by David Wood
Dane felt poleaxed. None of the earlier revelations had been much of a surprise, but having seen the horned skulls with his own eyes, he knew Adler’s story held a kernel of truth.
“Do you believe in, like, the Yeti and stuff?” Bones asked, his awkward question an attempt to jump-start the stalled conversation.
“I do not know.” Adler shrugged. “But, though I would not admit it to most people, I believe in Krampus for one very good reason.”
“What is that?” Dane’s heart was hammering his ribs like a blacksmith at the forge.
“I saw him.” Adler paused as if waiting for them to scoff. When they remained silent, he went on. “When I was a young man, young enough to believe in the impossible, but old enough to be a skeptic, I ventured deep into the caves below Sternspitze. The way was perilous. With every step you are in danger of the very rock falling out from under you, or the ceiling coming down on your head. I could have died, but something made me turn back.” He paled and his voice grew suddenly hoarse. “Something peered around a corner and looked at me just as I am looking at you. A hairy man with horns.”
“Could you have been mistaken?” Angel asked. She seemed to be searching for a reason not to believe the skulls came from actual, living creatures. “A shadow on an oddly-shaped rock or something?”
“Does a rock have glowing eyes that reflect a flashlight beam? I know what I saw, and I have never gone back.” Adler’s gaze turned flinty, and his countenance grew cold. “I fear that is all I can tell you. I hope you will exercise caution if you investigate the subject any further.”
They thanked him for his help, and he assured them it was no problem. He spared a minute to print out a copy of his paper on the Magi cult and then saw them out.
Dane could not stop thinking about the mountain, the icefall, and the mysterious caves below. “Professor Adler, does Sternspitze have a meaning?”
Adler gave him a wry smile. “As a matter of fact it does. It means Starspike.”
Ubel Karsch heard footsteps on the other side of the door. He hurried across the hall, slipped inside his office, and peered out through the small window set in his door. He watched as Adler saw his visitors out, and what a group they were: two men, one of them the biggest American Indian he had ever seen, the other a blond man whose serene face stood at odds with the danger he exuded with every step. Both of them had a military bearing about them, though the big Indian tried to hide it with his ridiculous motorcycle jacket and juvenile t-shirt. The women were unusual too– one American Indian and one Asian.
It was not the strange visitors he cared about, though. It was the story Adler had told them. In the seven years they had worked together, Ubel had probed him on many occasions for stories about the Magi, and the old fool had never told him the legends surrounding his own home town.
He grimaced. How would his news be received? Would he be praised for finally ferreting out this new information, or would he be treated as a failure for having taken so long to uncover it? It made no difference. There was nothing he could do now except make the call and hope for the best.
He looked up and down the hallway, making certain no one was about. He turned on the radio and turned it toward the door. “We Three Kings” wafted from the speakers. Fitting.
Heart pounding and throat tight, he punched up the number. When someone picked up on the other end, he spoke the two words that would gain him immediate access to his Elder.
“Heilig Herrschaft.”
Chapter 13- Drekonhas
Drekonhas was the epitome of the classic Alpine village. Nestled amongst the snow-capped mountains, the place made Dane feel like he’d been sent back in time. The morning sun set everything aglow. Except for the occasional vehicle they passed, the scene was like something out of a picture book.
“This is a pretty cool place. I wonder where the Burgermeister Meisterburger lives.” Bones turned toward Dane. “What’s the plan?”
“Make like tourists,” Dane said, pulling into a parking space near a small pub. “Bones, you hit the pub and see if you can meet up with anyone talkative, preferably an old-timer. See what you can learn about the caves and the icefall.” Bones fist-pumped. “Two things,” Dane added. “Don’t get too pushy with the questions; and take sips, not gulps.”
“Dude, I know the drill. When it comes to pubs, this is not my first rodeo.”
“Oh, and don’t get distracted by any babes you might meet.”
Bones rolled his eyes. “Yes, Dad.”
“Angel and Jade, you check on lodging and do a little browsing in the shops. Act like normal visitors. I’ll scope out the well. If it looks like a one man job and no one’s around, I’ll take care of it myself and well move one to the next phase. I think the stones in the crowns are compass stones and they’re pointing the way to whatever is under the icefall.” They had purchased climbing gear and warm clothing in anticipation of climbing Sternspitze. “If not, Bones and I will have to go back after dark.”
“I don’t like you going by yourself, Maddock,” Jade said. “Let one of us go with you. It doesn’t take two to see if there’s ‘room at the inn.’“
“No offense, but you three will stand out like crazy in a German village. I’m a blue-eyed blond. The only thing conspicuous about me is my good looks.”
Jade made a face, but relented. The three of them left the car and spread out. Dane waited for them to disperse before heading for the old village well.
Jade checked her watch as she stepped outside of the cozy in where she’d managed to secure the last available rooms. She glanced at her watch. That hadn’t taken long. She’d meet up with Angel, wander the village for a little while. Maddock shouldn’t need more than an hour, then they could firm up their plans.
She ignored the shiver of worry that passed through her as she thought of Maddock out on his own. He was as solid a man she’d ever known– smart, capable, and resilient. He wouldn’t get himself into anything he couldn’t handle.
Snow crunched underfoot as she wandered through the town, returning the occasional wave. Adler had made Drekonhas sound like a small, secluded pocket of paganism, sort of an Alpine version of Deliverance, but it didn’t seem to be the case. It was bigger than the “village” she had pictured in her mind, and seemed tourist-friendly. The woman at the inn had been pleasant enough, and there was a warm, friendly vibe about the town. The mystery notwithstanding, this might be a fine place to spend Christmas.
A strong hand seized her by the arm.
“Quit messing around Bones.” She turned and what she saw made her jaw drop.
“Hello, Ihara. Missed me?”
Sunglasses and a scarf hid much of his face, but she knew him immediately.
“Issachar!” She froze in shock for only an instant, but that was her undoing. Before she could lash out with a punch or kick, he yanked her toward him and crushed her in a bear hug.
“Isn’t this nice? Two old friends reunited.”
His warm, damp breath on her ear and his sickly sweet tone turned her stomach. She squirmed, trying to break free, but he held her so tight that she could not move an inch. He held her face pressed into his coat, preventing her from crying out... or breathing.
“Thought you got rid of me out in the desert, didn’t you? I’m not so easy to kill. Your friend Maddock will find that out soon enough, but first, I have a job to do and you’re going to help.
Jade tried again to fight, stamping down on his foot, but he avoided it with ease. She was already feeling the lack of oxygen and her strength was waning.
“Go to sleep, little traitor. You’re going to need your rest.”
Maddock, Bones, Angel, somebody help me! Her thought faded as blackness overcame her.
When she came to, she was face-down in the back seat of a car. Her arms and legs were bound. Where was she? What had happened to her? Slowly, as if gluing together the pieces of a shredded picture, she remembered. And when she did, she screamed. At least, she tried to scream, but
all she managed was a weak cry. The vehicle backed up fast, sending her rolling forward, and she found herself wedged between the seats, not quite down on the floorboard. They were moving forward now. She must have been out for only a short while– long enough for Issachar to put her in the car and tie her up. She took a deep breath and called out again.
“Help! Help!” This time it was good and loud.
“Keep screaming, Ihara. This might as well be a ghost town. Nobody’s out on the streets this morning. In about two minutes we’ll be out of town and headed for the mountains.”
Jade took him up on his offer, shouting herself hoarse and kicking the door the best she could manage considering her bonds and awkward position. Finally, she gave up.
“About time. You were drowning out my Christmas music.” Issachar’s wicked laugh sent chills down her spine. “Bet you’re sorry you betrayed us now.”
“I didn’t betray you,” she wheezed. “I was never part of the Dominion.”
“Doesn’t matter. You’re going to help us now.”
“The Dominion is dead.” She wanted to believe that, but knew it wasn’t true. Maddock had learned a few things during his trek into the Amazon– enough to know that the Dominion’s reach was much more expansive than they’d previously believed.
“The Deseret Dominion is dead, or close to it, but there’s more to us than that. Much more. How do you think I found out about this town and the icefall? I even have a pretty good idea what this does.” He held up a crowned skull. “I got to the well first.”
No ice could have been as frozen as Jade’s insides at that moment. “Adler told you? No way.” She couldn’t believe the kind old man was part of the Dominion. Then again, she’d misjudged people before on that score.
Issachar barked a laugh. “Heilig Herrschaft has plenty of eyes and ears.”
Jade squeezed her eyes closed. Her head was throbbing and she still felt woozy from her lapse into unconsciousness.
“What do you want with me, Issachar? If you know about Adler, you know everything I know.” Issachar was vicious enough to kill her out of revenge for what he considered a betrayal of the Dominion, but instinct told her he had a scheme and she was to be a part of it. Either possibility made her want to throw up.
“Let’s just say you’re going to be a litmus test. I was going to use one of those Herrschaft idiots, but this will be much more satisfying.” He smiled. “Santa came early this year. It’s Christmas Eve and I’ve already gotten a present.”
Chapter 14- The Well
It was gone. Dane looked down at the stone etched with the three hares, lying on the frozen bottom where someone had dropped it. The space it had once filled was set at eye level. It was easily large enough to have held one of the skulls of the Magi. He took one last look, then reached inside and felt around just to make certain he had not missed anything, but he knew it was futile. Someone had beaten them to it.
Cold and angry, he made the climb back out, the frozen stones slick under his fingers. He lost his grip a few times, but managed to catch himself. Come on, he chided himself. You can’t escape armed bad guys only to die falling down a well. When he finally hauled himself out, he was in a foul mood. Were the skulls essential to finding the secret that lay beneath the icefall? If so, would they need all three? He supposed it did not matter now. They would have to proceed with what they had.
“Put your hands in the air.” He knew that voice. He’d heard it just a few days earlier in Paderborn.
He looked up to see Ulrich and Niklas standing there, weapons drawn, grinning. Warily, he held his hands away from his body to show he was unarmed. They had taken the skull and then set a trap for him, and he’d walked right into it.
“Give us the skull.” Niklas held out his hand.
“What?” Dane was genuinely surprised. “You already have it.”
“Let us have it!” Ulrich shouted. He trembled with rage. Perhaps his battered and bruised face, which was probably a handsome one under ordinary circumstances, and the memory of the two whippings he’d already suffered at the hands of Dane’s group, was the source of his anger. Dane looked into his dark eyes, and saw something more; there was a deeper cause for his rage. “We must have it. Time is almost up.”
“What do you want with it?”
A wiser man would not have wasted time bandying words with Dane, but Ulrich had already proved himself reckless, and his agitated state only amplified that trait.
“We must find the Magi! They left the key to resurrection.”
“Ulrich, nein!” Niklas snapped, but the other man rambled on.
“The Fuhrer must live!”
“Wait a minute. You think,” he tried to recall what Adler had told them about the Magi legend, “the myrrh will bring back a guy who’s been dead for more than a half-century?”
The two men exchanged furtive glances, and Dane’s heart skipped a beat.
“No way!” It couldn’t possibly be true.
Ulrich clearly realized he had said too much. His face reddened, but his eyes burned with righteous anger.
“It doesn’t matter anyway. I don’t have it.”
“Do not play with us.” Niklas sounded stern, but Dane could see in his eyes that the man knew something was amiss. “Give it to us now.”
“It’s gone. If you didn’t take it, someone else must have.” He raised his hands a little higher. “Search me if you want. Heck, look down in the well. The stone that covered its hiding place is still lying there.”
The men exchanged looks. Niklas nodded, and Ulrich approached Dane. Pistol in one hand, he gave Dane a light pat-down with the other. Dane breathed a sigh of relief that the man had skulls on his mind. Otherwise, Ulrich might have given him a more thorough pat-down and discovered the Heckler & Koch USP he had lost in Paderborn and Dane had recovered. Satisfied Dane did not have the skull, Uhlrich pushed Dane in Niklas’s direction and leaned over the edge of the well to look inside.
Dane wouldn’t get a better chance than this. He pretended to stumble forward, then lashed out with a right cross that caught Niklas on the chin. It was a quick, clean blow that sent the surprised man stumbling backward. Turning around and drawing the HK-USP, Dane clubbed the unsuspecting Uhlrich across the back of the head, and then leapt to the side as bullets flew.
Niklas’s shots tore through the space Dane had occupied a moment before. Two bullets ricocheted off the old well, but the third caught the slumping Uhlrich in the back, and he slid to the ground, leaving a smear of blood on the weathered stone.
Dane rolled to his feet and pumped two rounds into Niklas’s gut. No hired thug could outshoot a SEAL. He would have put another in the man’s head to finish the job, but he hoped to get a few questions answered first.
He kept his gun trained on Niklas, but there was no need. The man had dropped his weapon and now held his arms pressed to his ruined belly as if he could hold the life in. He looked up at Dane, his eyes glassy with disbelief.
“Help me,” he gasped.
Dane had seen enough wounds to know there was no hope for Niklas. He had minutes left, if that. “The only thing that can help you right now is to make things right with your maker if you believe in one.”
“Of course I believe.” Niklas closed his eyes and let his head fall back. “I work for Him.”
“Who do you work for?”
“Heilig Herrschaft.” His voice was already fading.
“What is that?”
“The Holy Dominion.” He groaned and shuddered. “Hurts.”
Dane felt numb. “Are you connected to the Dominion in America?”
“America.” Niklas managed a weak laugh, and bloody froth oozed from the corners of his mouth. “So young a nation and so limited in their vision. The same is true for our Herrschaft brethren there.” He coughed weakly.
“Do you have any idea who took the last skull?”
Niklas’s eyes sprang open, and for a moment he seemed fully alert. “Issachar!” he hissed.
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br /> Dane could not hide his shock. Stunned, he wobbled to his feet and took a step back. “What did you say?”
“Issachar. That is the name of the American the Herrschaft put above us. He must have betrayed us and taken the skull for himself.” The sudden burst of life was already dissipating, but Dane understood the man’s final words. “Kill him.” And then he was gone.
He dumped the bodies into the well and tossed in some branches and snow to hide the bodies. He figured it wouldn’t take too many more snowy days before they were hidden until the thaw. Considering the well’s remote location, it might be longer before they were discovered. His mind spun as he drove back to town. How could Issachar still be alive? It had to be the same guy. How many Issachars were in the Dominion? Or in the world, for that matter?
Bones and Angel were waiting outside the inn when Dane made it back to the center of town. Before Dane could cut the engine, Bones had yanked open the door and hopped in.
“Don’t you ever answer your phone?” Bones snapped.
“Not much reception up here. What’s up?”
“Jade’s gone. The innkeeper saw her with some dude. Said he was big and had a messed up face.”
“Issachar.” Dane spoke the word like a curse.
“What? He’s dead, Maddock. You killed him.”
“He’s back.” Dane’s voice was as cold and flat as a frozen lake.
Shock registered in Bones’ face. “If that’s true, he’s got Jade. The lady said it looked like she fainted and he helped her to the car and drove off.”
Hot rage boiled up inside Dane. He wanted to kill Issachar with his bare hands, feel the life drain from his body.
“Did you find out the way to the icefall?”
Bones nodded.
“We’re going after her. The skulls and climbing gear are in the back. Angel, you go back to the inn and call the police.”
“No way, man. I’m coming with you.”
“No! The police need to know what happened. The lady at the inn can tell them what she saw. Show them this.” He took a picture of himself and Jade from his wallet and handed it to Angel. “They’ll want a picture of her, and the lady at the inn can confirm that the guy she left with isn’t me. I don’t know what kind of law enforcement they have up here, but maybe they can get some help to us.”