like something was curious to see if human beings were reversible.”
“I don’t like this. What’s going on?” Ariel repeats.
“Shh!” urges Daniel. The four become silent. The creeping fear grows stronger. A new sound comes down the hallway. Heavy breathing.
From a large animal.
They hear a dull thumping. Rhythmic. Something is moving. A small red glow appears down the tunnel. It grows larger quickly.
“This could be bad,” Daniel states.
They dive out of the way as the dragon bounds into the cavern. It turns on Jack, belching fire. He leaps backward quickly. The flame hits the dead guard. Flesh hisses and boils. An unpleasant smell fills the room.
The dragon stands in the door, trapping them in the room and pinning Jack against the wall. He tries to run, but the dragon nuzzles him back into place. He takes out his wallet. “Fine! Take my money! Just don’t cook me!” he shouts, throwing the small bundle at the dragon. It growls deep. Disturbing. “Why do these things always go for me? Am I carrying dragon-nip? Go eat someone else!”
“Stay back,” says Zeke.
“You know, not much of a choice there!” Jack calls.
Daniel hands the torch to Ariel and levels his shotgun, waiting for an opening. Zeke is already rushing the dragon with his sword. The beast growls at him, baring its fangs. His blade slides between the teeth, deep into the dragon’s mouth.
It roars a painful, choking howl and coughs up dark blood, covering Jack. “Charming,” he says, wiping his eyes clean. “I’m sure this will be the new cologne hitting all the ritzy stores next year.”
The dragon tries to charge Zeke, but can’t build up much speed in the small cave. The fighter holds his ground and slashes hard when the monster is near.
It falls.
It hits the ground rolling, taking Zeke with it. He flails the sword, aiming to hit anything he can reach. He strikes the dragon in the haunches. The dragon roars, but gets to his feet with no new injuries.
It rakes its claws across his chest.
He stumbles back seeping blood gently. Ariel catches him, but only for a moment. He quickly pulls himself back to his feet and slashes the dragon.
The beast rears back, roaring. Zeke leaps forward. As the dragon comes back to the ground, it impales itself hard on the sword, pushing the fighter to the ground.
But the monster is hurt. It turns and runs down the tunnel, trailing blood.
Daniel offers his hand. Zeke takes it, pulling himself to his feet. “Take the others somewhere safe. I’ll meet up with you later,” he orders the boy.
Ariel is outraged. “And what are you doing?”
“It’s time to help,” he says. He turns and chases after the dragon.
“Guess we better go,” Daniel says as he grabs Ariel’s arm. “No point sticking around here. He pulls her down the tunnel. Jack gives up trying to clean himself, picks up his crow bar, and follows.
In the city commons, Muriel interrogates a small gathering of soldiers. She is dressed for battle in worn leathers, with a wooden bow and a quiver of arrows.
The makeshift fashion of her city.
“It appears that our west wall has been breached,” their captain reports. “Draugr are pouring into the city.”
She swears under her breath. “Those dragon trainers! They led them here.” Trusting her instincts. Acting harshly, mercilessly. Those are the traits of a powerful soldier. I could have stopped them if it weren’t for my father’s orders, she thinks.
“Lady Muriel, what are your orders?”
My father. This time she thinks of him not as a warrior-king, but an aging man. “Where is my father?” she asks the soldier.
“Lord Gabriel is defending the civilian residencies,” he replies.
Muriel issues her orders. “Secure the breached gate then purge the draugr from the city.” The Karellan will not gain the slightest ground while she is still alive.
They will not be forced out of their homes.
“Yes, my lady,” says the man with a bow. As he turns to relay the orders to his troops, a dragon skids into the room. Instinctively, the men attack. The captain draws a sword. The weapon is sturdy, but dulled with age.
They remember years ago, taking down a live dragon. It was strong, but they beat it into submission. It is now a legend among them, a song sung at feasts. Their king and his daughter wear the beast’s skin. But Muriel knows better. That was years ago. Their fighters were younger, stronger. They had wasted many of their resources bringing it down. They stand before this dragon completely helpless.
A ready and willing buffet.
“Go now!” she shouts. “Deliver my orders!” The dragon has already taken down several men. The captain nods and orders the survivors to follow.
The monster seems panicked. Frantic. It doesn’t follow them. Ariel looks closer and notices a trail of blood. A slight wave of relief swims through the magic fear caused by the dragon. You’ve been hurt.
She pulls the bow off her back and draws an arrow. She nocks the arrow and is ready to let loose when Zeke rushes into the room, behind the monster. “You!” she shouts angrily.
“Yes, me.”
“You brought this on us!”
“Do you want to argue now or after we’ve been charred and digested?”
Ragnarok: The Fate of Gods Page 20